note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) transcriber's note: lower case o-with-tilde accent is indicated by [~o]. superscripted abbreviations are indicated by a preceeding caret. bold characters are enclosed between # marks. wimborne minster and christchurch priory a short history of their foundation and description of their buildings by the rev. thomas perkins m.a., f.r.a.s. rector of turnworth, dorset with illustrations from photographs by the author [illustration] london george bell & sons first edition second edition, revised, author's preface when writing the chapters of the present volume which treat of wimborne minster, the author consulted the last edition of hutchins' "history of dorset," which contains a considerable amount of somewhat ill-arranged information on the subject, verifying all the descriptions by actual examination of the building; similarly, when preparing the part of this volume dealing with christchurch priory, he made some use of "the memorials of christchurch twynham," written originally by the rev. mackenzie walcott, f.s.a., and revised after his death in by mr b. edmund ferrey, f.s.a. he also consulted papers on the subject that have appeared from time to time in various periodicals and mss. that were kindly placed at his disposal by the secretary of the society for the protection of ancient buildings. he desires to express his thanks to the vicars of the two churches for permission to thoroughly examine every part of the buildings, and to photograph them without let or hindrance; he also wishes to bear testimony to the readiness shown by the clerks and vergers in imparting local information and in facilitating his photographic work. t. p. _october_ . contents wimborne minster page chapter i.--history of the building date of foundation the norman church , alterations in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries , alterations in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries , modern restorations chapter ii.--the exterior the central tower the north porch the east window the sundial the south porch the western tower chapter iii.--the interior the north porch the aisles , the clerestory the central tower the transepts the east end, choir and presbytery sedilia and piscina the beaufort and courtenay tombs and brass of aethelred , the south choir aisle and etricke tomb the north choir aisle and uvedale monument , the crypt, vestry, and library deans of wimborne chapter iv.--st margaret's hospital dimensions of wimborne minster christchurch priory chapter i.--history of the building foundation the norman church alterations in the thirteenth-fifteenth centuries modern alterations chapter ii.--the exterior the western tower the north porch the north aisle the north transept the choir, presbytery, and lady chapel the south transept the nave the porter's lodge, and sites of the domestic buildings chapter iii.--the interior the nave - the aisles the transepts the rood screen the choir the choir stalls - the reredos the salisbury chantry the draper chantry the lady chapel, and the "miraculous beam" st michael's loft the shelley monument chapter iv.--deans, priors, and vicars of christchurch stratford's injunctions archbishop arundel's injunctions the norman castle the norman house dimensions of christchurch priory list of illustrations wimborne minster page arms of wimborne and christchurch _title page_ wimborne minster from the north-east wimborne minster in wimborne minster in . (from a copperplate in the library) the minster from the south-east before the north transept before the east window the western tower the interior, looking east pier and arch-spring, south arcade decorated arch in the nave clerestory stage of the central tower the tower arches north transept and crossing thirteenth-century piscina, south transept choir stalls west view from the choir the east window sedilia the beaufort tomb brass of aethelred the etricke tomb ancient chest the uvedale monument entrance to crypt the library the crypt the font the clock in the west tower st margaret's hospital christchurch priory christchurch priory from the bridge christchurch priory from the north-east tower door the north porch the north door the north transept in the north transept south aisle of nave the nave in the nave north arcade of the nave from the north triforium bay of the triforium, south side south aisle of the nave the montacute chantry north aisle of the nave the crypt the rood screen stall seats ( ) choir stalls miserere on stall seat (_circa_ ) the choir the reredos the salisbury chantry interior of the salisbury chantry the draper chantry piscina in the draper chantry the sacristy the miraculous beam tomb of thomas, lord west the lady chapel st michael's loft the shelley monument remains of the norman house plans , [illustration: wimborne minster from the north-east.] [illustration: _by rev. j. l. petit._ wimborne minster in .] wimborne minster chapter i history of the building of the churches connected with the religious houses which once existed in the county of dorset, three only remain to the present day. of some of the rest we have ruins, others have entirely disappeared. but the town of sherborne, once the bishop-stool of the sainted aldhelm, who overlooked a vast diocese comprising a great portion of the west saxon kingdom, has its abbey now used as its parish church. the great abbey of milton, founded by Æthelstan, has handed down to us its choir and transepts--rebuilt in the fourteenth century, after the former church had been destroyed by fire--and this, though private property, is still used for occasional services; and the minster church at wimborne has became the church of the parish of wimborne minster. the town has been by many supposed to stand on the site of the roman vindogladia, though this station has by others been identified with gussage cowdown, or the circular encampment of badbury rings, about three miles to the north-west of wimborne minster. be this as it may, the district was occupied by the roman conquerors of our island; and roman pottery and other remains have been found in the neighbourhood, including a small portion of pavement beneath the floor of the minster church. the derivation of the name wimborne, or winborne as we find it sometimes written, has been much disputed; but as we find the same word appearing as the name of several other places which lie on the course of the same stream, now generally called the allen, though sometimes the wim, it is highly probable that the name is derived from that of the river. compound names for villages are very common in dorset--the first word being the name of the river on which the village stands, the second being added to distinguish one village from another. thus we find along the tarrant, villages known as tarrant gunville, tarrant hinton, tarrant launceston, tarrant monkton, etc.; and along the winterborne we find winterborne houghton, winterborne stickland, winterborne clenstone, etc.; and in like manner we meet with monkton up wimborne, wimborne saint giles, and wimborne minster along the course of the allen. the characteristic name of winterborne for a brook that is such in winter only, but is a dried-up bed in a hot summer is borne by two streams in dorset, each giving its name to a string of villages. may not the word wimborne or winborne be a contraction for this same word winterborne, the "burn" of the rainy winter months, applied to the little stream of the allen, though it cannot now be said to be dry in summer? the small town of wimborne minster stands not far from the junction of the allen with the slow-running dorset stour, in the midst of pleasant fertile meadow-land, from which here and there some low hills rise. its chief glory has been, and probably always will be, its splendid church, with its central norman and its western perpendicular towers, its norman and decorated nave, its early english choir, and its numerous tombs and monuments of those whose names are recorded in the history of the country. the exact year of the foundation of the original religious house is differently given in various ancient documents: the dates vary from a.d. to a.d. at this time, ine was king of the west saxons; and one of his sisters, cudburh--or cuthberga, as her name appears in its latinised form--was espoused or married to egfred, or, as he is often called, osric, the northumbrian king, but the marriage was never consummated, and the lady as soon as possible separated from him and retired to the convent at barking, and afterwards founded the convent at wimborne. some say that she objected to the intemperate habits of her espoused as soon as she met him; others, that having previously vowed herself to heaven, she persuaded him to release her from the engagement to him, which had been arranged without her wishes being consulted. her sister quinberga is stated to have been associated with her in the foundation of the religious house, and both were buried within its precincts, and both were afterwards canonised; saint cuthberga was commemorated on august st "as a virgin but not a martyr." a special service appointed for the day is to be found in a missal kept in the library of the cathedral church at salisbury, in which the following prayer occurs:-- "deus qui eximie castitatis privilegio famulam tuam cuthbergam multipliciter decorasti, da nobis famulis tuis ejus promerente intercessione utriusque vitae prosperitatem. ut sicut ejus festivitas nobiscum agitur in terris, ita per ejus interventum nostri memoria apud te semper habeatur in coelis, per dominum etc." there is reason to believe that the earliest date given above for the foundation ( a.d.) is the most probable one, as regner in his tracts mentions a letter bearing this date written by saint aldhelm, and taken from the register of malmesbury, in which he includes in a list of congregations to which he grants liberty of election the monastery at wimborne, presided over by the sister of the king. there is also some evidence for the existence of a community of monks at wimborne, as well as of nuns. but of these original religious houses not a trace remains: the very position of st cuthberga's church is uncertain; we cannot be sure that the present building occupies the same site; the last resting-places of the two royal foundresses are not even pointed out by tradition. probably the buildings were destroyed, the nuns slain or driven out, when the raiding danes overran wessex in the ninth century. the next historical event that we meet with in connection with wimborne is the burial of king Æthelred, the brother and immediate predecessor on the throne of the great west saxon king Ælfred. as there is doubt about the year of the foundation by cuthberga, so again there is a conflict of testimony as to the date, place, and manner of the death of Æthelred--the inscription on the brass (about which more will be said when we come to describe the interior of the minster) not agreeing with the usually accepted date for the accession of Ælfred, ; but as the brass is itself many centuries later than the burial of the king whose likeness it professes to bear, its authority may well be questioned. anyhow, Æthelred died either of wounds received in some battle with the danes, in some spot which different archæologists have placed in surrey, oxford, berkshire, or wilts, or worn out by his long and arduous exertions while struggling with the heathen invaders; and his body--this alone is certain--was brought to wimborne for burial. it has been conjectured that Ælfred, after he had defeated the danes and established himself firmly on the throne of wessex, would naturally rebuild the ruined abbey. he founded, as we know, an abbey at shaftesbury; he is recorded to have built at winchester and london; he had undoubtedly a taste for architecture, and he was a devout son of mother church, so that it is by no means improbable that he would erect a church over the grave of his brother: but no record of such building remains, and there is no trace of any pre-norman work in the existing minster. the original church and conventual buildings having been swept away by the danes, whether Ælfred restored it or not is uncertain, but it is certain that a house of secular canons was established at wimborne by a king of the name of eadward; but again there is some uncertainty as to whether this king was the one who is sometimes called the eadward the elder, sometimes eadward the unconquered, son and successor of Ælfred, or eadward the confessor. anyhow, it became a collegiate church and a royal free chapel, and as such it is mentioned in domesday book, and it is noticed as a deanery in the charters of henry iii. leland, writing in the reign of henry viii., says, "it is but of late time that a dean and prebendaries were inducted into it." the deanery was in the gift of the crown, and we have a full list of the deans from up to , when it was dissolved. the ecclesiastical establishment consisted of a dean, four prebendaries, three vicars, four deacons, and five singing men. it will not be needful to give any detailed account of these, as most of them, though in many cases they held other more dignified posts,[ ] either together with the deanery or after resigning it, are not men who have made their mark in english history. a few only will here be mentioned, who on account of some circumstances connected with the fabric, or for other reasons, are more noteworthy. [ ] it is noteworthy that they all held some other preferment during the time that they held the office of dean. #thomas de bembre#, - , founded a chantry and an altar in the north part of the north transept, which was added at this time. #reginald pole#, so well known in the history of the reigns of henry viii. and queen mary, was dean of wimborne from till . it is remarkable that he was only seventeen years of age at the time of his appointment. he was succeeded by #nicholas wilson#, who held the office of dean until the dissolution of the deanery in . to him a curious letter still existing was addressed in by certain leading men of the parish, though nothing appears to have been done in consequence of it. these worthy men complain of the dilapidated state of the church, the want of funds to carry out needed repairs, and suggest the taking from the church "seynt cuthborow's hed," and "the sylv' y^t ys about the same hed," which they claim as belonging to the parish on the ground that it was made by the charity of the parishioners in times past. "our chyrche," they say, "ys in gret ruyn and decay and our toure ys foundered and lyke to fall and ther ys no money left in [~o] chyrche box and by reason of great infyrmyty and deth ther hath byn thys yere in oure parysh no chyrche aele, the whych hath hyndred [~o] chyrch of xx^ti nobles and above, and well it is knowen y^t we have no land but onely the charity of good people, wherfor nyed constraynyth us to sell the sylv' y^t is about the same hed. besechynge yo^r mastership to sertefy us by y^r tre wher we may sell the said sylv' to repayr [~o] chyrche."[ ] [ ] in an inventory made in the reign of henry viii. we find mentioned an image of st cuthberga, with a ring of gold, and two little crosses of gold, with a book and staff in her hand. the head of the image of silver with a crown on it of silver and gilt. on her apron a st james shell with a buckle of silver and gilt. the names of many of the other ecclesiastics connected with the church are known: among these, we need only mention william lorynge canon, who in the time of richard ii. caused the great bell called the cuthborow bell to be made; and simon beneson, sacrist, who left land, which is called bell acre, towards the maintenance and repair of the bells. among other benefactors of the church was margaret, countess of richmond, mother of henry vii., so well known at cambridge under the name of lady margaret, the foundress of christ's and st john's colleges. she founded at wimborne the original seminary connected with the minster, which afterwards became by a charter of elizabeth the grammar school of the town, and presented splendid vestments to the church. july th was until the reformation kept at the minster as a festival to her memory, with a special office and high mass. when the deanery was abolished, wimborne minster became a royal peculiar, under the administration of three priest-vicars elected by the corporation. these served each for a week in turn. the corporation had the power of appointing one of the three vicars--who was known as the "official"--to hold courts and grant licences. the court was held in the western part of the north aisle, the official presiding, seated at a desk, the two other vicars sitting one on each side of him, while at a long table sat the churchwardens, sidesmen, the vestry clerks, and the apparitors. the arrangement by which the vicars served the church each in turn continued in force until . at that time one of the three vicars retired on a pension; another removed to the chapelry of holt, three miles from wimborne (which had previously been served in turn by the vicars of wimborne), a parsonage having been built for his accommodation; and the third became sole vicar of the minster church and the parish attached to it. * * * * * for the history of the fabric we have to trust almost entirely to the architectural features of the church itself, as documentary evidence is unusually scanty. nothing of earlier date than the twelfth century can be seen in wimborne minster, but we know pretty accurately, the extent and form of the norman church; for, during the course of restoration undertaken in the present century, the foundations of some parts of this church were discovered beneath the floor of the existing building, and other pieces of norman work formerly concealed, and now again concealed beneath plaster, were laid bare. there is one interesting feature about the church worthy of notice--namely, that the builders who succeeded one another at the various periods of its history did not, as a rule, destroy the work of their predecessors to such an extent as we frequently find to have been the case with the builders of other churches: possibly this may have been due to the fact that at no time was wimborne minster a rich foundation. there was no saintly shrine, there were no wonder-working relics to attract pilgrims and gather the offerings of the faithful and enrich the church in the way in which the shrine of saint cuthbert enriched durham, that of the murdered archbishop enriched canterbury, and that of the murdered king enriched gloucester. but, whatever the reason may have been, we can but be thankful that the mediæval builders destroyed so little at wimborne; while we regret that modern restorers have not been as scrupulous in preserving the work which they found existing, but have in some instances endeavoured to put the church back again into the state in which they imagined the fourteenth-century builders left it. we may regard the arches and lower stages of the central tower as the oldest part now remaining in its original condition. no doubt the norman choir was the first to be built, as we find that it was almost the universal custom to begin churches at the eastern end, and gradually to extend the building westward, as funds and time allowed. here, however, as in many other cases, the small norman choir eastward of the central tower in course of time was considered too small, and the eastern termination had to be demolished to admit of the desired extension to the east. norman choirs, as a rule, had an apsidal termination to the east, and it was not till early english times that square east ends, which were characteristic of the english church in pre-norman times, prevailed again over the norman custom; and it is worthy of notice that this rectangular termination towards the east end remains a marked characteristic of the thirteenth-century work in england, continental church-builders having retained the apsidal termination till the renaissance. the side walls of the norman choir extended two bays to the east of the central tower, and the nave four bays westward of the same. the transepts were shorter than at present, and the side aisles of the nave narrower. there appear to have been two side chapels to the choir, extending as far as the first bay eastward; beyond this to the east were two norman windows on each side: these windows, parts of which remain, cut off by the early english arches, were round-headed, and richly ornamented with chevron mouldings. they were uncovered at the time of the restoration, but are now again hidden by plaster. at the south end of the south transept a low building seems to have existed: the walls of this were raised when the south transept was lengthened in the fourteenth century. the norman masonry may be seen under the south window of the transept, and a norman string course runs round the sides and ends of the present transept. the aisles of the nave were not only narrower, but were also lower, than those now existing. it is also probable that these aisles did not originally extend as far westward as the nave. the windows of the norman clerestory, which may still be seen from the interior, though all similar in design, are not alike in workmanship. the one over the narrow eastern bay on either side differs from those over the three bays farther to the west. moreover, a continuous foundation has been discovered underneath the three western arches of the norman nave. possibly there was at one time a solid wall in this position, intended, however, from the first only to be temporary, and this was removed when the aisles, still in norman times, were lengthened. the tower itself was not all built at the same time; the upper stages are ornamented with an arcading of intersecting arches indicating a somewhat later date. in the thirteenth century the east end of the choir seems to have been removed and the presbytery added: its date is pretty clearly determined by the east window, in which we notice some signs of the approaching change from the early english simple lancet into the plate tracery of the decorated period. rickman gives its approximate date as . during the fourteenth century the nave aisles were widened and extended farther west, and at the same time two bays were added to the nave itself. the norman chapels on either side of the choir were lengthened into aisles, not, however, extending as far to the east as the thirteenth-century presbytery; arches were cut in the norman choir walls to give access to these new aisles. the transepts were lengthened, the south one by raising the walls of the norman chapel mentioned above, which, it has been conjectured, was used as the lady chapel, the north transept by the addition of bembre's chantry. during the fifteenth century the western tower was built - , and probably at the same time the walls of the nave were raised; and the roofs of the nave aisles, which had been much lower than now, so as not to block up the norman clerestory windows, were raised on the sides joining the nave walls above the heads of these windows, and a new clerestory was formed in the raised wall. this contains five windows on each side, each window being placed over one of the piers of the nave arcading. during the early english period, probably by john de berwick, who was dean from - , a spire was added to the central tower. this was for long in an unsafe condition, and at length, in , it fell. the following is the description given by coker, a contemporary writer: "having discoursed this longe of this church, i will not overpasse a strange accident which in our dayes happened unto it, viz. anno domini (the choire beeing then full of people at tenne of clock service, allsoe the streets by reason of the markett), a sudden mist ariseing, all the spire steeple, being of a very great height, was strangely cast downe, the stones battered all the lead and brake much timber of the roofe of the church, yet without anie hurt to the people; which ruin is sithence commendablie repaired with the church revenues, for sacriledge hath not yet swept awaye all, being assisted by sir john hannam, a neighbour gentleman, who if i mistake not enjoyeth revenues of the church, and hath done commendablie to convert part of it to its former use." other accounts mention a tempest at the time of the fall. it is not unlikely that the tower was weakened by the alterations in the fourteenth century, when wider arches were cut in the west walls of the transepts, in consequence of the widening of the nave aisles. the fall of the spire, which fell towards the east, demolished the clerestory windows of the choir on the south side, and their place was supplied by a long, low tudor window oblong in shape and quite plain. the windows, however, on both sides have been entirely altered, and those now existing in the clerestory are small lancets of modern date. the spire was not rebuilt, but the heavy looking battlement and solid pinnacles which still remain, and detract considerably from the beauty of the tower, were added as a finish to it in the year . it is curious that the churchwardens' books, in which many entries occur detailing repairs and other work connected with the spire, make no mention of its fall. the western tower was also a source of trouble. it was built, as has been already mentioned, during the latter half of the fifteenth century, the glazing of the windows being completed in ; but as early as it was thought necessary to brick up the west doorway, and notices of unsoundness of the tower occur frequently in the church books. in we find the following entry made:--"paid in beere to the ringers for a peale to trye if the tower shooke £ s d." as we read this entry, we cannot help wondering if the large amount of beer which a shilling would purchase in those days was given to the ringers so as to give them a fictitious courage and blind their eyes to the possible danger of bringing the tower down upon their heads. in the perpendicular window in the western face of the tower was taken out and a smaller oval one put in its place, with a view to the strengthening of the wall by additional stonework. the modern restorer, however, has again put a window of perpendicular character in place of the oval window inserted in the last century, using to aid him in his design, sundry fragments of the original tracery found embedded in the walls. [illustration: wimborne minster in the eighteenth century. from an old print.] before the nineteenth-century restorations, the pulpit, probably late sixteenth-century work, stood in the nave against the middle pillar on the north side, and the nave and choir were separated by a screen of three arches on which stood the organ. the central arch had doors. on either side of the choir were a set of canopied stalls: these canopies were removed in to make the chancel aisles available for a congregation. as the canopies interfered with both sight and sound, the floor of the choir was lowered to only three steps above the nave, and the stalls reduced to four on each side, with a view to make room for restoring the norman steps indicated by traces on the wall under the floor, which led up to the high altar of the norman church. the arrangement of steps was then three from the nave to the choir, four from the choir to the next level to the east, and seven from this to the presbytery, and one more to the altar platform. in further changes were made: the stalls were increased to the present number to provide sufficient accommodation for the choir, the additions being made out of old woodwork. the level of the floors was also rearranged; five steps now lead up from the nave to the choir, seven to the presbytery and one more to the altar platform, the altar itself being raised yet another step. during the restoration carried on from to , great changes besides those already mentioned were made in the interior: the whitewash and plaster were removed from the walls, a west gallery was taken down, the nave re-seated, the organ transferred from its position upon the screen to the south transept, and much mischief was done from an archæological standpoint, a thing which seems almost inseparable from any nineteenth-century restoration. an examination of the masonry shows clearly that all the exterior walls east of the transepts save the east wall of the presbytery, which is somewhat out of the vertical, the top hanging forward, have been if not entirely rebuilt at anyrate completely refaced, and this work was no doubt done at the restoration at the middle of the nineteenth century. the doorway in the middle of the north choir aisle is entirely modern; the doorway which formally occupied this place was provided with a small porch. how far this rebuilding and refacing were rendered necessary by the condition of the walls at that time it is now impossible to say. the fact that the walls of the nave aisles were not similarly treated may have been due to want of funds, or it may be that the architects employed found them in a better condition than the walls of the choir aisles, and so preserved them, though they considered the latter beyond the possibility of preservation without the extensive renewing that evidently took place. the room containing the chained library was at the same time refitted. new shelves and rods were provided, but the old chains were used again. the restoration of - did not extend to the transept; but these were taken in hand in , with the usual result--namely, the destruction of some existing features, such as the seventeenth-century tracery of the north window,[ ] to make room for a nineteenth-century window in decorated style, which, however, differs altogether from any window in the minster; the walls were raised about two feet and a roof of higher pitch put upon them, which necessitated alterations in the gables. a sundial which stood at the summit of the south gable was taken down, and this in was erected on a pillar built in the churchyard, a short distance from the south wall of the western tower. the transept previous to the restoration with the sun-dial on its gable is shown in the illustration on p. . [ ] this tracery is shown in the illustration on p. . the original foliation seems to have been cut away, and the intermediate mullions extended to the points of the two lights. this may have been done with a view to economy in reglazing the window. the modern window is shown on page . a small chamber to contain the hydraulic apparatus for the organ has recently been added to the east side of the south transept. chapter ii the exterior wimborne minster does not occupy a commanding position--it stands on level ground, its two towers are not lofty, the western only reaching the height of feet and the central feet--but it has the advantage of having an extensive churchyard both on the south side and also on the north, so that from either side a good general view of the building may be obtained. a street running from the east end of the church towards the north gives the spectator the advantage of a still more distant standpoint, from which the towers, transepts, choir, and porch group themselves into one harmonious whole, the long line of iron railings bounding the churchyard being the only drawback. the first impression is that there is something wrong with the central tower; the plain heavy battlement, with its four enormous corner pinnacles, seems to overweight the tower, and as each side of the parapet is longer than the side of the tower below, the feeling of top-heaviness is increased. the central tower has no buttresses, but the western has an octagonal buttress at each corner, and these decrease in cross section at each of four string courses; so that this tower seems to taper, and by contrast makes the central tower seem to bulge out at the top more than it really does. but wimborne minster does not stand alone in giving at first sight a feeling that something is wanting to perfect beauty. in nearly every old building which has gradually grown up, been altered and enlarged by various generations, as need arose, each generation working in its own style, and often with little regard to what already existed, incongruities are sure to be discernible. but what is lost in unity of design increases the interest in the building, historically and architecturally regarded. and it is worthy of notice that at wimborne, more than at many places, the enlargers of the church have contented themselves with adding to the building without removing the work of their predecessors more than was absolutely necessary. a very cursory glance at the exterior of the building as one walks round it is sufficient to show that the church as it stands offers to the student of architecture examples of every style that has prevailed in this country from the twelfth century onward, and he will especially rejoice at seeing so much fourteenth-century work. he will, as he passes along the narrow footway beneath the east end of the choir, regret that more space is not available here to get a good view of the most interesting early english window. if a small tree were felled, and the wall of a garden or yard on the side of the footpath opposite to the church pulled down, so as to throw open the east end of the choir, it would be a great improvement. but this regret can be endured, as, though the window cannot be well seen, it is there, and by changing one's position a pretty accurate idea of its interesting features can be formed; but far keener is the regret that any lover of antiquity must feel when he notices, as he examines the church more closely, how busy the nineteenth-century restorer has been, how he has raised walls, altered the pitch of roofs, and inserted modern imitations of thirteenth and fourteenth century work, removing features which existed at the beginning of this century to make room for his own work; how he has banished much of the old woodwork in the interior, altered the position of still more, and generally been far less conservative of the work of former generations than the mediæval enlargers of the minster were. however, his work is now done--nave, towers, and choir were thoroughly restored about fifty years ago, and the transepts in . no further work is contemplated at present. in fact, there seems nothing more that could well be done. [illustration: the minster from the south-east before .] the church is built partly of a warm brown sandstone, partly of stone of a pale yellow or drab colour, the two kinds being in many places mixed so as to give the walls a chequered appearance. this may be noticed both outside and inside the building. in some of the walls the stones are used irregularly, in others they are carefully squared. the red stone is to be met with in the neighbourhood: some of that used for raising the transept walls in was obtained from a bridge in the town that was being rebuilt; and from marks on some of those stones it appeared that before being in the bridge they had been used in some ecclesiastical building, so that they have now returned to their original use. there is little ornament to be seen outside, save on the upper stage of the tower; in fact, the whole building excepting the arches of the nave and the tower may be described as severely plain in character. the college was never wealthy, hence probably it could not employ a number of carvers; then again it was not a monastic establishment, so that there were no monks to occupy their time in the embellishment of the building, carving, as monks often did, their quaint fancies on bosses and capitals. we miss the crockets and finials, the ball-flower, and other ornaments that we meet with in so many fourteenth-century buildings; but the very simplicity of the work gives the church a dignity that is often wanting in more highly ornamented structures. the small number of the buttresses in the body of the church is noteworthy; save at the angles there are only five--namely, two on each nave aisle, and one on the north choir aisle. at each of the eastern corners of the choir aisles the buttresses are set diagonally, as also are those on the northern corners of the north porch. there is a buttress on each of the side walls of the north porch, and two set at right angles to each other at each of the two corners of the north transept, and also at the south-west corner of the south transept; beneath the east window of the choir there is a small one. the buttresses at the corner of the choir project but slightly. the central tower has none, but the west tower has an octagonal buttress at each corner. the central tower attracts notice first. from the outside at the angles a small portion of the plain wall of the triforium stage may be seen, against which the roofs of the choir and transepts abut; the nave roof, however, hides all of this stage at the western face: above this face is a band of red-brown sandstone, and above this the clerestory stage. in each face are two round-headed windows with a pointed blank arch between them. there are six slender shafts to support the outer order of moulding over the two windows and the blank arch, and two of a similar character to support the inner ring of moulding over each window. at each corner of the tower up to the top of this stage runs a slender banded shaft. this stage is finished by a string course, above which the tower walls recede slightly, the walls of the upper or belfry storey being a little thinner than those below. this stage, perfectly plain within, is the most richly-ornamented part of the tower outside: it is the latest norman work to be found in the minster, and probably may be dated late in the twelfth century. an arcading of intersecting round-headed arches runs all round this storey. seven pointed arches are thus formed in each face; between these arches stand slender pillars with well carved capitals which show a great variety of design. five of the seven arches on each face were originally open, save possibly for louvre-boards placed to keep out the rain; now all but the central one on each face are walled up, and the centre one is glazed. this filling up was not all done at the same time, as the varying character of the stone shows. the work was no doubt begun in order to strengthen the walls when the spire was added, and was continued from time to time as the necessity for further strengthening arose. above the stage was a bold corbel table, and this is the upper limit of the norman work. there can be little doubt that the norman builder, here as elsewhere, finished his tower with a low pyramidal roof with overhanging eaves to shoot off the rain. this covering may have been of lead, but possibly of stone tiles or wooden shingles. about a century later this norman roof was removed to make place for a loftier roof or spire. of its character and material and height we know nothing--there is no description of it; and though the minster is represented on an old seal with one spire-crowned tower, yet the representation of the rest of the church is so conventional that it cannot be regarded as an authentic record of the actual appearance of the steeple. it is curious that, as it stood for about three hundred years and fell only in the later years of elizabeth's reign, no drawing remains to show us what this spire was like. but it passed away, doing some damage to the building in its fall, and that is the only record it has left behind; but we can well picture to ourselves how much importance must have been added to the minster by this spire, which must have been a conspicuous object for many miles round. the present heavy, ugly battlemented parapet spoils the general effect of the tower; and though we are adverse to the sweeping away of any features of an old building, even when the features are inharmonious and even ugly--because this is, as it were, tearing a page of stone from the book of the history of the building--yet we must confess we could have regarded the loss of the seventeenth-century parapet and pinnacles with much less regret than other features which the restorer has tampered with. [illustration: the north transept before .] the #north porch#, which was evidently always intended to be, as it is to this day, the chief entrance into the church, consists of two bays marked externally by buttresses on each side: the inner order of moulding to the arch giving access to this porch springs from two shafts of purbeck marble; the outer orders are carried up from the base without any capitals or imposts. the height of the crown of the inner arch above the capitals from which it springs is somewhat less than half the width at the bottom, and the radius of the curvature of the arches is greater than the width. over the arch is a square-headed two-light window, lighting the room over the entrance. the roof differs from all the other roofs of the church since it is covered with stone tiles, while the others are covered with lead. there are buttresses set diagonally at the two northern angles of the porch. between the porch and the transept are three two-light decorated windows. the tracery of all these is alike, but differs from that of the two windows to the west of the porch. the most picturesque feature of the north transept is the turret containing the staircase by which access is obtained to the tower. this, before the church was enlarged in the fourteenth century, formed the north-west angle of the norman transept: projecting towards the north, its base is rectangular. this rectangular portion rises nearly to the level of the tops of the aisle windows, above this level the turret is circular, and rising above the transept roof is capped by a low conical roof of stone tiles. two string courses run round it, one at the bottom of the circular part, and one a little higher up. this turret was once known as the "ivy tower," from the ivy that grew on it, but this was all removed at the time when the transept was altered in . at that time the side walls were raised about two feet, and the roof was raised to the original pitch of the norman transept, and at the same time the tracery of the north window, which was of a very plain and clumsy character, seventeenth-century work, was removed and the existing tracery inserted. much picturesqueness has been sacrificed to make these changes. the portion of this transept to the north of the turret was added about the middle of the fourteenth century to form the chantry founded by bembre, who was dean from - . this part contains, besides the large window, two smaller two-light windows, which look out respectively to the east and west. the tracery in these is almost entirely modern. beyond the transept is the wall of the north choir aisle. this stands farther to the north than the wall of the nave aisle; in fact, it is in a line with the original north end of the norman transept. in this wall, close to the transept, is a small round-headed doorway. and, farther to the east, is another larger pointed doorway between the second and third windows of the choir aisle, counting from the transept eastward. this doorway is enclosed by a triangular moulding very plain in character, but none of it is original. the three windows are each of two lights. the tracery of these three is alike, but differs from that of the windows in the nave aisle. the east window of the north aisle is of five lights. the enclosing arch is not very pointed--much less so than in the narrower windows of the aisles--and each light runs up through the head of the window. these and the corresponding south choir aisle windows are late decorated work. [illustration: the east window. (from parker's "introduction to gothic architecture.")] unfortunately the churchyard does not extend to the east of the church. a narrow footway, bounded to the east by cottages and garden walls, renders it impossible to photograph the east window of the choir. this is a most interesting one; and has been figured in most books on architecture. it consists externally of three lancets enclosed in a peculiar way by weather moulding; this rises separately over the head of each lancet, and between the windows runs in a horizontal line and is continued to the square corner buttresses. within this moulding, and over the heads of each lancet, there is an opening pierced: the central one is a quatrefoil, while the other two have six points. these openings are a very early example of plate tracery, which was fully developed in the early decorated style. this window belongs to the early english period, and may be dated about . there will be occasion to refer to this window again when speaking of the interior of the church. the south choir aisle has a five-light east window closely corresponding to the window of the north aisle, and on the south two three-light windows. in these, as in the east aisle windows, the lights are carried up through the heads. there is no doorway giving access to this aisle from the outside. the angle between the choir aisle and south transept is filled up with the vestry and the library above it. the south wall of this projects beyond the wall of the south transept. this vestry is of decorated date, possibly rather later than the other decorated work in the minster. the upper storey forms the library. its walls are finished at the top by a plain parapet which conceals the flat roof. at the south-western angle is an octagonal turret staircase, capped by a pyramidal roof rising from within a battlemented parapet, and terminating in a carved finial. this is of perpendicular character. from the sharpness of the stone at the coigns it would seem that very extensive restoration, if not absolute rebuilding, of the walls was carried on in this part of the church. the south transept is rather shorter than that on the north side; but, unlike it, all the walls up to the level of the window are of norman date. the string courses on the western side are worthy of close attention. one which runs under the south window is continued round the perpendicular buttresses at the south-west angle, and then again joins the original course on the western face and runs to within a few feet of the nave aisle, where it abruptly terminates. above this for several feet the walls have the same character as below; then the character changes, and this change probably marks the junction of the norman with the decorated work, which was added when the norman chapel, which occupied the lower part of what is now the south end of the transept, was incorporated in the transept. vertically above the termination of the string course just mentioned, but at a considerably higher level, another string course abruptly begins and runs along the wall, until it passes within the roof of the nave aisle. the south end of this shows the length to which the original norman transept extended before the walls of the chapel to the south were carried up in the fourteenth century to form the addition to the transept. in the southern wall of this new transept was placed a large five-light decorated window. in this, as in several of the other decorated windows already described, the lights run up to the enclosing arch above. the tracery of this window, as it now exists, dates back only to the time when the church was restored in the middle of the nineteenth century. up to the side walls were about two feet lower than at present, and the gable more obtuse. at the summit of the old gable stood a block of masonry carrying a sundial; this, when the transept was altered, was removed, the new gable being finished with a cross. a pillar was built in the churchyard to the south of the western tower in , and on it the block from the transept bearing the sundial was placed. this sundial has two dates on it-- and , marking, no doubt, the year of its original erection and of some subsequent repair. it is noteworthy that the figures used in these two dates differ in character,--the eighteenth-century carver who incised the later date not thinking it incumbent on him to make his figures match those of his predecessor. the three aisle windows between the south transept and the south porch are two-light decorated windows with tracery, some of it original, corresponding to that of those on the opposite side in the north aisle. the #south porch# is small, and the side walls do not project far from the aisle. above the arch is a carving of a lamb much weathered, and on the gable stands a fragment of a cross. the gates beneath the outer arch are kept locked save on sundays, as are frequently the gates in the railings surrounding the churchyard to the south of the minster, which is divided from the churchyard on the north side by the church itself and by railings at the east and west ends of it. to the west of the porch are two more two-light windows, corresponding in character with the windows opposite in the north aisle. the clerestory windows of the nave are of perpendicular date, fifteenth-century work, and have not any beauty. each has three foliated lights under a round-headed moulding. above each of these three there are two lights, all enclosed within a rectangular label. the nave roof is higher than the choir roof. its aisles have lean-to roofs, whereas the choir aisles are wider and have gable roofs: hence the clerestory windows of the choir, modern lancets, are not visible from the outside. the #western tower# is of four stages, with octagonal buttresses at each corner, decreasing in cross section at each course. of these the north-eastern one contains the stairs leading to the top of the tower, the others are solid. these are crowned with sharp pyramidal turrets. in the lowest stage on the western face is a doorway which for some time was stopped up to strengthen the tower, but which was opened again at the general restoration. above this is the west window of six lights, perpendicular in character but of nineteenth-century date. the third stage--the ringing room within is lighted by four small windows: that in the west wall is a quatrefoil, those on the north and south have single lights foliated at the head; the original one in the east wall was covered when the nave roof was raised, and a plain opening was made in the wall farther to the south. above this is the belfry, with two pairs of two-light windows on each face: these are divided by transoms, and the arches at the tops are four centred. these windows are, of course, not glazed, but are furnished with louvre-boards. the tower is finished with a battlemented parapet. just outside the easternmost window on the north face, and below the transom, stands a figure now dressed in a coat of painted lead, representing a soldier in the uniform of the early part of the nineteenth century. he holds a hammer in each hand, with which he strikes the quarters on two bells beside him. he is known by the name of the "jackman" or "quarter jack." there are no windows at the west ends of the nave aisles; but, as on the south side so on the north, there are between the tower and the porch two two-light decorated windows in the wall of the aisle. [illustration: the western tower.] the level of the churchyards, as in the case with most old burying-grounds, is considerably above the level of the floor of the church. hence steps have to be descended on entering the porches, and again in passing from the porches into the church. on the south side some levelling of the ground has been done, and the upright head-stones have been laid flat, but the altar tombs have been allowed to remain as they were. there are few trees in the churchyard to impede the view of the building; those there are, are as yet small, and serve only to pleasantly break the bareness of the ground without hiding the architectural features of the building. chapter iii the interior the north porch, which no doubt from the days of its erection in the fourteenth century has formed the chief entrance into the church, is opposite to the westernmost norman bay of the nave arcading. the porch itself is vaulted in two bays, the vaulting springing from slender shafts of purbeck marble which rest on the stone seats on either side of the porch. the bosses in which the ribs meet are carved with foliage. over the porch is a small room to which no staircase now leads; one which formerly led to it was removed in the seventeenth century. this room is lighted by a small two-light decorated window facing north. [illustration: the interior, looking east.] the two #aisles# are of the same length as the nave, and are divided from it by an arcading on either side, each containing six pointed arches. the easternmost arches consist of two plain orders, and are much narrower than the rest. these arches spring on the east side from brackets on the western face of the tower piers: the bracket on the north side is plain, that on the south side is ornamented with a kind of scale carving. these bays were probably of the same date as the tower, and it is not unlikely that the arches were at first like those of the tower, of the usual round-headed form. if they were altered when the remainder of the nave was built, the wall above was not removed. the piers which support the western side of these arches consist each of a semi-cylindrical pillar set against a rectangular pier, on the other side of which another semi-cylindrical shaft is set to support the next arch; the next two pillars on each side are cylindrical, perfectly plain in the shafts with very simple bases and capitals. the latter may be seen in the illustrations, the former are concealed by the pews. it will be noticed as a peculiar feature that a little piece of the outer moulding, facing the nave, of the first large arch on the south side is differently carved from all the rest: first, counting from the bottom upwards, are three eight-leaved flowers--these are succeeded by three four-leaved flowers, all on a chamfered edge; above this the moulding is not chamfered, and the outer face is decorated with shallow zig-zag carving. the second member of the moulding consists of chevron work somewhat irregularly carved, the projecting tooth-like points not being all of the same size; in the centre is a roll moulding, from each side of which chevron ornamentation projects, the points directed outward perpendicular to the plane of the arch. these pillars and arches are noteworthy in that the piers are of considerable size, and above them are pointed arches. this would indicate a rather late date in the norman period for this portion of the church; probably it was built at some time during the last quarter of the twelfth century. with the third wide bay the twelfth-century church terminated, the two arches to the west of these being characterised by ornamentation of the decorated period. at this time, as has been already explained (p. ), the aisles were widened and the inner edges of the roofs raised above the clerestory windows of the norman church. four such windows, round-headed, each placed over the point of an arch, may be seen on either side of the nave; but the eastern one on each side differs from the other three in being of heavier character and rougher workmanship. the external mouldings of these can be well seen from the aisles: towards the nave they are splayed and plain. the wall above the fourteenth-century arches does not contain any windows on the same level as those of the old norman clerestory; but above them, stretching all along each side of the nave, may be seen the windows of the present clerestory. these are perpendicular in style, and are five in number on each side, each window being placed over one of the piers of the nave arcading. these windows are square-headed, and have at the bottom three lights, each light being sub-divided into two at the top. it is believed that this clerestory was formed when the walls were raised, at the same time as the western tower was erected--namely, at the end of the fifteenth century. but to return to the decorated arches at the west end of the nave. the pier at the eastern side of the easternmost of these consists of the semi-cylindrical respond of norman date, a piece of masonry which was part of the west wall of the norman church; and then on the western side of this an added semi-cylinder, on the capitals of which may be seen the ball-flower ornament. the pier on either side, between the two fourteenth-century arches, is octagonal, with a very plain capital (one of these is shown in the illustration on page ); the arches themselves are also plain, consisting of two members with chamfered edges. the half pillars at the western side of the western arch have been imbedded in the octagonal buttresses of the west tower, which project into the church. [illustration: pier and arch-spring in the south arcade.] [illustration: decorated arch in the nave.] the height of the nave roof appears to have been altered on several occasions. there may be seen from the interior of the nave, on the west wall of the lantern tower, two lines running from the level of the tops of the norman clerestory windows: these make an angle of about forty-five degrees with the horizontal, and, no doubt, are traces of the weather mouldings marking the position of the exterior of the roof of the nave in norman times. probably the roof visible from the interior was flat and formed of wood, and ran across in the line of the string course above the tower arch, at a level slightly above the heads of the clerestory windows. a round-headed opening above this string course probably gave admission to the space between the outer and inner roofs. at a somewhat higher level, we have a slight trace which probably marks the junction of the fifteenth-century roof with the tower. this roof was of oak and very plain--at the restoration the pitch of the roof was raised and carried up to such an extent as to cut off the bases of the clerestory windows of the lantern tower; the inner roof itself is of pitch-pine, with hammer-beams of the character which finds such favour with nineteenth-century architects. [illustration: clerestory stage of the central tower.] the #central tower#, the oldest and probably most interesting part of the church, consists of four stages, of which the three lower ones are open to the church. the lowest of these was undoubtedly part of the original norman church; the second or triforium was soon added. above this comes the clerestory, the pointed arch between the round-headed windows indicating a somewhat later date; and above this there is a chamber perfectly plain within, and not open to the church below. the outside of this is decorated with an arcading of intersecting arches, which indicates a somewhat later date. these intersecting arches form seven pointed arches on each side--five of these were originally open to allow the sound of the bells, which were formerly hung in the tower, to pass out; but to add strength to the walls all but the middle ones on the east face were at various periods walled up. at one time the tower was surmounted by a spire, possibly of wood covered with lead; this is supposed to have been erected by john de berwick, who was dean of the minster from to . the squinches which supported this spire may still be seen in the upper stage just described. descending from this stage by a spiral staircase in the north-west angle, we find ourselves in the clerestory already mentioned. in each face there are two round-headed windows widely splayed on the interior, with shafts in the jambs; between each pair of windows is a pointed arch, in each angle of the tower is a slender shaft encircled by three bands at about equidistant intervals: a passage cut in the thickness of the wall runs round this stage. again descending, we reach the triforium level. each of the walls of this stage has two pointed sustaining arches built into the wall to support the weight of the superincumbent masonry; each of these encloses four semi-circular headed arches with shafts of purbeck marble. the capitals of these are rudely carved, and between the relieving pointed arches are carved heads, that on the north side being the most noteworthy. the passage behind the arches is very narrow, the total thickness of the walls being only feet inches. at the centre of each face are the openings which formerly led into the spaces between the roofs and ceilings of the nave, transepts, and choir of the norman church. that on the north side now leads into a stone gallery, erected in in the place of a dilapidated wooden structure, which runs first westward to the angle between the tower and north transept, then along the west face of the transept until it reaches a door leading into the stair turret, which may be seen from the exterior. at the bottom of this is a door opening into the transept. this stair turret projects slightly into the transept. the lowest stage of the tower consists of four arches and four massive piers. the arches have two plain orders. the piers have double shafts supporting the central order, and single shafts supporting the outer orders. the four arches are not of the same width, those on the east and west being wider than those on the north and south. in order to get the arches to spring from the same level and also to reach the same height at their heads, the wider arches are of the shape known as "depressed," while the narrower ones are of the "horse-shoe" type. the choir being somewhat narrower than the nave, the walls on each side take the place of the shaft which would have supported the outer order of the eastern arch. the capitals and bases of these arches are very plain, in fact nowhere in this church can the elaborately-carved capitals so often met with in late norman work be found. this central tower was undoubtedly gradually raised stage by stage, as the character of the architecture indicates: probably during each interval the part already finished was capped by a pyramidal roof. [illustration: the tower arches.] [illustration: north transept and crossing.] the #nave aisles# were widened in the fourteenth century, the norman walls being removed and their roofs raised; a single stone of the weather moulding, which may be seen on the west face of the north transept, shows the height and slope of the roof of the norman aisle. the windows of the aisles on either side are two-light decorated windows; the three on either side to the east of the north and south porches are of the same character, while the two on each side to the west of the porches are also alike but differ in their tracery from those to the east. the south porch is much smaller than the north, and is very plain; it is composed of two solid walls projecting six feet from the wall of the aisle. the #transepts#, as has been described in the preceding chapter, were lengthened in the fourteenth century--the southern one by the incorporation of some low norman building, thought by some to have been the lady chapel, the walls of which were raised; the northern one by the addition of bembre's chantry. this has caused the north transept to be somewhat longer than the south. the original norman transepts seem to have been of the same length on either side. bembre, who died in , is supposed to have been buried here. a stone slab lay until in the centre of the pavement,--on it was a representation of a full-length figure of a man dressed in a robe like a surplice; but when the pavement was renewed this stone was allowed to remain exposed to sun and rain in the churchyard until the surface was weathered to such an extent that it is now impossible to make out with any certainty what is upon it. but the description given by hutchins of the arms on the shields which were sculptured on it does not agree with the bembre arms, so that it could hardly have been the tombstone of this dean who founded the chantry. the window at the end of the north transept is modern restoration work. before the tracery was of a very plain character, as may be seen from the illustration (page ). it is supposed that damage was done to this window at the time when the tower fell, and that the plain tracery was inserted after that event. during the restoration in , the old plaster was removed from the walls, and in doing this a norman altar recess was discovered in the east wall of this transept; the southern end of this had been cut away when the choir aisle was widened in the fourteenth century. in this recess traces of fresco may be seen. a piscina stands to the north of this altar recess, and is of decorated character. [illustration: thirteenth-century piscina in south transept.] the #south transept# has a five-light decorated window at its southern end, with modern tracery in imitation of the old, each light running up through the head of the window. a very fine early english piscina, with the characteristic dog-tooth moulding, stands in the south wall. an altar occupying a position similar to the one in the north transept used to stand in this transept also, but the pointed arch over the recess shows that it was of later date. [illustration: choir stalls.] the most elaborate part of the church is that which lies to the east of the central tower. the great height to which the altar is raised above the level of the nave gives it a very impressive appearance from the west end; and, again, the view looking westward from the altar level is much enhanced by the height from which it is seen. [illustration: west view from the choir.] the #east end# is purely english work, and this shows that in the thirteenth century the church was extended about feet towards the east. the junction of the early english with the norman wall is marked by a cluster of slender shafts rising from the ground. the alterations which were made in the norman walls at the time of this eastward extension have been already described (p. ). it now only remains to describe the #choir# and #presbytery# as they stand at the present time. immediately to the east of the tower on either side are two pointed arches of two plain orders rising on their western sides from plain brackets in the tower piers, and supported on the east by engaged shafts with roughly-carved norman capitals. next to these come the early english inserted arches, pierced as already described through the norman wall and cutting away the lower part of two previously existing norman windows on each side. the arches are of three plain orders, with chamfered edges, resting on clustered shafts; beyond these the new thirteenth-century work begins. beyond the clustered shafts mentioned above, which mark the commencement of the early english work, is a lofty arch on either side opening into the choir aisles; over each of them is a pair of small lancet windows widely splayed inside. between the piers of these arches a wall is carried, its top being about midway between their bases and capitals. on the southern wall stands the beaufort tomb, on the northern the courtenay tomb; and below this the walls are pierced with arches, beneath which are flights of nine steps leading on to the crypt beneath the presbytery. it is not improbable that after the eastern extension the altar stood at the east end of the norman part of the choir, and that under these two early english arches was the ambulatory or processional passage which is so often found to the east of the high altar. beyond the ends of the choir aisles on either side of the presbytery is a lancet window. the east window is worthy of the closest observation. its exterior appearance has been already described (p. ). within, it consists of three openings widely splayed; the thin stone over the central lancet, beneath the surrounding moulding, is pierced with a quatrefoil opening; over the two side lancets the corresponding openings have six foliations; between the three lights and outside the outer ones, flush with the wall, are clusters of shafts of purbeck marble, from which spring mouldings enclosing the lights in a most peculiar fashion: these follow the curves of the tops of the lancets, but before meeting they are returned in the form of cusps, and then are carried round the upper foliated openings. the upper part of each of these mouldings forms about three-quarters of the circumference of a circle. the characteristic early english dog-tooth ornament is carved round the moulding of the central light, those round the other lights are not thus decorated. the whole group is surrounded by a label following the curves of moulding, with carved heads at its terminations and points of junction. the six cusps of the moulding are ornamented by bosses of carved foliage. [illustration: the east window.] [illustration: sedilia.] to the south side of the presbytery, between the south window and the beaufort tomb, the triple #sedilia# and the #piscina# are situated: each of these is covered by a canopy of fourteenth-century work. these were extensively repaired at the time of the restoration. the beaufort altar tomb is the finest monument in the church. on it are two recumbent figures carved in alabaster, and although there is no inscription it is certain that they represent john beaufort, duke of somerset, and his wife margaret. john beaufort was son of another john beaufort, earl of somerset, who was brother of the celebrated cardinal beaufort, and son of john of gaunt by his mistress catherine swynford, a family afterwards legitimatised by parliament. this second john beaufort distinguished himself in the french wars of henry iv., who in gave him a step in the peerage, creating him duke of somerset. his wife margaret was, when he married her, widow of oliver st john, and it is thought that after the death of her second husband in she married again. this john and margaret, duke and duchess of somerset, are famous on account of their daughter the lady margaret, so well-known for her educational endowments and for the fact that after her marriage with edmund tudor, the earl of richmond, she became the mother of that henry tudor who overthrew richard iii. at bosworth, and was crowned king as henry vii. here on this altar tomb their effigies remain in a wonderful state of preservation, their right hands clasped together, angels at their heads, his feet resting on a dog, hers on an antelope. he is completely clad in armour, the face and right hand only bare--the gauntleted left hand holds the right hand gauntlet, which he has taken off that he may hold the lady's hand. she is clad in a long close-fitting garment. each of the two wears around the neck a collar marked with the letters ss. at the apex of the arch above their tomb hangs his tourney helm. [illustration: the beaufort tomb.] under the corresponding arch on the opposite side is a similar tomb, but without any effigy. the fragment of an inscription tells us that it is the tomb of one who was once the wife of henry courtenay, marquis of exeter, and mother of edward courtenay. she was gertrude, daughter of william blount, lord mountjoy. her husband was beheaded in , together with the aged margaret, countess of salisbury, whose chantry may be seen in the priory at christchurch, though she was laid to rest in what macaulay describes as the saddest burying-ground in england, the cemetery of st peter's, in the tower. gertrude, lady courtenay, was herself attainted at the time of her husband's execution, but was afterwards pardoned and died in . the tomb was opened in the last century from idle curiosity, and some one attempted to raise the body to a sitting posture, with the result that the skeleton fell to pieces. the tomb was also damaged by this foolish opening. [illustration: brass of Æthelred.] three small carved figures at the bottom of the hood moulding of the arches over these monuments deserve attention. the one on the west side of the southern arch represents moses with the tables of the law. probably there was another such figure at the eastern end of the same moulding, but this would have been cut away when the sedilia were inserted. the opposite arch has a figure on each side. just at the east end of the courtenay tomb is a slab of purbeck marble, reputed to have once covered the grave of Æthelred. in it is inserted a fifteenth-century brass, with a rectangular plate of copper bearing an inscription, represented in the illustration (p. ). a brass plate with a similar inscription, though the date on it is given as , was found in the library. possibly the original brass and inscription were taken up in the time of the civil wars and hidden for safety, and the inscription having been lost, the copper plate now on the tomb was made when the brass was replaced, and the original plate was afterwards found and was placed for safety in what is now the library. _copper_ nails were used to fasten the brass to the floor, which perhaps serves to show that the engraved _copper_ plate was made at the time when the brass was replaced on the slab. a little piece of the left-hand bottom corner has been broken off, and the top of the sceptre is missing. there are no rails before the altar, but their place is supplied by three oak benches covered with white linen cloths (these may be seen in the illustration on p. ). the use of the "houseling linen" dates back to very early times. the word "housel" for the sacrament of the lord's supper has gone out of use, though most of us are familiar with the line "_unhouseled_, unanointed, unanelled," in which the ghost of hamlet's father describes the circumstances of his death. the word "unhouseled" in this means that he died without receiving the sacred elements before his death. the benches are a relic of puritan times: there is an entry dated in the churchwardens' accounts respecting the payment of £ "for making and setting up the benches about ye communion table in the quire." these were at first used as seats, on which the communicants sat to receive the bread and wine. in after times their use was modified. these benches, ten in number, were placed on the steps leading up to the altar, and it was customary for the clerk on "sacrament sundays" to go to the lectern after morning prayer, and, in a loud voice, give notice thus: "all ye who are prepared to receive the holy communion draw near." those who wished to communicate then went into the chancel and sat on these benches or in the choir stalls, waiting their turns, and kneeling on mats until the clergy brought them the bread and wine. up to there was a rail on the top step, at the entrance of the presbytery, on which the houseling linen hung. the rail, which was of no great antiquity, was removed at that date, and three of the oak benches were retained to supply its place; these are now used as an ordinary communion rail, but are always covered with the "fair white cloths." the #south choir aisle#, known as the trinity aisle, has at its east end a five-light window, each light of which runs up through the head; the south wall is pierced by two three-light windows of similar character. the wall opposite in the western bay, against which the organ now stands, is blank, as on the outside of this the vestry stands with the library above it. at the east end of this aisle was the chantry founded by the lady margaret, countess of richmond, whose father and mother lie in the tomb already described beneath the nearest arch on the north side of this aisle. the altar of this chantry, as well as all the other altars in the church, numbering ten in all, have been swept away, no doubt at the time of the reformation. but recently the east end of this aisle has been fitted up with a communion table for use at early services. in this aisle is to be seen, under the second window from the east, the marble or slate painted sarcophagus known as the etricke tomb. anthony etricke of holt lodge, recorder of poole, was the magistrate who committed for trial the ill-fated duke of monmouth, who, after his flight from sedgemoor, was captured in the north of dorset near critchell. it is said that in his old age he became very eccentric, and desired to be buried neither in the church nor out of it, neither above ground nor under; and to carry out his wish he got permission to cut a niche in the church wall, partly below the level of the ground outside, and then firmly fixed in it the slate receptacle which is now to be seen. into this he ordered that his coffin should be put when he died. moreover, he had a presentiment that he should die in , and so placed that date upon the side of the sarcophagus. he, however, lived twelve years longer than he expected, so that when his death really occurred the date had to be altered to . the two dates, the later written over the earlier, are still to be seen. on the outside of the sarcophagus are painted the arms of his family. the whole is kept in good repair, for so determined was the good man that his memory should be kept alive, and his last resting-place well cared for, that he gave to the church in perpetuity the sum of s. per annum, to be expended in keeping the niche and coffin in good order. when the church was restored in the outer coffin was opened, and it was found that the inner one had decayed, but that the dust and bones were still to be seen, these were placed in a new chest and once more deposited in the outer coffin. [illustration: the etricke tomb.] in this aisle is also to be seen an ancient chest, not formed as chests usually are, of wooden planks or slabs fastened together, but hewn out of a solid trunk of oak. the chest is over feet long, but the cavity inside is not more than inches in length, inches in width, and inches in depth, hence it will be seen how thick and massive the walls are. originally it may have contained some small relics, and probably is much older than the present minster itself. it was afterwards used as a safe for deeds. in some deeds were taken from it bearing the date . formerly, there stood on this aisle the tomb of john de berwick, dean of the college, who died in . at his tomb once a year the parishioners met to receive the accounts of the outgoing churchwardens and to elect new ones. the altar tomb was removed about , the slab at the top of it being let into the floor. [illustration: ancient chest.] the #north choir aisle# is a foot narrower than the corresponding south aisle: it has three windows each with two lights instead of two of three lights. this is known as st george's aisle. in the east wall is a piscina of perpendicular date. two doors lead into this aisle--one at the corner, where the walls of the aisle and transept meet, and one between the two easternmost windows. the principal objects in this aisle are two bulky chests, one containing the title-deeds of some charity lands in the parish of corfe castle. this is fastened by six locks, each of different pattern,--each trustee of the charity has a key, of his own special lock,--so that the chest can only be opened by the consent of the whole body. the other chest contains the parochial accounts; this once had six locks, but now has only two. in the south-eastern corner of this aisle lies a mutilated effigy of a mail-clad knight with crossed legs. this is said to have been removed to the minster from another church when it was destroyed. whom it represents is uncertain, but traditionally it is known as the fitz piers monument. [illustration: uvedale monument.] in this aisle is the monument of sir edmund uvedale, who died in . the monument was erected by his widow in "dolefull duety." it is in the renaissance style, and was carved by an italian sculptor. the old knight is represented clad in a complete suit of plate armour, though without a helmet. he lies on his right side, his head is raised a little from his right hand, on which it has been resting, as though he were just awaking from his long sleep, his left hand holds his gauntlet. above the tomb hangs an iron helmet, such as was worn in elizabethan times, and which very probably was once worn by sir edmund himself. between the eastern ends of the choir aisles, and beneath the eastern end of the presbytery, is the #crypt#. this is a vaulted chamber, the vaulting being supported on two pairs of pillars, thus forming three aisles, as it were, running east and west, each containing three bays. the western bay is of somewhat later date than the central and eastern; the wall against which the westernmost of the pillars once stood was removed, but the piers were allowed to remain, backed up by a new piece of masonry built against them to support the new vaulting. the crypt is lighted by four windows, equal-sided spherical triangles in shape; two look out eastward, one northward beyond the chancel arch, one, correspondingly placed, to the southward. the centre of the east end is a blank wall. against this the altar stood--a niche, probably a piscina, still may be seen. on each side of the place where the altar stood there are two openings into the choir aisles. the exteriors of these are of the same form and size as the crypt windows, but they are deeply splayed inside, and probably were used as hagioscopes or squints, to allow those kneeling in the choir aisles to see the priest celebrating mass at the crypt altar. [illustration: entrance to crypt.] [illustration: the library.] the #vestry# stands in the south-east angle between the transept and choir aisle; it is a vaulted building dating from the fourteenth century, and is lighted by two windows, one looking to the east, the other to the south. a small door at the south-west corner opens upon the staircase leading to the #library#--a chamber situated above the vestry. the collection consists chiefly of books left to the minster by will of the rev. william stone, principal of new inn hall, oxford, a native of wimborne. they were brought from oxford in , under the care of the rev. richard lloyd, at that time master of the grammar school at wimborne. the books are chiefly works on divinity; some additions were subsequently and at various times made to the original collection. the books were attached to the shelves for safety's sake by iron chains, the upper end carrying rings which slid on rods fastened to the shelf above, the other end to the edge of the binding of the books. hence the volumes had to be placed on the shelves with their backs to the walls. the room in which the books were placed was formerly known as the treasury; it was refitted in , but the old chains are still used. it would occupy too much space were any attempt made to give a list of the books. the oldest volume is a manuscript of , "regimen animarum," written on vellum, and containing a few illuminated initials. a "breeches," black-letter bible, dated , is another book worth mentioning; also a volume of sir walter raleigh's history of the world. a hole was burnt through of its pages. it is said that matthew prior, the poet, was reading it by candle light and fell asleep, and when he woke was much distressed to find that the snuff from his candle had done the mischief. he did his best to repair the damage, by placing a tiny piece of paper over the hole in each page, and inserting the missing letters with pen and ink. the book has since been rebound, leaves taken from another copy having been bound in between the damaged pages. [illustration: the crypt.] [illustration: the font.] the lower part of the west tower is used as a baptistery; this is separated from the nave by a screen, formed of fragments of the old rood screen. in the centre stands the octagonal late norman #font#, supported by eight slender shafts of purbeck marble, and a modern spirally-carved central pillar of white stone, through which runs the drain to carry off the water. [illustration: the clock in the west tower.] in the inner southern wall of this tower, rather low down, is fixed a curious old #clock# made by peter lightfoot, a glastonbury monk, in the early part of the fourteenth century. the earth is represented by a globe in the centre, the sun by a disc which travels round it once in twenty-four hours, showing the time of day; the moon by a globe so fastened to a blue disc that it revolves once during a lunar month; half of this is painted black, the other half is gilt, and the age of the moon is indicated by the amount of the gilded portion visible--when the moon is full the whole of the gilt hemisphere is shown, when new the whole of the black. this clock still goes, the works being in a room in the tower above. it requires winding once a day. the same clock also causes the jack outside the tower to strike the quarters. in the #belfry# is a peal of eight bells. the tenor weighs about cwts., the treble cwts. the tenor bears this inscription: mr wilhemus loringe me primo fecit, in honorem stÆ cutbergÆ. renovabar sumptu parochali per ab, anno domini . the seventh bell is dated . the sixth bell , and is thus inscribed: "sound out the bells, in god regoyce." the fifth , "praise the lord." the fourth , "pulsata rosamundi maria vocata. smv." the third was originally the smallest bell of the peal, and bears the latin hexameter: "sum minima hic campana, at inest, sua gratia parvis," and the words, "this bell was added to ye five in , samuel knight." the two smaller bells are of recent date. the #lectern# bears date . the stone pulpit is modern ( ). the old wooden pulpit, whose place it has taken, has been removed to the church at holt. the earliest mention of an #organ# is in , but the earliest authentic record is of one set up by john vaucks, organ master, in . a memorandum in the churchwardens' accounts speak of him setting up a pair of organs on the rood loft. in the year , we have records of the sale of organ-pipes and old tin. after the restoration in , we have a record of the purchase of a new organ for £ . this was repaired, enlarged, and rebuilt at various times, and at the restoration, when the rood screen was unfortunately destroyed, the organ was placed in the south choir aisle. all the lower windows are now filled with painted glass; all of which, with the exception of a few fragments, is nineteenth-century work. deans of wimborne martin pattislee or pattishull appointed ralph brito " john mansell " john de kirkby " john de berwick " stephen de mawley " richard de clare " richard de swinnerton " richard de merimouth " richard de kingston " thomas de clopton " reginald de bryan " thomas de bembre (founder of the chantry) " henry de buckingham " richard de beverley " john de carp " roger tortington " peter de altebello " walter medford " gilbert kymer " walter herte " hugh oldham " thomas rowthel " henry hornby " reginald pole " nicholas wilson " college dissolved " chapter iv st margaret's hospital about a quarter of a mile to the north-west of wimborne stands the chapel of #st margaret's hospital#. the date of the foundation of this hospital is uncertain; tradition has it that it was founded by john of gaunt, son of edward iii., but this is without doubt wrong, as documents--the character of which seem to indicate an early thirteenth-century date--have been found, from which it appears that this hospital existed at that time, and was set apart for the relief and support of poor persons afflicted with leprosy. this disease was at one time so common in england that a great number of lazar-houses were erected in the country, and many were well endowed; but when, after a time, the disease became less violent, many abuses crept in, persons not really suffering from the disease pretended to be lepers in order to get pecuniary benefits, and hence in many cases the leper hospitals were suppressed, or converted to other purposes. at the present day we find in many places, as here at wimborne, that they are used as almshouses. [illustration: st margaret's hospital.] this hospital, however, was not one of the well-endowed. it appears from a deed, dated in the sixteenth year of henry viii., that the hospital was chiefly maintained, not by endowments, but by the gifts of the charitable who were willing to contribute to its support; and to encourage the benevolent to give, the deed recites that "pope innocent iv, in the year , by an indulgans or bulle did assoyl them of all syns forgotten, and offences done against fader and moder, and all swerynges neglygently made. this indulgans, grantyd of petyr and powle, and of the said pope, was to hold good for yeres and days, provided they repeated a certain specified number of paternosters and ave marias daily." the date of this indulgence proves the antiquity of the hospital, as it shows that it was in existence before the middle of the thirteenth century. a chantry was also founded in the chapel here by john redcoddes of one priest to say masses for his soul. to this chantry, according to a deed dated in the sixteenth year of henry vi., many tenements in wimborne belonged. in later times the rev. william stone, who has been mentioned before as the founder of the minster library, by his will left his lands and tenements in the parish of wimborne minster to be applied to the benefit of almsmen only who should live in st margaret's hospital. there is a further endowment, but how it came to this hospital has not been discovered. the advowson and tithes of the rectory of poole were, in the reign of james i., granted to the mayor and corporation of poole for forty years, on the corporation undertaking to find a curate to discharge the duties lately discharged by the vicar, and to pay a rent to the crown of £ , s. per annum. in the reign of charles i., the advowson and tithes were granted to two men, thomas ashton and henry harryman, and their heirs for ever, on the same conditions; but they are now again held by the corporation, who pay out of the revenues--to st margaret's hospital £ , s.; to the churchwardens of wimborne minster, for the maintenance of the etricke tomb, £ ; and to the fellows of queen's college, oxford, to be spent in wine and tobacco on november th, yearly £ . the redcotte chantry possessed sundry vestments, the gift of margaret rempstone, in the thirty-fifth year of henry vi., and plate, an inventory of which exists. this plate, on the dissolution of chantries, was given by the parishioners to the king, edward vi. the hospital or almshouses stands on the high road from wimborne to blandford; the chapel joins one of the tenements occupied by the almsmen. these tenements are nine in number; three are inhabited by married couples, three by men, and three by women. some of these cottages are of half timber, and thatched, others of modern brick. the chapel, at which there is now a service every thursday afternoon, conducted by one of the minster clergy, is a plain building, which has been recently refitted, but remains, as far as windows and walls are concerned, in its original state. there are three doors in the north wall; the heads are pointed, and it is noteworthy that in the central door, that generally used for access to the chapel, the two sides of the arch are of different curvatures, so that the point of the arch is nearer to the right-hand side. the edge of the wall is chamfered round the doorways. the east window has a semicircular head, and plain wooden tracery dividing it into two lancet-headed lights with an opening above them. there is a window in both the south and north walls, near the east end, each of two lights; the south window is widely splayed inside; the head of each light has one cusp on each side. the head of each light of the north window has two cusps on each side. farther to the west, on the south side, is a single narrow lancet, widely splayed, and still farther to the west is a semicircular opening with wooden tracery. the general character of the masonry would indicate that local workmen were employed in building this chapel, and that little was spent in ornamenting it at the time of the erection. there are, however, some traces of frescoes on the inside of the walls, both geometrical patterns and figures. the pointed doorways and the lancet window on the south side would indicate the thirteenth century as the date of the original building, and this agrees with the documentary evidence mentioned above for the foundation of the hospital. the roof is an open one of massive wooden rafters, with the beams running across at the level of the wall plates. dimensions of wimborne minster extreme length, exterior, e. to w. feet extreme width, exterior, n. to s. " length of nave, interior " width of nave, interior " height of walls " length of nave aisles, interior " width of nave aisles, interior " length of north transept, interior " width of north transept, interior " height of walls, interior " length of south transept, interior " width of south transept, interior " height of walls " length of choir, interior " width of choir, interior " height of choir walls " length of presbytery " width of presbytery " length of north choir aisle " width of north choir aisle " length of south choir aisle " width of south choir aisle " length of side of central tower (square), interior " height of central tower " length of side of western tower (square), exterior " height of western tower " length of north porch, n. and s., interior " width of north porch, e. and w., interior " length of south porch, n. and e., interior " width of south porch, e. and w., interior " length of vestry, n. and s., interior " width of vestry, e. and w., interior " length of baptistery, e. to w., interior " width of baptistery, n. to s., interior " area , sq. feet. christchurch priory [illustration: christchurch priory, from the bridge.] christchurch priory chapter i history of the building on the promontory washed on the one side by the slow stream of the dorset stour, and on the other by the no less sluggish flow of the wiltshire avon, not far from the place where they mingle their waters before making their way amid mudflats and sandbanks into the english channel, stands, and has stood for more than eight hundred years, the stately priory church which gives the name of christchurch to a small town in the county of hants. the massive walls of its norman nave, its fifteenth-century tower, and its great length--for, from the east wall of its lady chapel to the west wall of its tower, it measures no less than feet--make it a conspicuous object from the channel, especially after sundown, when its form, rising above the low shore of christchurch bay, is silhouetted against the sky. it is one of the finest churches below cathedral rank that is to be found in england. it is a perfect mine of wealth to the student of architecture, containing examples of every style from its early, possibly saxon, crypt to the renaissance of its chantries. here we may see the solid grandeur of norman masonry in the nave, with its massive arcading and richly-wrought triforium; the graceful beauty of the early english in its north porch and in the windows of the north aisle of the nave; the more fully developed decorated in the windows of the south aisle of the same; and perpendicular in the tower and lady chapel. the crypts beneath the north transept and the presbytery may have belonged to the original church, but of that which is visible above ground the oldest part was due to flambard, of whom more hereafter. when the first church was founded we cannot tell. here, as in many other places, the origin is lost in the haze of antiquity and legend. here, as at many other places, we find the original builders choosing one site, and the stones that they had laid during the day being removed by night by unseen, and therefore angelic, hands to another. it was on the heights of st catharine, about a mile and a half away from the present site, that the human builders strove to raise their church. it may be that this hill, still marked by the ramparts of an ancient encampment, was not holy ground on account of its former occupation by heathens, though in after time, a chapel, built in the early part of the fourteenth century, existed there; but, anyhow, not on this hill, but on the flat lands of saxon tweoxneham, a name which passed into the forms of thuinam and twynham, that the great priory church was destined to stand. but not even when the human builders began to erect the church on the miraculously chosen ground did supernatural interposition cease. a stranger workman came and laboured at the building: never was he seen to eat as the other workmen did, never did he come with his fellows to receive his wages. once, when a beam had been cut too short for the place it was to occupy, he lengthened it by drawing it out with his hand; and when the day for consecration came, and the other workmen gathered together to see their work hallowed by due ceremonial, this stranger workman was nowhere to be seen. the ecclesiastics came to the conclusion that this was none other than the carpenter's son of nazareth, and the church which had in part been builded by the hands of the christ himself in later days became known as christchurch. but, if we disregard these legends, we do not at once find ourselves on sure and certain ground. the foundation has been attributed to Æthelstan, but this is hardly likely, as, in a charter dated , he gives one of the weirs on the avon at twynham to the abbey church of middleton, now milton abbey in north dorset, which he would be hardly likely to do if he had founded, or were thinking of founding, a religious house at twynham; and as he died in , not much time was left for any foundation after this grant. again, we find king eadred granting land and fishing near twineham to dunstan. however, in the time of the confessor, mention is made of the canons of holy trinity possessing lands in thuinam. it must be remembered that it had been intended, according to the legend, to dedicate the church to the holy trinity, and no doubt this was done, although it was afterwards identified especially with the second person. in domesday it is stated that the canons of the church of the holy trinity hold lands in the village, and also in the isle of wight opposite. certain it is that in the days of eadward the confessor there was a church at twynham dedicated to the holy trinity, held by a collegiate society of secular canons. this church was swept away by ranulf flambard, the notorious justiciar and chaplain of william ii., whose evil deeds, contrary to the oft-quoted passage from mark antony's speech in julius cæsar, are now generally forgotten; while the good deeds that he wrought,--the nave of this church, and the still grander nave of durham cathedral church, durham castle, "norham's castled steep," and kepier hospital, built while he held the most important diocese in the north of england,--live after him, and have shed a glory on his name. evil he was in moral character without doubt, but a glorious builder nevertheless. though he oppressed the clergy, though it was through his instrumentality and by his advice that sees were kept vacant for years, and when filled, only given to those who were able and willing to pay large sums to the king, yet it is rather as a great architect than as an ecclesiastic that we, who gaze with delight and admiration on his work that has come down to us, will regard him. it is said that, as his end drew nigh, he realised the amount of evil he had done, and strove to make his peace with heaven and restitution to some, at least, of those whom he had wronged. he died in , and his body rests in the great cathedral church of st cuthbert that he had done so much to raise. but it was in the earlier part of his career, before he received the bishopric of durham in , that he probably began the work at christchurch with which we are at present concerned.