Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 2.djvu/404

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NOTES AND QUERIES, [n s. vm. NOV. 15, 1913.

FOLKESTONE CROSS (11 S. viii. 331). Mr. S. J. Mackie in ' Folkestone and its Neighbourhood ' (p. 38) tells us that

" the mayor [of Folkestone] was elected on the 8th September of each year by the whole body of freemen from among the twelve jurats. The election took place at the cross in the church- yard, and each of the burgesses was presented

with a small gratuity on recording his vote

" M d that vppon the viijth daie of September in the xxxviijth of the reign of o r soferan ladie Quene Elizabeth, being the feaste daie of the natyvitie of o r ladie, Henry Philpott, maior, & the jurats and comons of this towne of ffolkestone, did at the sound of the comon home assemble them- selves together at the crosse in the churche yard of ffolkestone to elect a mayor for the yere to coome, according to the ancient vsages, liberties, & fraunchises of the same towne oute of minde vsed. And after the cause of the said assemblie notified to the said comons, the comon chest opened & the records therein openly shewed & the customals of the said towne distinctly read, the said comons departed into the churche to their election and did elect Willyam Read, jurate, to be maior of the saide towne for the yere to coorne, whoe thervppon took the oathe of the supremacie & after the oathe for the office of mayraltye."

In chap. i. of ' Gleanings from the Munici- pal Records, ' headed ' The Early Charters,' on p. 261 of the same book, Mr. Mackie says :

" The general laws in force in the borough are set forth at length on four large parchment sheets endorsed ' Customs of Court.' A modern en- dorsement styles it a ' Roll containing an account of the ancient privileges and customs of the town.' It is also marked ' 1 st Edward 3 rd .' Whether or not these four sheets formed part of the charter granted at that date or whether they are only a copy, it is difficult to say. Most probably the latter, as there are here and there blank spaces which seem to indicate that the copyist could not decipher the original. There are twenty sections. The first is very indistinct. A portion of the top is missing, but it sets forth that the town shall be governed by a Mayor and Jurats, and regulates the mode of procedure at the election of Mayor. It provides that the jurats shall assemble in the ' churche yarde of our ladye, and there shall be broughte the town box .... and all other muniments of the towne.' The out- going Mayor before he left his office was to ' charge the other Maire that he shall be trew and lawfull untoe the Kinge of Englande.' The new Mayor was to accept the charge,' kissing the booke,' and further ' all the xy [sic] jurattes shall doe the same.' If the Mayor died within the year, his successor was to be charged by ' the best juratte ' in the churchyard in the same manner. But if the new Mayor was for any reason not qualified or declined to take the office, the out- going Mayor had to continue in possession of the dignity. There formerly stood a cross in the churchyard, round which the common assemblies met. A sundial erected at the expense of the late Richard Hart, Esq., now marks the spot.

" In 1715 and in succeeding years we notice that the records of the ceremony at the election of the Mayor state that the jurats and commoners

met ' at the pedestal of the late cross ' instead of ' at the cross,' so that it is clear that the ancient cross itself had disappeared, but at what precise date it was demolished there is nothing to show.' r

G. H. W.

The charter of 1 Edward III. does not mention the cross, only that upon the day of the Nativity of our Lady, on the blowing of the horn, a common assembly shall be held in the churchyard of our Lady.

It is recorded (38 Elizabeth) that " the Mayor, Jurats, and comons of the towne of Folkeston did at the sound of the comon home assemble themselves together at the crosse in the church yarde "

to elect a mayor. From about the year 1715 down to 1835 the place of assembly is- described as at the " pedestal of the late cross."

In Canon Woodward's ' The Parish Church of Folkestone,' p. 41, under date 1640-62,. it is stated that

" doubtless it was at this period that the old Churchyard Cross, around which the inhabitants had been wont to assemble from year to year to- elect their Mayor, was levelled with the ground."

In the estate map of the lord of the- manor, 1698, there is marked " St. Eans- with's Cross, where the new mayor is sworn." I do not suppose that an illustration of this old cross now exists. R. J. FYNMORE.

BERGAMOT (11 S. viii. 328). The Berga- mot pear is almost certainly what Marvell had in mind. It was highly esteemed in- his day. and the best perry was made from it. See his ' Garden,' 1. 34. C. C. B.

Probably Mentha citrata w r as meant, but Miller { ' Dictionary of English Names of Plants,' 1884, p. 13) also "gives " Citrus Bergamia var. Vulgaris " as a medicinal species. But in this " Citrus " is incorrect, and it may be assumed the lemon-scented Bergamot is also meant.

ALECK ABRAHAMS.

CONSECRATION CROSSES NEAR PISCINA (US. viii. 328). In Upton Church, Norfolk, are the remains of a Consecration cross in close proximity to a piscina. Both are- clearly shown in an illustration in Hill's- ' History of Upton ' (1891) at p. 51.

R. FREEMAN BULLEN.

NUMERALS (11 S. viii. 308). See also- 7 S. iv. 166, 286, 370; 11 S. v. 390. An interesting correspondence on the subject was reprinted from The Sheffield Telegraph in The Sheffield Weekly News of 11 Oct., 1913,

JOHN T. PAGE.