Meetings of Antiquarian Societies.

METROPOLITAN.

Archæological Institute.-November 2.-Lord Talbot de Malahide, President, in the chair.-The Rev. H. Whitehead sent a Paper on an ancient paten from Hamsterley, Durham, which was exhibited. Mr. R. S. Ferguson sent a Paper on a parchment pedigree of Raby Coat, Cumberland, which also was exhibited. Mr. W. M. Flinders Petrie read a Paper, the first of a series, 'on the Domestic Remains of Ancient Egypt. The Bishop Suffragan of Nottingham, sent some notes on the discovery of three tree coffins in Grimsby Churchyard, which he thought were probably either of the Saxon or Danish period. Precentor Venables laid before the meeting a sketch of a Roman sepulchral inscribed stone recently found in Hungate, Lincoln, with notes upon it by himself and the Rev. J. Wordsworth. Mr. Stuart Knill exhibited a drawing of excavations in Leadenhall Street, showing considerable remains of a Roman pavement lately discovered. Mr. J. H. Middleton exhibited a drawing of a chalice at Little Faringdon, circa 1470. Among other objects exhibited were a bronze mortar, lately found at Colchester with Roman remains, by Mr. E. Peacock; a British urn of great size, fragments of two others, and a quantity of bones, discovered a short time ago at Acton, by Mr. Hedges; a beautiful knife handle, decorated with nielli of Italian character, found in the moat at Kirkstead, Lincolnshire, by Mrs. Cartwright; five old swords by Mr. H. Hems drawings of the font at St. Peter's, Ipswich, by Miss M. Burton; and a drawing of the west end of Ashford Carbonell Church, Salop, showing an arrangement of a very unusual kind, by the Rev. J. S. Tanner.

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Edinburgh Architectural Association.November 10.-Mr. D. M'Gibbon, President, in the chair. In his opening address, the President reviewed the past history of the Association. After referring to the publication of the Sketch Book as a matter deserving continued encouragement, the President gave a vidimus of the work cut out for the Association during the ensuing winter, and then proceeded to explain that arrangements had been commenced for the holding of an architectural exhibition, to include paintings, drawings, sketches, photographs, detailed drawings, and every kind of pictorial representation of their art. PROVINCIAL.

Berwickshire Naturalists' Club.-Selkirk Meeting.-October 11.-Various valuable objects connected with the town of Selkirk were exhibited at this meeting; its charters, three in number; its silver cup and famous bunch of bristles essential to the bestowal of citizenship; the weavers' Flodden flag, carrying the emblem of the shuttle; the Andrea Ferrara of the valiant town clerk wielded at the same fatal fight; the "Souters'" halbert; their oldest book of records; a fine pair of red-deer antlers; and a cranium of the ancient wild ox (Bos primigenus),

sent from Haining, but originally obtained in Linton Marl bog, in Roxburghshire; a "Breeches" Bible in excellent preservation, believed, from some internal tokens, to have been Archbishop Sharpe's; a PrayerBook that had been the property of Mr. Alexander Anderson, Mungo Park's brother-in-law, who died during Park's last disastrous journey, before the final collapse. This little book had been found in Park's boat after he was drowned, and was afterwards worn by the chief of Youri as an amulet of powerful efficacy, from having belonged to the "good white man." It was recovered and brought home by one of the Landers, and is now in Dr. Anderson's possession, who has also a few letters in the handwriting of the traveller. Mr. T. Craig Brown, Selkirk, read a Paper on the "Souters of Selkirk." He suggested the probability of the trade being a survival from the time before the death of Alexander III., when all the skins from Ettrick Forest were brought to Selkirk to be tanned by the king's tanner.

Manchester Scientific Students.-October 25. -Mr. F. A. Whaite in the chair.-Mr. George C. Yates read a Paper " On Gourds and Calabashes, and their uses to Man." Mr. Yates described the calabash tree. The most useful part is the hard shell of the fruit, which, under the name of Calabash, is much used in place of hats, saucers, cups, drums, bottles and goblets, and is often used to boil liquids. These articles often constitute the sole article of furniture of the Carib Indians. The pulp of the fruit is considered in the country a sovereign remedy for several disorders, both internal and external. Mr. Yates next spoke of gourds, the rinds of which are largely used for holding liquids, and they also go by the name of calabash. The vegetable marrow appears to be a mere variety of the common gourd or pumpkin. It was introduced into Europe from Persia about the beginning of the nineteenth century, but is now more generally cultivated in Britain than any other kind of gourd. Mr. Yates concluded his Paper with an account of the uses to which calabashes are put by savage tribes. Mr. W. E. A. Axon communicated a Paper on Beddgelert."

