Notes and Queries/Series 1/Volume 1/Number 1/"Pray remember the Grotto!" on St. James's Day

"Pray remember the Grotto!" on St. James's Day.

When the great popularity which the legends of the Saints formerly enjoyed is considered, it becomes matter of surprise that they should not have been more frequently consulted for illustrations of our folk-lore and popular observances. The Edinburgh Reviewer of Mrs. Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art, has, with great judgment, extracted from that work a legend, in which, as he shows very clearly,^[1] we have the real, although hitherto unnoticed, origin of the Three Balls which still form the recognised sign of a Pawnbroker. The passage is so curious, that it should be transferred entire to the "Notes and Queries."

"None of the many diligent investigators of our popular antiquities have yet traced home the three golden balls of our pawnbrokers to the emblem of St. Nicholas. They have been properly enough referred to the Lombard merchants, who were the first to open loan-shops in England for the relief of temporary distress. But the Lombards had merely assumed an emblem which had been appropriated to St. Nicholas, as their charitable predecessor in that very line of business. The following is the legend; and it is too prettily told to be omitted:—

"'Now in that city (Panthera) there dwelt a certain nobleman, who had three daughters, and, from being rich, he became poor; so poor that there remained no means of obtaining food for his daughters but by sacrificing them to an infamous life; and oftentimes it came into his mind to tell them so, but shame and sorrow held him dumb. Meantime the maidens wept continually, not knowing what to do, and not having bread to eat; and their father became more and more desperate. When Nicholas heard of this, he thought it shame that such a thing should happen in a Christian land; therefore one night, when the maidens were asleep, and their father alone sat watching and weeping he took a handful of gold, and, tying it up in a handkerchief, he repaired to the dwelling of the poor man. He considered how he might bestow it without making himself known; and, while he stood irresolute, the moon coming from behind a cloud showed him a window open; so he threw it in, and it fell at the feet of the father, who, when he found it, returned thanks, and with it he portioned his eldest daughter. A second time Nicholas provided a similar sum, and again he threw it in by night; and with it the nobleman married his second daughter. But he greatly desired to know who it was that came to his aid; therefore he determined to watch: and when the good Saint came for the third time, and prepared to throw in the third portion, he was discovered, for the nobleman seized him by the skirt of his robe, and flung himself at his feet, saying, "O Nicholas! servant of God! why seek to hide thyself?" and he kissed his feet and his hands. But Nicholas made him promise that he would tell no man. And many other charitable works did Nicholas perform in his native city.'

"These three purses of gold, or, as they are more customarily figured, these three golden balls, disposed in exact pawnbroker fashion, are to this day the recognised special emblem of the charitable St. Nicholas."

And now for the more immediate object of the present Note, which is to show what, when once pointed out, will, I think, readily be admitted, namely, that in the grotto formed of oyster shells, and lighted with a votive candle, to which, on old St. James's day (5th August) the passer-by is earnestly entreated to contribute by cries of, "Pray remember the Grotto!" we have a memorial of the world-renowned shrine of St. James at Compostella.

The popularity which St. James formerly enjoyed in England, and the zeal with which his shrine was visited by natives of this country, have recently been so clearly shown by Mr. J. G. Nichols, in his interesting little volume, Pilgrimages to St. Mary of Waisingham and St. Thomas of Canterbury, that I need not here insist upon these points.

What the original object of making these grottoes may have been I can only suggest : but I shall not be surprised if it should turn out that they were formerly erected on the anniversary of St. James by poor persons, as an invitation to the pious who could not visit Compostella, to show their reverence for the Saint by almsgiving to their needy brethren.

Oysters are only allowed to be sold in London (which city, by the by, levied a tax of two pence on every person going and returning by the river Thames on pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James), after St. James's day. Why is this? I wish Mr. Wansey, who is an able antiquary, and one authorised to look into the records of the Fishmongers' Company, would give us the information upon this point which those documents may be expected to furnish.

William J. Thoms.

P.S.—I should be glad if any of the readers of "Notes and Queries" could explain to what Erasmus alludes, when he says, "culmeis ornatus torquibus, brachium habet ova serpentum," which L'Estrange translates, "Straw-works, snakes, eggs for bracelets;" and Mr. Nichols, who honestly states that he is unable to explain the allusion, as he does not find such emblems elsewhere mentioned, "adorned with straw necklaces and bracelets of serpents' eggs."

1. Edinburgh Review, vol. lxxxix. p. 400.