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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. n. SEPT. 17,

ristic chalices were sometimes made of bronze or brass, but they were forbidden by the canons, anc had gone out of use long before the Reformation Symbolic chalices, for burial with dead ecclesi astics, were sometimes made of bronze ; but very few examples have come to light. As the pre Reformation sacramental vessels of Scotland have almost entirely perished, we have nothing to guide us. Harris, it must be pointed out, was far away from any authority which could enforce the canons, so an old custom may have survived there which had long been abandoned elsewhere ; therefore this cup may have been intended for church uses, but we are strongly persuaded that it was not. Apart from its minute size and the metal of which it is composed, it has a very modern appearance. It is seemingly not older than the seventeenth century. The knop, too, in the stem is small, and seems to be a starved survival used for mere ornament. The lip is turned over, a form rarely, if ever, found in the true chalice: and there is no cross or other reli- gious symbol on the base. If we are right in our contention that this is not a chalice intended for sacramental use, for what purpose can it have been made ? We have no answer to give, but throw out as a suggestion the guess that it may have had some magic use. Whatever may have been its purpose, it does not stand alone ; two other brass cups like it were found some time since walled up in an old house in Musselburgh.

The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. Part 57.

(Leeds, Whitehead & Son.)

THE Yorkshire Archaeological Journal always affords pleasant as well as instructive reading. The present number seems to us exceptionally good. Its con- tents are varied, as should be the case, even with the transactions of societies which strive to spread local knowledge. ' The Journal of John Warburtpn, Somerset Herald, for 1718-9' is the only dull thing among these papers. Warburton was a Lancashire man, perhaps of humble origin. However that may have been, ne began life as an exciseman, and was for a time stationed at Bedale, in Yorkshire. In those days there were no examinations, and much education was not required for the post he had to fill. He never acquired anything of what we should now designate by the vague and uninforming word "culture ; but he was an industrious plodder, and his voluminous manuscript collections are not without value, although we fear Grose was not exaggerating when he described him as ignorant not only of Latin, but also of his native language. The value, however, of the concise diary here

Erinted consists in its notices of old houses which aye been swept away or modernized beyond recog- nition. The diarist had a son, also called John, who was pursuivant of the Irish Court of Exche- quer. He was travelling in France in 1793, and when at Lyons was guillotined by the revolutionists on a charge of sedition. We have understood that the exact circumstances of the case have never been made known. Prof. Skeat prints an ' English Rhyme ' written in 1362, which has recently been found in the Public Record Office. It seems that John Berwald, Jun., of Cottingham (probably a baker), along with others, made these verses, and that they were publicly sung at Beyerley and Hull. John Berwald was indicted for this crude literary effort ; but it is not easy to see how an offence had been committed. We cannot but think that these seemingly harmless verses were, when sung, accom-

panied by a commentary of far more pungent character. We think the text as enrolled has been taken from a corrupt copy, perhaps written down from memory. Had it not been tor Prof. Skeat's skilful paraphrase, we are by no means sure that the whole of it would have been intelligible to us. Soken, in the second line, means, we have no doubt, in this instance, a manorial franchise in town or city liberty. Fraudulent bakers and brewers were constantly fined at the manor courts. By far the longest paper is that on ' Monumental Brasses in the West Riding,' by Mr. Mill Stephenson. It is very carefully drawn up by one who understands the subject. We are sorry that we have not space in which to draw attention to the many interesting questions suggested by it. One thing is too curious to be passed over. At Hampsthwaite is pre- served a fourteenth-century brass representing a civilian. Some one who nourished early in the reign of Queen Elizabeth has utilized this old figure by carving in rude, cursive letters an inscription beginning, " Prayse god for ye soule of Ad. dyxon." Here we come on the handiwork of some follower of the old religion who feared consequences too much to put up a memorial such as would have been in order when Mary I. was queen, and took the oppor- tunity of slightly altering the beginning, so as to make it in expression tally with modern thoughts, and yet suggest the old form of words.

MR. THISKLTON DYER has written a volume on the curiosities of parish registers, which will be published very shortly by Mr. Elliot Stock under the title 'Old English Sosial Life as told by the Parish Register.' It deals incidentally with such subjects as parish customs, superstitions, epidemics, parish scandals, and punishments.

ljj,0tict% to

We must call special attention to the following notices :

ON all communications must be written the name ind address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith. WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately. To secure insertion of communications corre- spondents must observe the following rule. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. Correspond- ents who repeat queries are requested to head the second communication " Duplicate."

THE UNMISTAKABLE {" Spick and span"). See N. & Q.,' 1 st S. iii. 330, 480; v. 521.

NOTICE.

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