Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 9.djvu/527

 9* S. IX. JUNE 28, 1902.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

519

Bedford House occupied the whole north side of Bloomsbury Square.

JOHN HOLDEN MACMICHAEL. INQUESTS (9 th S. ix. 408, 475). Coroners' Rolls exist in the Record Office, arranged by counties. Those of Lincolnshire go back to early in Edward III.'s reign, and record inquests, and often the names of the jurors.

A. E. WELBY.

NOTES ON BOOKS, &c.

The Form and Order of the Coronation Service of their Majesties King Edward VII. and Queen Alexandra. (Frowde.)

OF the souvenirs of the Coronation which the public will keep and cherish this ' Form and Order of the Coronation Service ' will make to many the most direct appeal. It is issued in a sumptuous form, on Whatman paper, rubricated throughout, and in a pure white binding. The title-page has an appropriate symbolical border. It should be in the hands of all privileged to be present in the Abbey, and should be retained almost as an heir- loom. Bibliophiles will soon look on it as a treasure, seeing that it is confined to five hundred copies, all of them already absorbed by the trade, and will not be reprinted.

The Benedictine Abbey of SS. Mary, Peter, and Paul at Pershore, Worcestershire. By Francis B. Andrews. (Birmingham, Midland Educational Company ; Pershore, Fearnside & Martin.) THE useful and well-illustrated volume before us is not called a history it has, indeed, no claim to that title but will be of great service to any future his- torian. Had we been called upon to give it a name we should have called it an architectural descrip- tion of the buildings now existing, accompanied by chronological notes. We say this in no spirit of depreciation, for we regard the literary portions, though mostly compiled from printed works, as useful, and the architectural illustrations as of high value.

There was a religious house at Pershore in pre- Norman times, but the name of its founder and the date of its origin are alike involved in mystery. Its earliest occupants were probably secular canons, who were displaced at the time of the great Bene- dictine revival in the days of St. Dunstan. These seculars, however, had sufficient influence to secure their return when political circumstances changed, but this can have been only for a few years, for we find a Benedictine abbot ruling A.D. 984. From him to the abbot who signed the deed of surrender to Henry VIII. the list is nearly, though we think not quite, complete.

The monastery and its surroundings, judging from what remains, must have been a magnificent structure. So far as our memory serves us, Mr. Andrews's descriptions are very accurate. We cannot, however, lend ourselves to giving praise to the manner in which what is called the restoration has been carried out. A Norman font of most inter- esting character existed here till recent days, but is now, we gather, an ornament in somebody's garden. It was taken out of the church shortly after the last restoration. The author gives an engraving of

one aide of it; but this is necessarily imperfect, as it is much worn and encrusted with lichen. The design seems to consist of an arcade of segtuental arches canopying human figures. It is much to be desired that it should be examined and described by some competent antiquary. The names of all those who were responsible for its removal from the church should likewise be handed down to posterity. A mutilated effigy of a man clad in chain mail has had a somewhat better fate. The legs are crossed, which may be the reason of its being spoken of as a Knight Templar. An account written when the figure was entire informs us that the feet rested on a hare. If this were so, it is very curious. Some probability is, however, lent to the statement, as the right hand of the figure grasps a horn. It has, however, been suggested that during life the person represented held lands by cornage tenure. T*he arms of the abbey, of which an en- graving is given, are highly curious. They are blazoned, "Sable, on a chevron or, between three anthills of the same, three holly leaves proper, slipped (sometimes given as vert, and at others as azure), on each hill four ants proper." We are not among those who on all occasions look for symbolism in heraldry, but in this case something more must have been intended than meets the eye.

The Berks, Bucks, and Oxon Archceological Journal

for 1901. (Reading, Slaughter.) PROF. WINDLE contributes a tentative list of early objects of interest in the above-named shires. Such a catalogue, in the present imperfect state of know- ledge, cannot be exhaustive, but the attempt is praiseworthy. The list will be found very useful by the tourist, and it will direct the attention of those who dwell near them to precious relics of the past which, being familiar, they may have over- looked. The Rev. A. J. Foster continues his ' Tour through Buckinghamshire.' and, as on former occa- sions, records interesting tacts. John Schorne was, he tells us, at one time rector of North Marston. He is, however, mistaken in regarding him as a canonized saint, unless he is using the word in that loose sense which includes such noteworthy persons as Thomas of Lancaster and Simon de Montfort. It seems certain that no official canonization was ever conferred upon this worthy, though he was an object of popular devotion in widely separated places. A well near the church at North Marston, which bears his name, was celebrated in former days for healing those sick of the ague. In the time of Browne Willis many ceremonies were con- nected with this well, but Mr. Foster gives no account of them. If they could be recovered they would be interesting to students of folk - lore. Several references to Schorne occur in former volumes of ' N. & Q.'

Practical Spanish. Part I. Xouns, Adjective*, Pronouns, Exercises. Part II. Verbs, d-c. With Copious Vocabularies. By Fernando de Arteaga y Pereira. (Murray.)

OF no European language except, possibly, Italian is a decent smattering more easily acquired than of Spanish, and of none is a complete conquest more difficult. By the aid of this new grammar of the Taylorian teacher of Spanish in Okford a man with a knowledge of Latin should be able in three months to read easily a newspaper and to make himself understood when he has passed from St. Jean de Luz to Fontarabia. In how short time