[ ] he was succeeded there by godric, who is called senior and patron and afterwards dean; but flambard seems still to have exercised some authority over him, illegal probably, but none the less real. we find him granting to godric, for the work of building, all the offerings made by strangers and pilgrims, and when a canon died his share of the revenues of the college was devoted to the same object, the vacancy not being filled up by the appointment of any new canon. [ ] sir gilbert scott, however, thought that the norman nave of the cathedral church at durham was commenced before flambard became bishop, and that the new church at christchurch was begun after that date, so that the work at christchurch was copied by him from what he found already commenced at durham when he went there. the length of godric's tenure of office is uncertain. on his death henry i. appointed gilbert de dousgunels dean, having appropriated to himself the accumulated fabric fund. henry i. granted the patronage of the church to richard de redvers, earl of devon, who appointed his chaplain, peter, a norman of caen, dean. this dean seems to have diverted the funds from the work of completing the church, but his successor, randulphus, carried on the work again, so that in his time the church and the conventual buildings were roofed in. in the time of hilary, in the year , the secular college of canons was converted into a priory of augustinian canons. this change was made with the consent of baldwin de redvers, in accordance with the wishes of henry of blois, brother of king stephen, and at that time bishop of winchester, who is well known from the fact of his founding the hospital of st cross, near winchester. hilary, two years before this change was made, had been consecrated bishop of chichester, and subsequently became one of the episcopal opponents of thomas becket. henceforth, until the dissolution in the reign of henry viii., the head of the religious community at christchurch was a prior, who was, according to a charter granted by richard de redvers in , elected by the canons. there were, in all, twenty-six priors, and their names have come down to us, but with only the most meagre notices of the architectural work which was carried on by each of them. extensive, however, it must have been; and from what we see of the church itself, it would seem as if building operations must have been almost constantly in progress. in all probability there was, according to the usual plan of norman churches, a tower at the junction of the nave and transepts, and beyond this an apsidal choir. but there is no documentary record of such a tower ever having been built or fallen, although its existence is rendered probable by a carving of a church with tower and spire on draper's chantry, and by a similar representation on a seal, and in two other parts of the building. it is probable that the original choir extended westward beyond the transept, as at westminster to the present day. as has been stated above, the norman church was commenced by flambard towards the end of the eleventh century; and of the work so begun, the earliest existing remains are the arcading of the nave, the triforium, and the transepts with the eastern apsidal chapel attached to the south transept. next to this in order came the walls of the aisles of the nave, and the cloisters and chapter-house, which, however, have disappeared; cloisters would come to be considered a necessity as soon as the secular canons were superseded by regulars. the early english clerestory of the nave seems to have been built in the time of the third prior, peter, about the beginning of the thirteenth century. to the end of same century may be approximately assigned the vaulting of the nave aisles, the north porch, and a chapel attached to the north transept. alterations of an extensive nature seem to have been begun in the fourteenth century; for to this date belong the rood screen, placed farther to the east than the old division between the ritual choir of the canons and the western part of the nave, which was probably given up to the lay dwellers in the parish,--and the splendid reredos. the lady chapel also was completed certainly before , probably eleven years earlier. the fifteenth century saw the western tower built and the choir commenced and a great part of it finished, though the vaulting seems not to have been completed until the early part of the sixteenth century, as w. e. the initials of william eyre, who was prior from to , are to be seen on the bosses and the arch of the south choir aisle. somewhat later still is the chantry at the east end of the south choir aisle, built by the last prior and dated , and the chantry built by the last of the plantagenets, margaret, countess of salisbury, daughter of the earl of clarence and mother of cardinal pole, who at the age of seventy was executed by henry viii. in . shortly before the dissolution in prior draper addressed a petition to henry viii. which is still in existence in the record office, praying that he would spare the priory church, basing his request upon the desolate character of the district, the poverty of the house, and the fact that the church was not only a place for poor religious men, but also a parish church to the town and hamlets round about, whose inhabitants numbered from fifteen to sixteen hundred, that there was no place where any honest man on horseback or on foot might have succour or repose for the space of eight or nine miles, "but only this poor place of christchurch, to which both rich and poor doth repair and repose." he goes on to say how it was of late years a place of secular canons, until the king's antecessors made it a place of canons regular, that "the poor, not only of the parish and town, but also of the country, were daily relieved and sustained with bread and ale, purposely baked and brewed for them weekly to no small quantities according to their foundation, and a house ordained purposely for them, and officers according duly given attendance to serve them to their great comfort and relief." but all the pleading was in vain. commissioners were appointed, who presented their report to lord cromwell december , . they say that "we found the prior a very honest and conformable person, and the house well furnished with jewels and plate, whereof some be meet for the king's majesty's use." then follows a list of the treasures of the abbey, of the yearly value of the several endowments, and of the officers of the priory, thirteen in number besides the prior. prior draper retired on a pension, and the site of the domestic buildings was conveyed to stephen and margaret kirton. the domestic buildings themselves gradually disappeared, but the whole of the church was handed over to the parish as a church, the grant to the churchwardens being made by letters patent october henry viii. it conveyed to them "the choir body, bell-tower with seven bells, stones, timber, lead of roofing and gutters of the church and the cemetery on the north side." since then the church has been served by vicars, the patronage being in the hands of the dean and chapter of winchester until the nineteenth century, when the advowson was purchased by lord malmesbury. the living is now in the gift of the bishop of winchester. during the present century much restoration has been done. the nave was vaulted in stucco in ; the west window was taken in hand in ; the pinnacles of the tower and the upper part of the turret containing the stairs were renewed in ; and constant repairs have been going on up to the present time; and the principle that has guided the restorer has been, when any stonework has been removed to put in its place as exact a copy of the old as possible,--a principle that cannot be approved of, as it will lead, when the newness of the modern work has been toned down by time, to confusion between the genuine old work and the modern imitation of it. it is far better, when there is no question of stability but only of appearance, to leave the old stonework, even though much decayed, as it is, unscraped, untouched by the chisel, and where strength is needed to put in frankly nineteenth-century work, which could never by any possibility be mistaken for part of the original building. one of the most glaring instances of injudicious restoration is to be met with in the apsidal chapel attached to the eastern side of the south transept. this work was carried out by the hon. c. harris, late bishop of gibraltar. the arcading is a nineteenth-century imitation of norman work; the pavement is glaringly modern. of what interest, it may well be asked, is such work? who would care to visit christchurch to see it? the nineteenth-century carver cannot possibly produce work similar to that of the carver who lived in the twelfth century,--the conditions of his life are altogether different, his training bears no resemblance to that of the old artist, his work is a forgery, and a most clumsy one too. in this chapel we see this reprehensible practice carried to its fullest extent, but there are many other parts of the building which have suffered. most of the arcading on the exterior of the transept is modern imitation, and the tracery of the windows of the south choir aisle has been entirely renewed; no old stones, though many might have been used, have been reset in their original position. the arcading of the south aisle of the nave has been terribly tampered with. possibly under the influence of time many of the shafts had partially crumbled, and the surface of the carved capitals had perished, so that the original design could not be made out; but that was no reason for cutting away the ornamental work to make way for modern decoration which may or may not bear some slight resemblance to what was there before. some of the piers of the nave arcading have also been partially renewed. by an act of much-to-be-condemned vandalism the sub-arches of the two eastern bays of the south triforium of the nave were cut away to make room for faculty pews; recently a glaring white pillar has been introduced into the westernmost of these two bays, and two sub-arches built. if the same kind of work is carried out in the other, we shall see in all probability an attempt to copy the unique scale decoration which still exists on the tympanum under the corresponding principal arch on the north side, cut with modern tools with all the lifeless rigidity of modern work. another mistake which has been made, is the scraping off of the plaster from the interior walls of the chamber known as st michael's loft, over the lady chapel, and the re-pointing of the stonework. old builders invariably covered their rubble walls with plaster, but the modern restorer for some reason seems to hate plaster and prefers, to show the coarse stonework which the builder never intended should be seen, and to emphasise the roughness by filling up the joints with conspicuous pointing. this, however, is not so destructive as much of the work which has been condemned above, because at any time the walls could be recovered with a thin coat of smooth plaster laid on with a trowel, but not "floated,"--that is, not brought to a smooth surface by a long straightedge. a large and old building such as this priory church will need almost constant repairs to keep it sound and safe, and the income from visitors' fees is quite sufficient for this purpose. it is, however, much to be feared that restoration and reconstruction will form far too large a part of the work done in this building. every new ornamental stone, to make room for which some original stone is displaced, detracts from the value of the building from an archæological point of view; and though there may be some, or even many, who prefer the trim and smug appearance of modern work to that of the old, instinct with life, full of the thoughts of the builders and workers in wood and stone, whose bones have mouldered into dust in the garth of the vanished cloisters, and whose very names have in many cases been forgotten, yet we hope that those who have this priceless treasure in their keeping may recognise ere it is too late, that the result of a continuance of the process of restoration commenced about the middle of the nineteenth century will be the gradual conversion of a splendid memorial of bygone ages into a modern sham, and they themselves will be regarded, when true love of art becomes general, with the same indignation as that which they themselves feel with regard to those who pulled down the roof of the south transept and cut out the columns and sub-arches of the triforium in days before the gothic revival set in. and the modern restorer has less excuse than the destroyer of a hundred years ago. if, like the vandals of the georgian period, they had been blind to the beauties of architectural art, they would have had no sin, yet since they profess to see, therefore their sin will remain and their names will be held in perpetual reproach and everlasting contempt. the foregoing historical sketch of the building has perforce been somewhat vague in dates, for, in the absence of documentary evidence, it is not easy to fix from architectural considerations alone the date of any particular piece of work within a limit of some twenty years or so. the out-of-the-way position of the priory of christchurch--for no great road ran through the town, and though it is near the sea there is no convenient harbour near it--has brought it to pass that it is scarcely mentioned in any mediæval chronicles. its own fabric rolls and annals have been lost. here and there, however, the date of a will or the inscription on a monument has enabled a more definite date to be arrived at. the dates also of the dedications of some of the many altars are known--viz. that of the holy saviour, used by the canons as their high altar, and that of st stephen, dedicated by the bishop of ross in ; that of the altar of the holy trinity, which stood in the nave, and was the high altar of the parish; and those of the altars of ss. peter and paul, ss. augustine and gregory and all the prophets, dedicated by walter, bishop of whitherne, on november , ; that of the altar of st john the baptist and st edmund, dedicated on december , , by the same bishop; and that of the altar of ss. michael and martin, dedicated by the bishop of the isles in . chapter ii the exterior the exterior of the church of christchurch priory may be well seen from several points of view. the churchyard lies to the north of the building, extending beyond it both to the east and west. on the south side, where all the domestic buildings of the priory once stood, there is a modern house and private grounds. all that belongs to the church is a path running under the walls as far as the east corner of the transept, where a garden door stops farther progress. several glimpses of the building, however, may be obtained on the way down to the stour, and seen from the south side of this river, the church rises above its surroundings, and forms a conspicuous object. a good general view on the north-east may also be obtained from a bridge over the avon. from this point of view the great length of the church is apparent; on the right-hand side may be seen the ruins of the norman keep of the castle on its artificial mound, and nearer to the bridge the remains of a twelfth-century norman house. from the churchyard, also, the whole north side of the church may be seen at once, and many striking features will be noticed. among these, the circular staircase attached to the transept, with its rich diaper work; norman arcading of interlacing arches running round the transept; the large windows of the choir clerestory, so wide and closely set together that the whole wall seems as though composed of glass--through which, and the windows of the opposite wall, the light of the sky can be seen; and lastly, the upper storey of the lady chapel with its row of windows of a domestic type. [illustration: christchurch priory, from the north-east.] [illustration: tower door.] a systematic examination of the exterior may best be begun with the #western tower#. this is of fifteenth-century date, and is set partially within the church--that is to say, its builder did not add it to the west of the church, making an archway through the previously existing west front, but pulled down the whole west wall of the nave, leaving, however, the west walls of the aisles, and carried the north and south walls of the new tower as far back into the church as the space occupied by the western bay, thus leaving two spaces at the west end of the aisles, one now used as a vestry, the other as a kind of lumber-room. in the west face of the tower is a doorway under a rectangular label; in the spandrels are two shields, bearing the arms of the priory, and of the montacutes and monthermers, earls of salisbury. the doors are modern. immediately above the doorway is a large window with three tiers, each containing six lights. the head of the window above these is of an ordinary perpendicular character. the tracery was restored in . above this window is a niche containing a figure of christ. the upper stage, which contains the bells, has two two-light windows in each face, each light being divided by a transom. these windows are not glazed, but are furnished with louvre-boards. the tower is crowned with a pierced battlemented parapet having pinnacles at the corners and at the middles of each side; within this rises a low pyramidal roof. the stair turret runs up at the north-east angle of the tower; this is octagonal, and is crowned with a parapet and crocketed pinnacles; the upper part of this turret and the pinnacles were renewed in . the tower is strengthened by two buttresses at right angles to each other at each of the two western angles. on either side of the tower, as already explained, may be seen the west end of the nave aisles; these have windows with perpendicular tracery, and on the north wall of the north aisle is a plain, round-headed doorway cut through the wall in modern time, with a perpendicular window over it. [illustration: north porch.] next comes the #north porch#, with a chamber above it--here, as in many other churches, the chief entrance into the building. its great dimensions, both in length and height, however, are remarkable; it projects feet beyond the aisle wall, and its own side walls rise nearly to the height of the clerestory of the church. its south end does not extend beyond the wall of the aisle, so that there is a space between the upper part of the porch and the clerestory. the upper part above the porch proper contains, as mentioned above, a lofty chamber, probably originally the muniment-room. this is lighted by two pairs of narrow single-light windows on either side, and by a similar pair in the north face beneath the obtuse-angled gable. this room is, no doubt, a later addition. the entrance into the porch is a beautiful, deeply-recessed archway of thirteenth-century date, with numerous shafts of purbeck marble on either side. within the porch the side walls are divided into two compartments, each of which is composed of two pointed arches beneath another larger pointed arch, with a cinquefoil in the head. on the west side, near the outer archway, is a cinquefoiled recess, with shafts of purbeck marble and foliated cusps. this is said originally to have contained a desk, at which the prior met the parishioners and signed deeds. a stone seat runs along each side of the porch walls. the double doorway which leads into the church is very beautiful and rich early english work. from six purbeck marble shafts on either side spring the orders of the enclosing archway; the heads of the double doorways themselves are cinquefoiled arches with foliated cusps. at the jambs, and dividing the two doors, are clusters of purbeck marble shafts, with moulded capitals. in the tympanum is a quatrefoil, the upper part of which projects so as to form a canopy. this was, no doubt, intended to contain some carved subject, possibly the doom. very extensive restoration was carried out in the groining and porch generally, in . [illustration: the north door.] the wall of the #north aisle# between the porch and the transept is divided into six compartments by early english buttresses with gabled heads. this wall was built in norman times, as may be seen from the small round-headed windows which light the clerestory, but was in early english times faced with fresh ashlar, which conceals the norman arcading of intersecting arches which ran along this wall. the triforium windows on this side are not, though they are on the south side, regularly arranged; there are none in the two western divisions, while between the easternmost buttress and the transept there are two. six late thirteenth-century windows were cut through this wall--these are all of similar design; they consist of two lights under a comprising arch, with a circle in the head. the clerestory windows are of plainer character. each window consists of two simple lancets set under a recessed arch without any hood moulding; the tympana also above the lancet heads are not pierced or decorated in any way; in fact, the whole clerestory is remarkably plain. between the windows are flat buttresses. the aisles are covered with lean-to roofs of lead, the nave itself with a tiled roof of medium pitch. the gable at the east end of the nave, and indications on the east face of the tower, show that the pitch of the roof was once higher, and that it must have been lowered at some time after the tower was built in the fifteenth century. [illustration: the north transept in . (from britton's "architectural antiquities.")] the #north transept# is most interesting. its west wall contains two round-headed windows with billet moulding, the northern one blocked up; and at the north-west corner is a cluster of cylindrical shafts running up to about the same height as the walls of the aisle. why they terminated here it is hard to say; they may mark the termination of the original norman wall. this wall may not have risen above this height, or the upper part may have been taken down and rebuilt when the large perpendicular window was inserted in the north end of the transept. at the north-east corner of the transept stands a richly-ornamented turret of norman date. round the lower part of this the arcade of intersecting arches which runs round the whole transept is carried; above this, round the turret, runs an arcading of semicircular-headed arches springing from pairs of shafts; above this the wall is decorated with diaper work; and finally, another arcading, this time of round-headed arches rising from single shafts, encircles the turret. the turret is capped by a sloping roof of stone attached to the transept wall. this turret is worthy of close attention, because it shows how the norman builders hated monotony; each stage has its own decoration unlike that of any other; and, moreover, there are variations in the shafts of the arcading--some are plain, some decorated in one way, some in another. the same love of variety may be seen here that lends so great a charm on a larger scale to flambard's glorious nave at durham. no doubt this north transept had attached to its east wall an apsidal norman chapel similar to that which still exists on the eastern side of the south transept, but this had to make way for an addition of two chapels, which we may assign, from the character of their architecture, to the latter end of the thirteenth century. the northern chapel is lighted by a three-light window with three foliated circles in the head, which is rather sharp pointed, and the southern one by a two-light window with one foliated arch. these are beautiful examples of plate tracery. above these chapels is a small chamber lighted by a window of similar character. this is supposed to have been the tracing room, where the various architectural designs for the building were drawn. to the east of the transept may be seen the #choir# and #presbytery#, with its four clerestory windows; the #choir aisle#, also with four windows; the #lady chapel#, with the octagonal turret-staircase leading into saint michael's loft above it. it will be noticed that there is no window in the aisle under the western clerestory window of the choir, as the space where this would have been found is occupied by the two chapels to the east of the transept, and also that the aisle extends beyond the choir and flanks the western part of the lady chapel. the whole of this part of the church is of perpendicular character. the windows of the choir aisles are low, the arches are depressed, and the curvature of each side of the arch is so slight that they appear almost straight lines. the body of these windows contains four lights; in the head, each of these is subdivided into two. between the aisle windows are buttresses, which, with the exception of the one opposite the east wall of the choir, which terminates in a gable, have pinnacled cappings; and from each of these, save the gabled one, a flying buttress is carried over the roof of the aisle and rests against the choir wall. the aisle roof is flat, and at the top of the outer wall runs a plain parapet pierced with quatrefoil openings. the clerestory windows are of great size and are set close together. the choir roof is flat and is quite invisible from the exterior. there can be little doubt that a parapet at one time ran along the tops of the clerestory walls, but this has disappeared. the lady chapel has on either side three large perpendicular windows; the arches of these as well as those of the clerestory have pointed heads. the western half of the central window of the lady chapel is blocked up by the later-built octagonal turret containing the staircase to saint michael's loft. the staircase commences in an octagonal turret at the north-east corner of the choir aisle,--this rises above the aisle roof,--the stairs are then carried above the east wall of the choir aisle and then into the octagonal turret, which runs up the wall of the lady chapel and the loft above, and rises to some height above the parapet. there is a similar staircase on the south side, but the turret does not rise quite so high above the roof. there are five square-headed two-light windows on either side of st michael's loft, the lights being divided by transoms, the upper parts foliated. at the east end is a three-light window without any transom, with an obtuse arch under a dripstone. the loft has a parapet all round it pierced with quatrefoil openings. some of this parapet, at any rate, is modern, as, in a photograph of the north side taken in , the parapet is only shown to the east of the turret. as restoration work is constantly going on at the church, the money paid by visitors for viewing the interior (sixpence a head, which produces over £ a year) being devoted to this object, the parapet will doubtless in course of time be extended along the walls of the choir, and will certainly add to the beauty of the church; and as nothing will be destroyed to make room for it, such an addition will not be open to the same objection as much of the work done by restoration committees. [illustration: the north transept.] the buttresses at the east angles of the lady chapel are set diagonally, and rise in five stages; the upper stage of each is square, in section, with the faces parallel to the walls of the church, and reaches a higher level than the parapet, and is finished with a flat cap. the large east window is a perpendicular one of five lights. from the base of the south-east buttress runs a wall dividing the burying-ground from the gardens of the house, to the south of the church, which stands on the site of the domestic buildings of the priory. the portion of the wall of the lady chapel beneath the eastern-most window on the north side is modern. here mr ferrey, the architect, by whom much of the restoration was carried out, discovered traces of an external chantry and the marks of an arcading corresponding to that still remaining on the inside. [illustration: the south aisle of nave.] the object of the chamber above the lady chapel is uncertain,--in it is described as "st michael's loft," in the parishioners described it as "heretofore a chapter-house," when petitioning the bishop to allow it to be used as a school. but if it was ever used as a chapter-house, it could only have been for a short time, as there is evidence that there was a chapter-house to the south side of the choir in the twelfth century, and that this remained as late as . the south side of the lady chapel and choir correspond very closely with the north side, but there are several differences to be noticed between the south and north transepts. on the eastern side of the #south transept# the norman apsidal chapel still remains. this has a semi-conical roof with chevron table moulding under it, and two windows--one of original norman work, the other a three-light early english window. a sacristy of early english date stands to the east of the apsidal chapel, and occupies the space between the apse and the south choir wall. at the south-east corner of the transept there is a circular stair turret corresponding to some extent with the turret at the north-east angle of the north transept; this, in the second stage, becomes octagonal in section, and rises above the parapet of the transept. in the south face is a depressed segmental window, much smaller than the corresponding window on the north side, under a gabled parapet. the pitch of the roof of the south transept is much higher than that of the north transept, and the upper part of the transept does not abut against the walls of the church. two tiers of corbel brackets on the south wall, and traces of two norman windows seem to indicate that here, as elsewhere, a slype, with a room above it, intervened between the south end of the transept and the chapter-house. this slype was generally a passage connecting the cloister garth with the smaller garth to the south of the choir which was often used as a burying-place for the abbots or priors, as the case may be, and was the place where the monks or canons interviewed visitors and chapmen. the room above was often used as the library. the south of the #nave# is decidedly inferior in interest to the north. the cloisters have entirely disappeared, but a series of round-headed arches, formed of stucco, may conceal a stone arcading similar to that hidden by the early english facing of the north wall. the small round-headed windows giving light to the triforium are more regularly arranged than on the north side; there is one, and only one, in each division between the buttresses. there were, as usual, two doors in this wall: one for the canons, in the wall opposite to the west of the cloister, one close to the transept for the prior; both are now blocked up. the prior's door, in the injunction of langton, , is directed to be kept locked, save when on festivals a procession passed through it. this doorway is of early thirteenth-century work; it is round-headed, and is french in character. there is a legend that a party of french monks, terrified by a dragon which rose out of the sea, possibly an ancestor of the sea-serpent of more modern days, put in to christchurch haven, and were entertained by the canons, with whom they abode for many years; possibly this door may be of their workmanship or design. in the south wall a large aumbry or cupboard, in the thickness of the walls, may be seen; in this possibly the canons kept the books that they had brought from the library for study. what the windows in this aisle were we cannot say--originally, no doubt, norman, for the westernmost window is still of this style; but the others, which were widened either in early english or decorated times, are now all filled with nineteenth-century tracery of decorated type. the buttresses between the windows, unlike those on the north side, are flat norman ones. towards the west end of the aisle a passage has in modern times been cut through the wall, and when this was done remains of a staircase which, no doubt, led to the dormitory, were discovered. the clerestory, on this side, is of the same plain character as on the north side. in a line with the south wall, but some little distance to the west, still stands a house which was once the porter's lodge, close to the site of the gatehouse. the porter's lodge was built by prior draper ii. in the sixteenth century. the remains of the domestic buildings are very scanty--some old walls near the modern mill, occupying, no doubt, the site of the mill where the canons' corn was ground; some vestiges of the fish ponds; some few traces of walls and foundations, are all that have come down to modern days. from the similarity of arrangement in the buildings of religious houses, however, we can, with great certainty, assign the sites for the various parts--the dormitory over the cellarage, to the west of the cloister garth; the refectory to south of it; the calefactory, chapter-house, slype, to the east; and the prior's lodgings to the south of the choir, forming the lesser garth; the barns, bakery, and brew-house to the south-west of the church, near the porter's lodge and gatehouse. the prior had a country house at heron court, a grange at somerford, and another at st austin's, near lymington. it must be understood that the choir was the church of the canons, and, as was common in churches served by augustinian canons, the nave was used for the services which the laity of the district attended. it is noteworthy that whether owing to the purity of the air, so different from that which exists in the large cities where so many of the cathedral churches stand, or from the goodness of the stone, most of the priory church is in most excellent preservation. carving which, we are assured, has never been retouched with a chisel since it was first cut, remains as sharp and clearly cut as though it were the work of the nineteenth century; possibly some of its excellence is due to the preservative effect of the whitewash with which it was once covered, and which has been cleaned off with water and a stiff bristled brush. the stone of which the north side of the nave is built came from binstead; the limestone columns from henden hill; the norman round turret and the choir is built of portland stone; while purbeck marble shafts are used in the north porch, and of the fine white stone from caen in normandy, the salisbury and draper chantries in the interior are constructed. these, though now about four hundred years old, are absolutely sharp in all the carving. there is a tombstone to the north of the porch which bears a curious inscription as follows:--"we were not slayne but raysd, raysd not to life but to be byried twice by men of strife. what rest could the living have when dead had none agree amongst you heere we ten are one. hen. rogers died aprill ." this inscription has been variously explained. it is said by some that cromwell, afterwards protector, was at christchurch, and dug up some lead coffins to make bullets for his soldiers, and flung the bodies out of ten such coffins into one grave; but this is manifestly incorrect. oliver cromwell was never at christchurch, though thomas cromwell probably was, and here, as elsewhere, the two have been confounded. in many cases poor oliver has had to bear the blame for destruction caused to churches by his less well-known namesake, the great destroyer of religious houses in the days of the eighth henry. but neither of them had anything to do with this tomb, nor were the parliamentary forces guilty of tampering with the coffins of the dead in the parish burying-ground at christchurch. the very date precludes the idea, for the civil war did not begin till more than fifteen months after the date carved on this stone; and we may give the roundheads credit for more sense than to be digging up coffins to make their bullets with, when there was abundance of lead to be had for the stripping on the roof of the priory church. a far more probable explanation is that which states that the ten bodies here interred were those of ten shipwrecked sailors, who were first buried on the cliffs near the spot where they were washed ashore; but the lord of the manor, when he heard thereof, waxed exceeding wroth, and a strife ensued between him and one henry rogers, mayor of christchurch, the former insisting on their removal to consecrated ground, the latter objecting to the removal, probably on the ground of expense; but in the end the lord of the manor had his way. but the mayor, to save the cost of ten separate graves, had them all buried in one, and placed this inscription over their remains as a protest against the conduct of the lord of the manor in moving their remains from their first resting-place. the graveyard at the present time is neatly kept and well cared for. the headstones have not, as they have been in many other places, tampered with; and though many of the alterations made in the restoration will not gain the approval of archæologists, yet some have been judiciously done, and some that are in contemplation will certainly have the result of rendering once more visible beautiful mediæval work, long concealed by ugly modern additions. chapter iii the interior a rapid walk round the interior of the priory church shows that it practically consists of three main portions, almost entirely divided from each other--the #nave#, the #choir#, and the #lady chapel#. the solid rood screen, pierced by one narrow doorway, forms an effectual division between the nave and choir, while the stone reredos and the wall above it, running right up to the vaulting, entirely separates the latter from the lady chapel. in mediæval times the choir was reserved for the use of the canons; the nave was the parish church with its own high altar; the rood loft was an excellent point of vantage from which a preacher could address a large congregation. in those times pews had not been introduced; open benches may have existed. at present the nave is occupied by pews; these with their cast-iron poppies were erected in , and were then higher than at present. still, even in their present form, they hide the bases of the pillars, and might with much advantage be swept away, and their places taken by open benches or movable chairs. the pews in the transepts are of older date; these, together with the galleries above them--that in the south transept supporting the organ--are a sad disfigurement to the church, and it is to be hoped that they will be soon removed; they hide some splendid norman work. the case of the north gallery is worse than the south, as a staircase leading to it disfigures the beautiful early english chapel attached to the east side of the transept. this gallery, however, contains some faculty pews. all the owners of these, save one, consented to its removal; but one stood out against it, and, having the legal right to prevent any alteration, has up to the present time kept the gallery intact. but as he has recently died there can be little doubt that no long time will now elapse before this disfigurement to the church will be a thing of the past. there seems little need for the gallery, as there is ample accommodation on the floor of the church for any congregation that is likely to assemble within the walls. many alterations, some of which are certainly improvements, have already been made. in an engraving, dated , the organ is represented standing on the rood screen, probably the best place for it; and the four eastern bays of the nave are seen to be partitioned off by a wooden screen with a rod for curtains. on a level with the capitals of the pillars, to the west of this partition, stands the font. at this time also the triforium was boarded off in order to shut out draughts and cold; but this boarding has happily been swept away, the partition across the nave has been removed, and an oaken screen with glazed panels runs across the church, cutting off the western bay from the remainder of the nave. the font, a modern one, now stands under the tower; a modern pulpit on the south side, under the crossing, where also desks for the clergy and choir have been placed. it is now the custom on sunday mornings to read the whole of the service up to the end of the nicene creed, in the nave; after the sermon is over, the communicants alone enter the choir to receive the sacrament. the choir is also used for week-day services. the lady chapel is not used. the nave is early norman work, and was chiefly built during the reign of william ii.; the clerestory, however, was added at the beginning of the thirteenth century by peter, who was prior from to . the original nave was probably covered by a flat wooden ceiling, the early norman builders rarely venturing to span any wide space by a stone vaulting. the present vaulting is of stucco, and was added by garbett in . the roof was altered in perpendicular times more than once, as indications of a higher pitched roof than the present one exists on the east face of the fifteenth-century tower. as springing stones for a vaulted roof exist, it is probable that a stone roof was at one time contemplated; but possibly the idea was abandoned on account of the fear that the walls, unsupported by any exterior flying buttress to resist the thrust, would not have borne the weight. it will be remembered that such buttresses are to be met with along the walls of the choir, which is covered with a stone vaulting. the nave consists of seven bays. the pillars of this arcading, unlike those of flambard's nave at durham, are not cylindrical, but consist of half columns set against piers rectangular in section. the capitals are of the early cushion shape; some of them seem to have been subsequently carved with ornamentation which bears some resemblance to classical forms. the wall spaces above the semicircular arches, and below the chevron string-course which runs beneath the triforium, are decorated with hatchet-work carving, as will be seen from the illustrations. the triforium on either side consists, in each bay, of two coupled arches supported by a central pillar, enclosed by a comprising arch with bold mouldings and double columns, separated by square members. the most beautiful bay is the easternmost, on the north side, where the wall surface above the smaller arches, and beneath the enclosing arch, is carved with a kind of scale-work. possibly the opposite bay, on the south side, was as richly ornamented, but the lower arches and the central column no longer exist, as they were cut away to make room for a faculty pew in . these two bays were included within the original norman choir. the central shaft, on the north side, is twisted. two of the central shafts, on the south side, are richly ornamented--one with twisted decoration, the other with a projecting reticulated pattern. the shaft and sub-arches of the second bay from the east on this side is a modern renewal, as here also the old work was destroyed in to make room for a pew. the north triforium can be reached by a staircase continued up into the tower, entered from the western part of the aisle; access to the south triforium can only be gained by the use of a ladder. the north triforium deserves examination. it will be found that pointed arches have been added at the back, and buttresses have been built against the back of the wall behind the arches; the floor is rendered uneven by humps necessitated by the early english vaulting of the aisle below--probably the aisles were originally covered with a barrel roof. at the east end of the north triforium an arch may be seen, which once opened out into the transept; this is now walled up, and traces of painting may still be seen on it. there is a passage under the clerestory, to which access may be obtained by a passage across the transept; this was, no doubt, made in order that the shutters of the windows might be opened or closed, according to the state of the weather. from the staircase which leads up to the north triforium a passage leads into the chamber over the north porch. this is a large room, about feet in length from north to south, and is now used as a practising room for the choir; it is fitted with benches and a grand piano, and has a modern wooden gallery running along its south end. [illustration: the nave in .] [illustration: the nave.] [illustration: north arcade of nave.] [illustration: from the north triforium.] [illustration: bay of the triforium, south side.] the #south aisle# is much more elaborately decorated than the north. along the south wall runs a fine norman arcade, the arches ornamented with billet and cable moulding. the window in the western bay is the original norman one; the others were altered either in early english or decorated times, and are now filled with modern tracery in the decorated style designed by mr ferrey. in the third bay is a holy water stoop, and in the fifth a large aumbry or recess, entered by a door; in this used to be kept the bier and lights used at funerals. along the walls of each aisle runs a stone bench. there is no arcading on the wall of the north aisle. the vaulting of both aisles is early english, dating from the time of peter, the third prior, who, as previously stated, built the clerestory. the tracery of the north aisle windows is transitional in character between early english and decorated. [illustration: the south aisle of nave.] [illustration: the montacute chantry.] the #transepts# are much encumbered by modern pews and galleries, and it is only by careful examination that much of the beautiful work that they contain can be seen. the arch opening from the south aisle into the transept is early english, and the skilful junction of early english and norman work at this point is deserving of attention. this transept was at one time covered by a stone vaulting, which was destroyed at the latter end of the eighteenth century and in the beginning of the nineteenth. some of the bosses taken from this may be seen, piled up with the old font and other fragments, at the west end of the north choir aisle. the west wall of the transept contains a norman window. a doorway into the slype remains in the wall, and communicates with a wall passage. at the eastern side of the transept an arch opens out into an apsidal chapel, but pews block up the entrance. this chapel has been so completely restored that it has a thoroughly neat and modern appearance, and has lost all its archæological value; round it runs a norman arcade, and on the north side an aumbry may be seen. the north transept retains its norman arcading, which, fortunately, has not been touched by the restorer's hand; how long it may escape is doubtful, as it is much mutilated. still, as it is simply decorative, and not necessary for the stability of the wall, it would be well to leave it untouched, as genuine old work, even though it may have suffered at the hand of time or of former generations, is, from a decorative point of view, infinitely preferable to any modern reproduction. there are two small windows in the west wall to light the wall passage to the clerestory, which is reached by a gallery running across the base of the north window. in the north wall, behind the back of the pews, is a thirteenth-century recess. from this transept access is gained to the circular staircase leading downward to the crypt and upward to the small chamber above the eastern chapels. this is popularly known as oliver cromwell's harness room, and marks are shown on the wall supposed to have been holes for the insertion of pegs whereon he hung his harness; but as the protector never came to christchurch, all this is purely mythical. on one of the walls mr ferrey, the architect, found a design for a window; this he copied, and used when designing the tracery of the window he inserted over the prior's door at the east end of the south aisle of the nave. this tracing chamber is lighted by a two-light window with a quatrefoil in the head in the eastern wall. the two chapels below are beautiful examples of transition work from the early english to the decorated style; they were built by the de redvers, earls of devon, the last of whom died in . the eagles of the montacute and monthermer families appear in this chantry. there are two windows in the eastern wall. the larger, on the north, consists of three lights, with three circles in the head; the foliation of these outside the glass forms cinquefoil openings; the smaller window is of a similar character, but consists of two lights only, with a single foliated arch above them. an archway, widely splayed, on the western side, opens into the transept, and another archway opens into the choir aisle; this has a panelled pier, standing a little apart from the eastern side, designed to support the arch, which probably was found to be giving way. the shafts along the eastern wall, the capitals of one of which is carved with a number of heads said to represent the twelve apostles, should be noticed; the vaulting ribs are also interesting, especially the joggled ribs seen over the window. a stone altar stood in one of these chantries until . these chapels are sadly disfigured by a mean staircase which leads into the transept gallery; it is devoutly to be hoped that before long this may be removed, and the exquisite beauty of the chapels seen without any inharmonious and irritating feature such as this staircase undoubtedly is. below the transept is an early norman crypt; it is thought by some, from the rudeness of the work, that it may be of earlier date than the existing church, and that it belonged to the original church which flambard destroyed to make room for his more splendid edifice. in it were discovered a number of human bones, which were reinterred in the churchyard. it has a plain barrel roof, divided by broad flat arches rising from pilasters. [illustration: the north aisle of nave.] it has often been debated whether or not the church ever possessed a central tower. there is no documentary evidence bearing on the question. it may be said that if a tower existed and fell, or was pulled down for any reason, some record would have remained; but the records connected with the building are fragmentary, and it by no means follows that the absence of record proves the non-existence of such a tower. in the case of wimborne minster the churchwarden's accounts contain no record of the building or of the fall of the spire, yet we know from outside testimony that such a spire did fall in , and that a representation of it occurs on a seal. so here at christchurch a seal is in existence on which the church is represented with a central tower of two storeys, the lower plain, the upper lighted by two round-headed windows and capped by a low pyramidal spire or roof with a tall cross on the summit. this is exactly what one would expect to find: a central tower is almost always found in norman churches, especially collegiate churches; and the pyramidal roof was almost certainly the usual form in which these early towers were finished. the battlemented parapets which we so often meet with in norman towers are in all cases more recent additions. moreover, the massive arches and piers at the corners indicate that a tower was contemplated, even if it were never built. in the east gable of the nave as it at present exists, two round-headed windows may be seen. it is highly probable that this gable once formed part of the east wall of the tower, and when the tower was removed this wall was converted into a gable. everything to the east of the crossing being of late fourteenth or early fifteenth century date, indicates that extensive alterations were made at that time; and if a tower and spire had previously existed, it must have been removed before this date. in the centre of the carving over the doorway leading into the draper chantry, dated , there is a representation of a church with a central tower and spire. of course, no such steeple existed at the time this chantry was built, but it may have been a copy of some then existing representation of the building as it had appeared in former times. there are also two other carvings of angels carrying a model of a church with a central tower--one near the salisbury chantry, one on the choir roof. [illustration: the crypt.] the nave is divided from the choir by a splendid rood screen feet inches high, feet long, and feet thick. the western face of this projects beyond the line joining the east walls of the two transepts; its eastern face rests against the eastern piers intended to support the central tower. it was extensively restored by mr ferrey in , who considered that it may have been removed from some conventual church after the dissolution of the monasteries in the time of henry viii. and re-erected here. but there does not seem to be any real grounds for supposing that it was not expressly built for this church. its character indicates a date somewhat late in the fourteenth century. in the centre is a narrow doorway and a passage into the choir; from the north side of this passage a flight of steps leads to the top of the loft. the base of the screen is plain; above this is a row of thirteen panelled quatrefoils on each side of the doorway--each containing a plain shield, over these a string course, then two rows of canopied niches, the upper row consisting of twelve, the lower, owing to the doorway occupying the central space, of only ten. the lower niches have pedestals, each formed of four short columns with detached bases but with large capitals, which meet one another above; these capitals are richly carved with foliage. no doubt, on the level space thus formed statues at one time stood. woodwork screens with glazed doors and panels, made from an oak screen which formerly was placed across the south transept, run across the western ends of the choir aisles, so that when the doors of these and of the rood screen are locked, the eastern arm of the cross is entirely shut off from the rest of the church. [illustration: the rood screen.] [illustration: stall seat. south side.] [illustration: stall seat. north side.] [illustration: stall seat. north side.] the #choir# is entirely perpendicular in character, and it seems to have been begun in the time of henry vi. but not to have been completed until the time of henry vii., and some of the carving of the stalls is of still later date. leland says of it, "baldwin, earl of devon, was the first founder, and his successors to the time of isabella de fortibus,[ ] and at present the earls of salisbury are regarded as founders." four large clerestory windows on either side light the choir. the wall beneath these is continued downwards to the floor, but under each window a low obtusely-pointed depressed archway is cut leading into the aisles. between the bottom of each clerestory window and the heads of these arches the wall is panelled as with window mullions and tracery, so that the appearance from the inner side may be best understood by imagining that each window extended from floor to roof, but that the upper part alone is glazed, the lower cut away for the arch leading into the aisle, and the lower lights beneath the transom blocked up with masonry. these lower arches are more or less blocked up. the salisbury chapel blocks up the north-eastern one completely; the sedilia, no doubt, occupied the opposite one, where now a modern altar tomb may be seen. the next on each side to the west is open, and flights of steps under them lead down to the aisles; the woodwork at the back of the choir stalls close the remaining two on the inside, and on the outside chantry chapels, opening one into the north one into the south aisle, stand under the second arch on each side counting from the rood screen. the upper stalls number in all thirty-six, fifteen on either side, and six with their backs to the rood screen. there is, also, a lower range of stalls on the north and south. the prior's and sub-prior's stalls on either side the doorway in the screen looking east are canopied, as also is the precentor's at the east end of the south side. the arms of the stalls are quaintly carved with various grotesque figures, as are also the misereres; the upper parts of the panels behind the upper stalls are also carved in low relief; above these is a projecting cornice decorated with pinnacles. the stalls are late perpendicular work, the wainscoting behind the stalls being later still, as we can see from the subjects carved on the upper part of each panel. some of the misereres are, however, very old--one dates back to about , another to , others are of later date, and most of them belong to the same period as the stalls. the older ones were found lying about in the lumber of the church, and have been placed in recent years in some of the stalls the seats of which had been lost or stolen. the older seats may have belonged to the original norman choir. as the term "miserere" may not be understood by all our readers, it may be well to quote from parker's "glossary of architecture" the following description:--"miserere, misericorde, patience, or pretella, is the projecting bracket on the under-side of the seats of stalls in churches: these, where perfect, are fixed with hinges so that they may be turned up, and when this is done the projection of the miserere is sufficient, without actually forming a seat, to afford very considerable rest to any one leaning upon it. they were allowed as a relief to the infirm during the long services that were required to be performed by ecclesiastics in a standing posture. they are always more or less ornamented with carvings of leaves, small figures, animals, etc., which are generally very boldly cut. examples are to be found in almost all ancient churches which retain any of the ancient stalls--one of the oldest remaining specimens is in henry vii.'s chapel at westminster; it is in the style of the thirteenth century." when parker wrote the last sentence the still older miserere now to be seen at christchurch had not been discovered. [ ] she lived in the latter half of the thirteenth century. [illustration: choir stalls.] [illustration: miserere on stall seat. (_circa_ .) north side.] it is curious to notice the absence of reverence on the part of the mediæval canons, according to our modern notions, that these quaint carvings indicate. one might have expected that inside the church the subjects would have always been of a sacred nature, rude perhaps, and grotesque from their rudeness. such carvings are found in many places, but here at christchurch we have satirical subjects, caricatures of contemporaries, some indeed of so objectionable a character that they have been removed of late years. a few examples of these carvings will be given. on the arm of one of the stalls a fox is represented preaching to a flock of geese, a cock acting as clerk. on one of the misereres we have a pair of devils somewhat resembling monkeys tempting an angel, a goose bringing an offering on a plate to a quaint figure, a man with a hatchet employed in carving, a man with a hole in the back of his garments fastened with a pin, besides various animals, fishes, mermaids, and monsters. on the wainscoting we have the heads of henry vii., henry viii., catharine of aragon, anne boleyn, cardinal campeggio, the king of scots, and the duchess of burgundy, who assisted perkin warbeck in his attempt to gain the crown of england, and two canons disputing over a cup, which is placed between their faces. this last carving probably has some reference to the granting of the cup to the laity in time of henry viii. [illustration: the choir.] the vaulting of the choir is of a somewhat unusual character: the pendants are especially worthy of notice. it is difficult to describe the manner in which they are placed, but the illustration shows their character and position. the short connecting ribs of the vaulting form a stellated cross over the presbytery. some colour may still be seen on the carved work of this portion of the church, and the initials of william eyre, prior - , appear on the bosses. [illustration: the reredos.] the east wall of the presbytery contains no window, but is occupied by a beautiful stone reredos carved with a representation of the tree of jesse. it is divided into three tiers with five compartments in each, the central one wider than the two on either side; the space above it and beneath the vaulting is occupied by a wall, in which a doorway now blocked up may be seen. the outer compartments of the lowest tier contain doors leading to a platform behind the reredos; between them stands an oak altar, the gift of a. n. welby pugin in . above the altar in the central compartment jesse lies asleep, on the left hand david plays upon his harp, on the right sits solomon deeply meditating. above jesse we have in one carving an amalgamated representation of the birth of christ and the visit of the wise men. on the left hand sits the virgin mary with her child, fully clothed in a long garment, not wrapped in swaddling clothes, standing in her lap; behind her stands a man, probably joseph; and before her kneels one of the wise men offering his gift of gold in the form of a plain tankard; on the right behind him stand his two fellows, one carrying a pot of myrrh, the other a boat-shaped vessel, probably intended for a censer containing frankincense. on a bracket above the head of the kneeling wise man, the shepherds kneel in adoration; nor are the flocks that they were tending forgotten, for several sheep may be seen on a hill-top above their heads. thirty-two small figures may be counted in niches in the buttresses dividing the compartments; crockets, finials, and pinnacles decorate the various canopies over the carvings. this reredos is apparently of late decorated date, and therefore earlier than the fifteenth-century choir. possibly it was an addition to the norman choir before this was removed to make room for the existing one. mr ferrey was of opinion that it may have once stood across the nave between the second piers from the east, thus forming a reredos for the western part of the nave, which was used as the church of the parish. below the presbytery is a norman crypt, now converted into a vault for the malmesbury family. it has already been mentioned that there are doors on either side of the altar, leading to a kind of gallery or platform behind the reredos; these were designed to allow certain ceremonial compassings of the altar, and it is possible that steps led down from the platform to the ambulatory. on the east side of these doorways there are corbel heads under the arches, and the walls of the platform are panelled. within the altar rails is a slab bearing the name of baldwin iv., the seventh earl of devon. on the south side is the monument of lady fitzharris, who died in ; it is a statue by flaxman representing the lady teaching her two sons from the bible. farther to the east is the altar tomb of the countess of malmesbury, who died in , occupying the place of the sedilia; and on the north the exquisite chantry of margaret, countess of salisbury, the last bearer of the royal name of plantagenet, whose tragic fate and horrible execution is one of the foulest stains on the memory of henry viii. she was the daughter of "false, fleeting, perjured clarence" and of the kingmaker's eldest daughter isabella, and was mother of the celebrated reginald pole who, being ordained deacon at the age of sixteen, was appointed dean of wimborne a year later, and rose in time to the high rank of cardinal-archbishop of canterbury, and played an important part in history in the reigns of henry viii. and mary. she erected this lovely chantry as her last resting-place, wishing to lie after her troublous life in this quiet spot, but it was not so to be. her son, by the publication on the continent of a violent attack on henry viii., incensed the king to such an extent that he laid his hands on all the kindred of the poles he could find in england; some were tried and executed, others attainted without trial, among them the countess of salisbury, who was at the time over seventy years of age. she refused to lay her head upon the block, and the headsman hacked at her neck as she stood erect; her body was not allowed to be buried in the chantry which she had erected for herself,--so far did the spite of henry go,--but she lies among the ambitious and unfortunate, the aspiring, and unsuccessful of many a sect and party in the cemetery of st peter's chapel in the tower. hers was an ill-starred race. her grandfather was slain at barnet, ; her father murdered by his brother edward iv., ; her own brother, the earl of warwick, imprisoned by henry vii., and subsequently beheaded on tower hill, ; her eldest son, lord montagu, was executed for high treason; and margaret herself met a like fate on may , . [illustration: the salisbury chantry.] [illustration: interior of the salisbury chantry.] her chantry is built of caen stone, and the decoration is of renaissance character. it is conjectured to be the work of the florentine sculptor pietro torrigiano, who died in the prison of the inquisition in spain in . he was engaged on henry vii.'s tomb in westminster, and other works ordered by henry viii. at westminster and windsor, from till ; and if this chantry at christchurch is his design the date must lie between these two years. two four-light windows with battlemented transoms look out on either side; to the west of these two doorways lead, one to the presbytery the other to the north aisle; on the east wall are three canopied niches, beneath which an altar stood or was intended to stand; the ceiling is richly carved with fan traceries and bosses; the latter have been mutilated--by order, it is said, of henry viii. a letter from the king's commissioner thus describes the work done:--"in thys churche we founde a chaple and a monumet curiosly made of cane stone p^rpared by the late mother of raynolde pole for herre buriall, which we have causyd to be defaced and all the armis and badgis to be delete." on the north side are twelve tabernacles. this chapel stands on a richly carved panelled basement, and all the walls are covered with minute carving; but here, as elsewhere, in late work we find the same forms repeated again and again, and we miss that wealth of fancy which gives each boss or capital carved by the earlier workers such a life and individuality. the side of this chapel that faces the north aisle is more elaborate than that facing the choir, and is necessarily more lofty, as its base rests on the floor of the aisle, which is lower than the floor of the presbytery. on the west face is one of several memorial tablets to members of the rose family, who are buried in this aisle. in the north choir aisle, at the western end, may be seen a kind of small museum of fragments from various parts of the church, collected at the time of the restoration, among them some bosses from the vaulting of the south transept, destroyed about a hundred years ago, and fragments of a norman font. the vaulting of this and the corresponding aisle on the south side is of the same character as that of the choir, but is somewhat plainer, and is not decorated with crosses or pendants. on the south side of this aisle is a late perpendicular chantry, built in accordance with the will of sir william berkeley, dated , to commemorate himself and his wife. part of the inscription ... armigeri margarete que consor ... can still be read on the frieze; on its flat ceiling are painted two large roses, one white, one red; it contains two brackets for cruets; over the entrance to it is placed an oval memorial tablet to one john cook, who died in . eastward of this is the salisbury chapel already described. on the north wall of the aisle is a monument, consisting of an altar-tomb with a front of carved quatrefoils and a purbeck slab, dating about . the canopy over it is later, and the coat of arms beneath it is that of robert white of hadlow, kent, who is commemorated on a board at the west end of the church as a benefactor who left £ in land for the poor in , thus fixing the date of this portion of the tomb. the scroll beneath the arms has the initials r. w., and the motto "suffer in tym." a chantry is formed at the eastern end of the aisle by the western end of the north wall of the lady chapel. it contains an altar tomb with the recumbent figures of sir john chidioke, a dorset knight, slain in in the wars of the roses, and his wife. this monument has occupied its present position only from ,--it previously stood in the north transept. [illustration: the draper chantry.] the east end of the south choir aisle is occupied by the chantry chapel of john draper ii., the last of the priors and titular bishop of neapolis in palestine, near the ancient shechem in samaria; it is dated , and is formed by a screen of caen stone stretching across the aisle. there is a central doorway with a depressed arch at the top, and canopied niches over it, and on either side are two transomed four-light unglazed windows under arches of the same character as that over the doorway; along the top of the screen runs a battlemented parapet. within the chantry, on the south wall, is a very beautiful piscina, the finest in the church. just outside the screen is a square-headed doorway. along the south wall of this aisle, as along the north wall of the corresponding north aisle, a stone bench-table runs. on the north side the panelled wall on which the countess of malmesbury's altar tomb stands is decorated with carvings of angels; the largest of these holds a shield with a death's-head. farther to the west, beyond the steps leading down from the choir, is a perpendicular chantry, known as the harys chantry; it has open tracery above cusped panels, canopied niches, and a panelled bench table. robert harys was rector of shrowston, and died in ; his rebus, a hare under the letter r, may be seen on the panels. on the opposite side of the aisle is the doorway leading into what is known as the #sacristy#. this is a thirteenth-century addition to the church, and is of irregular shape, as it is wedged in, as it were, between the apsidal chapel on the east side of the transept and the south wall of the choir aisle. in the south wall are triple sedilia with purbeck shafts and foliated heads; in the north wall is a square opening or squint. [illustration: piscina in the draper chantry.] [illustration: the sacristy.] behind the reredos is an ambulatory or processional path; from this may be seen, over the archway leading into the south aisle, the end of the "miraculous beam," lengthened, according to the legend, by christ, when he appeared as a workman and took part in the building of the original church. how this came to be preserved, and how it came to occupy a position amidst the latest work in the church, is not recorded. the lady chapel is very beautiful perpendicular work; it had its own altar and reredos under the east window. the reredos is much mutilated, but besides the part that is still attached to the wall, there are many loose fragments now set up on the altar. this is a slab of purbeck stone, ft. in length and ft. ins in breadth. on the north and south sides of the altar are the tombs of thomas, lord west, and lady alice west, his mother. these tombs are of purbeck marble and of a form by no means uncommon in the churches of wessex. the ten shafts supporting the canopy of the tomb on the north still remain; from the other tomb such shafts as it had have disappeared. thomas, lord west, died in , his mother in : these dates fix within reasonable limits the date of the building of the lady chapel. thomas west, in his will, directs that his body should be buried in the "_new_ chapel of our lady in the mynster of christchurch." it is noteworthy to remark that the original arcading is cut away to make room for this monument, so that the chapel had been finished before he died. both sir thomas west and his mother were benefactors to the church. besides other bequests of money towards the building fund and for perpetual masses, each of them gave about £ for the singing of masses within six months of the day of their deaths. on the south side of the chapel is the original doorway leading into the canons' burial-ground; a corresponding door is to be seen on the north side. the splays of the arches of the windows are elaborately ornamented with panelling. the arcading under the window, a series of ogee arches, is worthy of notice. the tattered colours of the "loyal christchurch volunteers," one of the earliest regiments of volunteers, which was enrolled in , hang at the entrance to the lady chapel. the vaulting is of the same character as that of the choir, with curious pendants in the form of church lanterns. [illustration: the miraculous beam.] [illustration: the tomb of thomas, lord west.] [illustration: the lady chapel.] [illustration: st michael's loft.] #st michael's loft# is reached by long flights of steps running up the turrets described in the last chapter. it is a plain, low room with a low-pitched tie-beam roof of oak. it was once a chapel, as the piscina in the east wall clearly shows. the site of the altar is now occupied by a disused desk of the character familiar to us in our own school days some half-a-century ago; it is a sort of pew with doors, within which the master sat enthroned and ramparted. this room was used as a public grammar school from till , and subsequently as a private school, which was finally closed in . the boys went to this school and returned from it by the staircase on the north side which has an entrance from the churchyard; the stairs on the south side were used when anyone had occasion to go into the church or to go from it to the room above. an upper chamber or chapel is an uncommon feature in england. remains of staircases give rise to the conjecture that there was a similar chapel over the lady chapel at chester, and somewhat similar erections are to be met with on the continent; but christchurch priory is unique in possessing such a perfect specimen. the dedication of the upper storey to st michael, the conductor of souls to paradise, is appropriate. churches built in elevated positions were frequently dedicated to him, and few if any mediæval churches dedicated to this archangel are to be met with on low-lying ground. under the western tower stands a modern font. the fragments of a norman font, with carvings representing various incidents in the life of christ, may be seen, preserved in the north choir aisle. the fifteenth-century successor has been removed to bransgore church, four miles off. against the north wall of the tower stands the monument of the poet shelley, the work of the sculptor weekes. needless to say, it is but a cenotaph. the "heart of hearts," "cor cordium," and the ashes of the poet cremated on the tuscan shore, lie far away, hard by the pyramid of caius cestius, in the grave where the loving hands of trelawney laid them in . here we have an ideal representation of the finding of the drowned body--not a pleasing one, but less ghastly than the reality; and below the inscription which tells his name and the number of his years and the manner of his death, the following stanza from his own "adonais" may be read:-- "he hath out-soared the shadow of our night: envy and calumny and hate and pain, and that unrest which men miscall delight, can touch him not and torture not again; from the contagion of the world's slow stain he is secure, and now can never mourn a heart grown cold, a head grown grey in vain, nor, when the spirit's self has ceased to burn with sparkless ashes load an unlamented urn." the choice of christchurch priory as the site for this monument was due to the fact that the poet's son, sir percy florence shelley, who erected it, lived at boscombe manor, between christchurch and bournemouth. the tower contains a peal of eight bells. these are all old; the fifth and sixth bells have fourteenth-century inscriptions round their crowns, the others appear to have been cast early in the fifteenth century. [illustration: the shelley monument.] chapter iv deans of the secular college . ralf flambard, afterwards bishop of durham. . godric. . gilbert de dousgunels. . peter de oglander. . randulphus. . hilary, afterwards bishop of chichester. priors of the augustinian college . reginald, . . ralph. . peter, . he built the clerestory and carried out other early english work. . roger, . . richard. . nicholas de wareham. . nicholas de sturminster. . john de abingdon, . . william de netheravon, . . richard maury, . . william quenton, . . walter tholveshide, . . edmund de ramsbury, . during his time bishop stratford's injunctions were issued, . see page . . richard de queteshorne, . . robert de leyghe, . . william tyrewache, . . henry eyre, . he became blind in and was allowed a coadjutor. . john wodenham, . . john borard, . during his time archbishop arundel issued injunctions, . see page . . thomas talbot, . . john wimborne, . . william norton. . john dorchester. . john draper i., . bishop langton's injunctions were issued during his tenure of the priory. . william eyre, . during his time the choir was completed. . john draper ii. he surrendered the priory to henry viii.'s commissioners, , and was allowed to retain somerford grange for life, and received a pension of £ , s. d. he died in , and was buried in the nave near the entrance to the choir. vicars of christchurch by the council of arles , religious orders that held parish churches were bound to supply vicars to officiate. these were appointed by the canons, and were taken from their own body. the names of many of these are known. the th was robert harys, whose chantry stands in the south choir aisle; he died in . in the time of the th, william trapnell, the church was granted by henry viii. to the parishioners, nd year of henry viii. in the time of the th, robert newman, an inventory of the property was made by order of edward vi.'s commissioner. john imber, the st vicar, was expelled by the parliament from - , but was restored to his preferment in the same year as charles ii. gained the throne. the present vicar is the nd. stratford's injunctions, . every canon save the seneschal and cellarer must attend matins, high mass, and the hours. the seneschal, if present in the priory for two nights together, must attend one matins, and the cellarer must be present at service on alternate nights at least. . six canons must be enrolled for celebrating our lady's mass; the prior must celebrate on all great feasts at high mass, and on saturdays at our lady's mass, and must wear a surplice not a rochet. . canons in priests' orders must celebrate daily, those who are not must repeat eleven psalms with a litany or psalter of our lady every day. . four confessors must be appointed to hear the confessions of the canons. . latin or french must be the languages spoken. . no one save the prior or officers, without special leave, must ride or leave the priory. . two-thirds of the canons must dine daily in the refectory; the door must be kept by a secular watchman whose duty it is to remove servants and idle people from the door during dinner; the almoner must prevent any canon carrying his commons to the laundry-people or people of the town. . all the canons must sleep in the dormitory, each in his own bed. . the infirmary must be visited daily by the prior or sub-prior. . two canons must act as treasurers, and a yearly account must be presented. . the common seal must be kept under four locks, and documents sealed in full chapter, not as heretofore during mass. . canons must not play at chess or draughts, nor keep hounds or arms (save in the custody of the prior), nor have a servant (save when on a journey), nor write nor receive letters without leave. the prior may keep hounds outside the priory buildings. archbishop arundel's injunctions, no. . ordered the destruction of an old hall and an adjoining chamber known as the sub-prior's hall after the departure of sir thomas west its then occupier, as noblemen were in the habit of occupying it to the great disturbance of the order and the keeping open of gates which ought to be closed. no. . enjoined the building of a house for the proecentor, and a new chamber for the sick. no. . ordered the setting apart of a chamber for recreation apart from the infirmary (it may be supposed that the canons during recreation hours were noisy, thereby disturbing the sick). no. . directed the provision of separate studies for the canons. it would appear that nobles, such as the montacutes and wests, put the priory to such great expense by taking up their abode, together with their retainers, in the domestic part of the buildings. the norman castle very little of the castle erected by richard de redvers, who died in , remains; but on an artificial mound at no great distance to the north of the priory church stand fragments of the east and west walls of the square norman keep, about feet high and feet thick. the castle belonged to the de redvers, earls of devon, till they were alienated to the crown in the th year of edward i. ( ), the last earl having died in , though the last female descendant lived till . in , edward iii. granted the castle and land to william de montacute, earl of salisbury; after the execution of john de montacute in for the part he took in the plots against the new king, henry iv., sir thomas west, who lies buried in the lady chapel, was appointed constable. he died in , then thomas, earl of salisbury, held the castle till . after this it was held by various persons, and we find a constable of the lordship of christchurch as late as . the manor held by the de redvers, and then by the montacutes, passed through various hands. among the holders we may notice the nevilles, hence the connection with the priory of the ill-fated margaret, the kingmaker's granddaughter, who was countess of salisbury in her own right, the earl of clarendon, sir george rose, and the present owner, the earl of malmesbury, who obtained it in . in early days the bailiff of the de redvers regulated all markets, fairs, tolls, and fines, and had the right of preemption and sat as judge in the tenants' court. edward i. relieved the burgesses of christchurch from all arbitrary exactions, and established a fixed fee-farm rent instead. the castle was taken for the parliament by sir william waller with men on april , . a little to the north-east of the castle stand the remains of one of the few norman houses that have come down to the present time. it is thus described in the first volume of "the domestic architecture of the middle ages" by turner and parker, pp. , . this volume was published in . "at christchurch, in hampshire, is the ruin of a norman house, rather late in the style, with good windows of two lights and a round chimney shaft.[ ] the plan, as before, is a simple oblong; the principal room appears to have been on the first floor. it is situated on the bank of the river near to the church, and still more close to the mound, which is said to have been the keep of the castle; being between that and the river, it could not well have been placed in a situation of greater security. whether it formed part of another series of buildings or not, it was a perfect house in itself, and its character is strictly domestic. it is about seventy feet long, and twenty-four broad, its walls, like those of the keep, being exceedingly thick. on the ground floor are a number of loop-holes: the ascent to the upper storey was by a stone staircase, part of which remains; the ground floor was divided by a wall, but the upper storey seems to have been a long room, lighted by three double windows on each side; near the centre of the east wall, next the river, is a large fireplace, to which the round chimney before mentioned belongs. at the north end, there appears to have been a large and handsome window of which part of the arch and shafts remain, and there is a small circular window in the south gable. from what remains of the ornamental part of this building, it appears to have been elegantly finished and cased with squared stones, most of which are, however, now taken away. there is a small projecting tower, calculated for a flank, under which the water runs; it has loopholes both on the north and east fronts, these walls are extremely thick. by the ruins of several walls, there were some ancient buildings at right angles to this hall, stretching away towards the keep. this was probably part of the residence of baldwin de redvers, earl of devon, to whom the manor of christchurch belonged about the middle of the twelfth century."[ ] [ ] since rebuilt. [ ] grove's "antiquities," vol. ii. p. . [illustration: remains of the norman house.] this building is much overgrown with ivy, which by a comparison of the illustration given in the work just quoted with its present condition, as represented in the photograph here reproduced, has increased considerably during the last fifty years. it is due to the memory of the rev. william jackson, who was vicar of christchurch from to , that it should be recorded that he saved this valuable relic of norman domestic architecture from destruction. he was evidently imbued with a spirit of love for antiquity by no means common a hundred years ago, and far too rare even at the present day. dimensions of christchurch priory extreme length feet. length of nave " inches. width of nave " " height of nave " length of transept " " width of transept " " length of choir " width of choir with aisles " " height of choir " length of side of tower, e. to w. " " " " " n. to s. " " height of tower " length of lady chapel " " width of lady chapel " " length of st michael's loft " " width of st michael's loft " " area , sq. feet. plans [illustration: plan of wimborne minster] [illustration: plan of christchurch priory] * * * * * transcriber's note: page : "commemerated" corrected to "commemorated." * * * * * +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation and archaic spelling in the | | original document has been preserved. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * [illustration: coventry, the three spires.] the churches of coventry a short history of the city & its medieval remains by frederic w. woodhouse with xl illustrations [illustration: arms of coventry] london george bell & sons chiswick press: charles whittingham and co. took court, chancery lane, london. preface the principal authorities for the history of coventry and its churches have been dugdale's "antiquities of warwickshire" and the "illustrated papers and the history and antiquities of the city of coventry," by thomas sharp, edited by w.g. fretton ( ). besides these the many papers by mr. fretton in the transactions of the birmingham and midland institute and other societies, and the "history and antiquities of coventry" by benjamin poole ( ) have been the main sources of historical information. the author is, however, responsible for the architectural opinions and descriptions, which are mainly the outcome of a lifelong acquaintance with the city and its buildings, fortified by several weeks of study and investigation recently undertaken. he desires to acknowledge his deep obligations to the vicars of the several churches for leave to examine, measure and photograph the buildings in their charge; to mr. j. oldrid scott for the loan of drawings of st. michael's; to mr. a. brown, librarian of the coventry public library for advice and help in making use of the store of topographical material under his care; to mr. owen, verger of st. michael's and mr. chapman, verger of holy trinity, for help in various directions, and to mr. wilfred sims for his energy and care in taking most of the photographs required for illustration. the other illustrations are reproduced from drawings made by the author. contents monastery and city the ruins of the priory and cathedral church st. michael's church: chapter i. history of the church ii. the exterior iii. the interior holy trinity church: chapter i. history of the church ii. the exterior iii. the interior st. john baptist's church the grey friars' convent (christ church) the white friars st. mary hall the carthusian monastery list of illustrations coventry, the three spires _frontispiece_ arms of the town _title-page_ view from the top of bishop street cook street gate seal of the priory west end of the priory church remains of the north-west tower in the eighteenth century st. michael's from the north st. michael's from the north-west interior of the tower from below the west porch south porch from st. mary hall south-west doorway interior of st. michael's from the west tower arch bay of nave, north side interior from the south door the choir from st. lawrence's chapel poppy head, lady chapel miserere, lady chapel chest in north aisle the nethermyl tomb the swillington tomb alms-box holy trinity from the north (about ) plan of trinity church interior of holy trinity, from the west north side of nave--eastern bays pulpit archway between the north porch and st. thomas's chapel alms-box church of st. john baptist plan interior clearstory windows the spire of christ church grey friars' church (plan of crossing) st. mary hall plan plan of st. michael's church _at end_ [illustration: view from the top of bishop street.] churches of coventry monastery and city the opening words of sir william dugdale's account of coventry assert that it is a city "remarkable for antiquity, charters, rights and privileges, and favours shown by monarchs." though this handbook is primarily concerned with a feature of the city he does not here mention--its magnificent buildings--the history of these is bound up with that of the city. the connection of its great parish churches with the everyday life of the people, though commonly on a narrower stage, is more intimate than is that of a cathedral or an abbey church, but it is to be remembered that without its monastery coventry might never have been more than a village or small market town. we cannot expect the records of a parish church to be as full and complete as those of a cathedral, always in touch through its bishops with the political life of the country and enjoying the services of numerous officials; or as those of a monastery, with its leisured chroniclers ever patiently recording the annals of their house, the doings of its abbots, the dealings of their house with mother church and the outside world, and all its internal life and affairs. in the case of coventry, the unusual fulness of its city archives, the accounts and records of its guilds and companies, and the close connection of these with the church supplies us with a larger body of information than is often at the disposal of the historian of a parish church. as therefore, in narrating the story of a cathedral some account of the diocese and its bishops has been given, so, before describing the churches of coventry, we shall give in outline the history of the city which for years gave its name to a bishop and of the great monastery whose church was for years his seat. though dugdale says that it is remarkable for antiquity, coventry as a city has no early history comparable with that of such places as york, canterbury, exeter, or colchester, while its modern history is mainly a record of fluctuating trade and the rise and decline of new industries. but through all its mediæval period, from the eleventh century down to the reformation, with an expiring flicker of energy in the seventeenth, there is no lack of life and colour, and its story touches every side of the national life, political, religious, and domestic. the only evidence of extreme antiquity produced by dugdale is the suffix of its name, for "_tre_ is british, and signifieth the same that _villa_ in latin doth;" while the first part may be derived from the convent or from a supposed ancient name, cune, for the sherborne brook. the first date we have is , when canute invaded mercia, burning and laying waste its towns and settlements, including a house of nuns at coventry founded by the virgin st. osburg in , and ruled over by her.[ ] but there is no sure starting-point until the foundation of the monastery by earl leofric and the countess godiva, the church being dedicated by edsi, archbishop of canterbury, in honour of god, the virgin mary, st. peter, st. osburg, and all saints on th october, . leofwin, who was first abbot with twenty-four monks under his rule, ten years after became bishop of lichfield. the original endowment by leofric, consisted of a half of coventry[ ] with fifteen lordships in warwickshire and nine in other counties, making it (says roger de hoveden) the wealthiest monastery of the period. besides this the pious godiva gave all the gold and silver which she had to make crosses, images, and other adornments for the church and its services. the well-known legend of her ride through coventry first appears in the pages of matthew of westminster in the early fourteenth century. the charter of exemption from tolls is not in existence, and the story of peeping tom is the embroidery of the prurient age ( ), in which the pageant was instituted. in a window of trinity church figures of leofric and godiva were set up about the time of richard ii, the earl holding in his right hand a charter with these words written thereon: i luriche for the love of thee doe make coventre toll-free. abbot leofwin was succeeded in by leofric, nephew of the great earl; and he by a second leofwin, who died in . the first norman bishop of lichfield had, in compliance with the decision of a synod ( ) in london fixing bishops' seats in large towns, removed his to st. john's, chester. but his successor, robert de lymesey--whose greed appears to have been notable in a greedy age--having the king's permission to farm the monastic revenues until the appointment of a new abbot, held it for seven years, and then, in , removed his stool to coventry. five of his successors were bishops of coventry only, then the style changed to coventry and lichfield, and so remained till , when (in consequence of the disloyalty of coventry and the sufferings of lichfield in the royal cause) the order was reversed! in the archdeaconry of coventry was annexed to worcester and its name disappeared from the title, and now it is probable that coventry will soon again give her name to a see without dividing the honour. for the joint episcopal history the reader must be referred to the handbook in this series on lichfield cathedral. in this place will only be given that of the monastery as such, and specially in connection with its "appropriated" parish churches and the city in which it stood. that history is not essentially different from that of other monasteries. though its connection with the see and the rival claims and antagonisms of the respective chapters produced a plentiful crop of serious quarrels, its relations with the townsfolk were free from such violent episodes as occurred at bury st. edmunds or st. albans. the chapter of lichfield consisted of secular priests (lymesey and his next successor were married men), while the monastery, though freed by pope and king from any episcopal or justiciary power and with the right of electing its own abbot, was, like all monastic bodies, always jealous of the encroachments of bishops, and regarded secular priests as inferior in every respect. the opinion of the laity who saw both sides may be gathered from chaucer's picture of a "poore persoun of a toun." he knew well enough how the revenue, which should have gone to the parish, its parson and its poor, went to fill the coffers of rich abbeys, to build enormous churches and furnish them sumptuously, to provide retinues of lazy knights for the train of abbot or bishop, and to prosecute lawsuits in the papal courts. but when bishop and abbot were one and the same, the monks still claimed the right of election, and so for generations the history of the diocese is a tale of strife and bickering, and how it was that pope, king or archbishop did not perceive that it was a case of hopeless incompatibility of temper, or, perceiving it, did not dissolve the union or get it dissolved is difficult to see. probably the injury done to religion weighed but lightly against vested interests and the power of the purse. the monastery was, however, as dugdale says, "the chief occasion of all the succeeding wealth and honour that accrued to coventry"; for though the original nunnery may have been planted in an existing settlement, or have attracted one about it, the greater wealth of the abbey, its right to hold markets, and all its own varied requirements would quickly increase and bring prosperity to such a township, as it did at bury st. edmunds, burton-on-trent and many another. in the thirteenth century the priory was in financial straits, through being fined by henry iii for disobedience. later, however, he granted further privileges to the monks, among them that of embodying the merchants in a gild. in edward iii granted this privilege to the city. from an early period the manufacture of cloth and caps and bonnets was the principal trade of coventry, and though leland says, "the town rose by making of cloth and caps, which now decaying, the glory of the city also decayeth," it was only destroyed by the french wars of the seventeenth century. but in , when only eighteen towns in the kingdom had more than , inhabitants, and york, the second city, had only , , coventry was fourth with , . just one hundred years later , died here of the plague, one of many visitations of that terrible scourge. at the suppression it had risen to , , and soon after fell to , , through loss of trade for "want of such concourse of people that numerously resorted thither before that fatal dissolution." but if the town grew apace so did the monastery. thus, when in earl hugh died childless his sisters divided his estates and coventry fell to cecily, wife of roger de montalt. six years later the monastery lent him a large sum to take him to the holy land, and received from him the lordship of coventry (excepting the manor house and park of cheylesmore) and the advowson of st. michael's and its dependent chapels, thus becoming the landlords of nearly the whole of coventry. [illustration: cook street gate.] civic powers grew with the growth of trade. before a fair of eight days had been granted to the priory, and later another of six days, to be held in the earl's half of the town about the feast of holy trinity. in a patent from the king is addressed to the burgesses and true men to levy tolls for paving the town; one in for tolls for inclosing the city with walls and gates, while in the city was given a corporation, with mayor, bailiffs, a common seal, and a prison. as the municipal importance and the dignity of the city increased, the desire for their visible signs strengthened, and so, in , work was begun on the walls, newgate (on the london road) being the first gate to be built. such undertakings proceeded slowly, and nine years later the royal permission was obtained to levy a tax for their construction, "the lands and goods of all ecclesiastical persons excepted." twice afterwards we hear of licence being granted by richard ii to dig stone in cheylesmore park, first for grey friars gate, and later for spon gate, "near his chapel of babelake." the walls so built were of imposing extent and dimensions, being three yards in breadth, two and a quarter miles in circumference, and having thirty-two towers and twelve gates.[ ] nehemiah wharton, a parliamentary officer in , reports of the city that it is: environed with a wall co-equal, if not exceedinge, that of london, for breadth and height; and with gates and battlements, magnificent churches and stately streets and abundant fountains of water; altogether a place very sweetly situate and where there is no stint of venison. to return to the monastic history. we have seen how, in the mid-thirteenth century the monastery had become the landlord of the city; shortly before this it had been so impoverished with ceaseless quarrels with the king and the lichfield chapter, involving costly appeals to rome, that the prior was reduced to asking the hospitality of the monks of derley for some of the brethren. a period of prosperity followed and many benefactions flowed in, including the gift of various churches by the king. it was after twenty-six years of quarrelling that the pope, in , had appointed to the bishopric walter de stavenby, an able and learned man. during his episcopacy the friars made their appearance in england, and by him the franciscans were introduced at lichfield, while at coventry ranulph, earl of chester, gave them land in cheylesmore on which to build their oratory and house. they were not generally welcomed by the monks. a benedictine laments their first appearance thus "oh shame! oh worse than shame! oh barbarous pestilence! the minor brethren are come into england!" and at bury they were obliged to build outside a mile radius from the abbey. the parish priests also soon found out that they were undersold in the exercise of their spiritual offices and although no doubt many badly needed awakening they were not, on that account, the more likely to welcome the intruders. another innovation, affecting the fortunes of the parish priest, had its beginning under the rule of bishop stavenby though its greatest development occurred in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. this was the foundation of chantries designed primarily for the maintenance of a priest or priests to say mass daily or otherwise for the soul's health of the founder, his family and forbears. the earliest we hear of are one at lincoln, and one at hatherton in coventry archdeaconry while the bishop himself endowed one in lichfield cathedral. many were perpetual endowments (£ per annum being the average stipend), others were temporary, according to the means of those who paid for the masses--for a term of years or for a fixed number of masses. although chantry priests were often required to give regular help in the church services or taught such scholars as came to them or served outlying chapelries, the system permitted a great number to live on occasional engagements and was doubtless productive of abuses. chaucer tells us that his poor parson was not such an one as ... left his sheep encumbered in the mire, and ran unto london, unto saint poul's, to seekë him a chantery for souls. the number of chantries in the different cathedrals varied very greatly, lichfield had eighty-seven, st. paul's thirty-seven, york only three. monks' churches had few or none while in town churches they were numerous, london having one hundred and eighty, york forty-two, coventry at least fifteen besides the twelve gild priests of the chapel of babelake. most were founded in connection with an existing altar, some had a special altar, at winchester, tewkesbury and elsewhere they were enclosed in screens between the pillars of the nave, or a special chapel was added to the church. it was in the thirteenth century also ( ) that the monastery obtained the grant of a merchants' gild; with all the privileges thereto belonging, the earliest of those which contributed so much to the renown of coventry. these were benefit societies, insuring help to the "brethren and sistren" in old age, sickness or poverty, securing to them the services of the church after death and in all cases established on a strictly religious basis and placed under the protection of a saint, or of the holy trinity. the regulation and protection of trade interests, generally aiming at monopoly and the exclusion of outsiders, were later developments. but without doubt they were public-spirited bodies according to their lights, maintaining schools (as at stratford-on-avon) hospitals and almshouses, and giving freely on all occasions of public importance. by pageants too, they contributed to the happiness and amusement of the people as well as by the presentation of mysteries and moralities, to their instruction and edification. but in the eyes of the reformers, or of grasping courtiers, all this went for nothing when weighed against the heinous offence of supporting chaplains to pray for deceased members and so ( edward vi) they were suppressed along with the chantries, and their property confiscated, "the very meanest and most inexcusable of the plunderings which threw discredit on the reformation." here, the city bought back everything which had belonged to the trinity and corpus christi gilds, with various almshouses and the possessions of the majority of the chantries; while previously at the dissolution it had bought the abbey-orchard, and mill, and the house and church of the grey friars. in edward iii granted licence to the coventry men to form a merchants' gild with leave "to make chantries, bestow alms, do other works of piety and constitute ordinances touching the same." this was st. mary's gild. two years later that of st. john baptist was formed and a year later that of st. katherine, the three being united into the trinity gild before . of the chapel (now st. john's church) begun in by the st. john's gild and the "fair and stately structure for their feasts and meetings called st mary hall" built in by the united gilds more will be said later (p. and p. ). the end of the fourteenth century and the fifteenth brought to coventry a full share in the events and movements of the time. in the duel between hereford and norfolk was to have taken place on gosford green (adjoining the city) and richard ii made the fatal mistake of banishing both combatants. at the priory in henry iv held his parliament known, from the fact that no lawyers were summoned to it, as the "parliamentum indoctorum." setting itself in opposition to ecclesiastics, it proposed to supply the king's needs by taxing church-property. as in the matter of the city walls, the church contrived to avoid bearing its share of the public burdens and the chronicler ends thus: "much ado there was; but to conclude, the worthy archbishop (viz. tho. arundell) standing stoutly for the good of the church, preserved it at that time from the storm impending." one branch of his argument is noteworthy, that as the confiscation of the alien priories had not enriched the king by half a mark (courtiers having extorted or begged them out of his hands), so it would be were he to confiscate the temporalities of the monasteries. henry viii had reason to acknowledge the fulfilment of the prophecy. soon after this, in , coventry showed its sympathy for lollardry when john grace an anchorite friar came out of his cell and preached for five days in the "lyttell parke." he was opposed by the prior of st. mary's and by a grey friar who however were attacked and nearly killed by the mob. the royal visits which earned for coventry the title which it still bears as its motto 'camera principis' were frequent in this century. in we hear of henry vi being there, and in he was the guest of the monastery and after hearing mass at st. michael's church presented to it for an altar-hanging the robe of gold tissue he was wearing. the record in the corporation leet book is interesting enough to quote: the king, then abydeng stille in the seide priory, upon mich'as even sent the clerke of his closet to the churche of sent michel to make redy ther hys clossette, seying that the kynge on mich'as day wolde go on p'cession and also her ther hygh masse. the meyre and his counsell, remembreng him in this mater, specially avysed hem to pray the byshoppe of wynchester to say hygh masse afore the kynge. the byshoppe so to do agreed withe alle hys herte; and, agayne the kynges comeng to sent michel churche, the meyre and his peres, cladde in skarlet gowns, wenton unto the kynges chambar durre, ther abydeng the kynges comeng. the meyre then and his peres, doeng to the kyng due obeysaunse ... toke his mase and bere it afore the kynge all his said bredurn goeng afore the meyre til he com to sent michels and brought the kynge to his closette. then the seyde byshoppe, in his pontificals arayde, with all the prestes and clerkes of the seyde churche and of bablake, withe copes apareld, wenton in p'cession abowte the churchyarde; the kynge devowtely, with many odur lordes, followed the seyd p'cession bare-hedded, cladde in a gowne of gold tissu, furred with a furre of marturn sabull; the meyre bereng the mase afore the kynge as he didde afore, tille he com agayne to his closette. att the whyche masse when the kyng had offered and his lordes also, he sende the lorde bemond, his chamburlen, to the meyre, seying to him, "hit is the kynges wille that ye and your bredurn com and offer;" and so they didde; and when masse was don, the meyre and his peres brought on the kynge to his chambur in lyke wyse as they fet hym, save only that the meyre with his mase went afore the kynge till he com withe in his chambur, his seyd bredurn abydeng atte the chambur durre till the meyre cam ageyne. and at evensong tyme the same day, the kyng, ... sende the seyde gowne and furre that he were when he went in p'cession, and gaf hit frely to god and to sent michell, insomuch that non of the that broughte the gowne wolde take no reward in no wyse. in he made the city with the villages and hamlets within its liberties into a county "distinct and altogether separate from the county of warwick for ever," and in the king and queen again visited the priory. perhaps out of gratitude for all this royal favour, coventry adhered to the lancastrian cause and in was chosen as the meeting place for the "parliamentum diabolicum," so called from the number of attainders passed against the yorkists. the year however saw edward iv and his queen keeping their christmas here, while less than two years later her father and brother were beheaded on gosford green (aug. ). after the king's landing at holderness in the king-maker, declining a contest, occupied the town for the lancastrians, and edward passing on to london soon after turned and defeated the earl at barnet. after tewkesbury edward paid the city another visit, and in return for its disloyalty seized its liberties and franchises, and only restored them for a fine of marks. royal visits still continued. richard iii came in to see the plays at the feast of corpus christi; in henry vii stayed at the mayor's house after his victory at bosworth field; and in kept st. george's day at the monastery, when the prior at the service cursed, by "bell, book, and candle," all who should question the king's right to the throne. the importance of the gilds is shown by the king and queen being made a brother and sister of the trinity gild; and the part that pageantry played in the lives of all men is seen in the many occasions on which kings and princes came hither to be entertained, not only with the plays "acted by the grey friars" but those in which the "hard-handed men" of, for instance, the gild of the sheremen and tailors, "toil'd their unbreathed memories" in setting forth such subjects as the birth of christ and the murder of the innocents. but although henry viii himself was received in with pageantry and stayed at the priory, royal favours and monastic hospitality availed neither men nor buildings when the dissolution came. on th january, , thomas camswell, the last prior of st. mary's, surrendered. "the prior," reported dr. london, the king's commissioner, "is a sad, honest priest as his neighbours do report him, and is a bachelor of divinity. he gave his house unto the king's grace willingly and so in like manner did all his brethren." the doctor asks for good pensions for the dispossessed, not on the plea of justice but so that "others perceiving that these men be liberally handled will with better will not only surrender their houses, but also leave the same in the better state to the king's use." the yearly revenue had been certified in the valuation at _£ s. d._ deducting a fee-ferme rent to the crown, reserved by roger de montalt, and other annual payments, the clear remainder was _£ s. d._ bishop rowland lee, writing to "my singular good lord cromwell," implies that he had a promise from him to spare the church. "my good lord," he says, "help me and the city both in this and that the church may stand, whereby i may keep my name, and the city have commodity and ease to their desire, which shall follow if by your goodness it might be brought to a collegiate church, as lichfield, and so that fair city shall have a perpetual comfort of the same, as knoweth the holy trinity, who preserve your lordship in honour to your heart's comfort." but his entreaties, and those of the mayor and corporation, were all in vain, the church and monastic buildings were dismantled and destroyed piecemeal, and like so many other magnificent structures became a mere quarry for mean buildings and the mending of roads. the site having been granted by henry viii to two gentlemen named combes and stansfield, passed soon into the hands of john hales, the founder of the free school, and in elizabeth's reign was purchased by the corporation. the changes in religious opinion of the successive sovereigns were felt here by many poor victims. seven persons were burnt in for having in their possession the lord's prayer, the ten commandments, and the creed in english, and for refusing to obey the pope or his agents, opinions and acts that would have been counted meritorious twenty years later. in queen mary burnt three protestants in the old quarry in little park--laurence saunders, a well-known preacher, robert glover, m.a., and cornelius bongey. ten years after this queen elizabeth's visit was the occasion of much pageantry and performing of plays by the tanners', drapers', smiths', and weavers' companies, and in the men of coventry gave their play of "hock tuesday" before her at kenilworth castle. in queen mary of scots was in ward here, in the mayoress' parlour, and in at the bull inn. coming down to the opening of the civil war we find that a few days before the raising of his standard at nottingham charles summoned the city to admit him with three hundred cavaliers, and received for answer that it was quite ready to receive his majesty with no more than two hundred. whereupon he retired in displeasure, and reappeared some days later with the threat to lay the city in ruins if it should persist in its disloyalty. the townsfolk being in no mind to receive a garrison, the king planted cannon against newgate and broke down the gates but was met with a fierce musquetry fire from the walls, followed up by a vigorous sally, in which the citizens did much execution and took two cannon. to prevent the like happening again, the walls were in breached in many places and made incapable of defence. just one hundred years later new-gate was taken down, and others followed from time to time, until now there are left only the remains of two of the lesser ones--cook street gate, a crumbling shell (p. ), and the adjacent swanswell or priory gate, blocked up and used as a dwelling. in was finally destroyed the famous cross which had been built, - , by sir william hollis, once lord mayor of london, who came of a coventry family. it was described by dugdale as "one of the chief things wherein this city most glories, which for workmanship and beauty is inferior to none in england." a few relics of it exist in st. mary hall, a statue of henry vi, and, in the oriel, two smaller figures. so too does the very interesting contract for its building, which shows how much was left to the craftsman's pride in his work and how little he was trammelled by conditions, save that the work was to be "finished in all points, as well in imagery work, pictures, and finials, according to the due form and proportion of the cross at abingdon." another building, which was destroyed in , was the pilgrims' rest, a fine timbered house of three storeys, "supposed," as the inscription upon it records, "to have been the hostel or inn for the maintenance and entertainment of the palmers and other visitors to the priory." some pieces of carved work were patched together in the windows of the inn built on its site and there remain. the modern history of coventry, consisting of the ordinary events and vicissitudes of civic life and the changes and fluctuations in its trades, apart from that of its parish churches which is elsewhere given, does not come within the scope of this handbook. [illustration: seal of the priory.] footnotes: [footnote : st. osburg's name is not found in the calendar. as at the dissolution the cathedral possessed relics of st. osborne, including his head in copper and gilt, these saints may be identical.] [footnote : earl street and bishop street are still principal streets in either half of the town.] [footnote : the walls of london were about three and a quarter miles long (including the river front), with ten or eleven gates; those of york three miles, of chester hardly two.] [illustration: interior of the west end of the priory church.] the ruins of the priory and cathedral church the priory buildings and grounds covered a large area to the north of the two parish churches on the gentle slope descending to the little river sherbourne, priory row forming its southern boundary. the church occupied the south-west portion of this site, extending about feet from the excavated west end to a point a little beyond the narrow lane called hill top. the excavation shows that the church stood on a sloping site, the floor level being some ten feet lower than that of trinity church. it was cruciform, with two western towers and a central one, and is believed to have had three spires similar to those of lichfield but probably earlier in point of date. on the substructure of the north-west tower now stands the house of the _mistress_ of the girls' blue coat school. the interior of the west end to a height of to feet, with the responds of the nave arcades and of the tower arches, is visible and in good condition. the beginning of the turret stair in the south-west tower is exposed, but the basement of the house unfortunately occupies the lower part of the northern one. the exterior of this is however easily accessible from an enclosure known as the wood yard, the much decayed spreading plinth and a few feet of walling above it not having been destroyed. above this, grievous damage has been perpetrated by the casing and complete obliteration of the mouldings and arcading which remained. the towers were placed outside the line of the aisles as at wells, the total width of the west front, feet, being nearly the same in both cases. there are still indications of the position of the great west door, but the height of the inner plinth shows that there was always a descent of several steps into the church. at the south transept where was "the minster durra that openeth to the trinite churchyarde," the descent must have been considerable. the remains show that the nave dated from the first half of the thirteenth century, while fragments of wall near the site of the transept with indications of lancet window openings are probably a little earlier than the west end. [illustration: remains of the n.w. tower (in the eighteenth century).] whether the church of leofric and godiva, dedicated in , had survived wholly or in part until this time cannot be known, but, judging from the history of most other great monastic churches and from the known wealth of the monastery, it may almost be taken for granted that the norman bishops and priors rebuilt much if not all. some relics of norman work have been found but the covering of the site with roads, graves and houses precludes the systematic exploration and survey which alone could solve this question and make clear the outlines of the plan of the whole establishment. the entrance to some wine-cellars in priory row gives access to the old pavement level of part of the choir and transept. from the fact that a brick vault forms the roof the cellars have often been looked upon as the crypt of the church but this is erroneous; the vault is a later insertion and if any crypt exists it lies below this level. to the east of the cathedral was the bishop's palace, the gardens of it extending over the detached burial ground of st. michael's to the east of priory street. the grandeur of this assemblage of buildings grouping, with the spires of the churches behind and rising so magnificently above the houses of the city can best be realized by going to the top of bishop street whence may be obtained the finest view of the two spires that remain (see p. ). st. michael's church [illustration: st. michael's from the north.] st. michael's church chapter i history of the church the early history of st. michael's church is very obscure. the fact that domesday mentions no parish churches proves nothing. there can be little doubt that one at least existed. though we have an earlier record of st. michael's it is commonly held that trinity is the elder foundation. of st. michael's the first notice we have is when ranulph, earl of chester, in the days of stephen, about , granted the "chapel" of st. michael to laurence, prior, and the convent of st. mary, "being satisfied by the testimony of divers persons, as well clergy as laity, that it was their right." fourteen dependent chapels in the neighbourhood or within a few miles went with it and the number of these dependencies is held to show that it was "a primitive saxon parish and of considerable importance." in ranulph blundeville, grandson of the former ranulph, gave tithe of his lands and rents in coventry and bound his officers under pain of a grievous curse to make due payment. in the early thirteenth century a dispute arose between bishop geoffrey de muschamp and the priory as to the right of presentation, the bishop claiming on the ground of being abbot as well as bishop. this was settled in by the priory renouncing its claim in consideration of receiving a share of the income but in an exchange was effected, the priory giving the advowsons of ryton and bubbenhall[ ] (not far from coventry) for st. michael and its chapels and engaging to provide proper secular priests with competent support. in the church was appropriated to the monastery together with holy trinity and its chapels and although in the arrangement of twenty-four marks (£ ) had been assigned to the vicarage, in we find the priory receiving fifty marks and paying the vicar eight and a half. since the patronage has with that of trinity, been exercised by the crown. the internal evidence of the date of the building is given in the description of the fabric. of external evidence in the shape of records or deeds we have very little. tradition says that there was once a brass tablet in the church bearing the following lines: william and adam built the tower, ann and mary built the spire; william and adam built the church, ann and mary built the choir. now we know that william and adam botoner, who were each mayor thrice between and , built the tower, spending upon it £ a year for twenty-two years, but what foundation there is for the other statements cannot now be determined. the tower was in building from to , and the choir is contemporary with it, the nave was in building from to , and the spire was begun in . as william was mayor in it can hardly have been less than one hundred years after his birth that both nave and spire were begun. it is however, likely that other members of the family (if not he, by bequest) contributed largely to the general building fund. much of the history of a parish church is concerned with its internal economy but even the records of this are not quite trivial for they enlighten us on many points wherein we are rightly curious. we are, for instance, constantly reminded, as dr. gasquet points out in "mediaeval parish life," that "religious life permeated society in the middle ages, particularly in the fifteenth