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ANCIENT NEEDLEWORK AT THE SOUTH

KENSINGTON MUSEUM.

THE impression on entering this Exhibition is one of suddenly increased respect for the achievements of the needle and its votaries. The collection possesses features of striking interest. Prominent among well-known names, we observe that of the beautiful Queen of Scots, and not only in accidental connection with various important works, but we meet also with various evidences of her own personal

skill as a needlewoman. The name of Her Majesty the Queen is attached to three contributions stated to be the work of the lovely and ill-fated Mary Stuart. One of these is a work-box, the frame of which is of ebony, with the sidepanels filled in with embroidery. The ground is of white damask, the decoration consisting of flowering plants worked in coloured silks, the subject on the top of the box being Jacob's Dream. Owing to the destructive effects of time, the details are barely distinguishable, but the lion and the lamb may be observed in harmonious proximity, and angels with yellow silken wings are descending and ascending the ladder. Another specimen of Queen Mary's handiwork, lent by Her Majesty, is the basket said to have been used for the infant wardrobe of James VI. of Scotland, circ. 1565. It is of cane, lined with blue silk, but some portions have fallen out from age, and altogether it has a dilapidated, melancholy appearance. It is placed on the easy chair, also said to have been embroidered by the same regal hands, and lent by Her Majesty the Queen. The ground of this is red, with figures worked upon it in silk. Close to these triste relics is one of equally sad associations, and which, partly from the beauty of its manufacture, as well as from the melancholy memories which it serves to call forth, is visited and dwelt upon with intense and expressive eagerness by numbers of ladies. It is a white linen embroidered shirt, formerly belonging to King Charles I., and lent by the Duchess of Richmond. The square falling collar trimmed with lace, with which we are so familiar, is there, and the front and sleeves and seams are exquisitely worked in fine embroidery. The linen is not particularly fine, but has the appearance of the honest, genuine homespun, still to be found in use in Germany and Italy.

Almost equally interesting, at least to ladies, is the collec. tion of infant garments made by Queen Elizabeth for the prospective heir of Queen Mary I. Cap and shoes are of white satin and deftly fashioned. The remainder of the liliputian trousseau is extremely neat, but "all very plain, and with no work at all on it!" as a scrutinizing and deeply-interested mother, accompanied by a friend and two babies, remarked.

In an adjacent case, we find a luxurious pincushion embroidered with coloured silks and trimmed with rich silver lace, once the property of Queen Elizabeth; also a pair of white satin shoes, gaunt and grotesque enough in comparison with the slim French models of the present day; these are also worked in coloured silks and silver, and are lent by the Countess Brownlow. A white satin pocket-book similarly embroidered, and also once belonging to the same august personage, is in the same case. Then, next to these, we find the saddle, covered with crimson silk velvet, and richly decorated with gold and silver, used by King James I. when proceeding to his coronation, and contributed by the Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. Also the leather straps and the brass stirrups, with the elaborately embroidered saddlecloth of crimson velvet, likewise used by the sagacious monarch on the same occasion are there. In the same case is exhibited a white satin pillow-case worked with coloured silks, and a red silk toilet-cover inlaid with stripes of silver wire, and trimmed with broad silver lace, both having belonged to Queen Elizabeth. There are also two very interesting miniatures in minute silk embroidery (17th century) in the same case; one of Charles I., lent by Mrs. Fernyhough; the other of Charles II., lent by Lady Charlotte Schreiber.

