260
NOTES AND QUERIES.
[9< s. n. S*,PT. 24,
of works of so supreme beauty and interest, we
have been naturally anxious for its inclusion in that
"Cathedral Series the praises of which we con-
tinuously sing. It has now appeared in a volume
no less satisfactory in all respects than its prede-
cessors or companions. Forty or so well-executed
designs illustrate its features of beauty or interest,
and a capital account of the rise and history of the
structure and the edifices contiguous to or con-
nected with it has been compiled from the works of
Freeman, Canon Church, and other authorities. In
churches Somersetshire is perhaps happier than
any other English county, and among Somerset-
shire churches Wells stands foremost. Its anti-
quarian interest may, perhaps, be impaired by the
neighbourhood of Glastonbury. As the one cathe-
dral in England complete in every part and detail
it will always retain its charm ; and its sweet and
picturesque surroundings, its tranquillity, and its
calm further endear it to the heart. Devoted
admirer of it as he was, Mr. Freeman wrote some
terrible heresies concerning its west front. Of this
great work of the pious and devoted Jocelin, which
a score of writers since Fuller have declared un-
rivalled, and which can, indeed, only be paralleled
at Chartres and at Rheims, Freeman said : " It
is doubtless the finest display of sculpture in Eng-
land ; but it is thoroughly bad as a piece of archi-
tecture. I am always glad when I get round the
corner, and can rest my eye on the massive and
simple majesty of the nave and transepts." We
will not join issue with so ingenious an advocate,
who is also so devoted a lover. We are "always
glad," however, when we " get round the corner
and rest [our] eye on the" lovely west front, with
its " imagery in just proportion," as says Fuller, so
"that we may call them vera et sperantia signa.
England affordeth not the like." On the happy day
when we are thus regaled we shall be well content
to have Mr. Dearmer's excellent guide as a com-
panion.
IN addition to continuations of various articles published in earlier numbers, Melusine for July- August supplies a critical text of ' La Courte Faille,' a French folk-song which is known to occur in at least twenty-five versions. It also gives some notes on contemporary legends, by the editor, followed by a brief, out amusing account of ' Saint Getorix,' furnished by M. Doncieux. It would seem that about forty years ago Napoleon III. caused a colossal bronze statue of Vercingetorix to be erected near the village of Laumes (Cote d'Or), on the supposed site of the Gaulish oppidum of Alesia. In 1872 an inhabitant of Dijon, being at Laumes, encountered some good women who were praying to St. Getorix near the monument ; and in response to his questions on the subject, he was informed at the village auberge that the statue was that of a great saint. It would be interesting, as M. Doncieux observes, to know the ulterior destinies of St. Getorix, and whether his local cult has prospered. The version of ' Little Red Riding-hood ' picked up in Touraine by M. Legot has a very ugly man, afterwards referred to as "ce mauvais diable," for villain instead of the evil-minded wolf with which English childhood is familiar.
THE number of the Interme'diaire for 30 August contains a good deal of information about the celebrated Jean Ango, shipowner, of Dieppe, who became the richest man or his time, and received Francis I. with such splendour that the king
created him Viscount of Dieppe, and gave him the
captaincy of the town and castle. Some time after-
wards Ango's fleet laid siege to Lisbon, the Portu-
guese having taken one of his vessels, and the King
of Portugal found it necessary to send ambassadors
to treat with him as with a sovereign prince. But
the audacious Dieppois ended badly, for he died a
ruined man in 1551. The same number of the
Intermediaire also contains several replies relative
to St. Edme, otherwise St. Edmund, Archbishop of
Canterbury, who, it may be remembered, died an
exile in France, having defended the rights of
the Church too zealously for his safety against
Henry III. The body of the saint still rests at
Pontigny, and for many years his tomb was a place
of pilgrimage resorted to by childless wives. In
the end, however, the flagstone on which it was
customary for them to tread to ensure the fulfil-
ment of their prayers had to be removed, for .
" jouvenceaux et jeunes femmes s'y rencontraient,"
with the result that scandal arose, and pseudo-
miracles of the most disgraceful kind became con-
nected with the name of the holy man to whom an
angel of light had once brought a miraculous ring
to consecrate his marriage with the Virgin.
a to
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To secure insertion, of communications corre- spondents must observe the following rule. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. Correspond- ents who repeat queries are requested to head the second communication " Duplicate."
A. R. BAYLEY ("The Clink Prison"). -This edi- fice was on the Bankside, in the Liberty of the Clink. John Bradford M'as imprisoned there in J555. A full account, derived from Stow, Strype, Selden, Henslowe, &c., will be found in Wheatley and Cunningham's ' London Past and Present.' It was ruinous in 1745, and a house erected on its site was destroyed by the mob in 1780.
G. MOUNT (" There is a budding morrow," &c.). ' Posthumous and Fugitive Poems of Keats,' in a sonnet on Homer. See ' N. & Q.,' 7 th S. iv. 380.
CORRIGENDUM. P. 196, col. 2, 1. 24 from bottom, for " 24 July" read 24 June.
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