Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 8.djvu/455

 9 s. vni. NOV. so, 1901.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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formerly at Boston is now the property of Earl Brownlow. The four mace sergeants in Exeter wear ancient silver chains when bearing the handsome silver-gilt maces of George II.'s time before the mayor. It is on record in our city archives that order was given by the Chamber, on 20 October, 1730, to pay for " the new maces."

Church staves follow very closely upon maces. ' London Church Staves,' by M. and C. Thorpe (1895), is a profusely illustrated volume upon the subject. No fewer than thirty-three staves, dating from the seven- teenth century to early in the nineteenth, are treated upon. Nearly all are of silver.

It was, I believe, about the time of the Muni- cipal Act of 1835 that a portion of the civic paraphernalia appertaining to the Exeter Corporation was sold. One item is now in ray own collection, a huge clasp - knife, 3 ft. 5 in. long when open, bearing the name of Kimber upon both blade and tang. The scales are of ivory, and are cleverly painted. On one side are the royal arms, the arms of Hanover, the Union Jack, and royal motto ; on the reverse the arms and motto of the city and county of Exeter. This formidable-looking weapon is supposed to have done. duty as a carving-knife at civic banquets.

That the making of maces is not yet obsolete is practically illustrated by the fact that this very day (28 October) the ancient Corporation of Honiton (Devon) has acquired a new mace. It is of polished ebony and silver mounted, 2 ft. 6 in. long, 4 in. diameter at the orb. It weighs 3lb. 7oz. The orb is surmounted by a carved royal crown, heraldically decorated in colour and gold. On one side of the ball is a quaint carving (also painted) representing the baptism of our Lord, a facsimile of the old borough seal, as well as of an ancient carved stone still exist- ing upon a house in the town, whilst on the obverse is a silver shield bearing the engraved legend, "Presented to the Corporation of Honiton by the Mayor, Robert Henry Matthews, Esquire, A.D. 1900-1."

HARRY HEMS.

Fair Park, Exeter.

Your correspondent is referred to the 'Catalogue of the Municipal Insignia' exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, Mansion House, on 10 July, 1893, when 170 maces, nineteen chains, and other articles were exposed to view.

The plate belonging to the City of London, including maces and chains, has been described in the City Press of 31 August, 1881, 12 August, 1891, 17 May, 1896, and

5 September, 1896, and the Standard of 14 September, 1895. For a description and pictorial illustration of the mace recently presented to the borough council of St. Pan- eras by Alderman Regnart, see the City Press of 9 October.

Much valuable information on this subject will be found in the Antiquary, vols. i. vii. xxii. ; the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, vol. iii, Old Series ; and the 'Cata- logue of Antiquities exhibited at Iron- mongers' Hall ' in 1869.

Lastly, but by no means the least, for ' Corporation Insignia, Maces, Chains, and Symbols of State,' see 2 nd S. v. 469, 519 ; vi. 217, 315. EVERARD HOME COLEMAN.

71, Brecknock Road.

The standard work on this subject is * The Corporation Plate and Insignia of Office of the Cities and Towns of England and Wales,' by Llewellynn Jewitt and Mr. W. H. St. John Hope (Bemrose, 1895), 2 vols. The informa- tion respecting Brackley (vol. ii. p. 219) only relates to its seal. J. POTTER BRISCOE.

Public Library, Nottingham.

Several very early and interesting cor- poration maces were described in the 'Catalogue of the Exhibition of Silver- smiths' Work of European Origin ' held this year at the Burlington Fine- Arts Club. The earliest dated from the fifteenth century. EDWARD HERON-ALLEN.

CROSIER AND PASTORAL STAFF (9 th S. vii. 387, 495; viii. 50, 90, 151, 215, 268). I wish to add another note to the various notes and queries which have appeared on this subject. It has been shown by myself and others that an archbishop never holds his cross, but that it is carried before him. But this cannot be done (according to the Pontifical) until the archbishop has received the Pallium, and St. Anselm rebuked another archbishop for disregarding this rule. Also, an archbishop in giving the blessing is bareheaded, out of respect to the cross held up in front of him, whereas a bishop giving solemn blessing wears his mitre. GEORGE ANGUS.

St. Andrews, N.B.

PALL MALL (9 th S. viii. 14, 170, 335). It was, I believe, at La Rochelle that Mr. Henry James noted a mail. The name of the town was by some accident omitted from my reply, ante, p. 335, and the sentence as it stands seems to refer to Quimper. ST. S WITHIN.

CHRIST CHURCH, WOBURN SQUARE (9 th S. viii. 361). This church, standing upon a site formerly known as Long Fields, was built from the designs of Mr. Villiamy. The cost