century, through the minor confraternities" or gilds. thus the drapers' gild made itself responsible not only for the upkeep of the lady chapel but also for the lights always burning on the rood-loft, every master paying four pence for each "prentys" and every "jurneman" four pence. the cost of lights formed a serious item in church expenditure, needing the rent of houses and lands for their maintenance. guy de tyllbrooke, vicar in the late thirteenth century, gave all his lands and buildings on the south side of the church to maintain a light before the high altar, day and night, for ever, "and all persons who shall convert this gift to any other use directly or indirectly shall incur the malediction of almighty god, the blessed virgin, st. michael and all saints." royal visits to the church have been noticed in the history of the priory and city, especially that in which was apparently intended to mark the completion of the church. reference has also been made to the plays and pageants with which such visitors were entertained. the site for the performance of the cycle of corpus christi plays was the churchyard on the north of st. michael's. queen margaret, whose visits were so frequent that the city acquired the fanciful title of "the queen's bower" came over from kenilworth on the eve of the feast in , "at which time she would not be met, but privily to see the play there on the morrow and she saw then all the pageants played save doomsday, which might not be played for lack of day and she was lodged at richard wood's the grocer." there is evident reference to the dedication of the church in the pageant of the "nine orders of angels" shown before henry viii and queen catherine in (p. ). the history of the church since the reformation has been not unlike that of a vast number of others. fanatic destruction, followed by tasteless and incongruous innovations, and these again by "restorations" sometimes as destructive, sometimes as tasteless, and nearly always feeble; such is their common history. in even the register books were destroyed because they contained marks of popery, while from onward a want of repair is plainly suggested by frequent items of expenditure for catching the stares (starlings) in the church, at one time for a net, at another for "a bowe and bolts and lyme." in james i addressed a strongly worded letter to the mayor and corporation and the vicar requiring them to reform the practice of receiving the holy sacrament standing or sitting instead of kneeling, "as we our self in our person do carefully perform it." whereupon the bishop wrote that he "felt persuaded that there were not above seven of any note who did not conform themselves" to the church ordinances; while the vicar said he "did not know of _half seven_ of any note but do the like." a puritanical writer in thus mentions the changed position of the communion table, which had formerly stood away from the east wall: "the communion table was altered which cost a great deal of money; and that which is worst of all, three stepps made to go to the comm'n table altar fashion--god grant it continueth not long." even the font, given by john cross, mayor, in , had to give place in to something less offensive to puritan feeling, and in the same year the brass eagle, given in by william botoner, was "sold by order of vestry for _ d._ the lb., _ l. s. d._" the rehanging of the bells in led to the destruction of the beautiful groined vault within the tower, and the year saw the completion of a series of galleries all round the church. throughout all this destruction and desecration the citizens happily retained their pride in the great steeple, and by constant attention and rebuildings contrived to preserve it when negligence might have caused its ruin. the scrupulous care given to such work is well shown by items in an account for repairs, of date : payed to george aster for poyntynge ye steple £ payed for quarter and a halfe of lyme payed for egges payed for glovers pecis, woode & tallowe, abowte the lyme payed for a load sand ½ payed for stryke of mawlte and gryndyng ½ payd for gallons of worte more payd for gatherynge of slates & oyster shelles ¼ payd to cookson for the cradle and other pullesses the glovers' snippings were for making size, which, with the eggs, malt and wort were used in place of water for tempering the mortar. lightning seriously damaged the spire in and , in the former case causing much injury to the nave roof by falling stone. in wyatt, the architect responsible for so much destruction of mediæval work in various cathedrals, advised that a timber framework to carry the bells should be built up within the tower from the ground and that the tower arch should be bricked up. all this has been changed since , the bells now hang (but are not pealed) in the octagon, the chimes and clock are in the chamber below, the arch is opened and the groining restored. all galleries had been taken down in and the present seats, giving room for near , persons, introduced, while the incongruous wall-arcading in the apse was soon after added. at the same period many important sepulchral monuments, probably stigmatized as "excrescences," were taken down and removed to other parts of the church. five years after this the exterior of the aisle walls was recased with the same friable sandstone. in the reredos was erected, the subjects of the panels being the sacrifices of abel, noah, melchisedec, and abraham, and the last supper. to the latest restoration, which included entire recasing of tower and spire, clearstories and chancel, the new sacristy at the south east, and other work, mr. george woodcock, a coventry citizen, gave £ , , and the sum of £ , was raised and expended, the re-opening taking place on nd april, . in a dispute of considerable public interest with regard to the levying of the church rate between the vicar and the wardens and overseers was decided in the court of queen's bench. an act of parliament of had empowered the wardens to levy a rate in lieu of tithe for the stipend of the vicar, to produce not less than £ nor more than £ . the wardens having ever since allowed their powers to remain in abeyance, the vicar claimed the right to make the rate as his predecessors had done. lord campbell and three other judges were however unanimous in giving judgement against him. the latest event in the history of the church is probably the most important. it has now been constituted a pro-cathedral for the proposed diocese of warwickshire, and a capitular body has been formed. the statutes were promulgated by the bishop of worcester on the feast of st. michael and all angels, . the chapter now consists of twenty-four members:--the bishop, the vicar of st. michael's (rev. prof. j.h.b. masterman), the archdeacon of coventry, the chancellor of the diocese, ten priest canons and ten lay canons, with provision for the admission of a future second archdeacon. there are resemblances here to the constitution of the southwark chapter, consisting of four clerical and four lay canons, but at coventry some of the lay canons are elective and for fixed periods. doubtless the immense increase of population in the county, especially in this part (birmingham is already a separate diocese), demands further oversight and much strenuous church work, and doubtless, too, the same religious enthusiasm which brought into existence the beautiful structures of coventry's golden age will be able to meet the demand and cope with the new problems and aspirations of the present day. but the archaeologist trembles to think what may be done should the attempt be made to transform a building planned on the simplest parish-church lines into the semblance of a cathedral. it cannot be successful, and the original character of the church is but too likely to be sacrificed in the attempt. footnotes: [footnote : these have ever since remained prebends of lichfield.] [illustration st. michael's church.] chapter ii the exterior of the church the church is built on a site descending towards the east, so that the chancel floor is more than twelve feet above the present street level. the narrow street on the south, bayley lane, gives us a succession of picturesque partial views but no general one, while on the north the rather formal avenue dividing the churchyard obscures much of the structure. on the whole, the most comprehensive prospect is to be had from the north-east, at the lower end of priory row. but no general point of view is needed, external or internal, to enable us to understand the plan or arrangement, which is almost as simple in form as a village church. the typical english church plan consists of a nave with aisles, a long unaisled chancel with square east end, porches or doors on north and south, and a western tower, and this, save for its apsidal east end, but amplified by accretions in the form of chapels belonging to the many gilds of the city, is the plan of st. michael's. in no part, however, do we find the chapels so set as to produce a pseudo-cruciform plan. before the latest restoration the walls were entirely of the local red sandstone, very similar in quality and appearance to that of which chester cathedral was built, and the extent of its decay, especially on the tower, was as grievous. hardly a piece of external moulding or carving preserved its original profile or form, and some of the tower buttresses had lost so large a proportion of their substance not far above ground that they appeared to hang to the walls rather than support them. all save the aisles, which were refaced in the sixties, have now been cased with runcorn stone nearly the same in colour and much harder in texture. the special glory of the church is its =steeple=. no doubt intentionally its height of feet is practically equal to the length of the church. only one other parish church, louth in lincolnshire, has a steeple as high as this, and those of only two english cathedrals, salisbury and norwich, exceed it. there is, however, an essential difference to be noted in the position of these spires, those of the cathedrals at the centre, the crowning point in the composition, those of the parish churches at the west end, springing sheer from the ground. while the former have a more intimate relation to the building the latter have an almost independent existence in keeping with the theory which regards them more as symbols of municipal pride and power than as expressions of spiritual aspiration. but however mixed the motives for their erection, religious forms and symbolism governed the design. thus we have here three principal divisions--tower, octagon, spire, and nine stories or stages in all, six belonging to the tower and octagon, and three to the spire. then in its dimensions we find that the total height is feet,[ ] the plan (exclusive of buttresses) is feet square, while in its proportions the number is interwoven, so to speak, with a simple arithmetical progression of heights in each story. thus it is feet from the ground to the spring of the lowest five-light windows, feet again to the spring of the single-light windows, feet more to the spring of the grouped windows above, and another to the spring of the belfry windows. thence it is feet to the cornice below the battlements. the remainder is divided into a series of feet heights, two twenties from cornice to top of parapet of octagon, in each of the two decorated stages of the spire, to centre of the upper spire-lights, three twenties to the finial. if we look at the stories as marked by the string-courses below the windows we find feet given to the door and great window and then , , and feet stages, reaching to the top of the parapet. the reader will have noticed the interposition of a feet space among the thirties, and the reason for this is worth explaining. it is now known that the tower could not be built in line with the centre of the proposed new nave because of the existence of a filled-in pit or quarry at its north-west angle. but the builder was rash enough to build the north-west buttresses beyond the edge of the old excavation and resting on the looser material. the consequences might have been foreseen. by the time the building had reached the grouped windows the settlement or sinking was considerable and an effort was made to remedy it, first by reducing the height of this (the weakest story), by one yard and next by starting the courses level once more. five hundred years later and we find that whereas the sinking is ½ inches near the ground level it is only inches at the windows, plainly showing that it had sunk ½ inches before the remedy was applied and four inches since. the writer is informed by the architect (mr. j. oldrid scott) that all this angle was so full of rents and cracks that (coupled with the decay of the stone, especially in the buttresses) it was surprising that the whole had not fallen. a curious disregard of what we look on as a natural sentiment is to be noted in this connection, for the builders used a quantity of fine sepulchral slabs from the churchyard as filling for the foundations. [illustration: interior of the tower from below.] in magnificence of design the tower exceeds that of any other parish church in england, the uppermost story being the richest in detail. the variety of treatment and gradual increase in elaboration of the upper stories is admirable, the larger expanses of wall in the lower giving the necessary effect of stability to the whole. the =west door= is very insignificant, and might perhaps, with advantage to the composition, have been left out. it has the only four-centred arch in the whole. on each side of the great windows are niches with (restored) figures of saints and benefactors, twelve in all, including earl leofric and his famous wife, the botoners and several kings. sculpture appears again on the belfry stage. on the west and north sides the niches are in three tiers of three on either hand of the tall louvred windows, but on the south and east sides one tier is absorbed by the stair turret. all these have been renewed, but the remains of some of those which were taken down can now be seen in the crypt, and the one which is best preserved, by a happy coincidence the patron saint, is now placed within the church. the octagon, which connects so finely the tower and spire, has four two-light windows on the cardinal sides, the other sides having blank panelling of similar design. its parapet has square pinnacles, intended to carry seated figures. from each of the great tower pinnacles two ogee-shaped flying buttresses spring to the near angles of the octagon. a recent writer criticizes these as too flimsy in effect, but the fact that they are in pairs obviates this defect from most points of view. the walls of the octagon are ½ feet thick at the base, but, as the inner slope of the spire begins at the level of the window transoms, the thickness at its parapet is more than feet. the greater weight in this part corrects any tendency in the spire to push outwards the upright walls of the octagon; so well has it done this that no artificial helps, such as iron stays or bands, have been found necessary to add to its stability. though so slender in appearance, its stonework is thicker than that of many later spires, for whereas kettering is inches thick for the first feet and only inches above, while louth decreases from to , st. michael's diminishes from to . the inclination from the upright of its sides is very slight, less than that of most others; chichester having an angle of ½°, kettering °, louth °, st. michael's ½°. [illustration: the west porch.] the decoration of the spire is admirably designed in relation to the slenderness of the tower, and its own height above the eye. the first stage is panelled so as not to present too great a contrast to the octagon, and the next is also panelled and has narrow canopied slits on alternate sides, with four thin buttress-like projections on each face. these provide the slight entasis to the outline which is found in so many spires, as it is in classic columns, and is designed to correct the appearance of hollowness which would occur in so long a straight line. the upper two-thirds of the spire has triple angle rolls, and, just halfway in the total height, are eight canopied panels of which four are pierced. the beauty of the steeple and its pre-eminence among those belonging to parish churches (even if such a reservation be necessary) sufficiently justifies the length of this description. [illustration: south porch, from st. mary hall.] the oldest existing part of the church is the large =south porch=, almost facing the entrance to st. mary hall. the date of this is not later than . each jamb of the outside arch has four external and two internal attached shafts; the pointed arch is deeply moulded, while the arch rising from the fourth shaft is of round-headed trefoil form. the ceiling is vaulted with diagonal and intermediate ribs, and has the appearance of having been added rather later. a doorway on its east side led to the cappers' chapel and there is a chamber over the porch for centuries appropriated to the meetings of the cappers' company. the present chapel and chamber are contemporary with the nave. [illustration: south-west doorway.] the external wall of the dyers' chapel (now the baptistery) is canted so as not to block the lane, st. mary hall having been already built. passing east, the road dips gradually and gives this end of the church a more imposing elevation. after the cappers' chapel, there is only a single aisle forming the mercers' chapel and extending as far as the presbytery. a door here, made in , is opposite to the drapers' hall. the apse is now encircled with a series of sacristies divided into five chambers and spanned by flying buttresses. the first two bays on the south were built at the last restoration the vestry then removed not being part of the original design. beneath them on the ground level is the engine-room pertaining to the organ. though sometimes spoken of as an ambulatory its position on a lower level, its original want of connection with the south side and above all the need for sacristies in so large a church dispose of the idea. some have thought that the apsidal lady chapel of lichfield cathedral built about fifty years earlier suggested an apsidal termination in the design of coventry, but a certain difficulty in the way of the designer may have led him to adopt this solution. the normal perpendicular east end had one large window, but owing to the great width of this chancel the proportions of such a one would have been nearly square, and the spring of the arch have been very low. a few years later and the depressed four-centred arch might have been adopted but, fortunately, its time was not yet. the plans of the apses of lichfield and coventry differ in the angle at which the sides are inclined to the chord of the apse, the former having the usual angle of °, the latter one of more than °. externally this is not so pleasant as the more "commonplace" form, the great dissimilarity of the several angles being unsatisfactory and the third side too quickly lost to view, but within the church these points are not noticed. so little time elapsed between the building of the choir and nave that we find no marked difference of style as we proceed westward along either flank of the church. the =lady chapel=, known as the drapers' chapel, from its use and maintenance by that gild, occupies the three bays of the north chancel aisle. from its elevation above the ground it was often spoken of as the "chapel on the mount," capella beatæ mariæ de monte. all the four windows are of seven lights, the three northern having a somewhat unusual transom band of fourteen quatrefoils, at the spring of the arch. the two windows of st. lawrence's chapel have a transom across the lights and a band of seven quatrefoils at the spring. the buttresses of the lady chapel are rather richer in design than those of st. lawrence's chapel. the lower level of its parapet indicates some difference of date. the plan of this part of the church presents problems which bear on those connected with the rest of the church (p. ). beneath st. lawrence's chapel and extending under the north aisle westward are two crypts, entrance to them being by two doors from the churchyard, their position is shown on the general plan. it will be seen that the western one is of two aisles, each of three bays, while the eastern is only one bay in length. the entrance to the western was at first in the middle bay but this was blocked when the girdlers' chapel was built. that the eastern crypt was added later, and the present lady chapel later still is shown by the presence of windows in the east wall of both parts and other indications. but while the history of the church shows that the original lady chapel and crypt or charnel-house, were built soon after , the present superstructures belong to a time about one hundred years later. now as the western crypt may be safely assigned to the earlier date the lady chapel doubtless stood over it and flanked the old chancel of the church, in its normal position in fact as the existing one is now. but a point which remains to be explained is that the walls of the crypt are parallel to the line of the new chancel and not to the line of the old or new naves. it seems certain therefore that the inclination of the new chancel is a simple perpetuation of the old arrangement, and if not, the position of the crypt is hard to account for. it is generally supposed that these crypts were used as mortuary chapels and the eastern one has in fact a piscina and aumbry, showing that there was once an altar. but for some centuries they served as a charnel-house, and are so called in a papal grant of indulgences. in there is an entry in the church accounts of five shillings for "cleansinge the charnel-house and laying the bones and sculles in order." they now contain fragments that have been removed or discovered in the course of various restorations. a small norman scalloped capital, another of early english workmanship and a voussoir showing the norman zig-zag or chevron are interesting relics of structures earlier than anything now existing, while a number of the decayed statues from the tower find here a dark and damp repose very different from the airy outlook enjoyed by them for five centuries. it will be seen that they are near life size and are executed in a gray sandstone which has stood the weather much better than the red. the outer north aisle containing the girdlers' chapel on the east and the smiths' or st. andrew's chapel on the west of the porch, is plainly of later date. the windows have depressed, distinctly four-centred arches, and in their five lights had simply cusped heads, the mullions running up to the architrave. the =north porch= has only a slight projection. above the four-centred arch are two two-light canopied windows opening into the church. the soffit of the doorway is panelled. on the west side where is now a canopied niche was formerly an external pulpit reached from within by the staircase which leads to the roof. it is shown in the view. on the east side are two odd little flying buttresses, intended apparently to repeat the inclined surface of the other side. the two north aisles are fortunately not carried westward so far as the nave, which projects a half bay beyond them and so prevents the otherwise unrelieved flatness of this part. the most effective of the porches is that on the west front, just north of the tower. it appears to have been built after the nave was finished, and may have been added expressly to provide a more dignified entrance to the church when henry vi came in state in , for it faces directly up the nave. the groining with cusped panels and numerous bosses has escaped restoration. the five niches above the porch are statueless, and so are those on the porch front. may they long continue so! the doors are largely original and are finely panelled and carved. footnotes: [footnote : at the last restoration the height was reduced to feet.] [illustration: interior of st. michael's from the west.] chapter iii the interior of the church from within the door by which the church is usually entered, that near the south-west angle, we obtain an overpowering impression of the special characteristic of the interior, its spaciousness, for it is here more than feet wide and the east window is nearly feet distant. the =nave=, which is feet inches wide in the clear, is wider than that of many cathedrals, and much exceeds that of most parish churches, the widest (worstead) given in brandon's "parish churches" being feet. boston alone exceeds it by about feet. while the ordinary aisle width ranges from to feet, the north aisle here is feet, the outer north and the south being each feet. the total internal length is feet, exclusive of the sacristy; boston, the only larger one, being feet, while very few exceed feet, and most are far smaller. the greatest internal width is feet; manchester, a double-aisled collegiate church, is about the same, and york minster is feet. finally, the area is about , square feet, probably greater than that of any other english parish church, indeed, st. nicholas, yarmouth, is the only one which pretends to rivalry in this respect. size is, of course, only one element in the impressiveness of a building, and may even be neutralized by the treatment (as, for instance, in the duomo of florence and st. peter's, rome, by increasing the size of its parts rather than multiplying them), but these few comparisons will help the visitor to judge how far this element colours his appreciation of the whole. as an illustration of mediæval methods of church building, it is interesting to trace the growth of the structure with the help of the few historical notices already given and the evidence of the building itself. the subject is full of difficulties, and the writer does not hope to solve them conclusively, but to put before the reader the main points which have to be considered before forming a judgement. [illustration: tower arch.] both historic and structural evidence agree that there was an existing smaller church when the tower was built in the last quarter of the fourteenth century, that the choir and apse were either contemporary, or begun a few years earlier, and that the nave was built between and . the south porch and the west crypt (beneath the original lady chapel) are almost contemporary (p. ), belonging to the beginning of the fourteenth century. now the axis of the tower is parallel to the axis and walls of the nave, while the centre line of the choir is deflected towards the north about °. notwithstanding this, however, owing to the tower not being central with the nave, the axis of the choir, if prolonged, runs directly to the centre of the tower arch, as may easily be seen by anyone who stands there and looks along the ridge of the choir roof. (_see_ dotted line on plan.) [illustration: bay of nave, north side.] next we see above the =tower arch= the mark of the old nave roof and the old north wall of the nave. these show that the south wall stood where the present one does, and the low-pitched fourteenth century roof-line suggests incidentally this alternative: _either_ a clearstory had been added to the nave before the building of the new chancel or tower was in contemplation, _or_, when the huge tower was built it was felt necessary to raise the nave roof so as to lessen the disproportion. but, if we adopt the latter alternative we must accept too the improbability that this expense should have been incurred when the inadequacy of the old narrow nave of ½ feet compared with a chancel of feet must have been so obvious. this is one of the difficult questions. then it is held by some that the axis of the old nave and chancel was in line with that of the present choir; but the south porch, built more than one hundred years before the new nave, is at right angles with it which would hardly have been the case had the two naves not been on the same lines. needless to say the old east end could scarcely have extended beyond the present nave, so that the new chancel was probably built without disturbing the old church. the position of the older lady chapel supports this view, while its bearing towards the north, as already pointed out, indicates that the deflection of the new chancel is simply copied from the older one. the position of the south porch proves also that the south aisle was as wide as the present one, while the fact that it was wider than the nave shows that it was almost certainly not designed at the same time. the nave is of six bays and is feet high at the centre, while each arch is feet wide in the clear. the piers are slender, but, owing to the depth of the panelling above the arches and the large size of the windows, the weight upon them is reduced to a minimum. shafts carried up from the ground support the roof brackets, and there are intermediate ones over the centre of each arch. the clearstory windows of four lights each are in pairs, and the mullions are carried down to form panelling and finish on the backs of the arches, which recede in two sloping faces and form a somewhat unusual feature in the treatment of the wall surface. the detail of the piers and arches is rather weak, even for perpendicular work. [illustration: interior from the south door.] the =chancel= is about feet long, and in height and width is or feet less than the corresponding nave measurements. its width further diminishes by about ½ feet in the length of the three bays. the omission of a chancel arch is a step towards the ideal simplicity of the late perpendicular churches (_e.g._, st. peter mancroft, norwich), running from east to west without break, but the large rood piers and reduced width and height of chancel make the pause demanded in so long a church. the step at this point is of oak, and is probably the original sill of the rood screen. the large figures of ss. peter and paul were placed on the piers in . of the three arches which open on either hand the centre one is widest, having four-light windows, instead of three-light, over it. the panelling beneath the clearstory is richer than that in the nave. the five four-light windows of the apse are lofty and divided by two transoms, but the design is somewhat commonplace. the glass of the middle three is a memorial to queen adelaide, dated . the other two are filled with fragments of the ancient stained glass of the church (p. ). [illustration: the choir from st. lawrence's chapel.] the roof is very similar to that of the nave. both are of very low pitch, with tie-beams supported by curved brackets. there are two longitudinal beams (purlins) on each side, and each division of the roof made by these main timbers is sub-divided by mouldings into panels, all the intersections and angles being decorated by carved bosses or pateræ, with angels upon the tie-beams. where the roofs of nave and chancel join there is a cove to connect the two levels; and on the tie-beam above this was found a latin inscription, giving the attributes and powers of the nine choirs of angels forming the hierarchy of heaven. translated it is as follows: seraphims burn in love of god. cherubims possess all knowledge. thrones, of them is judgement. dominions preside over angelic spirits. virtues effect miracles. powers have rule over demons. principalities protect good men. archangels are set over states. angels are the messengers of the lord. bare and shorn as it is of its ancient magnificence, st. michael's is in its structure a monument of the importance and wealth of the gilds. many of them built or maintained chapels and altars, adding largely to the already spacious proportions given to the main structure by the munificence of a few rich citizens. that in there were eleven altars we know from the will of thomas bradmedow, directing that eleven torches, price _ s. d._, be given every good friday, one to every altar. besides the high altar there were those of our lady, jesus, holy trinity, st. john, st. anne, st. katherine, st. thomas, st. andrew, st. lawrence, all saints. the application to the =lady chapel= of the present name, the "drapers' chapel," is probably subsequent to , when john haddon, a draper, provided by will for the support of a priest, "to singe in the chapell of our ladye in the church of saint mychell." but long ere this, by an instrument dated from st. john lateran, a.d. , eighth year of pope boniface, indulgences for forty days were granted for all persons coming to confess before her altar in st. michael's church on the nativity, conception, annunciation and assumption of the glorious virgin mary. also indulgences for days were granted for building "the chapple and charnell house of st. michaell, coventry." the drapers' company was responsible for other things than the priest's stipend as this extract from their rules shows: " . ev'y mastur shall pay toward ye makyng clene of oure lady chapell in saynt mychell's churche and strawyng ye setus [seats] wt rusches in somer and pease strawe in wyntur, everyone yerely _ d._" [illustration: poppy head, lady chapel.] the piers at the chancel entrance contain the staircases leading to the roofs and formerly to the rood loft. the screen on the west side of the chapel was put together from fragments brought together from various parts of the church. against it, and on the south side, are fifteen of the ancient stalls. several admirable ends and elbows remain, and some of the twelve ancient misereres are of special interest. three represent scenes from the popular mediæval allegory of "the dance of death." the centre groups are: ( ) a death bed, ( ) a kneeling man being deprived of his shirt and a cripple waiting to receive it (?), and ( ) a very well-expressed burial scene. the side groups in each show death leading by the hand personages of various ranks, including a pope. of the others, satan in chains, the general resurrection, and a delicately executed tree of jesse are the best. [illustration: a miserere, lady chapel.] several monuments formerly in this chapel are now elsewhere in the church. a memorial to the hon. f.w. hood, killed in battle in , is by chantrey. on the north wall is a brass plate bearing the following inscription: here lyeth mr thomas bond, draper, sometime mayor of this cittie and founder of the hospitall of bablake, who gave divers lands and tenements for the maintenance of ten poore men so long as the world shall endure and a woman to looke to them with many other good guifts; and died the xviii day of march in the yeare of our lord god mdvi. the =communion table= is a fine example of early seventeenth century work, and outside the screen is a very beautiful oak chest, believed to date from the time of henry vii. from the lady chapel we pass into that of st. laurence. its two windows are filled with glass to the memory of past mayors. the dates, and , sufficiently suggest their artistic merit. several old monuments are upon the north wall, one of with an extravagant inscription to thomas purefoy, a boy of nine; another to mrs. bathona frodsham, a daughter of the john hales who bought so much monastic property, and founded the grammar school. the tomb of his first wife, frideswede, near which he was buried, may be seen in the dugdale view near the north porch. the outer north aisle contained the girdlers' chapel. the arcade which divides the aisles shows the consummation of the process which converted columns into piers by the omission of capitals and bases and the continuation of the mouldings from pier into arch. the altar was below the eastern window, the piscina (restored) stands on the south side. the company has been long extinct and no documents exist. we know, however, that haye's chantry was founded by a girdler in , for a mass to be sung daily at all saints' altar, and may therefore conclude that it was in this chapel. in the two western bays of the same aisle was st. andrew's chapel, supported and probably founded by the smiths' company. the first notice of its existence occurs in , but as this part was not built until it was perhaps originally in the adjoining aisle. the window tracery is modern. the panelling within the internal arches and between the windows should be noted. the floor near the wall is partly paved with much worn ancient tiles. several large monuments have been brought hither from the drapers' chapel. an altar tomb of black marble is to the memory of sir thomas berkeley, only son of henry, lord berkeley, who died in ; another of , to william stanley, master of the merchant taylors' company of london and a benefactor of st. bartholomew's hospital and of his native city, coventry. while these are ponderous and unlovely that of julian nethermyl, at the west end of the principal north aisle, is a work of interest and much beauty. it is an altar tomb with a sculptured panel on one end and one side, the other end and side having been next to walls. it is of interest as an early example of the italian style then finding its way into england, and an example so free from gothic influence that there can be little doubt that a foreign craftsman was employed upon it. on the centre of the long panel is a mutilated crucifix, and a brief inscription with a shield of arms beneath. on either hand kneel julian nethermyl and his wife, with five sons behind him and five daughters behind her. a cherub at each end pushes aside a curtain. the group of sons is well treated, the variations in pose and dress show the hand of one who was accustomed to study composition, and the result is very different from the formal repetition of equal or lessening figures usual on mediæval brasses and elizabethan tombs. the latin inscription is partly illegible, translated it runs: here lies julian nethermyl, draper, formerly mayor of this city, who died the th day of the month of april in the year of our lord and also joan his wife, to whose souls god be propitious. amen. [illustration: chest in north aisle.] a small brass on the wall to the memory of mary hinton, wife of a vicar, who died in , represents her kneeling at a faldstool, and facing a row of four swaddled infants laid upon the floor. near by is the old purbeck marble font, said to have been given by john cross, mayor, in . as, however, the form, material, and shallow decoration are all quite consistent with a thirteenth-century date there can be little doubt that this one is the predecessor of that given by john cross, which was condemned and removed by the puritans as superstitious. a small brass, bearing a shield with four crosses, the ancient merchant mark, is fixed upon it. [illustration: the nethermyl tomb.] beyond the west door is the north-east buttress of the tower, strengthened by a mass of masonry, part of which formed part of the old nave wall. the tower arch is high and very narrow, owing to the narrowness of the old nave. the interior of the tower is very effective, both from the height, which is almost feet to the crown of the vault, and the beautiful lighting of the upper stages. each of the large windows of the ground story is set in a recessed arch, and between the two lantern stages is a range of panelling. the vertical lines of the various stages are not continuous, a want of regularity, which would probably not have occurred had it been built a century later. upon the floor of the tower are two small brasses, which mark respectively the centre of the tower and the point below the apex of the spire, showing that the spire has an inclination of feet inches towards the north-west. on the walls of the tower two very large brasses record the names of the vicars of the church since , and of the bishops in whose dioceses coventry has been included from the earliest times. of the latter, four were bishops of mercia, twenty-seven of lichfield, six of coventry, thirty-three of coventry and lichfield, thirteen of lichfield and coventry, four of worcester, and two bishops-suffragan of coventry. the south aisle is feet narrower than the north at the west end, but its want of parallelism adds feet to its width at its far eastern end. the south-west doorway has its original doors, though these have been subjected to restoration. the first chapel on the south side belonged to the dyers' company. when the principal trade of coventry was the manufacture of woollen and worsted stuffs and the production of a special blue thread, so excellent that it gave rise to a proverbial expression, "he is true coventry blue", the dyers were an important company.[ ] a chantry known as tale's was probably attached to this chapel, as the salary of the priest, _£ s. d._, was paid by the dyers' company of london. an upper chamber for the priest existed as late as ; the floor corbels still remain. a large marble monument (removed hither from the chancel) has medallion portraits of two ladies--dame mary bridgeman and mrs. eliza samwell. the former with her husband, sir orlando (lord keeper of the great seal under charles ii), both died in . the latter, dying in , "ordered this monument to be erected as a remembrance of their great and loving friendship." the chapel is now the =baptistery=. a large eighteenth-century marble font was removed to the lady chapel and a new gothic one put in its place, so that there are now three in the church. the south porch ( ) is the earliest part of the existing church. the inner doors appear to be of the early sixteenth century, the outer, though old, are of much later date and are not part of the original scheme. on the wall on each side of the inner doors are brasses of some interest. that on the right hand has a curious epitaph which runs thus: here lies the body of captn gervase scrope, of the family of scropes, of bolton in the county of york, who departed this life the of august, anno dni , aged . an epitaph, written by himself, in the agony and dolorous paines of the gout and dyed soon after. here lyes an old toss'd tennis ball was racketted, from spring to fall, with so much heat and so much hast, time's arm for shame grew tyred at last. four kings in camps he truly served. and from his loyalty ne'er swerved, father ruin'd and son slighted, and from the crown ne'er requited. loss of estate, relations, blood, was too well known, but did no good; with long campaigns and paines oth' gout he cou'd no longer hold it out. always a restless life he led, never at quiet till quite dead. he marry'd in his later days, one who exceeds the common praise but wanting breath still to make known her true affection and his own, death kindly came, all wants supplied by giving rest--which life deny'd. the other brass, of , has a portrait of ann sewell in jacobean costume, kneeling, with an epitaph in which she is described as "a worthy stirrer up of others to all holy virtues." a doorway leads to a priest's chamber over the porch, sometimes incorrectly spoken of as the cappers' chapel. it is still used for the annual meeting of the company, but is inaccessible to the public. the next chapel eastwards is st. thomas', belonging until to the cappers' and feltmakers' company. in they were associated in its maintenance with the woollen cardmakers who had founded it in and had after declined in importance. leland, as we have seen records also the decay of the cappers' industry. a large eighteenth-century monument conceals the original doorway from the porch. the eastern part of the south aisle as far as the screen formed another chapel as the dilapidated piscina in the south wall shows. the organ is now placed in the first bay of the chancel aisle, the whole aisle having once formed the mercers' chapel. [illustration: the swillington tomb.] where the altar once stood are now steps descending to the sacristies. on the right of the window is the statue of st. michael brought hither from the tower (p. ). the finely carved corbel on which it stands was discovered among rubbish in the recess below. three altar tombs now stand against the south wall. the eastern has the recumbent effigies of elizabeth swillington and her two husbands. the inscription (translated) runs: "pray for the soul of elizabeth swillington, widow, late the wife of ralph swillington, attorney general of our lord king henry viii, recorder of the city of coventry, formerly the wife of thomas essex esq: which said elizabeth died a.d. ..." she died after . the side and ends have arcaded panelling containing shields of arms. at the west end is a realistic representation of the five wounds. the effigy of thomas essex is in armour, that of the recorder in official robe and chain. the head of each rests on a helmet, and the lady wears the "pedimental" headdress of tudor fashion. the arcading is purely renaissance in detail though the general treatment is mediæval. the figures are in dignified repose, wholly free from the later affectations of the elizabethan school yet evidently individual portraits. the second tomb dates from . the top is far too heavy for the little ionic pilasters below. the third, traditionally called wade's tomb, probably belongs to john wayd, a mercer, who lived in coventry in , but no inscription remains. there are seven shields of arms on the side, nearly all defaced, a motto "ryen saunce travayle," and nine images in low relief which present quaint studies of early sixteenth-century costume. the matrices of brasses are still visible in several parts of the church. sir james harrington, writing in the reign of james i, tells a curious story of their loss: the pavement of coventry church is almost all tombstones, and some very ancient, but there came in a zealous fellow with a counterfeit commission, that for avoiding superstition, hath not left one pennyworth nor penny breadth of brass upon all the tombs, of all the inscriptions, which had been many and costly. the last monument that need be mentioned is upon the wall over "wade's tomb." twenty-six verses of eulogy follow these opening lines: an elegicall epitaph, made upon the death of that mirror of women ann newdigate; lady skeffington, wife of that true moaneing turtle sir richard skeffington, kt., and consecrated to her eternal memorie by the unfeigned lover of her vertues, willm. bulstrode, knight. (she died in , aged ). the present organ was built by henry willis and erected in . it is a four-manual and pedal instrument and has fifty-three stops. the old organ on which handel played more than once, stood on a raised platform at the west end. it was the work of thomas swarbrick of warwick, a german by birth, in . he also built those of trinity church, st. mary, warwick, lichfield, st. saviour southwark, stratford-on-avon, and amsterdam. the best of the ancient glass now remaining has been collected into two windows, one on either side of the apse. much was brought from the clearstory where six windows on the south and all save one on the north side still have panels made up of a mosaic of fragments with portions here and there of which the subject is intelligible. from what remains in the tracery we may gather that there was a row of eight angel figures filling the spaces immediately over the lights. some of these or similar ones, are now in the apse. they are represented as covered with feathers and standing on wheels and each holds a scroll over the head with inscriptions in very contracted latin. a few less fragmentary pieces may be found, _e.g._, in the north window, judas giving the traitor's kiss, in the north clearstory the arms of trenton and stafford, mentioned and figured by dugdale, in the south, the figure of a man in a red gown kneeling with a scroll inscribed "deo gracias" and over his head "groc(er) de london"--doubtless a donor. of modern glass there is a great amount but little worth mentioning save on account of the persons commemorated. one window in the lady chapel is a memorial of the prince consort and one in the mercers' chapel is of interest as a deserved memorial to thomas sharp the antiquary to whose labours all later historians of the city are so deeply indebted. he died in . [illustration: alms-box.] the pulpit is of brass and wrought iron, the work of frank skidmore a native of coventry who made also the choir screen of hereford cathedral and the metal work of the albert memorial at kensington. it was placed here in . the bells, ten in number, now hang in the octagon. they were cast in and weigh nearly seven tons. the first peal was hung in and a clock existed in . in an order of leet ordained that "all manner of persons that will have the bells to ring after the decease of any of their friends, shall pay for a peal ringing with all the bells, _ s._ and with four bells, _ d._, and three bells _ d._" the six bells were cast into eight in and the present tenth has the same inscription as the heaviest of the old peal: i am and have been call'd the common bell to ring, when fire breaks out, to tell. the chimes, which existed as early as , were restored in , after a silence of ten years, in memory of lieut.-col. francis william newdigate. electric lighting has been introduced throughout the church. footnotes: [footnote : _see_ fuller's "worthies of england." in an act of leet ordered that no person should dye any wool or cloth with "a deceitful colour called masters or medleys brought into coventry by a frenchman."] [illustration: holy trinity from the north. _from a lithograph--about _.] holy trinity church chapter i history of the church although the first mention of this church which the indefatigable dugdale could find was its appropriation to the priory in - , it is tolerably certain that its foundation was much earlier. as before said, it is reputed to be older than st. michael's and its position close to the monastery suggests that it had been built, as often happened, for the parishioners by the monks who disliked their intrusion within the priory church. the appropriation at this time may have been rather of the nature of a confirmation of the rights of the priory than the institution of a new condition of things. as, in , the chancel had to be rebuilt being "ruinated and decayed" we may conclude that it was probably older than the present north porch which is certainly not later than . it was at the same time lengthened by twenty-four feet, the convent giving one hundred shillings per annum for eight years and six trees, the parishioners finding all other material and workmanship. the convent and parish also agreed to support and keep it in repair at their joint charges. from , when henry de harenhale was appointed, the list of vicars is complete, but in a cartulary of the priory mention is made of ralph de sowe, vicar of trinity, as giving a tenement in well street, for the celebration of his anniversary. there are but few landmarks in its history, and dates affecting the structure can generally be assigned by internal evidence alone. the nave arcades had already been rebuilt before the chancel was touched, and a piece of work of the same period is to be seen in the five-light decorated window, in the consistory court which now opens into the large chamber over the porch. we have no record of the building of the clearstory and roof of the nave. the resemblances between this clearstory, and that of st. john's chancel, raise the question of priority. the fuller development at st. john's of the peculiar treatment of the angles points to its being a little later but probably both fall within the second and third quarters of the fifteenth century. for a church of this size the chapels, altars and chantries were very numerous, there being probably fifteen altars in all. in the establishment of clergy consisted of a vicar, eleven parochial priests and two chantry priests. dugdale enumerates six chantries so that it is evident that here as often elsewhere some of the parochial priests derived the whole or a part of their support from their performance of the duties of chantry priests. many chantry priests on the other hand had other duties and took part in other services than the daily mass for which the chantry was founded. so much that is of interest in the religious life of the period is connected with the chantries that it is worth while recording some of the scattered notices that have come down to us. to begin with the chapel of our lady, the earliest mention we have of it is in while in the corpus christi gild endowed a priest there to sing mass for the good estate of richard ii, anne his queen, and the whole realm of england, to be called st. mary's priest. the indenture sets forth that "he is to be at divine service on sundays and double feasts in the chancel and at matins, hours, masses, evensong, compline and other offices used in the said church and also daily at _salve_ in our lady's chapel unless hindered by reasonable cause." the records of the dissolution of the chantries show how much town property must have been held by them, while from these and other sources we learn the extent of their belongings in tenements, messuages, rent charges and the like. thus in emot dowte gave several tenements to this altar and in richard clyff "late parson of st. george in london," left a house in well st. to the church "to the intent that the mass of our lady may be observed the better." in (the year of elizabeth's accession) william hyndeman, alderman and butcher, directs that his body be buried in the lady chapel "as aldermen are wont to be buried, towards the charges whereof i give twenty nobles to be levied of my quick cattle and if it be too little then i will that sybil my wife shall lay down _ s._ more." he also orders an obit to be kept after the death of his wife "yearly for ever;" a form of words that must surely have sounded unreal after the changes of the last two reigns. perceye's chantry again, which dugdale considered the oldest (though he does not give the date) was endowed in with six messuages, one shop, six acres of land and s. rent, all lying in coventry, to which in william botoner and others, added a messuage and twenty-four acres of land in the city for another priest. then the chantry of the holy cross ( ) founded for two priests to sing daily a mass for the good estate before death and for the souls after of the royal family, and for the founders and the members of the fraternity of the holy cross, was endowed with seven messuages, fourteen shops and sixteen acres of land in the city. dugdale enumerates also four others, cellet's, corpus christi, lodynton's and allesley's, to which should probably be added marler's, assigned by him to st. michael's. the first two are doubtless the same foundation, for in land and tenements were granted to the priest of corpus christi chapel for the health of the soul of william celet and others. it was almost certainly situated in the south transept, on the upper level over the vaulted passage. the position of lodynton's chantry ( ) is not known; allesley's, founded in the reign of edward i, was sung at st. thomas's altar. richard marler stipulates in his will that his priest is to have the "stypend or wagis of nyne marks by yere so long as he shall be of good and prestly conversacyon and demeanor, wt' a p'vyso that yf the seyde prest be ffounde otherwyse, after monyc'on and reasonable warnyng to hym geven, he to be removed." much of the later history of the church relates to the destruction of its fittings and furniture or to restorations almost as grievous. in _ s. d._ was paid for taking down the carving about the high altar, while the mayor bought the panelling of the altar for _ s. d._, the vail for _ s._, the "thing that the sacrament was in over the altar _ s._," the "peyre [pair of candlesticks?] that was upon the altar _ d._" perhaps he thought that all these things would be wanted again ere long. in a quantity of costly vestments and banners had been sold and we find in the accounts a number of such items as these: "sold the day of jennery copps of red teyssew to mr. roghers, now mayre (and other persons) pryce of the sayd copps, _ l._ to bawden desseld one cope of red velvet, _ l._ mr. schewyll a grene velvet cope, _ s._" but before mary's death we have a lengthy inventory of copes, vestments, albs, banners and the like, some of which may have come back to the church from the buyers at the sale eleven years before. the church must have looked like a builder's yard in when the committee and council of war pulled down divers houses outside bishop's and spon gates and stacked the materials here, while the changes of government are indicated by the payment in of _ s. d._ "to hopes for defacing the king's arms" and in of _ s._ to "hope for the king's arms." five years after this the spire, which had caused much anxiety and expense for many years, was blown down in a gale, falling across the chancel and causing much destruction. all was restored and the spire rebuilt in three years. reference has been made to the existence of a vaulted passage through the south transept. this was made necessary by the position of an ancient building known as jesus hall which adjoined the transept and thus blocked the way from "the butchery" in this direction. the hall had probably been long used as the residence of the priests attached to the church but nothing is known of its origin. it was destroyed in . only in , when the exterior of the church was recased was the passage blocked and the floor of the upper chapel removed. the register records the marriage of sarah kemble with william siddons on th november, . chapter ii the exterior of the church the church of holy trinity loses much, in popular estimation at least, by its nearness to st. michael's. it invites comparison of the most obvious sort. it is not nearly so large and its spire is not so high, these facts alone are sufficient to account for the popular view. fuller, in his "worthies" says of the two churches, "how clearly would they have shined if set at competent distance! whereas now, such their vicinity, that the archangel eclipseth the trinity." the plan is quite unlike that of its neighbour, being cruciform, with a central tower, a short nave, and a chancel distinctly longer than the nave. on the south both nave and chancel have a single aisle, the transept projecting beyond it and there is a vestry at the east end. on the north there is a similar aisle with a lady chapel at the east corresponding to the vestry, but a large porch and several chapels fill up the spaces so that the transept does not in plan project. looking at the exterior as a whole it may be said that the more moderate length ( feet), the central spire, feet high, and the transepts unite in forming a more satisfactory composition than the long body and immense western steeple of st. michael's. there however, the superiority ceases for the frequent "recasings" and restorations have left hardly a stone of the exterior that has not been renewed again and again, and the dates of these operations, , , , sufficiently suggest the degree of knowledge and feeling likely to be manifested in the work. probably most of the structure was first built of the same friable red sandstone as its greater neighbour. much of the recasing has been executed in a rather harder gray sandstone, but the tower and spire are still red. the tower above the roofs, is of two stages, the upper, or bell chamber, and the lower or lantern opening into the church. below this are small windows with the lines of the old high-pitched roof visible above the present transept roofs, but in the nave and chancel the lines of the old roofs are now within the church, the clearstory having since been added. each face of the tower is divided, apart from the narrow angle buttresses, into six vertical divisions separated by thin projections of buttress form. on the south and west the stair turret absorbs one of the outer divisions. each division is curved in plan in a curious way, which may be the perpetuation of a feature of the original design, but was more probably introduced or modified by the person who recased the tower in . that there was sculpture we know, for in ten shillings was paid for taking the images down from the steeple. the smallness of the sum indicates that they were few in number, and if they occupied similar positions to those on the belfry stage of st. michael's, and the structure was as decayed as was the tower of that church it is probable that the cutting away of the niches may have suggested the curving of the surfaces especially as the tower would be thereby lightened. as it is we cannot be certain of much else than that there were vertical divisions serving to emphasize the impression of height and that the openings were in the same positions as now. [illustration: plan of trinity church] the spire blown down in had been in the previous ninety years five times repaired and repointed. we cannot now say whether the original design was at all closely followed in the rebuilding, but its present likeness to st. michael's suggests doubts. the lowest stage which takes the place of the octagon and may be an intentional imitation of it, has almost upright sides with two-light windows on the cardinal faces and panelled ones on the oblique sides, while the remaining stages correspond in number and partly in design with those of st. michael's. in it was considered that the bells endangered the safety of the tower, and after recasting by mears of london they were rehung in a timber campanile in the north churchyard. even now they cannot be pealed. the deplorable refacings have left few features of interest on the outside. were gothic architecture still a living and not merely imitative and academic art, one would welcome a complete renewal of all outside work--not an imagined harking back to the work of the fifteenth century but showing the lapse of the centuries from the fifteenth to the twentieth as clearly as does the north porch the change from the thirteenth to the fifteenth. [illustration: interior of holy trinity, from the west.] chapter iii the interior it is with a feeling of expectation followed by one of relief that we pass within the church, for restoration has there rarely the same excuse for its devastations as the action of wind and weather on the exterior too generously gives it, and this church is no exception to the general rule. the clearing away of galleries, the provision of new seating and the renewal of much window tracery have been the principal changes, the greatest loss being the destruction of the corpus christi chapel. the nave is of moderate width and consists of only four bays, the eastern arches being narrower and made to abut against the tower after the manner of flying buttresses. the columns are clusters of four large filleted shafts separated by small ones while the bases are high and evidently meant to be seen above the benches. the caps are shallow and very simple, while the shafts of each pier reappear as part of the arch moulding. the arcade as a whole is remarkably strong and dignified, it would perhaps have gained by the addition of a bay in length. in the absence of precise records it may be assigned to the second quarter of the fourteenth century or a little later. above the tower arch can still be seen, beneath the painting and plaster, the marks of the older steep roof. the nave of stratford-on-avon church has points of resemblance to this. there too we have a fourteenth-century arcade (but much simpler) with a fifteenth-century panelled wall and clearstory above, and the panelling comes down on to the backs of the arches in a similar though somewhat simpler manner. owing to the inequality of the eastern arches there is, in the position of the windows and roof principals a curious disregard of the lines of the piers and the centres of arches. there are eight equal bays in the roof and each corresponds to two two-light windows. it is interesting to compare the design of this clearstory with that of st. michael's. it has more solidity to accord with the more vigorous arcade though the treatment of the panelling is similar. the height from the arch to the roof is much less in proportion, but the sills of the windows are kept lower and the heads are square. the form of the windows is perhaps determined in part by the desire for more space for stained glass, but it is also the logical outcome of the space afforded by the level lines of a wooden roof just as the use of the pointed window follows from the use of pointed vaulting. the treatment of the angles after the manner of the thirteenth century "shouldered" lintel in order to take off the harshness of the rectangular form and to give a better bearing for the lintels is noteworthy and should be compared with the more developed forms at st. john's church. above the tower arch is a painting of the last judgement, discovered in . it is now so much darkened that very little can be made out. the following is a description of its appearance before : in the centre is the saviour clothed in crimson and seated on a rainbow. below are the virgin mary and st. john the baptist with the twelve apostles arranged on each hand. two angels sound the summons to judgement, and on the right of our saviour, steps lead to a portico over which three angels look down on the scene and others welcome a pope who has just passed st. peter. on the saviour's left are doomed spirits being conveyed by devils in various ways and in ludicrous attitudes to the place of torment, represented in the usual manner by the gaping mouth of a monster, vomiting flames of fire. a large painting of a crucifix, with a priest kneeling beside it and angels flying above, was discovered at the same time on the north side of the chancel but was too much mutilated to be thought worthy of preservation. the =roofs= throughout are of low pitch, and almost all resemble one another in design. those of the nave, chancel, archdeacon's chapel (on the west of the north porch) and transepts are divided by their principal timbers into large panels, which are again subdivided by mouldings upon the boarded ceiling. at all angles and intersections there are carved leaves, and stars in relief adorn each panel. all these roofs are painted in accordance, it is said, with existing indications of the original colouring. the ground is blue, the mouldings red and white, the stars and carving are gilt. the nave roof spandrels, above the tie-beams, have large painted figures of angels, supporting between them shields emblazoned with the instruments of the passion. these are also said to be reproductions, but it appears likely that time had left much to the imagination of their restorer. [illustration: north side of nave, eastern bays.] nevertheless, the whole effect of the roofs is harmonious, a result apparently obtained by the use of a blue far removed from the ultramarine tint too often employed. since the removal of the ringing floor, in , the lantern stage of the tower has been once more visible from the church. a wooden vaulted ceiling was at the same time inserted where a stone one had originally been built or intended. the =chancel= is dark owing to the small clearstory windows, the low outer north aisle, and the concealment of a south window by the organ. at the first pier east of the tower came the rood-screen, and on the south side (in the aisle) the door to it may be seen at a height above the floor. access must have been by steep steps against the wall, or from the top of another screen across the aisle. the church accounts of the year tell us what it cost to remove: payd for taking down ye rode and marie and john _ s. d._ payd to ye carpenter for pullyng down ye rode lofft _ s. d._ on the east side of the tower wall can be seen the line of the original roof, showing the height before the rebuilding in . although there is space for larger windows the aisle roof prevented their sills being brought lower. the west arch of the south arcade has been forced out of shape by the pressure of the tower piers and arches; certainly the piers, which are little more than feet square, seem slender enough for the support of so lofty a steeple. attached to this south-east tower pier is the stone pulpit, one of the two special glories of the church, the other being the brass eagle. the pulpit is either contemporary with the pier or nearly so. there is apparently some difference in the texture and colour of the stone, but as it is probable that a finer-grained stone would be chosen for work of this character, this need not imply a difference of date. it was, however, probably added at the same time as the nave clearstory. the authors of "english church furniture" assign it to .[ ] before (when restored by rickman) it had been hidden from sight by wood-work and a clerk's desk at a lower level. the lower part is boldly corbelled out and the junction of the octagon with the pier shafts is well managed, but the upper open-panelled part is rather too definitely cut off from the lower by the battlemented cornice. very few examples of this class of pulpit exist in england, and none equal in importance. the eagle =lectern= is a magnificent example of brass casting. it is generally attributed to the late fifteenth century. this eagle narrowly escaped being sold by the puritans for old brass, as happened to that of st. michael's. it closely resembles one belonging to st. nicholas' chapel, lynn, save that the latter is not equal in refinement of detail and proportion, and the bird is less vigorous in pose and modelling. in there was "paid for skowring ye egle and candell styckes, _ d._," and "for mending of ye egle's tayle, _ d._" [illustration: pulpit.] at least nine chapels and fifteen altars are known to have existed in the church. the present choir vestry on the north side was the lady chapel. a simple piscina on the south side, about a foot above the present floor, shows that the old floor level was much lower. the =north aisle= is lofty and has a clearstory of three windows over the arcade. in the outer aisle was located marler's, or the mercers', chapel, founded in , and beneath it is a crypt or charnel house, now closed save for small ventilating openings. [illustration: archway between the north porch and st. thomas's chapel.] the black oak roof of low pitch has the panels of the western bay only richly carved with vine leaves and grapes. its date is, perhaps, as late as the foundation of the chantry. the piscina is in the north wall. west of the north transept is =st. thomas's chapel=. dugdale says that allesley's chantry was founded in the time of edward i, at the altar of st. thomas the martyr, "in a chapel near adjoining to the church porch." the chapel is certainly older, for the beautiful double doorway from the porch is not later than mid-thirteenth century. the outer doorway of the porch was rebuilt in the fifteenth century. the inner one, with a finely moulded arch with angle shafts and the vault with simple diagonal ribs carried on shafts, is of the early thirteenth century. it is to be regretted that this fine porch is not better seen. signs of the puzzling reconstructions that have occurred in this part are visible in the aisle wall. two lancet windows high up are of the same date as the porch, and are blocked by the chamber since constructed above st. thomas's chapel, and parts of other window jambs are seen at different levels. the archdeacon's chapel or consistory court, to the west of the porch, is now one of the most interesting parts of the church. it is divided from the north aisle by two lofty arches with an octagonal column. the original dedication is not known, but in it was already used as an ecclesiastical court, and the next year a bishop's seat was made for use in it. in the south-west angle is a tall, narrow recess, once closed by a door. lockers of this description were constructed for the safe keeping of the shaft of the processional cross, and for the staves of banners. on the east side the roof now cuts across the head of a window of reticulated tracery of the early fourteenth century. most of the monuments have been brought hither from various parts of the church; only two or three are of general interest. a late perpendicular canopied tomb, rudely carved and badly fitted together, stands against the north wall, but there is nothing to show whom it commemorates. on the east wall is the monument of dr. philemon holland, with a long latin epitaph. fuller says of him: "he was the translator general in his age, so that those books alone of his turning into english will make a country gentleman a competent library for historians." born at chelmsford in he settled at coventry in , was usher and then master of st. john's free school for twenty-eight years, and died in in his eighty-fifth year. during his usher-ship dugdale was a pupil of the school. an engraved brass to john whithead, who died in , is interesting for the sake of the costumes of himself and his two wives. three stone coffins have also been deposited here, and two sheets of lead from the roof recording, in fine bold lettering, the repairs executed in and . in the middle window on the north side are the only remaining fragments of ancient glass. as late as there were "portraits" of earl leofric and the countess, and also, it is said, a smaller figure of the lady in a yellow dress on a white horse. part of a small figure holding a spray of leaves and part of a galloping horse are pointed out as the remains of this. to the writer the figure appears to be clearly that of a man, and the horse and rider's leg not to have belonged to it. the modern stained glass is very unequal in character, and some is very poor indeed. the windows at the west, especially one in memory of mr. wm. chater, a late organist, may be regarded as exceptions. there are still, fortunately, many which are not filled with pious memorials. the =font= is the original pre-reformation one of the fifteenth century, which was removed by the puritans in (though devoid of sculpture) and brought back after the restoration. it stands on three steps, is panelled on bowl and stem, and rather brilliantly adorned with gold and colour. the south aisle was no doubt divided into two chapels, that on the west belonging to the barkers' or tanners' gild. a small piscina against the south wall indicates the position of its altar. the wall below the windows is recessed so as to form a seat the whole length of the aisle. the =south transept=, containing the corpus christi and cellet's chantries, has lost its original character completely. the piscina, high up on the south wall, shows that the floor level was some feet above that of the church. the reason for this has been already explained. the organ chamber is quite modern. the best authorities place the chapel of the butchers' gild in the south aisle of the chancel, but do not say to whom the eastern chapel in the nave aisle belonged. it is known that there was a jesus chapel, and, in view of the proximity of jesus hall, it is believed by some that this was its position. the present clergy vestry is a fine room, having an excellent dark oak roof with heavy beams and well carved bosses at the intersections of the timbers. the royal arms over the fireplace were painted there in . although usual, the placing of the king's arms in churches was not compulsory until the restoration; few earlier now remain, and this placing of them in the vestry rather than the body of the church is suggestive of a compromise between opposing factions. a portrait of walter farquhar hook, vicar from - and afterwards dean of chichester is hung here. it seems probable that this was a chapel, perhaps that of the holy trinity, to whom an altar was dedicated. the history, as traced in the church accounts, of the various organs used in the church gives some idea of the fluctuations of opinion as to the propriety of their use. in john howe and john climmowe, citizens and organ makers of london, contracted to provide, for £ , "a peir of organs wt vij stopps, ov'r and besides the two towers of cases, of the pitche of doble eff, and wt xxvij pleyn keyes, xix musiks, xlvj cases of tynn and xiiij cases of wood, wt two starrs and the image of the trinite on the topp of the sayed orgayns." in the "payer of balowes" were sold, and in the pipes, "wayeng eleven score and thirteen pounds, went for fourpence half-farthing the pound." in a new one was obtained but its life was short, for in the puritan party caused it to be sold "for the best advantage." [illustration: alms-box.] once more, in , another was purchased from mr. robert hay wood of the city of bath for £ ; then, in , thomas swarbrick of warwick built one for £ , for which a gallery was erected across the nave. in this gave place to a new one by foster and andrews of hull, costing £ ; and this was rebuilt by messrs. hill and son in . footnotes: [footnote : "english church furniture." (antiquary series.) j.c. cox and a. harvey.] [illustration: church of st. john baptist, from bond's hospital.] st. john baptist's church the church of st. john baptist has a history quite different from that of the other parish churches and is specially interesting as a building belonging to a very limited class, namely, collegiate churches owned by a gild. though dugdale says that the "first and most antient of the gilds here was founded in the th ed. iii ( )" it is probable that, as in other places, religious gilds had for long existed here and that the royal license or charter of this date was like that of stratford-on-avon in , really a reconstitution or confirmation of the gild's rights, privileges and possessions. this earliest one was known as the merchant or st. mary's gild and its first ordinances provided that "the brethren and sisteren of the gild shall find as many chaplains as the means of the gild can well afford." then in that of st. john baptist and in that of st. katharine was founded. the former at once founded a chantry of six priests to sing mass daily in the churches of st. michael and the trinity for "the souls of the king's progenitors and for the good estate of the king, queen isabella his mother, queen philippa his consort and their children" and others, besides the members of the gild. in this gild, desiring to have a building for its exclusive use, received from queen isabella a small piece of land called babbelak on which to build a chapel in honour of god and st. john, two priests being required to sing masses daily for the souls "of her dear lord edward," john, earl of cornwall and others. did she seek to satisfy her conscience thus for the woes she had brought upon her _dear lord_? the site thus given measured feet from north to south and about feet from east to west giving room for the chancel only of the present church, this being dedicated in . but in william walsheman, valet to the queen and now her sub-bailiff in coventry gave further land, added a new aisle and increased the number of priests while the black prince in gave a small plot on which, perhaps, the tower and transept now stand. within the next ten years walsheman and christiana his wife gave to the gild certain tenements, called the "drapery," in the city to build a chapel in honour of the holy trinity, st. mary, st. john, and st. katharine "within the chapel of bablake." william wolfe, mayor in , is mentioned as a "great helper" in the work at the church, the original nave and aisles being probably built at this time, and some reconstruction of the choir. records are wanting of the subsequent alterations which gave it its present form. the north clearstory of the nave shows the original design while that of the choir and the south side of the nave belong to the fifteenth century as do the tower and the cruciform arrangement of the building. leland's "itinerary" gives the following description: "there is also a collegiate church at bablake, hard within the west gate (spon gate) alias bablake gate, dedicated to st. john.... it is of the foundation of the burgesses and there is a great privilege, gild or fraternity. in this college is now a master and eight ministers and lately twelve ministers." stowe adds that there were twelve singing men and extant deeds mention "babbelake hall" in which the warden and priests lived. many interesting entries of expenditure are to be found in the gild accounts showing how the eve of st. john (midsummer eve) and other festivals were celebrated before the suppression of the gilds by edward vi. in we have the following (the spelling is somewhat modernized): expenses on midsummer even and on the day,--item, doz. & a half cakes, _ s. d._; spice cakes, _ d._; a cest' ale and gals. _ s._; gals, claret wine _ d._; gals. malmsey, _ s. d._; gals. muskedell _ s. d._; to mr. mayor _ s. d._; the mayor to offer, _ d._; to priests, clerks and children, _ s. d._; the waits, _ s. d._; to poor people _ s. d._; to the cross-bearers and torch-bearers, _ d._; the bellman, _ d._; the hire of pots, _ d._; boughs, rushes and sweeping, _ d._; a woman days to cleanse the house, _ d._; half a hundred _ d._ nails, _ ½d._; half a pound of sugar, _ ½d._; to the crossbearer and torchbearer for st. george day, holy rood day, shire thursday and whit sunday, _ d._; to children for the same days, _ d._ summa (total) _ s. d._ that these anniversaries and wakes led to much unseemly revelling we have evidence that cannot be gainsaid. the trinity gild decided in that no obite, drynkyng or com'en assemblie, from henceforth shall be had or used at babalake, except onelie on trinitie even and on the day, which shall be used as it hath been in tymes past. and that also the p'sts of babelack shall say _dirige_ on midsum' even and likewise masse of _requiem_ on the morrowe, as they have used to doo. and that the meire shall not come down thether to _dirige_ ov(er) night for dyv's considerac'ons and other great busynes they used. and on the morowe thei to go thether to masse and brekefast, as thei have used to doo. dugdale quotes from an old ms. an interesting passage bearing on this question: "and ye shall understond and know how the evyns were furst found in old tyme. in the beginning of holi chirche, it was so that the pepull cam to the chirche with candellys brennyng and wold _wake_ and come with light toward nyght to the chirch to their devocions; and afterwards they fell to lecherie and songs, daunces, harping, piping and also to glotony and sinne and so turned the holinesse to cursaydnesse; wherefore holi faders ordeined the pepull to leve that _waking_ and to fast the evyn. but it is called _vigilia_, that is _waking_ in english and it is called the evyn, for at evyn they were wont to come to chirche." in queen isabella helped to procure from the bishop a licence for one robert de worthin, priest, to become an anchorite and to inhabit a hermitage attached to the north aisle of the chancel. traces of the foundations of this have been found on the site of the modern vestry. when the college was suppressed in the king granted to the mayor, bailiffs and corporation, on their petition, the church and its appurtenances in free burgage for ever on payment of _ d._, per annum and gave them "all the rents, revenues and profits of the said church." but these gifts were not sufficient to support the church and its services, so that the latter were irregular and repairs were neglected. in mayor hancox procured the delivery of a saturday lecture "for the better fitting of the people for the sabbath." in simon norton, alderman, left property to his son thomas, on trust, the condition being that if at any time st. john's should become a parish church, he or his heirs should pay _£ s. d._ to the minister out of rents of lands in coundon, and also the tithes of lands in clifton. prisoners from the scottish army being quartered on the city in , many were confined in this church and wrought much damage and desecration. from this time services were only occasionally held, until , when an act of parliament was obtained making it a parish church, appointing a district to it and enabling the master and usher of the free grammar school to be rector and lecturer of the church. the mayor, bailiffs, and commonalty were made patrons, but in , these arrangements having failed to work satisfactorily, the patronage was transferred to trustees who acted as managers of the school and in the lectureship was abolished, the rectory was severed from the office of head master and the trustees of the school were charged with a payment of £ per annum towards the stipend of the rector. in the advowson was sold to a private person. a great deal of restoration, justifiable and otherwise, has taken place, the decay of the local sandstone having made large repairs necessary. in much renewal of the external stone work was carried out. unfortunately shortsighted ideas of economy led to the use of the same poor stone and much has recently had to be done over again, this time with the harder runcorn stone used also at st. michael's. the interior was restored in , galleries erected in and , and high pews were removed, the floor, which had been raised three feet, lowered, the lantern stage of the tower opened up by removing a ringing floor and a light iron gallery above the tower arches provided for the ringers. the original groined ceiling has thus been made visible from below. the exterior although small in area compared with the other churches, both exterior and interior give an impression of size and dignity which does not belong to many much larger buildings. in the exterior this is no doubt due to the pseudo-cruciform arrangement, the bold central tower and the height of the main roof, which would have appeared even greater had the roadways not been so much raised. the =tower= is in two stages, a lofty lantern story having two transomed two-light windows on each face and a shorter upper one having smaller windows without transoms and a battlemented parapet. large skeleton clock-dials disfigure the windows of this story. narrow buttress strips on either side and between the windows run through and serve to connect the stories. the north-east angle has an octagonal stair turret carried up above the parapet. the other angles have narrow buttresses running up to circular bartizans boldly corbelled out from the battlements. this is an extremely unusual feature in ecclesiastical architecture but is common on fortified structures. of the city gates, gosford gate had machicolated ones but not spon gate adjacent to the church. [illustration: st. john baptist.] the spacing of the windows and buttresses of the south aisle and the position of the large transept window show how the later changes were effected. the three windows and the buttresses with niches and canopies almost certainly belong to the part built by walsheman after . the two in the chancel aisle are recent insertions. the doorway at the south-west corner occupies the position where indications showed that an original door had existed. there is also a small priest's doorway of which the jambs are ancient. the clearstory was restored in "from sufficiently clear indications" in the remains of the original windows. the whole of this part is worthy of careful study and should be compared with the corresponding parts of trinity church. everywhere we see signs of individual thought and design mainly directed to softening the rigidity of the horizontal lines of the square-headed and transomed "perpendicular" windows. the method of cusping the drop-arch and the varied treatment of these in nave, choir and transepts are noteworthy while the little quatrefoil at the intersection of mullion and transom is a really happy innovation. the flying buttress over the south aisle restores a feature of the old building which had disappeared. of the variously panelled and battlemented parapets, of nave, chancel and aisles a view of gives no visible hint. as the report of sir (then mr.) g.g. scott in specifies as desirable the "renewing all the parapets according to the portions of the original which remain," we can only hope (but with no sense of certainty) that these parts are faithfully reproduced. the limited site on which the chancel was built (only feet deep) caused the builders to omit any buttresses or other projections at the east end. the east window was renewed in but the proportions are not good and it is said that one light was suppressed although the old sill remained intact. the west end has a large six-light window with two transoms. it was restored in and is said to be a precise reproduction of the original design. on the gable above it is a large niched pinnacle which appears to be an "unauthorized" addition. while the north aisle is later than the south, the clearstory, as has been said is earlier, being of late decorated date with large three-light windows of reticulated tracery. the north transept is more consistent in style than the south. the large four-light window is peculiar in design. it has one transom and the tracery is brought down much below the spring of the arch. the centre mullion is very solid, coming forward almost to the wall face both inside and out and running up to the apex of the arch. the clearstory windows in both transepts are similar in general design to those of the south clearstory of the nave but with variations suggesting a rather later date. a very effective view of the north side can be had from the quadrangle of bond's hospital, though here too it loses on account of the depressed site in which it lies. the interior the interior is not less impressive for its size than the exterior, sir g.g. scott even saying that he knew of no interior more beautiful than st. john's. [illustration: interior, st. john baptist.] [illustration: clearstory windows.] all at least will agree that there is something about it striking and dignified which is obviously not concerned with mere size, is largely independent of elaboration of detail and may therefore be safely attributed to its satisfactory proportions and broad effects of light and shade. its plan is quite simple consisting of a nave and choir with north and south aisles, a transept not projecting beyond the aisles at either end and a central tower. yet, although it is more or less oblong as a whole, there is hardly a right angle or two parallel walls throughout the church. in most cases these discrepancies are not apparent, nor do they appear likely to have been intended to produce a studied effect. thus a diminution in width towards the east (as at manchester) may be expected to add to the apparent length, but here the south aisles of both nave and chancel expand instead of contracting. by standing within either transept and looking up at the roof the want of parallelism of the walls and other irregularities are plainly seen. the nave has only three bays, the arches being rather lofty and the arch mouldings of the characteristic shallowness of the period. the south-west pier had to be rebuilt on account of settlement and there are signs of it in the south-east arch next the tower. the name bablake is said to have been derived from a pond or conduit near by and the site may have been swampy, thus affecting the foundations. the district is even now liable to flooding from the sherborne (or shireburn) stream and as late as january the waters rose over five feet within the church as a brass plate at the west end testifies. the graceful treatment of the windows of the nave and choir clearstories is shown in the illustration. comparing these with the clearstory of trinity nave (p. ) questions of priority arise. if not designed by the same mind the influence of one on the other is easily seen. on the whole the greater rigidity of treatment and the anxiety to increase the area of glass in the trinity windows suggest that the date is rather later and that the designs did not spring from the same brain. the roof is very simple, the curved brackets springing from the shafts which run down to the arches below. the wall is deeply recessed beneath the windows. the north windows, however, are continued down in plain panels, but this only makes more apparent the fact that they are not placed centrally over the arches. the north aisle has a doorway and two north windows. the windows are of good perpendicular design, and the mullions are continued down the wall below, forming panels. the lowered sill and recess probably formed a convenient retable to an altar against the wall. the west window preserves some fragments of glass dated . there is an obliterated inscription and small etched figures--among them an acolyte carrying a cross, one of those whose services are mentioned in the accounts after this wise: "to the crosebeirer and torchebeirer, for seynt george day, hollieroode day, shire thuresday and whit sunday, _ d._; to childern for the same dayes _ d._" the south aisle of the nave, including the lower part of the transept, is doubtless the aisle erected for the gild by william walsheman in . the two windows are not central with the nave arches, and the third is not in the centre of the transept. their tracery is somewhat peculiar in design and refined in detail, and has the transitional character one would expect from its date. there are signs on the face of each western tower pier of the altars which once stood there, probably those of the trinity and st. katharine, which are known to have existed. the eastern piers of the tower are later than the western, and very unlike them in plan. a bold and ingenious treatment of the vaulting shaft of the tower groining is used on these piers; on the western ones the shafts stop upon the ends of the hood moulding. the choir is now closed by a screen carrying a large rood carved in oak. like st. michael's, but to a smaller extent, the axis of the choir inclines to the north. whether symbolic, or only a part of what may be described as the studied irregularity of the whole building it is hard to say. the column on each side of the choir is later than the east respond and also later than the west tower pier, but corresponds with the east tower pier. the deep panelling beneath the windows must have been carried out when the clearstories were constructed in the fifteenth century. the south aisle of the choir, the original chapel of the patron saint, is now fitted up and used as a morning chapel. the piscina still remains in the south wall, and there is a trace of the old altar visible on the wall. the east end of the north aisle is now the organ chamber, and was originally the lady chapel. the base of the altar still exists, and so does the piscina in the south wall. in connection with these or other altars we hear of a payment of _ d._, in , for painting a cloth for the image of st. john baptist, and in sums of _ s._ and _ s._ were paid to a sculptor of burton-on-trent for an alabaster statue of the virgin and a base for it. at the foot of the south-west tower-pier are some decayed but interesting ancient tiles. the new ones have been copied from them. the vicissitudes in the church's fortunes have left little for us to see that is not part and parcel of the structure. that there were "orgaynes" as early as we know from entries in the city records giving the cost at different times of wire, glue, nails, thread, etc., for the reparation of them, while a payment of _ d._ for "a string" suggests that they were a combination of wind and string stops, similar to the organ of st. michael's as built by thomas swarbrick. in the prior bought the "metell of ye old orgayns in bablake" for _ s. d._, but doubtless the new one disappeared in the troublous times that followed. a new one has recently been set up. the pulpit is of stone and quite new, and the font, erected in , is a copy of that of st. edward's, cambridge. there are five bells, the inscriptions on them being as follows: st. henrycus bagley. m.c. fecit . nd. pack & chapman. london . richard eaton, church-warden. rd. henric dodenhale, fecit. m.c.e.i.c.r.i. th. (illegible.) probably of the end of fifteenth century. th. i ring at six to let men know when to and from their work to go. neglect and decay it has been seen had provided only too plausible excuses for restoration. in the church had a narrow escape from a worse fate, for it was proposed to extend it in some direction, and the architect suggested the lengthening of the north transept and the addition of a new north aisle. probably lack of funds alone prevented the carrying out of a proposal which would have completely spoilt the proportions of this beautiful interior. the grey friars' convent christ church the third of the "three tall spires," albeit nothing else remains of the church to which it belonged, deserves that some notice should be given of it and of the men who reared it. in , eleven years after their first coming into england, the franciscan friars are heard of at coventry, ranulph, earl of chester, having granted them land for their oratory, and the sheriff of warwickshire, on behalf of the king, giving them shingles from the woods of kenilworth wherewith to cover it. in the black prince, then owner of the manor and park of cheylesmore, just outside the walls of the city and adjacent to their convent, granted them so much stone from his quarry there, "as they should have occasion to use about their buildings and walls," and probably at this time the church, of which christ church spire is a remnant, was built. at the same time he gave them "liberty to have a postern into the park to carry out any of their convent that should be diseased." the house was surrendered to the king in , the warden and ten brethren being compelled to sign a humiliating document, in which they professed to "profoundly consider that the perfection of christian living doth not consist in dumb ceremonies, wearing of a grey coat, disguising ourself after strange fashions, ducking, nodding and becking, in girding our selves with a girdle full of knots and other like papisticall ceremonies." [illustration: the spire of christ church.] it is certain at least that they had no accumulated wealth. whatever they had received had been distributed for the advantage of the church or the poor. at their suppression they had neither lands, tenements, nor other possessions, save their church and house and the land these stood on. the site was granted to the city and the buildings thrown down, only the spire with its supporting walls and arches being allowed to stand until , when it was incorporated with the new nave of christ church from the designs of rickman, to whom we are indebted for the first comprehensive and systematic account of english mediæval architecture. the work shows how imperfectly in those days even a genuine admirer of mediæval art understood its spirit. unfortunately the tower and spire were recased with new stone, and the original character of the work largely disappeared. the total height is feet, exclusive of the vane. the plan of the old church was interesting, especially in the arrangement of the crossing. the short transepts had little real relation to choir or nave, which were almost completely separated from one another, the nave being intended for the use of the public. the narrowing of the tower from east to west, and the insertion of secondary north and south arches to carry the slender octagonal tower is unusual and ingenious. the whole length was feet, and the transepts were feet from north to south. the nave and choir differed little in length. [illustration: grey friars' church (crossing).] the connection of the franciscans with the production of the mysteries, or sacred plays, should not pass unnoticed. dugdale, who had spoken with eye witnesses, thus alludes to the subject: before the suppression of the monasteries this city was very famous for the pageants that were played therein upon corpus christi-day; which occasioning very great confluence of people thither from far and near, was of no small benefit thereto; which pageants being acted with mighty state and reverence by the friars of this house, had theatres for the several scenes, very large and high, placed upon wheels and drawn to all the eminent parts of the city for the better advantage of spectators; and contained the story of the old and new testament, composed in the old english rithme, as appeareth by an ancient ms. intituled, _ludus corporis christi_, or _ludus coventriæ_. along with a number that were performed by the city companies they are still to be seen in the british museum. we know that the friars presented them as late as , when henry vii was present with his queen to see the plays "acted by the grey friars." no remains exist of the domestic buildings of the friary. the well-known ford's hospital hard by is often called grey friars' hospital, but this arises merely from the situation. it was founded in by mr. william ford of coventry, merchant of the staple, for five men and one woman, but is now inhabited by women only. it is an exceptionally beautiful example of tudor timber construction in perfect condition. the white friars the carmelite or white friars were, says dugdale, fixed in coventry in by sir john poultney who had been four times lord mayor of london. although their buildings were ornate and extensive, their revenue apart from oblations amounted to only _£ s. d._ per annum and the whole came to less than £ . at the dissolution the house and its revenues came eventually to john hales, clerk of the hanaper to henry viii. having amassed a great estate in monastery and chantry lands, hales founded the free school in coventry, the church of the white friars being at first used for the purpose. later, he made of the friary a dwelling and removed the school to st. john's hospital, granted to him by the king in . part of the church of the hospital still exists at the foot of bishop street, but the school has been removed to new buildings in the warwick road. of the buildings of the white friars there are considerable remains incorporated with the union workhouse at the top of much park street. the east walk of the cloister, feet in length, has a fine groined roof of the fifteenth century. a range of vaulted apartments runs alongside the cloister on the east side, divided midway by the vestibule to the chapter house now destroyed. the upper story above the cloister and the range of rooms was, we may assume, the friars' dormitory. a huge fireplace and a bay window are part of john hales' reconstruction. the gateway to the south-west corner of the cloister remains, and the outer gate of the precincts may still be seen in much park street. [illustration: st. mary hall.] st. mary hall the gilds were so important a part of the religious and social life of the city that it is imperative that some notice of their hall, which stands in suggestive proximity to the churches, should be given. st. mary hall, opposite the south side of st. michael's is one of the most complete and beautiful examples of a fifteenth-century town dwelling now remaining in england. it originally belonged to the gilds of holy trinity and our lady to which were united at a later time those of st. katharine and st. john baptist, the oldest to be founded. by the fine groined gateway we enter the courtyard, on the south side of which is the kitchen, probably the hall of an older structure of the first half of the fourteenth century, the present hall and its undercroft on the west side having been built between and . on the east side is the entrance to the staircase leading to a gallery from which the hall is entered. at this end is the minstrels' gallery and beneath it are three doorways, the centre one leading to the kitchens below, that on the right to the old council chamber, that on the left to a smaller room known as the princes' chamber. from the council chamber is reached the stone-groined treasury, now used for the safe keeping of muniments and records. it forms the first floor of a low tower. the hall, feet by feet, is of five bays, with the usual dais and oriel window at the far end from the entrance. [illustration: st. mary hall.] the nine-light window over the dais has its original glass, made, it is believed, by the john thornton of coventry who is known as the maker of the east window of york minster. the upper part has numerous coats of arms of kings, cities, and princes, while the nine lights are filled with "portraitures of several kings in their surcotes," william i, richard i, henry iii, iv, v, vi, king arthur, the emperor constantine, and another unnamed. the windows on either side of the hall have suffered grievously. those on the west (left) were deprived of their heraldry and portraits in . in those on the east new glass with poor imitations of the ancient series of figures and coats-of-arms was placed in . at the same time the wainscotting painted in with inscriptions and heraldry was cleared away and replaced with cement. the inscriptions were copied with care, but "the ornamentation was followed without any very fastidious copying of the uncouth ancient style"![ ] the timber roof is of low pitch, with traceried spandrels above the tie-beams. angels playing on a variety of instruments are placed at the centre of each tie-beam and there is much good carving of foliage and animals at the intersections of the timbers. the most famous adornment of the hall is the tapestry behind the dais. the following views as to its origin and subject are those of george scharf the antiquary. it is of flemish design but probably of english manufacture, is woven, not embroidered, and was made in the early sixteenth century for the place it occupies, its compartments corresponding with those of the window. it is in six compartments in two rows. the upper central has a figure of justice, an insertion probably in the place of christ, angels with the instruments of the passion being on either side. the lower central represents the assumption of the virgin in presence of the apostles. the upper left in order from the centre has eleven saints, ss. john baptist, matthias (?), paul, adrian, peter, george, andrew, no. (?), bartholomew, simon, thaddeus. the corresponding female saints on the right are ss. katherine, barbara, dorothy, mary magdalen, no. (?), margaret, agnes, gertrude of nivelle, anne, apollonia. the lower left has a king kneeling at a prie-dieu on which is his crown and an open book. a cardinal kneels behind him but there is no other ecclesiastic among the seventeen courtiers standing behind. in the opposite compartment is a queen kneeling with a number of ladies, among whom are two in monastic dress. although the work belongs to the reign of henry vii, the king and queen are almost certainly henry vi and margaret of anjou. on the walls are portraits of later sovereigns from william iii to george iv, that of george iii being by lawrence. the mayoress' parlour opening from the dais has been drastically restored. it contains portraits of queen mary, queen elizabeth, james i, and charles i, and four benefactors to the city, john hales, founder of the free school, sir thomas white, thomas jesson and christopher davenport. footnotes: [footnote : "coventry: its history and antiquities," b. poole, .] the carthusian monastery little remains of this monastery which stood on the south side and not far from the city. the order settled in coventry in only ten years after the foundation of the london charter-house. at the dissolution the prior and brethren, ten in all, did not emulate the heroism of the london monks and were fortunate enough to obtain pensions instead of martyrdom. some trifling remains exist incorporated in a modern mansion, and a wall of the garden shows the position of doors which led to the isolated cells of the monks. the botoners had given freely to the building of the church and cloisters of which richard ii laid the first stone in and afterwards largely endowed "on condition that they should find and maintain within the precinct of their house, twelve poor scholars from seven years old till they accomplished the age of seventeen years, there to pray for the good estate of him the said king and of his consort, during this life, and for the health of their souls after death." index abbots of coventry, . alms-boxes, , . apse, . bells, , . benefactors of coventry, . botoner, william and adam, . carthusian monastery, . chantries, foundation of, . christ church, . city, history of, - . cross, . dissolution of monasteries, . duel, hereford and norfolk, . evens or wakes, . fonts, , . ford's hospital, . friars, coming of, . grey friars convent (christ church): history, . plan of crossing, . suppression, . gilds, , . glass, ancient, , , . godiva and leofric, , . hales, john, , . hermitage. . hospital, ford's, . hospital, st. john's, . lollards, . martyrs, . midsummer eve, . misereres, . monastery, history, - . monastery ruins, - . orders of angels, . organ, , , . pageants and plays, , , . parliamentum indoctorum, . parliamentum diabolicum, . persecution, . pilgrims' rest or guest house, . priory, ruins, - . royal visits: henry vi, , . margaret, . edward iv, . richard iii, . henry vii, . henry viii, . elizabeth, . mary queen of scots, . charles i, . st. john baptist church: history, . exterior, . interior, . bells, . clearstory windows, . collegiate foundation, . glass, ancient, . organ, . st. mary hall: glass, ancient, . plan, . portraits, . tapestry, . st. michael's church: history, - . exterior, . interior, . apse, . bells, . brasses, , . chapels: cappers', . drapers' or lady, , . dyers', . mercers, . chapter, constitution of, . chest, . crypt, . font, . glass, ancient, . old church, position of, . organ, . porch, south, . proportions of steeple, . pulpit, . spire, . tombs: berkeley, . bond, . nethermyl, . skeffington, . swillington, . wade's, . trinity church: history, . exterior, . interior, . chapels: archdeacon's, . butchers', . corpus christi, . marler's, . st. thomas's, . clearstory, . font, . glass, ancient, . lectern, eagle, . organ, . plan, . pulpit, . spire, . tombs: philemon holland, . whithead (brass), . white friars' convent, . [illustration: st. michael's church] [illustration] chiswick press: charles whittingham and co. tooks court, chancery lane, london. bell's cathedral series illustrated monographs on the great english cathedrals and churches _crown vo. profusely illustrated, in specially designed cloth binding, s. d. net each._ this series of monographs upon our great english cathedral churches has been framed to give students of architecture handy reference volumes, and the visitor trustworthy guide-books, at once cheaper and more fully illustrated than any previous works of similar character. each volume contains not only a complete history of the see and of the cathedral fabric, but a critical and descriptive survey of the building in all its detail; sufficiently accurate from the archaeological point of view to furnish a trustworthy record of the building in its past and present condition, and not too technical in its language for the occasional use of the casual visitor. brief biographical accounts of the bishops and other notable men connected with the diocese are also included. the volumes are fully illustrated from modern photographs and drawings, and contain also reproductions from old, and in some cases rare, prints, for the purpose of tracing the gradual growth and development of the existing buildings. bell's cathedral series _profusely illustrated. cloth, crown vo, s. d. net each._ now ready english cathedrals. an itinerary and description. compiled by j. g. gilchrist, a.m., m.d. revised and edited with an introduction on cathedral architecture by rev. t. perkins, m.a., f.r.a.s. bangor. by p.b. ironside-bax. bristol. by h.j.l.j. massÉ, m.a. canterbury. by hartley withers. th edition. carlisle. by c.k. eley. chester. by charles hiatt. nd edition, revised. chichester. by h.c. corlette, a.r.i.b.a. nd edition. durham. by j.e. bygate, a.r.c.a. nd edition. ely. by rev. w.d. sweeting, m.a. nd edition. exeter. by percy addleshaw, b.a. nd edition. gloucester. by h.j.l.j. massÉ, m.a. nd edition. hereford. by a. hugh fisher, a.r.e. nd edition, revised. lichfield. by a.b. clifton. nd edition, revised. lincoln. by a.f. kendrick, b.a. rd edition, revised. llandaff. by e.c. morgan-willmott. manchester. by the rev. t. perkins, m.a., f.r.a.s. norwich. by c.h.b. quennell. nd edition. oxford. by rev. percy dearmer, m.a. nd edition, revised. peterborough. by rev. w.d. sweeting, m.a. nd edition. ripon. by cecil hallet, b.a. rochester. by g.h. palmer, b.a. nd edition. st. albans. by rev. t. perkins, m.a. st. asaph. by p.b. ironside-bax. st. david's. by philip robson, a.r.i.b.a. st. patrick's, dublin. by the very rev. dean bernard. nd edition. st. paul's. by rev. arthur dimock, m.a. nd edition. salisbury. by gleeson white, nd edition, revised. southwark, st. saviour's. by george worley. southwell. by rev. arthur dimock, m.a. nd edition. wells. by rev. percy dearmer, m.a. nd edition, revised. winchester. by p.w. sergeant. rd edition, revised. worcester. by edward f. strange. york. by a. clutton brock. rd edition. _others to follow_. bell's cathedral series uniform volumes _profusely illustrated. cloth, crown vo, s. d. net._ bath abbey, malmesbury abbey, and bradford-on-avon church. by rev. t. perkins, m.a. beverley minster. by charles hiatt. illustrations. st. martin's church, canterbury. by rev. canon routledge, m.a., f.s.a. illustrations. the churches of coventry. by frederic w. woodhouse. romsey abbey. by rev. t. perkins, m.a. stratford-on-avon. by harold baker. the temple church. by george worley. st. bartholomew's, smithfield. by george worley. tewkesbury abbey and deerhurst priory. by h.j.l.j. massÉ, m.a. illustrations. westminster abbey. by charles hiatt. wimborne minster and christchurch priory. by rev. t. perkins, m.a., f.r.a.s. illustrations. malvern priory. by the rev. anthony c. deane. * * * * * bell's handbooks to continental churches _profusely illustrated. crown vo, cloth, s. d. net each._ chartres: the cathedral and other churches. by h.j.l.j. massÉ, m.a. rouen: the cathedral and other churches. by the rev. t. perkins, m.a. amiens. by the rev. t. perkins, m.a., f.r.a.s. paris (notre-dame). by charles hiatt. mont st. michel. by h.j.l.j. massÉ, m.a. bayeux. by the rev. r.s. mylne, m.a. opinions of the press. "for the purpose at which they aim they are admirably done, and there are few visitants to any of our noble shrines who will not enjoy their visit the better for being furnished with one of these delightful books, which can be slipped into the pocket and carried with ease, and is yet distinct and legible.... a volume such as that on canterbury is exactly what we want, and on our next visit we hope to have it with us. it is thoroughly helpful, and the views of the fair city and its noble cathedral are beautiful. both volumes, moreover, will serve more than a temporary purpose, and are trustworthy as well as delightful."