Inverness Field Club.-October 14.-Mr. Ross gave an account of the house at Redcastle, which he believes to be the oldest inhabited building in the North. The ancient name of this castle was Eddyrdor, and there is evidence to show that it was built by William the Lion about the end of the 12th century. In 1455, the Barony of Edderdail called Ardmannoch, and the Reid Castle, with the lordships of Ross belonging thereto, were annexed to the Crown by James II., and in 1481 (5th April) James III. granted to his second son, James Stewart, Marquis of Ormond, the lands of the lordship of Ardmannache, called Avauch, and Nethirdal, with the moothill of Ormond and the castle and fortalice of Redcastle. Lord Ormond became an ecclesiastic, and his mother, Queen Margaret, leased the lands and house of Ardmannache to George, Earl of Huntly. In 1482, the Earl granted the lands to Hucheone de Ros of Kilravock, the keeping of Redcastle, and the lands of Ardman. nachet (in lieu of payment) of the dues of the lands of Urquhart and Glenmorrisone, which he held of the Earl. Before 1492 the lands of Ardmannache and Reidcastle were taken from Hucheone de Ros of Kil

ravod by Renzo Mackenzie of Kintail, and in the same year Gorge, Earl of Huntly, bound himself to re tre to the Baron of Kilravock His lease of Koldcarle and Ar'mannacht, in so far as reason and law wii," together with the goods he had in the ame. It ended, however, in Hachete de Kas reguing the lease of Arfmannach en. Keldcast e, and the King ordered the Sheriff of Ross to distrain the lands and goods of a large number of the adjoicing lands. In 1511 King James IV. granted to Herry Stewart the lands of Culoowy, Drumnmarge, and Maren, with the Mill of Redcastel. The estate cime into the hands of the Murrays and Stewarts, and fually into the hands of the Mackenzies in 1570, with whom it continued till 1790, when the family got into difficulties: and it was sold to Mr. Grant, of Shewgle. In 1824 it was resold to Sir William Fettes, and finally to the Hon. H. Baillie, its present possessor. The Castle as it now stands has been added to and changed, so that its original form cannot be made

out.

It appears that the oldest portion is the south front overlooking the Frith, and that it probably constituted the keep or main tower, now a courtyard, enclosed to the north. The east front is not at right angles to the south, but they would seem to have formed two sides of a pentagon, which may have been the form of the great enclosure. This is not an uncommon form in Highland castles. It is, of course, conjectural, but, looking to the conformation of the grounds, it is not unreasonable, judging by the style of building, this south front is the oldest, and the tower and wing extending north from it the next. Of course the domestic modern buildings are easily distinguished. The pediments over the attic windows were taken from "Old Castle Tolmie," which stood at the foot of Bridge Street, Inverness, previous to the flood of 1849. On the removal of Castle Tolmie, the old gablets were purchased and fixed up soon after.

Plymouth Institution.-The seventy-first season of the Plymouth Institution was opened on the 12th October with an address from the President, Mr. R. N. Worth, F.G.S. He dealt with the borderland between the prehistoric and the definitely historic, and gave a sketch of the conditions of Saxon Devon in the Plymouth district, under the title of "A Corner of Saxon Devon." Prefacing his more local references by an inquiry into the original Devonshire Hundreds of Domesday (all of which he identified and traced), and the lessons thence derivable, he pointed out that only two Saxon deeds referred to the vicinity of Plymouth, and that the chronicles were all but silent relating to it. For the first time, however, definite traces of the "wark" had been found in Devon, and in Plymouth itself-a remarkable fact, and one which Mr. Worth had ascertained in the course of a detailed examination of some hundreds of ancient deeds. The chief part of the address consisted of an examination of the local references in Domesday, and an elucidation of their character and value; and this was illustrated by a sketch map of the district in the Norman period, and by some elaborate tables. The changes that had taken place were distinctly marked.

British Archæological Society.-October 31.A visit was paid to Hampton Court and Kingston. Mr. Ernest Law gave some interesting particulars

