Kitabı oku: «Notes and Queries, Number 34, June 22, 1850», sayfa 3
Queries
HUBERT LE SŒUR'S SIX BRASS STATUES
In a curious MS. Diary of the early part of the seventeenth century, lately come into my possession, I find the following entry concerning the sculptor, Hubert le Sœur:—
"March 7. 1628. Had an interview with ye famous and justly renowned artiste H. le Sueur, who, being late come to this countrie, I had never seene before. He showed me several famous statues in brasse."
This is probably the earliest notice of the celebrated pupil of John of Bologna after his settlement in England. Dallaway, in his Anecdotes of the Arts in England (p. 395.), after stating that Hubert le Sœur arrived here about the year 1630, says,—
"If he was associated with Pierre Tacca, who finished the horse in the equestrian statue of Henry IV. in 1610, left incomplete on the death of his master, John of Bologna, two years preceding, he must have been far advanced in life. Three only of his works in bronze are now known with certainty to exist: the equestrian statue of Charles I. [at Charing Cross], a bust of the same monarch with a casque in the Roman style [now at Stourhead], and a statue in armour of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, Lord High Chamberlain and Chancellor of Oxford. The last was given to the University by T., Earl of Pembroke, about the time of the restoration."
The "several famous statues in brasse" alluded to by the writer of the Diary above quoted, were probably those which afterwards ornamented the gardens of St. James's Palace. Peacham, in his Complete Gentleman (2nd edit., 4to. 1634), having spoken of the collection of statues at Arundell House, says:—
"King Charles also, ever since his coming to the Crown, hath amply testified a royal liking of ancient Statues, by causing a whole army of foreign Emperors, Captains, and Senators, all at once to land on his coasts, to come and do him homage and attend him in his Palaces of Saint James and Somerset House. A great part of these belonged to the great Duke of Mantua; and some of the old Greek marble bases, columns, and altars were brought from the ruins of Apollo's temple at Delos, by that noble and absolutely complete gentleman, Sir Kenelm Digby, Knt. In the garden of St. James, there are also half a dozen brass statues, rare ones, cast by Hubert le Sueur, his Majesty's servant, now dwelling in St. Bartholomew's, London; the most industrious and excellent statuary, in all materials, that ever this country enjoyed. The best of them is the Gladiator, moulded from that in Cardinal Borghesi's Villa, by the procurement and industry of ingenious Master Gage. And at this present, the said Master Sueur hath divers other admirable moulds to cast in brass for his Majesty, and among the rest, that famous Diana of Ephesus. But the great Horse with his Majesty upon it, twice as great as the life, and now well nigh finished, will compare with that of the New Bridge at Paris, or those others at Florence and Madrid, though made by Sueur, his master John de Bologna, that rare workman, who not long since lived at Florence."
The bronze statue of the Gladiator originally stood (according to Ned Ward's London Spy) in the Parade facing the Horse Guards. Dodsley (Environs, iii. 741.) says it was removed by Queen Anne to Hampton Court, and from thence, by George the Fourth, to the private grounds of Windsor Castle, where it now is. Query, What has become of the other five "famous statues in brass?"
Edward F. Rimbault.
BISHOP JEWELL'S LIBRARY
What became of Bishop Jewell's library? Cassan mentions (Lives of Bishops of Salisbury, vol. ii. p. 55.) that
"He had collected an excellent library of books of all sorts, not excepting the most impertinent of the Popish authors, and here it was that he spent the greatest and the best part of his time," &c.
Bishop Jewell died Sept. 22. 1571.
In the Account Books of Magdalen College, Oxford, I find the following items:—
"A. D. 1572. Solut. Dno Præsidi equitanti Sarisbur. pro libris per billam, iijli xvis.
"Solut. pro libris Dni, episcopi Sar., cli.
"A. D. 1574. Solut per Dom. Præsidem pro libris Mri Jewell, xxli."
Whether these books were a portion only, or the whole of the library of Bishop Jewell, I am unable to discover; nor am I aware at present whether Bishop Jewell's autograph is in any of the books of Magdalen College Library. The president was Lawrence Humphrey, author of a Life of Jewell.
Magdalenensis.
