Volume 4 — Notes.

THE EFFIGIES OF ENGLISH SOVEREIGNS EXTANT IN FRANCE.

In the year 1816, Mr. Charles Stothard discovered in a cellar (as it is described) of one of the buildings adjoining the ruined abbey at Fontevraud, which was then used as a prison, the monumental effigies of King Henry II., Eleanor of Aquitaine his queen, King Richard I., and Queen Isabella of Angoulême. It had been feared that these monuments shared the destruction of the royal tombs from which they were torn, in the fearful outrages of the Revolution; but they were found to have escaped the general havoc, although they had suffered some mutilation. They are described to be sculptures almost coeval with the decease of the sovereigns represented, and to possess such a chaste grandeur and simplicity of character as to add great artistic value to their historical importance. Mr. Stothard represented to the English government of that day the propriety of rescuing such venerable monuments from further injury, and of bringing them to Westminster Abbey; and an application appears to have been made, through some official channel, to the French authorities; but it was not successful, though it had the effect, as it is said, of inducing the latter to direct measures to be taken for the better preservation of these effigies. About the same time, Mr. Stothard discovered the monumental effigy of Queen Berengaria in the ruins of her once-stately abbey-church of L'Espan, near Mans, which he found converted into a barn; but it was then in contemplation to place this effigy in the church of St. Julien there, when the restoration of that edifice should be completed. A memoir (which I cannot here obtain) on the sepulchral statues of English sovereigns at Fontevraud was read in 1841 in the congress of the Society for Preserving the Historical Monuments of France; and by the researches of M. Deville, a distinguished antiquary of Normandy, another effigy of King Richard "of the Lion Heart" was brought to light in 1838, from beneath the modern pavement of the choir of Rouen Cathedral, and was shortly afterwards made known in England by the very interesting communication made by Mr. Albert Way to the Society of Antiquaries of London, and published in vol. xxix. of the Archæologia.

I am not aware that attention has been otherwise drawn to these effigies since the publication of Mr. Stothard's great work, nor can I find that his suggestion has at any time been revived, or that the steps which may have been taken at Fontevraud for rescuing these monuments from the gradual demolition which seemed to threaten them, were such as are likely to insure their ultimate preservation. What those steps were, or what is the present state of these interesting memorials, I have not been able to learn; but, inasmuch as it appears that the tombs they covered have been destroyed; that in the fury of revolutionary violence the remains of the royal dead were scattered to the winds; and that the abbey church of Fontevraud itself fell into a state of ruin, if not of desecration; it will probably be agreed that the removal of these monuments to Westminster Abbey is unobjectionable, and that their deposit among the effigies of our early sovereigns in that glorious edifice would be appropriate, and is much to be desired. Being strongly impressed with that opinion, I trouble you with this note, which, if you should deem it worthy of insertion, may elicit some information, and perhaps lead to an application for leave to remove these monuments, and place them in Westminster Abbey. The present time seems favourable for such an effort; and if the object in view should have the sanction of Queen Victoria, the interference of Her Majesty would probably prevail.

W. SIDNEY GIBSON.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

ARABIC INSCRIPTIONS—MOCATTEB MOUNTAINS.

The principle of decyphering propounded for the Nineveh inscriptions (Vol. iv., p. 220.) is available equally, and with better prospect of speedy solution, in the case of those of Mocatteb. A very interesting narrative is given of these in Laborde's Mount Sinai and Petra (p. 248). The site of them is seventy miles direct distance south-east from Suez, and they extend on the rock three miles and more in length, at a height of ten or twelve feet, and in the line of route to Sinai, which is distant fifty miles south-east from Mocatteb. They also lie not only in the usual caravan route, but almost in a direct line drawn from Ethiopia to the cities of Nineveh and Babylon. Nimrod is represented as an Ethiopian (Gen. x. 8.), "Cush begat Nimrod" = "Nimrod was an Ethiopian by descent." The whole of this invaluable monument of the most ancient geography, the tenth of Genesis, must be read with reference to nations, and not individuals.

