Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 9.djvu/157

 12 s. ix. AUG. is, 1921.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 123 and coffee-houses banished. James Wyatt was the first architect employed, but subse- quently Sir John Soane carried out the desired improvements. They seem to have concurred in thinking that the removal of the buildings hiding the porch was essential, and so it came about that the niches and their statues were rediscovered. The contem- porary drawing referred to illustrates three figures that may be identified as Edward I., Queen Philippa, Edward II. The removal of an obtruding hand and arm noticeable in two of the statues is due to the circumstance of ->he back wall of the houses having been built flat against these niches and statuary. This discovery, although attributed to James Wyatt the architect, was probably due to his Clerk of Works, Thomas Gayfere, who held a similar position at Westminster Abbey. Exactly how he disposed of these statues is not known, possibly they were. broken up before their interest was realized ; but when, in 1825, a further discovery j of statues was made at least one was sold or presented, and so came to be preserved to this day. Those who seek I it must make their way to Trinity Square, Borough, and there, in an enclosure fronting the Ionic Church, will find an old statue, without name, erected on a pedestal largely made of cement. Why this statue came to migrate to this square is explained by thei fact that about the date of its discovery at Westminster and eviction from the niche it had occupied for over 400 years, the square was being completed and some 1 ornament was required for the centre grass j plot. Local tradition has identified it as a j Biblical hero, preferably Aaron, but offi- cially it is believed to represent Alfred and this is correct, as some consideration of de- tail will prove. Obviously the statue in design is of the late fourteenth century, the crown or wide j banded coronet resembling that shown on! the contemporary portrait of Richard II. , at Westminster Abbey. Here also is ai toga held in at the waist by a girdle having j a design of conventional waves ; the mantle, held together under the chin by a large brooch, has a border of diamond-shaped -<jiiares surrounding Lombardic crosses and half circles with pellets. The statue, probably seven feet high, j lias been much repaired with cement and across the back are two iron clamps to prevent a flaw extending. Originally it! was carved from a block of marble, possibly from Purbeck, and the exposed surfaces polished, then painted. There is evidence of this remaining, and the right knee slightly advanced, therefore exposed to the weather, has the upper surface so corroded as to show the texture of the stone. This posi- tion of the knee provides problematical explanations for much that has been lost. The right hand now missing from above the wrist probably held a book, resting it on the knee ; it was also supported by an iron stay of which only the socket below the girdle remains. The thumb of the left hand is missing, but the position of the other fingers and the inner surface of the fore- finger suggest that this hand held aloft a short sword as an emblem of Justice. These symbols would adequately represent King Alfred as the first lawgiver of his people. The patriarchal beard, moustache, and hair is intended to be typical of a Saxon king, but it is too patriarchal. So here is the re-discovery of a fourteenth- century statue, mutilated but still preserved, in a South -London square. By all means let it be identified so that those who read may know who is represented and its origin ; and if removal is thought necessary I suggest the Royal Courts of Justice as offering a suitable place in which to erect it, sadly wanting as they are in some memorial of the antiquity of English law. ALECK ABRAHAMS. RICHARD PARKER AND MASONIC EMBLEMS. ALTHOUGH, as I have said (12 S. ix. 8), many East Londoners retain a sentimental interest in all that relates to Richard Parker, of the Nore Mutiny, I have never been able to range among those who indiscriminately attach occult or sinister importance to the use of the supposed Freemason emblems and furniture in connexion with funerals and graves ; for I am old enough to recollect that these prides, pomps, and heraldries were frequently included in the advertised stock- in-trade of undertakers in town and country. In the cases where these relics were genuine lodge, guild, or society furniture, their use was often due to the complaisance, courtesy, or " profiteering " of the custodians of the paraphernalia. When I was a child the sometime jobbing carpenters who undertook funerals were quite commonly in possession of a miscellany of shields, &c., some appa- rently Masonic, some of the Trinity Corpora-