Chapter XXXIII: The Gilds of Lincolnshire--(Continued) (1)

LINCOLN.--The Gilds of this ancient ecclesiastical city are of much interest: some of them present a combination of the Social and the Craft Gilds.

_Gild of the Fullers of Lincoln._--“This Gild was founded on the Sunday before the feast of the Apostles Philip and James, A.D. 1297, by all the bretheren and sisteren of the Fullers in Lincoln.” A wax light to be burnt before the cross on procession days. Directions as to who shall work at certain operations. Half-holidays on Saturdays; and no work on festivals. Outsiders may work at the trade on making small payments. A payment to be made before learning the trade. No thief shall stay in the Gild. On death of any member, bread to be given to the poor. “If any brother or sister is going on a pilgrimage to Sts. Peter and Paul [Rome], if it is a Sunday or other festival day, all the bretheren and sisteren shall go in company with him outside the city as far as the Queen’s Cross, and each shall give him a halfpenny or more; and when he comes back, if, as before said, it is a Sunday or other festival day, and he has let them know of his coming, all the bretheren and sisteren shall meet at the same cross, and go with him to the monastery.” Penalty for not keeping Ordinances. Help shall be given to those in want; but the money must be repaid before death or after. Lights and offerings on death. There were some new Ordinances added later, viz., allowances to officers; allowance for collecting moneys. Officers not serving to be fined. New members to pay to the Dean a penny.

_Gild of the Tailors of Lincoln_, founded 1328.--A procession shall be had every year. Payment on entrance, a quarter of barley, and xij_d._ “to the ale.” Help to the poor--7d. per week. Burials for poor members, “according to the rank of him who is dead.” Pilgrims to the Holy Land or to Rome to receive a halfpenny from each member, and processions to be formed. Services for those dying outside the city. Bequests to be made to Gild according to means, “v_s._ or xl_d._, or what he will.” Fee to chaplain. Four general meetings every year. Payment to the Gild when any master tailor takes an apprentice. Quarrels to be arranged; whoever will not abide judgment of Gild to be put out. On feast days ale to be given to the poor. Burial rites. If any master knowingly takes a sewer who has wrongfully left another master, he shall be fined. Payment of vj_d._ to the Guild for every sewer employed by master. A dole to be given yearly by every brother and sister for distribution in charity. Fines for not serving offices.

_Gild of the Tylers [Poyntours] of Lincoln_, founded 1346.--New members to make themselves known to “Graceman,” and pay a quarter of barley, ij_d._ to the ale, and i_d._ to the Dean. Four “soul-candles” shall be found and used in services. Feasts and prayers, and ale for the poor. Help to the pilgrims. Burials provided. One brother shall not unfairly meddle with the craft-work of another. All men of this craft in Lincoln shall join the Gild.

_Gild of St. Michael on the Hill_, founded on Easter Eve, 1350.--On the death of a brother “soul-candles” shall be burned and the banner of the Gild shall be taken to his house, and borne thence to church. There shall be a Gild feast. At the end the Ordinances shall be read and expounded; and flagons of ale shall be given to the poor. Absentees may rejoin the Gild on making payments. “And whereas this Gild was founded by folks of common and middling rank, it is ordained that no one of the rank of Mayor or Bailiff shall become a brother of the Gild, unless he is found to be of humble, good, and honest conversation, and is admitted by the choice and common consent of the bretheren and sisteren of the Gild. And none such shall meddle in any matter, unless specially summoned; nor shall such a one take on himself any office in the Gild. He shall, on his admission, be sworn before the bretheren and sisteren, to maintain and keep the Ordinances of the Gild. And no one shall have any claim to office in this Gild on account of the honour and dignity of his personal rank.” Help to poor bretheren shall be daily given, in turn, by the Gild bretheren.

The Ordinances of this Gild were very lengthy; the main features only are here noticed.

_Gild of the Resurrection of our Lord_, founded at Easter, 1374.--Every brother and sister at entrance shall pay iv_d._ to the ale and 1_d._ to the wax; and also every year xiij_d._ by four separate payments in the year. Those in arrear to pay a pound of wax. Lights to be kept burning from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. A hearse-frame, with lights, angels, and banners, shall be put over the body of every dead brother; and other services be done. Help to poor bretheren, “if not through his own fault, by wasting his goods in unlawful uses,”--every member paying 2d. in the year to all impoverished. Fine on officers not serving. Holders of loans to bring them before the “Gracemen” every year. Mass and offerings for the dead. At the annual feast the Ordinances to be read. After dinner, grace, the Lord’s Prayer, &c., names of all dead bretheren and sisteren shall be read over, and the _De Profundis_ said for their souls. Pilgrims to Rome, St. James of Galacia, or the Holy Land, to give notice, and receive contributions of one halfpenny from each member, with escort to city gate. Burials of poor bretheren. Surety for goods of Gild. Punishment to those who rebel against the Gild.

_Gild of St. Benedict_, “founded [date not stated] in honour of God Almighty, and of the blessed Virgin Mary, and of our Lord Jhesu Christ, in the parish of St. Benedict.” As many poor shall be fed as there are members of the Gild. Pilgrims to the Holy Land, St. James’s, or to Rome, provided for. Services on deaths within the city, and bread given to the poor; and services on deaths outside the city. Help to poor bretheren. At the feast, when ale is poured out, prayer shall be said, and tankards of ale shall be given to the poor. New members on entering the Gild to pay 6s. 8d., in two instalments. “Morn-speeches” shall be held; and accounts then given by all who have any goods of the Gild on loan. On the Sunday after the feast another morn-speech to be made. Officers chosen and not serving to pay fine. Penalty if one member wrongs another, and for not coming to meetings.

There was also a _Gild of Minstrels and Players_ in this city, concerning which we have no exact details.