THE LOW WINDOW
The low windows in the chancel of so many of our ancient churches have proved a fruitful source of discussion among archæologists, and numerous theories have been advanced respecting their use. Perhaps the words of the chameleon in the fable might be addressed to many who have attempted to account for their existence, "You all are right and all are wrong"—right in your supposition that they were thus used; but wrong in maintaining that this was the exclusive purpose. Some example, in fact, may be adduced irreconcileable with any particular conjecture, and sufficient to overturn every theory which may be set up. One object assigned is, the distribution of alms; and it is surely reasonable to imagine that money collected at the offertory should have been given to paupers from the chancel through this convenient aperture. The following passage from the Ecclesiologist, quoted in page 441. of "Notes and Queries," has induced me to bring this subject forward:—
"In them (churchyards) prayers are not now commonly poured forth to God, nor are doles distributed to his poor."
Now it must be admitted that relief could scarcely be given to a crowd of importunate claimants without the interposition of some barrier; and where could a more appropriate place be found than the low window? Can any of your readers, therefore, oblige me with some information upon these points? Where were the alms bestowed, if not here? An almonry is described in some recent works as "a building near the church." What authority is there for such an assertion, and do any examples of such structures remain? What evidence is there that this business was transacted in the churchyard, in the porch, or in any particular part of the edifice?
Although these mysterious openings are probably, with one or two exceptions in Normandy, peculiar to this country, it is desirable to ascertain where the poor on the Continent usually receive such charitable donations. In an interior of a Flemish cathedral, by an artist of the sixteenth century, a man is represented in the act of delivering bread to a number of eager beggars, from a sort of pew; showing, at least, as above remarked, that some such protection was requisite.
There is another Query connected with this subject, which I beg to submit. Some ancient frescoes were lately discovered in the chapel of Eton College, with a compartment containing (according to a letter in the Ecclesiologist) a bishop administering the Holy Communion to a converted Jew, through a low window. Can any one, from recollection or the inspection of drawings, (for the original has disappeared,) assure me that he does not hold in his hand a piece of money, or a portion of bread, for the supply of his bodily wants?
T.
Minor Queries
North Sides of Churchyards unconsecrated.—In the West of England I have found an opinion to prevail in rural parishes, that the north side of our churchyards was left unconsecrated very commonly, in order that the youth of the village might have the use of it as a playground. And, in one parish, some few years ago, I had occasion to interrupt the game of football in a churchyard on the "revel" Sunday, and again on another festival. I also found some reluctance in the people to have their friends buried north of the church.
Is there any ground for believing that our churchyards were ever thus consecrated on the south side of the church to the exclusion of the north?
J. Sansom.
Hatfield—Consecration of Chapel there.—Le Neve, in his Lives of Protestant Bishops (ii. 144.), states, that Richard Neile, Bishop of Lincoln, went to Hatfield, 6th May, 1615, to consecrate the chapel in the house there lately built by Robert, Earl of Salisbury. I have applied to the Registrar of Lincoln diocese, in which Hatfield was (until recently) locally situated, for a copy of the notarial act of consecration; but it appears that the register of Bishop Neile was taken away or destroyed in the Great Rebellion, and that, consequently, no record of his episcopality now exists at Lincoln.
Le Neve says he had the most part of his account of Bishop Neile from Thomas Baker, B.D. of St. John's College, Cambridge, who had it from a grandson of the Bishop's. He quotes also Featley's MS. Collections.
Can any of your readers inform me whether Bishop Neile's episcopal register for Lincoln is in existence, or whether any transcript of it is known? or if any evidence, confirmatory of Le Neve's statement of the fact and date of the consecration of the chapel of Hatfield, is known to exist?
William H. Cope.
P.S. I have examined Dr. Matthew Hutton's transcripts of the Lincoln registers, in the Harleian MSS., but they do not come down to within a century of Bishop Neile's episcopate.
Ulrich von Hutten (Vol. i., p. 336.).—In one of the Quarterly Reviews is an account of Ulrich von Hutten and the Epistolæ Obscurorum Virorum. Will S. W. S., or any one who takes interest in Ulrich, tell me where it is? A meagre article in the Retrospective Review, vol. v. p. 56., mentions only one edition of the Epstolæ, Francfurti ad Mainum, 1643. Is there any recent edition with notes? Mine, Lond. 1710, is without, and remarkable only for its dedication to Isaac Bickerstaffe, Esq., and the curious mistake which Isaac made when he acknowledged it in The Tatler, of supposing the letters genuine. Is it known to what scholar we are indebted for so neat an edition of a book then so little known in England, and so little in accordance with English taste at that time?
H. B. C.
University Club, May 29.
Simon of Ghent.—Can any of your correspondents give me any information concerning Simon, Bishop of Salisbury in 1297-1315, further than what is said of him in Godwini de Præsulibus Angliæ, and in Wanley's Catalogue, where he is mentioned as the author of Regulæ Sanctimonialium Ordinis Sti Jacobi? Why is he called "Gandavensis," or "De Gandavo," seeing that he is said to have been born in London?