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THE road leading from the village of Wormley to the church has upon each side, for a considerable distance, a beautiful row of oak trees, whose gnarled and rugged branches meet sympathetically above, and at this time of the year-when nature shows her prettiest face-being in full foliage, form a beautiful avenue; the blue sky only peeping through the thickly-mantled foliage here and there. The hedges, too, speak of rural elegance and luxuriance; here may be seen the bushes of the homely "blackberry" mingled with the "May," and the glossy-leaved holly with other kindred companions. The scene, viewed from the bridge background, is exceedingly romantic, and worthy of the near the entrance, taking in the little lodge as the extreme artistic efforts of some of our painters of natural scenery. From the lodge, passing on the left by some magnificent trees and woodland scenery in "Grant's" estate, we, after eminence, almost hid from the road by a variety of widea gentle ascent, reach the church, snugly situated on a small spreading trees, of which the different coloured foliage shades and tints the ground. A placid and holy serenitude seems to envelope this pretty secluded spot, which is truly impressive.

The church-which consists of a chancel, nave, and south aisle, the nave containing a small belfry-viewed from the outside, certainly bears a somewhat modern appearance, and is rather unimposing. The greater part of the walls, with the exception of the south aisle, are cast with rough plaster; the south aisle has a facing of broken flints, which contrasts oddly with the other part of the building; and, to heighten the contrast, the roof of the south aisle is with red tiles. There are two small doors in the south side slated, while the remaining portion of the roof is covered (one of these leading into the chancel), and also a porch; but the principal entrance, though small, is at the north side of the nave, and near the western wall, from which a path leads directly to the residence of the rector. The inside bears a pillars; the pillars separating the nave from the south aisle. more ancient appearance, with its Gothic-looking arches and Everything in this church looks scrupulously clean, showing matter. On the west wall of the nave is an inscription that great care is bestowed by the rector in regard to this which informs us that "The belfry and west end of this church were rebuilt by Sir Abraham Hume, Bart., A.D.

1826."

Turning to the chancel we find on the east wall a large oil painting, said to have been executed by "Palma," representing our Lord's "Last Supper;" some of the portraits thereon depicted are rather impressive. Above this is a fine stained glass window, and a brass plate on the north wall records that

THE EAST WINDOW OF THIS CHURCH
WAS OFFERED TO THE GLORY OF GOD:
THE CENTRE LIGHT BY PENELOPE H. PRICE,
IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE OF HER
BROTHER WILLIAM WORTHINGTON, WHOSE
REMAINS ARE INTERRED IN THE CHURCH
YARD: THE TWO SIDE LIGHTS BY

MEMBERS OF THE CONGREGATION. 1865.
H. H. MINCHIN, RECTOR.

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There are also two other stained glass windows in this church; one in the south wall of the chancel, in memory of "Mary Emma Jones, died 1869, aged 73;" the other, in' the south aisle, commemorating the death of "Henry John Grant, of the Gnoll, Glamorganshire, &c., in 1861," and whose tomb in the churchyard will be duly noticed. Among the less notable objects to be seen within this structure, are a gilded plate (used for collections), on the outer rim of which these words are inscribed:-"In Vfum Ecclefiæ Parochialis de Wormley in Com. Hertford Anno Domi. 1699;" two ancient-looking chairs standing in the chancel; and a venerable font at the western end of the nave, which, by outward appearance, seems to tell of the several successive generations to whom, from its bosom, the symbolical water of life has been imparted. The royal arms in this church are of carved wood. But the most interesting and valuable objects are the monuments and inscriptions, to render a detailed account of which is more particularly my special object.

At the east end of the chancel, within the altar rails, and on the floor, are four stone slabs with inlaid brasses, which I shall at once proceed to enumerate, beginning with the oldest, on which is a narrow brass plate inscribed to Johannes Cleve

Hic iacet Johes Cleve quda Rector hiu Ecclie de Wormele qui obiit rrij. die Octobr A° din M.°CCCC. HEIJ° ciu die ppitieto ds.