=Sleaford.=--This ancient town had a Gild--the Holy Trinity Gild--of great renown. The date of its establishment is unknown; but many circumstances point to its having been founded soon after the Conquest. It must have been in existence before the commencement of the Patent Rolls in the reign of King John, or mention of the conveyance of its property to the brothers in mortmain would be found, as in the case of Boston and other Gilds. It was a rich Gild, having an income of £80 per annum in 1477, when the mention of it occurs. This would be equivalent to £800 at the present day. The Gild was under the management of the principal people in the place; and was famous for its miracle plays, mysteries, and sacred shows. Perhaps these were next in repute to those of York. There does not appear to have been anything sufficiently distinctive about these to call for detailed note, except as will be immediately stated.

In 1837 there was published: “History of the Holy Trinity Guild at Sleaford, with an Account of its Miracle Plays, Religious Mysteries, and Shows, as practised in the Fifteenth Century; and an Introduction delineating the changes that have taken place in the Localities of Heath and Fen, Castle and Mansion, Convent and Hall, within the District about Sleaford since that period. To which is added an Appendix, detailing the Traditions which still prevail, and a description of the Lincoln Pageants exhibited during the visit of King James to that City. The whole illustrated by copious notes, critical, historical, and explanatory.” By the Rev. G. Oliver, D.D., M.A.S.E., Vicar of Scopwick, &c., Lincoln. 8vo., pp. 135.

The author refers to the fact (p. 61) that all the public amusements of the times were interwoven with religion, and placed under the superintendence of Gilds, by which they were conducted and brought to perfection. “From the most remote period of time the inhabitants of Sleaford and the vicinity practised under that high sanction the diversions which were common to every period of the English monarchy, from the minstrels or joculators in the reign of Athelston, through the routine of tournaments, the lord of misrule, church ales, Corpus Christi plays, and the frolics of the boy-bishop in the ages of chivalry, the bull and bear baitings, the holk, and the mummeries of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, down to the bulls and other diversions of the present day.”

Concerning the “frolics of the boy-bishop,” we may take the following account from the same author: “There exists presumptive evidence that the ceremony of the Episcopus Puerorum was celebrated at Sleaford; although it was somewhat unusual out of the limits of a cathedral or collegiate church; for in digging a grave in Leasingham Churchyard, a diminutive coffin stone was found in the year 1826, only 2½ feet long by 12 inches broad. It was prismatic, and adorned with a beautiful cross fleury in relief; and undoubtedly formed a covering to the sarcophagus of a boy-bishop, who died during the continuance of his ephemeral authority. And in the church of Quarrington, at the east end of the north aisle, is an unusually small chapel not more than four feet square, which one cannot but think was intended for the ministration of this juvenile functionary. The solemnity of the episcopus puerorum, though it may appear trifling in these days, was conducted with great pomp. A boy was elected on St. Nicholas’s Day, who was remarkable for personal beauty, to sustain the high office of a bishop until the 28th day of the same month. He made a solemn procession to the church, attended by many other boys, arrayed in priestly habiliments; and there, dressed in splendid robes, decorated with costly ornaments, and covered with his mitre, he presided with all the solemnity of an actual bishop, during the performance of divine worship. After which he made a collection from house to house, which was boldly demanded as the bishop’s subsidy; and he is said to have possessed such unlimited power that all the prebends which fell vacant during his presidency were at his disposal. If he chanced to die in that period he was entitled to all the honours of episcopal interment, and a monument was assigned to convey the remembrance of his honours to posterity.”

Strype expresses the opinion that this ceremony was sometimes adopted even in small parish churches; he does not say whether with or without Gild observances.

It has been supposed that a _Gild of Minstrels_ existed at Sleaford, but no evidence of the fact is available.

=Stamford.=--There is the record of one Gild in this ancient town, viz.:

_Gild of St. Katherine._--The Ordinances before us bear date 1494; but they are only a re-affirmation of those of a much greater antiquity. The Gild is to abide for ever. Services to be attended by all the bretheren on St. Katherine’s Eve and St. Katherine’s Day. All shall meet in the hall of the Gild, and the Alderman shall ask new-comers as to their willingness; and they shall take oath of fealty to God, Sts. Mary and Katherine, and the Gild; and shall also swear to pay scot and bear lot, and to keep the Ordinances of the Gild. They shall be lovingly received, and drink a bout, and so go home. Meetings to be held at 1 o’clock on St. Leonard’s Day, or the next Sunday, to deal with the affairs of the Gild. There shall be a grand dinner in the Gild-hall once a year. After dinner an account to be given by every officer. Officers chosen and not serving to be fined. Gildmen must be of good repute, and pay vi_s._ and viij_d._ on entering, spread over four years, and afterwards ij_d._ a year for “Waxshote.” Peals of bells to be rung at and after prayers for the souls of the dead; and the ringers to have bread, cheese, and ale. Services and ringings on death of Gildsmen.

There were four other Gild-returns from this town. The Gild of St. Martin has every year a bull; hunts it; sells it; and then feasts. The old custom was kept up in the eighteenth century. See Strutt’s “Sports and Pastimes.”

=Village Gilds.=--There were many Gilds in the villages of this county. One example will suffice to show the nature of their regulations.

_Gild of Kyllyngholm_, founded before 1310.--When a brother or a sister dies, four bretheren shall offer a penny, and each sister shall give a halfpenny loaf. “If a brother or sister is unlucky enough to lose a beast worth half a mark, every brother and every sister shall give a halfpenny towards getting another beast.” “If the house of any brother or sister is burnt by mishap, every brother and sister shall give a halfpenny towards a new house.” “Moreover, if the house of any brother or sister is broken into by robbers, and goods carried off worth half a mark, every brother and every sister shall give a halfpenny to help him.” If one has a guest, and he cannot buy ale, he shall have a gallon of the Gild’s best brewing. But the Gild will not allow any tricks in this direction. Whoever is chosen Provost must serve, or must pay.

