Fifty earliest English wills in the Court of Probate, London : A. D. 1387-1439 : with a priest's of 1454 / copied and edited from the original registers in Somerset House by Frederick J. Furnivall

END NOTES.

p. 3, l. 10. a serteyn (weekly allowance). This expression occurs in 3 later wills in the Probate Registry, from Worsted, Norfolk, as meaning, in one case a sum of money; in two others, a religious service:—

• John GLAVEYN (Worsted, Norfolk), in his Will, A.D. 1505 (42 Holgrave), refers to a "perpetual serteyn" which was assigned by the Will of one Thos. Glaveyn, "that is to say, iiij^s iiij^d to be distribute to xij powre persons on seynt Brices day."
• John BURGH (Worsted, Norfolk), in his Will, A.D. 1496 (31 Vox), says: "I bequeith xxx^s iiij^d for to have a certeyn rehersed in the church ... by the prest or Curate ... fore my soule and my frendes soules during the terme of vij yeres."
• John BOLT, by his Will, A.D. 1499 (39 Horne), bequeaths money "pro uno le certeyne celebrando" in the church of Worsted (Norfolk).

p. 4. Lady Alice West: she was the daughter of Reginald Fitz-Piers, and Widow of Sir Thomas West, knight, who died 3 Sept. 1386.—J. H. Round.

p. 4, l. 5. Hynton Marcel: Hinton Martel, Badbury Hundred, Dorset.—J. H. R.

p. 4, l. 11. Thomas, my sone: Sir Thomas West, knight, summoned to Parliament, 21 June, 1402.—J. H. R.

p. 5, l. 1. Costers. These were also used in Churches: "

Costers. A name given to hangings for the sides of an altar or choir.

"—Pugin.

p. 5, l. 3. A Widow's Wedding to God. p. 60, l. 24; p. 61, l. 5: And if she take þe mantel and þe rynge, and auowe chastite.—The form of the Ceremony —Benedictio Vidue—is given in the Liber Pontificalis of Edmund Lacy, Bp. of Exeter (appointed A.D. 1420 [He was with Hen. V. at Agincourt in 1415, as Dean of the Chapel Royal.] , ed. R. Barnes, 1847, p. 122-6. Between the Epistle and Gospel, the Widow kneeling during Service, before the Bishop (who sits on a faldstool), is askt whether she wishes to be the spouse of Christ, and give up the lusts of the flesh. She then puts in the Bp.'s hands the following Profession:

'I. N., Wedow, avoue to God perpetuell chastite of my body from henceforward, and in the presence of the honorable fadyr in God, my Lord N., by the grace of God, Bishop of N., I promytt stabilly to leve in the Church, Wedow. And this to do, of myne own hand, I subscribe this wrytyng. (And after, let her make the sign of the Cross.)"
The Bishop then prays, and blesses the Mantle and puts it on the Widow. Then he blesses the Ring, sprinkles it with holy water, and puts it, as the sign of her marriage to Christ, on the Widow's finger, saying:
"Accipe, famula Christi, anulum, fidei signum, connubii indicium, quem devota deferas, casta custodias, quoad amplexus divini sponsi coronanda pervenias. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Oremus."
He says 3 Prayers accordingly, and the matter is ended. Miss Mary Lambert kindly referd me to this Pontifical.

p. 5, l. 13. bokes of latyn, englisch, and frensch. Compare the earliest bequests of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Boece known to Mr. Challenor Smith in John Brinchele's Will, 1420 (Commissary Court of London, More, lf. lxiiij^o, back):—

July 4, 1420. "Ego, Johannes Brynchele, Ciuis & Cissor Londonie .....

Item relaxo et condono Johanni Broune totum illud debitum in quo michi tenetur de meis bonis proprijs. Et volo quod habeat illum librum vocatum Boecius de Consolatione Philosophie in latinis, quem habui pro vadio Alterius libri Angliam,? Anglici.vocati Boecius de Consolacione Philosophie. Item lego David Fyvyan, Rectori ecclesie sancti Benedicti Fynke supradicti, vt sit superuisor presentis testamenti mei, vj s' viij d, et vnum librum in Anglicis vocatum Boecium de Consolacione Philosophie. Item lego Willelmo Holgrave, vt sit vnus executorum meorum, vj s' viij d, et optimum Arcum meum, et librum meum vocatum Talys of Caunterbury" .....