On the second slab (abutting on the north wall) is a similar plate, but imperfect, and recording that—

four open spaces, the two right spaces being each occupie
by a bird, and the two left by a rabbit or hare.
Nothing appears to be known respecting the last three
brasses, by which we could remedy the existing deficiencies:
that commemorating Howton is not even mentioned in
standard histories, &c., in which we should expect infor-
mation would be given. The brass strip on Lok's tomb
was in the same fragmentary state when Salmon wrote
his History, which was published in 1728.†

Passing now from the brasses, the next memorial to be taken in point of antiquity is a white tablet, standing on the north wall of the chancel, and abutting the east, on which we read

Viuo tibi moriorq tibi tibi christe Resurgam—
HERE LYETH INTERRED YE BODIE OF ANGELETT Tooke,

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HEIRE OF WILLM WOODLIFE CITIZEN & MERCER OF
LONDON

ESQVIER, & OF ELIZABETH HIS WIFE, DAVGHTER OF
FISHER OF LONGWORTH IN YE COVNTIE OF OXFORDE
ESQVIER

WHICH SAIDE WILLM WOODLIFE WAS LORDE & PATRON
OF

THIS MANNOR OF WORMELYE, AND AFTER YE DECEASE OF
WILLM HER HVSBANDE, THE SAIDE ELIZABETH MARIED
EDW:

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Her' lyth Emund Howton & Annes his Wyf ye whiche
Emu
ARDE SAXILBIE ONE OF YE BARRONS OF THE EXCHEA
Jugn in ye yere of oure Lord God a M.°CCCCLXXIX. OVER ESQVIER, WHO TOGETHER WITH HER TWOE SAIDE
HVSBANDS LYETH ALSO HERE BVRIED. THE SAID AN-

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On this stone are the effigies in brass (in good preservation) of Howton and his wife; and at the foot is a small brass on which are represented the five children of the above. The third slab contains two fine brasses (a male and female figure), and three small ones representing :-(1) armorial bearings; (2) four females on the right; (3) eight males on the left; the last two brasses showing that the deceased were the parents of twelve children. The names of the couple here commemorated are not given, neither is the date. The following epitaph is inscribed on a brass plate at the head

Christ is to me as life on earth, And death to me is gaic
Because I truste thorowe him alone, saluation to obteyne,
So bryttle is the state of man, so soone it dothe decay,
So all the glory of the worlde must passe and fade awaye.

In vita vana vita.

On the fourth slab, which abuts upon the south wall, are the remains of a narrow strip of brass commencing from left to right, and running partly down the right side. The inscription on the remnant extending from the left side is that shown (infrà) to the first breakage; the next fragmentary line is that on the right side.

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Here lyeth John Lok, yoman and A . . passed to God owte of thys transsitorie There are also on this slab the effigies, in brass, of John Lok and his wife, (the lower part of the brass on which the male figure is represented is broken off, and is, of course, missing) and three small brasses on which are figured (1) ten children; (2) an ecclesiastic in a stall, with his right hand uplifted as if in the act of exhortation or benediction, and in front of the stall the representation of Christ crucified; (3) five trees arranged at regular distances, forming

GELETT

TOOKE DYED THE LAST DAYE OF MAY 1598 ANNOQ
REGINE ELIZABETH QVADRAGESIMO‡

Morsq mihi hic ruin est tu mihi christe salus.

On the south side of the chancel is an elegant monument, beautifully decorated, consisting of a canopied tomb. The canopy, which is surmounted by a brilliantly emblazoned coat of arms in the centre, has at each corner a nude male child; the one on the right has the right foot on a spade, the other on the left has the left foot on a skull. Beneath the canopy, on two slabs, lie the recumbent figures, in marble, of William Pureveye and his wife. Pureveye is in his official robe, and his wife, in the ordinary costume of a lady of rank. Both wear round their necks the starched ruffs peculiar to the age in which they lived. The lady is represented lying on the lower slab on her left side (her head resting on her left arm, on a tasselled pillow), with a book in her right hand, one of her fingers being introduced inside the book, as if she had fallen asleep reading. The husband, who is nearest the wall, lies by the side of his wife, and in a

the name Cok. By the costumes figured on the brasses it is evident

* Salmon does not give the last f in Lok's inscription and renders

that this memorial dates from the latter part of the fifteenth century; the lady wearing her hair in caul and couvre-chief, a fashion prevalent in Richard III.'s reign.