Both the valley and the mountains are named from these "Inscriptions" = Mocatteb in Arabic; that fact alone indicates considerable antiquity, especially in a country like Arabia, where the fashion of changing any usage, especially that of names of places, has never prevailed. The vicinity of these inscriptions to that portion of the world wherein the Mosaic law had its origin, and probably, as a necessary consequence, the invention of an alphabet also; and likewise the great question of ancient intercourse between Egypt, Ethiopia, Assyria (Chaldea), and India, have rendered the interpretation of the Mocatteb inscriptions a problem of paramount interest, insomuch that Bishop Clayton offered a considerable sum of money for a copy of them. In the Royal Society's Transactions, vol. ii. part vi. 1832, are specimens of 187 of these, whereof nine are Greek and one Latin. Some of them are doubtless of the sixth century.

Coutelle and Roziere (Antiquities, vol. v. p. 57.) copied seventy-five of them, and Pococke and Montague give a few specimens. Seetzen, Burkhardt, and Henneker saw them; and Niebuhr may be said to have been sent out expressly on their account, but the result was nil. Cosmus, Montfaucon, Neitzchitz, Monconys, Koischa, and others, mention them, and they have been seen by a caravan of persons familiar with Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Coptic, Latin, Armenian, Turkish, English, Illyrian, German, and Bohemian, to all of whom they were equally inexplicable. Since the discovery of Daguerre, we are placed in a position to obtain a real fac-simile of the whole of these inscriptions, at a small expense of time or money. Any person familiar with the use of the daguerrotype (the less learned the better) could now speedily furnish what the good Bishop so fervently longed after, were he only provided with the small sum of a few hundred pounds to take him thither and bring back his invaluable treasures. Although the Mocatteb are graven with an iron pen in the rock (Job xix. 24.), they are not everlasting, for the rains have had some effect in obliterating them, being cut, not on granite, as was formerly thought, but on red sandstone. It is worth remark, that although Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, he rejected entirely the hieroglyphic system of writing, and that no mention or allusion is made to the art of writing till 1491 B.C., in Ex. xvii. 14.,[1] just prior to the delivery of the law, and in connection with the account of Jethro, his father-in-law; subsequently, constant allusion is made to writing. There is only one reference to this art in Homer (Il. z. 168.). The author of Job, who appears to have had a much more enlarged knowledge of art and science than Moses, speaks of the cutting and painting (for so the Arabic and Hebrew words should be rendered, and not printing) on a roll, i.e. with the style and brush; also of the cutting (felling) with a chisel (in Arabic, a digger) on lead, or on a rock.[2]

The examination of the copies of the inscriptions already in our possession will probably determine whether the language is hieroglyphic, syllabic, or alphabetic. The principal point is to enumerate the characters found to be clearly distinct from each other. Should there be found two to three hundred decidedly distinct characters—assuming it to be one language and one uniform character of that language, for many nations (peoples) use more than one character—the language à priori must be hieroglyphic. If 70 to 90, it will be syllabic; but if only 20 to 50, it may be safely concluded that it is alphabetic. The letters distinct from each other may be less than 20, inasmuch as in the Arabic, most probably the language which will solve this problem, one character represents several sounds, the points, usually omitted, alone distinguishing the difference between be, te, tse, nun, and jod, between jim, ha and cha, between dal and zal, between re and se, sin and shin, zad and dad, fe and kaf, &c. &c. On the other hand, the language has increased the number of its characters, by distinguishing initial from medial and terminal letters, having retained only thirteen originally distinct characters in its alphabet.

The Ethiopic, written from left to right, has manifestly furnished the Arabs with their cursive character, the one uniformly printed, written from right to left, or otherwise both have derived them from a common source. Of the intimate relation early subsisting between the Ethiopians and their Shemitic congeners in Asia, one remarkable instance is the former retaining to themselves exclusively "the exalted horn," so often mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the wearing of which has been long abandoned by every other family of that race.

T. J. BUCKTON.

Lichfield.

ADDITIONS TO CUNNINGHAM'S HAND-BOOK OF LONDON.

St. Stephen's Church, Walbrook.

—Sir Robert Chicheley, alderman and twice Lord Mayor of London, is said, in Wm. Ravenhill's Short Account of the Company of Grocers from their Original (4to. Lond. 1689), to have purchased the ground whereon St. Stephen's church stands, and to have built, at his own charge, the church which was afterwards replaced by the edifice of Sir Christopher Wren. The founder was a member of that company, and to them he gave the advowson. He was the youngest of three brothers, of whom the eldest was Henry Chicheley, Archbishop of Canterbury temp. Henry VI. The second brother was Sir William, who, like Robert, was an alderman, and a member of the Grocers' Company. From the younger brother, Robert, descended Sir Thomas Chicheley, who was Master of the Ordnance and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the reign of Charles II.