Will proovd, "xiij kalendarum Septembris, Anno domini M1 CCCCmo xxmo"

p. 5, l. 21. Chales. "

Chalice. The vessel in which the sacred Blood of our Lord is consecrated.

"—Pugin.

p. 5, l. 22; 76/4. "

Crewetts, small vessels of glass or metal, to contain the wine and water intended for consecration at the Altar.... The body of the crewetts should be made of crystal, glass, or some transparent substance to enable the celebrant to distinguish readily between the wine and water .. although ... in the old English inventories they [the crewetts] are generally described as of silver, whole or parcel gilt.

"—Eccl. Ornament. The difference was no doubt markt by the differing shapes of the 2 crewetts. Even the two crystal ones engraved in Pugin are of different size and shape.

p. 10, 4th line of heading. [[of "argument" in this electronic edition.--cp]] for Helmdon read Hillingdon.

p. 10, last line of footnote, read "Hillingdon is 14 m. W. of Hyde Park Corner, 1 1/4 m. S.E. of Uxbridge Station."

p. 10, note 2. Illustrated London News: of Dec. 27, 1873.

p. 11, 1. 18. for Helmdon read Helindon.

p. 14, l. 4, for huius read huiusmodi; 1. 6, for venerunt read venerint.

p. 15, l. 12; 17/3, &c.; Deryge be note. (Placebo.) Vespers for the dead were "

known by the term 'Placebo,' because such is the first word of that service, the anthem before the first psalm being 'Placebo Domino in regione vivorum.' [See 'The Office and the Masses for the Dead, with the Order of Burial: from the Roman Breviary, Missal, and Ritual. In Latin and English . . London: T. Jones, 63, Paternoster Row, Catholic Publisher, 1853.' p. 1. ] Mortuary solemnities always began with even-song in the afternoon; on the early morrow, matins and lauds were chanted, after which Mass was sung." ..
"As the first anthem at matins commenced with 'Dirige' ... the whole of the morning's service, including the Mass, came to be designated a 'Dirige' or 'Dirge.'"

—Rock, Church of our Fathers, II., 503.—M. L.

p. 15, l. 12. Masse of Requiem. In the Rom.-Cath. Office and Masses for the Dead, 1853, the 'Requiem' (Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis [ Eternal rest give to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them.] ) occurs thrice in 'The Mass for all the Faithful departed,' p. 65—71.

p. 16, l. 20, percyd.—The copy of this Will of Robert Averay in Brown(C. C. London), leaf 200 back, reads 'partyd.'

p. 17, l. 24.—The copy in Brown, lf. 200 bk, has the record of Proof more fully thus:

Probatum est hoc testamentum coram nobis Iacobo Cole clerico, Commissario &c.; iij. kalendarum Iunij, Anno domini Ml CCCCmo xj. Et Commissa est administracio omnium bonorum Executoribus in dicto testamento nominatis, & admissa per eosdem in forma iuris. Et ije Idus Iulij, Anno supradicto, commissa fuit administracio omnium bonorum dicte Iohanne Executrici nuper ab intestato decedenti, Executori supradicto.

p. 18. William Langeford, Knt. Knight of the Shire for Berks, 17 R. II. and 5 H. IV., and Sheriff of Berks and Oxford, 6 H. IV., died 13 H. IV. (Sept. 1411-12: Esch. 13 H. IV. n. 32). He held one-third of the Manor of Mendysdene (now Minsden) in Hitchin, co. Herts, in capite, in right of his wife Anne, daughter and coheiress of John de Beverlée of Hitchin (Esch. 4 Rich. II. n. 11). As his widow's name was Lucy, she would seem to have been his second wife, and probably the mother of the younger sons mentioned in the will.

p. 19, l. 1. Robert myn heldest son. Robert Langeford, Knt., son and heir (Claus, 10 H. VI. m. 6), aged 22 in 13 H. IV. (Sept. 1411-12: Esch. 13 H. IV. n. 32), died 7 H. V. (March, 1419-20: Esch. 7 H. V.).

p. 19, l. 1.. my lady lovell. Alianore, daughter of William Lord Zouche of Haryngworth, and wife of Sir John Lovell, Baron Lovell and Holand.

p. 19, l. 27. Schyffeld, Burfeld, and Sulhamstade Abbis. Shivefield,

Burfield, and Sulhamstead Abbots, are three parishes lying together in a line south of Reading.

p. 23, l. 1. Canterie should be Cantarie.