The Fountaine Collection.

THE months of June and July saw the dispersal, by Messrs. Christie, of the celebrated collection of art treasures formed by Sir Andrew Fountaine in the early part of the last century, and added to by his descendant, Mr. Andrew Fountaine, who died in 1873. In connection with this dispersion, a step was taken which is perhaps without precedent in the history of English art sales. A number of amateurs, joined by a few dealers, had subscribed to a guarantee fund, out of which many purchases were made. The object of this proceeding was chiefly to allow some of the most precious objects to pass eventually into our public museums. It would, indeed, be lamentable if nothing of what was finest in the Fountaine collection found a resting-place in our national museums. The occasions are extremely rare on which a Syndicate can be invited to relieve our public authorities of the task of speedy decision. There was a warm expression of hearty support whenever it was thought that the Syndicate had been successful, and the higher the price realised the louder was the applause.

The first lot which attracted spirited bidding was a magnificent Faenza plate, with grotesque masks, cupids, trophies of arms, and musical instruments, a satyr on the left playing on a pipe, dated 1508. The first bid for this plate, which was only 10¾ in. diameter, was £100. After some spirited bidding it was secured by M. Lowengard, of Paris, for £920, amid applause. A Faenza dish, with the entombment of Christ, from Albert Durer, dated 1519, sold for 135 guineas, being bought by Mr. Robinson, presumedly for the Syndicate. An Urbino plate in a sunk centre--two cupids supporting a coat of arms and other figures--by Nicola da Urbino, was sold for 375 guineas; a Faenza dish, with sunk centre, surrounded with a wreath of fruit and foliage--subject, a bear hunt, from a very early Italian print, by an unknown master--210 guineas; a Pesaro lustred dish, £270; another Pesaro lustred dish, 250 guineas; an Urbino dish, 300 guineas; a large dish with sunk centre, probably Castel Durante ware, 360 guineas (the Syndicate); an Urbino pilgrim’s bottle, 240 guineas; an Urbino dish, 330 guineas (Mannheim); a dish, subject the “Last Supper,” 115 guineas; a Faenza dish from the Bernal collection, 620 guineas (Martin); an Urbino oval dish, the centre subject the Children of Israel gathering Manna, 240 guineas (Tuck); another Urbino oval dish, 240 guineas (Lowengard); an Urbino dish, Marcus Curtius on a white horse, 307 guineas (Hainauer); a large deep dish “The Taking of Troy,” 310 guineas (Hainauer); an Urbino ewer, Venus, Vulcan, and two cupids, 550 guineas. A splendid Urbino dish, beautifully painted with the Children of Israel gathering manna, was secured by the Syndicate at 1,270 guineas. A pair of Urbino pilgrims’ bottles fetched 450 guineas. 430 guineas was paid for a pair of salt-cellars in coloured enamels, and 800 guineas for a Limoges fountain, 9 inches high. Of the Henri Deux ware, there were but three pieces. The first of these, a small flambeau of architectural design, and somewhat severe in ornament, was put up at 1,000 guineas, and it eventually fell to the bid of 3,500 guineas. The next piece, a Mortier à Cire, fell for 1,500 guineas, and the last, a small Biberon, formed as a vase with handles on each side and across the cover, sold for 1,010 guineas. An antique ewer, by Jean Courtois, realised 2,300 guineas; a large deep sunk oval dish, of Limoges work, also attributed to Jean Courtois, fetched 2,800 guineas; whilst another oval dish, signed with the initials of the same artist, was sold for 760 guineas. Some of the ivory carvings realised exceptionally high prices, notably a horn, of Italian (or more probably French) work, carved most beautifully in cinque cento style, which fell into the hands of M. Egger for 4,240 guineas. Large sums were also realised for the armour and arms, of which there were several fine examples.

The greatest lot of the sale, however, was the splendid enamel of Leonard Limousin, of which much has been said and written in eulogy, and to witness the sale of which, as the _Times_ remarked, all the world came to Christie’s. This is thus described in the catalogue: A large oval dish, with sunk centre. Raphael’s “Supper of the Gods,” in coloured enamels on a dark-blue ground, is used to introduce the portraits of Henry II. King of France in the centre, Catherine de Medicis on one side of him, and Diana of Poictiers, with yellow hair, black cap and feather, on the other side. The portrait of Anne de Montmorency, Constable of France, is introduced as Hercules, the female and Cupid by his side are probably his wife and child, the figure to the left in an ermine mantle may be the Emperor; in the background are three winged females bringing fruit, all the other figures are probably portraits, and are finished with the care of miniature painting; on the top are the arms of Anne de Montmorency, with his coronet and order of St. Michael; the border is surrounded with boys at play entwined with wreaths of fruit and flowers, the back is richly covered with masks, fruit, and flowers, arabesque figures in grisaille and scroll-work in gold; signed “Leonard Limousin, 1555. 19¼ in. by 16⅜ in.” The piece is specially described as in this Fountaine collection by Count Laborde in his great work on enamels in the Louvre collection. It was put up at 2,000 guineas, and at once the biddings went on by 500 up to 5,100 guineas, at which there was a pause among the four or five bidders, who were, as far as we could observe, MM. Gauchez, Wertheimer, Coureau, Thibaudeau, and Boore. M. Wertheimer then led the contest again, and soon distanced all his competitors with his final bid of 7,000 guineas, at which the hammer fell.

The sum total realised by the four days’ sale of the miscellaneous articles was £91,112 17s., a sum which is nearly double that which is said to have been offered for the collection _en bloc_ by the dealers. In the great Bernal sale 4,098 lots yielded £62,690 18s.; in this 565 lots gave half as much again. In the Strawberry-hill sale (1842) of twenty-four days, only £30,000 was realised, omitting the Cellini Bell and the Raphael Missal, which were “bought in.” So that George Robins’s grandiloquent description of that collection as “the most distinguished gem that has ever adorned the annals of auctions” must be taken with some reserve for the future.

