Page:Devon and Cornwall Queries Vol 9 1917.djvu/231

Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries. 175 Aurelia, and performed mass. Nothing is said of marking crosses or using chrism on the walls (see Smith's Diet. Chr. Antiq., citing Strabo) ; but by the eighth or ninth century the rite had become as elaborate as it now is. (See Cath. Encycl. and Encycl. Brit., "Dedication," pp. 918-19). Solemn consecration could thenceforth only be performed by a bishop ; the application of hallowed oil or chrism to the walls was essential, and its effect was perpetual ; whereas in the less solemn ceremony that sufficed for a private or public chapel to which no " cure of souls " pertained, the "hallowing" or "blessing" could be done by any priest, but not with perpetual effect in law. Apparently down to the thirteenth century some — even important — churches contented themselves v/ith the simpler form, perhaps by reason of the antiquity of their dedica- tion, or possibly, sometimes, in avoidance of the expense of an episcopal consecration. In 1237 Otho, Legate of Pope Gregory IX., "having " found [in this country] many churches, and some of them " Cathedrals, which, although they have been built of old " time yet have not as yet been consecrated with the oil of " sanctification," and being " desirous to remedy so dangerous a defect," decreed " that all Cathedral, conventual or paro- " chial churches which are now built, and the walls thereof " perfected, be consecrated by the Diocesan Bishops within " two years," and that the same should be done in all churches thereafter to be built. (Burn and Philiimore, Eccl. Law, I., 324; II., 30, d.) I think that the words " churches which are now built," etc., probably refer only to recently finished edifices, and not to un-consecrated buildings of old standing, but if the latter were indeed included in the decree, I should imagine that their r<;-consecration might have given occasion for some re-naming of churches at this period. 5^ ^'^ly ■ Ethel Lega-Weekes. 139. The Dog Whipper (IX., p. 158, par. 129). — Farmers and others in past generations were in the habit of bringing their dogs into church, and in the event of the animals exhibiting themselves as disturbers of the congregation by fighting or the like, the Dog Whipper whipped them out into the street (See Chambers' Book of Days). R. H. C.