Grocers' Hall.

—In 1411 the custos or warden and brethren of the Grocers' Company purchased of Robert Lord Fitzwalter his mansion-house and lands, extending from near the Old Jewry to Walbrook in the centre of the city of London, for 320 marks, and soon afterwards laid the foundation of their new Common-hall. In 1429 they had license to acquire lands of the value of 500 marks. There was "a fair open garden behind, for air and diversion, and before the house, within the gate, a large court-yard." The company, after the fire of London, rebuilt and enlarged the old Hall, says Ravenhill in his Account of the Grocers' Company (Lond. 1689), "with offices and accommodations far beyond any other place, for the most commodious seat of the chief magistrate." (See Mr. Cunningham's quotation from Strype, as to its civic uses.) King Charles II. accepted the office of Master of the Company, and they set up his statue in the Royal Exchange. See Ravenhill's Short Account of the Company of Grocers, and Howel's Londinopolis, fol. Lond. 1657.

W. S. G.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sept. 1851.

RICHARD ROLLE OF HAMPOLE, NO. II.

Owing to my absence from England, I was unable to answer the Queries which were put to me (No 94., p. 116.) by your respected correspondent J. E. The word guistroun (as also Salhanas) was merely an error of the press; and with respect to the others, I concur, for the most part, in the learned observations of MR. SINGER (No 96., p. 159.). Quistroun, it may be added, is found in a MS. chronicle quoted in the preface to the French version of Havelok, and with the explanation "de sa quisyne." The singular form of chaunsemlees is written chauncemele in the Promptuar. Parvul., and rendered subtelaris, which, according to Ducange, would correspond exactly to slipper.

I now beg to present your readers with a fresh series of extracts from the same volume. The first, though rather long, will not easily bear abbreviation. It is somewhat in the style of Piers Ploughman, but earlier by several years. The subject is the unfaithfulness of the clergy in the former half of the fourteenth century:—

2. Nor was the author of these sermons less severe in rebuking the faults of the layman. The following is a specimen of his plain-spoken fervour:—

3. Yet with regard to one class of questions, the tongue of the preacher was restrained. After touching the subject of confession and the frailty of some confessors, he adds in a significant way:

4. The following extract will not fail to interest the student of prophecy:—

5. The last passage I shall cite is a curious exposition of the First Commandment (p. 455.):—

"Þe first heste is þis: Þu schalt worschipen Þi lord god & him alone seruyn. In þt heste is forboden to don any sacrifice to mawmettis or worschipe to fals goddis. In þt heste also is forboden al maner wicchecraftis, enchauntementis, wiþ seruys and markis and al manere experimentis, coniuraciouns, as men wone to do and maken for thynges i-stolen, in bacynes, in swerdis and in certeyn names wreten and enclosed, holi water and holi candel and oþere manye maneris whiche ben nought good to neuene. In þt heste also is forboden al maner iogelyng and for to tellyn of þing þt is to comen, be sterres and planets, or be metell, or be destene, or be schynynge of þe pawme of mannes hond or eny oþere maneris. For þei aproperen to man þing þt oneliche falleþ to god, to witen of þinges þt arn to come," &c.

C. H.

St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge.

A FUNERAL IN HAMBURGH.