+ There were also two other memorials in this church (but they are now gone), with the following inscriptions:

(1.) "Hic jacet Richardus Ruston quondam Rector istius Ecclesia qui ob. Maij 27, A.D. 1457, Cujus An." This is mentioned by Clutter

buck.

(2.) "Of your charity pray for the soul of Mr. Edward Shambroke, sometime parson of this church and prebendary of the mother church of St. Paul in London, which deceased Dec. 23rd, 1530. Whose soul domine pardon."

incorrectly, he giving Angelot, for Angelett; Woodcliffe, for WoodThe greater part of this inscription is quoted by Salmon, but life, &c.

lar position, only that his head is supported by his left and. He has a roll of parchment or paper in his right hand. Two black marble columns, based with white /marble containing coat of arms, appear to support the canopy from the lower slab, and underneath this slab, directly beneath the figures, is an arch, in which is the sculptured effigy of a young lady holding a skull in her hands. The hair of this young lady is dressed back from the forehead, in fact, similar to the old-revived fashion of a few years since. I may mention that, with the exception of the arch, the whole of the basement part of this monument appears to be solid

from the slab above mentioned.

Under the canopy are the words MEMORIÆ SACRVM; the words being separated by a skull and flanked on each side by a female figure bearing a wreath and branch in her hands; and beneath this, but above the figures, is a black tablet with the following inscription :

HERE LYETH THE BODY OF WILLIAM PVREVEYE ESQ ONE
OF HIS MATIES AVDITORS OF THE DVCHY OF LANC: &
PATRON

OF THIS CHVRCH (ALTERNIS VICIBVS) WHO LIVED IN THE

GRACE AND FAVOVR OF HIS PRINCE AND LOVE OF HIS
CVNTRY & HAD TO HIS ESPOVSED WIEFE DOROTHY
SISTER TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE EDWARD LO: DENNY*
BARON OF WALTHAM AND AS A GOOD BENEFACTOR
PROVIDED BOTH FOR THE BETTER MAYNTENANCE

OF POORE SCHOLLERS IN CAMBRIDGE, THE POORE OF
THIS PARISH, AND THE PREACHINGE OF THE GOSPEL
IN THIS CHVRCH† AND AFTER HE HAD LIVED LIX‡

YEARES THEN RESTINGE FROM HIS LABOVRS DIED

THE 23TH (sic) OF AVGVST IN THE YEARE OF CHRISTES
INCARNATION 1617

On the left hand and basement part of the monument, near the lower slab and arch, is a small black tablet, on which may be read a quaint and original epitaph, seemingly having reference to the young lady in the arch. A small portion of the right side of the tablet is chipped and broken off, but I append the epitaph in its present form, supplying hereunder the words now deficient :

IN ONE

YOVTHE BEAVTIE WITT & VIRTVE IOYN'D
BY DEATHE SURPRISD LYE CLOSED IN THIS STNE
GOOD HONOR DENNEY YE ADORN'D IN LYFE
AL CVT ASVNDER BY DEATHES CRVEL KNIF—
FORESEING DEATH SHE SVNGE A SWANLIKE SON-
JOYEINGE TO BE WITH CHRISTE ERELÖG.§
HIR BODY SLEPES SHE'S SET IN HEAVENLYE IOYE-
SCOR'ING || AL EARTHLY THINGS AS PALTR—

T—.

The final words of the lines, commencing from the fourth (and excepting No. 6), originally read, knife, song, joyes, and paltry toyes, at least so says Chauncey, the historian, and common sense.

Queries.