--_notes and queries_. "we have so frequently in these columns urged the want of cheap, well-illustrated, and well-written handbooks to our cathedrals, to take the place of the out-of-date publications of local booksellers, that we are glad to hear that they have been taken in hand by messrs. george bell & sons."--_james's gazette_. "the volumes are handy in size, moderate in price, well illustrated, and written in a scholarly spirit. the history of cathedral and city is intelligently set forth and accompanied by a descriptive survey of the building in all its detail. the illustrations are copious and well selected, and the series bids fair to become an indispensable companion to the cathedral tourist in england."--_times_. "they are nicely produced in good type, on good paper, and contain numerous illustrations, are well written, and very cheap. we should imagine architects and students of architecture will be sure to buy the series as they appear, for they contain in brief much valuable information."--_british architect_. "each of them contains exactly that amount of information which the intelligent visitor, who is not a specialist, will wish to have. the disposition of the various parts is judiciously proportioned, and the style is very read-able. the illustrations supply a further important feature; they are both numerous and good. a series which cannot fail to be welcomed by all who are interested in the ecclesiastical buildings of england."--_glasgow herald_. "those who, either for purposes of professional study or for a cultured recreation, find it expedient to 'do' the english cathedrals will welcome the beginning of bell's 'cathedral series.' this set of books is an attempt to consult, more closely, and in greater detail than the usual guide-books do, the needs of visitors to the cathedral towns. the series cannot but prove markedly successful. in each book a business-like description is given of the fabric of the church to which the volume relates, and an interesting history of the relative diocese. the books are plentifully illustrated, and are thus made attractive as well as instructive. they cannot but prove welcome to all classes of readers interested either in english church history or in ecclesiastical architecture."--_scotsman_. "they have nothing in common with the almost invariably wretched local guides save portability, and their only competitors in the quality and quantity of their contents are very expensive and mostly rare works, each of a size that suggests a packing-case rather than a coat-pocket. the 'cathedral series' are important compilations concerning history, architecture, and biography, and quite popular enough for such as take any sincere interest in their subjects."--_sketch_. london: george bell and sons york house, portugal street, w.c. * * * * * romanesque art in southern manche: album marie lebert with photos by alain dermigny and claude rayon [author's note: please forgive my mistakes in english, if any. my mother tongue is french. this album is also available in french, with the title "art roman dans le sud-manche: album ( )". each paragraph ends with its associated image filename.] [illustration] . in this album, there are no monuments described in all touristic guides. on the contrary, these twelve romanesque churches are little known. they are located in southern manche, that is to say in the southern part of the department of manche, in normandy, along the coast or in the countryside. these churches were built in the th, th and th century by villagers and parishioners, with local stones--schist and granite--on the medieval roads used by pilgrims to reach mont saint-michel, their final destination after travelling for many months. [illustration] . southern manche. the map of the region. from north to south, these blue spots show the churches of saint-martin-le-vieux, bréville, yquelon, saint-pair-sur-mer, angey, saint-jean-le-thomas, dragey, genêts, saint-léonard-de-vains, saint-loup and saint-quentin-sur-le-homme, without forgetting the beautiful romanesque gate in sartilly. this map was digitized by georges cercel. [illustration] . southern manche. an old map of the region. this region has belonged to cotentin for its northern part and avranchin for its southern part. the limit between cotentin and avranchin is the small river thar, that flows into the channel at the south of granville. in the middle ages, this region was rich, with more people living on the coast than inside the land. the economic life was active, with fisheries, salines near saint-martin-de-bréhal, bréville and saint-léonard-de-vains, pitch sand and kelp used as fertilizers, and a number of intensive cultures. this old map belongs to the collection of the city library in granville. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . southern manche. the deanery of saint-pair. the parishes of saint-martin-le-vieux, bréville, yquelon and saint-pair-sur-mer were part of the deanery of saint-pair, one of the five deaneries of the archidiachoné of coutances. the archidiachoné of coutances was one of the four archidiachonés of the diocese of coutances, the other ones being the archidiachonés of cotentin, bauptois and val-de-vire. map by marie lebert. [illustration] . southern manche. the deanery of genêts. the parishes of angey, sartilly, saint-jean-le-thomas, dragey and genêts were part of the deanery of genêts and the archidiachoné of avranches, like the priory of saint-léonard-de-vains. the archidiachoné of avranches included three other deaneries: the deanery of avranches, the deanery of tirepied (that included the parish of saint-loup) and the deanery of the chrétienté (christendom). the deanery of the chrétienté included nine parishes around the episcopal town of avranches, including the parish of saint-quentin-sur-le-homme. map by marie lebert. [illustration] . southern manche. the medieval roads going to mont saint-michel. this region was crossed by several roads used by pilgrims to reach mont saint-michel. at the north of avranches, we had from west to east the shore road coming from saint-pair-sur-mer, the road coming from saint-pair-sur-mer (with a different route), the road coming from coutances, the road coming from saint-lô, and the road coming from caen. at the south of avranches, a medieval road was used by the pilgrims coming from tinchebray, condé-sur-noireau, falaise or lisieux to reach mont saint-michel. map by marie lebert. [illustration] . southern manche. geological map. all these churches were built in granite and schist, which were the local stones. sedimentary grounds formed by schist rocks surround two large granite grounds, those of vire and avranches. laying down from east to west, the granite ground of vire is around five kilometers large, and ends on the west with the cliffs of carolles and champeaux. laying down from west to east, the granite ground of avranches is narrower, and only from two to four kilometers large. these granite grounds are both surrounded by a metamorphic ring formed with schist rocks and grauwack (a kind of schist) rocks. the ground of saint-pair is a flysch (detritic ground) formed with grauwack rocks, siltit rocks et black argilit rocks with some schist inside. the ground of granville is a flysch formed with grauwack rocks alternating with schist rocks. map by marie lebert. [illustration] . saint-martin-le-vieux. location. the village of saint-martin-le-vieux is located between bréhal and the sea, near the haven of the venlée, kilometers west of bréhal and kilometers north of granville. the village was situated on the medieval road coming from cherbourg and going to saint-pair-sur-mer to reach mont saint-michel, the final destination for many pilgrims. [illustration] . saint-martin-le-vieux. the church, in ruins, stands on a hill. the church was under st martin's patronage, and the second saint was st. eutropius. the parish belonged to the deanery of st-pair and the archidiachoné of coutances. foulques paynel, probably a relative of guillaume paynel, founder of the abbey of hambye in , gave to the abbey part of the tithe of the parish of saint-martin-le-vieux, a donation mentioned in the cartulary of the abbey of hambye. during the french revolution, the church was used as an arsenal and all its furniture was sold. it became a church again in but, as it was threatening to collapse around or , it was no longer used. since that time, the parish of saint-martin-le-vieux is part of the parish of bréhal. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-martin-le-vieux. the romanesque ruins, with a double belfry added in the th century. the ruins were overgrown by vegetation for a while. the masonry is made of irregular blocks in schist and granite. the arches and abutments of the openings are in granite. the schist is the local stone. the granit could come from the granite ground of vire a few miles south. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-martin-le-vieux. the romanesque ruins. between the choir and the nave, a double belfry (double because intended for two bells) was added in the th century, and built in pink granite from chausey (an island not far from granville). photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-martin-le-vieux. the church plan. regularly oriented from west to east, the rectangular building is formed by a long nave and a flat apse choir. the whole building has an external length of , meters and an external width of , meters (width of the front). the double belfry added in the th century rises between nave and choir. plan by marie lebert. [illustration] . saint-martin-le-vieux. the south wall of the romanesque nave. the large bay with a lowered centering was probably added in the th century, during the building of the double belfry. on the right of this large bay, the centering of the small romanesque bay is carved in a granite block. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-martin-le-vieux. the south wall of the romanesque nave and its door, with its lowered centering and its abutments with chamfered edges. the small bay on the left is also romanesque. the masonry of the walls is made of irregular blocks of schist and granite. elements of opus spicatum (fishbone masonry) are visible, a proof the south wall is the oldest part of the church. above the door, the little trefoil bay was probably added in the th century, during the building of the belfry. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-martin-le-vieux. the small romanesque bay in the south wall of the nave, with its lowered centering and its abutments in granite. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-martin-le-vieux. behind the old cross, the double belfry from the th century, built in granite from chausey. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . bréville. location. the village of bréville is located on the coast, about kilometers north of granville. it was situated on a medieval road that came from cherbourg to go to saint-pair-sur-mer before reaching mont saint-michel, the final destination for many pilgrims. [illustration] . bréville. the romanesque church in front of the line of dunes. in the background, the tip of granville stands on the left. but, in medieval ages, granville was almost non-existent, and the main town was saint-pair-sur-mer. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . bréville. the romanesque church among the trees. in the th century, bréville had an active economic life, with fisheries, salines, pitch sand and kelp used as fertilizers, and intensive crops. the territory of the parish was owned by mont saint-michel since , when richard ii, duke of normandy, gave the barony of saint-pair to mont saint-michel. in the th century, the patronage was secular, with guillelmus de breinville as the lord between and . the tithe was shared between the pastor and the abbot of mont saint-michel. in the th century, bréville, with its church and salines, was a prebend for the cathedral of coutances. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. the romanesque church was under the patronage of our lady (notre dame, in french), and the second saint was st. helier. the parish belonged to the deanery of saint-pair and the archidiachoné of coutances. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. the romanesque church is composed of a two-span nave followed by a two-span choir with a flat apse. the square tower rises between choir and nave. most of the nave, the tower base and the side walls of the choir are romanesque, and probably from the second half of the th century. the masonry is made of irregular blocks of schist. granite is used for the buttresses, the abutments of openings, the attached piers, the columns and the arches. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . bréville. the sacristy is the five-sided small building located in the extension of the choir. it was added much later, in the th century. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. the church plan. regularly oriented from west to east, the rectangular building is formed by a two-row nave and a two-row choir with a flat apse. the whole building has an external length of , meters and an external width of , meters (width of the front). the tower rises between choir and nave. the small five-sided building in the extension of the choir houses the sacristy. plan by marie lebert. [illustration] . bréville. the church tower, between choir and nave, has a romanesque base, while the floor in slight recess and the spire are from the late th or early th century. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. the church tower reaching the sky. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . bréville. the first floor and spire of the church tower. the first floor is opened on each side by a long narrow opening. the octagonal stone spire has angles rounded by tori, with a small gable with thin columns in the extension of each opening. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. the romanesque gate in the south base of the tower, with a semi-circular arch formed by a grain molded by a torus followed by a chamfer carved with slightly visible saw-teeth. the archivolt is a thick band adorned with saw-teeth in high relief carved with a hollow row of triangular sticks. the archivolt rests on the right on a stone carved with a human head, while disappearing on the left into the masonry of the nave. the central keystone of the arch is adorned with a large human head carved in high relief. the capitals baskets of the attached columns are carved with two angle hooks. the two human heads, carved in a limestone, didn't resist well to the test of time, as well as the angle hooks. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. sketch of the romanesque gate in the south base of the tower. sketch by marie lebert. [illustration] . bréville. above the romanesque gate in the south base of the tower, a human head carved in a limestone didn't resist well to the test of time, unlike the heads carved in granite in the south gate of the church of yquelon. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. the romanesque gate in the south base of the tower. the archivolt topping the semi-circular arch rests on a granite stone carved with a human head. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. a romanesque modillion carved with a human head, under the cornice. most other modillions, more recent, are plain and only chamfered. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. a romanesque modillion carved with a human head, under the cornice. this modillion is above the bay of the second row of the nave. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. the choir (inside). its ribbed vault is from the late th or early th century. the tiles of the second row of the choir are from . the floor of the first row is covered with schist pavings from beauchamps laid in . photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. the nave (inside). its wooden ceiling was replaced by a plaster ceiling in . the door and the large bay visible in the back wall--which is the west wall of the front--doesn't have much character because of the rebuilding of the church front in . the pegged oak door is from . in , the walls were covered with a lime plaster, and the floor with schist pavings from beauchamps. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. the nave (inside). the plaster ceiling from was recently replaced by a wooden ceiling, like in old times. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . bréville. the tower base (inside), between choir and nave. in the foreground, an arch with chamfered edges rests on half-attached columns. this arch between the choir and the tower base was redone during the renovation of the choir in the th or th century. in the background, the arch between the nave and the tower base belongs to the original romanesque building. this is a slightly triangular arch with irregular quoins, resting on two thick attached piers. the pier impost is molded with a chemfered band. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. the main altar, situated in the apse of the choir, with a statue of our lady on the left--the church is under her patronage--and a statue of st. helier--the second saint--on the right. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. a detail of the main altar, in the apse of the choir. a statue of our lady, the patron saint of the church. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. a detail of the main altar, in the apse of the choir. the statue of st. helier, second saint of the church. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . bréville. the fountain saint-hélier. this fountain was topped by the statue of st. helier that is now in the background, on the right. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . yquelon. location. the village of yquelon is located kilometers from granville, between the villages of donville-les-bains and saint-nicolas, at the south of the river boscq. the name "yquelon" has scandinavian roots and means "oak branch". yquelon was situated on the medieval road coming from cherbourg and going to saint-pair-sur-mer before reaching mont saint-michel, the final destination for many pilgrims. [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque church. the territory of the parish was part of the barony of saint-pair, owned by mont saint-michel since , when richard ii, duke of normandy, gave the barony to the mont. the lord of yquelon, rogerius de ikelun, affixed his signature to two main charters of the abbey of the lucerne in . in the th century, the patronage was certainly secular. the tithe was shared between the pastor, who was receiving most of it, the abbey of montmorel (located in poilley, near ducey), and the leper hospital saint-blaise de champeaux. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque church is under st. pair's patronage, and the second saint is st. maur. the parish belonged to the deanery of saint-pair and the archidiachoné of coutances. the churches of yquelon and bréville have similarities, because they are near by and were both built in the second half of the th century. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque church is formed by a two-row nave followed by a two-row choir with a flat apse. the large square tower � with its three floors in slight recess and a saddleback roof--is adjacent to the first row on the north side of the choir. the rectangular openings show that the tower was partly rebuilt since the th century. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . yquelon. the church plan. regularly oriented from west to east, the rectangular building has a two-row nave followed by a two-row choir with a flat apse. the whole building has an external length of , meters and an external width of , meters (width of the front). the tower is adjacent to the first row of the north side of the choir. plan by marie lebert. [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque church front. its masonry is made from irregular blocks of schist and granite, that are local stones. the front wall is strengthened at each end by a flat buttress resting on a stone wall. the three semi-circular bays above the portal were opened in , to replace a large rectangular bay, that had itself replaced the two small original romanesque bays. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque church front. its gable wall is topped by an antefix cross with bifid branches. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque church front. the oculus in the gable wall is original. its band is adorned with billets, with a stone carved with two human heads in high relief in its lower part. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque west gate. its semi-circular arch is formed by a plain grain resting on plain abutments and surrounded by an archivolt. the archivolt is a prominent band adorned with saw-teeth in high relief carved with a hollow row of triangular sticks. its two ends rest on a granite stone carved with a human head. the keystone of the arch is adorned with a human head in higher relief. the inside abutments are molded with a small column with a square abacus and base. these abutments support a tympanum in granite, which was restored and carved with a cross in romanesque style in . photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . yquelon. sketch of the romanesque west gate. this gate has similarities with the south gate in the church of bréville, located a few kilometers north-west. sketch by marie lebert. [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque west gate. detail of the semi-circular arch of the gate. its archivolt rests at each end on a granite stone carved with a human head. these granite heads resisted more gracefully to the test of time than the limestone heads in the church of bréville. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque south gate. his semi-circular arch is formed of a grain molded with a torus and topped by a chamfer carved with a row of slightly visible saw-teeth. the arch is surrounded by an archivolt formed by a thick band with chamfered edges. the lower chamfer is also adorned with a row of slightly visible saw-teeth. the inner grain rests on two attached columns through capitals. their basket, topped by a square abacus, is adorned with small angle hooks. the door certainly underwent an overhaul: both capitals, without an astragalus, are not well connected to the shaft of the columns and to the beginning of the arch, the torus of which is cut. the outer grain and archivolt disappear into the masonry of the nave to the left, whereas they rest on a slightly prominent and chamfered large stone on the right. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . yquelon. sketch of the romanesque south gate. this gate also has similarities with the south gate in the church of bréville, located a few kilometers north-west. sketch by marie lebert. [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque choir (inside). the nave opens on the choir with a very thick triumphal arch resting on two piers embedded into the thick wall. the two bays of the choir are separated by another very thick arch. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque choir (inside). each row is topped by a ribbed vault. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque vault of the choir. the very large ribs are adorned with two thick angular tori surrounding a small triangular molding. this romanesque ribbed vault was probably one of the first ribbed vaults in normandy. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque vault of the choir. the ceiling arches and ribs rest on reversed pyramid-shaped bases. topped with a square abacus slightly chamfered, the central base supports both the fallout of a ceiling arch and the one of two ribs. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . yquelon. the romanesque vault of the choir. the vault keystones are carved with geometric designs in low relief within a circle. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . yquelon. the enfeu and its tombstone. in the north wall of the nave, an enfeu (recess for a tombstone) with a lowered centering houses a th-century tombstone in soft limestone depicting a knight. mr lomas described it in a journal named bulletin of the society of antiquaries in normandy (bulletin de la société des antiquaires de normandie) dated - : "the tombstone bears a knight in relief, depicted with his hands clasped, his head resting on a pillow, and his greyhound at his feet. (...) it bears no indication of his name or no indication of a year. it is therefore impossible to specify the person whose remains are covered. what we can say with certainty is that this person belongs to the powerful family of yquelon, whose family member roger yquelon affixed his signature on two main charters of the abbey of the lucerne in ." discovered in in the cemetery adjoining the north of the church, the tombstone was embedded in the enfeu in february . at the length of the enfeu, . meters, is exactly the length of the tombstone, we can guess the tombstone was probably buried in the cemetery at the time of the french revolution, before being discovered in and regaining its original location. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. location. the village of saint-pair-sur-mer is located on the coast, . kilometers south of granville. saint-pair-sur-mer was a prosperous town and the vital center of the region until the construction of granville in the th century. many people moved to granville then, at the expense of saint-pair. saint-pair grew again in with the development of seaside resorts. medieval roads--a coast road and a shore road--were used by pilgrims from saint-pair to mont saint-michel, and are still used today by "modern" pilgrims and visitors. [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. the church is under st. pair's patronage, and the second saint is st. gaud. the church is a place of pilgrimage dedicated to the worship of st. gaud, whose sarcophagus was found in during the building of the romanesque church. much later, in , the romanesque nave was demolished to be replaced by a much larger nave and a transept to accommodate the many parishioners of this popular seaside resort. the enlarged church was consecrated on august , . photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. the church is shown here from the north-east to get a view of the whole building. photo by marie lebert. [marie- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. the old romanesque church, after a drawing from e. biguet published in the journal le pays de granville dated . the romanesque nave was demolished in to be replaced by a much larger nave and a transept. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. the church plan before , as we can imagine it. the total external length was , meters. the external width of the nave was , meters (this hasn't changed). plan by marie lebert. [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. the plan of the present church. regulary oriented from west to east, the building has a two-row nave with a porch, a large transept and a three-row choir with a semi-circular apse. the external length of the whole building is , meters. the external width of the nave is , meters. the square tower rises at the crossing of the transept. the transept arms are opened by two apses on their eastern side. the choir opens north on two chapels, one towards the apse and one towards the tower. at the angle formed by the south transept arm and the choir, a rectangular building houses the sacristy. plan by marie lebert. [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. the romanesque tower. we can accurately give a date to the tower foundations, which is very seldom. we know that they date from , thanks to a contemporary manuscript mentioning the discovery of st. gaud's sarcophagus in the choir during the digging of the foundations. the same manuscript gives the name of the architect � rogerius altomansiunculo--who supervised the works. to know an architect's name is quite unusual too, because most architects of the time were remaining anonymous. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. the romanesque tower is square, and its two floors are topped by an octogonal spire. a group of two blind arches adorn the first floor, at the north and south. large twin bays adorn the second floor on all four sides. divided by a small column with a square abacus and a square base, these twin bays are topped by a semi-circular arch molded with a simple torus and resting on attached columns. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. the romanesque tower. the two floors of the tower. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. the romanesque tower. inside, the tower rests on four massive symmetrical piers supporting four slightly triangular arches. these arches surround the groin vault beneath the tower. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. sketch of the south-western pier of the tower. this pier is as follows: east, west and south, it is salient. north, an attached pier surrounded by two attached columns rests on a stoneboard. molded as a champered band, the impost topping the pier forms the abacus of the capitals of the two columns. the capital baskets are carved, with a square base topped by a chamfer. the pier rests on a broader square base with chamfered edges. sketch by marie lebert. [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. detail of the north pier of the tower. resting on a stoneboard, an attached pier surrounded by two attached columns is topped by an impost molded as a chamfered band. the impost also forms the abacus of the capitals. the capital baskets, in granite, are carved with angle hooks. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. a carved capital basket. under the tower, a capital of the north-west pier has a granite basket roughly carved in low relief with the bust of a man whose head is big. his right arm is raised and his left arm is folded over his chest. an oak branch is visible on the right. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. a carved capital basket. under the tower, another granite basket is carved with an angle hook in low relief. the capital baskets of the north-west, north-east and south-east piers are all adorned with angle hooks of this kind. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. st. pair's sarcophagus. a stone altar dating from the th century covers the shell limestone sarcophagus of st. pair. st. pair ( - ) founded a chapel with st. scubilion, the foundations of which are still present underneath the choir of the present church. st. pair also gave his name to the village previously known under the roman name scessiacus, or scissy. st. pair and st. scubilion's sarcophagi were found in , during the excavations made by abbot f. baudry. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. the plan of the oratory sketched by abbot f. baudry. in september , during excavations in the church choir, abbot f. baudry found part of the foundations of the th-century oratory and several shell limestone sarcophagi: the sarcophagi of st. pair and st. scubilion and, nearby, those of st. senier and st. aroaste. st. gaud's sarcophagus was found in while digging the foundations of the romanesque tower. this plan is included in the book of chanoine pigeon entitled "vie des saints du diocèse de coutances et d'avranches" (life of the saints in the diocese of coutances and avranches), published in avranches in . [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. the foundations of the oratory. on the floor of the second row of the present choir, the double line of black tiles surrounded by a row of clear tiles shows the exact place of the foundations of the old oratory. the underneath foundations form a semi-circular apse going on as side walls that disappear in the romanesque building. fortunatus ( - ), bishop of poitiers, wrote in his "vie de saint pair" (st. pair's life) that the cells of the early monks were built beside the sea. then monks move their dwellings on the banks of the river saigue, at the site of the present church, attracting a population that settled around the oratory. in the foreground, a white gravestone shows the spot where st. pair's sarcophagus was buried and discovered. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. st. gaud's reliquary, on the altar covering his shell limestone sarcophagus. st. gaud ( - ) has its own chapel, built in the th century in the north wall of the choir, the church being a place of pilgrimage dedicated to his worship. after fourty years as the second bishop of evreux, st. gaud resigned from office to come and retire in the solitude of saint-pair. st. gaud's sarcophagus was found in while digging the foundations of the romanesque tower. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. st. gaud's reliquary. in this photo dated , the reliquary is adorned with both ex-votos and flowers. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-pair-sur-mer. the baptismal font. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . angey. location. the village of angey is located , kilometers west of the village of sartilly. the parish of angey has been part of the parish of sartilly since . the church of angey is used only very occasionally for weddings and funerals. [illustration] . angey. the church and its cemetery. the church is under st. samson's patronage, and the second saint is st. john the baptist. the parish of angey belonged to the deanery of genêts and the archidiachoné of avranches. in , the church of angey and its dependencies were given to the abbey of the lucerne by william of st. jean. the abbot of the lucerne was the lord of the church from then on. photo by marie lebert. [marie- ] [illustration] . angey. the church, with its romanesque choir. the base of the tower may also be romanesque, but from a later period, because its masonry is slightly different from the masonry of the choir. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . angey. the church plan. regularly oriented from west to east, the rectangular building is formed by a long nave and a one-row choir. the whole building has an external length of , meters and an external width of , meters (width of the front). the tower rises between choir and nave. plan by marie lebert. [illustration] . angey. the choir with a flat apse, and the tower rising between choir and nave. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . angey. the baptismal font, probably from the th century, is adorned with carved trefoil arches in low relief. the base of the font is carved with a rope, probably a symbol of the religious community. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. location. the village of saint-jean-le-thomas is located on the coast, kilometers south of granville and kilometers north of avranches. saint-jean-le-thomas was situated on two medieval roads, the first one coming from saint-pair-sur-mer and the second one coming from coutances. another shore road going from saint-pair to mont saint-michel was crossing the dunes nearby. [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the church is under st. john the baptist's patronage. the parish of saint-jean-le-thomas belonged to the deanery of genêts and the archidiachoné of avranches. in , william longsword, second duke of normandy, gave to the abbey of mont saint-michel the village of saint-jean-at-the-end-of-the-sea with its church, mill, vineyards and meadows. in the th century, the duke robert i gave again to mont saint-michel the seigneury of saint-jean and its dependencies. in , the local lord, william of st. john, second founder of the abbey of the lucerne, gave to the abbey the church of saint-jean-le-thomas with its dependencies, including many properties around and in england. in the th century, the church was still owned by the abbey of the lucerne, the abbot of the lucerne being the lord of the church. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the church. its romanesque nave is from the th century and early th century. the pre-romanesque flat apse choir is probably from the th century. the romanesque gate opened in the south wall of the nave has a large porch from the th century. the massive square tower is along the south wall of the nave, with two floors topped by a balustrade with an openwork design. the tower was built in to replace a timeworn tower, with granite stones from the saint-james quarries. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the church plan. regularly oriented from west to east, the rectangular building is formed by a long nave and a flat apse choir. the whole building has an external length of . meters and an external width of . meters (width of the front). the church gate is opened in the south wall of the nave, with a porch. built along the nave, the tower rises south. plan by marie lebert. [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the church front and the tower. the wall of the church front is topped with a small glacis covered with schist plates, behind which rises the gable wall. in the middle of the front, a flat buttress ends with a glacis at the base of the gable wall. the two small romanesque bays on both sides of the buttress were reopened in , during the restoration of the church choir. the massive tower was rebuilt in . photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the pre-romanesque choir and its south wall. the choir has similarities with the church notre-dame-sous-terre, present in the innards of mont saint-michel and built by the benedictines shortly after settling down on the mont in . in both buildings, the bay centerings are made of brick quoins, and walls are made of fairly regular small blocks of granite joined with a thick mortar. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the pre-romanesque choir. on the left of the large central bay, a small romanesque bay is clearly visible, with its centering and abutements in granite. photo by claude rayon [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the pre-romanesque choir and its north wall. high in the wall, the centerings of the pre-romanesque bays are made of brick quoins. the large semi-circular bay with a trefoil arch was pierced in , when the tower was rebuilt. the pre-romanesque bays were discovered and reopened during the restoration of the choir in by yves-marie froidevaux, a chief architect at the (french) historic monuments. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the pre-romanesque choir and its north wall. the masonry is made of fairly regular small blocks of granite joined with a thick mortar. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the pre-romanesque choir. the centering of this small pre-romanesque bay is made with brick quoins. the same bays are present in the church notre-dame-sous-terre, built around the same time in the innards of mont saint-michel. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the pre-romanesque choir (inside) and its north wall. the fairly regular granite blocks of the walls and the brick quoins of the bays are also visible inside, following the restoration of the choir in by yves-marie froideveaux, a chief architect at the (french) historic monuments. the five bays with centerings in brick quoins--three north and two south--were found and reopened at that time. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the pre-romanesque choir (inside). the two large semi-circular bays on each side of the choir were added in , during the construction of the new tower. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the pre-romanesque choir (inside). the wooden barrel vault was added in and completed in . photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque nave (inside). this nave is probably from the th century and early th century. in the front wall in the background, the two romanesque bays were reopened in after being found under the plaster. the upper bay--a median bay situated in the gable wall--was walled up at the same time, but its granite abutments remain clearly visible. the barrel vault of the nave is in plaster. the floor is covered with large pavings in granite. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque nave (inside). another view of the nave, this time towards the choir. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque nave (inside). romanesque murals were found on the south wall of the nave, a very interesting discovery because murals are almost non-existent in the region. the existence of such ancient wall paintings, probably from the th century, was unknown until , until the plaster of the walls of the nave was redone. colour spots attracted the attention of abbot porée, pastor of the church, who then requested the visit of the fresco specialists of the (french) fine arts department. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque murals, in the south wall of the nave. in this part restored in december , there are three paintings: the struggle of a man against an angel, on the tympanum of the walled-up gate, then a fight between two figures, and finally a country scene. these paintings are surrounded by decorative borders. these murals may be the work of pilgrims going to mont saint-michel on the medieval road along the coast. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque murals, on the south wall of the nave. on the tympanum of the walled-up gate, the battle of a man against an angel, "a fight that could be the one of jacob against the angel sent by god, or god himself showed in a visible form", according to abbot porée, pastor of the church at the time of the discovery of the murals in . photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque murals. the same scene on the tympanum of the walled-up gate, taken with a different angle to show the two foliage borders. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque murals. the same tympanum of the walled-up gate, seen from the outside. above the gate, a small romanesque bay with its centering and abutements in granite. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque murals, in the south wall of the nave. in this country scene, with wheat ears visible on the left, a figure wearing a large cloak holds a flask and pours wine in a cup held by another figure. on the right, a third figure holding a tillage tool is partly erased. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque murals, in the south wall of the nave. the third painting, of which much has disappeared, is the struggle between a figure with a cloack whose head is surrounded with a halo and another armored figure who seems to be on the ground. this could be st. michael's struggle against the devil, according to abbot porée, pastor of the church at the time of the discovery of the murals in . photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque murals, in the south wall of the nave. situated between the country scene and the fight scene, this detail shows that the mural was painted directly on the lime plaster, which explains the clear background. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque murals, in the south wall of the nave. this partial view of the fight scene shows that all contours were drawn in ocher paint, and inside surfaces were painted in ocher and buff. only these two colors were used, directly on the lime plaster. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque murals, in the south wall of the nave. the paintings are surrounded with a foliage border. the flourishes run between two horizontal stripes. the first stripe is ocher along the flourishes and the second stripe is buff along the ocher stripe, with a row of white dots at the junction of the two colours. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque gate and its porch, in the south wall of the nave. like often in the region, a porch was built later on--this one is from the th century--to offer to pilgrims and parishioners two stone benches and a shelter from rain and western winds coming from the sea. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the romanesque gate, in the south wall of the nave. the semi-circular arch of the gate is formed of a grain adorned with a simple torus molding. the arch rests on two attached columns that seem an extension of the torus, with the same diameter. the columns are topped with capitals with a square abacus. the capital baskets are carved with barely visible small angle hooks. the square base is topped by a double torus. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. sketch of the romanesque gate, in the south wall of the nave. sketch by marie lebert. [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the porch. the stone roof of this th century porch is made of irregular schiste plates joined with a thick mortar. the arch of the romanesque portal is adorned with a torus. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-jean-le-thomas. the virgin and child. situated under the th century porch, at the south of the nave, this stone statue stands above the romanesque gate. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . dragey. location. the village of dragey is located on the current coastal road going from granville to avranches, kilometers south of granville and kilometers north of avranches. dragey was on the route of three medieval roads, the first one coming from saint-pair-sur-mer, the second one coming from coutances and the third one coming from saint-lô. the shore road coming from saint-pair was crossing the dunes of dragey before reaching mont saint-michel, the final destination for many pilgrims. [illustration] . dragey. panorama. on the hill where the church stands, the silhouette of mont saint-michel and tombelaine emerge from the mist. for pilgrims, this view was announcing the end of a long quest. the church of dragey was given to mont saint-michel in the th century by robert, duke of normandy. dragey and his church were among the dependencies of saint-jean-at-the-end-of-the-sea, that later became saint-jean-le-thomas. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . dragey. the church, built on a hill, is isolated with its rectory at about one kilometer from the village. the church is placed under st. medard's patronage, and the second saint is st. eloi. the parish of dragey belonged to the deanery of genêts and the archidiachoné of avranches. the romanesque nave is from the th or th century, whereas the tower and choir are from the th century. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . dragey. the church is not situated in the village, unlike the other churches in the region. visible from far out at sea, the tower was a landmark for seamen. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . dragey. the church has a one-row choir and a three-row nave. the tower rises between choir and nave. only the nave is romanesque. the choir and the tower, more recent, are from the th century. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . dragey. the church plan. regularly oriented from west to east, the rectangular building is formed by a three-row nave and a one-row choir. this whole building has an external length of , meters and an external width of , meters (width of the front). the tower rises between choir and nave. plan by marie lebert. [illustration] . dragey. the church front. its masonry is made of irregular blocks of schist and granite, which are local stones. the front is strengthened on each side by two thick buttresses that end with a glacis. the large twin bay with a slightly triangular arch is from the th century. in , this bay was reopened and restored, and the original gate was replaced by a gate without much character. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . dragey. the south wall of the nave. the th century porch before the romanesque gate was reopened en . photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . dragey. the tower base has a gate with a triangular arch from the th century. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . dragey. the north wall of the nave (inside). the inner plaster of the side walls was scraped by the villagers to show the opus spicatum (fishbone masonry), at the request of abbot pierre danguy, pastor of the church between and . the opus spicatum--with lines of schist plates arranged horizontally--attests the church was built in the th century and early th century. the long bay with a deep splay is from the th century. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . dragey. the north wall of the nave (inside). villagers patiently scraped the plaster to show the opus spicatum (fishbone masonry), a sign their church was early romanesque. the inner plaster now only covers the last top quarter of the walls, probably too hard to reach. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . dragey. the north wall of the nave (inside). the large trefoil bay is from the th century. a walled-up romanesque bay with a deep splay is on the right, with an arch formed by a row of small granite quoins. this romanesque bay is the only remaining original bay in the church. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . dragey. the north wall of the nave (inside). as the only remaining original bay, this walled-up romanesque bay has a deep splay, with an arch formed by a row of small granite quoins. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . dragey. the church choir. the bays of the choir we guess on each side were enlarged in the th century. the choir was previously quite dark, with a feeble light coming from two small romanesque bays. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . dragey. the old baptismal font supports a holy water font. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . dragey. the stained glass window of one large twin bay in the south wall of the nave. this window is an ex-voto recounting one of the many drownings occurring in the region. on may , harry iselin, the son of a family of landowners near dragey, drowned with an american friend, back from walking back from mont saint-michel while crossing its dangerous shores. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . dragey. detail of the stained glass window. on the top, the mont saint-michel, and below, a partial view of archangel st. michael. this large twin bay with a trefoil arch replaced in a rectangular opening, that replaced itself a small romanesque bay in . this was also the case for the other twin bays. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . genêts. location. the village of genêts is located on the current coastal road between granville and avranches, kilometers north of avranches. the village is facing mont saint-michel, around kilometers far away. the medieval roads used by pilgrims to go to mont saint-michel started from saint-pair-sur-mer, coutances, saint-lô and caen to reach genêts. then they needed to cross dangerous shores to reach mont saint-michel, their final destination. in addition, the shore road between saint-pair and mont saint-michel was crossing bec d'andaine, near genêts. [illustration] . genêts. the village and its church. the church tower--with its saddleback roof, its balustrade and its gargoyles--emerges above the roofs of the village. genêts is a very old place. it was the tidal port of avranches, the capital of the region before its looting by the norman pirates in the th century. the barony of genêts was given in to the abbey of mont saint-michel by richard ii, duke of normandy, as well as the baronies of saint-pair and ardevon. the center of a barony and a deanery, genêts became an active town under the early norman dukes. in the early th century, there were nearly , inhabitants, and the church counted seven chapels and a full clergy. this was the most flourishing period. during the hundred years war, genêts was looted, fleeced and burned by the british troops from on. during the religion wars between catholics and protestants, genêts was again sacked in by the troops of the protestant montgomery. during the french revolution, genêts lost its juridiction of a seneschal, its sergentery, its deanery, its fairs and its markets, and went from being a town to being a village. the county town became sartilly. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . genêts. the church, beautifully made, is the work of robert torigni, abbot of mont saint-michel between and , who built it on the site of an older timeworn church. the romanesque church was consecrated in by herbert, bishop of avranches, along with roger, abbot of bec-hellouin. the church and cemetery of genêts were granted the title of (french) historic monument in . photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . genêts. the church is composed of a broad nave, a transept and a three-row choir with a flat apse. a massive tower topped by a saddleback roof rises at the transept crossing. the romanesque parts are the transept crossings, part of the transept arms and two-thirds of the tower. the porch before the south gate in the nave is from the th century. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . genêts. the church plan. regularly oriented from west to east, the building is formed by a wide nave, a transept and a three-row choir with a flat apse. the whole building has an external length of . meters. the external width of the nave is . meters (width of the front). the first row of the choir opens north and south on two flat apse chapels, that open themselves on the transept arms. plan by marie lebert. [illustration] . genêts. the north wall. the tower is romanesque for two-thirds of its height. its upper part was built in the early th century. the nave was completely rebuilt in the mid- th century. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . genêts. the romanesque transept, with its north part and its gable wall. the masonry is made from irregular blocks of schist and granite. the schist is the local stone. the granite probably came from the granite ground of avranches a few miles south-east. the gable wall is opened by a large semi-circular bay. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . genêts. the tower is situated at the transept crossing, with two floors. it is romanesque to two-thirds of his height, with blocks of granite of medium size, while the top is from the early th century, with much larger blocks of granite. the lower floor is blind. the upper floor is open to the north, south and west by walled-up romanesque twin bays, that were extended by gothic trefoil bays added in the early th century. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . genêts. the tower is topped by a saddleback roof, the base of which is hidden north and south by a balustrade with an openwork design. its corners are adorned with gothic gargoyles shaped as dogs, wolves and imaginary animals. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . genêts. a gothic gargoyle at another angle of the balustrade hiding the base of the saddleback roof of the tower. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . genêts. a gothic gargoyle at another angle of the balustrade hiding the base of the saddleback roof of the tower. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . genêts. the gate in the south transept. this heavy and simple gate is from th century, with semi-circular plain grains and thick columns. it probably belonged to the building that was prior to the romanesque church consecrated in . the semi-circular arch is formed of two thick non-molded grains. the external grain rests on two thick attached columns topped by a square chamfered abacus, which goes on as a chamfered band on the wall. the capital basket is carved with barely visible angle hooks. the outside ground level is now at the same level as the start of the column trunk. the square base is topped by a double torus is below ground level. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . genêts. sketch of the gate in the south transept. sketch by marie lebert. [illustration] . genêts. the romanesque transept crossing is bounded by four strong square piers. the two west piers are attached to the transept and the nave. they receive four thick triangular arches that surround the groin vault above the transept crossing. the first row of the choir opens north and south on two flat apse chapels, that open themselves on the transept arms. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . genêts. the romanesque transept crossing. the piers support four thick slightly triangular arches that surround the groin vault above the transept crossing. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . genêts. the romanesque transept crossing. the four piers are perfectly symmetrical, with two flat non-molded sides and two other sides with two attached twin columns on a backwall, that support the triangular arches. on one angle of each pillar, an attached column supports the spring of one arris of the vault. each pillar is topped by a large impost molded with a chamfered band. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . genêts. the romanesque transept crossing. one of the tower piers. two sides have a flat non-molded surface. on the other two sides, the arches are received by two attached twin columns on a backwall. in one corner, an attached column receives the spring of one arris of the vault. the carved basket capitals are topped by a thick square abacus. the square bases are topped by a double torus. the pier itself rests on a broader square base. the other three pillars are perfectly symmetrical to this one. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . genêts. sketch of the south-east pier in the transept crossing. this pier is topped by an impost molded with a chamfered band. east and south, the pier has a flat non-molded surface. north and west, the arches are received by two attached twin columns on a backwall. at the north-west angle, an attached column receives the spring of one arris of the vault. the carved capital baskets are topped by a thick square abacus. the pier itself rests on a broader square base. sketch by marie lebert. [illustration] . genêts. detail of the north-west pier in the transept crossing. the capital baskets, carved in low relief, are adorned with plant designs such as chestnut leaves, oak leaves with acorns, and vine leaves. other baskets are carved with grapes, animal designs--such as hares running around--or geometric designs--such as small arches and prominent bands. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . genêts. the porch. this large porch, from the th century, stands before the south gate of the nave, which is from the th century. the porch has offered pilgrims and parishioners two stone benches and a shelter from rain and western winds coming from the sea. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . genêts. the porch from the th century is topped by a wooden frame added in the th century. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . genêts. the porch. detail of the wooden frame added in the th century. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. location. the village of saint-léonard-de-vains is located at the very end of the cape of grouin du sud, . kilometers from the village of vains and kilometers from the town of avranches. the priory church stands in front of the bay of mont saint-michel and the rock of tombelaine. saint-léonard-de-vains was the final village of the medieval road coming from caen. then the pilgrims needed to cross the dangerous shores to reach mont saint-michel, their final destination. the priory church has become a private property since the french revolution, and the village is now part of the parish of vains. [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. winter panorama. the village and its priory church under the snow, at the end of the winter. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. winter panorama. the village and its priory church, seen a little closer, at the end of the winter. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. spring panorama taken from inside the priory. from there, the mont saint-michel seems to open itself to pilgrims and travellers. saint-léonard is a very old village. st. leonard lived there in the th century before being elected the eighth bishop of avranches in . the village was then invaded by the normans in the th century. after the norman conquest, the village was part of the duke of normandy's territory, and the fief of the lords of vains. in , shortly before his death, william the conqueror gave the priory to the abbey of saint-etienne in caen. in , henry ii confirmed this donation, which included a mansion, arable lands and vineyards, as well as salines with the right to fish and to collect kelp. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. spring panorama taken from inside the priory. the priory was a simple priory, that is to say a small monastery where some religious men detached from a main abbey were living under the direction of a prior, but without taking care of other souls (unlike a pastor for his parishoniers). the priory church was the property of the abbey of saint-etienne in caen until the french revolution. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the priory was sold in , during the french revolution, and the buyer turned the church into a farm building. in an article from the periodical le pays de granville dated december , jean bindet recounted that, "after the nationalization of the church properties in november and the sale of national properties from on, the priory and dovecote were left abandoned, and their ruins, with the church that had not suffered too much, were sold in for the sum of francs in banknotes ... the buyer, wanting its purchase to fructify, decided to transform the church into a farm building. the choir of the ancient church became a kitchen with a fireplace built in the apse; the nave became a barn and a stable; the tower itself was used: the base as a cellar, and the floor was divided into a room and an attic, and topped with a chimney." the priory remained a farm for a long time, as evidenced by the cow behind the fence. this old photo was digitized by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the priory church is still a private property in the late th century, but no longer a farm. in cooperation with the (french) historic monuments, the owner has turned the nave into a house by opening rectangular windows and revamping the interior. in , date of this photo, the tower and the choir are still in bad shape. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the priory church. the nave has become the owner's house in the late th century, which explains the rectangular doors and windows. the building has retained its original form though, with a nave strengthened by buttresses and a two-row choir with a flat apse. the tower, between choir and nave, is topped by a saddleback roof. in , the tower and the choir have not been restored yet. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the priory church. on this photo by the s, we still see the stairs leading to the first floor of the tower (they doesn't exist any more), as well as the rectangular openings of the tower and the choir, and the chimney above the choir. photo by marie lebert. [marie- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the priory church. on this recent photo by , the large rectangular openings pierced in the choir and the tower have been replaced by small bays of romanesque style. the stairs leading to the first floor of the tower were removed, like the chimney above the choir. the building is back to its former beauty. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the plan of the priory church. regularly oriented from west to east, the building is formed of a nave and a two-row choir with a flat apse. the whole building has an external length of . meters and an external width of . meters (width of the front). the tower rises between choir and nave. plan by marie lebert. [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the romanesque tower is from the early th century. situated in the extension of the choir, its square base is topped by two floors in slight recess. the first floor was probably blind originally, with openings pierced after the french revolution. the second floor is opened north, east and south by two twin semi-circular arches. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the romanesque tower. the masonry is made of irregular blocks of schist and granite, with a few rows of regular granite blocks. the saddleback roof rests north and south on a cornice supported by modillions. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the romanesque tower. on three sides--north, east and south--the second floor is adorned with two twin semi-circular arches, with a double grain formed by two rows of granite quoins. the arch rests on plain abutments through a square abacus, that goes on as an horizontal band along the wall. the cornice is supported by modillions carved with rough human heads or molded in quarter-round. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the romanesque tower. the second floor of the tower and its saddleback roof. two birds are resting. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the base of the romanesque tower and its north wall. this wall is strengthened by a central buttress surrounded by two semi-circular bays with an arch formed by a row of granite quoins. the lowered arch and abutments of the door are made of large blocks of granite. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the base of the romanesque tower and its north wall. the lower part of the wall consists of an opus spicatum (fishbone masonry) characterizing the th or early th century. the masonry of the upper part of the wall is made of regular blocks of granite. a row of badly damaged modillions is still visible above the bays. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the base of the romanesque tower, and its gate with its semi-circular arch and abutments in granite. the opus spicatum (fishbone masonry) of the masonry is a sign the church is early romanesque. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-léonard-de-vains. the base of the romanesque tower. inside, the tower rests on massive piers. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. location. saint-loup (also called saint-loup-sous-avranches) is located south-east of avranches, only kilometers from the town, in a hilly region close to the granite ground of avranches, making granite stones easily accessible. [illustration] . saint-loup. the church is the only entirely romanesque building remaining in the region. built by the lords of saint-loup, the church was under st. loup's patronage. the second saint is st. gilles. the parish belonged to the deanery of tirepied and the archidiachoné of avranches. the nave has three rows. the north and south walls are strenghtened by four buttresses on each side. three small semi-circular bays are still visible, two in the south wall and one in the north wall. the other bays were opened or enlarged thereafter. the church was granted the title of (french) historic monument in . photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. the church plan. regularly oriented from west to east, the building is formed by a two-row nave and a three-row choir with a semi-circular apse. the whole building has an external length of meters and an external width of . meters (width of the front). the tower rises above the first row of the choir. the north side chapel along the second row of the choir was added in by the lords of saint-loup. plan by marie lebert and bernard beck. [illustration] . saint-loup. the romanesque west front. strenghtened by two buttresses, the front wall is topped by a slight glacis behind which rises the gable wall. the bay with a triangular arch above the romanesque gate is probably from the th century. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. the romanesque west gate. its semi-circular arch is formed of two grains surrounded by a archivolt, which is a chamfered band. each grain has the following moldings: a thick angle torus, a listel, a shallow cavetto and a row of carved hollow saw-teeth. the grains rest on four attached columns. molded in quarter-round, the capital abaci go on as an horizontal band along the wall. the baskets are carved with rough sculptures: angle hooks or angle heads whose features were erased with the test of time. the square bases are adorned with a torus topping a chamfer carved with barely visible small claws. they rest on a small stone wall going on along the whole length of the front. the lintel is a big monolith block of granite, and it is topped by an opus reticulatum (diamond-shaped masonry) of diamond-shaped stones. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. sketch of the romanesque west gate. sketch by marie lebert. [illustration] . saint-loup. the south wall of the choir. in the first row, the south gate is flanked by two flat buttresses. between these buttresses, above the gate, the masonry is supported by a cornice with three large carved modillions. the first modillion is a grotesque human being putting his right hand to his mouth while folding his left arm. the second modillion is a human head. the third modillion is a crouched human being, with his hands on his knees. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. the romanesque tower rises above the first row of the choir. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. the romanesque tower. the masonry of its walls is made of regular granite blocks, that are smaller than for other parts of the church. the granite was extracted from the granite ground of avranches, that is close to saint-loup. in the foreground, on the right, this buttress belongs to the north side chapel adjacent to the second row of the choir. this chapel was added in by the lords of saint-loup. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. the romanesque tower. this square tower consists of two floors topped by a spire. the first floor is ornated north and south with large blind arcades. the second floor is opened by a bay on each side. the level between the two floors is underlined by a chamfered band. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. the romanesque tower. the upper floor is opened by a bay on each side. this bay is surrounded by a semi-circular arch formed by two grains surrounded by a chamfered band. each grain is molded with a thick angle torus followed by a listel and a broad shallow cavetto. on both sides of the bay, the grains rest on four small attached columns. the basket capitals are carved with geometric designs--angle hooks, half-circles--or human heads. these baskets are topped with a square abacus going on as a square horizontal band along the wall. the square base of the small columns is topped by a double torus. these bays are similar to the west and south gates, with the same moldings for the grains and similar sculptures for the capital baskets. photo by marie lebert. [marie- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. the romanesque tower. the lower floor is adorned north and south by a double blind semi-circular arch toped by a prominent band going on as an horizontal band on the bare wall and then on the east and west sides. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. the romanesque tower. on the lower floor, a small opus reticulatum (diamond-shaped blocks) is present at the corner between the twin arches. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. the romanesque tower. the upper floor is opened by a similar bay on each side. the semi-circular arch of the bays is formed of two grains surrounded by a chamfered band and resting on four small attached columns. the capital baskets are carved with geometric designs such as angle hooks and half-circles, while other baskets are carved with human heads. these bays are similar to the west and south gates, with the same moldings for the grains and similar sculptures for the capital baskets. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. the romanesque tower. the cornice rests on modillions carved with human heads or molded in quarter-round. most of the cornice was rebuilt during the rebuilding of the octagon spire on a square base, with skylights. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. the romanesque tower. detail of the cornice and its modillions carved with human heads. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. the romanesque south gate, in the first row of the choir. the semi-circular arch is formed of an grain surrounded by an archivolt made of a chamfered band. the grain is molded with a thick angle torus followed by a listel and a large shallow cavetto. the grain rests on two attached columns. the capital baskets carved with human heads are topped with abaci molded in quarter-round. photo by marie lebert. [marie- ] [illustration] . saint-loup. sketch of the romanesque south gate, in the first row of the choir. sketch by marie lebert. [illustration] . saint-quentin-sur-le-homme. location. the village of saint-quentin-sur-le-homme is located . kilometers south-east of the town of avranches, in the hills of the river sélune. saint-quentin was situated on the medieval road taken by pilgrims from tinchebray, condé-sur-noireau, falaise or lisieux to reach mont saint-michael. the parish of saint-quentin was one of the nine parishes around the episcopal church of avranches, grouped in the deanery of chrétienté (christendom). this deanery was part of the archidiachoné of avranches. [illustration] . saint-quentin-sur-le-homme. the large church has a rectangular narthex (wide porch) along the entire length of the front. the base of the tower and the nave are romanesque--probably from the second half of the th century--and have similarities with the church of saint-loup. several parts are from the th century: the narthex before the church front, the two floors of the tower, the three-row choir, and finally the south side chapel of the choir. the north side chapel was built later on, in the th or th century. the walls of the nave still bear the mark of the large bays that were opened in the th century to replace the small romanesque bays. the present bays date from , with a size similar to the original bays. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-quentin-sur-le-homme. the church plan. regularly oriented from west to east, the building is formed of a three-row nave and a three-row choir with a flat apse. the whole building has an external length of meters and an external width of . meters (width of the front). north and south, two large chapels are adjacent to the first two rows of the choir. they are so large that they look like transept arms. the tower is between choir and nave. the church front has a narthex (wide porch) on its entire length. plan by marie lebert. [illustration] . saint-quentin-sur-le-homme. the large tower, between choir and nave, rests on four thick piers that receive east and west two semi-circular arches with a double ring. the row between choir and nave is topped by a groin vault with an oblong plan. in the foreground, the wooden barrel vault of the nave was rebuilt in and . the nave pavings were laid in . the church walls were covered with lime plaster in . photo by marie lebert. [marie- ] [illustration] . saint-quentin-sur-le-homme. the large tower has a romanesque base and two floors from the th century, with a saddleback roof. in the foreground rises a romanesque wayside cross. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-quentin-sur-le-homme. detail of the romanesque wayside cross situated near the church. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-quentin-sur-le-homme. the church front is adorned on its entire length with a rectangular narthex (wide porch) from the th century, topped by a balustrade with an openwork design. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-quentin-sur-le-homme. the romanesque gate of the church front. this gate is surrounded by a semi-circular two-groin arch and an archivolt. the grains rest on four attached columns, with square bases adorned with a torus topped by a chamfer. the capitals baskets are carved with balls, heads with a prominent chin, and a human being on all fours. these rough sculptures are in high relief. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-quentin-sur-le-homme. the tower base and its romanesque gate. this walled-up gate is similar to the south gate of the church of saint-loup. his semi-circular arch is formed by a grain surrounded by an archivolt with a chamfered band. the grain is molded with a thick angle torus followed by a listel and a shallow cavetto. the grain rests on two thick columns through a band modled in quarter-round forming the abacus of the capitals and going on along the bare wall. the capital baskets are carved with a tree on the right and two human heads on the left. the bases are square. the left base is topped with a chamfer adorned with tiny triangular claws and a torus. the right base is topped by a double torus. the tympanum is formed by a large monolith block of granite resting on inside abutments through a band molded in quarter-round. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . saint-quentin-sur-le-homme. sketch of the south gate, that is walled-up at the base of the tower. sketch by marie lebert. [illustration] . sartilly. location. the town of sartilly is located on the road between granville and avranches, kilometers south of granville and kilometers north of avranches. sartilly was on the medieval road going from saint-lô to mont saint-michel, the final destination for many pilgrims. the parish of sartilly belonged to the deanery of genêts and the archidiachoné of avranches. the church is under st. pair's patronage. [illustration] . sartilly. the romanesque gate was the west gate of the romanesque church, and is now the south gate of the church that replaced it. the romanesque church, which was ready to collapse, was demolished and replaced in by a much larger building of gothic inspiration. photo by marie lebert. [marie- ] [illustration] . sartilly. the romanesque gate. the capital baskets are carved with various designs like oak leaves, acanthus leaves, scrolls framing an acanthus leaf at the corner, or corner curls. the sculptures, carved in high relief in granite, are much more elegant than in any other small church in the region. the square base of the columns is topped by a double torus. photo by marie lebert. [marie- ] [illustration] . sartilly. the old romanesque church, demolished in , in a drawing from the journal revue de l'avranchin dated - . this church was described in the minute book of the city council (registre des délibérations du conseil municipal) of sartilly of - : "the church we should replace is an old building (...) composed of: ) a dark nave which is meters and centimeters long and meters wide, with the lower part of its walls soaked with moisture and cracked in several places, and not standing straight anymore, particularly towards the end of the church; ) a tower between the nave and the choir (...); ) a choir which is meters long and meters wide (...)." photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . sartilly. the romanesque gate is in granite, which is the local stone, sartilly being located at the heart of the granite ground of vire. this gate, probably from the second half of the th century, is the most beautiful romanesque gate in the region. the moldings of the arch and archivolt are the result of meticulous work, as well as the sculptures of the capital baskets, with oak leaves, acanthus leaves and scrolls. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . sartilly. the romanesque gate. sketch of the arch, the archivolt and a column. this gate, which was the west gate of the romanesque church, is now the south gate of the church that replaced it. sketch by marie lebert. [illustration] . sartilly. the romanesque gate. the arch of the gate is formed of three grains: a grain with a lower centering, and two semi-circular grains surmounted by a archivolt. the first grain is molded with a thick angle torus followed by a listel and a large cavetto adorned with large and slightly rounded bezants. the second grain is molded with a thick angle torus. the third grain is molded with two tori surrounding a listel. the archivolt is a prominent cordon ornated with saw-teeth in high relief carved with a hollow row of triangular sticks. it rests on both sides on two carved heads with well designed features. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . sartilly. the romanesque gate. the left columns. on each side of the gate, the three grains rest on three attached columns through an impost molded with a cavetto. the square part of the impost is adorned with a small hollow molding. the impost goes on above the external pier supporting the archivolt. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . sartilly. the romanesque gate. the left side of the archivolt. the archivolt is formed by a band adorned with saw-teeth in high relief carved with a row of triangular sticks. on either side of the arch, it rests on a head carved in the granite. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . sartilly. the romanesque gate. the left side of the archivolt. detail showing the same carved head, in profile. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . sartilly. the romanesque gate. the right side of the archivolt. detail showing the second carved head on which the archivolt rests. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . sartilly. the romanesque gate. the right side of the archivolt. detail showing the same carved head, closer. photo by alain dermigny. [alain- ] [illustration] . end of this album, with a cap and its angel holding a shield, in the church of saint-pair-sur-mer. special thanks to alain dermigny and claude rayon for their beautiful pictures. many thanks to bernard beck, danièle cercel, georges cercel, philippe dartiguenave, al haines, nicolas pewny, martine valenti, marie-noëlle vivier and russon wooldridge for their kind help over the years. photo by claude rayon. [claude- ] copyright © marie lebert, alain dermigny, claude rayon. all rights reserved. ecclesiastical curiosities. [illustration: _from a photo by a. h. pitcher, gloucester._ porch, gloucester cathedral.] ecclesiastical curiosities edited by william andrews london: william andrews & co., , farringdon avenue, e.c. . [illustration: william andrews & co the hull press] preface. this volume is on similar lines to some of my previously published works, and i trust it will be equally well received by the public and the press. william andrews. the hull press, _december st, ._ contents. page the church door. by the rev. geo. s. tyack, b.a. sacrificial foundations. by england howlett the building of the english cathedrals. by the rev. geo. s. tyack, b.a. ye chappell of oure ladye. by the rev. j. h. stamp some famous spires. by john t. page the five of spades and the church of ashton-under-lyne. by john eglington bailey, f.s.a. bells and their messages. by edward bradbury stories about bells. by j. potter briscoe, f.r.h.s. concerning font-lore. by the rev. p. oakley hill watching-chambers in churches. by the rev. geo. s. tyack, b.a. church chests. by the rev. geo. s. tyack, b.a. an antiquarian problem: the leper window. by william white, f.s.a. mazes. by the rev. geo. s. tyack, b.a. churchyard superstitions. by the rev. theodore johnson curious announcements in the church. by the rev. r. wilkins rees big bones preserved in churches. by the rev. r. wilkins rees samuel pepys at church. ecclesiastical curiosities. the church door. by the rev. geo. s. tyack, b.a. that first impressions have no small influence in moulding the opinions of most people can scarcely be denied; and therefore in our estimate of the architectural value of a church the door is an element of some importance. a shabby and undignified entrance raises no expectations of a lofty and solemn interior; and that interior must be emphatically fine, if we are not to read into it some of the meanness of its portal. on the other hand, though the church be but plain and simple--so that it lack not a measure of the dignity which may well accompany simplicity--our thoughts will be raised and fitted to find in it something worthy of its high purpose, if we have been prepared by passing through a noble porch, and beneath a doorway that speaks itself the entrance to no ordinary dwelling. [illustration: door at crowle church.] in primitive times the approach to a church must have been full of dignity, the worshippers being warned, by successive gates and doors, of the sacredness of the building which they were about to enter. eusebius gives us a full account of a splendid church built at tyre by paulinus, from which we may gather the plan on which such buildings were erected in the primitive ages, when the means were forthcoming, and no opposition from the heathen world prevented. the whole church at tyre and its precincts were enclosed within a wall, at the front of which was a stately porch, known as the "great porch," or the "first entrance." passing through this the worshipper entered the courtyard, or _atrium_, round which ran a covered portico, or cloister, and in the centre of which was a fountain, or cistern, of water. opposite the "great porch" was the door into the church itself; at tyre there were (as in many of our cathedrals) three such doors, a large one in the centre, flanked by smaller ones at some distance along the wall. these opened into a vestibule, or ante-temple, from which admittance was gained into the nave of the church by yet another door or gate. each of the spaces formed by these several barriers had its special use. within the _atrium_ all the worshippers washed their hands as a preparation, both literal and emblematic, for assisting in the sacred mysteries; here, too, penitents under censure for the most flagrant sins remained during the divine offices, and besought the prayers of their brethren as they passed on to those holier courts, from which for a time they were themselves excluded. within this open courtyard, also, as in a modern churchyard, burials were sometimes permitted. the portico beyond the second entrance was the place for the "hearers," that is for those who were not yet sufficiently instructed in the faith to be allowed to be present except at the reading of the scriptures and the sermons (these were catechumens in their noviciate and the heathens and jews), and also for those christians who were degraded temporarily to the same position as a penance for some sin. beyond this portico, the nave was still further divided for the separation of different orders of penitents; so that the faithful in possession of all their privileges had quite a number of doors or gates through which to pass before reaching that place, immediately outside the apse, or chancel, which it was their right to occupy. in order that the several classes of persons attending church might be kept strictly within those portions of the building which were assigned to them, a special order of door-keepers existed in the church. the keys of the church were solemnly delivered to these _ostiarii_, and they were accounted to form the lowest in rank of the minor orders. the simple words of the commission, uttered by the bishop to the _ostiarius_, were, "behave thyself as one that must give an account to god of the things that are kept under these keys." such was the formula prescribed by the fourth council of carthage ( a.d.), and found in the roman ritual of the eighth century. this order of clergy was almost confined to the west, however; we find traces of its existence at one time at constantinople, but for the most part the deacons guarded the men's entrance, and sub-deacons or deaconesses the women's, in the east. [illustration: west door, holy trinity, colchester.] in the earliest english churches the entrance was of a very simple nature; for the artistic skill of the people was small, and their ideals were unambitious. the buildings consisted of a nave without clerestory, and a chancel; the door being placed in the centre of the western wall. a curious example of such a door meets us at holy trinity, colchester, although in this case it gives admittance not into the nave directly, but through the ancient tower. this tower, the oldest part of the church, has been constructed of the fragments of buildings older still; the roman bricks of the ruined city of camulodunum having been used to form it. in the western side is a narrow doorway, contained by two square shafts with very simple capitals, and having a triangular head with an equally simple moulding by way of drip-stone. the date is supposed to be between and a.d. a church perhaps yet older is that of s. lawrence at bradford-on-avon, which has a good claim to be the veritable structure reared by s. aldhelm in the first years of the eighth century. here there is a northern porch of unusual size in proportion to the rest of the building; the entrance to which is by means of an arched doorway, tall and narrow. the narrowness of some of these ancient doorways is remarkable. at sowerford-keynes is one, now built up, which, though nearly nine feet high, is but foot inches wide at the springing of the arch, widening towards the base to feet ½ inches. the jambs are of "short and long" work, and the abacus has a very simple zig-zag moulding. the arch itself is not built up, but carved out of one stone, which is cut square on the upper side and scooped into a parabolic curve on the lower. a double row of cable moulding decorates it. this, which has been called "one of the most characteristic specimens of saxon architecture in england," was the northern entrance to the church. another instance of a western door of simple design is supplied by crowle, or croule, in north lincolnshire. here we meet with a rectangular doorway, the top of which is formed of one long stone, on which is some antique carving and a fragment of a runic inscription.[ ] above this is a tympanum filled with diamond-shaped stones of small size. [footnote : see a full account of this stone in "bygone lincolnshire,"--vol. i, william andrews & co.] with the rise of the so-called norman style of architecture the doors of our churches took a handsomer form; and as the churches themselves were now formed on a larger and nobler plan, more than one entrance was often required. the usual door for the people was now commonly placed at the south side, except in churches connected (as were so many of our cathedrals) with monastic foundations. in this latter case the south side was generally occupied by the cloisters and other conventual buildings, and the people's door was therefore placed upon the north side. at this period, too, the church-porch begins its development; for, although porches in a strict sense were at any rate not usual, the door-way deeply sunk in the massive wall and protected by three, four, or even more concentric arches, suggests the more fully developed shelter of the porch. of doors of this kind any of our older abbey-churches will supply adequate, and often splendid, examples. the great north door of durham cathedral, and the smaller, but not less beautiful doors into the cloisters there, are fine instances. the west and north doors of the little cathedral of llandaff supply examples in another class of building; and even small and obscure parish churches are sometimes dignified with the possession of an entrance full of the massive solemnity of this norman work. the village church of heysham, on morecambe bay, has a south door well worthy of mention in this connection; and the lincolnshire church already cited, crowle, has an interesting doorway of this kind. as art progressed in christendom, and exhibited its growing force especially in the churches, the entrances thereto shared in the increasing splendour of the whole. the mouldings of the arches and the pillars, the elaboration of capitals and bases, all showed the evidence of devotion guided by taste and skill. and often something more than mere decoration was attempted; the opportunity was seized to add instruction, and figures of saints and angels, or complete scenes from scriptural or ecclesiastical story, filled the expanse of the tympanum or the niches of the columns. about the twelfth century, also, it became customary to divide the main entrance into two by means of a pillar, or a group of pillars; the two-leaved door being thus made symbolical of the two natures of christ, of whom, as durandus tells us, it is itself the emblem, "according to that saying in the gospel, 'i am the door!'" the continent presents some splendid examples of these decorated porticoes. the cathedral of strasburg, preserved as by a series of miracles in spite of every danger that can assail a building, fire, lightning, earthquake, and cannonade, has a very grand west entrance; its tall doors set within a number of receding arches, and the sharply-pointed gable which crowns them flanked and crested with tapering pinnacles. the french artists of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were unrivalled in the beauty and wealth of statuary with which they adorned their churches, and not least their doors. "the glory and the beauty" of the great porch at amiens has been set forth fully by ruskin, who has woven into one wonderful whole the meaning of the statues, which, like "a cloud of witnesses," throng the western front. but amiens is not alone; s. denis, paris, sens, angouléme, poictiers, autun, chartres, laon, rheims, vezelay, auxerre, and other cathedrals are all magnificent in this respect. the principal entrance to seville cathedral is flanked by columns upholding niches filled with figures of saints and angels, while the tympanum contains a carving of the entrance of the saviour into jerusalem on the first palm sunday. in the island of majorca, the south door-way of the cathedral of palma is exceptionally beautiful. the statue of the blessed virgin crowns the centre column, and above is the last supper. a record of the architect of this splendid piece of work is preserved in an old account book of the cathedral: "on january th, , master pedro morey, sculptor, master artificer of the south door, which was begun by him, passed from this life. anima ejus requiescat in pace. amen." the entrance in the west front is also a fine one, and is inscribed, "non est factum tale opus in universis regnis." [illustration: west door, higham ferrers church.] although in england we cannot match the gorgeousness of detail exhibited by the flamboyant architecture of some of the examples above noticed, yet we too have instances of which we may well be proud. the western front of peterborough cathedral, over the partial renovation of which there has recently been so much controversy between architects and antiquaries, has been pronounced to be "the grandest portico in europe;" but this has reference to the whole façade rather than to the door-way in itself. if our subject allowed of our taking so wide a view, the splendid west fronts of exeter, york, and others of our minsters, would demand a place of honour in the list. gloucester cathedral has a dignified porch over the south door, in which are the figures of a number of saints. the west door of rochester is also interesting; its decorated norman arches are richly carved, and enclose a tympanum covered with characteristic sculpture. of a different type is the graceful west door at ely, whose pointed arches are upheld by delicately cut shafts, the tympanum over the twin doorways being pierced by a double trefoil within a vesica. the parish church of higham ferrers has double western doors, separated by a bold shaft, above which is a niche (now unoccupied) for a statue. the tympanum, anciently divided by this figure, has five medallions on each side filled with sculptured scenes from the new testament, round which runs a scroll of conventional foliage. the neighbouring churches of rushden and raunds have also good double-leaved doors. to take one instance from the northern kingdom, s. giles's, edinburgh, has a dignified west entrance. many of the better examples of our modern churches have admirable porticoes, of which one example must suffice. all saints' church, cheltenham, has double doors within receding arches; the tympanum has the figure of our lord enthroned in glory surrounded by the saints, and the central shaft and the side pillars contain other statues. there is occasionally found in a cathedral, or other large church, a porch of unusual depth, known as a galilee. here, during lent, those assembled who were bidden to do public penance; the coming of maundy thursday being the signal for their admission once more into the church itself. ely has a western galilee entered by an arch, divided by a central pillar, and filled in the upper part with tracery. lincoln has a galilee, deep and dignified in plan, with a vaulted roof. another english cathedral so provided is that of chichester; and among parish churches the galilee is found at boxley, llantwit, chertsey, and s. woolos. of door-ways which, independently of considerations of date, size, or form, are noteworthy for their sculpture, there are many that ought to be mentioned. at lincoln, for instance, we have a south door carved with a doom, or last judgment, wherein we see the effigy of the divine judge surrounded by the dead rising from their opening graves. the north door at ely, the whole of the surrounding stone-work of which is elaborately carved, is surmounted by the figure of the lord enthroned within a vesica, while adoring angels kneel before him. at rougham, in norfolk, the west door is surmounted by a crucifix, round which runs the emblematic vine. founhope church, hereford, has in the tympanum of the arch the madonna and the holy child, a grotesque with birds and beasts surrounding the figures. at elkstone, gloucestershire, the south door-way, a specimen (like the one at founhope) of norman work, has some interesting sculptures. in the centre of the tympanum is christ enthroned, with the apocalyptic symbols of the evangelists around him; beyond these on the right hand of christ is the agnus dei with the flag, an emblem of the resurrection, while on the left is a wide open pair of jaws, known as a hell-mouth: above all the father's hand is seen in the attitude of benediction. elstow church has sculptured figures above the north door; not within the containing arch, but within a separate arched space divided from the door-way by a string-course. haltham church, in lincolnshire, has some exceedingly curious designs on the tympanum of the south door; they are mostly cruciform figures within circles, and are arranged with strange irregularity. the north door of lutterworth church has over it a fresco painting. [illustration: north door, elstow church.] several of the churches in brussels have door-ways which, though otherwise not remarkable, are noteworthy from the beauty of the carving of the central post dividing the two leaves of the door. the church of notre dame de bon-secours has the effigy of its patron saint crowned and robed, bearing the infant saviour; below are the emblems of pilgrimage, wallets, gourds, and cockle-shells. the church of la madeleine has a crucifix with a weeping magdalene at its foot. the old church of s. catharine has its patroness on the door-post, and the chapelle sainte-anne similarly has s. anne holding the blessed virgin by the hand. foliage or scrolls in each case fill up the rest of the column, which is of wood, and in some instances has been painted. so far, the doorways have occupied our attention; something must, however, be said of the doors themselves. the usual form of the old church door is familiar enough to all of us; the massive time-stained oak, the heavy iron nails that stud it, and the long broad hinges that reach almost across its full breadth. there is dignity in the very simplicity of all this; but not seldom far more ornate examples may be found. the most elementary form of decoration consists in merely panelling the door, as is the case in numberless instances; occasionally the panels themselves are carved, as on the "thoresby door," at lynn, or the door of s. mary's, bath; or tracery, as in a window, is introduced, as at alford, lincolnshire. these are but a few of the many instances which might be cited. another striking form of decoration is produced by hammering out the long hinges into a design covering, more or less, the surface of the door. the west door at higham ferrers, already noticed, has on each of its leaves three hinges, which are formed into wide spreading scrolls. sempringham abbey has very fine beaten ironwork spread over almost the entire face of the door. a more curious example is afforded by dartmouth church; where a conventional tree with spreading branches covers the door, and across this the hinges are laid in the form of two heraldic lions. the date is added in the middle of the work, . [illustration: door at lynn church.] in the decoration of the church door the mediæval blacksmith proves himself in a thousand instances, at home and abroad, to have been an artist. free from the hurry of the present age, he could work according to that canon of chaucer's, "there is no workman that can both worken well and hastilie, this must be done at leisure, perfectlie." with him it was not the hand only that wrought, nor even the hand and head; but the soul within him gave life to both. of the contrast between old ways and new, few examples are more striking than the hinges of the door at s. mary key, ipswich; where we have a simple but graceful scroll of ancient date, and a clumsy iron bar of to-day, lying side by side. for a beautiful design in beaten iron the doors of worksop priory may claim to have not many rivals. [illustration: south porch, sempringham abbey.] the most splendid doors in the world are probably the bronze doors of the baptistery at florence. other bronze doors there are on the continent, and all of them fine; aix-la-chapelle, mayence, augsburg, hildesheim, novgorod, all have doors of this kind; at verona, too, in the church of san zeno, are ancient examples, whereon are set forth in panels a number of subjects from holy scripture and from the life of the patron saint. all, however, fall into insignificance beside the "gates of paradise," as the florentines proudly call their doors. [illustration: door at dartmouth church.] in the gild of cloth merchants of florence decided to make a thank-offering for the cessation of the plague; and the form which it took was a pair of bronze doors for the baptistery of the church of s. giovanni, to correspond with some already there. these earlier ones are the work of pisana and his son nino, from designs by giotto; the creation of the new ones was thrown open to competition. many competitors appeared, of whom six were asked to submit specimens of designs for the panels; and, finally, when the choice lay between two only, the elder, brunellesco, himself advised that the commission should be entrusted to ghiberti, a youth then barely twenty years of age. the doors when completed contained twenty scenes from the saviour's life, together with figures of the four latin doctors and the four evangelists, set in a frame of exquisite foliage. this splendid work was surpassed by a second pair of doors subsequently made for the same place. in this there are ten panels setting forth scenes from the old testament history; and the frame is adorned with niches and medallions in which are placed some fifty allegorical figures and portrait heads. it was of these last doors, which were only completed in ghiberti's mature age, that no less a judge than michael angelo said, "they might stand as the gates of paradise itself." aix-en-provence claims that her doors are as peerless as examples of the wood-carver's art, as are the florentine ones as types of the metal-worker's. they have been preserved, it is said, from the sixth century, and are still wonderfully fresh and delicate. there are on each door six upper panels filled with figures of the twelve sybils; and below one large panel, occupied, in one case, by effigies of the prophets isaiah and jeremiah, and in the other by ezekiel and daniel. the carving is only occasionally exhibited, two masking doors having been cleverly contrived to protect and cover the real ones. many of the doors of our cathedrals and great abbey churches have knockers, often of very striking designs. these as a rule indicate that the places in question claimed the right of sanctuary; and the knocker was to summon an attendant, or watcher, to admit the fugitive from justice at night, or at other times when the entrance was closed. a curious head holding a ring within its teeth forms the knocker at durham cathedral; a lion's head was not an uncommon form for this to take, as at adel, york (all saints), and norwich (s. gregory's); a singularly ferocious lion's head knocker may be seen at mayence. the deep porch which we so frequently see over the principal door of the church was formerly something more than an ornament, or even a protection; it was a recognized portion of the sacred building, and had its appointed place in the services of the church. baptism was frequently administered in the church porch, to symbolize that by that sacrament the infant entered into holy church. there are still relics of the existence of fonts in some of our porches, as at east dereham, norfolk. when baptism was thus administered in the south porch, it was also customary, so it is alleged, to throw wide open the north door; that the devil, formally renounced in that rite, might by that way flee "to his own place." the font now usually stands just within the door. in the pre-reformation usage of the church the thanksgiving of a woman after child-birth was also made in, or before, the church porch; and concluded with the priest's saying, "enter into the temple of god, that thou mayest have eternal life, and live for ever and ever." the first prayer-book of edward vi. ordered the woman to kneel "nigh unto the quire door:" the next revision altered the words "to nigh unto the place where the table standeth;" and from elizabeth's days the rubric has simply said indefinitely "a convenient place." [illustration: _from a photo by albert e. coe, norwich._ erpingham gate, norwich.] the rubric at the commencement of the order of the solemnization of holy matrimony according to the sarum use began also in this way: "let the man and woman be placed before the door of the church, or in the face of the church, before the presence of god, the priest, and the people"; at the end of the actual marriage, and before the benedictory prayers which follow it, the rubric says, "here let them go into the church to the step of the altar." chaucer alludes to this usage when in his "canterbury tales" he says of the wife of bath-- "she was a worthy woman all her live, husbands at the church dore had she five." edward i. was united to margaret at the door of canterbury cathedral on september th, , and other mediæval notices of the custom occur. the first prayer-book of edward vi. introduced an alteration which has been maintained ever since; the new rubric reading that "the persons to be married shall come into the body of the church," just as it does in our modern prayer-books. in france the custom survived as late as the seventeenth century, at least in some instances, for the marriage of charles i., who was represented by a proxy, and henrietta maria was performed at the door of notre dame in paris. in herrick's "hesperides" is a little poem entitled "the entertainment, or, _a porch-verse_ at the marriage of mr. henry northly and the most witty mrs. lettice yard." it commences:-- "welcome! but yet no entrance till we blesse first you, then you, then both for white success." this was published in the midst of the great civil war, and seems to show that the custom of marriage at the church porch was still sufficiently known, even if only by tradition, to make allusions to it "understanded of the people." burials sometimes took place in the church porch, in those days when interment within the building was much sought after. ecclesiastical courts were frequently held in church porches, as at the south door of canterbury cathedral; schools were occasionally established in them; and here the dower of the bride was formally presented to the bridegroom. this last-named use of the porch is illustrated by a deed of the time of edward i., by which robert fitz roger, a gentleman of northamptonshire, bound himself to marry his son within a given time to hawisia, daughter of robert de tybetot, and "to endow her at the church door" with property equal to a hundred pounds per annum. we still have evidence of the fact that the church door was of old considered the most prominent and public place in the parish in the continued use of it as the official place for posting legal notices of general interest, such as lists of voters, summonses for public meetings, and so forth. there are often in connection with ancient ecclesiastical foundations doors and gateways which are of great interest, though they can scarcely be called church doors. of this class are the entrances to the chapter houses of cathedrals, many of which are very fine. at york, for example, the chapter-house, which proudly asserts in an inscription near the entrance that, "as the rose is among the flowers, so is it among buildings," has a doorway not unworthy of the beautiful interior. the gateway which gave admittance to the sacred enclosure of the abbey--the garth or close round which were ranged the monastic buildings--is in many cases an imposing and elaborate piece of architecture. bristol has an interesting norman gateway, and that at durham is massive and impressive, as are all the conventual remains there. norwich is specially rich in this respect. the erpingham gate was the gift of sir thomas erpingham, who died in , and whom the king, in shakespere's play of "king henry v." (act iv. sc. i), calls a "good old knight;" s. ethelbert's gate was built at the cost of bishop alnwick, who ruled the see from to . but to speak of these things is to wander from our present subject, and even that is too wide to be dealt with fully in a paper such as this. the legends and traditions of the church porch might occupy many a page, while we gossiped over the mystic rites of s. john's eve or of all hallow e'en; or while we told how ralph, bishop of chichester, barred his cathedral door with thorns in his anger against the king and his friends; or how the skins of marauding danes have in more than one instance been nailed as leather coverings to the doors of english churches. enough, however, has probably been said to show the wealth of interest which may often be found to hang about the old church porch, in which the village church may often be as rich as the great cathedral or the stately abbey. sacrificial foundations. by england howlett. in early ages a sacrifice of some sort or other was offered on the foundation of nearly every building. in heathen times a sacrifice was offered to the god under whose protection the building was placed; in christian times, while many old pagan customs lingered on, the sacrifice was continued, but was given another meaning. the foundation of a castle, a church, or a house was frequently laid in blood; indeed it was said, and commonly believed, that no edifice would stand firmly for long unless the foundation was laid in blood. it was a practice frequently to place some animal under the corner stone--a dog, a wolf, a goat, sometimes even the body of a malefactor who had been executed. heinrich heine says:--"in the middle ages the opinion prevailed that when any building was to be erected something living must be killed, in the blood of which the foundation had to be laid, by which process the building would be secured from falling; and in ballads and traditions the remembrance is still preserved how children and animals were slaughtered for the purpose of strengthening large buildings with their blood." "... i repent: there is no sure foundation set on blood, no certain life achiev'd by other's death." king john, act iv., sc. . shakespeare. to many of our churches tradition associates some animal and it generally goes by the name of the kirk-grim. these kirk-grims are of course the ghostly apparitions of the beasts that were buried under the foundation-stones of the churches, and they are supposed to haunt the churchyards and church lanes. a spectre dog which went by the name of "bargest" was said to haunt the churchyard at northorpe, in lincolnshire, up to the first half of the present century. the black dog that haunts peel castle, and the bloodhound of launceston castle, are the spectres of the animals buried under their walls. the apparitions of children in certain old mansions are the faded recollections of the sacrifices offered when these houses were first erected, not perhaps the present buildings, but the original halls or castles prior to the conquest, and into the foundations of which children were often built. the cauld lad of hilton castle in the valley of the wear is well known. he is said to wail at night: "wae's me, wae's me, the acorn's not yet fallen from the tree that's to grow the wood, that's to make the cradle, that's to rock the bairn, that's to grow to a man, that's to lay me." afzelius, in his collection of swedish folk tales, says: "heathen superstition did not fail to show itself in the construction of christian churches. in laying the foundations the people retained something of their former religion, and sacrificed to their old deities, whom they could not forget, some animal, which they buried alive, either under the foundation, or within the wall. a tradition has also been preserved that under the altar of the first christian churches a lamb was usually buried, which imparted security and duration to the edifice. this was an emblem of the true church lamb--the saviour, who is the corner stone of his church. when anyone enters a church at a time when there is no service, he may chance to see a little lamb spring across the choir and vanish. this is the church-lamb. when it appears to a person in the churchyard, particularly to the grave-digger, it is said to forbode the death of a child that shall be next laid in the earth." the traditions of copenhagen are, that when the ramparts were being raised the earth always sank, so that it was impossible to get it to stand firm. they therefore took a little innocent girl, placed her on a chair by a table, and gave her playthings and sweetmeats. while she thus sat enjoying herself, twelve masons built an arch over her, which when completed they covered over with earth, to the sound of music with drums and trumpets. by this process they are, it is said, rendered immovable.