Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/154

 124 NOTES AND QUERIES. u>» s. vi. Am. is, 1900. who had offended them a dose of water instead of fire. On the Continent the demolition of the house was a public ceremony. The church bell tolled, and the offender was "rung out of his freedom" amidst the crash of his falling house. Now what is the meaning of this ceremony 1 Was it not intended to deprive the offender of his status in the community, to excommunicate _ him, and make him an outlaw ? And does it not mean that as the offender's house was the measure of his communal rights, so the demolition of that house depriven him of his share in those rights ? " So essential," says Mr. Round, " was the power of distraint, as we might term it, given to the community over its members, by the possession of a house, that it was sometimes made compulsory on a new member to become possessed of a house within a year of his joining." And in proof of this statement he quotes a charter of Louis VI., dated 1128:— " Quicunque autem in Pace ista recipiatur, infra anni epatiurn aut donium sibi edifice t, aut vineas emet per qne justiciari possit, si quid forte in earn querele evenerit." To use the technical word of this docu- ment, a man was " justified " by the possession of a house, and, in some cases as it seems, by the possession of vines. A new member of the community had to "qualify," to use the modern term, by showing that he was possessed of so much property, or to "justify," as sureties to the court sometimes do now, by swearing that they are worth so much money. S. O. ADDY. CHICHESTER. IN ' N & Q.,' 9th S. y. 465, mention is made of the wooden chest in Chichester Cathedral in a note which, in pursuance of the courtesy usually adopted in ' N. & Q.,' I feel bound to treat with respect: but I hope I may be allowed to say that I rather regret its appear- ance, memory, on which it is based, being too treacherous to be relied upon. I happened to be staying in Chichester at the time of its appearance in the month of June last, and took an opportunity of examining the chest, which is now placed at the west end of the northernmost aisle of the nave. Tradition says, as your corre- spondent states, that it was brought from Selsey at the removal of the see to Chichester in 1075, and that the Norman sculptures in the south choir aisle came with it. It is made of four oak planks, one serving for the floor and one for the lid, while the other two are at the front and back ; the faces of these planks, except possibly that on the ground (which I did not examine), are adzed. This, I believe, fixes the date, vindicates the correctness of the tradition, and shows that the chest is Norman. This opinion is shared by one of the cathe- dral prebendaries, who has given much attention and study to the cathedral and who examined the chest with me. The sacristan on duty and the foreman of the workmen employed on the north-west tower (for the tower is now being rebuilt) also gave me their assistance by taking measurements and other- wise. I mention these particulars to show that the notes I took were carefully com- piled. The inside faces of the chest are remarkably smooth, and were doubtless made so to prevent injury to the documents kept there. I am told that the charters belonging to the cathedral were kept in this chest until a certain period in the last century. The member of the cathedral body referred to above informs me as follows : " On the autho- rity of Dean Hayley, I can affirm that the deeds, &c., of the dean and chapter were kept in this [chest] in the last century." Here I must be allowed to add a few words with regard to the faces of the planks being adzed. The use of the addice or adze shows they were wrought in Norman times. I thought I would consult at the British Museum John Henry Parker's 'Glossary of Architecture,' and quite expected to find some notice of the adze; but instead thereof I found to my surprise, under ' Chest,' a statement which I venture to think entirely erroneous: " The oldest chests known to exist are of Early English date, as at Climping Church, Sussex," &c., and no notice of the adze. (See ' Gloss. Arch.,' fifth edition, 1850. This, I am informed, is the last edition. There is nothing on adze in the 'Concise Glossary,' Lond., 1869.) We are directed by one of your correspondents always to have at hand to refer to large dictionaries, such as the ' His- torical English Dictionary.' Being, as I said, at the ifuseum, I referred to two large dictionaries, but could find nothing to serve my purpose. To return to the subject of the chest at Chichester. If it had been (as your corre- spondent suggests) hollowed out of a trunk, possibly its date would have had to be set at an earlier period ; as it is I regret, as I said, that the planks have had their existence questioned. They are of hard English oak, not of the softer kind which has been con- founded (so I was assured by the foreman) with chestnut. The dimensions of the chest are as follows : Length, 8 ft. 6 in.; breadth,