BLACK DOUGLAS.-I have in my scrap book, an engraving cut out of the Illustrated London News many years ago, representing five ancient swords, carried in some Scottish procession; I think on the occasion of laying the foundation stone of the Wallace Monument. These weapons are alleged to be the swords of Sir William Wallace, King Robert Bruce, Sir John de Graeme, the Laird of Lundin, and the Black Douglas. I should be glad to know who is meant by the latter title. It certainly cannot be the "Good Sir James," the friend of Bruce, for the sword is evidently of the sixteenth century, with the peculiar guard, and the crescent-like projections on the blade, of that period. It is said to be in the possession of "W. Campbell, Esq., of Tillichewan." I have some doubts, too, about the supposed sword of Sir John de Graeme. It bears on the blade the initials S. F. G., and the date 1406; whereas Sir John fell at the battle of Falkirk, in 1298, 108 years before. Again, it is a basket-hilted sword, and I am not aware that any Swords of that pattern were known in Scotland in the thirteenth century. Planché, in his "History of British Costume," speaks of the basket-hilts as first appearing about 1574, and Meyrick seems to think they were introduced from Italy. The word "claymore," though ap plied to the basket-hilted sword, signifies "the great or big sword," and must, therefore, have been the designation of the two-handed sword. The (so called) sword of Sir John de Graeme was lent for the occasion by the Duke of Montrose. The other four swords are all two-handed. That of Wallace was from Dumbarton Castle; that of Bruce was lent by the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, and that of the Laird of Lundin by Lady Willoughby de Eresby. I should be glad to have some information as to the authenticity of these interesting relics.

JOHN MCLEOD,

EMBLAZONED SHIELDS.. At what period was the use of emblazoned shields in battle discontinued by mounted knights? In Jesse's "Memoirs of Richard III.," it is stated that at the battle of Bosworth, fought August 22, 1485, Sir Walter Hungerford shivered the shield of Sir Robert Brakenbury, and that Sir John Byron held his shield over his dying friend, Sir Gervoise Clifton. Referring to the illuminations of the Ghent Manuscript, quoted in Vol. xxi. of "Archæologia," and apparently written in 1471, in the first miniature, representing the battle of Barnet, fought April 14, 1471, none of the knights are represented with shields. In the second miniature, representing the battle of Tewkesbury, Edward IV. has a shield emblazoned with the royal arms, but none of the other combatants have any defence of that kind. In the third miniature the scene is the execution of the Duke of Somerset, and Edward IV. stands looking on, with a shield emblazoned with the royal arms slung round his neck. In the fourth miniature is shown the attack of the Bastard of Fauconberg on London. Here again the knights are without shields. In the engrav*The Denny family occupied for a considerable period a prominentings of the battle of Spurs (1513) no shields are visible, nor position in the annals of Waltham Abbey and Cheshunt. Edward Denny was a descendant of Sir Anthony, the esteemed and personal friend of Henry VIII. Sir Anthony Denny was the only one that could be found courageous enough to apprise that imperious monarch, when on his death-bed, of his fast-approaching dissolution. Approaching the bed, and leaning over it, Denny uttered the following plain, but memorable words, "that all human aid was now vain, and that it was meete for him to review his past life, and seek for mercy through Christ." These words speak much for the integrity and openness of character of that most worthy and honourable Knight. My very good friend and fellow townsman, Mr. W. Winters, has collected a vast amount of information relative to the Denny and other celebrated families of local worth and notoriety, which, with other local matters, I hope to see, before long, duly published. †These figures, as can be seen by a close inspection, are engraved over LVIII. The latter number no doubt having been inscribed in error.

(To be continued.)

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J. PERRY.

am I aware of any painting or engraving of the sixteenth century in which they occur.

JOHN H. JONES.

HUMAN REMAINS COFFINED IN CEMENT.-I should be glad if any of your numerous readers can inform me how long this mode of sepulture is supposed to have been practised, and when it ceased. The lately reported Roman stone coffins found at York, in which the dead had been thickly enveloped in lime, remind me that, during the late restoration of the church of West Kirby, N.W. Cheshire, when sculptured remains of the 9-10th century were disclosed, a child's coffin in stone appeared, the remains having been immersed in a mass of cement, completely filling the receptacle, and the sand used proved to have been procured

from the sea beach, being replete with shelly débris. In thi instance the interment was held not to be earlier than the eleventh century; but the question arises, what satisfactory data have we to guide us on the subject?