[ ] [footnote : "thorpe's northern mythology," vol. ii., p. .] it is an old saying that there is a skeleton in every house, a saying which at one time was practically a fact. every house in deed and in truth had its skeleton, and moreover every house was designed not only to have its skeleton, but its ghost also. the idea of providing every building with its ghost as a spiritual guard was not of course the primary idea; it developed later out of the original pagan belief of a sacrifice associated with the beginning of every work of importance. partly with the notion of offering a propitiatory sacrifice to mother earth, and partly also with the idea of securing for ever a portion of soil by some sacrificial act, the old pagan laid the foundation of his house in blood. the art of building in early ages was not well understood, and the true principles of architecture and construction were but little appreciated. if the walls of a building showed any signs of settlement the reason was supposed to be that the earth had not been sufficiently propitiated, and that as a consequence she refused to carry the burden imposed upon her. it is said that when romulus was about to found the city of rome he dug a deep pit and cast into it the "first fruits of everything that is reckoned good by use, or necessary by nature," and before the pit was closed up by a great stone, faustulus and quinctilius were killed and laid under it. the legend of romulus slaying his twin brother remus because he jumped the walls of the city to show how poor they were, probably arises out of a confusion of the two legends and has become associated with the idea of a sacrificial foundation. to the present day there is a general italian belief that whenever any great misfortune is going to overtake the city of rome the giant shadow of remus may be seen walking over the highest buildings in the city, even to the dome of st. peter's. sacrifice was not by any means confined to the foundations of buildings only. a man starting on a journey or on any new and important work would first offer a sacrifice. a ship was never launched without a sacrifice, and the christening of a vessel in these days with a bottle of wine is undoubtedly a relic of the time when the neck of a human being was broken and the prow of the vessel suffused with blood as a sacrificial offering. in our own time the burial of a bottle with coins under a foundation stone is the faded memory of the immuring of a human victim. so hard does custom and superstition die that even in the prosaic nineteenth century days we cannot claim to be altogether free from the bonds and fetters with which our ancestors were bound. grimm, in his german mythology, tells us: "it was often considered necessary to build living animals, even human beings, into the foundations on which any edifice was reared, as an oblation to the earth to induce her to bear the superincumbent weight it was proposed to lay upon her. by this horrible practice it was supposed that the stability of the structure was assured as well as other advantages gained." of course the animal is merely the more modern substitute for the human being, just in the same manner as at the present day the bottle and coins are the substitute for the living animal. in germany, after the burial of a living being under a foundation was given up, it became customary to place an empty coffin under the foundations of a house, and this custom lingered on in remote country districts until comparatively recent times. with the spread of christianity the belief in human sacrifice died out. in , holsworthy parish church was restored; during the work of restoration it was necessary to take down the south-west angle of the wall, and in this wall was found, embedded in the mortar and stone, a skeleton. the wall of this part of the church had settled, and from the account given by the masons it would seem there was no trace of a tomb, but on the contrary every indication that the victim had actually been buried alive--a mass of mortar covered the mouth, and the stones around the body seemed to have been hastily built. some few years ago the bridge gate of the bremen city walls was taken down, and the skeleton of a child was found embedded in the foundations.[ ] [footnote : "strange survivals," baring gould.] the practice of our masons of putting the blood of oxen into mortar was no doubt in the first instance associated with the idea of a sacrifice; however this may be, the blood had no doubt a real effect in hardening the mortar, just the same as treacle, which has been known to be used in our days. the use of cement when any extra strength is needed has put aside the use of either blood or treacle in the mixing of mortar. it is a curious instance of the wide spread of the belief in blood as a cement for ancient buildings that alá-ud-din khilji, the king of delhi, a.d. - , when enlarging and strengthening the walls of old delhi, is reported to have mingled in the mortar the bones and blood of thousands of goat-bearded moghuls, whom he slaughtered for the purpose. a modern instance is furnished by advices which were brought from accra, dated december th, , that the king of ashantee had murdered girls, for the purpose of using their blood to mix with the mortar employed in the building of a new palace. a foundation sacrifice is suggested by the following curious discovery, reported in the _yorkshire herald_ of may st, : "it was recently ascertained that the tower of darrington church, about four miles from pontefract, had suffered some damage during the winter gales. the foundations were carefully examined, when it was found that under the west side of the tower, only about a foot from the surface, the body of a man had been placed in a sort of bed in the solid rock, and the west wall was actually resting upon his skull. the gentle vibration of the tower had opened the skull and caused in it a crack of about two-and-a-half inches long. the grave must have been prepared and the wall placed with deliberate intention upon the head of the person buried, and this was done with such care that all remained as placed for at least years." the majority of the clergy in the early part of the middle ages doubtless would be very strongly imbued with all the superstitions of the people. the mediæval priest, half believing in many of the old pagan customs, would allow them to continue, and it is both curious and interesting to notice how heathenism has for so long a period lingered on, mixed up with christian ideas. it is said that st. odhran expressed his willingness to be the first to be buried in iona, and, indeed, offered himself to be buried alive for sacrifice. local tradition long afterwards added the still more ghastly circumstance that once, when the tomb was opened, he was found still alive, and uttered such fearful words that the grave had to be closed immediately. even at the present day there is a prejudice more or less deeply rooted against a first burial in a new churchyard or cemetery. this prejudice is doubtless due to the fact that in early ages the first to be buried was a victim. later on in the middle ages the idea seems to have been that the first to be buried became the perquisite of the devil, who thus seems in the minds of the people to have taken the place of the pagan deity. not in england alone, but all over northern europe, there is a strong prejudice against being the first to enter a new building, or to cross a newly-built bridge. at the least it is considered unlucky, and the more superstitious believe it will entail death. all this is the outcome of the once general sacrificial foundation, and the lingering shadow of a ghastly practice. grimm, in his "teutonic mythology," tells us that when the new bridge at halle, finished in , was building, the common people got an idea that a child was wanted to wall up in the foundations. in the outer wall of reichenfels castle a child was actually built in alive; a projecting stone marks the spot, and it is believed that if this stone were pulled out the wall would at once fall down. bones, both human and of animals, have been found under hearthstones of houses. when we consider that the hearth is the centre, as it were, and most sacred spot of a house, and that the chimney above it is the highest portion built, and the most difficult to complete, it seems easy to understand why the victim was buried under the hearthstone or jamb of the chimney. there is an interesting custom prevailing in roumania to the present day which is clearly a remnant of the old idea of a sacrificial foundation. when masons are engaged building a house they try to catch the shadow of a stranger passing by and wall it in, and throw in stones and mortar whilst his shadow rests on the walls. if no one passes by to throw a shadow the masons go in search of a woman or child who does not belong to the place, and, unperceived by the person, apply a reed to the shadow and this reed is then immured. in holland frequently there has been found in foundations curious looking objects something like ninepins, but which in reality are simply rude imitations of babies in their swaddling bands--the image representing the child being the modern substitute for an actual sacrifice. carved figures of christ crucified have been found in the foundations of churches. some few years ago, when the north wall of chulmleigh church in north devon was taken down there was found a carved figure of christ crucified to a vine.[ ] [footnote : "strange survivals," baring gould.] a story is told that the walls of scutari contain the body of a victim. in this case it is a woman who is said to have been built in, but an opening was left through which her infant might be passed in to be suckled by her as long as any life remained in the poor creature, and after her death the hole was closed. the legend of cologne cathedral is well known. the architect sold himself to the devil for the plan, and gave up his life when the building was in progress; that is to say, the man voluntarily gave up his life to be buried under the tower to ensure the stability of the enormous superstructure, which he believed could not be held up in any other way. it is well known that the extinguished torch is the symbol of departed life, and to the present day the superstitious mind always connects the soul with flame. it was at one time a common practice to bury a candle in a coffin, the explanation being that the dead man needed it to give him light on his way to heaven. it is extremely doubtful, however, whether this was the original idea, for most probably the candle in the first instance really represented an extinguished life, and was thus a substitute for a human sacrifice which, in the pagan times, accompanied every burial. the candle, in fact, took the place of a life, human or animal, and in many instances candles have been found immured in the walls and foundations of churches and houses. eggs have often been found built into foundations. the egg had, of course life in it--but undeveloped life, so that by its use the old belief in the efficacy of a living sacrifice was fully maintained without any shock to the feelings of people in days when they were beginning to revolt against the practices of the early ages. sir walter scott speaks of the tradition that the foundation stones of pictish raths were bathed in human blood. in the ballad of the "cout of keeldar" it is said: "and here beside the mountain flood a massy castle frowned; since first the pictish race, in blood, the haunted pile did found." from thorpe's "northern mythology" we learn that in denmark, in former days, before any human being was buried in a churchyard, a living horse was first interred. this horse is supposed to re-appear, and is known by the name of the "hel-horse." it has only three legs, and if anyone meets it it forebodes death. hence is derived the saying when anyone has survived a dangerous illness: "he gave death a peck of oats" (as an offering or bribe). hel is identical with death, and in times of pestilence is supposed to ride about on a three-legged horse and strangle people. the belief still lingers in germany that good weather may be secured by building a live cock into a wall, and it is thought that cattle may be prevented from straying by burying a living blind dog under the threshold of a stable. amongst the french peasantry a new farmhouse is not entered upon until a cock has been killed and its blood sprinkled in the rooms.[ ] [footnote : "strange survivals," baring gould.] it is probable that sacrificial foundations had their origin in the idea of a propitiary offering to the goddess earth. however this may be, it is certain that for centuries, through times of heathenism, and well into even advanced christianity, the people so thoroughly associated the foundation of buildings with a sacrifice that in some form or other it has lingered on to the present century. now in our own day the laying the foundation of any important building is always attended with a ceremony--the form remains, the sacrifice is no longer offered. for ecclesiastical buildings, or those having some charitable object, a religious ceremony is provided, while for those purely secular the event is marked by rejoicings. we cannot bring ourselves to pass over without notice the foundation laying of our great buildings, and who shall venture to say that superstition is altogether dead, and that we are free from the lingering remains of what was once the pagan belief? the building of the english cathedrals. by the rev. geo. s. tyack, b.a. of all the sins of the nineteenth century, the one which most militates against its attainment of excellence in art is its impatience. a work has been no sooner decided on, than there is a clamour for its completion. our cathedrals were for the most part reared in far other times, and are therefore admirable. growing with the stately, deliberate increase of the ponderous oak, they speak of days when art was original, sincere, patient, and therefore capable of great deeds; original, not in extravagance or eccentricity, but in the realization of the natural development of style, advancing from grace to grace, from the perfection of solidity to the perfection of adornment, by an unforced growth; sincere, in its confidence of its own capacity for fulfilling its appointed end, in its grasp of the possibilities in its materials, in its choice of the true, rather than the easy, method of working; and patient, finally, in its contentment to do in each age a little solidly and well, rather than a great deal indifferently, in its aim at artistic perfection in preference to material completeness. thus it is that none of our cathedrals are the work of one age, save those of salisbury and london, and even they have details which they owe to succeeding times. the above words are not intended to imply that our mediæval builders made no mistakes. the brief review of some of their work will show us proof to the contrary; but the mistakes were rare exceptions. if, for instance, a captious critic turns to peterborough, and points us to the defective foundations, which have recently required the rebuilding of the central tower, and the supposed necessity of reconstructing the west front, all that the case will prove is that our great monastic architects' work was not always absolutely eternal. "so there was jerry-building in those days too!" someone exclaims, with a note of triumph at the dragging down of the great ideals of the past to the level of the paltriness of the present. if such be the case, we reply, there were indeed giants in those days, the very "jerry building" of which rides out the storms of well-nigh seven centuries before revealing any fatal weaknesses. in considering these splendid buildings, of which the present century has happily proved itself no unappreciative heir, it will be of interest to devote a few lines to the means which were employed to raise funds for their construction. several illustrations of the methods employed in the case of cathedrals and other churches have come down to us. the story of the foundation of the new buildings at crowland abbey in , exhibits an outburst of popular enthusiasm which irresistibly recalls the free gifts of the hebrew people for the building of the first temple. "the prayers having been said and the antiphons sung," says peter blesensis, vice-chancellor under henry ii., "the abbot himself laid the first corner-stone on the east side. after him every man according to his degree laid his stone; some laid money, others writings by which they offered their lands, advowsons of livings, tenths of sheep and other church tithes; certain measures of wheat, a certain number of workmen or masons, etc. on the other side, the common people, as officious with emulation and great devotion, offered, some money, some one day's work every month till it should be finished, some to build whole pillars, others pedestals, and others certain parts of the walls." indulgences, remitting so many days' penance, were sometimes issued to encourage the gifts of the faithful. thus in the time of henry viii. a church brief was issued soliciting help towards the repair of kirby belers church, in leicestershire, part of which runs as follows:--"also certayne patriarkes, prymates, &c., unto the nombre of sixtie-five, everie one of theym syngularly, unto all theym that put their helpyng handes unto the sayd churche, have granted xl dayes of pardon; which nombre extendeth unto vij yeres and cc dayes, _totiens quotiens_." sometimes, by way of penance itself, a fine was imposed, which was devoted to a local building fund. gilbert, bishop of chichester, in certain constitutions promulgated in rules that every priest in the diocese who shall be convicted of certain scandalous sins shall "forfeit forty shillings, to be applied to the structure of chichester cathedral." in modern money this fine would amount to something like £ . walter, bishop of worcester, also ordained in that beneficed priests who dressed unclerically should be fined to the extent of a tenth of their annual revenue for the benefit of the building of his cathedral. a yet earlier order concerning laity as well as clergy was issued by the witan at engsham, in oxfordshire, in the year , which decides that "if any pecuniary compensation shall arise out of a mulct for sins committed against god, this ought to be applied, according to the discretion of the bishop," to one of several pious purposes, of which two are "the repair of churches, and the purchase of books, bells, and ecclesiastical vestments." another way of raising money was to exact a contribution from church dignitaries, as a kind of "entrance fee," on their accepting preferment. william heyworth, bishop of coventry, (a see now owning chester as its mother city), decreed in that "every canon on commencing his first residence should pay a hundred marks towards the structure of the cathedral, the purchase of ornaments," and other similar expenses. in , bishop ralph neville, of chichester, having died indebted to some of the canons of the cathedral, left by will a sufficient sum to discharge his obligations. but these ecclesiastical creditors decided that it should be devoted to "the completion of a certain stone tower, which had remained for a long time unfinished." the same canons bitterly complained because the pope had ordained that all vacant prebends throughout the country should remain unoccupied for a year, in order that their revenues might be devoted to the erection of the minster at canterbury; whereas they not unnaturally felt that the needs of their own cathedral had the first claim upon them. those churches which contained the shrines of popular saints drew, for the repair or enlargement of the fabric, no small revenue from the offerings of pilgrims. the eastern part of rochester cathedral was paid for by the moneys deposited at the tomb of s. william of perth; and the large sums given by visitors to the shrine of s. thomas of canterbury materially assisted in keeping the building in repair. unquestionably the sums needed for rearing these massive piles were in most cases given, either in money or in kind, by the faithful; sometimes the princely offerings of a few wealthy men, sometimes the countless small gifts of the multitude, have become transmuted into tapering spire, or ponderous tower, "long-drawn aisle and fretted vault." the poor, in some instances, as we have seen, voluntarily gave their labour; in others the hands of the monks themselves raised and cut the sculptured stones. in most cases the cathedrals which we now possess are not the first that have occupied their sites. some humble building, often reared by one of the pioneers of the faith, was in the majority of instances the shrine that first consecrated the spot to the service of god. it was in , during the visit of germanus and lupus, bishops of auxerre and of troyes, to aid in exterminating the pelagian heresy, that the earliest shrine of s. alban, a simple wooden oratory, was erected at verulam; s. deiniol built a little stave-kirk, or timber church, at bangor about ; and kentigern, some ten years later, raised the first religious establishment at llanelwy, or s. asaph; while where now the ruined cathedral of man rears its weather-beaten gables and sightless windows at peel, tradition says s. patrick consecrated s. germain first bishop of the southern isles in . many causes, however, combined to sweep away not only all traces of these earliest churches, but also in many instances more than one more solidly constructed successor. the growth of architectural taste and skill made men impatient of the rudeness of their forefathers' simple fanes; in a surprising number of instances the lightning-flash or the raging fire destroyed the buildings wholly or in part. the cathedrals of the north felt more than once the shock of the border wars; and civil strife, or religious fanaticism, wrought mischief in many others. thus it has come to pass that the centuries have seen four cathedrals in succession at hereford, at gloucester, and at bangor; and three at a multitude of places, canterbury, london, winchester, peterborough, lichfield, oxford, and half-a-dozen more. the incursions of the danes were answerable for the destruction of several of the earlier foundations. canterbury had a cathedral, the most ancient part of which had been erected, according to tradition, by lucius, the first christian king of the britons, and afterwards restored by s. augustine. to this, about the year , cuthbert, the archbishop, added a chapel for the interment of the occupants of the see; and odo, in the tenth century, enlarged and re-roofed it. but in the days of saintly alphege, in , the danish invaders fell upon the city, making of the church a ruin, and of its bishop a martyr. a similar fate befell the metropolitan church of the north. on the site where paulinus baptized king edwin and his two sons into the christian faith a little wooden oratory was raised, over which ere long edwin commenced to build a stone church, which s. oswald, his successor, completed. this, after having been beautified by s. wilfred, was burnt about , but re-built shortly afterwards by archbishop egbert. it was this latter building which fell before the danes. at ely the religious house founded by s. etheldreda, which was the precursor of the modern cathedral, was burnt by the same marauders about . rochester suffered in the same way; and no trace of the church built, so says the venerable bede, by king ethelbert himself now remains. peterborough has been particularly unfortunate in this respect. the first building here was begun by peada, king of mercia, in the seventh century. in the year the danes, on one of their forays, burnt church and monastery to the ground, and massacred the abbot and all his monks. in king edgar raised the place once more from its desolation, but again it was seriously damaged, though not absolutely destroyed, by the sea-kings shortly before the norman conquest. oxford was partially burnt in owing to the same people, but in a different way. a number of danes took refuge in the tower of s. frideswide to escape the senseless and brutal massacre organised on s. brice's day in that year, and the english fired the structure rather than suffer their prey to escape them. it will be convenient here, although it may take us in some cases away from those primitive foundations which so far we have considered, to glance at the other instances in which war has left its mark upon our cathedrals. hereford, lying near the welsh border, felt the storm and stress of warfare in . originally founded at some unknown date in very early english times, the church at hereford was rebuilt about by a noble mercian, named milfrid, and was repaired, if not actually renewed, by athelstan the bishop, who came to the see in . ten years before the norman conquest, however, griffith, prince of wales, at the head of a combined host of welsh and irish, crossed the marches and plundered and burnt the church and city. in the reign of hardicanute ( - ) the citizens of worcester, having risen against the payment of the ship-tax, were severely punished, a military force being sent to occupy their city. so thoroughly did it carry out the work of inflicting discipline on the malcontents, that the church, amongst other buildings, was left in ruins. the original church at gloucester was built in , as part of a conventual establishment; this was destroyed, and, after an interval, rebuilt by beornulph, king of mercia, sometime previous to . this church was looted by the danes, but restored by s. edward the confessor. in the year after the conquest, gloucester was occupied by the normans, whose entrance was not, however, accepted quite peaceably by the citizens; and in the tumult the cathedral was seriously injured by the one or the other party. exeter provides us with another case. here was a cathedral in early english days, which lasted until the time of bishop william warelwast, who began the erection of a new one in . during the stormy reign of stephen, the city was held for matilda and had to stand a siege by the king, to the great damage of the still unfinished church. to quote one further illustration only: bangor, whose wooden church was replaced by a stone one somewhere about , suffered grievously in the wars waged between henry iii. of england, and david, prince of wales, an episode in which was the destruction of the cathedral. [illustration: _from a photo by albert f. coe, norwich_ norwich cathedral.] the conquest of england by william, duke of normandy, had a vast influence on the ecclesiastical buildings of the country. on the continent art had advanced at a pace unknown in this island, and the plain and massive churches scattered over the land must have seemed very rude structures in the eyes of the prelates who came in the victor's train. s. edward the confessor, with his norman predilections, had no doubt accustomed his courtiers to some aspects of foreign art, and through his influence the so-called norman architecture preceded the normans in the country; but such instances of it as were to be seen must have been few, and probably confined to the southern counties. scarcely had the conqueror's throne been secured before his countrymen, placed in the abbeys and sees of england, began to rebuild, on new and grander plans, the churches under their charge. lanfranc, who ascended the throne of s. augustine in , set himself to the work of rebuilding canterbury cathedral, not contenting himself with any enlargement or embellishment of the older fane, but making a clean sweep of that, and beginning from the foundations. s. anselm, and the prior of the monastery, ernulph, took up the work and enlarged upon lanfranc's design, pulling down and re-building the choir. early in the next century, namely in , the new cathedral, completed under the supervision of conrad, successor to ernulph, was solemnly dedicated with great pomp in the presence of the kings of england and of scotland. [illustration: ripon cathedral.] meanwhile, thomas of bayeux, who became archbishop of york in the same year as that in which lanfranc obtained his english see, was busy rebuilding his minster at york. william of carilef commenced the magnificent pile, forming one of the finest norman churches in existence, which crowns the wear at durham, in ; and ralph flambard took up the work three years later, completing it in . london was deprived of its cathedral by fire probably about , and the work of restoration was at once undertaken by maurice, its norman bishop. in bishop walkelyn began the erection of a cathedral church at winchester, in the place of the old saxon building which had first been founded on the conversion of king cynegils, about . in all parts of the land, east and west, north and south, the builders were at work, rearing massive temples to the glory and honour of god. the chink of chisel and the blow of hammer rang everywhere in the ears of the eleventh century in england. bishop herbert losinga laid the first stone of norwich cathedral in , at which time remigius of fescamp had been some twenty years at work on that of lincoln, and had passed away, leaving the completion to others. the new norman cathedral of hereford was begun by robert losinga, who reigned as bishop from to . abbot simeon began to build the minster at ely about ; worcester was commenced by wulfstan in ; five years later the foundation of gloucester was laid; and in s. osmund consecrated the church of s. nicholas at newcastle. other cathedrals which were built, or rebuilt, at about the same date include those of carlisle, s. albans, rochester, chester, lichfield and oxford. surely never was an age so enthusiastic in building! all these cathedrals, many still remaining largely as their norman builders left them, most retaining many relics of their work, were commenced within the space of two reigns of by no means great duration, lasting only from to . the energy of the time was not, however, exhausted by the fervour of this outburst. the twelfth century took up and vigorously prosecuted the tasks handed on to it by the eleventh. among cathedrals which were entirely, or almost entirely, rebuilt during this century we have chichester, rochester, peterborough, lincoln, oxford, bristol, southwell, s. david's, llandaff, and ripon. in the first of these a great part of the work was done twice over within this period. ralph de luffa was bishop of the see when the cathedral was consecrated in ; two fires, however, did such serious damage to this building, the first in , and the second in , that it had practically to be re-constructed, and was re-dedicated in the year . the cathedral at rochester was largely re-built by john of canterbury between and , and like chichester suffered twice during the century from the ravages of fire. indeed, so frequently do we find mention of conflagrations in the cathedrals in the early mediæval days, that it is quite obvious that william i. was fully justified in taking such precautions against this enemy as the use of the curfew involved. in more than one instance the cathedral went up in flames as part only of a fire which destroyed a large portion of the town. [illustration: southwell minster.] the undertaking of new work at peterborough was the result of a similar cause. in the year fire destroyed almost the whole church and monastery, but in two years' time the re-erection had commenced, and was continued throughout the remainder of the century. the choir was ready for the resumption of the divine offices in , but the builders did not reach the end of their labours until . re-construction was necessitated at lincoln by the occurrence of an earthquake in , following once more upon a fire which took place in . the stone vaulting and the western towers were undertaken by alexander, bishop from to ; and in s. hugh of avalon, who held the see from to , began a thorough re-building of the pile. this work marks an epoch in the progress of architecture in england, as in the choir of s. hugh we meet with the earliest examples of the use of the lancet form of arch to which we can assign a known date. about the middle of this century a new church, not yet advanced to the dignity of a cathedral, was commenced at oxford, and by the year it was sufficiently advanced to allow of the translation of the relics of s. frideswide to their new shrine. in was founded the abbey of bristol, and its church was consecrated on easter day, , although the completion of the buildings occupied the attention of the abbots for many years after. southwell minster was also building during the first half of the twelfth century; peter de leia, who became bishop of s. david's in , commenced the erection of his cathedral four years later, following the example of arban, who entered upon the neighbouring see of llandaff in , and reared a mother church for his diocese. finally, ripon also saw the masons busily at work almost through the century. first thurstan, archbishop of york in , began the enlargement of the abbey church, and after him archbishop roger ( - ) entirely rebuilt it. but the record of the churches re-built during this century by no means exhausts the tale of work performed during that time. at winchester, for example, in the central tower fell, necessitating the building of a new one. lucy, bishop here from to , erected a new lady chapel and made other alterations. at hereford, too, operations were going forward almost throughout the century, the bishops reynelm ( - ) and betun ( - ) being especially energetic in pressing them on; and the closing years of this period saw the rearing of the eastern transepts. at this time also the beautiful galilee chapel was added to durham cathedral; ely was consecrated in , and towards the end of the century received its central tower and other additions; and s. albans, moreover, had a façade built on its western front by john de cella. the chronicle of the damages by fire during the twelfth century is not complete without mentioning that s. paul's, london, which was re-building during a large portion of that time, was injured by it in ; and the same foe destroyed the roof of worcester cathedral in the early days of the century. the period which our rapid survey has so far covered embraces broadly the eras of the norman and of the so-called early english architecture. in the thirteenth century the decorated style came into being, and with its rise arose also the desire for greater richness of ornament even in those churches which had already, to all appearances, been completed. on all hands, therefore, in this new century, we find the pulling down of portions of the stern norman work and the substitution of lighter and more graceful designs. the great work of the thirteenth century, however, was begun before the birth of the more florid style, and shows little trace of the dawning of its influence. salisbury cathedral was begun in , the work commencing, as was usual, at the eastern end and advancing westward. the whole was proceeded with continuously, and since its completion no alteration of any importance has been made in it. other cathedrals in england exhibit in almost every case a conglomerate of several orders of architecture, blended generally with great skill, but necessarily lacking to some extent in unity of design in consequence. in salisbury we have one complete and splendid example of english architecture of the best period, carried out from beginning to end with unbroken unity of purpose. other churches which then were, or were subsequently to become, cathedrals, dating in their present form from the thirteenth century, are those of lichfield, wells, manchester, bangor, and s. asaph. a norman church had been reared at lichfield of which very few relics have survived to the present day, a new building having been begun about the year , and the work of construction carried on for the major part of the century, the west front being reached about . bishop joceline was the chief founder of the existing cathedral at wells, most of the previous work having been taken down in his time, and the new church solemnly dedicated by him in . the church at manchester was probably built about , but the present building is of a later date. the cathedral at s. asaph suffered from the great mediæval enemy of such foundations, fire, twice during this period. on the first occasion, in , the troops of henry iii. of england must be held responsible for the destruction wrought; on the second, in , the outbreak was probably accidental. repairs, if not actual rebuilding, took place in consequence of these injuries towards the end of the century. bangor cathedral was probably also rebuilt about . fire played its old part throughout the century in providing work for the ecclesiastical masons, in other instances besides that referred to in the welsh diocese. the choir at carlisle was rebuilt probably about and the following years, but had scarcely been fully completed before it fell in a fire which destroyed a large portion of the city. in , s. nicholas, newcastle, was almost destroyed by the same fatal agency. worcester cathedral was again burnt in , and was rebuilt between then and sufficiently to be re-dedicated; although the retro-choir, the choir, the lady chapel, and some details were added at a later time in the same century. imperfections in the work of the preceding age were answerable for a certain amount of loss and consequent re-construction (not seldom actually a gain) in this. at lincoln, for instance, the central tower fell in , and was replaced by the present one, which has been described as one of the finest in europe. the east end of ripon had to be rebuilt owing to the structure giving way in ; and in consequence again of the fall of the tower, repairs had to be undertaken at s. david's in . the popular regard for hugh, the sainted bishop of lincoln, led to the building of one of the most beautiful sections of that minster, namely the angel-choir, erected as a worthy chapel for the shrine of s. hugh, between and . at hereford, the lady chapel was built about the middle of this century; and at ely, the presbytery and retro-choir at about the same date; at bristol, the elder lady chapel probably a little earlier; at southwell, the choir between and ; and the choir also at s. albans, in . several of our cathedral towers, moreover, besides that at lincoln, date from the thirteenth century. york, s. paul's, chichester and gloucester, all had the towers erected during this period. passing on to the fourteenth century, we meet with the same wide-spread activity, but it is expended now rather in additions and embellishments to existing buildings than in actual re-constructions. at ripon, the cathedral was partially burnt by the scots in , and later in the century the tower was struck by lightning. at s. alban's, part of the nave fell in , as did the tower at ely in . in each of these cases repairs were of course rendered needful. more important works were the rebuilding of the nave and transepts at canterbury at the end of the century ( - ), the erection of the zouche chapel at york about , the addition of both the central and the western towers to wells, the spires to peterborough, and the towers also to hereford. the fifteenth century is specially marked by the growing popularity of chantries and side chapels. we find them erected at this time at hereford and elsewhere; but little building on a large scale is done. in several cases the vaulting of the roofs dates from this period, and a good deal of internal carving in wood or stone was also done. among the latter we may note the high altar screen at s. alban's, and the stalls at carlisle and ripon. of the former work, reference may be made to the vaulting of part of the choir and transepts at norwich. the sixteenth century is not a pleasant one to contemplate in connection with our ancient cathedrals. ignorance and fanaticism were then beginning to show themselves in their treatment of the miracles of art bequeathed to the ages, and soon became more obvious than culture or reverence. this century saw the nave of bristol taken down, the spires removed from the towers of ripon, and other precautions against a threatened collapse; but steps were not taken to repair the losses thus caused. and in view of the nameless horrors perpetrated within the hallowed walls of churches and cathedrals, first by the extreme reformers, and in the next century by the puritans, in the name of religion, it is only wonderful that so much that is beautiful still survives. the one constructive work of the seventeenth century was, of course, the building of the cathedral of london, s. paul's, in the place of that "old s. paul's" which perished in the fire of . this building shares with salisbury the credit of complete unity, but is unique among english cathedrals in being classical in style. however much more admirable the gothic style may be admitted to be for ecclesiastical purposes, probably all will admit that the grandeur of st. paul's grows upon one the more familiar one becomes with it; and certainly no tower, or collection of towers, could possibly dominate a vast city like london in the way that wren's splendid dome does. the eighteenth century witnessed, among other things, the removal of most of the spires which down to that time had crowned the towers of many of the cathedrals. such was the case with hereford and wakefield; the same thing was attempted at lincoln in , but popular tumult saved the spires; only, however, until , when they were removed. of one work of construction the eighteenth century was also guilty; the year gave birth to that abortion among english cathedrals known as s. peter's, liverpool; with which, for nearly twenty years, the population of one of the wealthiest cities in the empire has been content! something in the way of restoration was attempted in this century, but it was for the most part done ignorantly, and no small part of the restoration of the nineteenth century has consisted in undoing so far as possible the work of the eighteenth. the present century has seen the commencement, on noble lines, of the cathedral of truro; and the beautifying of not a few of our old minsters, which had been stript almost bare by the destroyers of past times. happily, the guardians of these treasures of art and devotion have for the most part been conscious of the greatness of their trust, and the fabrics have been dealt with reverently and with judgment. amongst others, bristol, chichester, st. albans, and peterborough have required more or less extensive measures of re-building. ye chappell of oure ladye. by the rev. j. h. stamp. the sacred buildings designated by this title were dedicated to the service of god, in mediæval times, in honour of the mother of our lord. the veneration of s. mary, the blessed virgin, had been growing up in the church from the fifth century, when the reality of the incarnation of the son of god was first called into question by men who professed and called themselves christians. the defence of the true doctrine brought clearly into view the high dignity which god had conferred on the humble maiden of nazareth, and so reverence for her memory, as the most blessed among women, grew into veneration for her person as the mother of god. the faithful of the middle ages were, therefore, not content with simply retaining her name at the head of the list of saints, but raised the human mother to a position which was almost, if not quite, equal to that of her divine son. they conferred on her the title of "our lady," and hailed her as "the queen of heaven," just as they were accustomed to address the saviour as "our lord" and worship him as "the king of heaven." this title still survives in the terms which are so familiar to us, namely, "lady day" and "lady chapel." we see evidences of this growth of the _cultus_ of the blessed virgin in the erection and elaborate ornamentation of lady chapels throughout christendom. it does not seem probable, however, that our pious forefathers in the ancient church of england intended to encourage mariolatry, by the introduction of these buildings into this country; for it is a singular and significant fact that in spain, where this heretical and superstitious practice chiefly prevailed, lady chapels are very rare, because the church itself has been made to serve the purpose. english churchmen, in their desire to honour the mother of christ, were careful to avoid this evil example. the erection of smaller buildings, and the setting apart, for the purpose, of one of the side aisles rather than the sanctuary itself, tend to show that they did not assign to the blessed virgin that _divine_ honour which was due only to her son and lord. the usual position of the lady chapel, beyond the choir, has, indeed, been considered as a proof that the honour paid to "our lady" exceeded that which was rendered unto our lord, since the altar dedicated to her was set up beyond the high altar in the most sacred portion of the church, and, in that position, might be said to overshadow it. but the usual situation of the lady chapel, at the east end of the choir or presbytery, proves nothing of the kind. one celebrated writer on the subject disclaims the idea in the following words, "poole principally objects to the position of the lady chapel at the east end, 'above,' as he expresses it 'the high altar.' now we believe the lady chapel to have occupied the place merely on grounds of convenience, and not from any design--which is shocking to imagine--of exalting the blessed virgin to any participation in the honours of the deity."[ ] [footnote : durandus symbol. lxxxviii.] it is true that the lady chapel was generally erected at the extreme east end, or one of the aisles near the choir was used for the purpose, because it was considered the most sacred part of the church next to the sanctuary. it was erected at the east end of the abbey churches of westminster and s. albans; in the cathedral churches of winchester, salisbury, chichester, exeter, gloucester, worcester, wells, hereford, chester and manchester; at christ church, hants, where there is a chantry above, called s. michael's loft, which once served as the chapter house of the priory, but in modern times has been converted into a schoolroom; and also at the parish church of s. mary redcliffe, bristol, where it is situated over a thoroughfare, after the example of several churches in exeter. but the ecclesiastics and architects of the middle ages did not consider themselves bound, by a hard and fast rule, to set up the lady chapel at the east end. if an available site could be found beyond the choir the chapel was erected in that position, otherwise, the north aisle of the church, or a convenient site near the choir, was utilised for the purpose. the building has been erected on the north or south side of the choir or nave, and even at the west end when deemed expedient. it was erected on the _north_ side at the cathedrals of canterbury, oxford, bristol, and peterborough; at the abbeys of glastonbury, bury st. edmunds, walsingham, thetford, wymondham, belvoir, llanthony, hulme, and croyland, where there was a second lady chapel with a lofty screen, in the south transept.[ ] it is on the _south_ side at kilkenny and at elgin cathedral. it stands in a similar position over the chapter house at ripon minster. sometimes it was placed above the chancel, as in compton church, surrey; compton martin, somerset; and darenth, kent; or over the porch, as at fordham, cambs. at ely cathedral it is connected with the extremity of the north transept. at wimborne minster it stands in the south transept, whilst at rochester cathedral and at waltham abbey, essex, it was erected at the west of the south transept. at durham cathedral an attempt was made to build a lady chapel at the east end, but owing, it is said, to the supernatural intervention of s. cuthbert, whose relics were deposited in the choir, the building was erected instead at the west end, where it stands under the name of the galilee chapel. the original lady chapel at canterbury also stood in this unusual position, until the days of archbishop lanfranc, - , when it was removed and the present building set up at the east end. the _aisles_ were also frequently used as "ye chappell of oure ladye," as at haddenham, cambs. [footnote : "gough's history of croyland. ."] the practice of dedicating chapels to the blessed virgin was introduced into this country during the twelfth century, shortly after the monastic orders had gained the supremacy over the parochial clergy. these buildings were generally founded not only to satisfy the spirit of the age, which demanded the veneration of the mother of our lord, but also to afford the necessary accommodation at the east end for the increased number of clergy. the founders, moreover, hoped to secure an augmentation of the revenues, by the offerings of the faithful at the shrines of the new chapels, as appears to have been the case at walsingham, norfolk; all hallows, barking; and s. stephen's, westminster. the building, in many instances, became the depository of the relics of a saint. the galilee chapel at durham, dedicated to s. mary the virgin in , contains the bones of the venerable bede, the earliest historian of the church of england, who died at jarrow-on-tyne, on the eve of ascension day, a.d. . these relics were translated, in , from the tomb of s. cuthbert, and placed in the chapel, in a magnificent shrine of gold and silver. the lady chapel at oxford contains the shrine of s. frideswide, the daughter of the founder of the convent, and its first prioress, whose relics were translated from the north choir aisle in . this chapel is now called the dormitory, as the remains of several deans and canons have been laid to rest within its walls. the lady chapel has frequently served as the mausoleum of saints, princes, noblemen, and dignitaries of the church. the stately and magnificent edifice at westminster, known as henry the seventh's chapel, was built for this purpose in , by the first tudor monarch, on the site of the original lady chapel, erected by henry iii. in . the royal founder, his wife, and other royal personages now await the resurrection in the tomb set up in this famous building. the lady chapel at s. mary's, warwick, which is said to be the chief ornament of that church, was also built as a tomb-house in , by richard beauchamp, earl of warwick. their desire to rest in the chapel, dedicated to the blessed virgin, was closely associated with the idea which chiefly moved our forefathers to erect these buildings. they had been taught to believe in the invocation of saints, and were anxious to secure, for themselves and their dear ones, the mediation and intercession of the mother of our lord, whose influence with her divine son, they supposed, was all prevailing. so they founded these chapels in her honour, and solicited her good offices on their behalf by frequent services and prostrations before her image, which occupied the place of honour above "oure ladye's altar" crowned as the queen of heaven, and profusely adorned with splendid jewels and exquisite embroidery. they believed, moreover, that as she could succour the living, so she would prevail with her son on behalf of the dead. these sacred buildings were, accordingly, used also as chantries, where masses were offered daily, and the intervention of "oure ladye s. mary" was solicited to secure the release of the souls of the faithful departed from the flames of purgatory, through which, it was supposed, they must pass, to be purified from all the defilements of their earthly course, and "made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light." in frescoes on the walls, and in paintings on the windows, the virgin was represented, interceding for the souls of the faithful as they came forth to judgment. after the dissolution of monasteries by henry viii., and the suppression of chantries by edward vi., many of these buildings shared the fate of the conventual churches to which they were attached. in some places the lady chapel was left to decay, and disappeared in the course of a few years, like that at norwich, which fell into a ruinous condition as early as . in other localities it was allowed to stand until the turbulent days of the commonwealth, as at peterborough, where it was taken down to supply materials for the reparation of the cathedral, which had been greatly injured by cromwell's soldiers. in several places it was appropriated to other uses, and even divested of its sacred character. the elegant chapel at ely, erected - , and said to have been one of the most perfect buildings of that age, was assigned at the reformation to the parishioners of holy trinity to serve as their parish church, and is now called trinity church. the splendid specimen at s. albans was separated from the presbytery by a public thoroughfare, which was made through the antechapel, and a charter of edward vi. transferred the sacred building to the authorities of the ancient grammar school, and it was used as a schoolroom until the restoration in . at s. mary redcliffe, bristol, the lady chapel has also been used for scholastic purposes, and at waltham abbey it has accommodated not only parochial schools but public meetings and petty sessions. among existing lady chapels, king henry the seventh's chapel occupies the first place for magnificence. the first tudor monarch, in his anxiety to make his peace with god before his death, and to commemorate the union of the houses of york and lancaster, determined to found a chapel in honour of the blessed virgin, "in whom," he declares in his will, "hath ever been my most singulier trust and confidence, ... and by whom i have hitherto in al myne adversities ever had my special comforte and relief." he also made due provision for the celebration of masses and the distribution of alms "perpetually, for ever, while the world shall endure" for the welfare of his soul. the laying of the foundation stone is recorded by the ancient chronicler as follows: "on the th daie of january / a quarter of an houre afore three of the clocke at after noone of the same daie, the first stone of our ladie chapell, within the monasterie of westminster, was laid by the hands of john islip, abbot of the same monasterie ... and diverse others."[ ] after its completion it was so universally admired, that leland the antiquary describes it as "_orbis miraculum_"--the wonder of the world. about fifty years after its dedication the services, for which it was specially designed by its royal founder, were brought to an end by the act of parliament which suppressed the chantries throughout the kingdom, and then followed three centuries of gross neglect which reduced it to "an almost shapeless mass of ruins," as it was described in . four years later, in , dean vincent obtained a parliamentary grant for the restoration of the building, and the necessary repairs were completed in . the chapel still retains much of its ancient splendour, and the elegant and elaborate ceiling is a marvel of architectural skill. it has been used since the year for the installation of the knights of the bath, and their banners are suspended over the old carved _misereres_ or _misericordes_ of the monks. [footnote : holinshed.] "ye chappell of oure ladye" at s. alban's is also a most elegant specimen of the buildings, dedicated to the blessed virgin. the foundations appear to have been laid by john de hertford, abbot from to . but at the election of hugh de eversdone, in , the walls had only reached the level of the underside of the window sills, a height of ten feet above the ground. during his rule he laboured so assiduously to complete the work, that in a short time he finished it. the building, at its dedication, was so rich in detail that it is described by ancient writers as "a magnificent sight." the work of abbot hugh included the exquisite carvings in stone, which represent about seventy different specimens of forms in nature. during its use as a grammar school, from to , the interior suffered much injury from the hands of the schoolboys, and was allowed to fall into a state of ruin and decay. shortly after the removal of the school in , a restoration was undertaken by the ladies of hertfordshire, but their good intentions were not carried into effect, through lack of the necessary funds. lord grimthorp then generously came to the rescue, and through his munificence the chapel has been thoroughly and judiciously restored. it now stands once more in all its glory, as a perfect gem of architecture and one of the most elegant lady chapels in christendom. "ye chappell of oure ladye" at waltham abbey is said to be one of the richest specimens of mediæval architecture in essex. the building has been greatly defaced since the suppression of chantries, but still bears traces of its original glory. "the lady chapel," says the late professor freeman, "must have been a most beautiful specimen of its style, but few ancient structures have been more sedulously disfigured." it was erected before a.d. , as, during that year, roger levenoth, an inhabitant, endowed the chantry, with a house and acres of land in roydon. the chapel was in a flourishing condition in the reign of edward iii., as we find from the return made in obedience to the royal order, which was issued to the master of the ceremonies of every guild and chantry in the king's dominions. in the court language of that period, which was norman french, roger harrof and john de poley, the chantry priests, are described as "meisters de la petit compaignie ordeigne al honor de dieu et ure donne seyncte marie en la ville de waltham seynte croice." the architect selected, as the site of the building, the space formed by the easternmost bay of the south aisle of the nave and the western side of the south transept. this peculiar position indicates that it was not the work of the monks, but that of the parishioners, who were allowed the use of the nave as their parish church from the days of king harold ii., the founder. a well-known antiquarian writes: "it seems to have been built by the parishioners, and not by the abbot and convent, and its position is due to its occupying the only available spot, and where only two walls wanted building. a similar case occurs at rochester. where the abbey built the lady chapel it was usually east of the transept--at the east end if there was room, at the north side if otherwise."[ ] the parishioners could not erect their lady chapel at the east end, because the choir or presbytery had been used as the monastic church from the days of henry ii., who, to atone for the massacre of thomas à becket, archbishop of canterbury, changed the secular foundation of harold, and introduced an abbot and monks of the augustinian order. another lady chapel had probably been erected at the east end for the use of the monks, in accordance with the custom of the age, but this shared the destruction which befell the whole of the eastern portion of the church after the dissolution of the monastery in . the preservation of the parish lady chapel is therefore due to its position at the west of the presbytery. in a transcript by peter le neve, norroy king at arms, , it is stated that a chapel was dedicated at waltham in the year , by william de vere, bishop of hereford, "in honore dei [et gloriosæ virginis mariae] et b. martyris atque pontificis thomae nomine."[ ] this has led to the conjecture that reference is made to the existing building,[ ] or to that which formerly stood at the east end.[ ] but the original waltham manuscript shows that it does not refer to a lady chapel at all, but to the chapel of s. thomas of canterbury.[ ] [footnote : w. h. st. john hope, f.s.a.] [footnote : harl. ms. , fol. .] [footnote : gentleman's magazine, april, , and may, .] [footnote : the builder, april , .] [footnote : harl. ms. , fol. .] the masonry of the exterior of the two walls erected when the chapel was founded, consists of alternating bands of stone, squared bricks, and flint, so that it produces a "poly-chromatic effect."[ ] there are three large buttresses of considerable projection, with pedimented sets-off and slopes, one being situated at the south-west angle, and the other two on the south of the building. two smaller buttresses also occupy a place on the south. niches, with pedestals for images, are still standing in the primary buttresses. [footnote : professor freeman.] the interior of the chapel measures feet inches in length, feet in breadth, and feet in height. it is approached by a steep ascent of nine long narrow stone steps, which are situated near the south-west buttress. the ancient doorway is beautifully decorated with ball flowers. the floor stands at an elevation of nearly five feet above the floor of the chancel, an arrangement which appears to be peculiar to waltham. it was apparently built at this high level to add to the loftiness of the crypt below, which was a capacious chamber of much importance in olden times, and consists of two wide bays of quadripartite vaulting. there is no way of access from the interior of the church, but "the chapel is connected with the south aisle by a single arch of poor and ordinary architecture, a sad contrast to the glorious romanesque work of the nave."[ ] at the west end there is a large and beautiful six-light, square-headed window, with a rich and peculiar arrangement of a double plane of tracery, the inner plane consisting of three arches. this window, and the four elegant windows of three lights on the south side, are supposed to have been filled with stained glass, like that of the chapter house at york minster, and other buildings of the same period. at the extreme south-east of the building the remains of the ancient sedilia and piscina may still be seen. the walls were adorned with distemper paintings, chocolate coloured vine-leaves on a yellow ground running round the spandrels and windows. this decoration probably included a series of paintings, representing scenes in the life of the mother of our lord, and concluding with her assumption and coronation as the queen of heaven. there was also a representation of the last judgment in which "our lady" occupied the place of honour near her divine son and lord, interceding for the faithful as they appeared before their judge. on the removal of the plaster from the east wall during the restoration in , the remains of a fresco of "the doom" were discovered, and here are depicted the judge of all mankind in the scarlet robes of majesty, the virgin as intercessor, s. michael the archangel, presiding over the balances in which souls are weighed, the apostles as assessors, bishops and abbots with the keys of s. peter, admitting the faithful into the holy catholic church, human forms emerging from the grave, the path of life, the chains of everlasting darkness, demons clothed in flames, and the jaws of hell. the space under this fresco was probably occupied by beautiful statuary, the image of the blessed virgin standing in the centre, immediately above the altar of "our ladye." at the dissolution of the monastery "a table of imagery of the xii. apostles," belonging to this chapel, was valued at ten shillings. a few fragments of statuary, supposed to have formed part of this decoration, were discovered during the restoration of the abbey church in , and have been inserted in the south-east wall of the chancel. these relics of the splendid past include the mutilated stone figures of four saints, probably the evangelists, beautifully carved, and a representation of the crucifixion in black marble, but the ornament of precious metal, with which it was adorned, has long since disappeared. [footnote : professor freeman.] the altars, desks, and tables in the lady chapel were covered with plates of silver, as in the crypt beneath, which was also, in those days, a splendid chantry, served by its own priest, who was called "the charnel priest." the sacramental vessels and plate, which were of great value, were sold after the suppression. dr. thomas fuller, incumbent of waltham abbey in , gives the following extracts from the churchwarden's accounts: " . _imprimis._--sold the silver plate which was on the desk in the charnel, weighing five ounces, for twenty-five shillings. guess," adds the historian, "the gallantry of our church by this (presuming all the rest in proportionable equipage) when the desk whereon the priest read was inlaid with plate of silver." " . _item._--received for two hundred seventy-one ounces of plate, sold at several times for the best advantage, sixty-seven pound fourteen shillings and ninepence."[ ] the inventory of goods made by order of henry viii. also mentions "iiii. tables [of oure ladye] plated with sylver and gylte, every one of them with ii. folding leves." the chapel was furnished besides with "a lytell payre of organes," valued at xxs., at the dissolution of the monastery, when thomas tallis, the father of english church music, was organist of the abbey church, and presided at the "greate large payre of organes" in the choir. he was assisted by john boston, of waltham, who probably performed on the smaller instrument in the lady chapel. both names are mentioned in the pension list, tallis receiving xxs. for wages and xxs. reward, and boston iiis. for wages and iiis. reward. [footnote : history of waltham abbey, cap. .] a large number of wax tapers and candles was consumed annually at the various services held in the lady chapel and crypt. in the return made by sir roger harrop and sir john de poley, masters of the two chantries in the reign of edward iii., it is stated that every man and woman in this guild paid a yearly subscription of sixpence towards the expenses, and at the feasts of "oure ladye" all "christiens" of the company gave five burning tapers (_tapres ardant_); in honour of our lord four large torches; and on other special occasions fifteen tapers. lights were also kept burning during the solemn requiem and funeral services, when prayers were offered that perpetual light might shine upon the souls of the departed. it is most likely that this impressive ceremonial had been observed in both chantries, when the body of queen eleanor rested for the night in the abbey church on its way to westminster, and again when the remains of her royal consort, edward i., were deposited for three months before the tomb of harold. the wax in stock for these memorial services at the suppression was sold by the churchwardens as follows: "_item._--sold so much wax as amounts to twenty six shillings." dr. fuller remarks on this transaction, "so thrifty the wardens that they bought not candles and tapers ready made, but bought the wax at the best hand and paid poor people for the making of them. now they sold their magazine of wax as useless. under the reformation more light and fewer candles."[ ] [footnote : history of waltham abbey, cap. v.] in the days of the chantry, lands, tenements, and other gifts were presented and bequeathed that "obits" or prayers for the dead might be offered before the altar and image of "oure ladye." dr. fuller gives the following account of "obits" at waltham: "the charge of an obit was two shillings and two pence; and, if any be curious to have the particulars thereof, it was thus expended: to the parish priest, three pence; to our lady's priest, three pence; to the charnel priest, threepence; to the two clerks, four pence; to the children (these i conceive choristers) three pence; to the sexton, two pence; to the bellman, two pence; for two tapers, two pence; for oblation, two pence. o, the reasonable rates at waltham! two shillings and two pence for an obit, the price whereof in s. paul's, in london, was forty shillings! for, forsooth, the higher the church, the holier the service, the dearer the price, though he had given too much that had given but thanks for such vanities. to defray the expenses of these obits, the parties prayed for, or their executors, left lands, houses, or stock to the churchwardens."[ ] these obits were abolished when the chantries were suppressed in the first year of the reign of king edward vi. "now," says dr. fuller, "was the brotherhood in the church dissolved, consisting as formerly of three priests, three choristers, and two sextons; and the rich plate belonging to them was sold for the good of the parish. superstition by degrees being banished out of the church, we hear no more of prayers and masses for the dead. every obit now had its own obit, and fully expired; the lands formerly given thereunto being employed to more charitable uses."[ ] [footnote : cap. iv.] [footnote : cap. v.] since the suppression both chantries have been stripped of almost all their glory. the beautiful statuary in the lady chapel has disappeared, the decorated walls were covered with plaster, the west window blocked up, three of the elegant south windows were partly bricked up, and the fourth was converted into a door-way. the building was entirely separated from the church by a wall of lath and plaster, and the west front obscured by the erection of an unsightly porch, which also concealed from view the grand south norman entrance to the abbey church. the exterior walls were covered with cement, in imitation of classic rustic work. the chapel has been used during the last three centuries for various purposes, some of which were degrading in the extreme to its sacred character. it has been used as a vestry, parochial schoolroom and lending library, also for public meetings and petty sessions, and, in its darkest days, as a store-room. the crypt has also passed through many changes, and has been stripped of its original splendour. it retained much of its beauty for a century after the suppression, as dr. fuller writes during his incumbency:--"to the south side of the church is joined a chapel, formerly our lady's, now a school-house, and under it an arched charnel-house, the fairest that i ever saw."[ ] this beautiful chantry, which is partly underground, has been used since as a sepulchre for the dead, a prison cell for the living,[ ] a receptacle for human bones, a coal cellar and heating chamber. [footnote : history of waltham abbey, cap. i., .] [footnote : the quakers were incarcerated here during the reign of charles ii.] the lady chapel resumed its sacred character in , after it had been carefully restored by sir t. fowell buxton, bart., k.c.m.g.[ ] whose seat, warlies park, is situated in the parish. the modern porch was removed from the west end, the large arch in the south wall of the church re-opened, and the five elegant windows were made good. a splendidly carved memorial screen has since been erected under the arch by the parishioners, and some beautifully carved altar rails set up at the east end. the arms of the abbey and parish of waltham holy cross are represented on the screen, namely, two angels exalting the cross. the appearance of the interior is, however, still mean and bare, when compared with its former magnificence, although so much has been done to rescue from a state of degradation and neglect, this interesting relic of mediæval times, "ye chappell of oure ladye." [footnote : now governor general of south australia.] some famous spires. by john t. page. it is practically impossible to point to the exact date when spires first assumed a place in the category of ecclesiastical architecture. they belong to the gothic style, and like the pointed arch were evolved rather than created. the low pointed roof of the tower gradually gave place to a more tapering finish, but the transition was by no means progressive, and cannot be clearly traced. some of the earliest attempts at spire-building were uncouth and ungraceful, and even in these days the addition of a spire to a modern church does not necessarily add to its beauty. this is nearly always the case where an undue regard is paid to ornamentation, either at the base, or on the surface of the spire itself. undoubtedly the most beautiful spires are those which at once spring clear from the summit of the tower and gradually rise needle-like towards the blue vault of heaven. by far the greater number of our principal spires date from the fourteenth century--a time when spire-building appears to have reached the zenith of its glory. splendour and loftiness combine to render the examples of this period distinguished above those of any other. northamptonshire has been well termed the county of "squires and spires," and it is probably within its borders that the largest number of really beautiful spires may be found. a journey from northampton to peterborough along the nene valley is never to be forgotten for the continually recurring spires which greet the eye of the traveller at almost every point. rushden, higham ferrers, irchester, raunds, stanwick, oundle, finedon, aldwinckle s. peter's, barnwell s. andrew, and many others all combine to render the term "valley of spires" peculiarly appropriate to this district. these spires of course cover a wide area. the two finest groups of spires are those of coventry and lichfield. when the cathedral at coventry, with its three spires, was in existence in immediate proximity to the churches of s. michael's and holy trinity, the group formed "a picture not to be surpassed in england," and even now, with christ church added, the "ladies of the vale," of lichfield, suffer somewhat in comparison. in point of height the cathedral spires of salisbury and norwich hold their own, while for beauty of outline louth must be mentioned, and for elaborateness of detail the spire of grantham. it now remains to give a cursory glance at some of our most famous spires, and to endeavour to enumerate some of their chief characteristics. the spire of salisbury cathedral rises from the centre of the main transept to a height of feet. this is, without doubt, the tallest of our english spires.[ ] it is octagonal in shape, and springs from four pinnacles. the surface is enriched with three bands of quatre-foiled work, and the angles are decorated throughout with ball-flower ornament. from a storm in it received some damage, and was, under the direction of sir christopher wren, braced with ironwork. it does not appear to have moved since then, but from experiments made in it was found to be out of the perpendicular ½ inches to the south, and ¼ inches to the west. on the st of june, , it was struck by lightning and set on fire, but did not receive any great damage, and in , by means of an ingenious wicker-work contrivance suspended from the top, extensive repairs were carried out. the name of the architect who conceived this lofty tower is unknown, but the date of its erection was probably at the beginning of the fourteenth century. [footnote : the spire of old saint paul's, which dated from the thirteenth century, rose to a height of feet. it was destroyed by lightning on the th of june, . the spire of lincoln cathedral measured feet, and was destroyed in . these are the two highest spires which have ever been erected in england.] the spire of norwich cathedral rises to a height of feet, and on a clear day can be seen for a distance of twenty miles. it was probably built by bishop percy in the latter half of the fourteenth century. about one hundred years after, it was struck by lightning, but the damage was speedily repaired. in the upper part was blown down, and was re-built in . the three spires of coventry are those of s. michael's, holy trinity, and christ church. of these, s. michael's is the chief, being feet high. amongst parish churches, it is therefore the tallest. the base consists of a lantern flanked by four pinnacles, to which it is connected by flying buttresses. its erection was commenced in the year , and completed in . at the restoration of the church, which took place in , the tower was found to have been erected on the edge of an old quarry, and it cost no less a sum than £ , to add a new foundation. during the most critical period of the work the structure visibly moved, and the apex of the spire now leans ft. in. out of the perpendicular towards the north-west. [illustration: louth church spire.] holy trinity spire is feet high, and much less ornate than s. michael's. during a violent tempest of "wind, thunder, and earthquake," which occurred on the th of january, , it was overthrown, and much injury was done to the church in consequence. the re-building was finished in . it has been completely restored in recent years. the spire of christ church is some little distance away from the other two. it is octagonal in shape, and rises from an embattled tower to a height of feet. it was restored in . lichfield cathedral contains three spires within its precincts. the grouping is, therefore, more uniform than that of coventry, although the general effect is not thereby accentuated. the central spire rises to a height of feet, and the two which grace the west front are each feet high. in the time of the great civil war, when lichfield was besieged, the central spire was demolished. after the restoration, it was re-built by good old dr. hackett. the spire of chichester cathedral, built in the fourteenth century over a rotten sub-structure, was destroyed by its own weight in . it was feet high, and has now been re-built in its original style on a slightly higher tower. the story of its fall has often been told. on the night of wednesday, the th of february, , a heavy gale occurred. the next day, about twenty minutes past one o'clock, the spire was observed to suddenly lean towards the south-west, and then to right itself again. soon after, it disappeared into the body of the cathedral, sliding down like the folding of a telescope. only the coping-stone and the weather-vane fell outside, the rest of the masonry formed a huge cairn in the centre of the edifice, which was practically cut into four portions by the wreck. the present spire was completed in . in lincolnshire there are two remarkable spires at louth and grantham. the one at louth rises to a height of feet. at the corners of the tower are four tall turret pinnacles to which the spire is connected by flying buttresses. in it was struck by lightning; steps were at once taken for its restoration, which was completed three years later. grantham spire is octagonal in shape, and feet in height. it is very light and graceful in appearance, and is richly ornamented with sculpture. it suffered from lightning in , and again in . since the latter date sixteen feet of the masonry has been removed from the summit and re-built. the church of s. mary redcliffe, bristol, has been aptly termed by the poet chatterton, "the pride of bristowe and the western land." the spire rises to a height of feet, and has lately been restored at a cost of upwards of £ , . in , during a storm, the greater part of the original spire fell through the roof of the church, and for about four centuries it remained in a truncated state, although the damage done to the interior was speedily repaired. the spire of s. mary's, shrewsbury, is feet high, and rises from an embattled tower, the four corners of which contain crocketed pinnacles. during a gale on the night of sunday, the th of february, , about feet of the masonry of the spire crashed through the church roof and did enormous damage. this has, however, since been repaired. a memorial stone on the west wall of the tower tells how one thomas cadman, was killed on the nd of february, , when attempting to descend from the spire by a rope. for elaborateness of detail, the spire of s. mary the virgin, oxford, surpasses all others in this country. its apex is some feet from the ground, and around the base of the spire clusters a mass of richly decorated pinnacles, small spirelets, and canopies containing statues. the effect is picturesque in the extreme, and lends to the town of oxford a unique charm. its conception dates from the fourteenth century, but it has been much restored and added to since. of the northamptonshire spires, oundle is the loftiest, being feet high. it bears date , but this evidently refers to a re-building. it was partly taken down again and rebuilt in . it is hexagonal in shape, and the angles are crocketed. raunds church is surmounted by an octagonal broach spire feet high. it was struck by lightning on the st of july, , and about feet of the masonry was shattered. this was at once rebuilt at a cost of £ , s. d. the octagonal spire of higham ferrers is feet high, and was rebuilt after destruction by a storm of wind in . rushden spire is an octagon feet high, and richly crocketed. at its base flying buttresses connect it with pinnacles at the corners of the tower. the spire at finedon rises from an embattled tower to a height of feet; that of stanwick is feet high, and that of irchester feet. space forbids more than a passing allusion to the fine spires of newcastle cathedral, s. mary de castro, leicester, ross, herefordshire, and olney, bucks. the latter rises to a height of feet. at its summit is a weathercock which, when taken down for regilding in , was found to contain the following triplet-- i never crow, but stand to show where winds do blow. several of the spires which have been mentioned are perceptibly out of the perpendicular, but in this respect the "tall twisted spire of chesterfield has no rival either in shape or pose." it is no less than feet high, and the wonder to many is that it has for so long maintained its equilibrium. various conjectures have been made to account for the grotesque twist which the spire assumes; but none of these seems so likely as that which accounts for it by the combined action of age, wind, and sun. there are those who aver that it never was straight, and never will be, and one such person even goes so far as to attempt this statement in rhyme as follows:-- "whichever way you turn your eye it always seems to be awry, pray can you tell the reason why? the only reason known of weight is that the thing was never straight, nor know the people where to go to find the man to make it so." however this may be, it is satisfactory to note that a movement has recently been set on foot to collect subscriptions towards its much needed repair. when speaking of salisbury cathedral spire, allusion was made to the repairs being carried out from a wicker-work contrivance suspended from the top. this was not the first time that wicker-work had been used for such a purpose, for in the spire at s. mary's, islington, was entirely encased in a cage composed of willow, hazel, and other sticks, while undergoing repair. an ingenious basket-maker of s. albans, named birch, carried out the work, and constructed a spiral staircase inside the cage. his contract was to do the work for £ paid down, and to be allowed to charge sixpence a head to any sightseers who liked to mount to the top. it is said that in this way he gained some two or three pounds a day above his contract. people and steeple rhymes are by no means uncommon; perhaps the most spiteful is that relating to an essex village:-- "ugley church, ugley steeple, ugley parson, ugley people." the yorkshire village of raskelfe is usually called rascall, and an old rhyme says:-- "a wooden church, a wooden steeple, rascally church, rascally people." mr. william andrews, in his "antiquities and curiosities of the church" (london, ), gives many examples of "people and steeple rhymes." there is a never-ending romance connected with the subject of spires. every one possesses some story or legend. spirits are supposed to inhabit their gloomy recesses, and are even credited with their construction. there is certainly an uncanny feeling connected with the interior of a spire, even on a sunny summer's day, and given sufficient stress of howling winds and gloomy darkness, one can almost imagine a situation conducive to the acutest kind of devilry. so much for the interior of spires. what sensations may be produced by climbing the exterior is given to few to experience. the vast majority of mankind must perforce content themselves with a position on _terra firma_, whence they may with pleasure and safety combined behold "----the spires that glow so bright in front of yonder setting sun." the five of spades and the church of ashton-under-lyne. by john eglington bailey, f.s.a. on the old tower of the church of ashton-under-lyne there was formerly an old inscription, which incidently testifies to the popularity of cards in england at a period when the notices of that fascinating means of diversion are both few and of doubtful import. cards were given to europe by the saracens at the end of the fourteenth century, and the knowledge of their use extended itself from france to greece. the french clergy were so engrossed by the pastime that the synod of langres, , forbad it as unclerical. at bologna, in , s. bernardin of sienna preached with such effect against the gambling which was indulged in, that his hearers made on the spot a large bonfire with packs of cards taken out of their pockets. under the word [greek: chartia] du cange quotes extracts from two greek writers, which show that cards were popular in greece before . chaucer, who died in , and who indirectly depicted much of the every-day life of his countrymen, does not once mention cards. but they begin to be noticed about the time of edward iv. and henry vi. the former king prohibited the importation of "cards for playing," in order to protect the english manufacture of them. an old ale-wife or brewer, in one of the chester plays or mysteries, is introduced in a scene in hell, when one of the devils thus addresses her:-- welcome, deare darlinge, to endless bale, usinge cardes, dice, and cuppes smale with many false other, to sell thy ale now thou shalte have a feaste. a more interesting notice of cards occurs in the _paston letters_, where margery paston, writing on "crestemes evyn" of the year , tells her husband that she had sent their eldest son to lady morley (the widow of william lovel, lord morley), "to hav knolage wat sports wer husyd [used] in her hows in kyrstemesse next folloyng aftyr the decysse of my lord, her husbond [who died th july, ]; and sche sayd that ther wer non dysgysyngs [guisings], ner harpyng, ner lutyng, ner syngyn, ner non lowde dysports; but pleyng at the tabyllys, and schesse, and cards: sweche dysports sche gaue her folkys leve to play and non odyr." the lady adds that the youth did his errand right well, and that she sent the like message by a younger son to lady stapleton, whose lord had died in . "sche seyd according to my lady morlees seyng in that, and as sche hadde seyn husyd in places of worschip [_i.e._, of distinction: good families] ther as [= where] sche hath beyn." this letter opens up an interesting view of the amusements which at the time were introduced into the houses of the nobility and gentry during christmas-tide. at that festival cards from the first formed one of the chief amusements. henry vii., who was a great card player, forbad cards to be used except during the christmas holidays. their ancient association with christmas is seen in the kindness of sir roger de coverley, who was in the habit of sending round to each of his cottagers "a string of hogs'-puddings and a pack of cards," that good old squire being doubtless of the opinion of dr. johnson, who, with a deeper human insight than s. bernardin and henry vii., could see the usefulness of such a pastime: "it generates kindness and consolidates society." the inscription i have alluded to takes us back to the reign of an earlier english king than those named--henry v., who reigned - . in his time, it seems, viz., in , the steeple of ashton church was a-building; when a certain butcher, alexander hyll, playing at noddy with a companion, doubtless in the neighbourhood of the church, swore that if the dealer turned up _the five of spades_ he would build a foot of the steeple. the very card was turned up! hyll, like a good catholic, performed his promise, and had his name carved, a butcher's cleaver being put before _alexander_, and the five of spades before _hyll_. a new tower was erected in , when the church was enlarged; but the stone containing the curious inscription was somewhere retained, for it was visible in the time of robert dodsworth, the industrious yorkshire antiquary, and the projector and co-worker with dugdale of the _monasticon_. dodsworth, being at ashton on the nd of april, , copied the inscription, stating that it was on the church steeple. he wrote down the tradition, adding that its truth was attested by henry fairfax, then rector there, second son of thomas fairfax, baron de cameron (dodsworth's mss. in bibl. bodl., vol. , fol. ). the eldest son of lord fairfax was ferdinando, the celebrated general of the commonwealth, and the generous patron of dodsworth. henry, the younger son, at whose rectory-house dodsworth was entertained on the occasion of his lancashire visit, is described by oley (in his preface to george herbert's _country parson_) as "a regular and sober fellow of trinity college in cambridge, and afterwards rector of bolton percy in yorkshire." he held, besides, the rectory of ashton from, at least, till , when he was forcibly ejected; and that of newton kyme. he was a correspondent of daniel king, author of _the vale royal_, for he had antiquarian tastes like his brother. he died at bolton percy th april, . the tower of ashton church, as rector fairfax knew it, was taken down and re-built in , by which time all recollection of that ancient piece of cartomancy in connection with the steeple had passed out of mind. let it be hoped that while the tradition was lively, pleasanter things were said of hyll, when the five of spades was thrown upon the card tables of ashton, than assailed the name of dalrymple when the nine of diamonds--the curse of scotland--came under the view of tory scotchmen. we may bestow on hyll the card-player's epitaph:-- his card is cut--long days he shuffled through the game of life--he dealt as others do: though he by honours tells not its amount, when the last trump is played his tricks will count. "noddy" is, of course, the very attractive game of "cribbage." a great aunt of mine still living at ashbourne, with whom i used to play when a boy, always called it by that name. it is one of the court games, _temp._ james i., noticed by sir john harrington:-- now noddy followed next, as well it might, although it should have gone before of right; at which i say, i name not anybody, one never had the knave yet laid for noddy. the same is also alluded to in a satirical poem, , entitled, _batt upon batt_:-- shew me a man can turn up noddy still, and deal himself three fives, too, when he will; conclude with one and thirty, and a pair, never fail ten in hock, and yet play fair; if batt be not that night, i lose my aim. bells and their messages. by edward bradbury. do not imagine that this is an essay on campanology, on change-ringing, grandsires, and triple bob-majors. do not fancy that it will deal with carillons, the couvre-feu, or curfew bell, with the solemn passing bell, the bell of the public crier, the jingling sleigh bell, the distant sheep bell, the noisy railway bell, the electric call bell, the frantic fire bell, the mellow, merry marriage peal, the sobbing muffled peal, the devout angelus, or the silvery convent chimes that ring for prime and tierce, sext, nones, vespers, and compline. do not conclude that it will describe bell-founding; and deal with the process of casting, with technical references to cope, and crook, and moulding, drawing the crucible, or tuning. it is of bells and their associations and inscriptions that we would write, the bells that are linked with our lives, and record the history of towns, communities, and nations; announcing feasts and fasts and funerals, interpreting with metal tongue rejoicings and sorrowings, jubilees and reverses; pæans for victories by sea and land; knells for the death of kings and the leaders of men. as we write, the bells of our collegiate church are announcing with joyous clang the arrival of her majesty's judge of assize. before many days have passed another bell in the same town will tell with solemn toll of the short shrift given by him to a pinioned culprit, the only mourner in his own funeral procession. bells are sentient things. they are alike full of humour and pathos, of laughter and tears, of mirth and sadness, of gaiety and grief. one may pardon toby veck, in charles dickens' goblin story, for investing the bells in the church near his station with a strange and solemn character, and peopling the tower with dwarf phantoms, spirits, elfin creatures of the bells, of all aspects, shapes, characters, and occupations. "they were so mysterious, often heard and never seen, so high up, so far off, so full of such a deep, strong melody, that he regarded them with a species of awe; and sometimes, when he looked up at the dark, arched windows in the tower, he half expected to be beckoned to by something which was not a bell, and yet was what he had heard so often sounding in the chimes." the bells! the word carries sound and suggestion with it. it fills the air with waves of cadence. "those evening bells" of thomas moore's song swing out undying echoes from ashbourne church steeple; alfred tennyson's bells "ring out the false, ring in the true" across the old year's snow, and his christmas bells answer each other from hill to hill. there are the tragic bells that sir henry irving hears as the haunted mathias; "les cloches de corneville" that agitate the morbid mind of the miser gaspard; and the wild bells that edgar allen poe has set ringing in runic rhyme. "bell," says the old german song, "thou soundest merrily when the bridal party to the church doth hie; thou soundest solemnly when, on sabbath morn, the fields deserted lie; thou soundest merrily at evening, when bed-time draweth nigh; thou soundest mournfully, telling of the bitter parting that hath gone by! say, how canst thou mourn or rejoice, that art but metal dull? and yet all our sorrowings and all our rejoicings thou art made to express!" in the words of the motto affixed to many old bells, they "rejoice with the joyful, and grieve with the sorrowful"; or, in the original latin, gaudemus gaudentibus, dolemus dolentibus. an old monkish couplet makes the bell thus describe its uses-- laudo deum verum, plebem voco, congrego clerum: defuncto ploro, pestum fugo, festa decoro. "i praise the true god, call the people, convene the clergy; i mourn for the dead, drive away pestilence, and grace festivals." who that possesses--to quote from cowper--a soul "in sympathy with sweet sounds," can listen unmoved to ----the music of the village bells falling at intervals upon the ear, in cadence sweet--now dying all away, now pealing loud again, and louder still, clear and sonorous, as the gale comes on. the same poet makes alexander selkirk lament on his solitary isle-- the sound of the church going bell these valleys and rocks never heard, ne'er sigh'd at the sound of a knell, or smiled when a sabbath appeared. longfellow has several tender references to church bells. he sets the bells of lynn to ring a requiem of the dying day. he mounts the lofty tower of "the belfry old and brown" in the market place of bruges-- not a sound rose from the city at that early morning hour, but i heard a heart of iron beating in the ancient tower. from their nests beneath the rafters sang the swallows wild and high; and the world, beneath me sleeping, seemed more distant than the sky. then most musical and solemn, bringing back the olden times, with their strange unearthly changes rang the melancholy chimes. like the psalms from some old cloister, when the nuns sing in the choir; and the great bell tolled among them, like the chanting of a friar. visions of the days departed, shadowy phantoms filled my brain; they who live in history only seemed to walk the earth again. who does not remember father prout's lyric on "the bells of shandon"? we venture to quote the four delicious verses _in extenso_-- with deep affection and recollection i often think of the shandon bells, whose sounds so wild would, in days of childhood, fling round my cradle their magic spells-- on this i ponder where'er i wander, and thus grow fonder, sweet cork, of thee; with thy bells of shandon, that sound so grand on the pleasant waters of the river lee. i have heard bells chiming, full many a chime in tolling sublime in cathedral shrine; while at a glib rate brass tongues would vibrate, but all their music spoke naught to thine; for memory dwelling on each proud swelling of thy belfry knelling its bold notes free, made the bells of shandon sound far more grand on the pleasant waters of the river lee. i have heard bells tolling "old adrian's mole" in their thunder rolling from the vatican, with cymbals glorious, swinging uproarious in the gorgeous turrets of notre dame; but thy sounds were sweeter than the dome of peter flings o'er the tiber, pealing solemnly. oh! the bells of shandon sound far more grand on the pleasant waters of the river lee. there's a bell in moscow, while on tower and kiosko, in st. sophia the turkman gets, and loud in air, calls men to prayer, from the tapering summits of tall minarets, such empty phantom i freely grant them, but there's an anthem more dear to me-- it's the bells of shandon that sound so grand on the pleasant waters of the river lee. "the curfew tolls the knell of parting day," in gray's "elegy," the best known, and, in its own line, the best poem in the english language. more dramatic is southey's story of the warning bell that the abbot of aberbrothock placed on the inchcape rock. james russell lowell has a beautiful thought in his little poem "masaccio"-- out clanged the ave mary bells, and to my heart this message came; each clamorous throat among them tells what strong-souled martyrs died in flame, to make it possible that thou should'st here with brother sinners bow. * * * * * henceforth, when rings the health to those who live in story and in song, o, nameless dead, who now repose safe in oblivion's chambers strong, one cup of recognition true shall silently be drained to you! in the belfry of tideswell and of hathersage, in the peak of derbyshire, are a set of rhymed bell-ringing laws. those at hathersage we give below; the tideswell ones are almost word for word similar. you gentlemen that here wish to ring, see that these laws you keep in everything; or else be sure you must without delay the penalty thereof to the ringers pay. first, when you do into the bellhouse come, look if the ringers have convenient room, for if you do be an hindrance unto them, fourpence you forfeit unto these gentlemen. next, if here you do intend to ring, with hat or spur do not touch a string; for if you do, your forfeit is for that just fourpence down to pay, or lose your hat. if you a bell turn over, without delay fourpence unto the ringers you must pay; or, if you strike, miscall, or do abuse, you must pay fourpence for the ringers' use. for every oath here sworn, ere you go hence, unto the poor then you must pay twelve pence; and if that you desire to be enrolled a ringer here these orders keep and hold. but whoso doth these orders disobey, unto the stocks we will take him straight way, there to remain until he be willing to pay his forfeit, and the clerk a shilling. churchwardens' accounts abound with bell charges. we have before us the accounts of the churchwardens of youlgreave, in the peak of derbyshire, for a period of a century and a half. under the year we have "item to the ringers on the coronation day (james i.), s. d.; for mending the bels agaynst that day, s.; and for fatchinge the great bell yoke at stanton hall, d." in there is "item for a rope for a little bell, d." in the following year is "item to the ringers the th day of august, when thanks was given to god for the delyvering of king james from the conspiracye of the lord gowyre, s." in we find the sum of d. expended in purchasing "a stirropp for the fyrst bell wheele, d." the year is prolific in charges connected with the belfry, as the following enumeration will show: "item for the bellefonder, his dinner, and his sonnes, with other chargs at the same time, d.; at the second coming of the sayd bellfonder, d.; at the taking downe of the bell, d.; for castyng the fyrst bell, £ ; for the surplus mettall which wee bought of the bellfounder because the new bell waeghed more than ye old, £ s. d.; to the bellfounder's men, d.; for the carryage of our old bell to chesterfield, s.; for carrying the great bell clapper to chesterfield, d.; for carrying the new bell from chesterfield, s. d.; to nicholos hibbert, for hanging the said bell, s. d.; to nicholas hibbert the younger, for amending the great bell yoke and wheele, d.; spent at gybs house at the bellfounder's last coming, d.; for amending the great bell clapper, d." the inscriptions on church bells would make an interesting chapter. on the second bell at aston-on-trent appears in lombardic capitals, the words, "jhesus be our spede, ," and on the fourth bell is inscribed, "all men that heare my mournful sound, repent before you lye in ground, ." the fourth bell of s. werburgh's at derby is inscribed-- my roaring sounde doth warning geve that men cannot heare always lyve.-- . the third bell at allestree bears the words-- i to the church the living call, and to the grave do summons all.