The

concerning the Great Hall. Standing in the Barrackyari, or Outer Green Court," as it was formerly called, Mr. Chart pointed out that the Trophy gates, by which they had just entered, were erected by William III. The mad ran at a peculiar angle to the palace, leading to the belief that it had not always excel there. On the right hand side of the road there used to be some old tallings, which had been gradually demolished during the past fifty or sixty years. The palace was built upon the site of a priory belonging to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, and a lease was granted by the Knights Hospitallers to Cardinal Wolsey. On arriving at the west front entrance, Mr. Chart explained that this part of the building was restored about one hundred years ago, and it was an interesting fact to mention that the oid oak gates which were originaily hung at this entrance, and which had been lying in one of the workshops for many years, had recently been re-hung, after undergoing thorough repair. They were of massive proportions, being five inches thick, and bore traces of having been penetrated by builets. They were also riddled with shots. Mr. Chart next proceeded to give some interesting particulars regarding the piers on each side of the gateway, which piers, together with several others in different parts of the palace, were formerly surmounted with leaden cupolas. Of these leaden cupolas, only two now remained. groined Tudor ceiling in the first archway was next referred to. Mr. Chart mentioned that it was erected last year in substitution of a lath and plaster ceiling. Mr. Chart next called attention to the busts (eight in number) of Roman emperors on the walls of this part of the palace, and said it had been generally supposed that they were gifts from Pope Leo X. to Cardinal Wolsey, but it had since been discovered that they were purchased. Mr. Lambert remarked that these busts came from Florence. The Great Hall was then entered. It was built, he said, in 1531, by Henry VIII., and not by Wolsey, as was often stated. It was begun immediately after the death of Wolsey, the old hall being first removed to make room for it. Between six and seven years were spent in building it, and in the Record Office there could be seen minute information as to its cost, even to the amount spent in buying candles to enable the men to work at night-time. The hail was probably now about what it was when Henry VIII. finished it, although often restored and touched up since. The ceiling was supposed to be the most elaborate in England, and resembled that in Christ Church, Oxford. After describing some of its more important features, he went on to speak of the old stone fireplace, 6ft. square, which formerly existed in the centre of the hall, just below the lantern. When the fire was lighted the smoke and fumes escaped through the lantern. The minstrel gallery was now almost precisely as it used to be, with the exception of the tapestry and carvings on the balustrade, which were restorations. Speaking of the wrought iron gates in the King's guard chamber, the company were informed that they were the work of Huntingdon Shaw, a famous smith of Nottingham, who was buried in Hampton Churchyard. Mr. Lambert mentioned that in 1850 these gates were lying in a rusty state at the bottom of the gardens, but a deputation of archæologists having brought the

matter under the notice of the office of Woods and Forests, the gates were afterwards brought up here and taken care of. On arriving at the Chapel Royal, some time was spent in inspecting the royal pew and other parts of this portion of the Palace. Mr. Chart mentioned that the ceiling was of Tudor design, and the carving was by Gibbons. The chapel was originally built by Henry VIII., but it was thoroughly gutted and almost re-built by Wren. One of Wolsey's great kitchens was next visited. It is situate on the north side of the palace, abutting on Tennis-courtlane, Formerly there were four kitchens, but the other three have since been altered and appropriated for different purposes, the present one being left in its original state. The fireplace is 16ft. across, and contains the spit racks which were used in Wolsey's time. This portion of the palace, as may be readily supposed, was examined with much interest.-The visitors were afterwards driven to Kingston Church, where they were met by the Rev. A. S. W. Young, vicar of Kingston, Mr. Gould, and several other gentlemen. Here a very interesting Paper was read by Mr. Patrick. The church of Kingston, he said, was dedicated to All Saints, and a church existed here at the time of the Conquest. The present building, however, had no pretensions to so great an age. The church was a cruciform structure, with north and south aisles and transepts. There were chantry chapels on each side of the chancel-that on the south dedicated to St. James, and that on the north to the Blessed Trinity. The chapel of St. Mary, which was always placed to the south of the chancel, stood still further south, and was probably part of the original church founded by Gilbert Normain. This chapel partly fell down in the year 1730, through having been undermined by the sexton in digging graves, the sexton being killed by its fall; but its total destruction was very soon completed by the parish. The church is one of the largest in the county, and the dimensions were 149ft. 4in. in length, by 82ft. 6in. width across the transepts; the width of nave and aisles being 65ft. Sin.-The coronation stone was next inspected and Ald. Gould read a Paper on the history of this ancient relic. He said it was not unreasonable to suppose that this was a Druidical altar stone, from its form possibly sacrificial, and that as a sacred character attached to it amongst the ancient Britons, the Saxons preserved and adopted it as a crowning stone. When he came to reside in Kingston, about forty years ago, the coronation stone stood within the gates of the courtyard, close to the walls of the Baths. On the pulling down of the old Town-hall, the stone was removed to this spot for security, and old inhabitants had told him that they could recollect it under the stairs in the old Town-hall. It had been placed there after the falling down of St. Mary's Chapel, adjoining the parish church, where it had always been. The chapel perished in 1731, and with it the effigies of the Saxon kings, preserved there with the stone. In 1853, chatting about the stone with an old friend, Mr. Samuel Ranyard, it occurred to them and their antiquarian friend, Mr. Young, that if the stone on which the modern kings and queens of England were crowned was an object of national interest, the stone on which the first kings of all England were crowned was