H. ECROYD SMITH. RELICS OF CHARLES I.-It is stated in the "Beauties of England and Wales" (Vol. xiv., p. 201, published in 1813), that, in the vestry of Ashburnham Church, Sussex, are preserved the shirt, stained with some drops of blood, in which Charles I. was beheaded, his watch which he gave at the place of execution to Mr. John Ashburnham, his white silk drawers, and the sheet that was thrown over his body. These relics, it is added, "were bequeathed in 1743, by Bertram Ashburnham, Esq., to the clerk of the parish and his successors for ever." May I ask if they are still to be seen in the vestry of the parish church at Ashburnham ?

SENEX.

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OLD TAPESTRY.-In the Castle of Kilkenny, built by Randolph, Earl of Chester, in the 13th century, I learn from an old volume of the "Gentleman's Magazine" that there was preserved some remarkably fine large tapestry, representing the history of the Spanish monarchy from the expulsion of the Moors to the beginning of the 18th century, worked by Spanish nuns, and brought from Vigo by a Duke of Ormond. Is this tapestry now placed where it can be inspected by the public? I should also be glad of a short description of it.

J. HALLIBURTON.

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THE TICHBORNE FAMILY.-Was the Tichborne whose signature appears on the death warrant of Charles I. any relation to the Tichborne family whose estates have for the last few years been such a celebrated bone of contention ? The arms on his seal are the same as theirs. Are any particulars known respecting him? The arms of the Tichborne family, with the date 1688, may be seen over the entrance to Tichborne Court, on the front of an old house in Holborn. Did the Tichbornes hold any property in that neighbourhood?

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EDISBURY HALL, CHESHIRE.-In Gibson's (edition 1695) Camden there is mention made of De-la-Mere Forrest, and "So noted a place as Edisbury Hall, which gives rise not only to an eminent family, but also to a whole hundred." I also learn that in Chatham Church, there is a fine marble bust to the memory of Kenrick Edisbury, died 1638, surveyor of his Majesty's navy; whilst Pennant mentions Erddig Hall, co. Denbigh, (at present the seat of the Yorkes) as being built by Joshua Edisbury, who was high sheriff for the county in 1685.

In an old print I read "The Edisburys were ardent royalists, and lost their estates, their all, for church and king." Is anything further known of this family; armorial bearings, &c.? I should also be glad to learn whether the family is

extinct or not.

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"And countless generations of mankind

Depart, and leave no vestige where they trod," or some similar words. I should be glad to know the name of the author of the said work as a means of identifying it. JAMES AUSTIN.

CROXBY CHURCH, LINCOLNSHIRE.-I am anxious to obtain information respecting the early history of this church, especially that wherein the names of Ravensdale and Pollard are identified (circ. 13th cent.). The church is dedicated to All Saints, and is said to be of considerable antiquity.

W. WINTERS.

WELSH AMERICAN INDIANS.-Is it known on what

authority the author of "The Town of Denbigh," in chapter

iii. of the work, under the title of "Events not mentioned in the preceding chapters," affirmed that "Madog ap-Owen Gwynedd," a Welsh chieftain, with many of his followers, quitted in the year 1469 the vale of Clwyd and reached the continent of America fully thirty years before Columbus discovered that world? Returning next year, they took with them more, and are said to have founded a tribe of Welsh American Indians.

J. P. S.

THE CROMWELLS.-Was Thomas Cromwell (afterwards Earl of Essex), who was beheaded in 1540, and who is said to have been the son of a blacksmith at Putney, in any way related to the Cromwells, Barons Cromwell of Tatshall ́? A. CAMERON.