p. 23, l. 1.. There's a Preston north of Hereford, but this Preston adjoins Little Marcle, as also do Putley and Ledbury. Woolhope, Sollers Hope, and Howcaple are west of Marcle; Aylton Chapel adjoins Putley; and Kempley and Dimock are in Glo'stershirè, south of Marcle.—J. Horace Round.

p. 26. Sir Thomas Broke: knight, of Thornecombe, co. Devon, son and heir of Sir Thomas Broke, knt., of Ivelchester, co. Somerset, and father of Sir Thomas Broke of Cobham, whose will, 1438-9, is on pages 129-130 below.—J. H. R.

p. 27, l. 11. Holdych: Holditch Manor in Thornecombe, Devon.—J. H. R.

p. 27, l. 12. Cotteleygh: Cottleigh near Thornecombe.—J. H. R.

p. 28, l. 1. Iohane my wyfe: Joan, 2nd daughter and coheiress of Simon Hanape of Co. Gloucester, and widow of Robert Chedder of the City of Bristol.—J. H. R.

p. 28, heading before l. 20. for leaf 337 read leaf 329.

p. 31, l. 10. Wodehouse. Woodhouse, Shropshire, E. of Oswestry.—Walker.

p. 33, l. 1, 4. Chalices. The a looks much like i in the MS.; but Mr. Challenor Smith reads it a.

p. 38, l. 32. Bowdens, Sayres, Spengolds, &c.—'

I am quite sure that Mr. Round's answer to your query in Notes and Queries (Oct. 1882) about these names, is the correct one. The names are those of tenants of certain farms. A curious coincidence is to be found in the municipal business of Derby, just over. The two successful candidates for Babington ward were Boden and Sayer!

'—Alfred Wallis, Friars Gate, Derby.

'I have found a singular confirmation of my view of Bowdens, which I told you I believed to be the corruption of an owner's name. The Irish named their townships as we do our farms, after the owners, adding "ton" after the name. I found a 'Bowdenston' in hunting through some Irish Chancery Records at the Record Office. Sayer was a well-known Essex name.'

—J. H. Round.

p. 39, note 3. Hadley and Eastwood adjoin Lee.—J. H. R.

p. 46, 1. 20. tamsery: probably tamisery, a made-up word from E. tammy = F. estamine (in Cotgrave), called tamine and tammy in English. Apparently confused with F. tamis, a sieve. Scheler, in treating of F. tamis, notices the Eng. tammy, but rightly remarks that tammy and F. tamisare totally unconnected. Probably from Lat. stamen: see tammy in my Dictionary. But this is all guesswork.—W. W. Skeat.

p. 47, l. 10. Weston Underwood, 2 miles w. of Olney, in Newport Hundred, co. Bucks.—J. H. R.

p. 47, l. 10. John Olney purchased lands in Weston, 4 Rich. II.; died 21 March, 1395. There is a brass to him in Weston Church.—J. H. R.

p. 49, l. 16, a flat basyn: p. 56, l. 5, flat gilt peces. "

A Wine-celler, with his Vessels and instruments . . . A flat peece, Patera, rœ. A standing cup, Crater ris, crara [? cratera] rœ, calix

." 1608, Withals' Dict., by W. Clerk, p. 179-180.

p. 50, l. 18. The Pore Caitiff. This is described in Lewis's Life of Wiclif, pp. 202-204. It is in 21 divisions. He gives the incipit of each. The tracts which make up the collection are often found separately.

p. 50, l. 21. Cristy gray. (I read it 'Crisly' first.) This 'Cristy grey' fur is often mentiond: see Hall.'s Gloss. I suppose it was some tufted, crest-like or plume-like fur. Fr. 'Creste: f. A crest, cop, combe; also, a tuft, or little plume standing on the top of. Cresté . . . Crested, copped, adorned with a combe.'—Cotgrave.

p. 51, l. 4. quayres: sermons (or comments). '

Fyrst I shall beseche you not to misconstrue myn entent, in puttyng forthe this queare to be printed, but that ye take it to the best.' 1532(?). Bp. Fisher, Sermon or 'Epistole.