of still greater historical interest, and they agreed that an effort should be made to give it proper place and prominence. They prepared a scheme, Mr. C. E. Davis prepared a design, their object being to have it strictly in character, but making the surroundings subordinate to the object. Over 300 was collected, and, with the consent of the Mayor and Corporation, the stone was placed where they now saw it. Its form was heptagon, Saxon columns and caps, Saxon spearheads and panels, and it served to illustrate the union of the Heptarchy. The stone was fixed on a base of Bath stone, and on each of the seven faces the name and date of one of the kings was shown in lead, and a coin of each reign, given by Mr. Roach Smith, was inserted in a copper tube under the name. The inauguration of the restoration took place in 1854, the day being made a public holiday in the town. The opening was a Masonic ceremony, and the stone was anointed with corn, oil, and wine.

Manchester Literary Club.-November 6.Mr. J. H. Nodal in the chair.—Mr. H. H. Howorth read a short communication on "A Chinese Literary Paradox." He began by explaining the special difficulties which beset the study of the Chinese language, owing to the exceptional character of their written language, with its ideographs varying in significance according to construction and special use, and illustrated this by reference to the "Yi-King." A translation of this work, by Dr. Legge, has been included in the Sacred Books of the East, now in course of publication by the India Office, under the editorial superintendence of Dr. Max Müller. The Book of Changes is universally deemed by the Chinese to be their oldest book, and even Confucius declared that it would take him fifty more years of study before he could understand it. The ablest native scholars have tried to explain it intelligibly, but all have failed. Professor Douglas says that probably no book in the world has been so largely commented on as the "Yi-King," and certainly no book has kept its secret so well. As the book is a mystery, it has been treated as a book on divination. Each of its sixty-four chapters is headed with a set of six lines, long and short, arranged in a certain order, and forming a hexagram. This figure is followed in each case by sentences whose meanings are matter of doubt. The attempt to treat them as a continuous narrative, and to extract a definite meaning from them, has proved an utter failure. Here is a specimen :-" The fifth line divided shows its subject keeping his jaw bones at rest so that his words are all orderly. Occasion for repentance will disappear." On reading sentence after sentence like this it is clear that there must be some mistake, and that the real clue to the text is lost. Following up a hint from one of the commentators, M. Terrien de la Couperie has come to the conclusion that, instead of a continuous narrative, it is, for the most part, a collection of vocabularies explaining the meaning of certain characters, whilst the remainder is made up of ethnographic and geographical lists. M. de la Couperie finds that the characters bear strong resemblance to the ideo. graphs used by the Akkad race, who occupied Babylonia in the earliest civilization known in Asia. Among the Accadians we find similar lists of words to those in the "Yi-King;" and, further, it is known

that one branch of them was distinguished by their high cheekbones, oblique eyes, and Chinese features.

The Antiquary's Note-Book.

Dates and Styles of Churches-Wilts (Communicated by A. Farquharson).

Trowbridge (St. James' Parish Church).-Built by James Terumber in 1483; pure Perpendicular; chancel, north and south transepts, nave and side aisles, tower with spire 159 feet high, at west end; north, south and west porches. Registers date from Elizabeth. Living, a rectory.

Holy Trinity.-Erected, 1838, by a late rector, the Rev. D. Hastings. Early English; nave, chancel and two transepts; tower on south side.

St. Thomas'.-Erected by Thomas Clark, William Clark, and Bayfield Clark, to the memory of their father. Consecrated February, 1870. Early English; centre tower, fabric, nave, chancel, and transepts; 66 feet by 55 feet.

St. Stephen's.-Converted to present use in 1860 from a Baptist Chapel. Perpendicular.

Staverton (St. Paul's), Trowbridge.-Rebuilt on old site in 1826. Consists of a body only; no chancel or aisles.

Studley (St. John's), Trowbridge.-Early English; built in 1858; nave, chancel, and south porch.

Edington (SS. Mary, Catherine and All Saints). -Consecrated by Rob. Wyvil, Bishop of Sarum, 1361; built by William of Edington, Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England, who also founded the priory. Church consists of chancel, transepts, nave, and side aisles, south porch, square central tower, seven bells, oldest 1640. Transition from Decorated to Perpendicular; extreme length, 160 feet. canopied altar tombs of fourteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Fine

Bratton (St. James').--Dated 1340; 55 feet long; chancel, transepts, nave, and side aisles; central tower, four bells, oldest 1587; Decorated style. Registers, 1542.