The sale of the prints and drawings belonging to the Fountaine collection occupied four days. Among the more important lots were Albert Dürer’s “Knight and Death,” 50 guineas (Colnaghi), and the “Judgment of Paris,” £45 (Thibaudeau); “Christ on the Cross, with Saints,” £91 (Meder); “The Incense Burner,” £151 (Meder); “The Virgin,” £46 (Meder); two studies--a female head and an infant Christ--in silver point, £125 (Thibaudeau); a small highly-finished study of woman holding a piece of linen, £210 (Salting); two heads of women asleep, in silver point, £180 (Thibaudeau). This portion of the sale realised £5,166 1s., which swelled the grand total up to £96,278 18s.

Collectanea.

WATER SUPPLY OF LONDON IN THE MIDDLE AGES.--The first enterprising Londoner who introduced conduit water to his premises was a tradesman of Fleet-street. In a record of 1478, it is mentioned that “a wax-chandler in Flete-strete had by crafte perced a pipe of the condit withynne the ground, and so conveied the water into his selar: wherefore he was judged to ride through the citie with a condit uppon his hedde,” and the City Crier was to walk before him proclaiming his offence.--_Builder._

Reviews.

_A Story of Stourton and other Wiltshire Tales: told in Verse._ By
W. G. BENHAM. Simpkin, Marshall & Co.

THIS little work is an ingenious attempt to tell in lively verse several popular Wiltshire traditions of considerable antiquarian interest. The writer seems to have taken pains to present the traditions in as accurate a form as possible, and assures us that “all available manuscripts and other authorities have been carefully consulted.” There is much in the versification to remind us of the “Ingoldsby Legends.”

_Histoire de l’Art dans l’Antiquité._ Par GEORGES PERROT, Membre de
l’Institut, et CHARLES CHIPIEZ, Architecte du Gouvernement. 8vo.
Vol. II. Chaldée et Assyrie. Paris et Londres: L. Hachette et Cie.

THE study of archæology has lately made signal progress in France as well as in England. A great many works have been published bearing upon the subject, and the volumes issued annually by Messrs. Perrot and Chipiez deserve to be especially mentioned as excellent specimens of what that class of literature ought to be. They are not intended for _savants_ properly so called, and therefore they do not bristle with erudite quotations, or hieroglyphic figures and cuneiform texts; neither are they, on the other hand, elementary manuals or abridgments for the use of beginners; the two authors have started their joint undertaking for the express purpose of giving a somewhat detailed account of the progress of art amongst the different nations of antiquity, calling to their assistance the resources furnished by wood and steel engraving, chromo-lithography, &c.; and the improvements which during the last half-century have been introduced into the several departments of pictorial illustration have rendered their work, in that respect, comparatively easy.

The publication we are now reviewing will be terminated in five or six volumes. Messrs. Perrot and Chipiez had, last year, introduced us to Egypt; their second instalment is devoted to Chaldæa and Assyria; it marks, therefore, a signal development in æsthetic culture, and in the various expressions of architecture, painting, and sculpture. From the civilisation which Messrs. Champollion, Mariette, Maspéro, Young, and de Rougé have unfolded before us, we are now invited to pass on to that with which the names of Sir A. Layard, Sir H. Rawlinson, Messrs. Jules Oppert, and Fr. Lenormant have made us tolerably familiar.

The first chapter of this volume treats of the general characteristics of Chaldæo-Assyrian society, and naturally opens with geographical and ethnological details. M. Perrot, we are happy to see, pays a well-deserved tribute of praise to Professor Rawlinson’s celebrated work, “The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World,” making, at the same time, long quotations from it, as well as from the researches of Sir A. Layard, M. Hormuzd Rassam, &c. Whilst enumerating the various elements which have contributed to make up the population of Assyria and Chaldæa, our author notices the hypothesis recently put forth by some antiquarians who would number amongst those elements the Aryan one. He maintains that if it did exist it was only in a very small proportion--so small, indeed, that it is scarcely worth taking it into account; on the other hand, if we admit the theories of Messrs. J. Oppert and Fr. Lenormant, we have to register a fact of the most interesting and unlooked for nature. It was hitherto believed that we could not go beyond the families of Sem and of Kusch, which occupied Chaldæa at the time when history is supposed to commence. From certain inscriptions, however, it seems perfectly clear that the oldest idiom spoken, or at any rate written, there, belonged neither to the Aryan nor to the Semitic families, nor yet to any of the groups of languages which are considered as including the old Egyptian. It was essentially an agglutinative idiom, and by its grammatical system, as well as by some of the elements of its vocabulary, it may be assimilated to the Finnish, the Turkish, and other cognate languages. M. Perrot then goes on to discuss the questions connected with writing, religion, and government, and to describe the form of government which prevailed on the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris. The reader will remark that this first chapter is a kind of introduction to the book; for art, which is the outcome of civilisation, cannot be well understood till we are acquainted with the elements from which it originated. Architecture, sculpture, painting, and the industrial arts constitute the subjects of the next seven chapters; and here, again, the eschatological ideas of the Chaldæo-Assyrians give us a clue to the character of the monuments which they raised to the dead. When we say raised to the dead we are guilty of a slight error; for all the researches of Sir A. Layard, Messrs. Hormuzd Rassam, de Sarzec, Botta, and Place have failed to bring to light a single _débris_, whether inscription or sculpture, from which we might know what the Assyrians believed about the destiny of man after this life. In Lower Chaldæa a few monuments have indeed been discovered, but they are extremely simple, and the contrast between Egyptian and Chaldæo-Assyrian art in this respect is wonderfully striking. As M. Perrot remarks, we know a great deal more about the sepulchral rites, the tombs and the funereal remains of the Egyptians than about the palaces of their princes. It is just the reverse in Assyria: “We have never seen represented the fall, the death, or the burial of an Assyrian warrior; one might almost suppose that a feeling of national pride has prevented the artist from admitting that an Assyrian warrior could die; all the corpses we see portrayed on the battlefield are those of enemies; we recognise them because they are frequently mutilated and decapitated.” If, however, Chaldæa has only a few sepulchral monuments to boast of, it abounds in burial-grounds, and between Niffar and Mougheir, more particularly, every mound is a necropolis. Combining this fact with the no less striking one that there are no cemeteries in Assyria, M. Loftus has put forth the opinion that the inhabitants of this last-named country, being Chaldæan by origin, regarded Chaldæa as a kind of holy land where they systematically buried their dead, and all persons rich enough to pay the somewhat heavy expenses connected with the removal of the body, the religious ceremonies, &c., &c., made a point of committing their departed relations and friends to their eternal rest in the national _campo-santo_ from which they had in the first place emigrated. As for the poor and the slaves, those who were reckoned as nothing when alive, they were cast unceremoniously after their death into the first hole or ditch available for the purpose.