' Works, E. E. T. Soc., part II, (1883?) p. 429.

p. 54, l. 14. William Kylwolmerssh, Clerke. He was Treasurer of England, and Prebendary of St. Paul's. His Will, A.D. 1422, is at Lambeth.

p. 55. Roger Flore: Son of William Flower, alias Flore, Sheriff of Rutland 6 Ric. II. Was Knight of the Shire 20 Ric. II; 1, 4, 6 Hen. IV; 2 Hen. V; and 1 Hen. VI; and Speaker of the House of Commons. He was patron of the old Hospital of St. John and St. Anne in Oakham (called 'þe Almeshouse of Okeham,' p. 62, l. 23-4), in right of his wife Catherine, daughter and heiress of William Dalby of Exton, its founder.—J. H. R.

p. 56, l. 3. Thomas my sone: Thomas Flore of Oakham, Esq., mar. Agnes, daughter and heiress of Peter Saltby of co. Linc. He was Sheriff of Rutland 9, 20, 29, 35 Hen. VI. and 5, 10 Ed. IV; buried at Oakham 1483. This must have been a subsequent wife, not mentioned in the Flore pedigree. —H. R.

p. 57, l. 34; p. 120, l. 10. my principal. The Principal (sometimes calld Mortuary, Corse-present, or Foredrove) was the deceast person's best horse, which followd the corpse at the funeral, and became the property of the priest. A survival of the custom may be seen at State funerals.

p. 57, l. 35. Sir Herre Plesyngton: Sir Henry Plessington, Knt., of Burley, co. Rutland (1 m. N.E. of Oakham), Knight of the Shire for Rutland 1 and 3 Hen. VI, and Sheriff 5 Hen. VI. He married a daughter of testator. —J. H. R.

p. 58, l. 14. Westminster: The Abbot of Westminster was Patron of Oakham.—J. H. R.

p. 58, l. 30. koc kook. Perhaps Cokok: there are three or four early wills of men of that name.

p. 60, l. 30. Mastorpe. There's a Martinsthorpe in Rutlandshire.—H. R.

p. 62, l. 23. Þe Almeshouse of Okeham: This is the Hospital named in the note on p. 55, Roger Flore, p. 139, above.—J. H. R.

p. 65, l. 12. Thomas Fawkys. He was Rector of St. Bride's, Fleet St. See Newcourt's Repertorium, ii. 316.

p. 70, l. 25. Laffarebrugge. "

Laver, the name of 3 contiguous parishes in Essex, lying between Harlow and Ongar, and distinguished by the appellations of High, Magdalen, and Little. They are about 21 miles N. by W. of London.

"—Walker's Gazetteer, 1801.

p. 71, l. 7. A tumbe like sire Thomas More: Dean of St. Paul's, p. 71; p. 104, note 1; p. 105, note.
Thomas Moor, fellow of Pembroke Hall, Cambr. Treasurer to Anne, queen of Richard II, Preb. of Shipton in Salisbury Cathedral, 9 Nov. 1389; Preb. of Newington in St. Paul's, 6 June, 1391; Archdeacon of Colchester, 3 Nov. 1398. Dean of St. Paul's, Jan. 1406; d. 1421. Buried in a cloister on North side of St. Paul's, called Pardon Churchyard, where formerly stood a chapel said to have been founded by Gilbert Becket, who was buried there. (See p. 105, note, above.) It was rebuilt by this Thomas Moor, who obtained a License from Henry V to found a Chantry of Three Priests, but died before it could be accomplished. His executors, however, carried out the foundation, and his Obit was regularly kept on 23 December.—J. Horace Round.

p. 74, l. 2, 3. Þe Cok and þe Garlond in Colman-strete.—No sign of this name occurs in Larwood and Hotten's Hist. of Signboards. There. the fellows of the Cock, are the Anchor 212, Bear 212, Bell 211, Blackbird 202, Bottle 207, 211, Breeches 212, Bull 212, Crown 212, Dolphin 212, House 212, Key 471, Lion 151, Magpie 382, Pie 382, Pynot 383, Trumpet 211, and Swan 212.

p. 75, l. 17. Þe cowe heed in Chepe.—Probably the sign of some gold-smith's or other shop. The Bull-hed is mentiond by Hy. Machyn in 1560, as Larwood and Hotten note, Hist. of Signboards:

"The xij day of June dyd ryde in a care a-bowtt London ij men and iij women; one man, for he was the bowd [bawd], and to brynge women unto strangers; and on woman was the wyff of the Bell in Gracyous-strett, and anodur the wyff of the Bull-hed be-syd London stone, and boyth wher bawdes and hores; and the thodur man and the woman wher brodur and syster, and wher taken nakyd."

