Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/220

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [* s. n. SEPT. 10, ue.

Montault, and he treats the table of commu- nion (table de communion) as the altar rail at which the communicants kneel (' Traite Pra- tique de la Construction, de 1'Ameublement, et de la Decoration des Eglises,' i. 204). It is placed, he says, at the altar of the Holy bacrament, as it is there that the Holy Com- munion is given. The rail (balustrade) ought to resemble a table as far as possible, and consequently its upper surface should be such that a cloth can oe spread upon it. Bene- dict XIII. required that it should be a foot broad and three feet high, so that the com- municant kneeling beside it can lean con- veniently upon the table. It should be raised above the pavement of the nave by means of a stone or wooden step sufficiently large to form a kneeling stool. In churches where there is no grill (chancel, cancellus, bar- reau, grille) the table is placed so as to close the choir, and that the six or seven candle- sticks prescribed for the pontifical may be placed upon it. This has reference to the decree or the Congregation of Rites : " Item alia sex vel septem ad summum funalia apponi possunt in alto loco."

DAVID MURRAY. Glasgow.

LAWS CONCERNING NAMES (9 th S. ii. 107). May one interject a gentle protest against the use of the phrase " Christian name" in this connexion? The Romans said prcenomen, the French say prtnoni, and we have used the word " forename " for the last 365 years. It is as incorrect to speak of the Christian name of a Jew, for example, as it would be hopeless to expect a Christmas card from a Jewish Rabbi. Again, the middle name of a Roman was his gentile name that of his gens. On the surface, what a pretty confusion of ideas it would have been to have spoken of the name as at once gentile and Christian !

ARTHUR MAYALL.

OLD BURIAL-GROUND OF ST. CLEMENT DANES (9* h S. ii. 46). The burial-ground about which inquiry is made is evidently that known as the " Green Ground," in Portugal Street, upon a portion of which a part of the buildings of King's College Hospital stands. Neither in Diprose's ' Some Account of the Parish of St. Clement Danes,' in ' Old and Ne\v London,' nor in Wheatley's ' London, Past and Present,' do we find any account as to the date of its consecration, though without doubt it was a very ancient place for burials and was in use until 1850, and was about the third of an acre in extent. Its name is suggested to have been given to it "as if in mockery." In 1848

a report was made by a committee appointed by the parish to the effect that the ground contained 14,968 feet superficial area, and that during the preceding twenty-five years 5,518 interments had taken place, which meant that " a bulk of coffins which would occupy one acre 5,510 feet if deposited together without any earth intervening, had by some unknown means been packed into this small space." This ground was closed when the Act com- pelling extra-mural burials came in force at dates varying, in different places, between 1850 and 1855. At this ground the following fees were charged : for adults, 14s. lOd. ; children, 6s. 4d. ; non-parishioners, \l. 3s. Zd. adults, and 12s. 4d for children. I am unable to say for certain if a list or plan were kept, but as this was done in many, if not most, cases where churchyards were closed, I should think the authorities of St. Clement Danes would not be behindhand in this very necessary measure for future reference. The registers of this church, which begin in 1558, have been continued without break until the present time, and are in an admirable state of preservation. The handwriting of some of the earlier volumes is very distinct and regular, notably that of " Francis Morecroft, mynister," which is " rather like print of the present day." The registers contain many unique and peculiar entries of great interest to the searcher ; but the publication of church registers does not move very fast, for pur- chasers are not many, and the price is often very high ; for the work is laborious, long, and has to be paid for at a very high figure, and is therefore not likely to be very remu- nerative in the book market, although I feel that all the registers of the older parish churches of Westminster ought to be procur- able. W; E. HARLAND-OXLEY. 14, Artillery Buildings, Victoria Street, S.W.

Orders of the Privy Council for closing the church, churchyard, and burial-ground of St. Clement Danes as places of interment were made in June and October, 1853. See the London Gazette for that year, pp. 1656, 2867.

G. F. R. B.

"FLAM" (9 th S. ii. 28, 75). This means a double stroke on the drum as a signal on parade, and we find in old drill-books, "The major then orders a flam," " three rolls and six flams," &c. Towards the close of the seventeenth century it was almost solely by words of command that infantry exercises were gone through ; there were no bugle sounds, and the use of the drum was rare. I have a copy of "Military Discipline; or, the Art of War, published by Robert Morden,