Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 9.djvu/127

 9* s. ix. FKB. s, 1902.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

119

genealogist, but do not throw much light on the manners and feelings of the people, and still less on general history. There is, however, another class of papers which are very important, as illus- trating social life. We gather from some of them that, although there was no organized uprising against authority on the suppression of the chantries, the change was viewed with great dis- favour, and that means, of course very ineffectual, were frequently adopted for evading it. The pil- lage of the churches of their cherished ornaments was also resented by a large portion of the in- habitants. Of this we find here several instances. For example, the churchwardens of Farnworth were rash people. Whether they were merely covetous persons, inflamed with the desire of making all they could for themselves out of the things in their charge, or whether they were moved to what they did by strong sympathy with the reformed faith, we cannot tell. They were informed against in the reign of Mary for having destroyed a "rancke" of iron, curiously wrought and decorated with floral ornaments, " whereupon divers and many lights used to stand before the Holy Sacrament." This "rancke" or " hersse," as it is also called was, we conclude, a suniptuous piece of ironwork. It is spoken of as thirty feet long. There were also three other " ranckes," of a smaller size, which we think, though there is no evidence in proof thereof, were placed around tombs. These churchwardens had received an order from Sir. William Norres, a man in autho- rity, to restore the damage they had done ; but as they refused to do as they were bidden, they were commanded to appear in the Duchy Chamber to answer for their evil deeds. Hearses, as they were commonly called, of this kind are now of extreme rarity. There is one in the Warwick Chapel; another at Tanfield, near Ripon ; and a third, pro- bably one side only, in the South Kensington Museum. They were not uncommon before the Reformation.

Another curious example of the lawlessness of the time occurred in the same reign at Billinge, in the parish of Wigan, where the people of all ranks and conditions had built for themselves a chapel. For permission to have service therein they had obtained authority from the rector of the parish. They furthermore paid out of their own pockets the stipend of a priest, who said mass and admi- nistered the sacraments, " to the great ease of all the said people, and to the increase of godliness and virtuous living in those parts." This, how- ever, displeased James Winstanley, of Winstanley, Gent., for on 6 August the year is unfortunately not given he assembled twenty unknown persons, and with their help pillaged the chapel of all its ornaments, including even the bell, which was worth three pounds. We wonder whether anything further is known of Winstanley. That he was a turbulent person is evident ; but it by no means follows that this audacious act was inspired by motives of greed.

We meet here with more than one instance of child marriage and divorce, which throw unfavour- able light on the manners of the time.

Who's Who, 1902: an Annual Biographical Dic- tionary. (A. & C. Black.)

'WHO'S WHO' has now reached its fifty-fourth annual issue. It goes on improving in interest and value, the present volume including two hundred

pages more than its predecessor. Three or four years ago it made a great spurt, and it is now the most frequently consulted book of reference on our shelves. Its arrangement and the information it supplies are such that it enables us to dispense with all rival publications 'Men of the Time,' 4 Men of the Reign,' and other works of the class. It is in part a peerage and in part a Red or Blue Book, since it supplies the addresses of most of the people with whom a man of letters is likely to have to associate or correspond. The biographical por- tion is of supreme excellence, and the facts con- cerning men of eminence are quite trustworthy, being as a rule supplied by the subjects them- selves. As proof of the utility of the work our readers may refer to the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, Lord Milner, William Marconi, Lord Charles Beresford, the Rev. Sabine Baring- Gould, the Rev. Prof. Skeat, and innumerable others. This excellent work is the nearest ap- proach to an English Vapereau we possess, and has an advantage over that book, seeing that, being an annual, it is always up to date.

Whitaker's Peerage for the Year 1902. (Whitaker

& Sons.)

' WHITAKER'S PEERAGE,' now in the sixth year of its appearance, has vindicated its utility, and has obviously come to stay. It is a cheap and trust- worthy guide to titled persons, and contains this fear nearly a hundred pages more than last year, ts very title-page is serviceable. In the prefatory matter there is a rather mordant article on claimant- baronets and others. In the case of recent changes in the peerage, such as the Earldom of Arran, the information is up to date. The work is a useful companion to the indispensable ' Whitaker's Alma- nack.'

No doubt was ever felt that the inaccuracy and absurdity of the alleged bi-literal cipher of Bacon would be shown before long by some duly qualified historian. Mr. Andrew Lang was the first to point out the discrepancy in date between the allegations of Mrs. Gallup and the known facts of history. The subject is treated at greater length by Mr. R. S. Rait in the Fortnightly. Mr. Rait shows that if the marriage of Elizabeth and Leicester took place, as is alleged in the cipher, while both were imprisoned in the Tower, Bacon's birth was illegiti- mate. It is once more shown that Bacon had not acquired rudimentary knowledge concerning his own times, and is made to use forms of speech which were not in employment at that date, nor for long after. A strange error assigned Bacon by Mrs. Gallup is that of employing " curricula" in a sense it only acquired in quite modern times. A proportion much smaller than usual of the number is occupied by politics, home and foreign, and there are many valuable essays on literary subjects. Mr. Havelock Ellis writes on Victor Hugo, a propos of the coming centenary, and holds rightly that Hugo's permanent position cannot as yet be definitely fixed. Mr. Arthur Symons gives an interesting foretaste of his shortly to be expected translation of the 'Francesca da Rimini' of Signer Gabriele d'Annunzio. Dr. Todhunter has some valuable comments on 'Blank Verse on the Stage.' Mr. Gosse writes on ' Aubrey de Vere,' Miss Hannah Lynch on ' A. Mary F. Robinson,' and Mr. T. H. S. Escott on 'The Analysis of Jingo.' The most important paper in the Nineteenth Century consists of Mr.