—Diary, p. 238. (Camden Soc. 1848.) The Cow has these signs in the same Signboard book: Cow and Calf, 177; Cow and Hare, 449; Cow and Snuffers, 444; Cow and Two Calves, 177; Cow in Boots, 442; Cow Roast, 378; Cow's Face, 186.

p. 78, l. 19. The Mermaid.

—"As early as the fifteenth century, it was one of the haunts of the pleasure-seeking Sir John Howard, whose trusty steward

records, anno 1464:—'Paid for wyn at the Mermayd in Bred Stret, for my mastyr and Syr Nicholas Latimer, x d. ob.' [? Howard Household Books, Roxb. Club]. In 1603, Sir Walter Raleigh established a literary club in this house, doubtless the first in England. Among its members were Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Selden, Carew, Martin, Donne, Cotton, &c.; . . . There was another Mermaid in Cheapside, frequented by Jasper Mayne, and in the next reign by poet laureate, John Dryden. Mayne mentions it in 'The City Match' (1638):—'I had made an ordinary,Perchance at the Mermaid.'"The sign was also used by printers. John Rastall, for instance, brother-in-law of Sir Thomas More, 'emprynted in the Cheapesyde at the sygne of the Meremayde, next to Poulysgate, in 1527;' and in 1576 a translation of the History of Lazarillo de Tormes, dedicated to Sir Thomas Gresham, was printed by Henry Binnemann, the queen's printer, in Knightrider Street, at the sign of the Mermaid."—

Hist. of Signboards

p. 80, l. 15. quadringentesimo octauo. Between these two words, vicesimo must have been left out by the copier. The Will is dated 1428, and was undoubtedly made in the year of the testator's death.

p. 82, l. 17. Mynde. Month's Mind. In the Rom.-Cath. Office and Masses for the Dead, 1853, there is a form of Mass 'for the third, seventh, or thirtieth day after the Decease,' p. 99-100, and another, on p. 100-102, for "the Anniversary of the Dead," the Year's Mind. The late guess that a 'Month's mind' meant a Memorial Service every day for a month, is mere nonsense, originating seemingly with Polidore Virgil and some Dictionary-makers. See my letter in Notes and Queries, about October, 1882.

p. 83, l. 1. sir William Wright, rector. See his Will in the Commissary Court of London, 1430-1.

p. 92, l. 17. Westsmythfeld. Smythfeld = Smeth (smooth) field. In the Will of J. Lughtburgh, Commissary Court, 1429, it is "in plano Campo."

p. 93, l. 21. Monkes chirch. Monken Hadley, now Hadley.

"The manor belonged to the Mandevilles till the middle of the 12th cent., when it was alienated by Geoffrey de Mandeville to the Abbey of Walden—whence the designation Monken (or Monks') Hadley."

—Thorne, Environs of London, i 265.

p. 114, l. 2. Salve of our Lady.—ANTIPHONS.

"Another favourite devotion of our forefathers was the singing of antiphons in honour of our Lady.

"An antiphon or anthem derives its name from the custom of singing in alternate choirs; but the name is also given to certain short hymns, metrical or not, even when sung by one choir only. In the present Roman Breviary are four antiphons in honour of the Blessed Virgin, to be said at the different seasons of the year, at the conclusion of certain parts of the office. They begin respectively with the words, 'Alma Redemptoris Mater,' 'Ave Regina

cœlorum,' 'Regina cœli lætare,' and 'Salve Regina.' [

From First Vespers of Trinity Sunday to Advent.

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiæ; Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.Ad te clamamus, exules filii Hevæ;Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle.Eia ergo, Advocata nostra,Illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte;Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,Nobis post hoc exilium ostende,O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix.R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.Oremus.

Omnipotens, sempiterne Deus, qui gloriosæ Virginis Matris Mariæ corpus et animam, ut dignum Filii tui habitaculum effici mereretur, Spiritu Sancto co-operante, præparasti; da ut cujus commemoratione lætamur, ejus pia intercessione ab instantibus malis et a morte perpetua liberemur. Per eumdem Christum, &c.

R. Amen.V. Divinum auxilium maneat semper nobiscum. R. Amen.

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy;Our life, our sweetness, and our hope, all hail.To thee we cry, poor banished sons of Eve; To thee we sigh, weeping and mourning in this vale of tears.Therefore, O our Advocate,Turn thou on us those merciful eyes of thine; And after this our exile, shew usJesus, the blessed fruit of thy womb,O merciful, O kind, O sweet Virgin Mary.V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.Let us pray.