Steeple Ashton (St. Mary).-Dated 1480; built chiefly by Robert Long and Walter Lucas, clothiers; pure Perpendicular; fabric consists of chancel, nave with side aisles; at each end of nave aisles are chapels; tower at west end 92 feet high, south porch. Registers, 1538.

Imber (St.Giles).-Chancel, nave, and side aisles; former rebuilt in Early English style, latter Perpendicular; font, ancient Norman ; tower at west end; five bells; north porch having on it the shield of Hungerford, former Lords of the soil.

Stockton (St. John the Baptist).-1170; contains examples of Norman and Early English; consists of chancel, nave with side aisles, north porch, and low west tower. Chancel 16 feet 10 inches by 18 feet 6 inches; nave 36 feet by 38 feet. Chancel separated from nave by wall, pierced by a doorway only, on

either side a squint; tower contains four bells, oldest pre-Reformation; others 1661 and 1684.

Value of Land in Warwickshire.-In the churchyard of Claverdon, a village in Warwickshire, is a monument to one John Matthews, who died in the reign of Henry VII., leaving land in the parish in trust to defray the cost of necessary repairs or enlargement of Claverdon Church. From time to time the rental of the estate has been inscribed on one side of the monument. It is a pity that there are such long gaps in the record, but, imperfect as it is, this table is of great interest as showing the rise that has taken place in the value of land in the last two and a half centuries. It must be remembered that a noble is one-third of a pound sterling. The table is as follows.

Thornton upon a small farm called the Nuke, situate near Tewitt Hall at Oakworth. This rude contrivance was, at the period of its discovery, doing duty as a water-trough, and was sunk into the ground. The dimensions are 2ft. 6in. wide and 8in. deep. The

second illustration (fig. 2) represents a quern which was found embedded in the banks of the river Wharfe, near Ilkley, by Mr. Stapleton. These primitive forms of corngrinding gave way to the water-mill. The Bradford sokemill has lately been demolished, and the accompanying illustration (fig. 3) we are able to give through the courtesy of the Bradford Historical Society, who kindly lent the blocks to us, and from

FIG. 2.

the journal of which we gather the information now given. All the inhabitants in the manor of Bradford, living within two miles of the mill, were bound to grind all the corn, grain, or malt, used by them at the mill, and no one had the right to set up any quern, steel-horse, or hand-mill within the manor, neither had any carrier the right to fetch or carry any corn or grain to any other mill to be there ground. There is mention of two separate buildings at which suit of soke was enforced, "these two corn mills called the Bradford mills, and one mill situate in the east part." This latter mill was doubtless situated on the confluence of the streams coming down from Laister Dyke and Bowling, the former of which must at one time have been considerable. In excavating for a main sewer along Canal Road unmistakable evidence

Antiquarian Mews.

Langley Castle is, we understand, to be gradually restored. It is one of the grandest examples of Decorated Gothic, applied to domestic architecture, to be met with in England. It would appear to have been built late in the 14th century, and already by 1537 we find it was in almost the same state of semi-ruin that it is to-day.

A hidden treasure, recently brought to light in the demolition of an old house in the Rue Viejlle du Temple, Paris, turns out to be of great value. No fewer than 7,822 gold pieces, intrinsically worth more than £4,000, were found in a copper jar. The coins

of this was revealed. In an abstract prepared in 1795, showing the succession of the property, it is stated: "This mill was of no value to the owner, not being thought worth repairing, was scarce of any service to the inhabitants, being only an undershott mill upon a very slender stream, and without much head of water, so that in the summer season it would not be able to grind at all. From the above causes, it is imagined that the owner at that time suffered it to go down." These few facts thus enable us to trace a continued history from primitive times to modernfrom the quern-using man to the steam-power man, it might be said-and facts like these are worth preserving.

bear the superscriptions of John the Good, Charles V., Guillaume de Beauregard, Guillaume de la Garde, Raymond III., and several other local rulers, and many of them are exceedingly rare. The coins are being examined by an expert, and will be sold at public auction. The house wherein the discovery was made dated from the 14th century, and had been occupied by the Marquis d'Effiat, Marshal of France, and Superintendent of Finance.

The Wentworth Papers, by James J. Cartwright, of Her Majesty's Public Record Office, is in course of publication. Thomas Wentworth, born at Wakefield, in 1672, was the son of Sir William Wentworth, of Northgate Head, and a grand-nephew of the Earl of Strafford. After a distinguished career in the army under William III. and the Duke of Marlborough, he was appointed ambassador to the Court of the first