-- . the second bell on the old peal at ashbourne was inscribed-- sweetly to sing men do call to feed on meats that feed the soul. the fifth bell at dovebridge has the words: "som rosa polsata monde maria vocata, ." this is--according to the rev. dr. john charles cox--a corrupt reading of "sum rosa pulsata mundi maria vocata," a legend occasionally found on pre-reformation bells, and which may be thus englished-- rose of the world, i sound mary, my name, around. a similar inscription--similarly mis-spelt--occurs on the third bell at ibstock, leicestershire, the date of which is . mr. sankey, of marlborough college, gives it a graceful french rendering-- ici je sonne et je m'appelle, marie, du monde la rose plus belle. the fourth bell at coton-in-the-elms has the inscription-- the bride and groom we greet in holy wedlock joined, our sounds are emblems sweet of hearts in love combined. the sixth bell is inscribed-- the fleeting hours i tell, i summon all to pray, i toll the funeral knell, i hail the festal day. the seventh bell at castleton has the following legend-- when of departed hours we toll the knell, instruction take, and spend the future well. james harrison, founder, . the second bell at monyash is inscribed: "sca maria o. p. n." (sancta maria ora pro nobis.) the old curfew custom is still kept up in the peak district of derbyshire, notably at winster, where the bell is rung throughout november, december, january, and february at eight o'clock every work day evening, except on saturdays, when the hour is seven. there are sanctus bells at tideswell, hathersage, beeley, ashover, and other derbyshire churches. all saints' church, at derby ("all saints," _i.e._, "the unknown good"), has a melodious set of chimes. they play the following tunes: sunday, "old one hundred and fourth" (hanover); monday, "the lass of patie's mill"; tuesday, "the highland lassie"; wednesday, "the shady bowers"; thursday, "the national anthem"; friday, handel's "march in scipio"; saturday, "the silken garter." they all date from the last century. church bells have the subtle charm of sentiment. when they swing in the hoary village tower, and send their mellifluous message across the country side and down the deep and devious valley, or when they make musical with mellow carillon the dreamy atmosphere of moss grown cathedral closes, they have a poetical influence. how pleasant it is to listen to the chimes which ring out from time to time from the towers of notre dame, in the city of rubens, and from the campanile at venice! through the balmy air of night how they ring out their delight! from the molten golden notes, and all in tune, what a liquid ditty floats to the turtle dove that listens, while she gloats on the moon! church bells in large towns, where one section of the community are night workers and seek their rest in the day-time, are by no means invested with sentiment. we have in our mind a church which is set in a dense population of railwaymen, engine drivers, stokers, guards, porters, &c. it possesses a particularly noisy peal of bells. they begin their brazen tintinnabulations at breakfast time, and ring on, at intervals, until past the supper hour. sometimes the sound is a dismal monotone, as if the bellman had no heart for his work. at other times a number of stark mad quasimodos seem to be pulling at the ropes to frighten the gilded cock on the vane into flapping flight. sunday only brings an increase of the din, distracting all thought, destroying all conversation, defying all study, turning the blessed sense of hearing into a curse, and making you envy the deaf. it is well known that upon many persons in health the clangour of bells has a very depressing effect; but at night, when narcotics are given and the sick are wearied out, it is very easy to imagine how irritating these bells must be both to the invalids and their attendants. one is inclined to exclaim with the frenchman-- disturbers of the human race, whose charms are always ringing, i wish the ropes were round your necks, and you about them swinging. how very wise those spanish innkeepers were who, in the olden time, used to make "ruido" an item in their bills, charging their guests with the noise they made! stories about bells. by j. potter briscoe, f.r.h.s. on the eve of the feast of corpus christi the choristers of durham cathedral ascend the tower, and, clad in their fluttering robes of white, sing the _te deum_. this custom is performed to commemorate the miraculous extinguishing of a conflagration on that night in the year . the legend goes that, whilst the monks were engaged in prayer at midnight, the belfry was struck by the electric current and set on fire. though the flames continued to rage until the middle of the next day, the tower escaped serious damage, and the bells were uninjured--an escape which was imputed to the special interference of the incorruptible s. cuthbert, who was enshrined in that cathedral. these are not the bells which now reverberate among the housetops on the steep banks of the wear, they having been cast by thomas bartlett during the summer of . the fine peal of bells in limerick cathedral were originally brought from italy, having been manufactured by a young native, who devoted himself enthusiastically to the work, and who, after the toil of many years, succeeded in finishing a splendid peal, which answered all the critical requirements of his own musical ear. upon these bells the artist greatly prided himself, and they were at length bought by the prior of a neighbouring convent at a very liberal price. with the proceeds of that sale the young italian purchased a little villa, where, in the stillness of the evening, he could enjoy the sound of his own melodious bells from the convent cliff. here he grew old in the bosom of his family and of domestic happiness. at length, in one of those feuds common to the period, the italian became a sufferer amongst many others. he lost his all. after the passing of the storm, he found himself preserved alone amid the wreck of fortune, friends, family, and home. the bells too--his favourite bells--were carried off from the convent, and finally removed to ireland. for a time their artificer became a wanderer over europe; and at last, in the hope of soothing his troubled spirit, he formed the resolution of seeking the land to which those treasures of his memory had been conveyed. he sailed for ireland. proceeding up the shannon one beautiful evening, which reminded him of his native italy, his own bells suddenly struck upon his ear! home, and all its loving ties, happiness, early recollections, all--all were in the sound, and went to his heart. his face was turned towards the cathedral in the attitude of intently listening. when the vessel reached its destination the italian bellfounder was found to be a corpse! odoceus, bishop of llandaff, removed the bells from his cathedral during a time of excommunication. earlier still they are assumed to have been in use in ireland as early as the time of s. patrick, who died in . in those days much superstitious feeling, as in later ages, hung around the bells, and many sweetly pretty and very curious legends are known respecting them. thus it is said s. odoceus, of llandaff, being thirsty after undergoing labour, and more accustomed to drink water than anything else, came to a fountain in the vale of llandaff, not far from the church, that he might drink. here he found women washing butter after the manner of the country. sending to them his messengers and disciples they requested that they would accommodate them with a vessel that their pastor might drink therefrom. these mischievous girls replied, "we have no other cup besides that which we hold in our hands," namely, the butter. the man of blessed memory taking it, formed one piece into the shape of a small bell, and drank from it. the story goes that it permanently remained in that form, so that it appeared to those who beheld it to consist altogether of the purest gold. it is preserved in the church at llandaff, and it is said that, by touching it, health is given to the diseased. the bell of s. mura was formerly regarded with superstitious reverence in ireland, and any liquid drunk from it was believed to have peculiar properties in alleviating human suffering; hence the peasant women of the district in which it was long preserved particularly used it in cases of child-birth, and a serious disturbance was excited on a former attempt to sell it by its owner. its legendary history relates that it descended from the sky ringing loudly, but as it approached the concourse of people who had assembled at the miraculous warning, the tongue detached itself and returned towards the skies; hence it was concluded that the bell was never to be profaned by sounding on earth, but was to be kept for purposes more holy and beneficent. this is said to have happened on the spot where once stood the famous abbey of fahan, near innishowen, in county donegal, founded in the seventh century by s. mura, or muranus. mr. robert hunt, f.r.s., tells us that, in days long ago, the inhabitants of the parish of forrabury--which does not cover a square mile, but which now includes the chief part of the town of bocastle and its harbour--resolved to have a peal of bells which should rival those of the neighbouring church of tintagel, which are said to have rung merrily at the marriage, and tolled solemnly at the death of arthur. the bells were cast. the bells were blessed. the bells were shipped for forrabury. few voyages were more favourable. the ship glided, with a fair wind, along the northern shores of cornwall, waiting for the tide to carry her safely into the harbour of bottreaux. the vesper bells rang out at tintagel. when he heard the blessed bell, the pilot devoutly crossed himself, and bending his knee, thanked god for the safe and quick voyage which they had made. the captain laughed at the superstition, as he called it, of the pilot, and swore that they had only to thank themselves for the speedy voyage, and that, with his own arm at the helm, and his judgment to guide them, they would soon have a happy landing. the pilot checked this profane speech. the wicked captain--and he swore more impiously than ever, that all was due to himself and his men--laughed to scorn the pilot's prayer. "may god forgive you," was the pilot's reply. those who are familiar with the northern shores of cornwall will know that sometimes a huge wave, generated by some mysterious power in the wide atlantic, will roll on, overpowering everything by its weight and force. while yet the captain's oaths were heard, and while the inhabitants on the shore were looking out from the cliffs, expecting within an hour to see the vessel charged with their bells safe in their harbour, one of those vast swellings of the ocean was seen. onward came the grand billow in all the terror of its might! the ship rose not upon the waters as it came onward! she was overwhelmed, and sank in an instant close to the land. as the vessel sank, the bells were heard tolling with a muffled sound, as if ringing the death knell of the ship and sailors, of whom the good pilot alone escaped with life. when storms are coming, and only then, the bells of forrabury, with their dull muffled sound, are heard from beneath the heaving sea, a warning to the wicked. the tower has remained silent to this day. passing through massingham, in lincolnshire, a long time ago, a traveller noticed three men sitting on a stile in the churchyard, and saying, "come to church, thompson!" "come to church, brown!" and so on. surprised at this, the traveller asked what it meant. he was told that, having no bells, this was how they called folk to church. the traveller, remarking that it was a pity so fine a church should have no bells, asked the men if they could make three for the church, promising to pay for them himself. this they undertook to do. they were a tinker, a carpenter, and a shoemaker respectively. when the visitor came round that way again, he found the three men ringing three bells, which said "ting, tong, pluff," being made respectively of tin, wood, and leather. there is a tradition that john barton, the donor of the third bell at brigstock, northamptonshire, was one of several plaintiffs against sir john gouch to recover their rights of common upon certain lands in the neighbouring parish of benefield, and that sir john threatened to ruin him if he persisted in claiming his right. john barton replied that he would leave a cow which, being pulled by the tail, would low three times a day, and would be heard all over the common when he (sir john) and his heirs would have nothing to do there. hence the gift of the bell, which was formerly rung at four in the morning, and at eleven at morning and at night. he is also said to have left means for paying for this daily ringing. one christmas eve the ringers of witham-on-the-hill left the bells standing for the purpose of partaking of refreshments at a tavern that stood opposite the church. one of their number, a little more thirsty than the rest, insisted that before going back to ring they should have another pitcher of ale. this being at length agreed to by his brother bell-ringers, the party remained to duly drain the last draught. whilst they were drinking, the steeple fell. whether this is merely a tapster's tale, or the sober statement of a remarkable fact, we are not in a position to state. from a curious and rare pamphlet on "catholic miracles," published in , we learn that a band of sacrilegious robbers, having broken into a monastery, proceeded out of bravado to ring a peal of bells, when, through prayers offered up by the "holy fathers," a miracle was wrought, and the robbers were unable to leave their hold on the ropes. this state of affairs was depicted by the inimitable george cruikshank in a woodcut, impressions of which are given in our "curiosities of the belfry," (hamilton). in the village of tunstall, a few miles distant from yarmouth, there is a clump of alder trees, familiarly known as "hell carr." not far from these trees there is a pool of water having a boggy bottom, that goes by the name of "hell hole." a succession of bubbles are frequently seen floating on the surface of the water in summer time, a circumstance (as mr. glyde, the norfolk antiquarian author, truly states) that can be accounted for very naturally; but the natives of the district maintain that these bubbles are the result of supernatural action, the cause of which is thus described. the tower of the church is in ruins. tradition says that it was destroyed by fire, but that the bells were not injured by the calamity. the parson and the churchwarden each claimed the bells. while they were quarrelling, his satanic majesty carried out the disputed booty. the clergyman, however, not desiring to lose the booty, pursued and overtook the devil, who, in order to evade his clerical opponent, dived through the earth to his appointed dwelling-place, taking the bells with him. tradition points to "hell hole" as the spot where this hurried departure took place. the villagers believe that the bubbles on the surface of the pool are caused by the continuous descent of the waters to the bottomless pit. [illustration: the bell of st. fillan.] in there was a bell belonging to the chapel of s. fillan, which was in high reputation among the votaries of that saint in olden times. it was of an oblong shape, about a foot high, and was usually laid on a gravestone in the churchyard. mad people were brought to it to effect a cure. they were first dipped into the "saint's pool," where certain ceremonies were performed, which partook of the character of druidism and roman catholicism. the bell was placed in the chapel, where it remained, bound with ropes, all night. next day it was placed upon the heads of the lunatics with great solemnity, but with what results "deponent sayeth not." it was the popular opinion that, if stolen, this bell would extricate itself from the hands of the thief and return home ringing all the way! the bell had ultimately to be kept under lock and key to prevent its being used for superstitious purposes. this old time relic is now in the national museum, edinburgh, of the society of antiquaries of scotland, and it is described as follows in the catalogue: "the 'bell of s. fillan,' of cast bronze, square shaped, and with double-headed, dragonesque handle. it lay on a gravestone in the old churchyard at strathfillan, perthshire, where it was superstitiously used for the cure of insanity and other diseases till , when it was removed by a traveller to england. it was returned to scotland in , and deposited in the museum by lord crawford and the bishop of brechin, with the consent of the heritors and kirk-session of s. fillans." near raleigh there is a valley which is said to have been caused by an earthquake several hundred years ago, which convulsion of nature swallowed up a whole village, together with the church. formerly it was the custom of the people to assemble in this valley every christmas day morning to listen to the ringing of the bells of the church beneath them. this, it was positively asserted, might be heard by placing the ear to the ground and listening attentively. as late as it was usual on this morning for old men and women to tell their children and young friends to go to the valley, stoop down, and hear the bells ring merrily. the villagers really heard the ringing of the bells of a neighbouring church, the sound of which was communicated by the surface of the ground, the cause being misconstrued through the ignorance and credulity of the listeners. concerning font-lore. by the rev. p. oakley hill. when those sermons in stone--the beautiful fonts of the decorated and perpendicular periods, which preached to a bygone age--come to be translated into modern english on an extensive and systematic scale, they will be found to be not only sermons theological, but treatises on hagiology, music, contemporary history, symbolism, and art of the highest order. one of the richest fields in font-lore is to be found in east anglia, and norfolk alone contains examples of sufficient importance and of vivid interest, to fill a whole volume on this particular subject. only to mention a few, that will rapidly occur to a norfolk antiquary, is to conjure up a varied and rich archæological vision, which can be extended indefinitely at will. of canopied fonts perhaps that of s. peter (mancroft), norwich, takes the palm. the carved oak canopy is supported by four massive posts, giving great dignity to the stone font which it overshadows. the canopy at sall is of a more graceful type, being in the form of a crocketed spire, suspended by a pulley from an ancient beam projecting from the belfry platform. elsing, merton, and worstead also possess font covers of great interest. seven sacrament fonts are numerous, that of new walsingham being one of the finest of its kind in england. it belongs to the perpendicular period, and is richly carved. on seven of its eight panels are sculptured figures representing the seven sacraments, the eighth exhibiting the crucifixion. the stem carries figures of the four evangelists and other saints, and rests on an elaborately-carved plinth, the upper part of which is in the form of a maltese cross. a copy of this magnificent structure has been erected in the mediæval court of the crystal palace. a counterpart of the walsingham font (more or less exact, though perhaps not so rich in carving) is to be seen at loddon, with similar maltese cross base, but the vandal's hand has nearly obliterated the figuring of the sacramental panels. other instances of seven sacrament fonts are to be seen in norwich cathedral, at blofield, martham, and elsewhere. fonts bearing the date of their erection are found at acle and sall, the former having the following inscription upon the top step: "orate pro diabus qui huc fontem in honore dei fecerunt fecit anno dni millo cccc decimo." an instance of a posy font with date (sixteenth century) occurs in one of the marshland churches, the posy being:-- thynk and thank. the leaden font at brundall is believed to be one of three only of its kind remaining in england; a fourth, somewhat damaged, existed at great plumstead until a few years ago, when alas! it perished in a disastrous fire which practically destroyed the church. lion fonts are numerous, those of acle and strumpshaw being excellent examples. remarkable examples of carved fonts are those at toftrees, blofield, wymondham, bergh apton, aylsham, ketteringham, sculthorpe, walpole (s. peter), etc. at hemblington, dedicated to all saints, there is a perfect little hagiology around the font-pedestal and upon seven of the panels of the basin, the eighth panel shewing the mediæval presentment of the holy trinity, the almighty father being somewhat blasphemously represented as an old man, while the crucifix rests upon an orb, and (what is perhaps somewhat unusual) the holy dove appears about to alight on the cross. [illustration: font at upton church, norfolk.] of decorated fonts in the county of norfolk, that of upton must be accounted _facile princeps_. in beauty of design, in fulness of symbolism, in richness of detail, it is a faithful type of the elaborate art of the decorated period. it was originally coloured, fragments of red and blue paint being still visible. a massive base is formed by three octagonal steps rising tier upon tier, the upper step divided from the second by eight sets of quatrefoils, flanked at the corners by sitting dogs with open mouths. upon the stem of the font there are eight figures in _bas relief_, standing upon pediments beneath overhanging canopies exquisitely carved. these canopies are adorned with crocketed pinnacles, and the interior of each has a groined roof, with rose boss in the centre. some of the pediments are garnished with foliage, others exhibit quaint animals, _e.g._, a double dragon with but one head connecting the two bodies, two lions linked by their tails, and two dogs in the act of biting each other; all, of course, highly symbolical of various types of sin. the canopied figures around the pedestal represent the two sacraments, an indication that even in the fourteenth century the two sacraments of the gospel were esteemed as of the first importance. holy communion is symbolised by five figures. a bishop in eucharistic vestments, his right hand raised in blessing, his left holding the pastoral staff, while the double dragon is beneath his feet. it is not unlikely that this ecclesiastic was de spenser, the contemporary bishop of norwich, of military fame. the bishop is supported to right and left by angels robed and girded, circlets and crosses on their heads, each holding a candle in a somewhat massive candlestick. the graceful lines of the wings suggest the probability of the artist having belonged to a continental guild of stone carvers. the next two figures are priests, each vested in dalmatic, maniple, stole, and alb, acting as deacon and sub-deacon, the first holding an open service book, the second the chalice and pyx. the three remaining figures portray holy baptism. of the two godmothers and the godfather in the lay dress of the fourteenth century, the first holds a babe in her arms in swaddling clothes, the swathing band being crossed again and again. the other sponsors carry each a rosary. to digress for a moment; here is an interesting deduction. the infant is a girl--witness the two godmothers. the font cannot have been made later than about , at which time the decorated merged into the perpendicular. now the lord of the manor of upton from onwards, for many years, was one john buttetourt, or botetourt, who, with his wife matilda, had an only daughter and heiress, to whom was given the baptismal name jocosa. it appears highly probable that the lord of upton, rejoicing at the birth of his little heiress, caused the font to be designed and built as a memorial of her baptism. but it would seem that he did not live to see her settled in life, for in she had grown to early womanhood, had won the affection of sir hugh burnell, who made her his wife, and by the following year, if not before, she had inherited the manor in her own right. to return to the description of the font. resting on the canopies above described, and supported by eight half-angels with musical instruments, etc., is the large and handsome laver. the principal panels are occupied by reliefs of the four living creatures of the revelation--the historic emblems of the four evangelists--the flying lion, the flying bull, the man, and the eagle, the last named with scroll facing east. the four alternative panels represent angels, two holding instruments of music, two with heraldic shields. the panels are separated from each other by crocketed buttresses. the musical instruments shewn upon the font are of great interest. a kind of rebeck or lute twice occurs, and once a curious pair of cymbals. one half-angel is playing on a crowth, an early form of the fiddle, consisting of an oblong box, a couple of strings, a short straight and round handle, and a bow. another of the half-angels holds an open music book, containing the ancient four-line score. the font has suffered some amount of mutilation in the five centuries of its existence; three or four heads have disappeared, also the right hand of the bishop, and the top of the pastoral staff; the chalice has been broken off, and the flying lion is fractured. and as a reminder of the iconoclastic century which was most likely responsible for the damage, these dates are roughly cut into the leaden lining of the bowl: , , . watching chambers in churches. by the rev. geo. s. tyack, b.a. the smallest acquaintance with the inventories, or the ceremonial, of our mediæval churches is sufficient to show anyone a glimpse of the extraordinary wealth of which the larger churches especially were possessed in those days. vestments of velvet and silk and cloth of gold, adorned with jewels and the precious metals; crosses and candlesticks of gold, studded with gems; reliquaries that were ablaze with gorgeousness and beauty; and sometimes shrines and altars that were a complete mass of invaluable treasure; such were the contents of the choirs and sacristies of our cathedrals and abbey churches. this being the case, it is obvious that the greatest care had to be taken of such places. then, even as now, there were desperadoes from whom the sanctity of the shrine could not protect it, if they could get a chance of fingering its jewels; men who would exclaim, with falconbridge in the play of "king john" (act iii., sc. )-- "bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back, when gold and silver beck me to come on." to protect the wealthier churches from desecration and loss, therefore, bands of watchers were organized, who throughout the night should be ever on the alert against the attacks of thieves; who would also, moreover, be able to raise, if need were, the alarm of fire. at lincoln these guardians patrolled the minster at nightfall, to assure themselves that all was safe. to facilitate the inspection of the whole building occasionally squints were made; as at the cathedral of s. david's, where the cross pierced in the east wall behind, and just above, the high altar, is supposed by some to have been for this purpose, a view being thus obtained of the choir from the chapel of the holy trinity, or _vice versâ_. in several instances, however, it was found both more convenient and more effective to erect a special chamber, so placed and so elevated as to command a good view of the church, or of the portion of the church to be watched; and here a constant succession of watchers kept guard. one of our most interesting examples of this is at s. albans. near the site of the shrine of the patron saint (on which the fragments of the shattered shrine have been skilfully built up once more) is a structure, in two storeys, of carved timber. the lower stage is fitted with cupboards, in which were probably preserved relics, or such jewels and ornaments as were not kept permanently upon the shrine. a doorway in this storey admits to a staircase leading to the gallery above. this is the watchers' chamber; the side fronting the shrine being filled with perpendicular tracery, whence the monks in charge could easily keep the treasures around them under observation. a somewhat similar structure is still seen at christ church, oxford, and is sometimes spoken of as the shrine of s. frideswide. it is really the watching-chamber for that shrine; and was erected in the fourteenth century upon an ancient tomb, supposed to be that of the founder of the _feretrum_ of the saint, though popular report describes it as the resting-place of the bodies of her parents. [illustration: abbot's pew, malmesbury abbey.] in not a few cases, both in england and abroad, these chambers were built in a yet more durable fashion. at bourges may be seen a stone loft on the left side of the altar; at nuremberg also is one. in addition to the wooden chamber, already described, s. alban's abbey (now the cathedral) has a small one of stone in the transept. lichfield has a gallery over the sacristy door, which served the same purpose; and at worcester an oriel was probably used by the watchers. westminster abbey has such a chamber over the chantry of king henry vi., and worcester cathedral has one in the north aisle; and there are several other instances. many churches had rooms over the north porch, as the cathedrals of exeter and hereford, the churches of christchurch (hampshire), alford (lincolnshire), and many others; and these in some cases, as at boston, had openings commanding a view of the interior. another explanation of the existence of a few watching lofts is sometimes given, besides the need of guarding the church's treasures. it is held by some that in the face of the deterioration of monastic simplicity and devotion in the later times before the dissolution in england, the abbots felt the need of keeping a stricter eye upon their community; and these rooms were consequently constructed to enable them to look, unobserved themselves, into their abbey church, and to see that all whose duty called for their presence were there, and properly occupied. this theory is perhaps supported by the traditional name of "the abbot's pew," by which a very simple and substantial watching-chamber in the triforium of malmesbury abbey is called. with this may be compared another example in the priory church of s. bartholomew, smithfield. in these, and most of the other instances, the watching-chamber is an addition to the original structure, dating often considerably later than the rest. this is quoted by the believers in the rapid spread of monastic depravity in later ages in support of the theory just noticed; as is also the fact, that the "pew" is often near what formerly constituted the abbot's private apartments within the adjoining monastery. it is probable that both explanations are true; some of these lofts forming "abbot's pews," as others certainly were for the guardian watchers of the shrines. in a large community it would certainly be wise for the head to be able at times to survey quietly and unobserved the actions of the rest; but this admission no more implies that the lives of all monks were scandalous, than does the presence of watchers by the shrines prove that all worshippers were thieves. we have noticed in this paper the chief watching-chambers in this country, but no doubt other examples occur which may have special points of interest. church chests. by the rev. geo. s. tyack, b.a. an interesting article of church furniture which has scarcely received the amount of notice which it deserves, is the church chest, the receptacle for the registers and records of the parish, and sometimes also for the office books, vestments, and other valuables belonging to the church. in recent years attention has frequently been directed to the interesting character of our ancient parochial documents, but the useful cases which for so many years have shielded them, more or less securely, from damage or loss, have been largely overlooked. the present authority for the provision in every english church of a proper repository for its records is the seventieth canon, the latter part of which runs in the following words, from which it will be seen that some of its details have been suffered to become obsolete: "for the safe keeping of the said book (the register of baptisms, weddings, and burials), the churchwardens, at the charge of the parish, shall provide one sure coffer, and three locks and keys; whereof one to remain with the minister, and the other two with the churchwardens severally; so that neither the minister without the two churchwardens, nor the churchwardens without the minister, shall at any time take that book out of the said coffer. and henceforth upon every sabbath day immediately after morning or evening prayer, the minister and the churchwardens shall take the said parchment book out of the said coffer, and the minister in the presence of the churchwardens shall write and record in the said book the names of all persons christened, together with the names and surnames of their parents, and also the names of all persons married and buried in that parish in the week before, and the day and year of every such christening, marriage, and burial; and that done, they shall lay up the book in the coffer as before." this canon, made with others in , was a natural sequence to the act passed in , which enjoined the due keeping of parish registers of the kind above described. it is, in fact, obvious that the canon only gave additional sanction to a practice enforced some years earlier; for grindal, in his "metropolitical visitation of the province of york in ," uses almost identical terms, requiring, amongst many other things, "that the churchwardens in every parish shall, at the costs and charges of the parish, provide ... a sure coffer with two locks and keys for keeping the register book, and a strong chest or box for the almose of the poor, with three locks and keys to the same:" the same demand was made, also by grindal, on the province of canterbury in . church chests did not, however, come into use in consequence of the introduction of the regular keeping of registers. the synod of exeter, held in , ordered that every parish should provide "a chest for the books and the vestments," and the convenience and even necessity of some such article of furniture, doubtless led to its use in many places from yet earlier times. we have in england several excellent examples of "hutches," or chests, which date from the thirteenth, or even from the close of the twelfth century. some there are for which a much earlier date has been claimed. these latter are rough coffers formed usually of a single log of wood, hollowed out, and fitted with a massive lid, the whole being bound with iron bands. chests of this kind may be seen at newdigate, surrey, at hales owen, shropshire, and elsewhere; and on the strength of the rudeness of the carpentry displayed, it has been asserted that they are of norman, or even of saxon, workmanship. roughness of design and work are scarcely, however, in themselves sufficient evidence of great antiquity; many local causes, especially in small country places, may have led the priests and people to be content with a very rude article of home manufacture, at a time when far more elaborate ones were procurable in return for a little more enterprise or considerably more money. the date of these rough coffers must therefore be considered doubtful. of early english chests, we have examples at clymping, sussex, at saltwood and graveney, kent, at earl stonham, suffolk, at stoke d'abernon, surrey, and at newport, essex. the decorated period is represented by chests at brancepeth, durham, at huttoft and haconby, lincolnshire, at faversham and withersham, kent, and at s. mary magdalene's, oxford. the workmanship of the perpendicular period has numerous illustrations among our church chests, such as those at s. michael's, coventry, s. mary's, cambridge, the chapter house of christchurch cathedral, oxford, and others at frettenham, norfolk, at guestling, sussex, at harty chapel, kent, at southwold, suffolk, and at stonham aspel, suffolk. [illustration: chest at saltwood, kent.] in the making of all these coffers, strength was naturally the great characteristic which was most obviously aimed at; strength of structure, so as to secure durability, and strength of locks and bolts, so as to ensure the contents from theft. but in addition to this, artistic beauty was not lost sight of, and many chests are excellent illustrations of the wood-carvers' taste and skill, and several were originally enriched with colour. [illustration: chest at upton church.] [illustration: chest at over, cheshire.] a good example of those in which security has been almost exclusively sought, is provided by a chest at s. peter's, upton, northamptonshire. the dimensions of this hutch are six feet three inches in length, two feet six inches in height, and two feet in width. its only adornment is provided by the wrought iron bands which are attached to it. four of these are laid laterally across each end, and four more, running perpendicularly, divide the front into five unequal panels; the bands on the front correspond with an equal number laid across the lid, where, however, two more are placed at the extreme ends. each of the panels in front and top is filled with a device in beaten iron roughly resembling an eight-pointed star, the lowest point of which runs to the bottom of the chest. yet simpler is the chest at s. mary's, west horsley, which is a long, narrow, oaken box, strengthened by flat iron bands crossing the ends and doubled well round the front and back, while six others are fastened perpendicularly to the front; there are two large locks, and three hinges terminating in long strips of iron running almost the complete breadth of the lid. the church of s. botolph, church brampton, has a chest equally plain in itself, but the iron bands are in this case of a richer character. elegant scroll-work originally covered the front and ends, much still remaining to this day. s. lawrence's, in the isle of thanet, possesses an exceedingly rough example, with a curved top; seven broad iron bands strengthen the lid, and several perpendicular ones, crossed by a lateral one, are affixed to the front, the whole being studded with large square-headed nails; a huge lock is placed in the middle, with hasps for padlocks to the right and left of it. it is raised slightly from the ground by wooden "feet." [illustration: chest at s. lawrence, isle of thanet.] for security and strength, however, the palm must be awarded to a coffer at stonham aspel. the following description of this remarkable chest was given in the "journal of the british archæological society" in september, : "this curious example is of chestnut wood, feet in length, feet inches in height, and feet inches from front to back; and is entirely covered on the outer surface with sheets of iron ½ inches in width, the joinings being hid by straps. the two lids are secured by fourteen hasps; the second from the left locks the first, and the hasp simply covers the keyhole; the fourth locks the third, etc. after this process is finished, a bar from each angle passes over them, and is secured by a curious lock in the centre, which fastens them both. the interior of this gigantic chest is divided into two equal compartments by a central partition of wood, the one to the left being painted red; the other is plain. each division can be opened separately; the rector holding four of the keys, and the churchwardens the others, all being of different patterns." the writer of this description (mr. h. syer cuming, f.s.a., scot., v.p.) assigns the chest to the fifteenth century. [illustration: church chest, s. michael's, coventry.] turning now to those chests, whose makers, while not forgetting the needful solidity and strength, aimed also at greater decoration, the handsome hutch at s. michael's, coventry, claims our notice. the front of this is carved with a double row of panels having traceried heads, the upper row being half the width of the lower one. in the centre are two crowned figures, popularly (and not improbably) described as leofric and his wife, the lady godiva. at each end of the front is a long panel decorated with lozenges enclosing tudor roses, foliage, and conventional animals; while two dragons adorn the bottom, which is cut away so as to leave a triangular space beneath the chest. at s. john's, glastonbury, is another fine example, measuring six feet two inches in length, and at present lidless. within six vesica-shaped panels are placed quatrefoil ornaments, each divided by a horizontal bar. above these are five shields, three charged with s. george's cross, and the others, one with three lozenges in fess, and the other with three roundles, two and one, and a label. the ends, or legs, are elaborately carved with dog-tooth figures in squares and circles. saltwood, kent, has an ornately carved chest, divided (like that of stonham aspel) into two parts, the lid being correspondingly formed, and opening in sections. one half is secured by three locks, and the other by one. the front is carved with five geometrical "windows" of four lights each; and the ends of the front have three carved square panels, divided by bands of dancette ornament. the base has a long narrow panel, with a simple wavy design. there is some bold carving on a chest at s. george's, south acre, in norfolk; a row of cusped arches fills rather more than half the height of the front, the rest being taken up with four panels containing roses and stars, similar designs on a smaller scale being repeated at the ends. the front is cut away at the bottom in a series of curves. [illustration: church chest s. john's glastonbury] at alnwick is a massive coffer, over seven feet long, bearing on its front a number of figures of dragons, and heads of birds and beasts, amid foliage; above which are two hunting scenes, in which appear men with horns, dogs, and deer, amid trees. these two scenes are separated by the lock, and are precisely alike, save that the quarry in one is a stag, and a hind in the other. empingham, near stamford, has a fine chest of cedar wood, adorned with incised figures. at s. mary's, mortlake, is one of walnut, inlaid with boxwood and ebony, and ornamented with designs in metal work; the under side of the lid has some delicate iron-wrought tracery, which was originally set off with red velvet. the huttoft chest is enriched with traceried arches, which were apparently at one time picked out in colour; that of stoke d'abernon is raised on four substantial legs, and is decorated with three circles on the front filled with a kind of tracery; there are other interesting specimens at winchester and at ewerby. in the old castle at newcastle-on-tyne is preserved an old church coffer, which was probably removed there for safety during the troublous days of the civil war. at harty chapel, kent, we find the figures of two knights in full armour, tilting at each other, carved on the front of a chest; the legend of s. george and the dragon is illustrated in a similar way at southwold church, suffolk, and yet more fully on a chest in the treasury of york minster. probably, however, the handsomest example of a carved church chest now preserved in england is at brancepeth, in the county of durham. this beautiful piece of work, which rests in the south chapel of the church, has its front completely covered with elaborate carving. at either end are three oblong panels, one above another, on each of which is a conventional bird or beast; at the base is a series of diamonds filled, as are the intervals between them, with tracery; and above this is an arcade of six pointed arches, each enclosing three lights surmounted by a circle, the six being divided by tall lancets, the crockets of the arches and a wealth of foliage filling up the intervening spaces. this fine chest dates from the fourteenth century. the rev. francis e. powell, m.a., in his pleasantly-written work entitled "the story of a cheshire parish," gives particulars of the parish chest of over. "the chest," says mr. powell, was "the gift of bishop samuel peploe to joseph maddock, clerk, april th, ." it probably was an old chest even then. the donor was bishop of chester from to . he was a whig in politics, and a latitudinarian in religion, as so many bishops of that time were. that he was a man of determined courage may be seen by his loyalty to the house of hanover, even under adverse circumstances. one day, in the year , he was reading morning prayer at the parish church at preston. the town was occupied by jacobite troops, some of whom burst into the church during the service. approaching the prayer-desk, with drawn sword, a trooper demanded that peploe should substitute james for george in the prayer for the king's majesty. peploe merely paused to say, "soldier, i am doing my duty; do you do yours;" and went on with the prayers, whereupon the soldiers at once proceeded to eject him from the church. the illustration of the chest is kindly lent to us by the rev. francis e. powell, vicar of over. in the vestry of lambeth palace is a curiously painted chest; several of an early date are preserved in the triforium of westminster abbey; there is one at salisbury cathedral, and another in the record office, having been removed from the pix chapel. one of the original uses of these coffers, as we have seen, was to preserve the vestments of the church. the copes, however, being larger than the other vestments, and in the cathedrals and other important churches, being very numerous, frequently had a special receptacle provided. at york, salisbury, westminster, and gloucester, ancient cope-chests are still preserved. these are triangular in shape, the cope being most easily folded into that form. in not a few instances these large coffers, or sections of them, were used as alms boxes, for which a very ancient precedent can be found. at the restoration of the jewish temple under king joash, we are told ( kings xii., , ) that "jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of the lord: and the priests that kept the door put therein all the money that was brought into the house of the lord: and it was so, when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king's scribe and the high priest came up, and they put up in bags, and told the money that was found in the house of the lord." at llanaber, near barmouth in north wales, is a chest hewn from a single block of wood, and pierced to receive coins. at hatfield, yorkshire, is an ancient example of a similar kind; and others may be seen at s. peter's-in-the-east, oxford, at drayton in berkshire, at meare church, somersetshire, at irchester and mears ashby, in northamptonshire, at hartland, in devonshire, and in the isle of wight at carisbrooke. an interesting chest, with provision for the reception of alms, is preserved at combs church, suffolk, where there is also another plain hutch, iron-bound and treble-locked. the chest in question is strongly, but simply, made, the front being divided into four plain panels, with some very slight attempt at decoration in the form of small disks and diamonds along the top; and the lid being quite flat and plain, and secured by two locks. at one end, however, a long slit has been cut in this lid, and beneath it is a till, or trough, to receive the money, very similar to the little locker often inserted at one end of an old oak chest intended for domestic use, save that in this case the compartment has, of course, no second lid of its own. this chest has the date carved upon it, but is supposed to be some half a century older, the date perhaps marking the time of some repairs or alterations made in it. hutches of the kind that we have been considering are not peculiar to england, some fine and well-preserved examples being found in several of the ancient churches in france. among ourselves it is obvious that great numbers must have disappeared; many doubtless were rough and scarcely worthy of long preservation; others by the very beauty of their workmanship probably roused the cupidity, or the iconoclastic prejudice, of the spoiler. near brinkburn priory a handsome fourteenth century chest was found, used for domestic purposes, in a neighbouring farm-house; a tudor chest, belonging to s. mary's, newington, lay for years in the old rectory house, and subsequently disappeared; and these are doubtless typical of many another case. when the strictness at first enforced as to the care of the parish registers became culpably relaxed, and parish clerks and sextons were left in practically sole charge of them, it is but too probable that these men, often illiterate and otherwise unsuited to such a trust, were in many instances as careless, or as criminal, in regard to the coffers, as we unfortunately know they frequently were with respect to their contents. few church chests of any interest date from the jacobean, or any subsequent period. plain deal boxes were then held good enough for the purpose of a "church hutch." an antiquarian problem: the leper window. by william white, f.s.a. these windows were called by parker and other writers of the gothic revival, "lychnoscopes;" and then by the ecclesiologists, "low-side windows." but the name given by the late g. e. street has now become so generally accepted that it seems necessary to look a little further into the evidence of the fitness or unfitness of this designation for them. behind some stalls in the royal chapel were discovered some remains of a mural painting, apparently to represent the communicating of a leper through some such window, and he at once concluded that it was for this very purpose so many of them were introduced into the chancels of our mediæval churches. there seemed, however, nothing to indicate that it was at one of these special windows at all that this function was performed. and the very fact of the representation itself would seem to indicate rather an exceptional instance, or special circumstance, such as the communicating of some knight or person of note who might, for instance, have brought leprosy in his own person from the holy land, from whence probably in the first instance it came; and who would not be admitted within the church. but the records of the existence of lepers would seem to show their numbers to have been very limited, and confined to few localities. and in any case this would be no sufficient cause for the introduction of these windows as of universal occurrence throughout the land, for these windows are found almost everywhere, and in very many instances on both sides of the chancel. moreover, in many cases the act of administration through these windows would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, on account of the position, or the arrangement, of the window itself. to my mind a very much more practical and reasonable supposition would be that they were introduced, and used, for burial purposes. at a period when the body would not be brought into the church, except in the case of some ecclesiastic or other notable person, the priest would here be able, _from his stall_, to see the funeral _cortége_ come into the churchyard, and then say the first part of the office through this window; which was always shuttered and without glass. in some cases there is a book-ledge corbelled out on the east jamb of the window inside, which has puzzled antiquaries, but which has not otherwise received a satisfactory explanation. in immediate proximity to the window, at the end of the stalls (and sometimes in the earlier churches _through_ them), was the priest's door, out of which he would then proceed to the grave to commit the body to the earth. the grave itself needs not necessarily be within sight of the window. but in a number of instances the churchyard cross was so; and this may have served as the recognised place for the mourners, with the body, to assemble. in the case of foxton, leicestershire, the "lych window," as i would call it, is on the north side. here the burials are chiefly on the north side; a steep slope down towards the church on the south side rendering it very difficult and unsuitable for them. at addisham, kent, the priest's door is, contrary to the usual custom, on the north side, where is also a principal portion of the churchyard, and, so far as my own observations go, the position of the window would greatly depend upon the arrangement of the churchyard, whether north or south. mazes. by the rev. geo. s. tyack, b.a. something concerning the construction of labyrinths, or mazes, is known even to the most general reader; it needs but a slight acquaintance with classical literature to learn of the famous example formed at crete by dædalus; the legend of the concealment of "fair rosamond," within a maze at woodstock, is familiar enough; and the existing labyrinth at hampton court, the work of william iii. is well known. but probably few who have not looked somewhat into the matter, have any idea of the number of such mazes which still exist, or of the yet greater number of which we have authentic records. a learned french antiquary, mons. bonnin, of evreux, collected two hundred examples, gathered from many lands, and stretching in history from classical to modern times. of the most ancient labyrinths it will be enough to indicate the localities. one is said to have been constructed in egypt by king minos, and to have served as a model for the one raised by dædalus at cnossus, in crete, as a prison for the minataur. another egyptian example, which has been noticed by several authors, was near lake moeris. lemnos contained a famous labyrinth; and lar porsena built one at clusium, in etruria. these mazes consisted either of a series of connected caverns, as it has been supposed was the case in crete; or, as in the other instances, were formed of courts enclosed by walls and colonnades. [illustration: labyrinth inscribed on one of the porch piers of lucca cathedral.] the use of the labyrinth in mediæval times, has, however, greater interest for us in this paper, especially from the fact that such was distinctly ecclesiastical. several continental churches have labyrinths, either cut in stone or inlaid in coloured marbles, figured upon their walls or elsewhere. at lucca cathedral is an example incised upon one of the piers of the porch; and others may be seen at pavia, aix in provence, and at poitiers. these are all small, the diameter of the lucca labyrinth being foot ½ inches, which is the dimension also of one in an ancient pavement in the church of s. maria in aquiro, in rome. that the suggestion for the construction of these arose from the mythological legends concerning those of pagan days is proved by the fact that in several of them the figures of theseus and the minataur were placed in the centre. probably from the first, the church, in her use of the figure, spiritualized the meaning of the heathen story, as we know was her wont in other cases; and a labyrinth formed in mosaic on the floor of an ancient basilica at orleansville, algeria, shows that presently the mythological symbols gave place entirely to obviously christian ones. in this last-named instance, the centre is occupied by the words _sancta ecclesia_. about the twelfth century these curious figures became very popular, and a considerable number dating from that period still exist. they have for the most part been constructed in parti-coloured marbles on some portion of the floor of the church. one was laid down in at s. maria in trastevere, in rome; s. vitale, ravenna, contains another; and the parish church of s. quentin has a third. others formerly existed at amiens cathedral (made in and destroyed in ), at rheims (made about and destroyed in ), and at arras (destroyed at the revolution). these are much larger than the examples before noticed; the two italian examples are each about feet across, but the french ones greatly exceed this. those of s. quentin and arras were each over feet in diameter, and the others were somewhat larger; amiens possessed the largest, measuring feet. france had another example of a similar kind at chartres. the christian meaning which was read into these complicated designs was more emphatically expressed in these twelfth-century instances. the centre is usually occupied by a cross, round which, in some cases, were arranged figures of bishops, angels, and others. the introduction of these large labyrinths, together with the name which came at this time to be applied to them in france, namely, _chemins de jerusalem_, suggests the new use to which such arrangements now began to be put. it is well known that in some cases substitutes for the great pilgrimage to jerusalem were allowed to be counted as of almost equal merit. thus the spaniards, so long as they had not expelled the infidel from their own territory, were forbidden to join the crusades to the holy land; and were permitted to substitute a journey to the shrine of s. jago, at compostella, for one to the holy sepulchre in jerusalem. by an extension of the same principle, especially when the zeal of christendom for pilgrimages began to cool, easy substitutes for the more exacting devotion were found in many ways. the introduction of the stations of the cross is ascribed to this cause, the devout following in imagination of the footsteps of the saviour in his last sufferings, being accounted equivalent to visiting the holy places; and somewhat similarly, the maze, or labyrinth, is said to have been pressed into the service of religion, the following out (probably upon the knees) of its long and tortuous path-way, being reckoned as a simple substitute for a longer pilgrimage. from such a use as this, it was no great step to the employment of the maze as a means of penance in other cases. the whole of the intricate pathway was intended to remind the penitent of the difficulties which beset the christian course; and the centre, which could only be reached by surmounting them, was often called heaven (_ciel_). nor could such a penance be deemed a light one. though occupying so small a space of ground, the mazy path was so involved as to reach a considerable length, whence it was sometimes named the league (_la lièue_). the pathway at chartres measures feet; at sens was a maze which required some , steps to gain the centre. an hour is said to have been often needed to accomplish the journey, due allowance being made for the prayers which had to be recited at certain fixed stations of it, or throughout its whole course. at s. omer are one or two examples of the labyrinth. one at the church of notre dame has figures of towns, mountains, rivers, and wild beasts depicted along the pathway, to give, no doubt, greater realism to the pilgrimage. the existing drawing of another, which has been destroyed, is inscribed, "the way of the road to jerusalem at one time marked on the floor of the church of s. bertin." many of these designs are not only ingenious, but beautiful. in the chapterhouse at bayeux is one enriched with heraldic figures; that at chartres has its central circle relieved with six cusps, while an engrailed border encloses the whole work. a circular shape was apparently the most popular; the maze at s. quentin, with some others, however, is octagonal. the pathway is usually marked by coloured marbles, sometimes the darker, sometimes the lighter shades in the design being used for the purpose; at sens, lead has been employed to indicate it. the revolution, as we have seen, led to the destruction of several ecclesiastical labyrinths; some, however, became a source of annoyance to the worshippers, from children attempting to trace the true pathway during the time of service, and they were removed in consequence. labyrinths of this kind do not appear to have been introduced into england, the only instance known to the present writer being quite a modern one. this is in the church porch at alkborough, in lincolnshire, where, at the recent restoration, the design of a local maze (to be noticed further hereafter) was reproduced. if england, however, has not imitated the continent in this respect, she has struck out a line no less interesting, which has remained almost exclusively her own; namely, in the mazes cut in the green turf of her meadows. shakespeare has an allusion to these in the "midsummer night's dream," (act iii., ) where titania says, "the nine men's morris is fill'd up with mud, and the quaint mazes in the wanton green for lack of tread are indistinguishable." some twenty of these rustic labyrinths have been noted as still existing, or as recorded by a sound tradition, in england; and no doubt there have been others which have disappeared, leaving no trace behind. [illustration: maze at alkborough, lincolnshire.] among those which have been preserved, the following may be noticed. at alkborough, in lincolnshire, near the confluence of the trent and the ouse, is a maze, the diameter of which is feet; by a happy suggestion, the design of this has been repeated, as was above remarked, in the porch of the parish church, so that should the original unfortunately be destroyed, a permanent record has been provided. hilton, in huntingdonshire has a maze of exactly the same plan, in the centre of which is a stone pillar, bearing an inscription in latin and english, to the effect that the work was constructed in , by william sparrow. comberton, in cambridgeshire, possesses a maze, locally known as the "mazles," which is fifty feet in diameter. the pathway is two feet wide, and is defined by small trenches, the whole surface being gradually hollowed towards the centre. northamptonshire is represented by boughton green, which has a labyrinth feet in diameter; and rutland has one at wing, which measures feet. [illustration: the mize-maze on st. katherine's hill, winchester.] at asenby, in the parish of topcliffe, yorkshire, is a maze measuring feet across, which has been carefully preserved by the local authorities. at chilcombe, near winchester, a maze is cut in the turf of s. catherine's hill; it is square in outline, each side being feet. it is locally known as the "mize-maze." one much larger than any yet noticed is found near saffron waldon, in essex, its diameter being feet. there are local records which prove the great antiquity of a maze at this place. the design is peculiar, being properly a circle, save that at four equal distances along the circumference the pathway sweeps out into a horseshoe projection. [illustration: the maze near st. anne's chapel, nottingham.] a similar plan was followed in cutting a maze, once of some celebrity, near s. anne's well, at sneinton, nottingham. the projections in this case are bolder, and within the spaces enclosed by the triple pathway which swept around them were cut cross-crosslets. the popular names for this maze in the district were the "shepherd's maze," and "robin hood's race." this was, unfortunately, ploughed up in , at the enclosure of the lordship of sneinton. nottinghamshire has, however, another example in the small square one at clifton. [illustration: maze formerly existing near st. anne's well, sneinton, nottinghamshire.] many of these turf-cut labyrinths were destroyed during the commonwealth, before which period, according to aubrey in his history of surrey, there were many in england. not a few, however, which survived that time of wanton destruction, have been obliterated since. in one which was on ripon common was ploughed up. its diameter was feet. another existed till comparatively recent times at hillbury, between farnham and guildford. at pimpern, in dorset, there was formerly a maze of a unique design. the outline was roughly a triangle, which enclosed nearly an acre of ground; the pathway was marked out by ridges of earth about a foot in height, and followed a singularly intricate course. the plough destroyed this also in . the names locally applied to these structures often imply very erroneous ideas as to their origin and purpose. in some instances they are ascribed to the shepherds, as if cut by them as pastime in their idle moments; a suggestion, which a glance at the mazes themselves, with their intricate designs and correctly formed curves, will prove to be hardly tenable. two other names of frequent occurrence in england are "troy town," and "julian's bower"; the latter being connected with the former, julius, son of Æneas being the person alluded to. some have from these titles sought to trace a connection with a very ancient sport known as the _troy game_, which arose in classic times, and survived down to the middle ages. it consisted probably in the rhythmic performance of certain evolutions, much after the fashion of the "musical rides" executed by our cavalry. the origin of the idea is to be sought in a passage in virgil's Æneid (bk. v., v. _et seq._), which has been thus translated by kennett:-- "files facing files their bold companions dare, and wheel, and charge, and urge the sportive war. now flight they feign, and naked backs expose, now with turned spears drive headlong on the foes, and now, confederate grown, in peaceful ranks they close. as crete's fam'd labyrinth, to a thousand ways and endless darken'd walls the guest conveys; endless, inextricable rounds amuse, and no kind track the doubtful passage shows; so the glad trojan youth, the winding course sporting pursue, and charge the rival force." tresco, scilly, has a maze known as troy-town; and it would seem that such were once common in cornwall, since any intricate arrangement is often locally called by that name. it has, however, been pointed out that most of these mazes date from a time when classical knowledge was not widely spread in england; that, in fact, the name has probably been given in most instances long after the date of the construction of the work. it would seem rather that the original use of these quaint figures was, as with those continental examples before noted, ecclesiastical. no one who has had the opportunity of comparing the designs of the english and the foreign mazes can fail to be struck with the great similarity between them; suggesting, at least, a common origin and purpose. and this suggestion is greatly strengthened when we notice that, although the english mazes are never (with one modern instance only excepted) within churches, as are the continental instances, yet they are almost invariably close to a church, or the ancient site of a church. the alkborough and wing mazes, for instance, are hard by the parish churches; and those at sneinton, winchester, and boughton green are beside spots once consecrated by chapels dedicated in honour of st. anne, st. catherine, and st. john. the most probable conjecture is that these were originally formed, and for long years were used, for purposes of devotion and penance. doubtless in later times the children often trod those mazy ways in sport and emulation, which had been slowly measured countless times before in silent meditation or in penitential tears. a word or two may be added in conclusion on mazes of the more modern sort, formed for amusement rather than for use, as a curious feature in a scheme of landscape gardening. these _topiary_ mazes, as they are called, usually have their paths defined by walls of well-cut box, yew, or other suitable shrubs; and they differ from the turf mazes in that they are often made purposely puzzling and misleading. in the ecclesiastical maze, it is always the patience, not the ingenuity, which is tested; there is but one road to follow, and though that one wanders in and out with tantalizing curves and coils, yet it leads him who follows it unerringly to the centre. from tudor times this form of decoration for a large garden has been more or less popular. burleigh formed one at the old palace at theobald's, hertfordshire, about ; and the maze in southwark, near a spot once occupied by the residence of queen mary before coming to the throne, and maze hill at greenwich, no doubt mark the sites of labyrinths now otherwise forgotten. lord fauconbergh had a maze at sutton court in ; and william iii. so highly approved of them that, having left one behind him at the palace of the loo, he had another constructed at hampton court. literature and art have not disdained to interest themselves in this somewhat formal method of gardening; for in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries more than one treatise on their construction was published; while holbein and tintoretto have left behind them designs for topiary labyrinths. the oldest and most famous maze in our history is "fair rosamond's bower," already mentioned. of what kind this was, if indeed it was at all, it is difficult to say; authorities disagreeing as to whether it was a matter of architectural arrangement, of connected caves, or of some other kind. the trend of modern historical criticism in this, as in so many other romantic stories from our annals, is to deny its genuineness altogether. fortunately although so many of our ancient mazes have disappeared, the designs of their construction has, in not a few cases, been preserved to us by means of contemporary drawings; so that a fairly accurate idea of the type most commonly followed may still be obtained. we have to thank mr. j. potter briscoe, f.r.h.s., editor of "old nottinghamshire," for kindly placing at our disposal the two illustrations relating to the st. anne's well maze. churchyard superstitions. by the rev. theodore johnson. among all classes of english people there are mixed feelings relating to our churchyards. they are either places of reverence on the one hand, or superstition on the other. the sacred plot surrounding the old parish church carries with it such a host of memories and associations, that to the learned and thoughtful it has always been god's acre, hallowed with a tender hush of silent contemplation of the many sad rifts and partings among us. we almost vie with each other in proclaiming that deep reverence for this one sacred spot, so dear to our family life, and affections, by those mementos of love which we raise over the resting-places of our lost ones gone before. this is strangely apparent in the stately monument, where the carver's art declares the virtues of the dead, either by sculptured figure, or verse engraven, as well as in the ofttimes more pathetic, and perhaps more beautiful, tribute of the floral cross or wreath culled by loving hands, and borne in silence, by our poorer brethren, as the only offering, or tribute, their slender means allows them to make. be sure of this one fact, that our english churchyards are better kept--more worthy of the name of god's acre than in the times past, for what is a more beautiful sight, than to see the kneeling children around the garden grave of a parent, or a child companion, adorning the little mound with flowers for the eastertide festival. here we have a living illustration of the truth of the concluding words of our great creed: "i look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come." on the other hand, to the ignorant, and unlearned in these things, the churchyard often becomes a place of dread, and it may be, some of the strange behaviour sometimes seen there arises from this inner feeling of awe, which in their ignorant superstition they are wont to carry off in the spirit of daring bravado. from a close study of the subject, i am led to conclude that the common unchristian idea, that the churchyard is 'haunted,' whatever that may mean to a weak or ignorant person, has much to do with it. the evil report, once circulated, will be handed on to generations yet unborn, until the simple origin, which at first might have been easily explained, becomes clouded in mystery as time goes on, and the deep rooted feeling of horror spreads around us, until even the more strong-minded among us, feel at times, somewhat doubtful as to whether there may not be some truth where the popular testimony is so strong. in country districts, more than in towns, superstition is rife with regard to our churchyards. the variety and form of this superstition is well nigh 'legion,' and though many of my readers may enjoy an ingoldsby experience when read in a well-lighted room, surrounded by smiling companions, few of them, after such an experience would care to pay a visit alone to some neighbouring churchyard, renowned for its tale of ghostly appearances. this will, i think enable me to show that by far the larger number of churchyard superstitions are purely chimerous fancies of the brain, and do not owe their origin, or existence, to any other source, be that source a wilful fraud, or imposition, designed to produce fear, or merely the imaginative delusion of some overstrained, or weak brain, which called first it into existence. yet there are prevalent ideas or notions, about the churchyard and its sleepers, as deep-rooted as any wild superstition, and perhaps as difficult to solve, or to trace to any rational source. i would here mention one of the most strange, and probably one of the most prejudiced notions to be met with relating to burial in the churchyard. i refer to the east anglian prejudice of being buried on the north side of the church. that this prejudice is a strong one, among the country people in certain parts of england, is proved by the scarcity of graves, nay, in many instances the total absence of graves, on the north side of our churches. some seventeen years ago, shortly after taking charge of a parish in norfolk, i was called upon to select a suitable spot for the burial of a poor man, who had been killed by an accident. after several places had been suggested by me to the sexton, who claimed for them either a family right, or some similar objection; i noticed for the first time, that there were no graves upon the north side of the church, and i, in my innocence, suggested that there would be plenty of space there; whereupon my companion's face at once assumed the most serious expression, and i immediately saw that fear had taken hold of his mind, as he answered with a somewhat shaky voice, "no, sir! no, that cannot be!" my curiosity was immediately aroused, and i sought for an explanation, which i found not from my good and loyal friend, who would not trust himself to answer further than "no, sir! no, that cannot be!" the sexton's manner puzzled me greatly, for the man was an upright, straightforward, open-hearted, servant of the church--but i at once saw that it would be fruitless to push the matter further with him, so after marking out a suitable resting place for the poor unfortunate man, who not being a parishoner of long standing, had no family burial place awaiting him, i made my way home to think over the whole occurrence. the cause for non-burial on the north side of the church was indeed a mystery, yet that my parishoners had some valid reason for not being laid to rest there, was apparent; so i set about the task of unravelling the superstition, if so it may be called. my library shelves seemed to be the most natural place of research, but here after consultation with several volumes of archæology, ecclesiology, and folk lore, i could find nothing bearing upon the subject, beyond that in certain instances relating to churchyard parishes on the sea-coast, the north side by reason of its exposure to wind and storm, and being the sunless quarter of the burying ground, was less used than other parts; but here the reason given was in consideration of the living mourners at the time of the interment, and not the body sleeping in its last resting place of earth. after some considerable correspondence with friends likely to be interested in such a matter, i was rewarded with information that, in some instances, the northern portion of the churchyard was left unconsecrated, and only thus occasionally used for the burial of suicides, vagrants, highwaymen (after the four cross road graves had been discontinued), or for nondescripts and unbaptised persons, for whom no religious service was considered necessary. even this i did not accept as a solution of my problem. that there was something more than local feeling underlying this superstition, i was certain, but how to get to the root of the subject perplexed me. the editor of "notes and queries" could not satisfy me. his general suggestions and kind desire to aid me were well-nigh fruitless, so that there remained for me the course of watching and waiting, as none of my neighbours could, or would, go beyond the conclusive statement of the sexton, "it must not be!" or what was even more indefinite, "i have never heard of such a thing." the subject was a fruitful source of thought for some months, and in vain i tried to connect some religious custom of other days, or to find some text of scripture, which might have given rise to the idea, if mistranslated, or twisted by human ingenuity, to serve such a purpose, but none occurred to me that in the least would bear of such a contortion. in my intercourse with my older parishoners i sought in vain to test the unbaptized or suicidal burying place theory as suggested above, but this was entirely foreign to them. at length, the truth of the old saying, "_all things come to those who wait_" brought its due reward. i was called in to visit an aged parishoner, who was nearing the end of life's journey, and among other subjects naturally came the thoughts, and wishes, of this old saintly man's last hours on earth. he had been a shepherd for well nigh sixty years, and a widower for the past fifteen years, and in consequence he had lived and worked much alone. this had produced a thoughtful spirit, and a certain slowness of speech, so that he was quite the last man i should have consulted for a solution of my mystery. yet, here the secret was unfolded, or to my mind more satisfactorily explained, than by any previous consultation with either men or books. the grand old labourer, or faithful shepherd, as he was laid helpless on his bed, with his life work symbol--the shepherd's crook, standing idle in the corner, and his trusty dog, restless and perplexed, roaming from room to room, was a wonderful picture of a christian death-bed. there i learned many a solemn life-lesson never to be forgotten. the calm voice, the monosyllabic answers given in response to my questions are still fresh to me; and there i learned the source of my churchyard superstition in the following manner:-- with a strange, weird, unnatural light in the aged man's eyes, which portrayed much anxiety of mind, he spoke about his burial-place, and particularly emphasising the words "_on the south side, sir, near by the wife_." when i ventured to inquire if he knew why such a strong objection was held to burial on the north side of the church. he started suddenly, and i shall never forget his reproachful, sad look as he more readily than usual gave the answer:--"the left side of christ, sir: we don't like to be counted among the goats." as a flash of lightning illuminates the whole darkness of the country side, and reveals for the moment every object in clear outline, so this quaint saying of my dying friend dispelled in a moment the mists of the past which clouded the truth of my strange superstition. here was the best answer to the mystery, pointing with no uncertain words to the glorious resurrection day, this aged, earthly shepherd at the end of his years of toil recognised his great master, jesus, as the true shepherd of mankind, meeting his flock as they arose from their long sleep of death, with their faces turned eastward, awaiting his appearing. then when all had been called and recognised he turned to lead them onward, still their true shepherd and guide, with the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left hand, so wonderfully foretold in the gospel story: "when the son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left."--_s. matt, xxv., , , ._ surely, the above simple illustration explains much that is difficult and mysterious to us in the way of religious superstition. undoubtedly, we have here a good example of how superstitions have arisen, probably from a good source, it may be the words of some teacher long since passed away. the circumstance has long been forgotten, yet the lesson remains, and being handed down by oral tradition only, every vestige of its religious nature disappears and but the feeling remains, which, in the minds of the ignorant populace, increases in mystery and enfolds itself in superstitious awe, without any desire from them to discover the origin, or source, of such a strange custom, or event. curious announcements in the church. by the rev. r. wilkins rees. years ago announcements in churches were of a distinctly curious character, and the parish clerk in making the intimation seems to have been left completely to his own indiscretion. in country districts, where proper advertising would be quite impossible, the practical advantages of some classes of announcements would be great, but none of them accord with our modern sense of the fitness of things, and many can only be accounted for on the ground of extraordinary familiarity between clergyman, clerk, and congregation. a brief consideration of the subject furnishes a few side-lights into the general condition of the church, as well as into the laxity of church discipline, about fifty years and more ago, especially away from large centres of population. in certain parts, the custom of crying lost goods in church was undoubtedly prevalent, and did not then appear peculiar. the rector, who had lost his favourite dog and told the parish clerk to do his best to ascertain its whereabouts, may have been astonished to hear him announce the loss in church, coupled with a statement that a reward of three pounds would be given to the person who should restore the animal to its owner. but such surprise was hardly natural when an announcement like the following was possible:--"mislaid on sunday last! the gold-rimmed vicar's spectacles of best glass, taken from his eyes in going into the poor box, or put down somewhere when going into the font to fetch the water after the christening." what a shock this rare jumble produced by a country clerk must have been to the precise and classical vicar can only be imagined. the thought, however, of a gold-rimmed vicar diminutive enough to enter font or poor box is somewhat staggering! quite as muddled, but much more ingenious, was the clerk who announced, in recent years, an accomplished d.sc. and ll.d. as a doctor of schools and a lord lieutenant of divinity! "lost, stolen, or strayed," shouted the clerk in church one sunday, with the strident voice of a town crier, and the manner of one not unaccustomed to the task, "lost, stolen, or strayed. four fat sheep and one lean cow. whoever will return the same to mr. ----'s farm will be suitably rewarded." it is well that the name of the parish in which it was given, is missing from another specimen of this sort of announcement, for it seems to indicate that honesty there could be but the outcome of an inducement afforded by the promise of substantial reward. "lost," said the clerk, "on sunday last, when the wearer was walking home from this church, and before she reached the town hall, a lady's gold brooch, set with pearls and other precious stones. the one who has found it will consider it worth while to restore it, for the reward of a guinea is offered." it is not a little surprising that the clergyman in charge did not supervise more carefully the various announcements, especially when so many a _contretemps_ occurred. once a parish clerk announced in his rector's hearing:--"there'll be no service next sunday as the rector's going out grouse shooting." the rector had injudiciously acquainted his clerk with the reason of his approaching absence, and this was the result. it happened, of course, a half century since, but it illustrates an interesting state of things as existing at that period. with it two similar incidents may well be mentioned, the first of which occurred in scotland, the second in the principality. "next sawbath," said a worthy scotch beadle, "we shall have no sawbath, for the meenister's house is having spring cleaning, and as the weather is very bad the meenister's wife wants the kirk to dry the things in." "next sunday," declared the unconsciously amusing welshman, "there'll be no sunday, as we're going to whitewash the church with yellow-ochre." sometimes the omission of a stop caused sore trouble to the clerk, while it hugely delighted the congregation. "a man having gone to see his wife desires the prayers of this church," was the startling announcement. but had not the clerk been near-sighted and mistaken _sea_ for _see_, and had a comma been supplied after sea, the notice would have been all right, for it was simply the request of a sailor's wife on behalf of her husband. once the clerk made the announcement that a parish meeting would be held on a given date. "no, no," interrupted the vicar. "d'ye think i'd attend to business on the audit day!" the audit days were recognised as times of hearty feasting and convivial mirth, in which the vicar played no unimportant part. this freedom of speech between clergyman and clerk was not seldom fruitful of ill-restrained amusement when the announcements were made. a vicar informed his congregation one sunday morning that he would hold the customary service for baptisms in the afternoon, and requested the parents to bring their children punctually, so that there might be no delay in commencing. immediately he had said this, the old clerk, sleepy and deaf, thinking the parson's announcement had to do with a new hymn-book which at that time was being introduced, arose, and graciously informed the people that for those who were still without them he had a stock in the vestry from which they could be supplied at the low charge of eighteenpence each. this is slightly similar:--"i publish the banns of marriage between ... between ..." announced a clergyman from the pulpit. but here for a moment he stopped, as the book in which were the notices was not to be seen. the clerk, seeing his vicar's predicament, and catching sight of the whereabouts of the missing book, ejaculated:--"between the cushion and the desk, sir." the unique character of another notice will fully justify its inclusion. "i am unwell, my friends, very unwell," announced a preacher one sunday evening, "and therefore i shall dispense with my usual gesticulation." this happened not very long ago. so disregarded, indeed, were the proprieties of worship a generation since, that the clergyman would sometimes pause during the delivery of his sermon and make an announcement which, to say the least of it, had no connection with the theme he was pursuing. thus the rev. samuel sherwen, a well-known cleric in cumberland, announced one morning that he had just caught sight, through a window near the pulpit, of some cows in a cornfield, and requested that some one would go and drive them out. at another time he said there were some pigs in the churchyard which were not his, and his servant peter would do well to expel the intruders. very probably such announcements, though made from a pulpit, would be excused because they resulted in a certain benefit. the same plea could undoubtedly be put forward for the following trio, each of which hails from beyond the severn. "take notice!" exclaimed the clerk. "a thief is going through the vale of glamorgan selling tin ware, false gold, trinkets, and rings, and other domestic implements and instruments, and robbing houses of hens, chickens, eggs, butter, and other portable animals, making all sorts of pretences to get money!" again, "beware! beware! of a man with one eye, talking like a preacher, and a wooden leg, given to begging and stealing!" and once more, "take notice! take notice! there's a mad dog going the round of the parish with two crop ears and a very long tail!" surely the intention of such announcements was good, even though the literary form was bad. the last, as might be inferred, was made at a time when rabies were prevalent. the rev. samuel sherwen, already alluded to, was surpassed in this direction by another cumbrian clergyman, the rev. william sewell, of troutbeck. one sunday morning the latter entered the pulpit of the little church at wythburn to preach. the pulpit sadly needed repair, and, in leaning out from the wall, left an undesirable opening behind it. into this chink the parson's sermon fell, and the pulpit was so ricketty in its broken-down condition that the preacher feared the consequences of turning in it. moreover, the manuscript had fallen so far that it could not be reached. mr. sewell, bereft of his sermon, announced to his congregation in broad dialect: "t' sarmont's slipt down i' t' neuk, and i can't git it out; but i'll tell ye what--i'se read ye a chapter i' t' bible 'at's worth three on't." a similar story is told in connection with the rev. mr. alcock, who in the middle of the last century was rector of burnsal, near skipton, in yorkshire. of this clergyman another story is given which well illustrates the excessive familiarity indulged in by occupants of the pulpit in bygone days. one of his friends, at whose house he was wont to call previous to entering the church on sundays, seized a chance to unfasten and then misplace the leaves of his sermon. in the service the parson had not read far before he discovered the trick. "will," cried he, "thou rascal! what's thou been doing with my sermon?" then turning to his people, he continued: "brethren, will thornton's been misplacing the leaves of my sermon; i have not time to put them right; i shall read on as i find it, and you must make the best of it that you can." he accordingly read to the close of the confused mass to the utter astonishment of his congregation. of such familiarity scottish churches furnish well-nigh innumerable instances. one or two will, however, be sufficient for my purpose. the clergyman who was expected to conduct the morning service had not made his appearance at the appointed time. after a dreadful suspense of some fifteen minutes the beadle, that much-privileged individual, entered the church, marched slowly along the accustomed passage, and mounted the pulpit-stair. when half-way up he stopped, turned to the congregation, and thus addressed them: "there was one alexander to hae preached here the day, but he's neither come hissel; nor has he sent the scrape o' a pen to say what's come owre him. ye'd better keep your seats for anither ten meenits to see whether the body turns up or no. if he disna come, there's naething for 't but for ye a' to gang hame again an' say naething mair aboot it. the like o' this hasna happened here syne i hae been conneckit wi' the place, an' that's mair than four-and-thirty year now." as an announcement to the point, and for the purpose, that could not easily be beaten. a clergyman of crossmichael, in galloway, would even intersperse his lessons or sermon with any announcement that might at the moment occur to him, or with allusions to the behaviour of his hearers. once, because of this method, a verse from exodus was hardly recognisable. the version given was as follows: "and the lord said unto moses--shut that door; i'm thinkin' if ye had to sit beside that door yersel', ye wadna be sae ready leavin' it open; it was just beside that door that yedam tamson, the bellman, gat his death o' cauld, an' i'm sure, honest man, he didna lat it stey muckle open.--and the lord said unto moses--put oot that dog; wha is't that brings dogs to the kirk, yaff-yaffin'? lat me never see ye bring yer dogs here ony mair, for, if ye do, tak notice, i'll put you an' them baith oot.--and the lord said unto moses--i see a man aneeth that wast laft wi' his hat on; i'm sure ye're cleen oot o' the souch o' the door; keep aff yer bonnet, tammas, an' if yer bare pow be cauld, ye maun jist get a grey worset wig like mysel'; they're no sae dear; plenty o' them at bob gillespie's for tenpence." at last, however, the preacher informed his hearers what was said to moses in a manner at once more accurate and becoming. it was, indeed, a usual custom for the clergyman publicly to rebuke offenders, as when it happened that a young man, sitting in a prominent position in the church, pulled out his handkerchief and brought with it a bundle of playing cards, which flew in every direction. he had, so it turned out, been up late the previous night, and had stuffed the cards with which he had been gambling into his pocket, where they had remained forgotten. the people were amazed and horrified, but the clergyman simply looked at the offender and remarked with quiet, yet most withering sarcasm, "sir, that prayer book of yours has been badly bound!" but some times the rebuke was deftly thrust back upon the preacher. "you're sleepy, john," said the clergyman, pausing in the middle of a drowsy discourse, and looking hard at the man he thus addressed. "take some snuff, john." "put the snuff in the sermon," ejaculated john; and the faces of the audience showed that the retort was fully appreciated. in fact, such was the freedom tolerated, that this incident in eskdale might be taken as an example. someone walked noisily up the aisle during divine service. "whaa's tat?" asked the clergyman in a tone quite loud enough to rebuke the offender. "it's aad sharp o' laa birker," responded the clerk. "afooat or o' horseback?" was the significant query. "nay," was the answer, "nobbet afooat, wi' cokert shun" (calkered shoes). frequently the clerk would interrupt the clergyman, and the interruption would not enhance the devotional character of the service. in a rural parish church a new pitch-pipe was provided, but the clerk had not tested it before entering his desk on the sunday, and when he should have given the key-note the instrument could not be adjusted. the clerk tugged at it, thrust it in, gave it several thumps, made sundry grimaces, but the pipe was obdurate. "my friends," announced the impatient parson, "the pitch-pipe will not work, so let us pray." "pray!" snorted the aggrieved official, "pray! no, no, we'll pray none till i put this thing aright." and members of the congregation would even stand up in their pews to contradict the parson or clerk when making the announcement. "there will be a service here as usual on thursday evening next," announced the clerk one sunday morning. "no, there won't," declared the churchwarden as he rose from his seat. "we be going to carry hay all day thursday." "but the service will be held as usual," asserted the clerk. but the churchwarden was not to be thwarted. "then there'll be nobody here," said he. "d'ye think we're coming to church and leave the hay in the fields? no, no, p'r'aps it'll rain friday." but of all amusing instances of curious announcements in church those given by the rev. cuthbert bede in _all the year round_, november , may take the palm and fittingly conclude this chapter. "an old rector of a small country parish," so runs the story, "had sent his set of false teeth to be repaired, on the understanding that they should be returned "by saturday" as there was no sunday post, and the village was nine miles from the post town. the old rector tried to brave out the difficulty, but after he had incoherently mumbled through the prayers, he decided not to address his congregation on that day. while the hymn was being sung, he summoned the clerk to the vestry, and then said to him: "it is quite useless for me to attempt to go on. the fact is, that my dentist has not sent me back my artificial teeth, and it is impossible for me to make myself understood. you must tell the congregation that the service is ended for this morning, and that there will be no service this afternoon." the old clerk went back to his desk; the singing of the hymn was brought to an end; and the rector, from the vestry, heard the clerk address the congregation thus: "this is to give notice! as there won't be no sarmon nor no more sarvice this mornin', so you' better all go whum (home); and there won't be no sarvice this aternoon, as the rector ain't got his artful teeth back from the dentist!" big bones preserved in churches. by the rev. r. wilkins rees. in a lovely and secluded valley in montgomeryshire is situated the interesting old church of pennant melangell, of whose foundation a charming legend is told. the romantic glen was in the first instance the retreat of a beautiful irish maiden, monacella (in welsh, melangell), who had fled from her father's court rather than wed a noble to whom he had promised her hand, that here she might alone "serve god and the spotless virgin." brochwell yscythrog, prince of powys, being one day hare-hunting in the locality, pursued his game till he came to a thicket, where to his amazement he found a lady of surpassing beauty, with the hare he was chasing safely sheltered beneath her robe. notwithstanding all the efforts of the sportsman to make them seize their prey, the dogs had retired to a distance, howling as though in fear, and even when the huntsman essayed to blow his horn, it stuck to his lips. the prince, learning the lady's story, right royally assigned to her the spot as a sanctuary for ever to all who fled there. it afterwards became a safe asylum for the oppressed, and an institution for the training of female devotees. but how long it so continued cannot be said. monacella's hard bed used to be shown in the cleft of a neighbouring rock, while her tomb was in a little oratory adjoining the church. in the church is to be found carved woodwork, which doubtless once formed part of the rood-loft, representing the legend of saint melangell. the protection afforded by the saint to the hare gave such animals the name of wyn melangell--st. monacella's lambs--and the superstition was so fully credited that no person would kill a hare in the parish, while it was also believed that if anyone cried "god and st. monacella be with thee" after a hunted hare, it would surely escape. the church contains another interesting item in the shape of a large bone, more than four feet long, which has been described as the bone of the patron saint. southey visited the church, and in an amusing rhyming letter addressed to his daughter, thus refers to it: "'tis a church in a vale, whereby hangs a tale, how a hare being pressed by the dogs was much distressed, the hunters coming nigh and the dogs in full cry, looked about for someone to defend her, and saw just in time, as it now comes pat in rhyme, a saint of the feminine gender. the saint was buried there, and a figure carved with care, in the churchyard is shown, as being her own; but 'tis used for a whetstone (like a stone at our back door), till the pity is the more (i should say the more's the pity, if it suited with my ditty), it is whetted half away--lack-a-day, lack-a-day! they show a mammoth rib (was there ever such a fib?) as belonging to the saint melangell. it was no use to wrangle, and tell the simple people that if this had been her bone, she must certainly have grown to be three times as tall as the steeple!" in lewis's "topographical dictionary of wales" ( ), we are told that on the mountain between bala and pennant melangell was found a large bone named the giant's rib, perhaps the bone of some fish, now kept in the church. but where the bone came from it is quite impossible to say. old superstitions have clung to it, and beyond what tradition furnishes there is practically nothing for our guidance. it is somewhat strange that in the same county, in connection with the church at mallwyd, other bones are exhibited. of this church, surrounded by romantic scenery, the dr. davies, who rendered into welsh the thirty-nine articles of the church of england, and assisted bishop perry in the translation of the bible, was for many years incumbent. the sacred edifice was far-famed for its magnificent yew trees, and for the position of the communion table in the centre. archbishop laud issued orders that it should be placed at the east end, but dr. davies defied the prelate, and restored it to its old position, where, according to hemmingway's "panorama of north wales," in which the church was described as a "humble gothic structure, the floor covered with rushes," it remained till . it is not, however, so placed now. over the porch of this church some bones are suspended, but no palæontologist has yet decided as to their origin. it has been said that they are the rib and part of the spine of a whale caught in the dovey in bygone days! whatever may be the truth, however, it is not now to be ascertained, but must remain shrouded in mystery with that concerning the bones at pennant melangell. the bones were in their present position in , for they are then mentioned by pugh in his _cambria depicta_. england has several instances of big bones preserved in churches, and one story seems to be told regarding almost all. a most interesting example is to be found over one of the altar tombs in the foljambe chapel, chesterfield church. this bone, supposed to be the jawbone of a small whale, is seven feet four inches in length, and about thirteen inches, on an average, in circumference. near one end is engraved, in old english characters, the name "thomas fletcher." the foljambes disposed of their manor in to the ingrams, who in turn sold it to the fletchers, and thus the name on the bone is accounted for. a generally-accepted explanation about this bone--not even disbelieved entirely at the present day--was that it formed a rib of the celebrated dun cow of dunsmore heath, killed by the doughty guy of warwick, with whom local tradition identified the warrior whose marble effigy lies beneath the bone, sent to chesterfield to celebrate the much-appreciated victory. [illustration: the dun cow, durham cathedral.] it is interesting to remember here the legendary story of the foundation of durham cathedral, which explains certain carving on the north front of that majestic pile. while the final resting-place of st. cuthbert was still undetermined, "it was revealed to eadmer, a virtuous man, that he should be carried to dunholme, where he should find a place of rest. his followers were in distress, not knowing where dunholme lay; but as they proceeded, a woman, wanting her cow, called aloud to her companion to know if she had seen her, when the other answered that she was in dunholme. this was happy news to the distressed monks, who thereby knew that their journey's end was at hand, and the saint's body near its resting-place." it has been said that the after riches of the see of durham gave rise to the proverb, "the dun cow's milk makes the prebend's wives go in silk." but to return to the dun cow slain by guy. that the champion was credited of old with having overcome some such animal is evident from the matter-of-fact fashion in which it is recorded by ancient chroniclers. in percy's "reliques of antient poetry," occur the following verses in a black-letter ballad which sings the exploits of guy:-- "on dunsmore heath i alsoe slewe a monstrous wyld and cruell beast, called the dun-cow of dunsmore heath, which manye people had opprest. some of her bons in warwicke yett still for a monument doe lye; which unto every lookers viewe as wondrous strange, they may espye." a circumstantial account is given in the "noble and renowned history of guy, earl of warwick," as translated from the curious old french black-letter volume in warwick castle, and of this a somewhat modernised version may be submitted. "fame made known in every corner of the land that a dun cow of enormous size, 'at least four yards in height, and six in length, and a head proportionable,' was making dreadful devastations, and destroying man and beast. the king was at york when he heard of the havoc and slaughter which this monstrous animal had made. he offered knighthood to anyone who would destroy her, and many lamented the absence in normandy of guy, who, hearing of the beast, went privately to give it battle. with bow and sword and axe he came, and found every village desolate, every cottage empty. his heart filled with compassion, and he waited for the encounter. the furious beast glared at him with her eyes of fire. his arrows flew from her sides as from adamant itself. like the wind from the mountain side the beast came on. her horns pierced his armour of proof, though his mighty battle-axe struck her in the forehead. he wheeled his gallant steed about and struck her again. he wounded her behind the ear. the monster roared and snorted as she felt the anguish of the wound. at last she fell, and guy, alighting, hewed at her until she expired, deluged with her blood. he then rode to the next town, and made known the monster's death, and then went to his ship, hoping to sail before the king could know of the deed. fame was swifter than guy. the king sent for him, gave him the honour of knighthood, and caused one of the ribs of the cow to be hung up in warwick castle, where it remains until this day." old dr. caius, of cambridge, writes of having seen an enormous head at warwick castle in , and also "a vertebra of the neck of the same animal, of such great size that its circumference is not less than three roman feet seven inches and a half." he thinks also that "the blade-bone, which is to be seen hung up by chains form the north gate of coventry, belongs to the same animal. the circumference of the whole bone is not less than eleven feet four inches and a half." the same authority further states that "in the chapel of the great guy, earl of warwick, which is situated rather more than a mile from the town of warwick (guy's cliff), there is hung up a rib of the same animal, as i suppose, the girth of which in the smallest part is nine inches, the length six feet and a half," and he inclines to a half-belief, at any rate, in the dun-cow story. in connection with the legend it should be mentioned that in the north-west of shropshire is the staple hill, which has a ring of upright stones, about ninety feet in diameter, of the rude pre-historic type. "here the voice of fiction declares there formerly dwelt a giant who guarded his cow within this inclosure, like another apis among the ancient egyptians, a cow who yielded her milk as miraculously as the bear oedumla, whom we read of in icelandic mythology, filling every vessel that could be brought to her, until at length an old crone attempted to catch her milk in a sieve, when, furious at the insult, she broke out of the magical inclosure and wandered into warwickshire, where her subsequent history and fate are well known under that of the dun cow, whose death added another wreath of laurel to the immortal guy, earl of warwick." the presence of bones at chesterfield and elsewhere is, of course, accounted for by the fact (?) that they were distributed over the country so that in various places guy's marvellous feat might be commemorated. in queen elizabeth's "fairest and most famous parish church in england," st. mary redcliff, bristol, is preserved a bone said to have belonged to a monster cow which once supplied the whole city with milk. bristolians, proud of their connection with the great discoverer, cabot, assert that it is a whalebone brought to the city by the illustrious voyager on his return from newfoundland. but here the story of guy of warwick and the cow has also been introduced. the bone, which is now fixed not far from the stair leading to the chamber containing the muniment chest where chatterton pretended to have found the rowley poems, was formerly hung within the church, while near to it was suspended a grimy old picture now banished to a position on a staircase just where the room in which the vestry meetings are held is entered. the picture, so far as it can be made out, contains a big figure of a man on the right hand side, while in the foreground lies a prostrate man, behind whom stands a cow. to the left of the picture are certain human figures in attitudes expressive of surprise. this ancient painting was said to refer to guy's exploit, and the rib was pointed out as a positive proof that the daring deed was done. it may be presumed that all, or nearly all, these bones preserved in churches are those of whales, though in some instances they have been supposed to be those of the wild bonasus or urus and most are associated in some way or other with the legend of guy and the dun-cow. indeed, it seems almost strange that the story has not been connected even with the bone at pennant melangell, especially as on the mountain between llanwddyn and the parish is a circular inclosure surrounded by a wall called hên eglwys, and supposed to be a druidical relic, which would have been just the spot to have lent itself to the statement that there the animal was confined. the late frank buckland, in his entertaining chapter on "a hunt on the sea-shore," in his second volume of "curiosities of natural history," says: "whale-bones get to odd places," and writes of having seen them used for a grotto in abingdon, and a garden chair in clapham. not far from chesterfield there were, until recently, some whale-jaw gate posts which formed an arch, and in north lincolnshire such bones, tall and curved, are still to be seen serving similar purposes. but the presence of such bones, carefully preserved in churches, though it may occasion considerable conjecture, cannot, it seems, be properly explained. as yet, at any rate, the riddle remains unsolved. samuel pepys at church. the diary of samuel pepys, from to , presents us with a picture of london in the days of charles ii. that has perhaps not been equalled in any other work dealing with the manners, customs, and the social life of the period. we get a good idea from it how sunday was spent in an age largely given to pleasure. samuel pepys had strong leanings towards the presbyterians, but was a churchman, and seldom missed going to a place of worship on sunday, and did not neglect to have family prayers in his own home. he generally attended his own church in the morning, and after dinner in the afternoon would roam about the city, and visit more than one place of worship. take for an example an account of one sunday. after being present at his own church in the forenoon, and dining, he says: "i went and ranged and ranged about to many churches, among the rest to the temple, where i heard dr. wilkins a _little_." it is to be feared pretty faces and not powerful preachers often induced him to go to the house of prayer. writing on august th, , he says: "to our own church in the forenoon, and in the afternoon to clerkenwell church, only to see the two fair botelers." he managed to obtain a seat where he could have a good view of them, but they did not charm him, for he says: "i am now out of conceit with them." another sunday he writes: "by coach to greenwich church, where a good sermon, a fine church, and a good company of handsome women." at another church he visited he says that his pretty black girl was present. pepys has much to say about the sermons he heard, and when they were dull he went to sleep. judging from his frequent records of slumbering in church, prosy preachers were by no means rare in his day. writing on the th august, , he gives us a glimpse of the manners of a rustic church. his cousin roger himself attended the service, and says pepys: "at our coming in, the country people all rose with so much reverence; and when the parson begins, he begins, 'right worshipful and dearly beloved' to us." conversation appears to have been freely carried on in city churches. "in my pew," says pepys, "both sir williams and i had much talk about the death of sir robert." laughter was by no means unusual. "before sermon," writes pepys, "i laughed at the reader, who, in his prayer, desired god that he would imprint his word on the thumbs of our right hands and on the right toes of our right feet." when pepys remained at home on sunday he frequently cast up his accounts, and there are in his diary several allusions to this subject. [illustration: the end] index. abbot's pew, malmesbury abbey, , addisham, priest's door at, alkborough maze, , all hallows, barking, alms boxes, alnwick, chest at, announcing cows in a cornfield, antiquarian problem: the leper window, - artificial teeth missing, asenby, maze at, ashbourne bells, ashton-under-lyne, , - bailey, j. e. the five of spades and the church of ashton-under-lyne, - baptisms performed in porches, beadle's announcement, bede, venerable, bell-ringing laws, bell-robbers, bells and their messages, - belvoir, beware of thieves, big bones preserved in churches, - blacksmith, mediæval, blood, foundation laid in, , bocastle, bottreaux, bradbury, edward. bells and their messages, - bradford-on-avon church, brancepeth, chest at, briefs, brigstock bells, briscoe, j. p. stories about bells, - bristol, , , bronze-doors, brundall, building of the english cathedrals, - burial customs, burial at north side of church, - buried alive, burials in lady chapels, - bury st. edmunds, candle in a coffin, canterbury, , , , carlisle, , , carthage, council of, cauld lad of hilton, chantries, chappell of oure ladye, - charm of country bells, chartres, maze at, cheltenham, all saints' church, chester, , chesterfield, bones at, ; spire, chichester, , , , , , chimes, christening ships, christmas games, christ church, hants., ; christ church, oxford, church chests, - church door, - churchwardens' accounts, - churchyard superstitions, - cocks, live, built into walls, coins, burial of, colchester, trinity church door, , cologne cathedral, combs, chest at, compton martin, concerning font-lore, - conversation in church, cope chests, cornish bell-lore, coventry, chest at, , ; spires, , courts in the porch, cromwell's soldiers, crowle church, , , crowland abbey, curfew bell, , curious announcements in church, - danes, incursions of, - darenth, darrington church, dartmouth church, , decorated style, dedicating chapels, devil, sold to the, dickens, charles, on bells, dissolution of monasteries, dogs haunting churches and castles, doom, door-keepers, dun cow, , durham, , , , , , , early cathedrals, early english chests, earthquake, eggs in foundations, elgin, elkstone church, elston church, , exeter, ely, , , , fair rosamond, finedon, fire, , , first burial in a churchyard, first prayer book of edward vi., , fives of spades and the church of ashton-under-lyne, - florence, doors at, flowers in churchyards, fordham, forrabury, founhope church, foxton, france, card playing in, galilee chapel, durham, gambling, sermon against, german bell-lore, ; mythology, gild of cloth merchants, glastonbury, , gloucester, , , , grantham, guy, earl of warwick, haddenham, haltham church, hampton court, maze at, harold's tomb, harty chapel, chest at, hearthstones, bones under, hel-horse, henry the seventh's chapel, , henry vii. a card player, hereford, , , , heysham, higham ferrers, , , , hill, rev. p. oakley. concerning font-lore, - hillbury maze, hilton maze, holland, holsworthy church, holy land, leprosy brought from, horses interred alive, howlett, e. sacrificial foundations, - hulme, importation of cards prohibited, indulgences, inscriptions on bells, - iona, ironwork, - islington, jarrow-on-tyne, johnson, rev. t. churchyard superstitions, - kilkenny, knockers, laughter in church, lambeth palace, leper-window, - lichfield, , , , , lights in lady chapels, limerick bells, lincoln cathedral, , , , , lion fonts, liverpool, llanaber, chest at, llandaff, , , llanthony, lost goods cried in church, louth, , low-side windows, lucca cathedral, maze at, , lych window, lynn, thoresby door, , malmesbury abbey, , mallwyd, bones at, manchester, , mariolatry, marriage customs, massacre of thomas à becket, massingham bells, maundy thursday, mazes, - modern mazes, - mortar, blood in, mortlake, chest at, new walsingham, newcastle-on-tyne, newington chest lost, norman architecture, , - norman conquest, northamptonshire spires, north side of church, burial at, - northorpe, norwich, , , , , , old saint paul's, olney, oundle, over, chest at, , oxford, , , , , page, jno. t. some famous spires, - paris, "paston letters," penance, pennant melangell, legend of, people and steeple rhymes, pepys, samuel, at church, - peterborough, , , , , , , , pimpern maze, poetry on bells, - porches, preferment fee, rees, rev. r. wilkins. curious announcements in church, - ; big bones preserved in churches, - relics of a saint, ripon, , , , , , rochester, , , , rome, founding of, rooms over porches, rougham church, roumania, rushden, sacrificial foundations, - saffron waldon, maze at, salisbury, , , , samuel pepys at church, - saxon architecture, scutari, sempringham abbey, , sermon lost, seven sacrament fonts, seville cathedral, shakespeare, , , shandon, bells of, shrewsbury, shrine of st. frideswide, shrines, , skipton, sleeping in church, sneinton, maze at, - spires, - some famous spires, - southwell, , , southwold chest, sowerford-keynes, stamp, rev. j. h. ye chappell of oure ladye, - stonham aspel, stories about bells, - strasburg cathedral, st. albans, , , , , , , , , st. anne's well and maze, , , st. asaph, st. cuthbert, tomb of, st. david's, , st. fillan's bell, st. frideswide's shrine, st. giles's cathedral, st. hugh, , st. lawrence's, isle of thanet, st. mary's redcliff, , , , st. monacella's lambs, st. mura, bell of, st. odhran, st. paul's, st. peter mancroft, norwich, st. quentin, maze at, suicides, burial of, swedish folk-tales, thetford, thorns, barring a door with, tintagel, torch, symbol of, town bells, truro, tunstall, legend of, tyack, rev. g. s. the church door, - ; the building of the english cathedrals, - ; watching-chambers, - ; church chests, - ; mazes, - tympanum, , , , tyre, church at, unclerically dressed, upton chest, , upton font, vestments voluntary labour, wakefield, walsingham, waltham abbey, , warwick, watching-chambers in churches, - weathercock rhyme, wells, , , welsh border, west doors, , westminster, - , , white, william. an antiquarian problem: the leper window, - wimborne, winchester, , , , , , witham-on-the-hill bells, worcester, , , , wymondham, york, , "mr. andrews' books are always interesting."