Almighty, everlasting God, who, by the co-operation of the Holy Ghost, didst prepare; the body and soul of Mary, glorious Virgin and Mother, to become the worthy habitation of thy Son; grant that we may be delivered from instant evils and from everlasting death by her gracious intercession, in whose commemoration we rejoice. Through the same Christ, &c.

R. Amen.V. May the divine assistance remainR. Amen.

] always with us. They were first introduced into the Roman Breviary in 1520, but were used by the Franciscans from the year 1249. (Merati in Gavantum) Antiphons in honour of the Blessed Virgin were ordered to be sung at the end of Complin by a general chapter of the Benedictines held at Northampton in 1444, 'in order before sleep to implore her help by whom the serpent's head was crushed.' This was only a renewal of a more ancient decree.

"The singing of antiphons soon became a favourite devotion with priests and people, even apart from the office, and foundations were made, and even confraternities instituted, for this purpose. The music seems to have been sometimes very elaborate, since we find such notices as the following. 'At the abbey of Evesham, chaplains are to be assigned to our Lady's altar, skilled in her antiphons.'" [Tindall's Evesham, p. 112.] —p. 168.

"Henry VI., the founder of King's College, Cambridge, and of Eton, prescribes in the statutes, 'That every day of the year, at a fitting hour of the evening, all the choristers of our royal college, together with the master in chant, shall enter the church at the sound of a bell, which shall be always rung except on Holy Thursday or Good Friday; and these wearing surplices and ranged around a statue of the Blessed Virgin. with the candles lighted, ["Many bequests occur of candles to be lighted during the salve."—Pietas Mariana Britannica. By Edmund Waterton, F.S.A. London: 1879. p. 139.] shall sing solemnly and to the very best of their skill an antiphon of the Blessed Virgin with the verse "Ave Maria," &c., and the prayer "Meritis et precibus,"' &c."

..... "The evening antiphon seems to have occupied with our Catholic forefathers almost the same place that is now filled by the evening Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament—a form of devotion not then established."

"By the statutes for the collegiate church of Whittington College, London, it is ordained that even on ferial days, throughout the year, about or after sunset, when the poor labourers and those who live near the church are giving up work and business, when there is no reasonable hindrance, the chaplains, clerks, and ehoristers of the college who are at home, after the ringing of a small bell set apart for that office, shall meet in the chapel of St. Mary in the said church, and there sing to the honour of our Saviour and His Mother an antiphon with versicles and prayer. [Quoted by Dr. Rock, vol. iii. p. 278.] To keep up this custom many guilds were established. Stow [Survey of London, vol. i. p. 495.] tells us of one such called the 'Salve,' in St. Magnus' Church, near London Bridge, which was flourishing in A.D. 1343. Certain citizens, 'of their great devotion to the honour of God and His glorious Mother, our Lady Mary the Virgin, began and caused to be made a chauntry to sing an anthem to our Lady called "Salve Regina" every evening; and thereon ordained five burning wax lights at the time of the said anthem, in honour of the five principal joys of our Lady aforesaid .... and thereupon many other good people of the parish ... proffered to be aiders to support the said lights, and the said anthem to be continually sung, paying every person every week a halfpenny.'" ..... "To many of my readers will have already occurred the memory of Chaucer's beautiful picture of the village school and of the boys learning to sing our Lady's antiphon ..... but before giving it, I will translate from the works of St. Peter Celestine the original tale which Chaucer has developed."—pp. 169, 170.

[Here follows St. Peter Celestine's Tale, which Father Bridgett says is at least a century older than that of Chaucer.]

"One more illustration of the popular use of antiphons I may mention; for though insignificant in itself, it is associated with an honoured name. It seems that the street-singers appealed to Christian piety and charity by these popular hymns. In allusion to this custom, Sir Thomas More, after resigning the chancellorship, called together his family, and telling them that they would

still live together, though they would have to reduce their expenditure, added merrily, that if it came to the worst, 'may we yet with bags and wallets go a-begging together, and hoping that for pity some good folks will give us their charity, at every man's door to sing Salve Regina, and so still keep company and be merry together.'" [ Roper's Life of More.] —

Our Lady's Dowry
[Fr. Bridgett gives an old English version of the Salve Regina about 1400.] —M. L.

p. 120, l. 11, 13. Lincolnie may be 'Lincolniensi.'

Any Corrections or Additions for the Lists and the volume generally will be thankfully received.—F. J. F., 3, St. George's Sq., N.W.