THE ABACUS OF PALAMEDES.-Can any of your readers more learned in Roman antiquities than myself, describe the nature of this game? It appears to me to have somewhat resembled the modern game of backgammon.

T. COOK.

tombs usually more ancient than those which were carved in WOODEN EFFIGIES.-Are the wooden effigies on ancient stone? I should be glad if any of your readers could favour me with some particulars of the earliest wooden effigies known to exist. W. R. DAY.

THE 5TH FOOT.-From what circumstances do the 5th Foot derive the peculiar colour of their facings? It is a sage green, and is worn by no other regiment.

J. COLEMAN. FARMERS' TOKENS.-Can you give me some particulars concerning the earliest use of these tokens? G. D.

Replies.

used by the Romans; hence the word calculation. The
earliest known counters struck in England for the use of
monasteries appeared first in 1272 and continued till 1500.
These counters appear to have been current only among the
travelling monks in their business transactions one with the
other. Some little account of jettons or counters will be
found in the Gent.'s Mag., Vols. Ix. 788, lxi. 891, and lxiv. 559.
But most of the writers of these accounts derived their in-
formation-as also do several still more recent-from
Snelling's work. The Ball Frame now adopted in
English schools for the purpose of teaching elementary
arithmetic is not unlike the Abacus of the Romans, the
Soan Pan of the Chinese, and the Shtchota of the
Russians.
W. WINTERS.

Their purpose was to serve as counters in the ancient method of casting up accounts, on a board marked with parallel lines, upon which were placed these counters in rows of units, tens, hundreds, &c. (See a treatise by Thomas Snelling, entitled "A View of the Origin, Nature, and Use of Jettons or Counters, Black Money, and Abbey Pieces," with engravings, folio, London, 1769.

HENRY W. HENFREY, F.R.H.S., &c.

EXMOOR FOREST (Vol. iii. 220).-In the elaborate essay by Sedgwick and Murchison in the "Transactions of the Gological Society" (2nd s., Vol. v., 633-702) the highlands ofeExmoor are classed under the second division of the older stratified deposits of Devon and Somerset, extending from the vale of Taunton, north and west, to the coast of Somerset, in which more than once it is said that few, if any, fossils were to be found, e.g. p. 646: "Considered as a whole, it is neither calcareous nor fossiliferous; but by these words we mean to state only that we found no fossils in it, and that at that it is interpolated in a fossiliferous system; and that a least they are very rare. We must remember, however, better search might probably bring to light a few fossils among the finer strata, alternating with the coarser red sand"and again, on the next page, speaking of the road from Dulverton to Minehead, which would cross the moor, they write, "in no part of it did we observe any organic remains." But does Sir R. I. Murchison mean to exclude