--_church bells._ "no student of mr. andrews' books can be a dull after-dinner speaker, for his writings are full of curious out-of-the-way information and good stories."--_birmingham daily gazette._ * * * * * england in the days of old by william andrews, f.h.r.s. _demy vo., s. d. numerous illustrations_ this volume is one of unusual interest and value to the lover of olden days and ways, and can hardly fail to interest and instruct the reader. it recalls many forgotten episodes, scenes, characters, manners, customs, etc., in the social and domestic life of england. contents:--when wigs were worn -- powdering the hair -- men wearing muffs -- concerning corporation customs -- bribes for the palate -- rebel heads on city gates -- burial at cross roads -- detaining the dead for debt -- a nobleman's household in tudor times -- bread and baking in bygone days -- arise, mistress, arise! -- the turnspit -- a gossip about the goose -- bells as time-tellers -- the age of snuffing -- state lotteries -- bear-baiting -- morris dancers -- the folk-lore of midsummer eve -- harvest home -- curious charities -- an old-time chronicler. list of illustrations:--the house of commons in the time of sir robert walpole -- egyptian wig -- the earl of albemarle -- campaign wig -- periwig with tail -- ramillie-wig -- pig-tail wig -- bag-wig -- archbishop tilotson -- heart-breakers -- a barber's shop in the time of queen elizabeth -- with and without a wig -- stealing a wig -- man with muff, -- burying the mace at nottingham -- the lord mayor of york escorting princess margaret -- the mayor of wycombe going to the guildhall -- woman wearing a scold's bridle -- the brank -- andrew marvell -- old london bridge, shewing heads of rebels on the gate -- axe, block, and executioner's mask -- margaret roper taking leave of her father, sir thomas more -- rebel heads, from a print published in -- temple bar in dr. johnson's time -- micklegate bar, york -- clock, hampton court palace -- drawing a lottery in the guildhall, -- advertising the last state lottery -- partaking of the pungent pinch -- morris dance, from a painted window at betley -- morris dance, temp. james i. -- a whitsun morris dance -- bear garden, or hope theatre, -- the globe theatre, temp. elizabeth -- plan of bankside early in the seventeenth century -- john stow's monument. a carefully prepared index enables the reader to refer to the varied and interesting contents of the book. "a very attractive and informing book."--_birmingham daily gazette._ "mr andrews has the true art of narration, and contrives to give us the results of his learning with considerable freshness of style, whilst his subjects are always interesting and picturesque."--_manchester courier._ "the book is of unusual interest."--_eastern morning news._ "of the many clever books which mr. andrews has written none does him greater credit than "england in the days of old," and none will be read with greater profit."--_northern gazette._ "valuable and interesting."--_the times._ "readable as well as instructive."--_the globe._ "a valuable addition to any library."--_derbyshire times._ * * * * * the bygone series. in this series the following volumes ate included, and issued at s. d. each. demy vo, cloth gilt. these books have been favourably reviewed in the leading critical journals of england and america. carefully written articles by recognised authorities are included on history, castles, abbeys, biography, romantic episodes, legendary lore, traditional stories, curious customs, folk-lore, etc., etc. the works are illustrated by eminent artists, and by the reproduction of quaint pictures of the olden time. * * * * * bygone berkshire, edited by rev. p. h. ditchfield, m.a., f.s.a. bygone cheshire, edited by william andrews. bygone devonshire, by the rev. hilderic friend. bygone durham, edited by william andrews. bygone gloucestershire, edited by william andrews. bygone hertfordshire, edited by william andrews. bygone leicestershire, edited by william andrews. bygone lincolnshire ( vols), edited by william andrews. bygone middlesex, edited by william andrews. bygone norfolk, edited by william andrews. bygone northumberland, edited by william andrews. bygone nottinghamshire, by william stevenson. bygone scotland, by david maxwell, c.e. bygone somersetshire, edited by cuming walters. bygone southwark, by mrs. e. boger. bygone suffolk, edited by cuming walters. bygone surrey, edited by george clinch and s. w. kershaw, f.s.a. bygone sussex, by w. e. a. axon. bygone warwickshire, edited by william andrews. bygone yorkshire, edited by william andrews. bygone punishments. by william andrews. _demy vo, cloth gilt, s. d. numerous illustrations._ contents:--hanging -- hanging in chains -- hanging, drawing, and quartering -- pressing to death -- drowning -- burning to death -- boiling to death -- beheading -- the halifax gibbet -- the scottish maiden -- mutilation -- branding -- the pillory -- punishing authors and burning books -- finger pillory -- the jougs -- the stocks -- the drunkard's cloak -- whipping and whipping-posts -- public penance -- the repentance stool -- the ducking stool -- the brank, or scold's bridle -- riding the stang -- index. "a book of great interest."--_manchester courier._ "crowded with extraordinary facts."--_birmingham daily gazette._ "contains much that is curious and interesting both to the student of history and social reformer."--_lancashire daily express._ "full of curious lore, sought out and arranged with much industry."--_the scotsman._ "mr. andrews' volume is admirably produced, and contains a collection of curious illustrations, representative of many of the punishments he describes, which contribute towards making it one of the most curious and entertaining books that we have perused for a long time."--_norfolk chronicle._ "those who wish to obtain a good general idea on the subject of criminal punishment in days long past, will obtain it in this well-printed and stoutly-bound volume."--_daily mail._ "mr. william andrews, of hull, is an indefatigable searcher amongst the byways of ancient english history, and it would be difficult to name an antiquary who, along his chosen lines, has made so thoroughly interesting and instructive the mass of facts a painstaking industry has brought to light. for twenty-five years he has been delving into the subject of bygone punishments, and is now one of the best authorities upon obsolete systems of jurisdiction and torture, for torture was, in various forms, the main characteristic of punishment in the good old times. the reformation of the person punished was a far more remote object of retribution than it is with us, and even with us reform is very much a matter of sentiment. punishment was intended to be punishment to the individual in the first place, and in the second a warning to the rest. it is a gruesome study, but mr andrews nowhere writes for mere effect. as an antiquary ought to do, he has made the collection of facts and their preservation for modern students of history in a clear, straightforward narrative his main object, and in this volume he keeps to it consistently. every page is therefore full of curious, out-of-the-way facts, with authorities and references amply quoted."--_yorkshire post._ the church treasury of history, custom, folk-lore, etc. edited by william andrews. _demy vo., s. d. numerous illustrations._ contents:--stave-kirks -- curious churches of cornwall -- holy wells -- hermits and hermit cells -- church wakes -- fortified church towers -- the knight templars: their churches and their privileges -- english medieval pilgrimages -- pilgrims' signs -- human skin on church doors -- animals of the church in wood, stone, and bronze -- queries in stones -- pictures in churches -- flowers and the rites of the church -- ghost layers and ghost laying -- church walks -- westminster waxworks -- index. numerous illustrations. "it is a work that will prove interesting to the clergy and churchmen generally, and to all others who have an antiquarian turn of mind, or like to be regaled occasionally by reading old-world customs and anecdotes."--_church family newspaper._ "mr. andrews has given us some excellent volumes of church lore, but none quite so good as this. the subjects are well chosen. they are treated brightly and with considerable detail, and they are well illustrated. ... mr. andrews is himself responsible for some of the most interesting papers, but all his helpers have caught his own spirit, and the result is a volume full of information well and pleasantly put."--_london quarterly review._ "those who seek information regarding curious and quaint relics or customs will find much to interest them in this book. the illustrations are good."--_publishers' circular._ "an excellent and entertaining book."--_newcastle daily leader._ "the book will be welcome to every lover of archæological lore."--_liverpool daily post._ "the volume is of a most informing and suggestive character, abounding in facts not easy of access to the ordinary reader, and enhanced with illustrations of a high order of merit, and extremely numerous."--_birmingham daily gazette._ "the contents of the volume are very good."--_leeds mercury._ "the volume is sure to meet with a cordial reception."--_manchester courier._ "a fascinating book."--_stockport advertiser._ "mr. andrews has brought together much curious matter."--_manchester guardian._ "the book is a very readable one, and will receive a hearty welcome."--_herts. advertiser._ "mr. william andrews has been able to give us a very acceptable and useful addition to the books which deal with the curiosities of church lore, and for this deserves our hearty thanks. the manner in which the book is printed and illustrated also commands our admiration."--_norfolk chronicle._ historic dress of the clergy. by the rev. geo. s. tyack, b.a., author of "the cross in ritual, architecture, and art." _crown, cloth extra, s. d._ the work contains thirty-three illustrations from ancient monuments, rare manuscripts, and other sources. "a very painstaking and very valuable volume on a subject which is just now attracting much attention. mr. tyack has collected a large amount of information from sources not available to the unlearned, and has put together his materials in an attractive way. the book deserves and is sure to meet with a wide circulation."--_daily chronicle._ "this book is written with great care, and with an evident knowledge of history. it is well worth the study of all who wish to be better informed upon a subject which the author states in his preface gives evident signs of a lively and growing interest."--_manchester courier._ "those who are interested in the dress of the clergy will find full information gathered together here, and set forth in a lucid and scholarly way."--_glasgow herald._ "we are glad to welcome yet another volume from the author of 'the cross in ritual, architecture, and art.' his subject, chosen widely and carried out comprehensively, makes this a valuable book of reference for all classes. it is only the antiquary and the ecclesiologist who can devote time and talents to research of this kind, and mr. tyack has done a real and lasting service to the church of england by collecting so much useful and reliable information upon the dress of the clergy in all ages, and offering it to the public in such a popular form. we do not hesitate to recommend this volume as the most reliable and the most comprehensive illustrated guide to the history and origin of the canonical vestments and other dress worn by the clergy, whether ecclesiastical, academical, or general, while the excellent work in typography and binding make it a beautiful gift-book."--_church bells._ "a very lucid history of ecclesiastical vestments from levitical times to the present day."--_pall mall gazette._ "the book can be recommended to the undoubtedly large class of persons who are seeking information on this and kindred subjects."--_the times._ "the work may be read either as pastime or for instruction, and is worthy of a place in the permanent section of any library. the numerous illustrations, extensive contents table and index, and beautiful workmanship, both in typography and binding, are all features of attraction and utility."--_dundee advertiser._ transcriber's note in view of the multiple authors represented, inconsistent spelling and hyphenation have been retained. note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h.zip) stained glass tours in france by charles hitchcock sherrill new york: john lane company, mcmviii london: john lane, the bodley head copyright, , by john lane company [illustration: interior of sainte chapelle, paris. _built by st. louis (louis ix) . window surfaces pleasantly broken up into "medallion" designs. walls constructed almost entirely of sheets of richly toned glass (see page )._] to that remorseless critic _my wife_ this book is gratefully dedicated contents page introduction thirteenth century and earlier thirteenth century tours fourteenth and fifteenth centuries fourteenth and fifteenth century tours sixteenth century sixteenth century tours itineraries index list of illustrations sainte chapelle, paris _frontispiece_ page medallion panel, louvre map, thirteenth century tours medallion lancet, tours chartres transepts thirteenth century rose, laon fifteenth century "canopy," st. lÔ map, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries tours fifteenth century "canopy," riom renaissance "picture," montfort l'amaury map, sixteenth century tours renaissance rose, sens creation window, troyes constable of montmorency and his sons tree of jesse, beauvais dedication of the ste. chapelle foreword the purpose of this book is a very simple one. it is to provide an answer to the question, "where does one find good stained glass in france, and how can it most conveniently be seen?" all the books upon this subject are more or less technical and are intended rather for the student than the sightseer. during the six years that the writer has been studying glass, he has so often been asked the above question, as to finally conclude that an answer in the form of a simple touring handbook might be of service. to that end he has put together notes taken on sundry vacation trips. the reader should be indulgent, for the writer is not an authority on glass--just a lawyer on a holiday. in addition to the purpose already described, it is hoped that this little book may also serve to lure forth into the charming french country some who have hitherto neither heard nor cared much about glass, so that they may see the wonderful beauty that the stained-glass window can alone reveal. charles hitchcock sherrill. , east th street, new york, christmas, . introduction the reason for the existence of a window is obvious. when the dwelling ceased to be a cave and became a house, the need for a light aperture at once arose. neither the house nor the window concern us until long after the house had been made thoroughly habitable, and its windows after much evolution are finally filled with a sheet of translucent substance, which, while excluding the weather, would admit the light. our interest does not begin until the wish to decorate the house naturally brought about a desire to decorate the window. we will pass over the story of the discovery of glass and its gradual improvement; nor will we pause to consider the very earliest examples now extant, nor examine the steps through which it must have passed to reach so advanced a stage as we find in the twelfth century. this is a book to tell where to see windows, and therefore it must not take up stained glass until a period is reached when examples are sufficiently numerous and beautiful to repay a visit to them. at what date then, shall we make our beginning? there is practically nothing until we come to the charming remains of the twelfth century; but because these latter are very few and those few in churches which also contain glass of the next century, we shall commence with the heading of "thirteenth century and earlier." that explains why we have selected this particular epoch as the starting point of our investigations. our windows will themselves disclose to us that the golden age of french stained glass falls of itself into three subdivisions--the first comprising the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the second the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and the third the sixteenth century. of the second subdivision we shall find but few examples, of the first more, and of the third most. no matter how far back we push our researches, we are sure to be surprised at the advanced state of the art represented by any window which attempts a picture. in fact, we shall happen upon no satisfactory traces of the evolution which must have led up to even the crudest and oldest story-window. we are forced, therefore, to conclude that this evolution must have occurred in another art, and the result there evolved transferred into this one. this conclusion is much strengthened when we read that st. sophia, built by justinian during the sixth century in constantinople, contained not only glass mosaics on the walls, but also in its windows. here we have the key to the puzzle. the many artists who were then occupied in designing mosaics, worked out their pictures in little pieces of glass on the wall until they had developed along that line as far as possible. then they doubtless bethought themselves that these glass mosaics would be even more effective if they could devise a means of illuminating their picture by letting the light shine through the colour. to accomplish this they contrived to hold the morsels of glass securely in place, first by wooden or stucco frames, and later by long ribbons of lead having channels on each side to retain the edges of the glass. this form of mosaic so held up to the light became a stained-glass window. thus we easily understand that when the idea arrived of taking the mosaic picture off the wall and putting it into the embrasure of the window, the art of making that picture out of bits of glass had already been fully developed. we shall avoid the technicalities of glass making, as they do not suit our holiday mood. nor is there good reason why we should discuss any use of glass save that which is required in the construction of our windows. let us, however, in passing, refer to the very curious fact that a severe blow was dealt to all other sorts of glassware when the artists turned their attention to the making of windows. glassware had constantly improved in design and colour up to the time (early in the twelfth century) when the great interest in windows sprang up. this new taste seemed to at once throw all other developments of this material into a comatose condition which lasted on through the five centuries composing the golden age of the window. this observation receives a peculiar confirmation when we notice that, at the end of the sixteenth century, stained glass suddenly lost its vogue at the same time that glassware sprang into renewed favour through the artistic skill and inventive genius of the venetians. indeed, the decadence of stained glass seemed to be the signal for the revival of hollow glassware. to revert for a moment to the time when window making caused a halt in the improvement of hollowware, it is interesting to note that glass making then left its former haunts and betook itself to the forests, where it lurked until the stained-glass window having shot its bolt, hollowware again engaged the attention of the artists and was once more manufactured nearer to the homes of its purchasers. during this period of partial seclusion the glass produced was of a peculiar quality called in english "forest glass" and in french "verre de fougère" (referring to the wild fern or bracken which was burnt to provide the necessary alkali). the two names combine to explain to us that wood and not coal was used by the glass-blower and also that his alkali had to be gotten in an unusual way. the toughness of this "forest glass" was admirably suited to the requirements of the window-maker. as this book will be confined to an examination of french stained glass, it is appropriate to cite theophilus, who when in the twelfth century he wrote his celebrated latin treatise on this general subject, stated that the art was a french one. this makes it all the more important that we trace its beginnings in france, as well as inquire whence came the influence which so strongly marked them. this inquiry will reveal that it was to byzantium that the early glaziers were indebted for their quaint style of drawing. in early glass we will observe the constrained, ungainly poses of the bodies, arms and legs, as well as the staring-eyed, ill-proportioned heads, not only in the medallion type of windows, but also in the larger figures glaring down from the clerestories. very interesting conclusions may be reached if we place side by side three figures, one taken from thirteenth century glass, another from a limoges enamel made any time from the tenth to the thirteenth century, and the third from the famous mosaics of st. mark's in venice. we have selected an enamel from limoges because that was the only locality in which a continued as well as a renowned cult of enamelling existed in france during the centuries named, while the reason for choosing st. mark's is that it is one of the finest extant examples of byzantine art. notice the same constraint in the drawing of all these three figures, the same awkward pulling of garment folds to delineate the form, and the same quaint morsel of conventional architecture about the top (which last, by the way, indicated that the personage below was a high dignitary of either church or state). the resemblance is too striking to be merely a coincidence, especially as each of these figures used in the comparison is typical of hundreds of others. this very resemblance hints at its own explanation. the dates of the figures show the order in which these peculiarities of style must have been transmitted. the byzantine mosaics of st. mark's are much the oldest; then came the limoges enamels, and lastly the stained glass windows. thus we learn not only where our windows originated in france, but also whence came the designs that the limoges enamellers taught the glazier. abbe texier, in his "essai historique et descriptif sur les argentiers et les emailleurs de limoges" ( ), says that french stained glass began in the neighbourhood of limoges, whose highly vaunted school of enamellers were strongly influenced by the byzantine types of the venetian school and that therefore it was but natural that the glass artist should also have yielded to the byzantine influence. as showing how this influence reached limoges, he states that in a venetian colony settled there for the purpose of trading in spices and other commodities of the east, conveyed from egypt by way of marseilles. winston says that the venetian doge orseolo i came to sojourn in france in and that the erection of the church of st. front, périgueux (near limoges), is ascribed to him. james ferguson, in his illustrated handbook of architecture, tells us that the venetians (as the great carriers and merchants of the levant) were in constant communication with byzantium. these facts provide a ready explanation of why these same pronounced byzantine types can be remarked first in the mosaics of st. mark's, next in the enamels of limoges and lastly on the stained glass windows of the thirteenth century. the older the glass, the more closely does the drawing follow these models; the attitudes are more constrained and awkward, and the folds of the garment are more tightly drawn around the figures, nor does the artist allow himself any freedom from the traditions of that school. later on the drawing becomes more graceful and the lines are freer. anyone who desires to go thoroughly into the technical side of this art will find a most exhaustive and scholarly book in lewis f. day's "windows of stained glass" ( ). the best book in french is oliver merson's excellent "vitraux" ( ). let us now postpone any further consideration of the general subject until after we, with our own eyes, have seen enough windows to have collected material for discussion. this brings us to the selection of towns, and the consideration of routes. we have referred to how naturally stained glass divides itself into three epochs, viz.: . thirteenth century and earlier. . fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. . sixteenth century. visits to the glass of these epochs will be, for convenience, subdivided into the following tours: epoch i (_a_) bourges, poitiers, tours, angers, le mans, chartres. (_b_) auxerre, sens, troyes, chalons, rheims. (_c_) soissons, laon, st. quentin, amiens. epoch ii (_a_) evreux, rouen. (_b_) bourges, moulins, riom, clermont-ferrand, eymoutiers, limoges, poitiers, angers, le mans (alençon), sées, verneuil, chartres. also separate visit to quimper. epoch iii (_a_) vincennes, sens, troyes, chalons. (_b_) montfort l'amaury, conches, pont-audemer, caudebec, rouen (grand-andely, elbeuf, pont de l'arche). (_c_) ecouen, montmorency, chantilly (st. quentin), beauvais. also separate visits to bourg, auch and champigny-sur-veude. at the back of the book will be found a table showing distances by road, and also the usual index. it must be admitted that even in so delightful a country as france, one's wanderings gain an added zest if guided by a more definite purpose than is the slave of the red-backed baedeker, intent upon exhausting the sights of every place visited. this admitted, we have then to consider not only the stranger on his first visit to france, but also the experienced traveller who already knows the beauties of its roads and the lazy charm of its historic towns. if our reader is of the latter sort he will especially hail some new quest as a reason for revisiting old scenes in search of charms heretofore unseen or unappreciated. it was especially him that the writer had in mind when putting together the rambling notes covering six years of glass study. he knows what varied forms of beauty await those who are sufficiently energetic to escape from the ultra-modern charms of paris, that fascinator of foreigners. he knows the quaint villages, the perfect roads, the ancient castles, the magnificent cathedrals that are waiting to be explored. to him we will tell the story of a wonderful beauty where light lies imprisoned in colour--a beauty which can be seen nowhere so well as in france. what if you have already visited every nook and corner of this picturesque land? come out again with us and add another to the many reasons for your love of france. take up the modern equivalent of the pilgrim's staff and shell and fare forth, being well assured that your eyes will be opened to the appreciation of something which, to be loved, has only to be wisely seen--the window of stained glass. thirteenth century and earlier before spending any time in studying the subject of stained glass windows, let us go and see some good ones. one of the safest ways to learn how to appreciate any art is to look at fine examples of it. of stained glass this is particularly true, because no method of reproduction, even colour photography, can give any idea of the unique result there obtained by combining light with colour. no flat tints can ever produce the effect of warmth and translucence that is yielded by colour illuminated through and through by the rays of the sun. we will assume that we are in paris. fortunately for our purpose there are easily accessible two splendid specimens of early glass, one the glazing of the ste. chapelle and the other the rose windows high up in the western façade and in the transept ends of the cathedral of notre dame. the former is the most perfect instance of a thirteenth century chapel preserving intact its original glazing, while the rose in the northern transept of notre dame is probably the finest one of its period in the world. thus we make an excellent beginning and our interest is at once stimulated to see more. observe the difference in the placing of these windows, as well as in the points from which we view them, as it will prove peculiarly useful in disclosing how they should be set in order to best reveal their beauties. every tourist that visits paris goes, as a matter of course, to the ste. chapelle, that net of gothic in which lies enmeshed such treasures of colour and light. this sparkling marvel lies modestly nestled among the law courts, whose plainer modern buildings serve but to accentuate its wonderful beauty. we shall not be long in learning who was its founder, for the golden fleur de lis of france and castles of castile strewed over its walls of glass mutely remind us that it was built by the good louis ix and that with him was associated his mother, queen blanche of castile. no king of france so loved and befriended our gentle art as st. louis. in many another french window this same combination of heraldic emblems will demonstrate how diligently these two royalties (or others in their honour) strove to introduce and spread the luminous beauty of this craft. this fragile chef d'oeuvre was constructed by order of its royal patron to provide a sanctuary worthy to contain the sacred relics acquired by him in the holy land. no effort or expense was spared to fit it for its high purpose. by reason of its royal founder as well as of its object, we can be sure that in the ste. chapelle we have an example of the best taste of the thirteenth century. st. louis laid the first stone in , and so expeditiously was the work carried on that it was finished and consecrated april , , and we read that all its wealth of glass was installed before the consecration. although we shall refrain from technical words as much as possible, we can see at a glance why these were called "medallion" windows. each subject treated is enclosed in a narrow round framing of colour, thus breaking up the entire surface into medallions. it prevented confusion of subjects and at the same time gave a balance to their treatment. it is a good omen for the future of our combined sightseeing and study that we can begin with something so complete and charming as the perfect ste. chapelle. and yet, although it is glowingly, mystically lovely with a beauty attributable chiefly to its glass, other thirteenth century churches will teach us to notice that here it is the interior that is benefited and not the windows. so small is the edifice that we cannot stand far enough away from the glass to let it develop the glittering glow that refraction of the rays of light lends to the glazing of the thirteenth century, but which no other period can show us. in order to fully realise what we have lost by being too near the windows, take the short stroll that brings you to the cathedral of notre dame. enter its great gloom, go forward until you are opposite the rose window in the north transept, and look up. if you have in you any poetry, any sensuous sympathy with colour and light, you will receive an artistic thrill so strong as to at once elevate you to membership in our brotherhood of glass lovers. our pilgrim staring up at the great rose window will note the splendid purplish glow that comes from it. now he will realise that he missed this gorgeous jewelled gleam at the ste. chapelle, and for the reason that he was too close to the glass. after he has grown accustomed to this new feature, he will begin to notice some of the causes for it. the effect is undoubtedly glowing purple, and yet it is not produced by purple glass. it results from the merging of the reds and blues, rendered possible, nay, assisted by the smallness of the pieces of the glass, and this observation also explains why this same effect was not obtained in later periods when the glass fragments become so large that the colours remain distinct and do not run into each other. because we are too near the ste. chapelle glass we remember it as red and blue, but the memory of the notre dame windows, which can be viewed from a proper distance, is a splendid purple. [illustration: th century medallion, musÉe du louvre. _window surface broken up into medallions, each enclosing a little scene. the black outlines of the picture are provided by the leaden strips which hold together the pieces of glass. paint is used only to mark the features, folds in the garments, etc. here the lead lines assist the picture--later they mar it._] it is to be hoped that you have had the good fortune to first visit these two buildings on a rainy or grey day. that is the sort of weather for a glass pilgrim to be abroad and stirring, for his windows will be lighted to the same extent all around the church. if it is a sunny day, the windows towards the sun will seem thin in colour, whilst those on the shady side will be thick and flatly toned. he may assure himself that he is mistaken, and that the difference in effect is caused by the strong glare of the sun on the one side, and on the other side the lack of it--we repeat that he may assure himself of this, but he will get the wrong effect, notwithstanding. make a mental note of this point and when you go glass hunting, join the farmers in praying for rain! we must seek elsewhere than in paris to find what this mosaic of tiny morsels of different hued glass can accomplish in the small chapels surrounding the choir of a great cathedral. we shall learn what a glorifying curtain of subdued colour it will provide and how when viewed from the nave of the church these chapels become gleaming caverns, forming a semi-circular background for the well-lighted choir in their midst. even whilst we are drinking in the great beauty of this splendidly impressive half-circle of chapels, we must realise that delightful as is this method of subduing and beautifying the light, it would be most unwise to use this same style of glass in the clerestory above. not only would the choir be too dark, but, besides, we would lose the contrast of light against gloom that renders it so impressive in its dignity. this observation introduces another type of glazing for which we shall seek in vain after this century. if we demand more light from our clerestory and at the same time insist on coloured glass, then we must use fewer strips of light-obscuring lead, which means fewer and larger pieces of glass. thus we will obtain more illumination than is yielded by the heavily-leaded windows below. now we begin to understand that the light of the medallion window is sombre because so much of its surface is occupied by the great quantity of lead required to bind together its small pieces of glass. these numerous lead lines serve a very artistic purpose, for, by breaking the refraction of the rays of light passing through the small bits of glass and diffusing them, they have much to do with blending the colours and producing the delightful jewelled effect that we at once noticed in notre dame. we have purposely used the phrase "much to do," because it is only one of several causes. the quality of the glass itself had a great share in that result. it is quite different from that found later on, for it was, as yet, quite imperfect, and no two pieces had the same thickness or were surfaced alike. this very unevenness assisted in breaking up the light rays. another cause for its brilliancy was that its translucence was not obscured by paint. a piece of glass was yellow or blue because its colour was introduced while it was being made in the pot and therefore was diffused throughout the mass. for this reason it was called "pot metal glass." we shall find that later on they discovered how to tint the surface of glass by the invention first of staining and later by enamelling, both of which had a marked effect and will be spoken of at the proper time. one of the results of colouring glass in the pot was that generally the tone would not be equal throughout; for instance, a piece of blue glass would not be evenly blue in all its parts. this difference in the shading of each piece, as well as the unevenness of its surface, produced a brilliancy which the more perfect methods that came later could never hope to achieve. the freedom from surface paint made possible a limpidity of colour which by contrast makes later painted or enamelled windows seem almost dull. during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the only paint used was a brown pigment, which served to delineate features and sometimes to accentuate the folds of garments, etc. we must also remember that as the artist worked with small pieces of glass and therefore used a great many lead lines, all the outlines needed by his picture could be put in with leads, and hence it was only natural that he became very expert in drawing with them. the result of his skill in this particular is surprisingly attractive and we shall sorely miss it later, when less and less attention was paid to the drawing and decorative value of the leads because of the increased desire for large pieces of glass with pictures painted upon them. in fact, so far from early traditions did they of the sixteenth century stray, that we shall see strips of lead running right across an arm or a face! their value from an artistic standpoint seemed at that time nearly forgotten, and instead of being used to beautify the drawing, they were only tolerated as a part of the machinery necessary to support the glass in its framework. before leaving the subject of paint upon glass, it is well to remark that although we may admire the brilliancy of these early windows and may rejoice that the artist had not yet learned to obscure his colour, nevertheless, if we were examining windows in italy, that land of everlasting sunshine, we might find a little painting upon the surface a genuine relief to the eye. there is such a thing as too much sunshine. geography must be considered in criticising glass. we promised to avoid as much as possible the study of the technical, but it must be admitted that we have drifted into it, and that our attempt to learn why clerestory windows differ from the lower ones, has brought with it an exposition of the technique of the thirteenth century. to briefly recapitulate, it consists of-- (_a_) small pieces of glass. (_b_) obviously requiring a great many lead lines to bind them together. (_c_) glass that is uneven in surface and in the distribution of its colour. (_d_) glass coloured throughout the mass (pot metal glass). (_e_) glass that is practically unobscured by paint. but let us get up to our clerestory windows. it has been instructive arriving there, but now let us see what had to be done to admit more light through these upper embrasures. in the first place it was clear that there had to be less leading, which meant larger pieces of glass. for this purpose there was devised a conventional style of decoration giving a most pleasing result. this consisted of a series of large figures of saints, kings, or other great personages. unfortunately we cannot see this sort of clerestory window in paris, but a visit to bourges or rheims or chartres will soon convince you how splendidly they serve their purpose. at notre dame, in the choir clerestory, one sees only a poor imitation of the destroyed old windows; owing to the paint upon the glass, the yellows are dull and the reds are thick and muddy. when you have seen one of these rows of huge figures, the reason for the device becomes clear. the folds of garments of such size permitted the use of large sheets of glass, and as little lead and no paint were needed, the light was not obscured. the drawing of the folds, etc., was executed by the leads which, in any event, were required for structural reasons. so large are some of these figures that often we shall find that their eyes were not drawn with pigment, but were separately leaded in. this would not have been agreeable in the lower range of windows, but high up in the air, far above the observer's head, it produced the effect desired. nor was this the only trick indulged in by the artist. sometimes he permitted himself very odd uses of colour. you will notice that during this century he generally employed brown glass instead of white for flesh tints. of course he did not have what we call white glass--that was a perfection not yet reached, but he might have used pink. no, he preferred brown; and when you have seen the glorious rows of clerestory figures looking down upon you at rheims or chartres, you will know that he was right. his colours were so rich and strong that white glass in the faces would have been too sharp a contrast and would have spoilt the harmony of tones. nor was this the only strange choice of tints. you will be startled to read that blue is used for the hair of the christ in a crucifixion scene, and yet so cleverly was it worked in that many an observer of the splendid east window of poitiers cathedral has gone away without noticing that the hair is blue or that the cross is bright red! the effect of the picture was achieved, proof that the artist knew and developed the possibilities existing in his materials. that certainly always has been and always will be one of the great tests of artistic ability. while in notre dame notice another method of glazing prevalent in that century and which also had for its raison d'être the need for light in the upper windows. this is what is called "grisaille," a panel of greenish-grey glass, sometimes surrounded by a border of the same tone, sometimes by one of gayer tints, but always, during this period, a broad border. back in the twelfth century, where we first find these windows, the borders are wider still. their small pieces of glass are held together by leads arranged in conventional designs, often in what is called strap work, _i.e._, the seeming interlacing of straps in a sort of basket pattern, very simple and agreeable. the light comes through in a cool, silvery tone which blends well with the stone structure about it. in notre dame we see examples of these windows, some with grisaille borders, and also a few with coloured ones, but on our travels we shall find much better types at bourges, at chalons-sur-marne, and elsewhere. as a result of our sightseeing we will learn that the best of the early glaziers realised that to compensate for the dim light yielded by the medallion windows below, it was necessary to have better illumination from above. of course this combination in perfection was not often accomplished, but we generally find that if the artist did not himself take care to admit sufficient light, somebody that came later corrected the error. often we find that the monks, to obtain more light in the choir, removed the coloured panels and substituted plain glass. in several instances, notably at amiens, they attempted to sanctify their vandalism by destroying only so much stained glass in a window as to leave a large white cross upon it. when we come to the next century we shall see what this vandalism in favour of better-lighted church interiors is going to produce. for the sake of clearness let us review the steps by which we have reached our conclusions. first we saw that the thirteenth century window has far more charm in its colour than in its drawing, which, although generally true of all glass, is never so emphatically true as during this period. while examining the colour composition, we have learnt how a window is constructed, and that in turn has taught us why it is best to view it from a little distance. the next step was to conclude that therefore this style of glass was not well adapted to domestic architecture or for small buildings. further, we have remarked the odd style of drawing then in vogue which, traced back, proves but one of the many imprints which byzantine art left upon those times. more time might at this point be profitably devoted to study, but this little volume is not intended for a text-book. its chief object is to persuade you to go about france and see for yourself its wonderful windows. it is to be hoped that even this small amount of research will prove useful in increasing your enjoyment of the glass. let us now consider how many and which towns we will visit, and also how we can most satisfactorily group them together so as to provide convenient trips. thirteenth century pilgrimages the glass we have seen in paris gives but a hint of the richness of this period exemplified elsewhere in france. how much or how little we shall see depends upon the reader. if he has time or inclination for but one example, he should visit chartres. in giving this advice we solemnly warn him that if he has even a faint idea of seeing more than one, then he should defer chartres until the last. it so far surpasses the others that they must be seen before it or they will suffer by comparison. if the reader can only visit a few towns, then he will doubtless wish to consider what else they contain besides glass, as these other features may influence him in making his selection. for example, if he is interested in tapestry it is clear that he will prefer rheims and angers to other churches equally important in their glass, but lacking such additional attractions. then, too, nearness to paris may decide him in favour of one cathedral instead of another requiring a longer journey. with each of our towns we will mention any such extra inducement as tapestry, paintings, etc. at the back will be found a table of distances, not only from paris, but also from each town to the next. if the reader has plenty of time, we suggest three pilgrimages. if his time is in any way limited, he can either take one or more of them, or else make such adjustment of them as best suits his convenience. it must, of course, be understood that there is some thirteenth century glass which will not be visited by us, but any one who has followed these itineraries will have seen all of the best. when we reflect how fragile is a glass window, it is really marvellous that we shall find so much of this easily destroyed beauty after the stress of centuries. only a few churches can show anything like a complete series of windows, and fewer still a series all glazed during the same period. chartres, that treasure-house of glass, is the nearest approach to a perfectly complete example. le mans, perhaps, is next. bourges is splendid in its thirteenth century glory, but there the hypercritical may find that the fifteenth century glazing of the nave chapels interferes with the earlier effect. the clerestory of rheims cathedral boasts row on row of gorgeous kings and bishops, but there we look in vain for the medallion windows to give us the usual glowing chapels below. these differences are not mentioned to criticise, but to point out that we shall find a variety and not a monotony of beauty. now for the three itineraries: (_a_) our first tour is the longest, starts at the point most distant from paris, and then works back to that city. we begin at bourges, -¼ hours by railway, kilometres by road. from bourges we go to poitiers, then to tours, to angers, to le mans, and end at chartres. chartres is only -¼ hours from paris, kilometres by road. (_b_) before starting on the second tour we must consult time-tables in order to make connections for auxerre, which is minutes beyond la roche, a station on the main line to lyons and the south. if we could take a through train from paris, the journey would be under three hours. by automobile it is kilometres, leaving paris by the road to fontainebleau. from auxerre we come back to sens, then to troyes, to chalons-sur-marne, and lastly to rheims, two hours from paris ( kilometres). if the time or inclination of the pilgrim makes it expedient that this trip be shortened, then, if he is a railway traveller, let him begin by troyes and come around by chalons and rheims. if, on the other hand, he is travelling by automobile, he might as well see sens just before troyes, because by road sens is not much off the line from paris to troyes and is well worth that small detour. the railway journey, however, between sens and troyes is a tedious one of more than two hours, because it is a branch line where there are no expresses. (_c_) the last tour is most convenient to paris, and although clearly secondary in importance as a glass pilgrimage, the scenery is so very attractive that it will particularly appeal to the automobilist and bicyclist. we begin by visiting soissons, an hour and a quarter by train ( kilometres by road), then laon, next st. quentin and last amiens, an hour and a quarter by train ( kilometres) from paris. if he is "en automobile," the pilgrim may return to paris by way of beauvais, for it is not much out of his way. if, however, he is travelling by railway, then he should omit beauvais, for he will find only exasperatingly slow trains from amiens to beauvais. the thirteenth century glass there is unimportant, and, besides, we shall later visit it for that of the sixteenth century. if the reader intends to take all of these three tours he should begin with (_c_), then take (_b_), and lastly (_a_). if he can take but two, then begin with (_b_) and end with (_a_). if there is time but for one, (_a_) is the best. the automobilist may unfold his maps and prepare a combination trip if he likes, for that is one of the licensed joys of automobiling. the old-fashioned traveller by railway will, however, find the order here set out the most convenient one. there is a splendid series of medallion windows around the choir chapels of the cathedral of clermont-ferrand, but it is too far out of our way to be properly included in any of the above tours. rouen, too, has fine medallion work of this period in its cathedral, but the later glass there is so much more interesting that we will not include it in these groups. both these towns will be visited later in their appropriate order, and we shall then have an opportunity to enjoy their delightful thirteenth century windows. [illustration: th century tours. (_a_) _bourges_, _poitiers_, _tours_,_ angers_, _le mans_, _chartres_. (_b_) _auxerre_, _sens_, _troyes_, _chalons_, _rheims_. (_c_) _soissons_, _laon_, _st. quentin_, _amiens_. (_for table of distances, see page ._)] bourges the writer will never forget his first impression of bourges cathedral, as, mounted on a bicycle, he approached it over the rolling country that lies to the east towards nevers. for a long time it seemed a great rock rising from the plain, which steadily grew larger and larger until, all at once, it took on the outlines of a huge cathedral. fantastic as it may seem in the telling, this vast bulk looming up against the sky exactly symbolised for him the word "bourges." to fully appreciate this great church one should approach it this way and let it grow before one's eyes. this is true of but few cathedrals, among which there is an easily recalled instance in england. no one ever realises all the soft grey beauty of ely unless, thanks to his slow progress down the river ouse, he has seen it gradually arise from the green setting of fen lands. perhaps one reason why bourges, when viewed from a distance, does not immediately disclose itself to be a cathedral is because one sees no perpendicular lines. on one side the great tower so tapers as to seem to slant inward, while on the other side the flying buttresses present an even greater divergence from the perpendicular. all this increases the rock-like appearance and defers the realisation that it is architecture and not nature until one is so near as to perceive some of the details. in one respect bourges is like the town of amiens, in that nearly all its architectural beauty is centred in the cathedral and seems to have been content to bourgeon and blossom there. bourges has, however, one advantage in possessing a wonderful "house that jack built," the fifteenth century palace of jacques coeur, a rich merchant and banker whose wealth was the cause of his final overthrow and banishment on a trumped-up charge of debasing the coinage. even the fact that he had lent money freely to charles vii did not save him. later on (page ) we shall consider the cathedral's fifteenth century glass, and we shall then examine the splendid window given by jacques coeur, perhaps the finest that period can show. chief among the charms of the cathedral's exterior are the splendid five-portalled west front, and the lace-like garment of flying buttresses that gracefully hangs about its sides and east end. the great apse is built upon the remains of the old roman walls, which so elevates it above the neighbouring houses as to provide a clear view of the flying buttresses. unfortunately, the west front does not fare so well. there is hardly a cathedral in europe so shut in on the west by adjoining buildings. they huddle so closely about it that one has no opportunity to stand off and properly observe the elaborate carvings and other architectural features that unite to make the beauty of this famous façade. from the way in which each succeeding story decreases in size, it is easy to see why the big northern tower appeared to slant inward when viewed from a distance. like one of the cathedral towers at rouen, it is named the tour du beurre because it was built with money received from the sale of indulgences to eat butter during lent. most americans have, during the day-dreams of their childhood, conjured up a mental picture of the vast interior of an ancient cathedral, and of the mysteriously impressive gloom that would some day there meet their eyes. it is doubtful if any other church more completely realises this fancy of our childhood. as one enters the great building he receives an impression never to be forgotten. a feeling of vastness lays hold upon one even more strongly than at beauvais and amiens, both of which are actually loftier. here the seeming height is increased by the five rows of windows, one above the other. this addition to the usual allotment of three tiers (lower arches, triforium and clerestory) gives an unusual number of light apertures. while there are no transepts, their absence leaves unbroken the lines of the side walls and thus increases the apparent size of the interior. and what a wealth of thirteenth century glass! it gleams and glows and glistens on every side, near at hand and far off in the soft richness of the choir chapels. we find it everywhere except in the nave chapels, which were glazed in the fifteenth century. perhaps if it were not for the increased light which these later panels admit, we might find the church too much darkened by its sombre earlier glass. it is clear, however, that care was taken even from the first to sufficiently illumine the nave, because it possesses a fine series of thirteenth century grisaille windows, enriched and enlivened by broad borders of colour. the noble chapels that encircle the choir show us the effect of mosaic medallions at their best. above in the clerestory, "like watchmen on a leaguered wall," are stationed a glorious row of large figures which are not to be surpassed anywhere. the richness of their costumes, of the backgrounds, even of the borders, is most sumptuous. we have already noted the absence of the transepts. on our travels we shall notice that the north and south ends of transepts generally contain great rose windows. to compensate the glass artist for their absence here, the architect gave him an opportunity to glaze an elaborate series of forty-five small ones. they extend all around the interior, no two alike, and must be seen for one to appreciate how greatly they add to the interest and charm of the cathedral. it is contended by some that bourges provides the finest field for the study of thirteenth century glass, but in this opinion we cannot agree, although gladly admitting everything else claimed for it by its staunchest adherents. our reason for preferring chartres is that it has more windows, and that they are practically all of the same period, so that the eye does not there find the distraction caused here by the fifteenth century glazing of the nave chapels. we prefer to rank the first four in the following order of excellence: chartres, bourges, rheims, and le mans. it will be interesting to learn whether or not the reader agrees with us. at any rate he should see them, and now that we have enticed him so far away from paris, he will find it as easy to return by the route that includes them as by any other. poitiers among the many beauties of france must certainly be accounted its "cities built upon a hill." there are a goodly number of them and their lofty position has tended to preserve them from change more than cities so placed that their expansion into suburbs was easier. without doubt there is something fascinating, something irresistibly dominating about a town that looks down upon us. fortunate it is for us lovers of the picturesque, whom, alas, the uses of modern convenience have made "dwellers in the plain," that during mediæval times the vital need of safety forced its citizens to seek the refuge of heights! no one can question the right of quaint old poitiers to be as haughty as hill towns have always been--nay, haughtier. think of the days when through the house of plantagenet she gave rulers to england--when these same kings governed not only england but also the whole western half of france! we do not always remember what a long strip of territory was ruled by the angevin dynasty, stretching all the way from the pyrenees across the channel and up to scotland. one of the greatest encounters that marked the long and bitter struggle between the english and french was the battle of poitiers, when in the english under the black prince defeated and took prisoner john the good of france and slew , frenchmen. it was, indeed, a bloody baptism when our hill town stood sponsor to such a conflict of warring nations. there are few cities in france which more richly repay a visit than this rather out-of-the-way place, and fewer still which have so many varied inducements to offer. the architectural remains are not only interesting but differ materially in character and epoch. the situation of the city is most striking. it is perched on the top of a flat-iron shaped hill upon the point of which the picturesque jardin de blossac smiles down upon the winding river clain. it is not in this book that you should look for a description of the wonderful triple interpenetrated chimney of the palais de justice, nor the fourth century church of st. jean, nor the ivory-like carvings on the façade of notre dame de la garde. hie thee to a guide-book for these, and the like of them, and let us to our quest! in all glass of this period, nay, of any period or any century, we shall never find a more splendid window than the crucifixion at the east end of the cathedral. in our introduction we said that glass should not be studied from written description, but that it must be seen. of this window this observation is even more true than of any other. its breadth and size indicate that it dates from early in the century. the harmony and the beauty of its colours are beyond words to describe. indeed, so ingeniously are they combined to produce their effect, that the detail is apt to escape the observer. even after spending some time before it he may be surprised to learn that the cross is ruby-red and that the hair of the saviour is blue. if he had read this in a book it would have been impossible to convince him that the result could be one of such great beauty. unfortunately for the many excellent medallion windows in this cathedral, there are also a great number of uncoloured ones. it does not take us long to decide that a medallion window should never be lighted from within, because that enables one to see the cumbersome machinery used to produce its effect. one should never become aware of the numerous small pieces of unevenly surfaced glass and the vast complexity of leads which in combination produce such glorious results, but only when the light comes from without. not only do these white panes reveal these ugly details, but by their glare they effectually extinguish the warm glow which we are accustomed to expect from the richly-coloured mosaics of the medallions. near the west end there is a good deal of fine strapwork grisaille evidently put there to light that end of the church in contrast to the dimmer light which must have prevailed at the east end when all the medallions were still in place. even if there were not many fine thirteenth century panels in this cathedral, and even if the town itself were not full of many interesting sights, still we would have been amply repaid for our visit by the crucifixion window, the chef d'oeuvre of its time. near the cathedral is the church of st. radegonde. this long narrow edifice has no transepts, nor, indeed, the usual division into choir and nave, and yet it boasts of a rose window, and a fine one, too, over its northern portal. the colour is really delightful and contains much of the brilliant blue for which poitiers is famous. its chief interest is that instead of having its figures broken up so as to monotonously radiate from the centre (which is generally true of rose windows) they are, so to speak, right side up, and all participate in forming the picture of the "last judgment." there is some thirteenth century glass on the southern side of this church, but not so well preserved or so good. the windows on the northern side between the north portal and the east end are of the next century and will be considered later (page ). we may say, however, in passing, that they are unique in that they have bright figures distributed upon a grisaille background which is surrounded by a border of rich colour. tours of all the great battles which have marked the world's history there are few, if any, which so distinctly stand out from the centuries as the battle of tours. it was this bloody victory which in rolled back the world-conquering saracens and determined that europe should be christian and not moslem. on that epoch-making day, the bloody axe of charles martel graved deep his name on the annals of france. but tours has many another claim to historic renown. touraine, the province of which it is the capital, is strewed with magnificent châteaux, whose very elaboration and beauty testify to how greatly french royalty and nobility loved its temperate climate. on our way from poitiers to tours, we shall pass through several charming little valleys and find attractive, though quiet, scenery, during most of the journey. the immediate surroundings of tours are not pleasing. it impresses one as a dull, grey city seated demurely beside the sands that so ungracefully border most of the lower part of the river loire. there is little to recall the echoes of the great battle and less still to remind one of the delightful mediæval residences which are such an attractive feature throughout the rest of touraine. although the cathedral was under construction all the way from the twelfth century to the sixteenth, its various styles are so combined as to make it an interesting building. it does not, however, seem to merit the enthusiastic praise lavished upon it by henry iv and many another of its admirers. the chief objection to the interior is that it appears oppressively narrow. the explanation of this cramped effect is that the architect did not avail himself of the usual device of slightly increasing its width as the walls rose. this was generally done elsewhere and served to correct the contracted appearance which perspective tends to give as one looks up from the floor. this architectural trick is an old one, for we know that the greeks used it not only in shaping the sides of their columns, but also to preserve the appearance of straightness in the chief horizontal lines of their buildings. in the absence of this device the walls seem to crowd together above us, thus accentuating the unpleasant narrowness of the nave. the fine rosaces in the ends of the transepts contain fourteenth century glass, and the western rose with its gallery of eight lancets below, excellent renaissance glazing. the chief glory of the interior, however, is the fine medallion panels all through the choir, not only in the chapels, but also, and most unusually, in the fifteen large lights of the clerestory. these clerestory medallions date from the latter part of the century, and their lateness is evidenced in a number of ways, among others, by the fact that the medallions are oval instead of round and also that they extend to the edge of the embrasure, leaving little or no room for the border. this can also be observed in the easternmost choir windows of coutances cathedral. we have noted before that the choir clerestory at this time was generally given over to large figures of kings, bishops, etc., in order to secure more light than medallions would admit. in the tours clerestory the fifth window on the right and the fifth on the left (just above the great altar) show an attempt to correct the darkening effect of the medallions by alternating with them horizontal stripes of grisaille. notice that in the easternmost embrasure the three medallions of the second tier, when considered together, form a picture of the last supper. this is a more elaborate exposition of the same idea exemplified by the annunciation at the east end of the clermont-ferrand clerestory. a quaint touch is observable in the two medallions which show little figures of donors, each holding up in his two hands a model of his gift window. one of these is in the left-hand lower corner of the window just left of the eastern one, and the other in the right-hand corner of the sixth on the right. some of the tours choir chapels are glazed in white, which combined with the pierced triforium, serves to correct the lack of light caused by the unusual treatment of the clerestory. [illustration: th century medallion lancet, tours. _the shapes of the medallions vary widely. difficult to distinguish the little pictures, although we are near the windows; the early glazier valued the colour effect of his window more than the legends. later his picture becomes larger, and of great importance._] angers a bad name dies hard and often lingers years after it is no longer deserved. a striking example of this is found in the now unjust appellation, "black angers." black it may have been in the days when its streets were dirty and narrow, but black it is no longer. black it may have seemed to the townspeople when their humble dwellings were frowned down upon by the seventeen gloomy towers of its haughty thirteenth century castle. now the towers of the castle are razed, the walls that girdled the city are tumbled into the great moat to form broad boulevards, and altogether it is as agreeable a place as was ever vilified by an outgrown name. its most important edifice, st. maurice cathedral, is not only a perfect treasure-house of glass, but is also the depository of a profusion of admirable tapestries. those interested in the latter will find here (even more than at rheims) what an added inducement they provide for the sightseer. all around the nave are suspended the series of the apocalypse (as they are called), while on the walls of the transepts are yet others dating from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries. nor are these all, for packed away in chests are many more, which upon the occasion of certain church festivals are brought out to hang in a row around the outside of the cathedral. in fact, it is only on these festival days that one learns that the interior wall space is insufficient to display half of the church's possessions. having set out this additional reason for visiting st. maurice cathedral, let us now turn to its chief charm, the splendid twelfth and thirteenth century glazing. we shall find the nave windows filled with the largest and best preserved collection of twelfth century glass that exists. they are very wide and high, characteristic of that early period. in the choir there are fourteen excellent examples of the thirteenth century medallion type, and there are others in the transepts. we shall not now speak of the two great fifteenth century rose windows, nor of the very large canopy ones which adorn the transepts, nor of the few sixteenth century panels. it is proper to say here, however, that they are excellent examples of those later periods, thus rendering this cathedral one of the best in which to compare glass styles all the way from the twelfth century to the sixteenth. the chief glory of the edifice, however, consists of those which date from the early mosaic period. so few and so unsatisfactory are the remains elsewhere found of twelfth century glass, and so excellent are they here, that it is to this church that one should come to study it. it is a most fortunate coincidence for the student that the same interior also contains many of the best types of the thirteenth century, because this very contiguity enables him to conveniently contrast them with those of the twelfth. the finer distinctions between their traits are much more noticeable to him where the examples are side by side than they would be if he had to carry the picture in his mind from one place to another. he will at once notice that the earlier borders are much wider than the later ones; some of those in the nave occupy nearly one-fourth of the window space on each side, or in other words, if brought together, the borders would fill nearly half of the entire width of the embrasure. he will also observe that the figures in the earlier ones are made of larger pieces of glass and have the draperies more tightly drawn about them. it is very significant that the pieces of glass are larger in the earlier windows: note this carefully, because in many books we are told that the later artist of the thirteenth century had no choice but to content himself with the small morsels of glass, as he had no others. thus they would have us believe that his wonderful jewelled glow was merely the lucky result of having nothing but small fragments at his disposal. even so brief a study of twelfth century glass as to show that the pieces then used were uniformly larger than those of the thirteenth or jewel period, is enough to demonstrate that the later artist deliberately used the smaller bits even with the added trouble of more leading. he did so for the very purpose of obtaining the sparkle and sheen that was never achieved before nor since, and therefore he should receive due credit for his results. a close examination of both the choir and nave windows will yield us many quaint and interesting details. the first on the left contains a large virgin placed upon a panel occupying all of the window that is not given over to a wide grisaille border. six small medallions are arranged about this panel, half of each on the panel and half protruding over the border. one of these small medallions is placed at each corner and one in the middle of the two long sides, like the pockets on a pool table. the charming elaboration and colour work of the twelfth century borders throughout the nave cannot fail to be noticed. the set of thirteenth century windows placed about the choir have some gorgeous blues and brilliant rubies. the fifth, counting from the left side, proves to be a tree of jesse window, a sort of pictorially genealogical tree which we will frequently encounter on our travels. in this case the treatment is unusual, as the vine, winding up throughout the window from the loins of jesse in the lowest medallion, not only distributes its historical personages over the central panes, but also up and down the borders as well. the very wide embrasures of this church give us an excellent opportunity of studying the colours of this period. while we are in angers we must visit the church of st. serge. as we are now seeking early glass the chief interest of this small interior consists of the five grisaille windows of the twelfth century which, with their graceful design of pale brownish strapwork picked out and accentuated by points of colour, leave little to be desired in their soft beauty. they are to be found in the choir, and are considered by most authorities to be the best type of twelfth century grisaille work that exists. during a later pilgrimage we shall come again to this church to inspect the attractive fifteenth century canopy windows which decorate the nave clerestory (see page ). le mans the great personages in the windows of st. julien cathedral looked down upon a portentous spectacle on that day in the year , when henry i of england stood holding in his arms his little grandson, henry plantagenet, to be baptised by the bishop of le mans. the vast throng that gathered for this ceremony, both within and without the newly completed cathedral, little thought that the helpless babe would one day become not only henry ii, king of england, but also the ruler of the mighty angevin empire, which included all of england and the western half of france. they could not have foreseen that this little one would cause the house of plantagenet to take its place in history as one of the greatest of royal houses. strange sights have these splendid old windows gazed down upon, but never have they tempered the glare of the sun for the christening of a babe who so widely outgrew the place of his birth. in one way or another this cathedral has been connected with many a royal family. in its archives we read that when in november, , it was decided to extend the choir over the gallo-roman wall, not only was the consent of king philip augustus necessary, but also that of queen berengaria, the widow of richard coeur de lion. this double approval was needed, since philip augustus, although overlord, had given le mans to queen berengaria in settlement of her claims upon certain norman towns which he had captured. perched upon a hill rising from the river sarthe the cathedral soars into the air from its lofty site as boldly as befits the chief sanctuary of an embattled city boasting of more than twenty sieges. impressive as it is from the river, it is still more so from the little plain which lies just below it inside the town. there is hardly a cathedral whose east end is so beautifully revealed as is st. julien's from this viewpoint. we cannot help but be deeply impressed as it swings out clear against the sky, girdled by its thirteen chapels, hung about by its innumerable flying buttresses and to us rendered specially alluring by the great area of window space filled with the many lead lines and heavy iron saddle-bars which we have learnt to know mean glazing of the thirteenth century. the view of the east end of an elaborate gothic church is always fascinating, but in this instance its height above us, the great number of chapels and the unobstructed view make it unique. the nave was constructed too early to be greatly elaborated, but if compensation is needed, it is fully provided by the thoroughly mediæval feeling which awaits one on entering the little square just before its west entrance. the opposite side of the square is occupied by le grabatoire, an ancient dwelling built in the first half of the sixteenth century and in an admirable state of preservation. the traveller in france generally finds that buildings which surround an old cathedral are so much more recent in construction that they provide a jarring contrast. here at le mans, on the contrary, its immediate surroundings thoroughly imbue us with the spirit of the middle ages and we are in a proper frame of mind to enter the portal and appreciate the old world beauty inside. the interior amply fulfills the promises of the exterior. the luminous glory of the broad surfaces of the glass that seem suspended about the lofty choir is something long to be remembered. this is not the place to speak of the transepts because they were glazed in the fifteenth century; they are very fine, especially the one to the north. oddly enough, the south end of the south transept has no window at all; its large wall space serves as a back for the organ (see page ). let us begin our investigations with the nave. its triforium is a graceful gallery, but is not pierced, while the clerestory above it contains only modern glass, and therefore they will not long detain us. in the west front is one broad window of the round arched norman type, obviously of the period which we are now considering. within a wide border are square panels representing scenes from the life of st. julien, after whom the edifice is named. although this window is very broad, even for its early type, it is nevertheless not large enough to appear alone in the great west wall, and as a result, it narrows the appearance of the nave. when we move up into the choir and look back, this effect becomes all the more noticeable, while the nave is even further dwarfed by the fact that the architect, taking advantage of the greater height of the transepts, placed a clerestory window just above the point where the ridge pole of the nave joins the crossing. thus the lone west window and the clerestory opening just above the nave roof combine to lower and contract that oldest part of the church. but to return to the nave windows; all the lower range are small and all modern except eight, the three western ones on each side and those over the two smaller west entrances. of these eight all but two are medallions. one of them (the third from the west on the north side) is of interest because it has a border consisting of four little panels on each side enclosing figures. this sort of border is extremely rare, except in tree of jesse windows, where the personages are sometimes used in this way to help make up the border. an instance of this may be seen in the central panel of the second triforium window on the south side of the choir and it may also be noticed in the fifth window on the left in the east end of angers cathedral. we have just said that all but two of these lower nave lights are filled with medallions--of these two (the second and third on the south side), one might write a book. the writer prefers the second window to any other in france. it was made some time between and and represents the "ascension." as this book is not written to describe glass, but only to persuade the reader to view it, we will content ourselves by saying "go and see." the blue and the ruby backgrounds have a limpidity of colour that cannot be rivaled. of the third window it is fair to say that some of the panes were brought from other embrasures of this church. the upper panel, enclosing a bust of christ, with the drapery of blue and a blue halo upon a background of ruby sprinkled with blue stars, is most delightful. these two are indeed treasures and are all that were left by the ravages of the great fire which in destroyed the earlier church. passing from the nave to the choir we are at once struck by the grandiose effect there caused by the loftier sweep of its lines. the choir chapels have lost nearly all their original glazing, but fortunately that little gem, the lady chapel, still has all its eleven windows filled with medallions. these encircling chapels not only give great width to the choir, but still further width is added by the fact that the ambulatory is double. the first triforium that goes around above us is not pierced, but just above it we find the spacious embrasures of the second triforium. these latter are the largest of their kind the writer has ever seen; in fact, they are large enough to be placed in the clerestory of most cathedrals. not satisfied with these, the architect has still further increased the lighting of the choir and given greater scope for the glazier by placing above this second triforium the lofty windows of the true clerestory, those toward the west of six lancets each, and those toward the east of two. all the panels of this great curtain of light are glazed in the mosaic style, but the pieces of glass used are noticeably larger than we have been accustomed to find in the medallion treatment. as a result, the amount of leading is reduced and a great deal more colour meets our eye, colour whose individual tones we can recognise, and not the sort, which, conflicting with other colour, produces a confused purple. at st. julien cathedral we get a richer tone from the medallions than we find anywhere else, but this gain in richness is partially offset by losing some of the sparkling gleam which would have resulted from smaller bits of glass set in more leads. perhaps some of our readers will agree with viollet-le-duc and other great architects and writers, in regarding this choir a finer monument of the thirteenth century than that of bourges or chartres. if the nave of le mans cathedral were as splendidly glazed as the other parts of that edifice, we might have to reconsider our opinion that chartres affords the best chance for the student of that early period to pursue his researches. chartres across the rolling grain-covered plain of la beauce winds a long depression worn by the river eure. along the side of this depression we find chartres, sloping gently up from the little river that bathes its feet and proudly lifting into the air the grey and green bulk of its cathedral, culminating in the two finest spires in france. its light stone and the softly-shaded tiles of the roof combine to give us a delicious impression of delicate greenish grey. this softness of tone outside gives no hint of the minster gloom within, athwart which shimmer the rich dark rays slanting through the jewelled windows. nowhere can there be found such a contrast between the exterior and interior of a cathedral. this marked difference serves but to distinguish and accentuate the special charms of each, and together they make our memory of the cathedral a most precious possession of our mental picture gallery. as the pilgrim enters chartres cathedral, there is an impressive moment at hand for him, for he is penetrating the holy of holies of stained glass. not only is it the most delightful expression of the thirteenth century, but also of any century, and we speak not only of france, but of all europe. one is almost staggered by the wealth and profusion of windows-- --and nearly all of the thirteenth century. in the west front the use of slightly larger pieces and the wonderful limpidity confirms the fact that the lovely rose showing the last judgment, as well as its three attendant lancets below, are of the twelfth century; the rest of the interior was glazed in the next century. notwithstanding all that has been written of this wonderful glass, more still remains hidden away in its pregnant mystery, that mystery that lays hold upon all who view it, be he poet, or unromantic follower of one of the homely trades whose guilds have added so generously to the tale of windows. nor have revelations of this mystery been made alike to all. what one man has spelt out from it may remain incomprehensible to another. the obvious fact to one mind seems to another but a quaint conceit. lasteyrie, when he told his story in , felt that there was a marvellous symbolism about the change in the strength of the light, brighter as it approached the cross formed by the transepts and then growing darker as one withdrew further from that christian emblem of spiritual illumination. to him this thought was full of great charm and some of us may agree in his poetic conception. others may feel that the brilliancy of the remote west windows seems to refute rather than support his theory. it is certain, however, that the revelation of harmony comes to us all alike. it is related that a certain lad thought himself listening to music from the glass itself when the organ commenced playing during the time he was gazing raptly up at one of the great rose windows. this harmony of colours, this melodious flowing of tone into tone, is a glimpse vouchsafed to us all into the solemn mystery that dwells within this enchanted bower of light. james russell lowell says: "i gaze round on the windows, pride of france! each the bright gift of some mechanic guild, who loved their city and thought gold well spent to make her beautiful with piety." if rheims is to be known as the cathedral of kings, or amiens characterised as the bible in stone, then chartres must be styled the chief sanctuary of the mediæval guilds. we have spoken of the splendid array of royalties around the clerestory of rheims, and how they and the many coronations of which they are reminiscent fully justify the proud title of "royal rheims." against this wealth of royal reminiscence chartres can show but one coronation, that of henry iv. so far was he from being disgruntled by the long siege necessitated by the stubborn defence of its burghers, that he elected to be crowned in their cathedral, partly, we feel sure, to show the approval of a warrior king for their fighting qualities. no, it is not a long array of kings that are set about to guard its windows and bear witness to their power and beneficence. at chartres, more than anywhere in france, the middle ages seem to have bequeathed to us the great heartbeat of their middle classes. here we see about us the sturdy workers of the city, the guilds of its industrious burghers. true, the great rose windows of the transepts show us the royalty and chivalry of the kingdom, but somehow they seem decorative and not dominating as they do at rheims. nor are our friends of the guilds here present by any man's let or by virtue of kingly condescension. at laon there are statues of oxen in the cathedral towers, put there in kindly remembrance of their services in dragging up the great stones from the plain far below; but at chartres it is no kindly remembrance that has disposed about the nave and elsewhere the glass histories of guild upon guild. they are in the place because they are of the place, nor is there any attempt to disguise the homely occupations of the donors. in other towns we occasionally find a panel bearing a statement that it was presented by some company of craftsmen, but the subject is almost always a scriptural one and throws no light upon the work-a-day existence of the members. here it is very different, for so proud were the honest workmen of the crafts which they plied, that they took infinite pains to have their windows set out scenes descriptive of the work and life of the association which gave it. the history of the chartres guilds is well worth delving into, and one finds a luminous index provided by the long series of panels around the lower part of the nave. the glass speaks eloquently of how well organised and how rich were the middle classes of chartres, and nowhere else can anything like so complete or interesting a set be seen. goldsmiths, cobblers, vintners, tanners, moneychangers--so the list goes on until it swells into a total of nearly forty, and of each there is provided some little group depicting the service performed for the community by that particular trade. several of the guilds gave more than one window, nor are they confined to the nave aisles, some having strayed so far as the choir clerestory. but for all that the windows here speak more eloquently than elsewhere of the sturdy craftsmen--the bourgeoisie that formed the backbone of old france--we must not forget that they also bear witness to the gallantry and generosity of the knightly and titled classes. to glass lovers this cathedral has a peculiar interest in the fact that st. louis was baptised within its walls. may we not be permitted the delusion that to the undeveloped faculties of the royal babe the wonderful harmony of these windows came as a lullaby, and that the echo of this lullaby finally grew into the great love for stained glass which he later developed? of this love we have found many traces, all leading up to its ultimate expression in the ste. chapelle of paris. and where more appropriately could a french king, who loved glass, have been christened? where else would he have had about him on his beloved windows such an array of his subjects, representing not only the highest, but also those of humbler rank, a bodyguard of four thousand figures of nobles, gentry, burghers and craftsmen? nor are these figures content but to decorate, for some of them by their grouping serve to narrate for us nearly forty legends. a splendid proof of how much he loved this cathedral, so often revisited by him, is afforded by his splendid gift, the rose of france, as they call the great window in the north transept. here are the familiar combination of the french fleur de lis and the castles of castile showing that louis and his mother, blanche of castile, joined in this royal gift. in splendid reds, lemon-yellows and browns it tells the story of the glorification of the virgin, thus repeating what we see in the carvings of the northern porch. the gorgeous five tall pointed windows below aid it to produce a glorious ensemble. nor is it only in this quarter that we see traces of the nobler classes, for was not the south transept end decorated in similar wise with scenes showing the glorification of christ, the gift of dreux and bretagne? again we find the windows inside repeating what is shown by the carvings in the porch outside. the five tall pointed lancets under this rose are especially noteworthy, for the two which, on either side, flank the middle one containing christ are each filled with an evangelist carried on the shoulders of a prophet, a very physical way of depicting the power of prophecy. [illustration: crossing and south transept, chartres. ( th century.) _no photograph can even hint at the wealth of deep, warm colour that fills these windows. the early date of those in the right foreground indicated by their broad borders. below the rose, four of the lancets show evangelists borne on the shoulders of prophets._] this is not the place to tell of the wonderful carvings that abound within and without this great temple, and are especially delightful around the stone screen that separates the choir from the ambulatory; nor shall we take upon us to speak in detail of the subterranean chapel to the virgin who bore a child, the pagan legends concerning whom "the memory of man runneth not to the contrary." for us they are but accessories to the wonderful whole which provides so magnificent a casket for the preservation and exposition of the most splendid heritage of windows that has come down to us. although completely outclassed by the cathedral's greater glory, the glazing of the church of st. pierre is not only pleasing to the eye, but also provides a very complete and well-preserved demonstration of how the transition was effected from the light-obstructing mosaic medallions to the overlighted interiors of the fourteenth century (see page ). auxerre our memories of architecture are generally those of form and not of colour. to this rule there are, however, a few exceptions, and of these the cathedral of st. etienne at auxerre is one of the most noteworthy. one remembers it chiefly for its rich brown colour, partly due to the tint of the stone and partly to the terra-cotta tiles which cover its roof. the deeper hue of the tiles calls out all the warmth in the shading of the stone and they together make a mellow brown picture, especially attractive if seen for the first time in the tones which it takes on towards twilight, when the low rays of the sun perform for it the same service that they do for the interior of the corpus christi quadrangle at oxford. another cathedral whose colour lingers in our memory is chartres, where the dull green tiles of the roof tone into the greyish stone of the building, accentuating and enriching it, and leaving with us a distinct impression of a soft-hued grey church. a very picturesque city is auxerre, sloping up from the river, with its three chief churches rising watchfully above the monotonous level of the house-tops like huge rocks anchoring the city more firmly to its foundations. not so bulkily impressive but equally noticeable is the quaint old bell tower, which, from its great height, rings out every now and again reminders of the flight of time. the proportions of the cathedral interior are very harmoniously adjusted. the noticeable features are that the ambulatory is lower than the nave, and that the lady chapel at the east end is square instead of being rounded. in view of the geographical location of auxerre one would expect to find glass of the more florid burgundian type; but instead it is clearly of the champagne school. there is a quantity of good sixteenth century glazing and we would especially call the visitor's attention to the fine blues, which he should not fail to notice. the windows we have come to see, however, are to be found in the chapels and the upper lights of the choir. henri villeneuve in caused to be placed in the choir clerestory the great row of fifteen, each consisting of two bays surmounted by a small rose. this arrangement is very graceful and gives an agreeable grouping. the colouring and drawing of the large figures with which they are filled testify to the good taste of their donor. nor are the windows in the clerestory any more worthy of notice than the twenty-nine which we shall find below surrounding the choir and filling the choir chapels--almost all complete and containing fine types of the medallion style. the three nearest the transepts on each side and one or two others are glazed in white, the result of well-meaning sacrilege on the part of the monks seeking to secure more light. fortunately their hands were stayed, so that enough of the old panels are left to give us the jewelled gleam which we are seeking. there is an unique arrangement in some of the embrasures of auxerre which we must not fail to note. it provides an early example of the use of grisaille to increase the illumination of the interior. in several instances the coloured figure or panel has two borders, the one next it being of grisaille and the outside one of rich colour. possibly the contrast will strike us as being too marked. we shall find that in the next century this combination is carried to such an extreme as to become positively disagreeable, but here at auxerre it is so skillfully employed that it is not at all unpleasant. in any event, it is far better than white panes used for the same purpose. sens in these days of telephones, telegrams, express trains, automobiles, newspapers and printed books, it is difficult for us to realize that in mediæval times thought traveled but slowly, and that two cities a few leagues apart were much more widely separated than they would now be if divided by the ocean. to-day a piece of news, an invention, some new artistic method, is flashed around the world and at once meets the eye of millions of readers. all this excites no comment. when, however, we notice that in some mediæval period a novelty in one country very shortly thereafter appeared and was used in a neighbouring one, we are forced to conclude that there must have been some very unusual occurrence to have so far set at naught the difficulty of news transmission to which we have just referred. the history of the middle ages does not contain a stranger example of such a rapid spread of something novel than that presented by the story of how and of why william of sens (who, in building the cathedral of sens, constructed the first thoroughly gothic church) came to have the honour of introducing gothic architecture into england by a call to rebuild canterbury cathedral. it so happened that just as he was completing his great work and disclosing to the world the new beauty of gothic architecture, pope alexander iii, exiled from rome, took up his residence at sens (september , , till april , ). it is recorded that on the th of april, , surrounded by a gorgeous array of cardinals and bishops gathered there in attendance upon the papal residence, he consecrated the altar of the holy virgin in the cathedral then rapidly approaching completion. where the pope was, there also was the centre of the christian world, and thither of course repaired the clergy from all parts of europe. these distinguished pilgrims were witnesses of william's first bold attempt at the pointed arch, the chief characteristic of his great cathedral. to see was to admire. its beauty was so striking that they could not fail to remember and recount it when they returned to their home towns, thus stimulating other architects to copy this new architecture. never before nor since had a builder so well timed a gathering of admiring ecclesiastics. among those who came, and saw, and remembered, was thomas à becket, archbishop of canterbury, himself an exile from his see. he dwelt four years at sens ( - ) and what he saw there impelled him to invite william of sens in preference to all the english architects to rebuild the cathedral of canterbury. it would seem strange even now, and a thing worthy of comment, if a french architect were chosen to construct an important english church, but how much more extraordinary was it that thomas à becket should have taken this step in , after the disastrous fire which destroyed the earlier church on the site of the present cathedral of canterbury. william succeeded in completing the choir as it stands to-day, but it cost him his life, for as he was superintending the finishing touches of his great work, he fell from a high scaffold and received injuries from which he died. through this introduction of the young french gothic into england he exercised a noteworthy influence upon the beginnings of ecclesiastical gothic in that country. we have told this story here because we know the architect and the glazier worked hand in hand. this association grows more interdependent as the gothic blossoms into decoration and as more wall space is devoted to windows. it is fair to assume that the stained glass style then prevailing in france must have accompanied its sister, gothic architecture, upon the latter's invasion of england, and an examination of the early medallions at canterbury tends to confirm this theory. since à becket was having the new gothic of sens copied, why not also its admirable glazing? in any event we know that french glass was well known and much admired by the english, and later we shall recount several instances of its being brought to glaze english churches, and even requirements made in english contracts that french and not domestic glass should be provided. while it is true that the early glass of sens cathedral is not so abundant as that of the sixteenth century, we have come here at this time because nothing finer is known than the few medallion windows which remain to us along the north wall of the choir. they date from the end of the twelfth century and are large, strong in tone, and in excellent preservation. the clerestory lights of the choir are filled with attractive examples of grisaille enlivened by large geometric figures in points of red, blue, etc. these designs are constructed with slender lines and without too much colour, so that plenty of soft silvery light is admitted to illuminate the choir below. so well lighted is it from the clerestory above that we are forced to conclude that all the chapel embrasures below must at one time have been filled with the gloom-producing medallions. it is unfortunate that the original set of medallions below is not complete, because if it were, we would now be able to see, thanks to the charming grisaille in the clerestory, a perfect combination of the well-lighted choir surrounded by the sombre gleam of its protecting chapels. such a combination is rare. at tours, at troyes, even at bourges, we find ourselves wishing that we had a little more light from above to set off by contrast the dark splendour of the jewelled caverns below. the clerestory at sens shows us just the luminous effect which we have sought elsewhere, but, alas! our coloured dusk below, which should go hand in hand with it, has been almost entirely dissipated. as a result we are left with an impression of too bright an interior. the minster gloom with all its dignity is gone! we shall return later to sens to see its splendid glass of the sixteenth century (see page ). troyes of all the french schools of glass which at one time or another gained renown, none ever surpassed that of champagne. not only do we know this from the pages of history, but it is easily proved by the innumerable examples found in the many churches of troyes, the ancient capital of that province. the fame of the glass artists of champagne not only began early but lasted long. in fact, in its capital, the perfected methods of the sixteenth century became so firmly established that their style and vigour lasted far over into the seventeenth century, which was not generally true elsewhere. troyes has always enjoyed prominence and that, too, along different lines; "troy weight" testifies to the wide fame of its jewellers. in our travels we shall observe that most towns have but one or two churches whose windows repay a visit. troyes and rouen are the marked exceptions to this rule, for in each we shall find many well worth examining and a great wealth of glass. then, too, both these cities provide facilities for studying the art from the earliest to the latest period of its golden age. we will postpone consideration of rouen until we take up the sixteenth century because its thirteenth century glass is unimportant. this is not true of troyes, for if by some sudden calamity all its splendid renaissance windows were destroyed, we would still most heartily recommend that our pilgrim visit the city to see the early glass in the cathedral and in the fairy-like church of st. urbain. these two buildings alone provide the best of reasons for including troyes in this tour. the story of the foundation of that architectural eggshell, st. urbain, is very interesting. in there became pope a certain jacques pantaléon, a native of troyes. after his elevation to the pontificate he remembered his humble beginnings, and so far from being ashamed that his father had been a small shopkeeper, he bought the ground whereon his father's shop had stood, as well as some of the neighbouring buildings, and erected, about , one of the most delightful and airy examples of fragile grace in all gothic architecture. the walls seem literally to be constructed of glass, so slender are the stone uprights between the windows, and so wholly is this little church uplifted and upheld by the innumerable flying buttresses that stretch away from its roof and delicate sides like the supporting guy ropes of a tent. at the ste. chapelle in paris we noticed that although medallion panels give a splendid dark warmth, they do not admit light enough for a small structure. perhaps in st. urbain we shall feel there is too much light. the medallions of the period are there, but only in small numbers and imbedded in large fields of silvery grisaille. the lower half of the clerestory windows is in grisaille and it is only in the upper half that we find coloured figures. while it is true that we lose the silvery hue that simple grisaille generally yields, still, in exchange, we receive a low-toned glow that is delightful. the proportion of glass surface to wall space is here so great that if the grisaille had not been warmed by touches of colour, there would really have been a glare, though the embrasures contain no white glass. the more we study the subject the clearer it becomes that the glazier thoroughly understood and appreciated the possibilities of the medium in which he worked. as we pass from st. urbain to the larger and more impressive cathedral of st. pierre, we shall notice that although the artist felt the necessity for the lighter treatment in the dainty chapel-like church, he found it more appropriate in the larger edifice to so glaze his windows as to fill the place with the more solemn and dignified light suited to its greater size. the choir of the cathedral provides an unusually complete and satisfying example of this period, not only in its girdle of chapels, but also above in the gorgeous row of thirteen clerestory windows from which ferocious-looking figures stare down upon us from glittering eyes leaded into byzantine faces. splendid as they are, we feel that a little more light should have been admitted, and this thought must also have struck the glazier, because he resorted to a trick in the choir chapels to better illumine the eastern part of the structure. if you will step into one of these chapels you will find that in most of them he has substituted grisaille for the medallions in the lancet on either hand nearest the choir. when you stood in the choir ambulatory, this device escaped you because the arch which provides the entrance to the chapel conceals these two nearest lancets. the result of the trick is that two side-lights, properly softened by the grisaille, are thrown into the chapel. if white panes had been used, they would have illuminated the inner side of the medallion panels, thus revealing their ugly machinery of leads, and, worse still, effectually destroying their power to transmit a combination of colour and glow. ample illumination has been furnished this cathedral by its pierced triforium and the great expanse of its clerestory, but, thanks to the remarkably warm tone of the glass, we do not find it anywhere overlighted. even the later glass which adorns the nave and transepts and which we will discuss farther on, is so unusually strong in colour that we avoid that sharpness of contrast between thirteenth and fifteenth century work to be seen at bourges. decidedly, st. pierre is one of the most beautiful interiors in france for the glass lover, and he should not fail to see what the best examples of the champagne school has done for this church, the charm of which lays hold upon him directly he enters it (see page ). chalons-sur-marne certain travellers and most tourists think they can, from studying maps and reading books, obtain a very fair impression of a town before they visit it, and that the chief result of their visit will be to fill in sundry local details. if people of that ilk desire to remain high in their own estimation, they had best omit chalons from their travels. let us assume that one of these aforesaid folk plans a visit to chalons. he will probably begin by studying the map, which shows a city seemingly drawn out along both sides of a long, straight street. his practised mind will conclude this the proper method to enter the town and that he can easily find his way about. step number two will be the consultation of histories. here he will fall upon the account of the great battle of chalons, in which attila, the "scourge of god," met in his final check, the combined army of romans, franks and visigoths there putting a bloody end to his dream of an anti-christian empire erected upon the crumbling remains of "the power that once was rome's." anyone who has noticed how surprisingly few decisive victories have been followed by widespread or lasting results must have remarked that the battle of chalons stands out prominently as an exception to this rule. so much for what the maps and the histories have disclosed to our experienced tourist. he is doomed to a bitter disappointment. to-day in this quiet little city of yellowish-grey houses he will find nothing reminiscent of that old-time victory. not only will his dip into history thus prove to have been in vain, but what is more, the street plan has given him a very wrong idea of a really very pretty place. the writer himself well remembers how the map misled him. he remarked thereon the long straight street; therefore, on emerging from the railway station, he proceeded up this tiresome thoroughfare, which he found equipped with the usual provincial tram-line, both trying to tie the older part of the town to the distant railway station that bears its name. as a disappointment this first impression of chalons was a pronounced success! don't fall into the same error. this was the wrong way to enter the town, but there is also a right way, especially for one who believes in first impressions. if you want to be in a mood to enjoy the glass, branch off to the right when you reach the canal (which is not far from the station), and you will come into a park called the jard, one of the prettiest combinations of green trees and water to be