Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 3.djvu/48

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. m. JAN. 21, 1911.


ing resemblance to the medallion in Great Ilford Hospital Church referred to on p. 362 as I h . Below the shield is what has been an oval piece of glass, but which, having been broken, is now in several pieces leaded together, whereon are the scarcely dis- cernible remains of a coat of arms, the blazon of which seems to read, Azure, on a chevron arg. 3 white roses, seeded and barbed ppr. between 3 garbs (perhaps fleurs- de-lis) or. Crest, a seated, or three-quarter, human figure or. Motto, "... .the truthe." A noticeable fact about this painting is that the brown outline and all the colours, except the yellow stain, have perished to such a degree that the design can only with diffi- culty be made out, and I am inclined to think that it is an example of 16th- or 17th- century varnish painting on glass, so far as the pigments other than the yellow stain, which is bright and clear, are concerned.

On the dexter side of the central shield is the red rose of Lancaster, barbed ppr., with the white rose of York, seeded ppr., in pretence. Small fragments of a blue- and-yellow chaplet remain round the roses, while above the chaplet is a royal crown of four half-arches, with crosses patee and fleurs-de-lis on the circlet and a ball and cross on the top. On the sinister side of the shield is a red rose, seeded and barbed ppr., with blue-and-yellow chaplet, almost com- plete, encircling it, and above, a royal crown similar to, but larger, bolder in design, and with higher arches than, that over the other roses.

All these compositions are set in fragments of 15th-century rectangular quarries and 16th- and 17th-century heraldic mantling and scrollwork. Among these are pieces of a third royal crown, which perhaps formerly ensigned the arms of England. There are also fragments of quarries with the " crown in the thorn bush " badge of Henry VII. and his initials H.R. It may be surmised that the three principal features of this " jumble " window the royal arms and the roses were formerly set in quarries showing this badge.

On another quarry is a heron, which may point to the existence, once on a time, in Little Ilford Church, of a window' set up by, or having some reference to, a member of the Heron family, which possessed the Manor of Aldersbrook in this parish in the days of Henry VIII. Aldersbrook had belonged to the Cistercian Abbey of Stratford Langthorne, and was granted by Henry to Sir John Heron, Master of his jewel house. The probability of a Heron window in the


church is also strengthened by the fact that a brass to Thomas, son and heir to this- Sir John Heron, is on the north wall. The inscription below the figure, which is that of a youth in civilian dress, states that Thomas died in 1517, aged 14.

I am much indebted to L. M. R. for his suggestions at 11 S. ii. 464. On the whole, of the two solutions which he suggests, I incline to that of Joab slaying Amasa. The foreground of the painting is open country trees, undergrowth, and broken ground very well answering to the description in 2 Sam. xx. of the place where Amasa' s murder took place, but not so suggestive of the scene of Joab's slaying of Abner, " the middle of the gate " of Hebron. The treacherous slayer, too, in the picture is dressed after the manner mentioned in verse 8, and promin- ence is given to his sword scabbard, as in the Biblical account. On the other hand, it must be admitted that the murderer holds his sword (the blade of which is buried in his victim's right side) in his own right hand, and he is taking the older man's chin with his left hand. These slight differences, however, may be merely the effect of the artist's liberties with his subject.

F. SYDNEY EDEN, May croft, Fy field Road, Walthamstow.


THE "BOW-WOW" STYLE.

MB. CURRY'S interesting article (11 S. iL 522) has reminded me of the use of the familiar cry of the dog by serious writers. Max Miiller spoke of the extravagances of the school who favoured onomatopoeic explanations as " bow-wow words." This- was meant, of course, sarcastically, and the word generally connotes contempt and impudence rather than dignity or impressive - ness. But this is hardly so in three examples,, two of which are, I take it, derived from the earliest. Boswell in his ' Life of Johnson r (vol. ii. p. 326, ed. Birkbeck Hill) refers to his hero's mode of speaking as " indeed very impressive," and adds the note :

" My noble friend Lord Pembroke said once to me at Wilton, with a happy pleasantry and some truth, that ' Dr. Johnson's sayings would not appear as extraordinary, were it not for his botc- ivow way.' "

This clearly represents, to quote Boswell again in the same passage, Johnson's " deli- berate and strong utterance." When he started barking, no one else had a chance to break in; it was a case of the "sort of men " mentioned by v Gratiano at the