We must say a word or two on the concluding chapter before bringing this notice to an end: it consists of an ingenious parallel between the civilisations of Egypt and of Chaldæa, thus recapitulating the principal facts given in the first volume as well as those contained in the one which has formed the subject of the present article.

The illustrations, amounting to nearly five hundred, are of two different kinds; some occupy a whole page (temples, palaces, statues, &c.), others are inserted in the text; nor must we forget an excellent alphabetical index, and an appendix of additions and corrections.

_Quads within Quads, for Authors, Editors, and Devils._ Edited by
ANDREW W. TUER. Field & Tuer. 1884.

UNDER the above quaint title Messrs. Field & Tuer have issued from “Ye Leadenhalle Presse” a little volume--or rather, two volumes in one--which is likely in future ages to rank high amongst the treasures of the book collector. The work consists of an amusing collection of stories and _bon mots_ relating to authors, editors, and “devils,” which we suppose is another name for the men of Paternoster-row; and there is an innocent raciness about them--the jokes, not the publishers--which cannot fail to entertain the reader. For the benefit of the uninitiated the editor, in his introductory remarks, states that “quads” are “little metal blanks used by the printer for filling up gaps,” and that they “are not of much account, although he cannot get along without them; hence the application of the word to printers’ jokes.” The book is baulked out at the end with extra leaves of paper fastened together and hollowed out in the centre, and in the little nest so formed reposes a copy of the miniature or midget-folio “Quad,” another equally quaint volume, containing some 160 pages, and measuring but one inch in width by one and a half inches in length.

THE _Archæological Journal_ for July contains papers on “The Gallo-Roman Monuments of Reims,” by Mr. Bunnell Lewis; “On the Methods Used by the Romans for Extinguishing Conflagrations,” by the Rev. Joseph Hirst; “Jewish Seal found at Woodbridge,” by C. W. King, M.A.; “Roman Pottery found at Worthing,” by Mr. A. J. Fenton; “Roman Inscriptions discovered in Britain in 1883,” by Mr. W. Thompson Watkin; “The Battle of Lewes,” by Rev. W. R. W. Stephens, M.A.; and “Some Remarks on the Pfahlgraben and Swalburg Camp in Germany, in Relation to the Roman Wall and Camps in Northumberland,” by Mr. James Hilton, F.S.A.

Meetings of Learned Societies.

METROPOLITAN.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.--_June 26_, Dr. E. Freshfield, V.P., in the chair. Mr. W. H. Richardson exhibited some fragments of heraldic tiles which had been found under the floor of Fenny Compton Church, Warwickshire, and a drawing of a tile bearing the same inscription from Wormleighton Church. The arms on the tiles appear to be those of Butler and Beauchamp respectively. Mr. R. S. Ferguson communicated some notes on the tomb of Margaret, Countess Dowager of Cumberland, which had recently been moved from its original position in the church of St. Lawrence, Appleby, to a spot more convenient for the performance of divine service. He also reported on recent discoveries in Cumberland, and exhibited some of the early Rolls of the City Court of Carlisle. In connection with this paper Mr. Leveson-Gower exhibited an interesting portrait of his ancestress, the Countess of Cumberland. The Rev. W. F. Creeney exhibited a third instalment of rubbings of foreign brasses, thirty-four in number, which he had executed during a summer trip last year, in which he had traversed over five thousand miles.

ROYAL ARCHÆOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.--_July 3_, the Rev. F. Spurrell in the chair. The Secretary read a communication from the Rev. Precentor Venables, describing the discovery of an intramural Roman family burial-place in Lincoln, and of a Roman well in the same city. Professor B. Lewis read a paper on “Roman Antiquities in Switzerland.” A number of Roman gems and coins, together with copies of inscriptions, engravings of mosaics, and other objects, collected by Professor Lewis and the Rev. S. S. Lewis, were exhibited in illustration of this paper. Mr. F. Helmore then read some remarks on stone coffins lately found in Hertfordshire. The paper was illustrated by diagrams and drawings of two fine examples, probably of the thirteenth century, discovered at Tring and at Berkhampstead.