J. Morton.
Boetius' Consolations of Philosophy.—Alfred the Great translated this work into Anglo-Saxon; Chaucer, Queen Elizabeth, and Lord Preston into English.
Has Queen Elizabeth's work (which she executed during her captivity before she ascended the throne) been printed? Richard Viscount Preston's appeared first, I believe, in 1712, in 12mo. How often has it been reprinted? What other English translations have been made, and what are the latest?
Jartzberg.
Gloucestershire Gospel Tree.—Mary Roberts, in her Ruins and Old Trees associated with Historical Events, gives a very pretty account of a certain Gospel Tree. Can any kind correspondent inform me where in Gloucestershire it is situated? Although a native of the county, I never heard of it.
W. H. B.
Churchyards—Epitaphs.—Up to the time of the Norman Conquest, churchyards appear to have been considered almost as sacred as churches; but soon after that period, though regarded as places of sanctuary, they were often used for profane purposes. I recollect reading of fairs and rustic sports being held in them as early as John's reign, but unfortunately I have not been an observer of your motto, and know not now where to refer for such instances. I shall therefore feel obliged to any of your readers who will specify a few instances of the profanation of churchyards at different periods, or refer me to works where such may be found. Churchyards appear to have been used in special cases for sepulture from the year 750, but not commonly so used till the end of the fourteenth century. Are there any instances of sepulchral monuments, between the above dates, now existing in churchyards?
Stone crosses, evidently of Saxon or very early Roman structure, are found in churchyards, but I am not aware of any sepulchral monuments detached from the church of the same date. I shall be glad of any notices of early monuments or remarkable epitaphs in churchyards. When did churchyards cease to be places of sanctuary? What is the exact meaning of the word "yard?" and was not "God's acre" applied to Christian cemeteries before sepulture was admitted in churches or churchyards?
W. H. K.
Drayton Beauchamp, June 10.
Anthony Warton.—Who was Anthony Warton, minister of the word at Breamore, in Hampshire, and author of Refinement of Zion, London, 1657? Another Anthony Warton was matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford, 2nd Nov., 1665, at sixteen, as son of Francis Warton, of Breamore, Hants, plebeian. He remained clerk till 1671; chaplain from 1671 to 1674; instituted vicar of Godalming, Surrey, in 1682; obiit 15th March, 1714-15. He was father of Thomas Warton, Demy and Fellow of Magdalen College, vicar of Basingstoke, Hants, and of Cobham, Surrey, Professor of Poetry in the University of Oxford, 1718-28; who was father of the more celebrated Thomas Warton, Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, and of Joseph Warton, Head Master of Winchester School.
Manning says (History of Surrey, vol. i. p. 648.) that Anthony Warton, vicar of Breamore, Hants, was younger brother of Michael Warton, Esq., of Beverley, but originally of Warton Hall in Lancashire. Both Wood and Manning seem to have confounded the first Anthony with the clerk, &c. of Magdalen. Was the former brother of Francis?
Magdalenensis.
Cardinal's Hat.—O'Halloran mentions the cardinal's hat—"birede"—"biretrum"—as the hat anciently worn by the Irish doctors. What is its history?
J. Sansom.
Maps of London.—I should be grateful to any of your correspondents who could inform me whether there are any maps of London before that of Aggas? what they are? and where they are to be found? The date of Aggas's map is supposed to be about 1560, and must have been after 1548, as the site of Essex House in the Strand is there called "Paget Place." There is a MS. map by Anthony Van Den Wyngerde in the Sutherland Collection in the Bodleian, the date of which would be about 1559.
Edward Foss.
Griffith of Penrhyn.—Can any of your correspondents refer me to a good pedigree of Griffith of Penrhyn and Carnarvon?
William D'Oyly Bayley.
Coatham, near Redcar.
The Mariner's Compass.—What is the origin of the fleur-de-lis with which the northern radius of the compass-card is always ornamented?
Nautilus.
Pontefract on the Thames.—Permit me to ask, through the medium of your useful publication, where Pontefract on the Thames was situate in the fourteenth century? Several documents of Edw. II. are dated from Shene (Richmond); in 1318, one from Mortelak; in 1322, one from Istelworth; and several are dated Pountfrcyt, or Pontem fractum super Thamis. (See Rymer's Fœdera). It is very clear that this Pountfrcyt on the Thames must have been at no great distance from Shene, Mortlake, and Isleworth, also upon the Thames; and this is further corroborated by the dates following, from the places alluded to, so closely.
N.
June 14. 1850.
