500
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. VIL JUNE 22, 1901.
less. In the latter part of the eighteenth century
the people who were responsible seem to have
had little more knowledge of their business than
their predecessors in the days of the Plantagenets.
An admirer of the Middle Ages might argue with
some plausibility that they had even less. There
was practically no issue of silver in the reign of
George III. until the year 1787. The pieces that
then appeared were handsome coins of proper
weight ; out as the money they were intended to
replace still continued to circulate, many of these
heavier pieces soon found their way into the melt-
ing-pot. From that date to 1816 no further issue
of English silver proceeded from the Mint ; but
things had got to such a pass in 1797 that the Privy
Council ordered the Bank of England to suspend
cash payments. This naturally increased the de-
mand for silver. Those who had metallic change
tenaciously clung to it. If parted with at all, it
was only on receiving a heavy commission. The
hardship to the poor and the small traders by this
state of things need not be dwelt upon. A bright
idea at length struck some one whose name, we
believe, has not come down to us. We had become
possessed, as war prizes, of a very great number of
Spanish dollars. These were countermarked with
a small head of George III. stamped on the neck of
the effigies of Charles III. and put into circulation
at 4s. 9d, each. This strange plan, though long
persevered in, did not work well. Imitations and
forgeries were soon in circulation. In 1804 the small
stamp was changed from an oval to an octagon,
but the alteration had little effect. Forgery on a
large scale still went on. Then came a device for
stamping the whole dollar on both sides, the king's
head on the obverse, and on the reyerse Britannia.
Boulton, of the Soho Works, Birmingham, carried
out this plan. When done well, the coins were
handsome, but many examples show, especially on
the reyerse, traces of the original impress.
During the period in which these Spanish dollars were passing as English money the penalty for forgery or uttering counterfeit money was death. Mr. Phillips says that between 1805 and 1818 two hundred and seven persons, many of them women, suffered for this crime.
The book is altogether satisfactory. It deals with the Irish tokens as well as the British, and contains good illustrations of the several pieces mentioned.
Before the Great Pillage, and other Miscellanies.
By Augustus Jessopp, D.D. (Fisher Unwin.) THESE reprinted essays of Dr. Jessopp constitute very pleasant reading. The more important of them deal with parish life, on which the writer is an authority, and with the parish priest, of whom he is an admirable example. By the expression "the great pillage " Dr. Jessopp means less the spoliation of the monasteries under Henry VIII. than the robbery of the poor, which was far more abomin- able, under Edward VI. He scarcely expects to be believed in what he says. After commenting upon the indignation against the Tammany ring which is heard in England, he expresses his con- viction that some day will be written the history of two other rings. " The ring of the miscreants who robbed the monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII. was the first ; but the ring of the robbers who robbed the poor and the helpless in the reign of Edward VI. was ten times worse." A close study of this and succeeding articles is to be warmly commended. We are less interested in ' The Baptism of Clovis,'
but are delighted with the articles at the close of
the volume on ' Cu Cu ! ' and * The Mole.' Terrible
consequences are anticipated from the destruction
of the latter.
Murray's Handy Classical Maps. Edited by G. B.
Grundy, M.A. Grcecia. (Murray.) WITH the full index by which they are accom- panied, the two maps of ancient Greece, Northern and Southern, will be of the highest utility to scholars. They are coloured so as to represent the contours of altitude, and are in all respects up to date. Eight of these maps are now ready, and others are to follow. For the convenient study of works such as Dr. Ridgeway's ' The Early Age of Greece ' (see ante, p. 439) the present maps will be invaluable.
THE Antiquary for May contains the first part of a description of the Black Death as its ravages affected Yorkshire in 1349. There is also an article on the story of the Clarendon Press, which is of interest, while the account given of 'The Legend of Isaiah's Martyrdom' will attract the attention of folk-lorists.
SOME of the later numbers of the Intermediate furnish communications on the curious subject of the legal trial of animals for certain crimes and misdeeds. Mention is also made in this connexion of the excommunications which were formerly launched by dignified ecclesiastics against the noxious creatures that devastated vines and agri- cultural crops.
S. H. BOUSFIELD & Co. promise 'The Secret Chambers and Hiding-Places of Great Britain : the Historic, Romantic, and Legendary Stories and Traditions about Hiding-Holes, Secret Chambers, &c. ,' by Allan Fea, with illustrations by the author.
10
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