LONDON AND MIDDLESEX ARCHÆOLOGICAL SOCIETY.--_June 16_, Mr. J. G. Waller in the chair. Mr. F. C. Sachs read a paper written by his brother, Mr. John Sachs, on “Arms and Armour,” in which he described those worn by the ancient Egyptians and Assyrians. Greek, Roman, and Saxon armour was also described, with the assistance of sketches and engravings which were exhibited. While speaking of shields, Mr. Sachs described that used in the trophy of Henry V. in Westminster Abbey as made of oak, over the front of which was first a covering of coarse flax, over which are stretched four layers of stout linen, on which traces of painted colouring are still visible. The inside of the shield has been covered with white silk, embroidered with needlework, a portion of which remains. The Chairman offered a few remarks on armour generally, including chain armour, plate armour, and “banded mail.” Mr. Thomas Millbourne made some observations on Mediæval London at the Health Exhibition.--_June 26_, excursion to Rochester and Stroud. The proceedings commenced with a meeting in the Town Hall, Rochester, where, in the absence of the President, General Pitt-Rivers, F.R.S., the chair was taken by Mr. Charles Roach Smith, F.S.A., V.P., who delivered an address on the antiquities of Rochester, with special reference to the Roman wall, fragments of which are still visible. Mr. W. H. St. John Hope, F.S.A., gave a lecture on the maces and other regalia of the City of Rochester, and Mr. R. S. Ferguson, F.S.A., of Carlisle, followed with a few remarks on maces generally. The party afterwards paid a visit to the Castle and the Cathedral, the chief architectural features of each building being described by Mr. Hope, who traced the history of the Cathedral from its foundation in the time of Ethelbert, and, with the aid of diagrams, pointed out the work of successive architects from the time of Bishop Gundulph. Eastgate House, an interesting Elizabethan building in the High-street, now used as the Rochester Workmen’s Club, and Restoration House, the residence of Mr. Stephen Aveling, opposite the Vines, were next examined. The latter building, which dates from about 1580, was formerly called the Mansion or the Manor house, but its name was changed to Restoration House from having been the resting-place of Charles II., on his way from Dover to London on the eve of his restoration to the throne. The members next visited the museum belonging to Mr. Humphrey Wickham, at Stroud, among the contents of which are a large number of Anglo-Saxon objects which had been discovered in the neighbourhood. Several of these objects were described by Mr. Roach Smith, who also pointed out the site of the ancient cemetery where many of the articles had been found, and spoke of the frequent destruction at Strood caused by the Medway overflowing its banks.

ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE.--_June 25_, Sir P. Colquhoun in the chair. Dr. W. Knighton read a paper on the results of late excavations in Rome, considered in reference to the truth of its so-called legendary history. Some notes from Mr. W. S. W. Vaux on the subject were also read, and a discussion followed.

NEW SHAKSPERE.--_May 30_, Mr. F. J. Furnivall in the chair. Mr. T. Tyler, M.A., read the first of two papers on “Shakspere’s Sonnets.” With regard to the date, Mr. Tyler came to the conclusion that the Sonnets 1 to 126 were written in 1598-1601. Taking the Sonnets 100 to 126 as forming a single poem, he found several allusions therein to the rebellion of Essex. This was alluded to in the “eclipse of the mortal moon” (107), an expression which could not, as alleged by Massey, refer to the death of Queen Elizabeth, since the point is that “the mortal moon” had “endured” her eclipse, in accordance with the general drift of the sonnet. Sonnet 55, Mr. Tyler maintained, was written after the publication of Meres’s “Palladis Tamia” in 1598. “Mr. W. H.,” mentioned in the dedication of the 4to. edition of 1609, was, in his opinion, William Herbert, who in 1601 became Lord Pembroke. In support of this view some new evidence was adduced from documents in the Record Office, the British Museum, and in the Marquis of Salisbury’s collection at Hatfield, relating especially to an amour of Lord Pembroke with Mrs. Fytton, a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth, an amour for which Lord Pembroke was imprisoned in the Fleet, in March, 1601. On his release from prison, Sonnets 100 to 126 were addressed to him. Three years backwards from this time, according to Sonnet 104, give the initial date of 1598.--_June 13_, Mr. F. J. Furnivall, Director, in the chair. The Rev. W. A. Harrison read copies of letters from the Earl and Countess of Pembroke and the Earl of Oxford to Lord Burghley, showing that in 1579, when William Herbert was only seventeen, his parents had in hand a scheme for his marriage forthwith to Bridget, granddaughter to Lord Burghley. Mr. Tyler read his second paper “On Shakspere’s Sonnets.” After alluding to the theory, recently put forth, that the rival poet of the sonnets was Dante, Mr. Tyler maintained that the poet intended was George Chapman. The dark lady of Sonnets 127 to 152 was probably Mrs. Fytton, maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth. The relations of this lady with William Herbert would not unreasonably, in view of several of the sonnets, as 40 and 144, suggest the identification. So far as there were materials for comparison, the character of Mrs. Fytton showed a remarkable agreement with that of the dark lady. A difficulty had been felt as to Shakspere’s writing of himself at thirty-five as though in declining age. But this difficulty was removed by comparing Sonnet 73, its “yellow leaves,” “bare boughs,” &c., with Byron’s poem written when he attained his thirty-sixth year, where the imagery was remarkably similar.

FOLK-LORE.--_June 14_, annual meeting. Earl Beauchamp in the chair. In the annual report for the past year a strong plea was made for more aid to carry on the work already in hand. The Bishop of St. John’s, Kaffraria, has presented to the Society several copies of his “Zulu Nursery Literature,” and of his “Religious System of the Amazulu.” The work selected for the 1884 issue is a collection of Magyar folk-tales, by the Rev. W. H. Jones and Mr. L. Kropf.