COUNTERS, OR JETTONS (Vol. iii. 307).-Counters, or "Abbey Jettons," as they are sometimes called, are very frequently to be met with near the foundations of old monastic buildings. Some time since one or two early silver jettons were unearthed in the garden adjoining the ancient abbey of Waltham. A few years ago the rector of Alphamstone, Eex, discovered two brass jettons during the removal of an old building, which appeared to have formed a side of a quadrangle portion of Clees Hall, the chief manor house in the parish. The more ancient of the two is a Rechen-Pfennig, or Nuremburgh Counter, which exhibits on one side the Riechsaspfel or mound of sovereignty within a trefoil interlaced with a triangle, and on the other three fleurs-de-lis and three crowns placed circularly around a rose. The second is a large counter, one of those made by Wolfgang Laufer at Nuremburgh, which relate to France. On one side is seen a dolphin, crowned with the inscription, INCOLUMITAS A DELPHINO. The title of Dauphin was first borne by Charles V. circ. 1364. On the other side of the figure is Peace, holding a cornucopia and burning implements of war EX PACE LIBERTAS; in the exergue the maker's name, Wolf. Lavf.* Two brass jettons were found five or six years since at Skelsmergh Hall; these are said to be of Nuremburgh make; “ and," says a writer, "it is interesting that similar counters-the inscription a little different-have already been discovered in some old buildings on the other side of the country, showing that communication at a remote period must have existed between Westmoreland and Germany. It is said that in some cases these counters passed for coins of value; but this was seldom the case, and they are different from those used in the trading Republics of Italy. It was customary in Holland, Austria, and France at one time, to present a number of these tellers or counters as new years' presents to great officers of State; those of gold to the higher, and of silver to the lower; and so many were given one year in Holland as to amount to 2770%. The period at which these counters were introduced into Westmoreland was probably between 1620 and 1680, a time when the Kendal manufactures were sent into Germany." Mr. G. Bedo will find a similar illustration to the one given by him, in Thomas all the highland region when, in his "Siluria" (4th Ed. Snelling's work on "Coins and Medals," Plate II., No. 31-P. 276), he says, "the species known to occur in the limebut with the addition of "Dei Mater," round the edges, i.e., stone bands of the middle or Ilfracombe group, stretching "Ave Maria Stella Dei Mater.' In Plate III., No. 7 of from Widmouth through Combe Martin, Twitchin, Simonsthe same work, will be found an illustration of the other jetton mentioned by Mr. Bedo. The makers of these pieces at Nuremburgh, in Germany, seem at first to have been restricted to a very few families. Hence, from between the middle of the 16th and the middle of the 17th century, the name of only four families can be found, .e., that of Schultz, of which were fog and Hans; one of Koch, viz., Kilianus; three of Krawincle, viz., Egidius, Damianus, and Haus, which last made more than all the others taken together; of the Laufers there were six, viz., Hans, Matthew, Wolfgang, Chronradt, Cornelius, and Laz. Gotlieb. There are some pieces with C. K., but whether for Koch or Krawincle is not known. Mr. Snelling observed that jettons derived their name from the verb "jetter," to cast or throw, which gave rise to the expression of casting The words "Legpenning," "Leggelt," given by the Dutch to these pieces originated in a similar manner, from being placed in different ways on the board in reckoning. The term used by the Germans-"Rechen Pfenning" or reckoning-penny, relates, says the above writer, to its general use, and not to the manner of using it. These were called counters because of their being used to assist in reckoning up accounts, the same as the pebbles (calculi),

accounts.

*Archæological Journal, Vol. ii. 193.

+ See the Reliquary, Vol. viii. 255, and ix. 125.

stones;

bath, Newland, Luckwell, Luxborough, Higher Broadwater, Huish, and Nettlecombe, and thence to the Quantocks, are precisely the same as found at Newton Bushell, Plymouth, Ogwell, &c." Near Simonsbath, at least, there appeared no trace of fossils; and there are none, I believe, either from there, or any of the higher moorland, to be seen, either in Elsewhere, I think, he mentions evidences of eruptions of the British Museum, or Geological Museum, Jermyn Street. feldspathic ashes, or trap-stuff; the exact localities of these, and of any fossils found in the higher, or Dunkery region, would be worth noting by future tourists.

F. J. L.

ARMORIAL BEARINGS (Vol. iii. 307).-The arms about which Mr. Fuller inquires are those of Robert Knight, Earl of Catherlough, in the Peerage of Ireland, quartering Powell of Edenhope, co. Salop, quarterly with Powell of Worthen and All-Stretten, co. Salop. Powell of Ewhurst, created a baronet 10th May, 1661, and extinct, 5th July, 1742, bore the same arms and quarterings as Powell of Edenhope. The lineage of the Knight family is as follows:-(I.) Nicholas Knight, was seated at Beoley, co. Worcester, in 1484, and died in 1520, leaving a son, (II.) Robert Knight, who purchased the manor of Barrells, in the parish of Wotten-Waven, co. Warwick, in 1554, and dying in 1558 was succeeded by his son, (III.) William Knight, who was father of (IV.) | Nicholas, whose son (V.) William Knight, was born in 1594,

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