240
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. n. SEPT. 17,
ristic chalices were sometimes made of bronze or
brass, but they were forbidden by the canons, anc
had gone out of use long before the Reformation
Symbolic chalices, for burial with dead ecclesi
astics, were sometimes made of bronze ; but very
few examples have come to light. As the pre
Reformation sacramental vessels of Scotland have
almost entirely perished, we have nothing to guide
us. Harris, it must be pointed out, was far away
from any authority which could enforce the canons,
so an old custom may have survived there which
had long been abandoned elsewhere ; therefore this
cup may have been intended for church uses, but
we are strongly persuaded that it was not. Apart
from its minute size and the metal of which it is
composed, it has a very modern appearance. It is
seemingly not older than the seventeenth century.
The knop, too, in the stem is small, and seems to be
a starved survival used for mere ornament. The
lip is turned over, a form rarely, if ever, found in the
true chalice: and there is no cross or other reli-
gious symbol on the base. If we are right in our
contention that this is not a chalice intended for
sacramental use, for what purpose can it have been
made ? We have no answer to give, but throw out
as a suggestion the guess that it may have had
some magic use. Whatever may have been its
purpose, it does not stand alone ; two other brass
cups like it were found some time since walled up
in an old house in Musselburgh.
The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. Part 57.
(Leeds, Whitehead & Son.)
THE Yorkshire Archaeological Journal always affords pleasant as well as instructive reading. The present number seems to us exceptionally good. Its con- tents are varied, as should be the case, even with the transactions of societies which strive to spread local knowledge. ' The Journal of John Warburtpn, Somerset Herald, for 1718-9' is the only dull thing among these papers. Warburton was a Lancashire man, perhaps of humble origin. However that may have been, ne began life as an exciseman, and was for a time stationed at Bedale, in Yorkshire. In those days there were no examinations, and much education was not required for the post he had to fill. He never acquired anything of what we should now designate by the vague and uninforming word "culture ; but he was an industrious plodder, and his voluminous manuscript collections are not without value, although we fear Grose was not exaggerating when he described him as ignorant not only of Latin, but also of his native language. The value, however, of the concise diary here
Erinted consists in its notices of old houses which aye been swept away or modernized beyond recog- nition. The diarist had a son, also called John, who was pursuivant of the Irish Court of Exche- quer. He was travelling in France in 1793, and when at Lyons was guillotined by the revolutionists on a charge of sedition. We have understood that the exact circumstances of the case have never been made known. Prof. Skeat prints an ' English Rhyme ' written in 1362, which has recently been found in the Public Record Office. It seems that John Berwald, Jun., of Cottingham (probably a baker), along with others, made these verses, and that they were publicly sung at Beyerley and Hull. John Berwald was indicted for this crude literary effort ; but it is not easy to see how an offence had been committed. We cannot but think that these seemingly harmless verses were, when sung, accom-
panied by a commentary of far more pungent
character. We think the text as enrolled has been
taken from a corrupt copy, perhaps written down
from memory. Had it not been tor Prof. Skeat's
skilful paraphrase, we are by no means sure that
the whole of it would have been intelligible to us.
Soken, in the second line, means, we have no doubt,
in this instance, a manorial franchise in town or
city liberty. Fraudulent bakers and brewers were
constantly fined at the manor courts. By far the
longest paper is that on ' Monumental Brasses in
the West Riding,' by Mr. Mill Stephenson. It is
very carefully drawn up by one who understands
the subject. We are sorry that we have not space
in which to draw attention to the many interesting
questions suggested by it. One thing is too curious
to be passed over. At Hampsthwaite is pre-
served a fourteenth-century brass representing a
civilian. Some one who nourished early in the
reign of Queen Elizabeth has utilized this old figure
by carving in rude, cursive letters an inscription
beginning, " Prayse god for ye soule of Ad. dyxon."
Here we come on the handiwork of some follower of
the old religion who feared consequences too much
to put up a memorial such as would have been in
order when Mary I. was queen, and took the oppor-
tunity of slightly altering the beginning, so as to
make it in expression tally with modern thoughts,
and yet suggest the old form of words.
MR. THISKLTON DYER has written a volume on the curiosities of parish registers, which will be published very shortly by Mr. Elliot Stock under the title 'Old English Sosial Life as told by the Parish Register.' It deals incidentally with such subjects as parish customs, superstitions, epidemics, parish scandals, and punishments.
ljj,0tict% to
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THE UNMISTAKABLE {" Spick and span"). See N. & Q.,' 1 st S. iii. 330, 480; v. 521.
NOTICE.
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