ASIATIC.--_May 19_, anniversary meeting. Sir H. C. Rawlinson in the chair. The following were elected as the officers of next year: President, Sir W. Muir; Director, Sir H. C. Rawlinson; Vice-Presidents, Sir T. E. Colebrooke, Sir B. H. Ellis, J. Fergusson, and A. Grote; Council, E. Arnold, C. Bendall, E. L. Brandreth, Dr. O. Codrington, F. V. Dickins, Major-General Sir F. Goldsmid, Major-General M. R. Haig, H. C. Kay, Major-General Keatinge, Lieut.-General Sir L. Pelly, Major-General Sir A. Phayre, Sir W. R. Robinson, T. H. Thornton, M. J. Walhouse, and Col. Yule; Treasurer, E. Thomas; Secretaries, W. S. W. Vaux and H. F. W. Holt; Hon. Secretary, R. N. Cust. Prof. Monier Williams gave an account of his recent visit to India and to the Jain and Buddhist temples there, and added that the Supreme Government at Calcutta had assented to his proposal to found six scholarships for deserving natives in the Indian Institute at Oxford.--_June 16_, Sir W. Muir, President, in the chair. Professor de Lacouperie read a paper “On Three Embassies from Indo-China to the Middle Kingdom, and on the Trade Routes thither 3,000 Years Ago.” During the reign of Tch’ing, the second king of the Tchen dynasty (about B.C. 1100), three embassies came to him from Indo-China, before his power was firmly established to the south of the Yangtze Kiang. These were really travelling parties of merchants, who had heard of the wealth of the new dynasty from the tribes of West and South China, who had helped the Tchen to overthrow the preceding dynasty. Only a few fragments of information about them have survived, and these in a much altered state. At the close of his paper the Professor passed in review six annual trade-routes between India, Cochin-China, and China, previously to the Christian era. Of these two are important, viz., the one through Assam to India, and the other to Tung-King by the Red River. It was by the latter that the sea-traders of Kattigara (Hanoi) heard of the important trading state of Tsen (in Yunnan), this name being, in fact, the antecedent of that of China. Dr. T. Tuka exhibited forty pieces of Tibetan printed books and MSS. which the late A. C. de Koros gave in 1839 to the Rev. Dr. S. C. Malan, then secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and which this gentleman has presented to the Hungarian Academy of Sciences at Buda-Pesth.

STATISTICAL.--_May 20_, Mr. R. Lawson, V.P., in the chair. Mr. C. Walford read a paper entitled “A Statistical Review of Canada.”

NUMISMATIC.--_May_ 15, Dr. J. Evans, President, in the chair. Mr. H. Montagu exhibited a half-halfpenny or farthing of Eadred, the original coin having been bisected for the purpose of creating two farthings, in the same way as pennies were frequently halved and quartered. Mr. J. G. Hall exhibited a hammered sovereign of Charles II.’s first coinage with the numerals XX behind the head of the king; weight, 138 grains. Mr. B. V. Head read a paper, by Mr. C. F. Keary, on a hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins found in Rome during some recent excavations on the site of the House of the Vestals at the foot of the Palatine. The “find” consisted of 830 Anglo-Saxon pennies, ranging from A.D. 871 to 947. It represented an instalment of the tribute money popularly known as Peter’s pence, a devotional gift instituted in the 8th or 9th century, consisting of a denarius a year, payable by the head of every family possessed of a certain quantity of land, at St. Peter’s mass, on pain of excommunication. Mr. Keary said that the hoard of coins was of considerable numismatic importance, as it yielded the names of many new moneyers and of some new towns. Mr. N. Heywood communicated a notice of the discovery of Anglo-Saxon coins beneath the foundations of Waterloo Bridge. Mr. Toplis sent a list of forty varieties of 17th century tradesmen’s tokens of Nottinghamshire not described in Boyne’s work.

PHILOLOGICAL.--_May 16_, anniversary meeting. Dr. J. A. H. Murray President, in the chair. The President delivered his annual address. After noticing the members who had died since last anniversary, and reviewing the work of the Society during the last two years, he read reports by Mr. W. R. Morfill, on the Slavonic languages; by M. Paul Hunfalvy and Mr. Patterson on Hungarian since 1873; by Mr. E. G. Brown on Turkish; and by Mr. R. M. Cust, on the Hamitic languages of North Africa. Mr. H. Sweet read his own report “On the Practical Study of Language.” The President then gave an account of the progress of the Society’s Dictionary, and dwelt on the difficulty of settling the etymology of Middle English words and of making out the logical development of important words of long standing. The following Members were elected the Society’s officers for the ensuing year: President, Rev. Prof. W. W. Skeat; Vice-Presidents, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. W. Stokes, A. J. Ellis, Rev. R. Morris, H. Sweet, Dr. J. A. H. Murray, and Prince Lucien Bonaparte; Ordinary Members of Council, Prof. A. G. Bell, H. Bradshaw, E. L. Brandreth, W. R. Browne, Prof. C. Cassal, R. N. Cust, Sir J. F. Davis, F. T. Elworthy, H. H. Gibbs, H. Jenner, Dr. E. L. Lushington, Prof. R. Martineau, A. J. Patterson, J. Peile, Prof. J. P. Postgate, Prof. C. Rieu, Rev. A. H. Sayce, Dr. E. B. Tylor, H. Wedgwood, and R. F. Weymouth; Treasurer, B. Dawson; Hon. Sec., F. J. Furnivall. A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Gladstone for his grant of a pension of £250 a year to the editor of the Society’s Dictionary.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL.--_May 13_, Prof. Flower, President, in the chair. Dr. J. Stephens sent a drawing of a large pointed palæolithic implement, found near Reading. Mr. W. G. Smith exhibited two palæolithic implements lately found in North London: one was made of quartzite, and is the first example of this material met with in the London gravels; the other was a white implement from the “trail and warp.” He also exhibited two white porcellaneous palæolithic flakes replaced on their original blocks. A paper on “The Ethnology of the Andaman Islands,” by Mr. E. H. Man, was read. Prof. Flower read some “Additional Observations on the Osteology of the Natives of the Andaman Islands.” Since reading a paper before the Institute on the same subject in 1879 the author had had the opportunity of examining ten skeletons, two of which are in the University of Oxford, and eight in the Barnard Davis collection at the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons.--_May 27_, Prof. Flower, President, in the chair. Mr. H. O. Forbes read a paper “On the Kubus of Sumatra.” Dr. Garson read a paper “On the Osteology of the Kubus.” Mr. T. Bent read some “Notes on Prehistoric Remains in Antiparos,” and exhibited several specimens of pottery, some rudely carved marble figures, and a skull from cemeteries in that island.