MR. GATTY'S observations (Vol. iii., p. 499.) regarding the funeral of an Irish labourer, have reminded me that while on a visit some years ago to a brother in the city of Hamburgh, we one Sunday spent the day with a worthy pastor of a small village a few miles from that city, where we went early enough to attend morning service in the village church; and in the afternoon, while indulging with our pipes and coffee in an alcove in the pastor's garden, I observed a funeral approach the churchyard gate, and understanding that the ceremony was different to what I had been accustomed to, I laid down my pipe and walked into the churchyard to observe what passed, and my movement induced my brother and another or two to become spectators also. The funeral party having arranged themselves at the entrance, the ceremony commenced as follows. The parish clerk or verger walked first, having a lemon in one hand and a bunch of evergreen in the other; he was followed by six choristers or singing boys, then six men as bearers carrying the coffin, and after them the mourners and other attendants. As soon as the cavalcade moved off, the clerk or verger gave out a strophe of some psalm or hymn, which he and the boys chanted while moving round the churchyard; and thus chanting they followed a green path, which I discovered was kept close mown for the purpose; and I observed our worthy pastor had joined the cavalcade, though alone, and at some little distance from the mourners. I understood it was customary thus to move three times round, but being a very sultry afternoon, the party made two turns serve, when coming to the open grave the bearers let down the coffin into it, and then another strophe was chanted, which ended, the mourners took a last look at the coffin, and silently dropped their sprigs of evergreen upon it; the bearers then each took a spade, already provided for them, and quickly filled up the grave, and adjusted its form, when the funeral party returned silently home as they came. The pastor had now retreated again to the alcove in his garden, where we soon joined him, and he told me that as we had gone to witness the ceremony, it would have been thought disrespectful had he not also shown himself, though it did not appear that his attendance was necessary. The general practice here observed of the bearers filling up the grave, shows that the Irish labourers had some more general custom for their practice than MR. GATTY appears to be aware of.

W. S. HESLEDEN.

FOLK LORE.

The Baker's Daughter.

—Ophelia (Act IV. Sc. 5.) says that

This reminds me of a Welsh tradition concerning the female who refused a bit of dough from the oven to the Saviour "when He hungered," and was changed into Cassek gwenwyn, for לִילִית, lilish[TR: Lilith], lamia, strix, the night spectre, mara, or screech-owl.

G. M.

"Pray remember the Grotto" on St. James's Day (Vol. i., p. 5.).

—The interesting note with which MR. WILLIAM J. THOMS presented the firstborn of "NOTES AND QUERIES," may perhaps admit of a postscript, borrowed from one of Mr. Jerdan's well-deserving pupils, the Literary Gazette for 1822:

"I am inclined to believe that the illuminated grottos of oyster-shells for which the London children beg about the streets, are the representatives of some Catholic emblem which had its day, as a substitute for a more classical idol. I was struck in London with the similarity of the plea which the children of both countries urge in order to obtain a halfpenny. The 'It is but once a year, sir!' often reminded me of the

This to prove that I did remember the grotto.

* & ?

Manpadt House.

The King's Evil.

—One Mr. Bacon of Ferns, being an one-and-twentieth son born in wedlock, without a daughter intervening, has performed prodigious cures in the king's evil and scrofulous cases, by stroking the part with his hand. (The Gentleman's Magazine for December 1731, p. 543.)

* & ?

Bees.

—Being at a neighbour's house about a month ago, the conversation turned upon the death of a mutual acquaintance a short time prior to my visit. A venerable old lady present asked, with great earnestness of manner, "Whether Mr. R.'s bees had been informed of his death?" (Our friend R. had been a great bee-keeper.) No one appeared to be able to answer the old lady's question satisfactorily, whereat she was much concerned, and said, "Well, if the bees were not told of Mr. R's death they would leave their hives, and never return. Some people give them a piece of the funeral cake; I don't think that is absolutely necessary, but certainly it is better to tell them of the death." Being shortly afterwards in the neighbourhood of my deceased friend's residence, I went a little out of my way to inquire after the bees. Upon walking up the garden I saw the industrious little colony at full work. I learned, upon inquiring of the housekeeper, that the bees had been properly informed of Mr. R.'s death.

I was struck with the singularity of this specimen of folk-lore, and followed up the subject with further inquiries amongst my acquaintance. I found that in my own family, upon the death of my mother, some five-and-twenty years ago, the bees were duly informed of the event. A lady friend also told me, that twenty years ago, when she was at school, the father of her school-mistress died, and on that occasion the bees were made acquainted with his death, and regaled with some of the funeral cake.

I wish to know whether this custom prevails in any other, and what part of England, and to what extent?

L. L. L.

North Lincolnshire.

THE CAXTON COFFER.

Reflecting on the extreme rarity of the works which issued from the press of Caxton, the question arises, What number of copies was he accustomed to print? On that point, as it seems, we have only conjectures.

