Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 3.djvu/49

 12 s. in. JAN. 20, 1917.) NOTES AND QUERIES.

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depth in a stream. A fair damsel appeared and led his horse to a place of safety. When he asked to whom he was indebted for this rescue, the lady replied :

" I am Barbara, servant of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have often offered me grateful devotions, and therefore you cannot perish, God by His grace granting this favour, so long as you continue your devotions to me." The monk after this increased his attentions. Afterwards he became abbot of his monas- tery, and, always remembering this miracle, incited others to her service. On one occa- sion she held up a good man who had been condemned and hanged, and thus saved his life ; on another, a merchant who had fallen overboard was kept from drowning till he was picked up.

The cultus of St. Barbara was widely spread on the Continent, and nowhere more than in Germany. Erembold, Abbot of St. Bavon, Ghent, at the beginning of the eleventh century brought some of her relics from Rome, which were preserved in this Abbey till the Calvinistic desecrations of the sixteenth century scattered them abroad (Ghesquier, ' Acta SS. Belgii,' ii. 561, 573, 579-83). Mrs. Jameson (' Sacred and Le- gendary Art,' ii. 103-12) gives five copies of the most beautiful works of art painted in her honour, chiefly in Italy. The book in one of its editions may easily be referred to. St. Barbara's Church in Mantua was visited and described by good Tom Coryate of Odcombe (' Crudities,' p. 121). He highly commends the church, but does not mention the altarpiece. The Church of Evroult- de-Montfort, Normandy, is dedicated to her. Dr. Husenbeth ('Emblems of Saints,' second edition, pp. 21, 22) devotes a full page to the artistic representations of this saint, to which I can add two: 'Das Passional,' [1480] folio xlix, and ' Icones Sanctorum,' p. 177.

The traces of St. Barbara's cultus in England are few. St. George, being accepted as our patron, would not well brook a female rival. Mrs. Arnold-Forster (' Church Dedi- cations ') assigns only one existing church to her Ashton-under-Hill, Gloucestershire and that is claimed by some for St. Andrew. Just as in Mainz there was a Sacellum dedicated to St. Barbara in one of the hospitals (' Aurea Moguntia,' p. 227), so probably in some East Anglian churches she may have had a chapel or altar. For Husenbeth notices her figure on roodscreens at North Walsham, Barton Turf, and Filby in Norfolk, at Yaxley in Hunts, and in a window at East Harling, Norfolk,

which, according to Lewis's ' Topographical Dictionary,' must have been part of the ancient stained glass removed to East Har- ling Church from the dilapidated mansion of Harling Hall. A further proof of her cultus in the East of England is given by the church bells of that district. The most interesting, I think, of these is the third at Hempstead, Essex, bearing the quaint and, perhaps, unique inscription in black letter : " barbara : sirenum : melos: dulcedine : vinco," with crosses and medallions. The founder is one John Tonne, a Frenchman, it is supposed (Antoine), the date about 1542. This bell, with its four fellows, was thrown to the ground when the Hempstead tower fell in 1882, but, being uninjured, is still chimed for service. There is another group of mediaeval bells in Norfolk and Suffolk which bear on them Barbara's name. The foundry is doubtful, probably at Norwich or Lynn. The third in St. Clement's, Norwich, has in bold capitals of Lombardic type : " Sancta Barbara pro me Deum exora " ; the fourth in St. George's, Tombland : " O sidus celi fac Barbara cri- mina deli." These two legends are repeated on several other bells in Norfolk and Suffolk. It will be sufficient to refer those interested in the subject to the manuals. on these two counties by Mr. John Lest range and Dr. Raven respectively. Other inscriptions in Suffolk, partly from other foundries, are : " Sancta Barbara, ora pro nobis." " O Virgo [sometimes Martir] Barbara, pro nobis Deum exora."*

The devotion to St. Barbara, in these two counties particularly, may be accounted for by the constant business interchanges be- tween them and the Netherlands through the wool trade. St. Barbara is said by Mrs. Jameson to be patron saint of armourers and gunsmiths ; of firearms and fortifica-

and Antoine Pelletier is one in the Church of Airvault, Pqitou, dated 1776, of which the in- scription begins " Barbara vocor " (Jos. BertheM, . ' Recherches pour servir a 1'histpire des Arts en Poitou,' 1889, pp. 385-7). In his notes on this dedication the author quotes the popular saying :
 * Among the bells founded by Charles Aubry

Quand Vorage tombera, Sainte Bar be me gardera.

He adds : " On donna meme le nom de Sainte Barbe aux magasins a poudre sur les vaisseaux." He notes a bell at Saint-Aubin-le-Cloucq cast by Henry in 1814, inscribed: "Sancta Barba (sic) intercede pro nobis. J'ai et nommee Barbe par mademoiselle Jeanne-Gabrielle." See further- for inscriptions and bas-reliefs on French bells dedicated to St. Barbara Bulletin monumental,. iv. 255-7, and t. xxix. 342, 352, 363.