PROVINCIAL.

BERKSHIRE ARCHÆOLOGICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY.--On Tuesday, July 1, visits were paid to St. Helen’s Church, Abingdon, Cumnor Church, Appleton Church and Manor House, and also Fyfield Church and Manor, where they were entertained at luncheon by Mr. and Mrs. James Parker. At Cumnor the party inspected the site of Old Cumnor Hall, where Mr. Parker narrated its history since the sixteenth century, and examined the story of Amy Robsart’s life and supposed murder, as narrated by Sir Walter Scott in his novel of “Kenilworth.” At Fyfield Manor Mr. Parker conducted the party through the various rooms, showing them, among other things of interest, a recently-discovered stone mantelpiece, with initials and date of the early part of the seventeenth century. At Abingdon, after inspecting St. Helen’s Church, the party examined the ancient deeds and charters in the Hall of Christ’s Hospital, the Corporation plate and pictures, the remains of the Abbey, and other objects of interest.

BRIGHTON AND SUSSEX NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.--_June 19_, Dr. Hollis, President, in the chair. Mr. F. E. Sawyer read a paper on “Sussex Dialect and Speech,” in which he referred to a branch of the subject which had not hitherto received sufficient attention, namely, the connection of dialect with the early spellings of place-names. Derivations of names, Mr. Sawyer observed, are too often based on modern forms of spelling, when a careful examination would show the older forms to be attempts of strange or foreign scribes to represent phonetically dialectal pronunciation of place-names. “The termination ‘ing,’” he continued, “is generally considered to be patronymic, and as it is a peculiarity of the Sussex dialect to drop the final ‘g,’ as Cockneys do, we may consider that many old names not mentioned by Kemble are patronymic, _i.e._, of tribal origin, and deriving their names from some tribal ancestor.” There is a close connection, Mr. Sawyer remarked in conclusion, between place-names and surnames, and in Sussex the Saxon element will be found very strongly marked amongst the surnames.

ESSEX FIELD CLUB.--_June 21_, the members and friends paid a visit to Epping Forest. On arriving at the ancient earthwork called Ambresbury Bank, Mr. J. E. Harting, F.L.S., delivered a discourse on “The Deer of Epping Forest,” in which he treated firstly of the antiquity of the forest as a hunting-ground of the Kings and Queens of England; and, secondly, of the nature of the deer which were hunted, and the present condition of the two kinds of deer which may be found there. The forest was in early times called the Forest of Essex, as being the only forest within that county, nearly the whole of which was anciently comprehended within it. As its extent became abridged it was called the Forest of Waltham, from the first village of importance which sprung up within its purlieus. According to Camden, the first mention occurs about the latter times of the Saxons, when Tovi, standard-bearer to King Canute, “induced by the abundance of deer, built a number of houses here, and peopled them with sixty-six inhabitants.” After his death, his son Athelstan squandered the estate, whereupon Edward the Confessor, into whose hands it had come, bestowed the village on his brother-in-law, Harold, son of Earl Godwin, who built Waltham Abbey. The Abbot was one of the few residents in the neighbourhood who, besides the King, was privileged to kill deer in this forest, although mediæval records contain notices of royal permission given at times to the citizens of London to use the Forest of Epping as a hunting-ground for their recreation. Henry III., in 1226, granted to the citizens the privilege of hunting once a year, at Easter, within a circuit of twenty miles of the city, and until within comparatively recent times the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Corporation continued annually to avail themselves of this privilege. At the conclusion of Mr. Hastings’ lecture the party moved on towards Loughton, passing on the way through the ancient earthwork known as Cowper’s Camp, which was explored by the Club in 1883.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND.--_June 9_, Sir William F. Douglas, P.R.S.A. (Scot.), in the chair. Mr. J. Romilly Allen, F.S.A. (Scot.), read a paper entitled “Notes on Early Christian Symbolism.” The author in dealing with that special branch of the subject which includes the representations sculptured on the fonts, tympana of doorways, and other carved stonework of the Norman period, showed what ample material there is to form a museum of Christian archæology, by having casts taken of these sculptured fonts, tympana, &c., so that they might be placed together in one gallery, and thus be made to yield whatever scientific results are attainable from them. Mr. Allen gave a list classified by subjects and localities of upwards of 120 tympana, 80 fonts, and 30 pieces of miscellaneous sculpture. The paper was illustrated by a series of drawings and photographs of the principal types of the symbolic representations on Norman fonts and tympana. The second paper was a notice by Mr. Charles Stewart of Tigh’n Duin, Killin, of several sepulchral mounds and cup-marked stones in the district of Fortingall, Glenylon, Perthshire; and the Rev. Hugh Macmillan, D.D., of Greenock, followed with a description of two boulders having rain-filled cavities on the shores of Loch Tay, formerly associated with the cure of disease. Mr. George Sim, Curator of Coins, gave an account of recent “finds” of coins in Scotland. Only two discoveries have occurred during the session--one of 177 silver pennies, chiefly of the Edwards, at Arkleton, Dumfriesshire; and one of 53 silver coins, chiefly of Mary and Elizabeth, at Woodend, in the Isle of Skye. The last paper was a descriptive notice of the stone circles of Strathnairn and neighbourhood of Inverness, by Mr. James Fraser, C.E. Twenty-five of the circles were described, and accurate plans of them, made to a uniform scale of ten feet to the inch, were exhibited, forming a body of materials for the comparative study of stone circles of unprecedented extent and value. Five old Communion flagons and a chalice and paten of pewter, from Old St. Paul’s Church, were exhibited by Rev. R. Mitchell-Innes. Two of the flagons show the Edinburgh Pewterers’ stamp, and one has the maker’s name--John Durand, 1688.