Maittaire assumes that the number was about 200; an opinion which I shall not controvert. Dibdin, however, inclines to think, with regard to The golden legend and other works of the same class, "that at least 400 copies were struck off;" and in support of this conjecture, cites the practice of Sweynheym and Pannartz, as proved by the memorial addressed in their behalf to Sixtus IV., by J. Andrea, bishop of Aleria, in 1472, which practice he thus states:—

"If we are to judge from the celebrated list of the number of copies of the different works printed by those indefatigable typographical artists, Sweynheym and Pannartz, it would appear that 275 was the usual number of copies of a particular work; although sometimes they ventured to strike off as many as 550; and, twice, not fewer than 1100 copies."

Now, our renowned bibliographer misinterprets the important document which he cites. Sweynheym and Pannartz printed 300 copies of a Donatus, and the same number of a Speculum vitæ humanæ, and of two more works. In all other cases, each impression of the works which proceeded from their press consisted of only 275 copies. The words Volumina quingenta quinquaginta refer to works of which two editions were published, or which were in two volumes; and the words Volumina mille centum, to a work of which there were two editions of two volumes each. So the conjecture of Dibdin loses its best support.

As Sweynheym and Pannartz printed only 275 copies of the works of such authors as St. Augustin and St. Jerome, of Cæsar, Cicero, Livy, Ovid, Quinctilian, and Virgil—works which must have found purchasers in all parts of Europe—it is rather improbable that Caxton should have ventured to exceed that number with respect to books for which, being chiefly translations, there could be no demand beyond the shores of England.

BOLTON CORNEY.

Minor Notes.

Braham Moor.

—The following remarkable account of this place by John Watson, Esq., of Malton, in the year 1781, may be interesting to some of the readers of your paper. Braham is situated five miles S.W. of Tadcaster, and close to, and in, the remains of the old Roman road called "Watling Street:"—

"Upon the middle of this moor a man may see ten miles around him; within those ten miles there is as much free stone as would build ten cities as large as York; within those ten miles there is as much good oak timber as would build those ten cities; there is as much limestone, and coals to burn it into lime, as the building of those ten cities would require; there is also as much clay and sand, and coals to burn them into bricks and tiles, as would build those ten cities; within those ten miles there are two iron forges sufficient to furnish iron for the building of those ten cities, and 10,000 tons to spare; within those ten miles there is lead sufficient for the ten cities, and 10,000 fodders to spare; within those ten miles there is a good coal seam sufficient to furnish those ten cities with firing for 10,000 years; within those ten miles there are three navigable rivers, from any part of which a man may take shipping and sail to any part of the world; within those ten miles there are seventy gentlemen's houses, all keeping coaches, and the least of them an esquire, and ten parks and forests well stocked with deer; within those ten miles are ten market towns, one of which may be supposed to return 10,000l. per week."

CHAS. W. MARKHAM.

Becca Hall, Tadcaster.

Portraits of Burke.

—Through the kindness of a friend I have just examined what I take to be an interesting and curious work of art, viz., a miniature of the great Edmund Burke, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and said to be the only miniature he ever painted. It is a small oval of ivory executed in water colours, and represents him past the meridian of life, his hair combed back from his ample forehead, and powdered; the coat (according to the fashion of the day) without a collar, and, as well as the waistcoat, of a chocolate colour; a white stock, and the shirt frill of lace; the features, although retaining great animation and intelligence, are round and plump. The painting is carefully and delicately finished. The same friend also possesses another miniature of the same right honourable gentleman (artist unknown), deserving notice: it is in a much larger oval, and drawn in coloured crayons. This likeness represents the statesman at a much earlier period of life, and is most exquisitely executed: his fine auburn hair in natural waves, if I may use the expression, is also thrown off the face, the features rather sharp, the nose prominent, the eyes brilliant, the lips beautifully expressed, and, on the whole, one of the most highly finished specimens of this style I ever saw: the costume the same as that already described, the colour being a snuff-brown. In this portrait, a black ribbon crosses the lace frill, indicating the presence of an eye-glass, an appendage not observable in portraits taken later in life. The lady who owns these paintings is the widow of a gentleman lately deceased, who being related to, was brought up under the guardianship of this great man, and was by him introduced into public life; circumstances which prove the authenticity of the works thus briefly described.

M. W. B.

Bruges, Sept. 26, 1851.