found in any provincial french city. on a later visit the writer stumbled upon this park, with the result that instead of a mental picture of an ugly town built on both sides of an ugly street, he carried away pleasantly revised memories not only of the charming jard, but also of several little water-courses meandering through the town, affording lovely vistas every now and again in most unexpected ways. it seems certain that these streams feel equally bitterly about the ugly street, because as soon as they come near it, they promptly hide their heads and pass under it, carefully keeping out of sight in small tunnels. wait until you see the street, and you won't blame the streams. now that you have by means of the woody refreshment of the green jard purified your perceptions from the taint of railway dirt, let us enter the cathedral. we shall find the glass more interesting and instructive than impressive, but to this general observation we must make an exception on behalf of the thirteenth century windows in the clerestory behind and above the altar; they undeniably leave little to be desired. the blue of their backgrounds combines excellently with the tones of the figures. in one of the panels which shows the crucifixion, we can readily discern that the bars supporting it at the back (called saddle bars) have been moved to one side so as not to interfere with the two figures on either side of the cross. this displacement of the saddle bars to leave undisturbed the drawing of an important personage was quite usual at that time. later on the glazier seemed to have no objection to the intrusion of the iron bars, just as he grew to disregard the running of his leads across faces, arms, etc. this church also boasts of a fine rose window in the north transept, which is rendered even more effective by the gallery of lancets beneath it. the especial interest of the cathedral to a student of glass is undoubtedly its grisaille windows, some plain and some banded across by highly-coloured panels of the medallion type. this latter arrangement we find along the north wall of the nave, while those containing grisaille alone are in the triforium and clerestory. in the case of the banded ones we shall notice that it is only the middle third of each which has the highly-coloured panels, all the rest being grisaille, doubtless for the purpose of giving plenty of light to the nave. although a most interesting arrangement, the effect is not that of great beauty. some of the narrow triforium panels have a border of plain grisaille surrounding the central panel of colour work in which there are no figures; this is quite unusual. a study of the use of colour with grisaille in that century is not complete without a visit to chalons, but this having been said we must admit that notwithstanding the splendid panels in the choir clerestory and the fine rose window in the north transept, there are several more inspiring places for one wishing to learn how greatly thirteenth century glass can beautify a religious interior. some of the finest and most valuable twelfth and thirteenth century panels have been removed from the cathedral, and are now the property of the musée des arts decoratifs, in paris. unfortunately they are not always on exhibition. on the south side of the nave is a fine series of renaissance windows, but these, together with the grey and gold figure panels of st. alpin, and the excellent coloured ones of the fine church of notre dame, will be discussed in our sixteenth century pilgrimages (see page ). rheims royal rheims! in this title, "apt alliteration's artful aid" not only appeals to our ear, but is also fully justified by history. in its splendid cathedral were crowned almost all the kings of france, the sacred oil used in the ceremony having been, saith the old legend, brought from heaven by a dove for the baptism in of clovis, king of the franks, and thereafter preserved in a sacred vessel locked away in the tomb of st. remi. because of this having been for so many years, nay centuries, the place of royal consecration, what more appropriate decoration could have been devised for the great clerestory embrasures than the series of the first thirty-six kings of france, each window containing in its lower half the archbishop that consecrated the king above him! all these seventy-two figures are seated, because convention demanded this if the personage represented was dead. down upon us from their lofty station about the nave clerestory gleam these long rows of the royalties and ecclesiastical dignitaries of france, a marvellous exemplification of what colour in glass can accomplish. an echoing gleam comes to us from the clerestory of the choir; but there the figures are those of great bishops, not only of rheims, but also of other cities in its diocese, like laon, soissons, etc. at first thought it may seem bad english to speak of a gleam of light as an echo of another gleam, but before you criticise the expression, stand patiently for awhile in this great house of god, looking up at these splendid windows; perhaps there will at last come over you a feeling that in all this noble harmony of colour, this blending of soft tones, there is--there must be--some dim harmony of music. one never receives this peculiar impression except from glass of the thirteenth century; later glass lacks the depth and vibration of tone, even though it gains added brilliancy. especially splendid is the effect of the kings dominating the nave below. those near the transepts have a deep blue background, whilst a few close to the west end have behind and around them a soft, rich red. there is no other place where such sombre depth of hue can be seen in a clerestory glazed during the thirteenth century. at bourges they are magnificent, but their beauty is of a different and brighter sort. here at rheims, although raised high in the air, they yield the same dusky glow that elsewhere we usually find in the medallion panels of the choir chapels below. so wonderful are the windows above you that there is a fair chance that you would have left the cathedral without noticing that below there are no medallion windows at all; in fact, that practically none of its lower panes are glazed in colour. this is owing to the almost incredible folly of the monks of rheims who, in the years - , removed the coloured glass from the lower embrasures to admit more light. during the two years following october, , they committed the same act of vandalism in the church of st. remi. the cathedral has three fine rose windows, of which the western one with its bright-hued gallery of kings below it is far the best. the north rose window is good, although we miss the qualities which the north rose of notre dame at paris has taught us to expect. the south rose contains glass of the sixteenth century and therefore seems pale and out of place amidst the older glories. the west rosace should be seen toward sunset so as to get the rays of the sun passing directly through it. earlier in the day it is almost gloomy in tone. there has been much discussion as to the interpretation of the figures in the gallery of kings below, but now it seems settled that it represents the coronation of the converted pagan clovis, king of the franks. the windows of the transepts are glazed with grisaille of a very greenish tone and somewhat darker than that generally found at this time. among them we observe one of the series of bishops which has apparently crept away from its fellows in the choir and come around the corner into the south transept. although the bishop series lacks, to some extent, the crude, almost savage glory of the nave's stern array of kings, they are more carefully made. as in the king windows, here also we find an upper and a lower row of personages, but in addition, a feature very much out of the ordinary and which should be remarked. instead of placing two bishops below to balance the two above, there is but one bishop below in each window, while the space adjoining him is occupied by a fanciful representation of his cathedral. there is no attempt to accurately portray the building, although the glass artist might as well have done so, for he has gone to the pains of making no two of these little cathedral pictures alike. so minutely has he gone into detail that each has a tiny rose window and each rose is markedly different from the others. the idea is a quaint one and shows the artist to have been fertile in ideas. so dark are the faces of the bishops as to make them look in one or two cases as though they were wearing masks. this effect is heightened by the fact that the eyes are glazed in lighter hues. in the midst of all this gorgeous and sparkling colour, what a splendid picture may we not conjure up of the scene on the th day of july, , when charles vii, led in by joan of arc, had here the kingly crown placed upon his brow. with what vast satisfaction must the grand old kings have gleamed and glowed in sombre delight that their glorious cathedral was once more french, once more fulfilling its centuries-old duty of consecrating a french king, and especially that all this had been effected by a staunch french maid, than whom patriotism has never had a more worthy exemplar. it was but common justice that during the act of coronation of the king to whom she had restored not only a throne, but also a united people, she stood at the foot of the altar holding aloft her victorious standard. a chronicler of the time truly said that having shared in all the hardships she richly deserved to share in the honours. not only in the cathedral do we glass hunters find justification for the title "royal rheims." once more we shall see a row of french kings, this time in the small nave clerestory lights of the old church of st. remi. in manner similar to that employed at the cathedral we also find bishops adorning the choir clerestory. fine as these two series are, and valuable, too (because they are earlier), we must confess that they do not produce the effect which the wonderful depth of colour gave us at the cathedral. the choir clerestory embrasures are really too small to afford room for the two rows of bishops one above the other. the choir chapel windows are partly modern, and partly old with too much restoration, so that the effect is not coherent. we must, however, remark a fine crucifixion in the middle of the east end. it is undoubtedly twelfth century and, although technically well worthy of observation, lacks the beauty which we have a right to expect from that period. the glass in the large, round romanesque embrasures at the west end, although copied on old models, is modern and very thin in colour. a careful look at the nave clerestory will reveal that in order to complete the set of seated kings a novel method was adopted. many of the original panels were divided in two at the middle, the upper half being used in one embrasure and the lower half in another, the missing half in each case being supplied by modern glass made to imitate the old. this reads as though the effect would be bad, but on the contrary, it is fairly good and, at all events, the designs are in accordance with the original drawings. besides its glass, rheims has another great attraction for the traveller in its wealth of tapestry. a magnificent series of ten presented in by robert de lenoncourt hangs in the transepts of st. remi, whilst in the cathedral we shall find around the nave walls another series of fourteen given in the same year by the same donor. the cathedral is also adorned with other tapestries which, although perhaps not of such engrossing interest as the lenoncourt series, are nevertheless treasures. as glass viewers it is well to observe that the rich decoration provided by these splendid hangings prevents us from noticing the otherwise obnoxious glare from the uncoloured windows just over them. we mention this here because as between two interesting glass towns some of our readers might incline to one where tapestries can be seen in addition to the glass. the cathedral of angers provides also the same double inducement. soissons during the two tours just concluded we have visited all the most important treasure-houses of thirteenth century glass. there is, however, a very agreeable secondary tour. regarded as a glass pilgrimage, it is not to be compared with the two which we have finished, but this must not be taken to mean that the glass will not be worth inspection. besides, most of the windows to be seen are of the period, thus making it an essentially thirteenth century pilgrimage. to one in whom the love of glass and devotion to the gentle sport of automobiling is about equal, this trip will be much more attractive than the last two. the scenery through which he will pass and the history that will be recalled will add very much to the charm of this itinerary and it is therefore particularly recommended to the automobilist and especially to the exercise-loving bicyclist. the distances between the towns are not great and the landscape is varied and delightful. beginning with soissons, our road lies through the picturesque mediæval stronghold of coucy-le-château to the high-perched hill city of laon, then over the plain at its foot to battleworn st. quentin, and lastly across the rolling country to the splendid cathedral of amiens. amiens is on the line of the paris-london expresses, so we have excellent train service back to paris. we will let the traveller find his way as best he may from paris to soissons and will join him there. he will soon observe that there has departed from soissons the ancient glory which was hers when under clovis, the great king of the franks, she became the capital of his strong province of neustria. to-day we find a quiet provincial city of only about , inhabitants, where the chief movement and life seems to centre in the barracks. one noticeable feature of the town is the really fine west front, all that remains of the abbey of st. jean-des-vignes, for nine years the home of the exiled thomas à becket. even from its present denuded state of desolate loneliness one realises how splendid the complete building must have been, and the now empty and staring rose window above the central portal makes us sigh for the stained glass that must once have adorned that huge opening. soissons is one of the towns which benefited by the great love felt by st. louis and his mother, blanche of castile, for stained glass. the northern rose of the cathedral is a proof of their beneficence, and is an excellent example of its type. the central pane is occupied by a figure of the virgin mary, and circling round her are the medallion panels which are so much more satisfactory than the spokes-of-a-wheel treatment so popular in the next century. around the outside of the medallions is a double border of panels containing the arms of the royal benefactress, a field of red bearing the golden castles of castile. as for the rest of the interior, so much of its original glazing has been destroyed that the effect of glow is entirely dissipated. the nave has lost its coloured panels, and only fragments remain in the western rose. the large lancets about the east end of the choir clerestory are most decorative, and further, they provide an opportunity of testing our ability to judge glass. at first sight we are convinced that they are of true thirteenth century mosaic work, and might continue to think so, if they were not betrayed by the comparison afforded by the two genuine medallion lancets just below them in the lady chapel. even then we may remain undecided, which indecision is justified when we learn their history. they were repaired and restored in , much of the old glass being retained and the old designs carefully followed. this explains not only why they lack the depth of tone seen in the complete medallions below them, but also why they were so deceptive until this touchstone of comparison was applied. notice the adam and eve window to the right, as the design is very unusual. in the six scenes there depicted, one above the other, adam and eve are of course nude, and appear always she on the left side and he on the right of each little scene, with some other personage or object between them in the middle. as a result we have a perpendicular column of eves on one side and of adams on the other, the light glass used to make the flesh colour forming a secondary border for the window. the southern transept is an architectural freak, because instead of a rose window it has a rounded end like the apse chapel generally found at the eastern extremity of a church. as a novelty it is agreeable, but it deprives the glazier of one of his rose windows. laon those proceeding upon this pilgrimage by automobile or bicycle, will find a treat awaiting them between soissons and laon. the road lies through coucy-le-château, the impressive and well-preserved ruin of a massive mediæval fortress. the huge round towers at its corners, connected by walls thirty-five feet thick, frown down from their rocky perch upon a pleasant valley below. snuggled up against these protecting walls is the little town, which we enter by a narrow gateway crowded in between two great solemn towers. on we go through the narrow old streets and out another well-defended portal and off on our journey. when first we espy laon we are far off on the rolling plain which surrounds its base. it looms high in the air, the four towers of its cathedral peering out above the encircling houses, all seeming to keep watch over the tiring zigzags by means of which the road lazily climbs the height. a city built upon a hill always possesses a fascination, more especially when it has a history as long and interesting as this one. the lofty situation makes the town seem to hold itself aloof and lends it a certain proud mystery which impels us to seek to know more of it--to penetrate its reserve. laon is even more picturesque and striking than most french hill towns, because the height upon which it stands rises abruptly from a great plain. none of the height is lost and thus all the beauty is saved. after observing how remote it is upon its long, narrow hilltop, one can well understand why the later carlovingian kings selected this stronghold for their capital. in those early times there was no artillery to endanger their loftily secure repose. the cathedral, which is a really fine one, presents us with some of those familiarly quaint touches that prove gothic architecture to have been so close to the heart of its times. perched aloft among the open spaces that interpenetrate its light towers, are life-size statues of oxen, in kindly memory of the beasts of burden that hauled up from the plain below the great stones used in the building. within the cathedral, although there is but little glass, it is all of this period and, besides, is so grouped as to do itself the greatest credit possible. all we shall find is a rose filled with medallions in the north transept and another and far finer one in the square eastern end, below which are ranged three gorgeous lancets of imposing dimensions. the northern rose contains scenes representing the sciences as understood and practised in the thirteenth century. one's memory of this rose is blue with hints of green, while of the eastern series it is reddish purple. the centre of the splendid eastern rose is occupied by a figure of the virgin mary between john the baptist and isaiah, and around this group are two circles of medallions, the inner one of twelve containing the apostles, and the outer, of twenty-four, the elders of the apocalypse. this concentration of all the old glass in these two quarters has the satisfactory result that anyone standing at the crossing and looking either into the north transept or into the choir, sees nothing but the splendid richness of mosaic medallions, and is not distracted by the sight of any other style of glazing. the placing of this fine glass more than compensates for its limited amount. after this sweeping praise, we may indulge ourselves in one mild criticism: the glass in the east end would seem richer still if it were not so much illuminated from within by the white glazed windows along the sides of the choir. if this were toned down, even by modern glass, it would cause a decided improvement. at st. quentin, we are more than reconciled to the presence of modern glass in the chapels around the choir, because it so modifies the light as to permit the thirteenth century panels in the choir clerestory to sparkle and gleam as they should. the north rose at laon is of rare construction; the stone framework is so cumbersome, and the amount of glazed surface so modest, as to almost destroy the appearance of a rosace, and to substitute therefor that of a series of holes let into a wall. also notice that the east rose is glazed flush with the stonework, thus presenting a level surface on the inside, while just below, in marked contrast, the three lancets are deeply recessed within. this method of constructing a rose is unusual; another example is the west rose at mantes. the square eastern end, instead of the usual rounded apse, is believed to be one of the many results seen throughout this diocese of the influence exerted by a twelfth century english bishop. whatever the reason for this square apse, it admirably suits the rest of the edifice. [illustration: th century rose and lancets, laon. _medallions are admirably suited to rounded apertures in rose, and assist in producing effect of huge blossom; later the lines radiated more from the centre and tended toward a wheel effect._] before leaving this delightful hilltop, we must not fail to take a stroll around the boulevards which have been constructed upon the overturned walls. the views from this promenade out over the great plain below linger long in one's memory. st. quentin a few miles from madrid lies the famous palace of the escorial, built upon a ground plan following as closely as possible the shape of a gridiron. it was erected by king philip ii in pious memory of his famous victory at st. quentin on st. lawrence's day, . st. lawrence achieved martyrdom by being roasted alive on a gridiron, hence the selection of that humble utensil as a design for the royal thank-offering. there are few more interesting monuments to commemorate a victory, and one would hardly expect to hear that a battle won in northern france is commemorated by a palace far to the south across the pyrenees. many a time in history did st. quentin make herself famous by her stout defences, but none ever won her so much fame as this defeat which, by delaying the spanish forces, enabled the french armies to assemble behind her and save paris. it was a great victory for philip, but it cost him the possession of the french capital. as we stood upon the lofty heights at laon, we looked far out over a wide plain, across which, forty-five kilometres to the northwest, lies st. quentin. the quiet streets of this well-to-do city afford little to remind us of the mediæval strife that so often raged through them. we hear no sounds that recall to us the angry noises of besiegers without, which so often carried dismay to the stout hearts of its burghers. unlike laon, its situation and its buildings now present little to recall the picture of the past. the huge barn-like exterior of its great church is quite different from those we have been seeing. even its triple-tiered flying buttresses have so short a span as to entirely miss the decorating possibilities which we have a right to expect. it lacks the lightness and grace of the true gothic; in fact, to tell the truth, it looms up big and bulky, more like an italian church than the beautiful french ones. but when we have once passed inside, we are provided with a most agreeable surprise, for it is much more attractive than many whose external promise has been greater. there are two sets of transepts, one beyond the other, which unusual feature not only enhances the charm of the interior, but also causes its beauty to reveal itself in a more leisurely fashion. but to the glass! in the choir clerestory are seven double windows, of which the lancets each hold two great dignitaries, one above the other. the small rosaces above, which serve to tie together these pairs of lancets, are very pleasing, nor should we fail to note the handsome wide borders of the lancets themselves, plentifully besprinkled with fleur de lis. we must particularly appreciate the service performed by the modern glass around the choir chapels in so subduing the light as to permit these splendid lancets to receive all their illumination from without and therefore to disclose, undiminished in any way, that warm glow that makes them so delightful. the hideous polychrome painting of the interior also assists in this fruitful modification of the light, but this is the only possible apology for its presence! the oldest glass here is that which fills the two side windows of the lady chapel. each has twenty medallions, those on the left showing old testament scenes, and those on the right, episodes from the life of the virgin. one of the large transepts has a moderately-sized rose window which does not as usual contain figures, but, instead, is filled with designs in colour. the absence of the figures does not spoil the effect; in fact, the story depicted in glass of this period is nothing like so important as the colour scheme. the details of the legend are generally elaborately worked out, often in quaint episodes, but upon this the beauty of the window does not depend. indeed, it is not until we are at such a distance that we can no longer distinguish the little figures that the charm of the glass begins to lay hold upon us. the reason we do not find more thirteenth century panels here is because the older part of the church was reconstructed during the reign of louis xi. furthermore, when we consider the many sieges to which the town has been subjected, as well as the great fire of october , , it seems strange that even this much of so fragile a treasure has survived. in this connection it is interesting to learn that in , philip ii instructed his artillery to avoid hitting the great church. this very appreciation of art and respect for religion perhaps explains why, as soon as he had captured the city, he so promptly confiscated the church's gorgeous tapestries to be used later in decorating the escorial! in an attempt was made to negotiate for them so that they could be restored to their original home, but the spaniards replied that they could not part with so glorious a trophy. nor was the ravaging hand of the warrior the only hostile force to which the unfortunate edifice was subjected. january , , during a tempest, one of the great choir windows was blown in, and on easter day, , the same fate befell the great window of the first northern transept, this time with fatal results, for in falling it killed four priests. the old glass in the nave clerestory was removed by the monks in to secure more light, which form of vandalism was, unfortunately, only too common. we must not leave without commenting upon what a delightful monument of fifteenth century gothic is afforded by the south end of the easterly transepts. below is a chapel shut in by a light stone screen of admirable design; above it the stretch of wall is relieved with gracefully carved patterns, while higher still appear four large lancets surmounted by a rosace, all excellently glazed. the lancets have richly coloured single figures below canopies of such size that their pinnacles occupy more than half the height of the embrasures. the only criticism possible of the otherwise satisfactory adjustment of the various portions of this south wall is that the rose is too high up and too small to balance the splendid lancets below it. of sixteenth century glass there are two fine examples in the north end of this same pair of transepts, but we will postpone further reference to them until later on (see page ). before leaving the town, one should visit the salle syndicale in the hotel de ville in order to see the fine françois premier fireplace, and the double arched ceiling with its quaint corbels. the windows of this room formerly contained a long series of sixteenth century scenes from the life and labours of hercules, but a prussian shell destroyed all but five of them. when he leaves st. quentin, bound for amiens, the traveller by railway is quite as well off as the automobilist or the bicyclist. up to this stage of our journey the two latter have had a decided advantage, but now the country has less attractions to offer and the road is one of those straight routes nationales whose only apology for their monotony is that they save distance. amiens at amiens there is not much glass, and yet the student will not have wasted his time, for he will there see one of the finest cathedrals in europe, and will furthermore be able to note what the lack of coloured glass means, in this way learning to value it even more highly than before. if a visit to this great church renders us no other service than this, we shall all agree that it is no small one. we shall never again question that a magnificent ecclesiastical interior is not only vastly improved, but actually needs its light tempered by stained glass. our pilgrim has long ere this learnt that he cannot always rely on guide-books to tell him whether or not fine windows are to be found in certain towns, and therefore we may serve a useful purpose and save some reader a disappointing trip by setting out the facts. the cathedral owes its chief beauty to the extraordinary detail and amount of sculpture to be found without and within. so complete are the scriptural events chronicled upon its west front that ruskin has given it the title of the "bible in stone." nor are the carvings which are to be found inside in any way inferior to those which fascinate us without. the stone screen which runs around the ambulatory would alone repay much study, but the most notable display of the carver's art is the little army of nearly four thousand figures upon the choir stalls. notwithstanding this wealth of sculpture, we are struck by the bareness of the lofty interior. we long for a touch of mystery and cannot but feel that in the glare of light streaming through the immensely tall uncoloured windows everything is too clearly revealed and there is lacking the softness which would add so much to the beauty of the carvings. what a change there would be for the better if we could wave a wand and by some fairy power will back into the windows their ancient glories. everything is too stately and cold, too sharply outlined; in fact, far too much denuded of the mysterious charm, the awe-inspiring gloom which lays hold upon us at chartres or bourges. although but little of its glass has survived, it is almost all of the thirteenth century, and some is very good. in one of the choir chapels to the left is an interesting tree of jesse in the medallion style. the left window of the easternmost chapel has a charming blue background and a novel use of small white birds in its border. above us in the easternmost window of the clerestory (the only one in the clerestory that has survived intact) another unique feature catches the eye--its four slender lancets contain some very decorative lettering introduced into the design. this lettering is glazed in white on a blue background and its legend when deciphered sets out that those three windows were given by bernard d'abbeville, bishop of amiens, in the year . in contrast to these meagre remains of glass, there are also to be seen three fine rose windows which are completely glazed. they all have quaint names, that in the west façade being called the "rose of the sea"; that in the north the "rose of the winds"; that in the south the "rose of heaven." this poetic and quaintly familiar method of naming windows is not unknown elsewhere; it is also found at chartres. the huge western rose, thirty-eight feet in diameter, although dating from , has lost its original glass and was reglazed in the sixteenth century. there are no figures in the north rose, but instead a mosaic of colour; we have noticed a similar arrangement at st. quentin. in the south rose, red predominates, but with it there is also considerable green. if the reader decides to visit amiens, notwithstanding the small amount of glass to be seen there, he will surely conclude that the day has not been wasted, for he will not leave that splendid interior without a truer appreciation of the great service which the glass artist rendered to the architect, as well as a sigh for the fragile beauty which is no longer there. fourteenth and fifteenth centuries nowhere in art can there be found so abrupt a change of style as that which marks in stained glass the arrival of the fourteenth century. so noticeable is the difference between the windows of the thirteenth and those of the fourteenth centuries that it can be seen at a glance. not only were the new styles very distinctive, but they were also very enduring, for even when the fifteenth century arrived it did little but elaborate the ideas introduced by the fourteenth, and for that reason we should consider them together as forming one epoch. the new results which we now find are not only in effect, but also in light and in placing of figures. this transformation took place within a few years and was, therefore, as sudden in point of time as it was in treatment, which latter is so marked that it excites our curiosity as to its causes. it is safe to assume that we have here happened upon not only one novelty but a coincidence of several, as otherwise the change would have been much less abrupt. most of the new elements which in combination so suddenly produced such a sweeping change can be studied from the glass which has survived to these modern days, but of one we can now only read: this was the demand for domestic glass, and unfortunately but few examples of it are left to us. the old chroniclers tell us of many private houses and buildings devoted to civil uses having their windows glazed in colour, a form of luxury hitherto found only in religious edifices. we know that it then began to be widely used, especially in paris, but it did not survive the turbulence of those times. the effect of this novel use on glass styles was very marked. obviously it was not practicable to employ the same sort of glass in the smaller rooms of a dwelling house that we have seen so effective in the larger interiors of religious edifices. we notice that beautiful as is the thirteenth century ste. chapelle, its "dim religious light" is unsuited for any building devoted to secular uses. no, the medallion window with its deep-toned panes and profusion of leads would not serve for civil or domestic purposes, nor, on the other hand, could we bring down the big personages from the clerestories of cathedrals; they were most impressive when seen from the distance which their lofty situation necessitated, but they were much too crude and coarse in their workmanship to be lowered to the level of the observer's eye. for this new demand of domestic architecture it was obvious that something must be devised which would give more light. one method of effecting it was using coloured figures on a soft grisaille background, but this has only to be seen to be found unsatisfactory. some examples of this exist in the north side of ste. radegonde at poitiers. they are interesting, but the figures start out from the light background so violently as to plainly make them unsuitable in small interiors. plain grisaille was not rich enough to be used in a fine private house. as a compromise between these two methods they arrived at the use of a border of greyish simulated gothic architecture to frame the central coloured figure of a window. in this way the border admitted the light and the figure gave the richness; these gothic frames were called "canopies." but why a frame of architecture? the interest in gothic had by this time spread throughout the fair land of france. many beautiful examples of it had just come into being before people's eyes--it was the delight of all. it was but natural that this noble style, still young, should be introduced by the glazier, especially as it lent itself to the demand for more light. besides, in knowledge of gothic, the glass artist was second only to the architect, as the windows were made to suit the church, not the church the windows. this observation upon the relation of the glazier to the architect brings us to another reason for the abrupt change in stained glass, and of this we can to-day readily find examples. we have said that the artist had to make his glass to suit the window apertures. about that time the architect was changing their shape. instead of being broad and single windows they were now more numerous but narrower and taller, and were brought together in groups of two or more, separated only by stone mullions. above this cluster of narrow lancets and in order to taper them off gracefully, were placed smaller openings called tracery lights. without this tapering at the top, the group below would look unfinished and ill-proportioned. the few, though wide windows used during the thirteenth century were found to give too little light, and, besides, were not as decorative as the gothic architect demanded for his more elaborate style. this new period in architecture is called "decorated," which name has also properly been applied to its glass. the architect not only did everything in his power to gain more light by providing many more wall apertures, but doubtless he also insisted that the glazier assist in this endeavour. we have just seen that the latter complied with this request by surrounding his coloured figures with light-admitting architectural frames of greyish-yellow. nor did he stop there: he helped the architect to bind together more harmoniously his groups of narrow lights into which the whole window was now split up, for he realised that horizontal bands of light colour placed straight across these narrow lights would effect this purpose. the slender stone mullions which divided them showed too many perpendicular lines and tended to make the windows seem spindling, but this was corrected by the broad bands of light afforded by the grey and yellow canopy tops running along over the heads of the saints occupying the tall narrow panes. perhaps the reader is already asking whence the artist obtained so much grey and yellow, because thirteenth century glass leaves rather a strong purple memory behind it. to answer this question is to bring forward another new thing and one which also had a large share in abruptly changing the styles. about the beginning of the fourteenth century it was discovered that if silver were floated upon the surface of glass and then exposed to the furnace, the result would be a bright yellow stain. the word "stain" is used advisedly, because by this method the surface received a durable colour not removable like paint. we have already seen that pot-metal colour was introduced throughout the mass during the time of the making of the glass and was therefore part of it from the beginning. this new stain was not applied until after the glass was made, and no other tint but yellow could be produced in this way. the discovery of this valuable secret has been variously recounted, but always the credit is given to blind chance, some silver happening to drip upon glass which, when burnt, disclosed to the surprised workman the new and beautiful yellow. its great value in admitting light as well as in enriching the tones of a window was at once appreciated. no longer was it necessary to laboriously lead in a bit of yellow pot-metal glass where that hue was demanded by the design. now all that was done was to float a little silver upon a large piece of glass at the point or points required, expose it to the fire, and behold! a tint that made glorious the hair of angels, or the robes of saints and high dignitaries. touches of this rich colour also made possible architectural frames which would otherwise have seemed dull, flat and opaquely grey. each little pinnacle could be brightened up, lines of yellow would enliven columns and the canopy window in its light soft beauty was made practicable. [illustration: th century "canopy" window, st. lÔ. _name given because of gothic canopy used to frame the coloured figures. the pale grey glass in the canopy portion admitted much more light than the earlier windows richly coloured throughout. note the modestly drawn donors in the lowest panels._ _ th century canopies seldom filled the whole embrasure, appearing only in bands across a grisaille field; besides, their architecture was much cruder, they lacked pedestals, etc._] it is an unfortunate fact that the best glass of this period is not to be seen in paris, although we can get a fair idea of its effect from the fifteenth century canopied figures in the clerestory of st. sévérin. a few of those at the west end of this church are at once seen to differ in their design from the others, although all are of the true canopy type. these few to the west were brought from their original place in the choir of st. germain des prés. at st. sévérin we shall note several points which serve to distinguish the canopies of the fifteenth century from the earlier ones of the fourteenth. the difference is chiefly in the use of more colours in the later figures, as well as more careful architectural detail in their canopies. further, to make his windows lighter in tone, the french glazier of the fourteenth century generally used bands of canopies only across the middle third of the surface, filling the uppermost and lowest thirds with grisaille. the fifteenth century canopies almost invariably filled the entire embrasure. frequently during the fourteenth century the artist was not content with the light admitted by his canopies, but added to it by using white for one or more of the saints' robes. this practice so reduced the number of colours in the background and the garments that we seldom find more than two colours within the niches of fourteenth century canopies, while in the fifteenth century we almost always find four. then, too, there is an added feature of decoration in the later ones which is generally lacking earlier: across the back of the niche a coloured curtain is carried shoulder high behind the figure, and this curtain is almost always damasked. this can be remarked at st. sévérin, where we shall also see that all the figures stand upon elaborate pedestals, another sign that we are looking at work of the fifteenth century, for in the fourteenth they would have lacked pedestals and be found standing upon grass or some other natural and unarchitectural base. the artist was so careful to cling closely to contemporary conventions that sometimes we happen upon very amusing compromises. for example, here tradition demanded pedestals, so there they are, even though he had to make the rather ridiculous combination of a figure standing upon a half-circle of cloud neatly balanced upon the pedestal's tessellated pavement. the conventions demanded the little pavement, the design required the clouds, so he gave us both! in these days when we are so occupied in copying older art, it is interesting to see traces of a time when they jealously clung to the styles and forms which were then new. a brilliant yellow was the only tint obtainable by the process of staining, but it is also true that other new colours were secured, although by means of an entirely different discovery which, of itself, provided yet another new thing to combine with those already enumerated in changing glass methods. this discovery took place early in the fourteenth century and made it possible to superimpose another colour upon white or coloured glass. the method of producing this effect was very simple: the end of the blowpipe was dipped first into liquid glass of one colour, and then into another, with the result that the bubble when blown was of one colour inside and of another outside. the bubble was then opened out into the flat sheet as usual. this process had always been followed to make red glass, which was really a sheet of white coated with ruby, but now all sorts of combinations were made. thus a brilliant purple could be obtained by coating a piece of red glass with blue; red on yellow would give a splendid orange; blue on yellow a brilliant green. although invented early in the fourteenth century, this process did not have all its possibilities developed until during the fifteenth, when the number of layers was gradually increased until we find some specimens showing six different coats. we shall enjoy the results when we visit quimper or eymoutiers or bourges. the french have a very descriptive name for glass treated in this manner: they call it "verre doublé," or "lined glass," referring to the fact that there are two layers. the abrupt change in glass windows which took place at the beginning of the fourteenth century becomes less extraordinary when we recapitulate the various discoveries in the art and realise what an effect must have been caused by such a combination as that of (_a_) the chance-revealed yellow stain; (_b_) domestic use which required glass fit for small, well-lighted interiors; (_c_) the demands of the architect for his narrowed and more numerous window apertures, and lastly (_d_) the enriching of the artist's palette due to the new process of doubling the sheets of glass. the whole trend is now towards much more light, larger pieces of glass, brighter colours and more attention to the design at the expense of the colour effect of the window. we have now not only set forth the great change that was so speedily effected in the style and appearance of stained glass, but further, we have enumerated the various novelties, both in popular requirements and in technique, which brought about the light tones of the fourteenth century. the steps by which was effected this transition from the thirteenth century mosaic type with its rudimentary suggestion of a canopy, to the fourteenth century figure ensconced in his little sentry-box, can be seen on but few existing windows; in fact, so little transition glass is there that the change strikes one all the more forcibly. there are, however, a few available for this purpose, notably the three eastern lancets of the lady chapel in the abbey church at fécamp, and a certain window in the north transept of amiens cathedral. the fécamp lancets show us the first step, where, although the glass is still entirely mosaic, the architecture at the top is brought down the sides of the figure so as to complete the sentry-box. of course this admits no more light than the regular medallion lancets which conveniently assist our comparison by flanking on either side the three easterly ones. we have thus arrived at the enframing canopy, but have not yet conformed to the demand for more light which had now become so insistent. how will this be done? a mosaic medallion could not well be put upon a light surface, as it would look splotchy and unfinished (viz.: first chapel on the left of choir ambulatory in rouen cathedral), nor would it do to station unframed, isolated, coloured figures on an uncoloured surface (viz.: ste. radegonde at poitiers). to avoid the unfinished appearance, they hit upon the idea of surrounding the coloured figure with a frame-like architectural border (as just seen at fécamp), and then put this framed picture in the midst of the plain panes. this step is exemplified by a large double-lanceted window just west of the north transept door in amiens cathedral. the entire window is surcharged with a number of these canopy-framed figures arranged in parallel perpendicular lines. we have now gained more light, and it is easy to see what is coming next. instead of placing the small canopies up and down the window (as at amiens), it would obviously be more effective to assemble them in bands across it. both sées and evreux serve to illustrate this manner of glazing. there are many examples that mark the slow development from these fourteenth century horizontal rows of canopies across a grisaille or quarry background, to the perfected canopy window of the fifteenth century, where the service of admitting light is entirely transferred from the grisaille or quarry to the canopy itself. this has been rendered possible by greatly increasing the space allotted to the simulated stonework, so as to enable it to let in all the illumination required, and at the same time perform its duty of framing the coloured part of the picture. these windows at fécamp and amiens are very instructive as showing us the experimental steps which resulted in the satisfactory combination of picture and illumination, instead of splotches of colour on a light field. it must not be thought that we have dwelt too long on this particular period of transition, for this is the only time during the golden age of glass that there took place an abrupt change in styles, and therefore a speedy and marked transition. there was certainly nothing hasty in the way that the broad borders and larger glass pieces of the twelfth century developed into the narrower borders and more minutely mosaic method of the thirteenth. as to the transition from the fourteenth to the fifteenth century, so slowly and so imperceptibly was it effected that we have decided to study those two centuries together as one epoch, the second being but the natural elaboration of the first. lastly, nothing could be more measured and deliberate than the steps by which the fifteenth century canopy developed into the sixteenth century large picture panel, by first changing the canopy from gothic to renaissance, then enlarging the scene within the new canopy until it finally outgrew the need for the frame, and emerged therefrom in its completed state, often covering a whole window. if at this point we turn to our histories, we shall soon encounter reasons which convincingly explain why there remains so little fourteenth-fifteenth century glass for us to see. this was the period of the english occupation of a large portion of france. a peaceful possession of a part of the country might not have interfered with the course of art in other quarters, but the english possession was far from a peaceful one. fighting, and that of the bitterest kind, went on continually. we have only to mention the "hundred years war" with england ( - ), marked by the disastrous defeats of crécy ( ) and of poitiers ( ), to be reminded of that. it is true that bertrand du guesclin won a short-lived success against the english ( ), but sees them again victorious at agincourt and their occupation of paris in . this temporary victory of du guesclin proved an evil thing for france, as it prolonged the fighting and increased the frightful carnage which drenched french soil with blood. it is clear that during times like these the nobility was not in a position to interest itself in beautifying châteaux or churches. they were most earnestly concerned in the gentle art of erecting fortifications; safety and strength were of vital importance; beauty had to stand aside and wait. the records show many instances of great architectural enterprises being halted from lack of funds or from other motives, a case in point being troyes cathedral, upon which no work was done for a long period of years. the nobility were injured more than the lower classes by these wars, and in the great defeats of crécy, poitiers and agincourt their losses were frightful. many a titled family lost its estates and many another was exterminated. in battle the middle and lower classes suffered proportionately less, because the french placed most of their reliance upon armoured knights and disdained to avail themselves of the bourgeoisie to the same extent as the english, whose splendid bowmen and yeomanry were so potent a factor in winning those great victories. the fact that the great families of france were so grievously crippled during these wars goes far to explain why glass painting languished for lack of the support which the luxury-loving class of society was not then able to give it. almost as serious for the nobles as the losses in battle and other ravages of war, was the reign of the subtle louis xi ( - ), who devoted his entire life to destroying the strength of the nobility and to building upon its ruins the centralised power of the throne, meanwhile guarding this increase of kingly power by encouraging the growth of the gendarmerie, and generally the military reliability of the bourgeoisie. one incident from his life provides us with a fact of great interest to a glass student. upon the occasion of the repulse of the bretons by the inhabitants of the french city of st. lô, louis presented to the cathedral of that town, as an expression of his approval of the bravery of its citizens, a fine set of stained glass windows. as an event in political statecraft it is most significant: he did not ennoble or enrich certain leaders, but gave the entire fighting populace a royal gift. to us it has a peculiar interest, because the incident shows that stained glass was held in such high esteem as to be considered a worthy gift from a king to a city. but before turning from a review of the evil days which fell upon france, we must notice that although the nobility suffered more heavily from battle and statecraft than any other class, the times were tragic enough for all frenchmen, whether noble or peasant, rich or poor. the plague raged throughout the land--not once, but many times--during these two centuries and its fearsome grasp fell upon all alike. nor was this misery enough; to all these calamities was added that of civil war of the worst type--the war of the masses against the classes. the scorn in which the nobles held the poor man was but the natural outcome of the feudal state. the man in armour despised jacques bonhomme, as he called him. when in the disorders afflicting the body politic caused this contempt and ill-treatment to so increase that it could no longer be endured, the uprising of the oppressed against the oppressor assumed in hideous satire the name of the jacquerie. before it could be finally put down, french soil was drenched again and again with blood. even this short dip into contemporary history has revealed enough to make it passing strange that any glass at all was made in france during those trying times, and stranger still that, if made, it should have survived. we have just seen that during most of these two centuries the french kings were fully occupied at home, first in fighting the english, with france as the battleground, and later in subduing their arrogant nobles and adding burgundy, franche comté, artois, provence and brittany to the french crown. at the end of this period, with their home lands cleared of the english and the centralised power of the throne much strengthened, we shall see how, under louis xii ( ) and francis i ( ), war was carried on outside the borders of france. under the influences of this freedom from the ravages of war, combined with taste for art learnt during the italian campaigns and brought back to france, there sprang up an aesthetic revival called the french renaissance. this new development is going to give us a very different style of glass painting, which we will study later under the title of the sixteenth century. before starting out to visit the glass of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, there are several remarks to be made upon it as a whole. there is not nearly so much left for us to see as there is of the thirteenth century. it is not going to be so easy to reach it and we shall have to take longer trips. we may journey far off to the western corner of brittany to see the admirable cathedral of quimper, or else down south near angoulême where we find in the small village of eymoutiers a most charming example. of sixteenth century glass we shall find much; of thirteenth a great deal; but of fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, only a little. at first one undoubtedly prefers the windows of the thirteenth and the sixteenth centuries, but after one has studied glass for awhile, he will surely come to feel that there is a certain fascination about the silvery glow of a canopy window that is not surpassed by the jewelled glitter of the thirteenth century or the more brilliant colouring and drawing of the sixteenth. during the period now under discussion there was a great deal of good glass made, and from the records we learn of many a fine window now long since destroyed. a fair way to judge the french glass-makers is to learn what their contemporaries across the channel thought of them. for this purpose it is worth citing from the contract for glazing beauchamp chapel at warwick, which contract was made by the earl of warwick's executors with a certain john prudde of westminster, dated . this contract requires that no english glass be used, but that the windows be glazed "only with best foreign glass procurable and to use as little white, green and black glass as possible." john prudde got his material from france. we find another apposite statement in britton's history of exeter cathedral. he says that square feet of glass was bought for the cathedral in - and that when another large purchase was made in they sent to rouen for it. from these citations, selected from many similar ones, we may safely gather that the english considered french glass the best, which is most significant when one reflects that just at that time english glass was at its highest point. fourteenth and fifteenth century pilgrimages from the standpoint of one who finds himself in paris, it is not going to be very convenient to visit the glass we are now considering. if he will content himself with a little, he can see that without much difficulty. he has but to visit the two nearby cities of evreux and rouen, each of them only an hour and a half by train from paris and not far removed from each other. the latter is, admittedly, peculiarly a place to study sixteenth century glass--its numerous churches are full of it. while it is better to visit rouen in connection with the sixteenth century, still we have mentioned it at this time because one of its churches, st. ouen, affords such a beautifully complete exposition of fourteenth century glazing. besides, it is near evreux, and therefore we advise that it be visited now so that the glass at st. ouen can be seen directly after that in the cathedral of evreux. if our reader wishes to thoroughly study the glass of this period, we would advise him to begin with a longer trip, which we will outline, and then conclude with evreux and rouen, because he will then be enabled, after seeing the fourteenth century glass of rouen, to immediately pass on to the study of the sixteenth century windows which are so splendid and abundant in the other churches of that mecca of the glass student. now for the longer tour just mentioned. it should begin at bourges, four hours and a quarter from paris by train. thence we go south to clermont-ferrand (on our way stopping to visit its little neighbour, riom), next across the mountains which overshadow these last two towns, to eymoutiers, which lies close to limoges, the next city in order. from limoges we go north to poitiers, then to angers, to le mans, through alençon to sées, to verneuil, and conclude with chartres, an hour and a quarter from paris by express. although this is a long tour, we can safely promise that it will repay the pilgrim. if the pilgrim has already visited chartres for its thirteenth century glass, he probably took occasion to see that of the fourteenth century in the church of st. pierre. in that event he can omit chartres at this time. if he wishes, he can go on from verneuil to evreux ( kilometres), and thus link this longer trip to the shorter one already described. it is only in the event that he travels by automobile or bicycle that we suggest a stop at moulins on his way from bourges to riom, for his way lies through it; but if he travels by train, then, because of the finer and more plentiful glass he is about to see, moulins may well be omitted. we would not recommend visiting limoges if it were not directly upon his road, no matter by what means of transportation he travels. there is hardly a place in france where fifteenth century glass can be seen to greater advantage than in the cathedral of quimper, but it is too far from any other glass place to be combined therewith into a tour. it is tucked away in the northwestern part of france, eleven hours from paris by express, and is only mentioned here so that if the traveller finds himself in its neighbourhood he may not fail to avail himself of the opportunity. the long tour beginning at bourges and ending at chartres, will, if supplemented by the short one to evreux and rouen, show him most of the best glass of this period which has come down to our time. it is easily distinguishable from that of the century preceding it as well as of the century following, and has a beauty all its own. [illustration: th and th centuries tours. (_a_) _evreux, rouen._ (_b_) _bourges, moulins, riom, clermont-ferrand, eymoutiers, limoges, poitiers, angers, le mans_, (_alençon_), _sées, verneuil, chartres._ _also separate visit to quimper._ (_for table of distances, see page ._)] evreux in one's mental picture of a town there is almost always a single feature which stands out prominently at the expense of the others. for example, winding crowded streets are apt to rise in one's mind when london is mentioned. the broad straight thoroughfares of st. petersburg are sure to give roominess and breadth to our memory of the russian capital. in a similar fashion when the writer thinks of evreux there always promptly arises a picture of the narrowness which not only characterises the cathedral's nave, but also the little channels into which the river iton subdivides itself in preparation for its leisurely meandering through the town. nor must this be taken as a reproach to evreux. the little branches of the iton add very materially to the quiet beauty of the place. so, too, beauty is, though indirectly, lent to the cathedral's interior by the very narrowness of its nave. a nave only feet wide made very difficult the problem of later joining to it a roomy choir, but the architect hit upon an ingenious device to secure greater width for the latter without having the difference unpleasant to the eye when viewed from other parts of the church. just behind the columns at the edge of the transept crossing he deftly swelled out his choir walls at such an angle that from no part of the nave is the curving swelling of these walls visible. the chapels that surround this graceful choir are separated from the ambulatory by light carved wooden screens, very dainty and each one different. the windows all about us reveal this to be a perfect treasure-house of fourteenth century glass, for it has more of this period than any other church in france except, perhaps, st. ouen, at rouen. in our preliminary talk about the fourteenth century we referred to the startling abruptness with which taste in glass veered around from the light-obscuring medallions of the preceding century to the light-admitting treatment of the fourteenth. we there stated that the two favourite methods of getting more light were, first, the canopy treatment, and second, but to a less extent, grisaille windows with rich borders which were sometimes, but not always, surcharged with coloured figures or panels. at evreux we shall not only find many an excellent example of both these new methods, but also interesting proof of how early in the century the new style laid hold upon public taste and that, too, in a very fully developed and completed form. the windows given by guillaume d'harcourt, dated , show us the canopy window with a perfection of architectural elaboration that is surprising when we consider its early date. not only is the canopy well advanced in its detail, but we find that the blue background is damasked, a feature of adornment that elsewhere took some time to develop. the use of grisaille to increase the illumination of the interior is here amply illustrated, as is also a certain variation of it, very much in vogue at that time, partly because it was decorative, and partly, perhaps mostly, because it was so easy to glaze. this is the so-called "quarry window" of white or grisaille glass with its surface composed of either square (_carré_) or diamond-shaped panels. these quarry windows were not only easy to lead, but their formal design broke up the surface of the glass very agreeably, especially when here and there touches of colour were introduced. nor were these quarries always used without colour decoration, for around the choir triforium we shall see them surcharged with gay heraldic blazons, while above, in the clerestory, they serve to fill out such portions of the embrasures as are not occupied by the bands of canopies. it was some time before the fourteenth century glazier arrived at the point of filling the entire embrasure with his canopy, and therefore this hesitating use of bands of canopies across a light field is often seen. below in the choir chapels even less of the space is devoted to canopies and more to quarries or grisaille than in the clerestory. passing to the nave, almost all the window surface of the chapels is given over to grisaille; indeed, it is only across the upper third that one sees the quaint little fourteenth century canopies. so, too, the clerestory is all grisaille except for an occasional panel in colour. the finest work of the period here is around the choir clerestory--the colours are richer and every part of the decoration more carefully studied. notice that in the fourth on the left, the second lancet contains a kneeling figure holding up in his two hands a model of the window which he is offering; his name appears in large letters below--m. raoul de ferrières. the rich red background, surrounded by the golden canopy, makes a very effective combination. this same pleasant conceit is found again in the most westerly lancet of the fourth choir chapel on the right, but here the figure is much smaller and the model of the gift window not so carefully drawn. almost all these clerestory lights display facts concerning their donors set out in bold lettering that adds materially to the decorative effect. a few of the panels were glazed in the next century; they are readily picked out by the perfected drawing of their canopies, the fact that they completely fill the embrasures, the pedestals beneath them, etc. of these later ones, the first on the left especially merits our attention: within its elaborate canopy framing are a triple tier of niches. in the middle tier, the second niche contains the dauphin (later louis xi) and the fourth, charles vii, his father. this reference to the fifteenth century brings us to the consideration of its numerous examples found here, for the lady chapel, all the north transept and part of the southern are glazed in that later style. in the lady chapel the canopies enclose a double tier of niches which contain scenes remarkable for their strong colouring, as well as for the unusual number of individuals in each little group. under the second canopy on the lower tier of the first window on the left is depicted christ feeding the multitude, and no less than twenty-five figures can be counted: this is the greatest number the writer has ever observed in a canopy panel. the transepts are most charming. each is lighted by a large rose, while the east and west walls have each not only two great six-lancet windows, but in addition, the triforium gallery is pierced and is carried around under the rose. where the triforium passes below the rose we have in each case eight lancets filled with canopies enclosing single figures, and in the clerestory of the north transept the same treatment--elsewhere the lancets contain grisaille or quarries surcharged with coloured bosses or shields--the whole bordered in colour. throughout all this interior so much grisaille and quarry work was used that one should select a rainy or grey day for one's visit, because on a sunny day the illumination is distinctly garish. nor is it for the cathedral alone that we have come here--so fine is the glazing at st. taurin that we would have included evreux in our tour even if there had been nothing to enjoy at the cathedral. the east end of the choir juts out from the body of the church, and is lighted all round by seven lofty windows, each of two lancets except the westerly pair, which have four. the treatment of all these lancets is alike: the enframing canopy encloses three tiers of niches, one above the other, in each of which is a little scene in colour. one pair of these windows, the second from the west, are modern, but so faithfully are they modelled after their neighbours, that they do not mar the effect of the whole. instead of one lone saint beneath each canopy (then so common as to be almost monotonous) we have here groups, always agreeable and sometimes amusing. for example, the lower left-hand corner of the window just left of the centre shows us st. taurin rescuing a lady from some very pointed flames, while a red imp, evidently much annoyed at being exorcised, is darting off, much to the pious satisfaction of five smug onlookers. in accordance with the conventions, each niche has at the back a damasked curtain, above which a glimpse is afforded of an interior lighted by three windows, all very delicately portrayed. it seems ridiculously incongruous to find cows and other animals in the foreground of such a niche. unfortunately, this absurd combination of tradition and realism was not rare during that epoch. the original glazing of the upper part of the southwesterly window has been replaced by a later ascension scene, running across all four lancets. at the end of the south transept is a broad window, very interesting because of the different types of canopies in its six lancets. the chief charm of the interior is undoubtedly the choir, whose deliciously soft-toned glazing is so complete as to afford the student not only valuable material, but also (and this is much rarer) an excellent impression of the general effect sought for by the fifteenth century glazier. rouen in this sketch we will chiefly turn our attention to the church of st. ouen, although we will also take a peep into the cathedral and into st. maclou. we will defer until our sixteenth century tours a fuller comment upon this city (see page ), because any one who has studied the subject, even in the most cursory way, knows that he must go to rouen for renaissance glass. although the splendid windows of its numerous churches bear witness to what that later period did for our art, it is nevertheless entirely proper that we should come here at this time, if only for a preliminary visit, because the study of fourteenth century glass cannot be satisfactorily concluded without viewing the splendidly complete exhibition of it in the church of st. ouen. here we shall see for ourselves why rouen glass was then so highly esteemed, not only in france, but also across the channel. we referred before to the fact that after exeter cathedral had in - purchased glass for its windows and it became necessary in to procure another large quantity, it was to rouen that they sent for it, a significant tribute to the skill and repute of the rouen craftsmen. ample witness to the causes for the englishmen's admiration is afforded by the justly famous fourteenth century glazing of st. ouen. it is best to approach and enter it by the south portal, for, although a very graceful and symmetrical gothic edifice, the west front is unfortunately of a much later period than the rest of the structure, and is noticeably lacking in lightness and beauty. notwithstanding nearly all the windows are glazed in colour, the brilliancy of the lighting strikes us as soon as we step inside and is especially noticeable if we have but freshly come from the inspection of interiors whose light has been dimmed by thirteenth century glass. it is evident that the st. ouen windows were glazed at a moment when the reaction from the sombre beauties of the thirteenth century was at its height. undoubtedly strict injunctions were laid upon the designer of the glass that he should so complete his task as to leave the church well lighted. in complying with his instructions he not only has used a great deal of white glass, but also has availed himself of the lighter tones of such colours as his pictures required. nowhere else will we find so complete a series of patriarchs, saints, apostles, bishops and abbots. they are strung out around us on every side and provide a wealth of material for investigation. perhaps one might wish that they had been depicted in stronger hues, especially as they range about the clerestory on a white background, with white glass in the triforium windows below them. on the other hand there is a possibility that if the colours had been stronger, the contrast between them and the background might have proved disagreeable. in passing it is interesting to note that all the abbots are arrayed in blue robes, but in accordance with the scheme of colour just mentioned, the blue is very light in tint. below, in the choir, and around the transepts, we find canopy windows, but there, too, their effectiveness is lessened by too many panels of white. in the nave the large figures in the windows of the upper range have much more colour than those in the lower, and the inscription below each is in such bold lettering as to permit of each letter being separately leaded in. the north transept contains a fine rose window, but, unfortunately, in accordance with the conventions of that epoch, the figures radiate from the centre like slices in a pie. the result is a wheel effect and not that of a great blossoming rose. the glass, not only in this rose but also in the one of the south transept, is sixteenth century and will be described later. the regularity and completeness of the architecture of this church is accentuated by the long series of personages that decorate its windows. it is but natural that there results the symmetrical beauty which always follows the consistent carrying into effect of a well-thought-out plan. the desire of the architect for a well-lighted interior has also been everywhere carefully observed. as a whole, the effect of the windows must undoubtedly be admired, but on the other hand, if we were to be denied the warmth that a little additional colour would have given, we ought at least to have found as a compensation that soft silvery light which the best glass of this period affords, but which is here rendered impossible by the excessive use of white panes. the cathedral's fourteenth century glass, while not presenting the splendid ensemble that one sees at st. ouen, is nevertheless not only instructive in its variety, but is also so placed as to exhibit itself to the greatest advantage. it is to be found in the lady chapel, the choir clerestory, the north transept, and the north nave aisle. the two large windows on each side of the lady chapel are so wide as to permit of four lancets in each. the treatment is the same throughout: a broad coloured border encloses a grisaille field, across the middle third of which is a coloured figure under a canopy, which of course has not yet acquired a pedestal. evidence of careful attention to detail is seen in the borders, which are not only very elaborate, but are also enlivened in one case by a number of little green birds, in another by brown squirrels, and in a third by white angels playing musical instruments. this feature is but rarely met. the modern glass in the three easterly windows is rendered harmless by the height of the altar rising in front of them. broad coloured borders are also found around the clerestory, but there each enclosed surface of grisaille has to rely for its adornment upon five round blue bosses surcharged with golden sunbursts. the three easternmost panels, however, bear large coloured figures, the central one being christ on the cross. the rose in the north transept is of the wheel type, and is too pale, because of the excessive use of colourless glass, especially in the radiating arms. at the end of each arm and also at other points are introduced medallions of mosaic pattern. the light is admitted in accordance with the conventions, but the contrast is too great between the plain and the mosaic panes. this same contrast is even more unpleasant in the chapel just at the junction of this transept and the choir ambulatory where a few mosaic medallions are frankly placed on a light field, without even the plausible excuse therefor which is afforded in the rose above by certain round apertures especially suited for medallions. the artist is evidently still groping for a satisfactory adjustment of his design and colour to the demand for light. this period is also exemplified, although in a different way, in the second, fifth, sixth and eighth windows in the north nave aisle. there, across the lower part of the light quarries in each of the four lancets, is placed a coloured figure behind whom hangs a curtain of contrasting colour, but entirely lacking canopy framing; each lancet is surrounded by a gay border. this treatment is not so pleasing as that just observed in the lady chapel, for the nave figures lack the finished appearance there lent by the canopy framing. the small curtain is better than no background at all, but we are still evidently in transition. of the fifteenth century glass in the cathedral, but little can be said; that in the south transept rose is good, while the chapel leading from that transept to the choir ambulatory contains two lofty-pinnacled canopy windows that would be excellent if they were not marred by their upper panes being filled in with disjointed fragments of thirteenth century medallions. at st. maclou (see page ) ten out of the twelve windows in the semi-circle of four chapels at the east end of the choir contain a softly lovely set of fifteenth century canopies whose lofty and intricate pinnacles are delicately outlined against backgrounds of lilac, blue, green, etc., always in the lighter shades. the lower parts of these windows have not fared so well as the upper portions, but they have not been damaged enough to detract from the general effect. so light are most of the tones used, that one fears the ensemble will appear too pale when viewed from the proper distance; but such is not the case, thanks to the admirable harmony between the soft colours and the dainty canopies. an occasional fifteenth century panel is to be met with elsewhere in rouen (_i.e._, the westernmost in the north wall at st. vincent), but they are neither sufficiently numerous nor noteworthy to be cited here. we shall carry away as our chief souvenirs of this preliminary visit to rouen, memories of the complete glazing of st. ouen, the varied exhibition of contemporary transitional types found at the cathedral, and st. maclou's delicately tinted half-circle of eastern chapels. bourges when we visited the cathedral of bourges to inspect the glass of the thirteenth century (see page ) we referred to that of the fifteenth which fills the windows of the nave chapels. it is to inspect these that we now make our second visit. it is very usual for chapels to radiate from around the choir of a church, but rarer to find them introduced into the side walls of the nave after the completion of the edifice. perhaps it would not prove so eminently satisfactory at bourges if it were not for the fact that the cathedral lacks transepts; but whatever the reason, the result in this instance is admirable. the window apertures of these nave chapels indicate that they were constructed at a later period than the rest of the cathedral, for instead of the single broad windows which we find elsewhere about the interior, the lighting of each chapel is effected by a group of lancets bound together to form one very wide window space, the lancets being separated only by narrow stone mullions. to this architectural indication of date is added that of the glass, which is among the best that is known of the fifteenth century canopy type. the glazing of these chapels varies greatly in excellence, but is always good. in almost every case the windows consist of four lancets. we note here the custom of placing upon the window a small kneeling figure of the donor, and from contemporary paintings we are able to affirm that the glass artist made these portraits as perfect as his skill permitted. in the chapel given by pierre trousseau not only do we find the donor but also his sister and his two brothers. this tendency to introduce various members of the family increased steadily in vogue, so much so that in the sixteenth century we shall often find two or three generations kneeling in a row in the lower panels. in the first two chapels on the left the personages hold in their hands long winding scrolls on which there is writing. this form of decoration was also much elaborated in the next century, and very successfully, too. but the greatest of all fifteenth century chapels is the most easterly one on the north, just at the point where the choir chapels succeed to those of the nave. it was given by jacques coeur, the merchant prince of bourges, who became treasurer of france under charles vii. it is as beautiful in detail and ensemble as a canopy window has ever been made. the mullions separating its four lancets are not allowed to interfere with the one great subject that extends over them all. across the top of this picture is carried the most elaborate gothic dome ever attempted in glass painting. the ceiling beneath it is blue sprinkled with golden stars, and the groining of the arches which support it is golden also. the robes of the figures, beautiful in combination of colour, are elaborated to the last degree of decorative detail. notice along the edge of the kneeling saint's robe a row of simulated embroidery panels gay with colour and gold. it is clear that jacques coeur employed upon this window the best glass artist to be found, just as he must have engaged the most skillful architects and builders for his palace, to the glories of which we alluded in our thirteenth century pilgrimage. this window and that dwelling stamp him as one of the most intelligently appreciative patrons of the arts which his time produced. the fact that the cathedral is built upon the edge of the old roman walls makes possible a well-lighted crypt instead of the gloomy cavern generally found beneath the choirs of most cathedrals. in the embrasures at the eastern end of this lower church or crypt have been placed a set of fifteenth century windows taken from the old ste. chapelle of bourges, each consisting of four canopies. under the two central ones of each stand the coloured figures in the usual way, but under the two outer canopies the figures are partly concealed behind simulated architectural columns. this unique arrangement serves to render the glass architecture all the more convincing. it would have been well if other towns had followed the example set by bourges in thus preserving in some store-house like a cathedral the glass of other edifices which had to be destroyed. if we travel by automobile from bourges to clermont-ferrand, we will probably elect to pass through nevers and moulins. we have already advised the railway traveller not to alight at moulins and he will probably not do so at nevers. about the latter we will say but a word. although the cathedral has a special interest in that it is one of the two churches in france having an apse at its western as well as its eastern end (the other is at besançon), it need not detain him, because it has no old glass. if he decides to stop to look at the cathedral, he should not fail to see the old palace of the dukes of bourbon, with the story of lohengrin carved by jean goujon on the outside of its graceful spiral staircase. moulins if our pilgrim in going south from bourges to clermont-ferrand passed through nevers, this slight detour has brought moulins right upon his road. in this event he must avail himself of the opportunity to visit the cathedral, because its glass, although not of sufficient importance to demand breaking a railway journey, is distinctly worth seeing if he is passing the door. besides, the sacristy of this church contains the splendid fifteenth century triptych, so long attributed to ghirlandajo, but now conceded to have been the work of an unknown moulins painter who, for want of more particular information, is called the master of moulins. around the choir ambulatory there are a few canopy windows of the fifteenth century. most of them are good, but one on the north side is quite remarkable and should be particularly noticed. the scene depicted is the crucifixion and the background seems to be of a deep ruby. closer inspection shows it to consist of a multitude of tiny red angels so crowded together as to give the effect, when viewed from a little distance, of a richly damasked surface. the result is as satisfactory as the method of obtaining it is original. there are also some good sixteenth century windows around the choir which are easily distinguishable because the architecture of their canopies is so obviously renaissance and so far removed from gothic. as the automobilist or bicyclist passes through this town, he will be struck by the attractive local feature of large diamond-shaped patterns in black or dark bricks on the red brick walls of the houses. the effect is most decorative. riom on our trip south from moulins we come upon riom, a quiet little place living on its memories of mediæval importance and treasuring within the shady circle of its wall-replacing boulevards many fine houses and other testimonials to its former wealth and importance. in an old-world country like france it is not unusual to find striking contrasts between those parts of a city which have been absolutely modernised and other portions still preserving their ancient appearance. between neighbouring towns, however, it is not often that we shall notice so startling a difference as is effected by the kilometres separating riom from clermont-ferrand. it seems impossible, while in the quiet streets of this town, to realise that we are so near the busy city of clermont-ferrand, active in many modern manufacturing industries, a railway centre, in short, a distinctly twentieth century community. geographically those few kilometres are only a step, but historically they will transport us four or five centuries. here we are in an atmosphere not later than the sixteenth century, although for glass lovers the interest of the place goes back still another. the fifteenth century feature which attracts us most in riom is the ste. chapelle, which now serves as the chapel for the palais de justice, through which we must pass to reach it. the practical hand of the altering architect has fallen heavily upon this beautiful chapel. in he took away its lower part in order to gain room for the court of appeals which is just below. he graciously allowed the upper half to remain a chapel, but, of course, the introduction of a new floor at half the height of the original building caused the destruction of the lower portions of the seven fine windows. each has four large lancets and is a remarkable example of the highly-developed canopy type of the middle of the fifteenth century. upon these are displayed a great company of richly attired personages, affording us a rare opportunity to observe the dress of the upper classes of that day. the jewels, furs and other decorative details are not more minutely studied than are the architectural features of the canopies. each figure holds in its hands a long paper scroll upon which there is writing. these scrolls form a most effective and agreeable feature, and their use as a form of decoration was frequently seen during that century. it appears at its best in the tree of life rose in the south transept at carcassone. the four central panels at the bottom contain the donors, always an attractive detail if only they are modest in size and placing. we should try to see these windows on a rainy or grey day. it must be remembered that we no longer view them from below as their artist originally intended, because the action of the architect in has brought us up on a level with them. the chapel is so small and the windows so large that if the day is sunny we are not able to withdraw a sufficient distance to readjust the perspective, and therefore a dull day, by softening the light, greatly increases their charm. [illustration: th century "canopy" window, sainte chapelle, riom. _gothic details carefully elaborated. curtains suspended across backs of niches give the artist another colour, while white winding scrolls assist canopy portions in admitting light. donors are here more important but not yet intrusive, as seen later._] clermont-ferrand the situation of this city is as beautiful as it is remarkable. imagine a long, fertile plain from which rises suddenly a great range of hills. the plain is monotonously flat and the hills are abruptly steep, while higher than all their heights towers the round-topped mountain of puy-de-dôme, which gives its name to this department of france. nestling just below the hills, upon the extreme western edge of the level country, lies the vigorous and progressive city of clermont-ferrand, whose activities and commerce are fed by roads leading in every direction across the broad expanse of the fertile district of limagne. from the top of the cathedral tower the view is most striking and delightful. to the east, as far as the eye can reach, stretches out a long vista of cultivated fields, but when we turn to the west the change is positively startling. hill is piled on hill and mountain on mountain, and all so near at hand as to make us feel that, with the naked eye, we can discern figures moving on the top of the puy-de-dôme, whose knob-like crest towers proudly above its surrounding and supporting heights. there are but few views like this in france, for it is rare to find so bold a range of hills rising so sharply from so wide a plain. after descending the many steps which take us back into the cathedral, we shall soon be convinced that if most of the thirteenth century glass towns had not been so accessible to paris, a visit to this cathedral must have been suggested in order to see the fine set of medallion windows that in the apse chapels form a screen of gleaming sombre colour all around the choir--a screen so complete as to produce that effect of glistening caverns which we have found so beautiful in the glass of that century. clermont-ferrand was left off the thirteenth century list partly because of its distance from paris, and partly because, if that distance had been overcome, there are no other towns in its vicinity noteworthy for their thirteenth century glass. now that we are considering the glass of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, distance from paris no longer proves an argument against this visit, because that period cannot be seen unless one is willing to go far afield. besides, clermont-ferrand fits nicely into a series of towns rich in glass of these centuries, so we have every reason for the visit at this juncture. the cathedral is a noble example of gothic, the spacious nave being separated from the choir by two transepts, each of which possesses a fine rose window of the fourteenth century with a gallery of small lancets below. these rose windows seem thrust too high up against the roof; in fact, if it were not for the row of lancets below, the effect would be unpleasant. this method of placing them in the wall is, however, in accordance with the best traditions of that time. the glass panels which go to make up the rose windows radiate in distinct lines from the centre. the lancets below the south rose are filled with diaper in rich colour, while across them, as if to bind them together, are drawn two bands of white rosettes. the lancets under the north rose have circles and spots of colour on a grisaille ground. of the glass that once adorned the nave, practically nothing remains but the small roses at the tops of the windows, but these are quite attractive. it is to the choir that we must turn for the greatest charm of the interior. the sober richness of the thirteenth century panels in the chapels below is admirably set off and accompanied by the well-lighted clerestory above. around this clerestory appears a row of large fifteenth century figures in colour framed in canopies upon a background of grisaille quarries (diamond-shaped panes). perhaps there is a little too much contrast between the figures and the quarries, but the effect is good and certainly the light is admitted in a more satisfactory way than at chartres, where the monks, to secure more light, replaced the rich borders of the early choir clerestory windows by white glass. as seen from the nave or from the transepts, the choir is most pleasing, a warm half light below and a brilliant clerestory above. in the two easternmost panels of the latter the artist shows us how it was sometimes possible to make one large picture by the juxtaposition of two or more, which at first glance seem entirely distinct. on the left is the virgin mary in what appears to be a large oval frame. on the right, and facing her, is a bust of the father emerging from clouds. although at first these two panels seem entirely separate, a comparison of the subject of each indicates that taken together they form a picture of the annunciation. this method was not uncommon. at tours, three eastern medallions of the clerestory, although seemingly distinct, really combine to form the last supper. we should not fail to notice at clermont-ferrand how very harmoniously the styles of different centuries assist each other in producing a well-glazed interior. we do not find the conflict in effect which exists at bourges. in fact, there are but few places where glass epochs are combined in such an attractively unobtrusive manner. eymoutiers when from the top of clermont-ferrand cathedral we viewed the mountains of the puy-de-dôme range, it seemed not only that anyone planning a trip across them would have a difficult climb, but that any idea of going by train was an impossibility. modern engineering skill, however, overcomes all obstacles, stops at nothing, and the railway awaits our command to take us over the mountains to eymoutiers and limoges. the grades are so steep that no expresses are attempted and therefore we have before us a tedious five-hour trip on a way train. the first and the last parts of this journey are very delightful for the automobilist or bicyclist, because of the views revealed from time to time by the windings of the road. more than half the trip, however, is quite uninteresting, as the way lies through clefts in the hills at too great an elevation for much foliage or verdure. when we descend to the village of eymoutiers on the other side of the mountains, all the difficulties and tedium of our climb will be forgotten. there the traveller will find a charming little inn by the river, where he can have a delicious repast of trout from the neighbouring mountain stream. he will be served on a cosy terrace, which is sheltered from the sun by vines and cooled by a tinkling fountain shooting into the air a slender spray of icy water. as a glass shrine, eymoutiers is one of the most delightful that our pilgrim will meet on his travels and one to which his memory will often pleasantly revert. he need not look about for a cathedral or for any great religious edifice. instead, he will find a quaint, oddly-shaped church whose older western half is so dimly lighted by its few deeply-embrasured windows as to provide an excellent foil for the silvery light of the fourteen that illumine the eastern half. we cannot properly call it the choir end, because the church seems to have three choirs placed side by side, opening into each other, the central one extending a little more to the east than its two sisters. at the ste. chapelle in paris we have observed that the deeply-hued medallion windows of the thirteenth century were not suited to a small interior--that their materials and construction required that they be viewed from the greater distance afforded within a cathedral in order to yield to the observer a properly combined glow from their warmth of colour. on the other hand, at eymoutiers, we shall learn that the canopy window is as beautiful in its soft lighting of a small interior as at bourges it is appropriate in the lower windows of a great nave, or at quimper in its delicate illumination of a splendid clerestory. before we have been long in the little eymoutiers church we shall begin to notice that the later windows in the central eastern bay have much more colour than the earlier ones in the right and left ones. in these two side bays the figures have only one colour besides white in their costumes, and but one also in the backgrounds; while on the other hand, in the central bay the figures have never less than two colours in their costumes; and further, that besides the one in their backgrounds, an additional colour is there contributed by a curtain stretched across the niches, shoulder-high, behind the figures. then, too, these later figures in the central bay have coloured halos, and the little ceilings under the canopies beneath which they stand are brightly tinted. the local authorities date the glazing of the central bay from the latter part of the fifteenth century and that of the two side ones from the middle. the difference in the colour schemes of the two sets confirms this dating. this same marked difference in the number of colours exists at quimper, where the choir windows glazed in the first years of the fifteenth century have but few tints, while, on the other hand, there are many in those of the nave which date from the latter part of that century. as accentuating this enrichment of the artist's palette which the passage of time seemed to effect, it is noticeable that the early tracery lightings of the two side bays are very light in tone, being mostly white or some faint hue or yellow stain, while the later traceries of the central bay contain deep reds and blues, etc. a close examination of these windows repays us by revealing several quaint manifestations of the strict adherence to tradition for which the mediæval glass artists are noted. contemporary conventions demanded that st. christopher have a tessellated pavement as the floor of his canopy, but the legend requires that he must stand in water, so we find not only the pavement but also upon it a semi-circular pool of water in which the saint stands. so, too, the virgin mary is poised upon a halfmoon-shaped cloud, neatly balanced on the conventional pavement. though these little touches make us moderns smile, they were doubtless at the time approved as showing that the artist was well schooled. our reader should make every effort to visit eymoutiers, for there he will truly feel the delicate charm of the canopy window. the church is glazed throughout in one style and as a type of perfection will linger in his memory in much the same way as ste. foy at conches, which we will visit later for its sixteenth century glass. the canopy window, when properly placed, yields a far softer beauty than any glass can show in the century before or the century that came after, and it is greatly to be regretted that so few of them survived the stress of those battle-troubled days. before we start on our way over rolling hills to limoges, we must not fail to observe in eymoutiers a certain quaint custom of building distinctive of that town. the topmost story of almost all the dwelling-houses is not walled up on the street side. this open top floor is used to store fuel. under the eaves there is a pulley by which the bundles of wood are pulled up from the street by a block and tackle and swung in under the roof. limoges after a charming ride of fifty kilometres from eymoutiers, we arrive at limoges, sloping picturesquely up from the banks of the winding river vienne. we elsewhere set out our reasons for believing that the byzantine influence upon the beginnings of french art was first and most potently exercised at limoges, the cradle of french enamel. after remaining dormant for centuries, the enameller's art has again been quickened into life in its old home. its younger sister, stained glass, however, never seems to have returned to its birthplace; in fact, if it were not necessary to pass through limoges on our way north from eymoutiers, we would not have included it in this trip. while the cathedral contains some fourteenth century glass, it lacks sufficient quantity or quality to repay one coming from a distance to see it. from eymoutiers our route takes us through limoges, and what it can show of glass, we, like conscientious pilgrims, must not fail to inspect. now for the cathedral! architecturally it is very satisfactory. just inside the west door of the nave there is a finely-carved stone jubé or arch, in fact so good is it that we shall not see a better except in the little church of la madeleine at troyes, or in st. etienne-du-mont in paris. around the clerestory of the choir are thirteen double lancet windows, presented in the fourteenth century by bishop pierre rodier. unfortunately, only two of them (those of ste. valerie and st. martial) are preserved intact, but the others have been so judiciously restored that we have a very good idea of how they originally looked. they consist of large coloured figures in canopies, surrounded, however, by too much grisaille. the revulsion from too little light in the preceding century sometimes produced the curse of too much in the fourteenth. this placing of subjects upon a light surface cannot help but cause an unpleasant contrast between its soft tone and the stronger colour of the figures. in the ambulatory chapels on the north side of the choir, there are two complete windows of this period, both of them grisaille with gay heraldic devices and coloured borders. in one the light field is arranged in quarries (diamond-shaped spaces), each quarry having its own little border of colour; this is very unusual. here the contrast of rich tones and grisaille is not so disagreeable as in the clerestory. in the south transept is a large rose window containing conventional designs in red and blue, but no figures. we find the same objection to the placing of this window and to its construction that we did to the rose windows at clermont-ferrand: it is too high up and seems crowded against the roof, while its lines radiate so obviously from the centre as to make it resemble a wheel, whose spokes are too thick. the century before did well to have medallions placed around the central opening of its rose windows, for they gave the effect of a huge blossom and not the stiff look of a wheel. as we leave limoges on our way to poitiers we shall find, if we travel by automobile or bicycle, that the road along the vienne, following the picturesque windings of that charming river, is one of the most delightful in all france. poitiers upon one of our thirteenth century pilgrimages the reader has already been taken to poitiers (see page ). not only has he visited the cathedral and seen its glorious crucifixion window, but he has also entered the smaller church of st. radegonde to view the thirteenth century glass there. for the purpose of this trip he must again repair to the latter church to see a unique manifestation of the effect produced by the new demand for more light, which is the most marked feature of the taste in glass of the fourteenth century. the windows which we are now seeking are the four in the north wall between the north portal and the choir. they are undoubtedly interesting, but can hardly be called beautiful. in order to admit as much light as possible, the greater part of their surfaces is filled with light greenish-grey grisaille, whose design is that of a number of circles, each circle impinging on the next. scattered irregularly upon the grisaille are many small-sized personages in deep colour. around the whole is a brilliant border. the contrast between the gay hues of the figures (and also of the border) and the light tone of the grisaille is not only too sharp to be pleasant, but it also destroys the harmonious ensemble which is the great charm in the early canopy window. it seems logical that the light-admitting canopy should be used as a frame for the richly-coloured figure which it encloses, but there is no artistic excuse for spotting light grisaille with sharply-outlined, strongly-toned figures, and then framing the whole by the harsh lines of a coloured conventional border. at bourges the beauties of the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries can be seen at the same time, and each enjoyed, although for different reasons. here at st. radegonde, however, the charming thirteenth century rose window above the north portal enjoys an easy victory over the glaring contrasts of its fourteenth century neighbours. the latter should be inspected because they are unique in their elaborate method of admitting light, but they point to a road which should not be followed. it is interesting to note that at the time of their construction these windows were very highly considered. there was no reason why they should not have been of the best, because this church has long benefited by the generosity of pilgrims to the tomb of the saint beneath its choir. among these none was more devoted than anne of austria, the queen of louis xiii. nor is this shrine the only attraction to the pious which the church can boast, for in the south wall there is a small recess protected by an iron grille enclosing what is represented to be a footprint of jesus christ. this is still an object of much veneration. these facts must be taken into consideration, because a church to which crowds of votaries for centuries resorted would surely contain no glass inappropriate to the wealth and high standing of these pilgrims. in fact, a certain hallmark is thus given its windows, which enables us by means of it to judge of the taste of the time. angers there is hardly a religious edifice in existence where so many periods of glass are represented by such uniformly good examples as in st. maurice cathedral at angers. in a former visit (see page ) we observed that its nave contains the greatest amount of twelfth century work which any french church can show and also that in its choir and transepts there are many fine medallion windows of the thirteenth century. now we will take up the really gorgeous fifteenth century glass, beginning with the two large west windows of the north transept. so elaborated and full of architectural detail are they that their canopies alone occupy more than half the entire window space. we have generally seen the canopy used only as a frame, but here there is more frame than picture! each of these two windows contains four niches enclosing brilliantly-hued figures, two in the lower half and two in the upper half of each window. the glass forming the canopy part is much deeper in tone than we have been accustomed to find, having a strong greenish shade similar to that found in many english fourteenth century canopies (as, for example, those in new college chapel, oxford). we have noted before that english glass is generally more highly coloured in the fourteenth than in the fifteenth century, but the contrary is true in france, where the fourteenth is much softer in tone than that found in the next century. these windows provide a case in point. it is perhaps well that they are so strongly toned, for even as it is, they seem rather pale in comparison with the early medallion windows all around them. the embrasures which they fill were built in the thirteenth century and are therefore larger than those generally found in the fifteenth; the extremely strong saddle bars necessary to support this great weight of glass are so noticeable to the observer that they seem to isolate the panels containing the figures and thus hurt the frame effect of the canopy. perhaps the pilgrim will find this comment is hypercritical, for the windows are undoubtedly very effective. they were given by bishop jean-michel about . one is naturally curious to see the work done by an artist in his home town, for if not of his best, it is apt to be typical and show the influence which his natural environment exercised upon him. for this reason we turn with considerable interest to see what was accomplished by andré robin, when called in to reglaze the rose windows of the transepts. the stone traceries had been constructed in the thirteenth century, and though it is difficult to adapt later glass to earlier framework, the result here has been very successful, much more so than, for example, in the case of the west rose of the ste. chapelle in paris. in the north rose window robin put the resurrection. christ is in the centre and from him there radiate sixteen elongated panes bearing yellow and blue angels. the resurrected dead are shown in the act of pushing up the covers of their tombs, a conventional method of representing them. above are little scenes illustrating the occupations of each month of the year. upon the south rose there appear the signs of the zodiac, and below them the elders of the apocalypse. in these elders we may trace a reference to the splendid set of apocalypse tapestries which hang around the interior. the most northerly window on the east side of the transept is also by robin. the subject is the crucifixion, and it was finished in . in angers there is yet another set of fifteenth century windows, and to see them we must go to the little church of st. serge, in whose choir we have already studied the charming twelfth century grisaille. these windows are of the canopy type and are placed in the nave clerestory. there are three on each side, the two westerly ones being of three broad lancets each and the easterly one of two lancets. the colour contrasts are good and the architecture in the canopy framing very convincing, both in size and adjustment. le mans during the course of our former visit to le mans cathedral (see page ) we remarked that the transepts were glazed in the fifteenth century. the glass is good and the north rose is particularly well worth seeing. of the transepts themselves, it may be said that no others in all france are provided with windows in such a curiously irregular way, no two corresponding portions of wall having the same or even similar ones. there is no window at all in the south transept end, but instead there is a solid wall against which the organ is backed. the west side of this transept has two very large windows with coloured borders framing grisaille, upon which are small circles and squares. on the east side the wall has even fewer openings. crossing over to the north transept, we find still more irregular arrangement, there being a marked difference in amount of window space, as well as in the shape and adjustment between the east and the west wall. there is, however, a distinct improvement over the south transept in that here there are canopy windows and that, too, of no ordinary type. but it is to the north end of this transept that we must turn to have our admiration as well as our interest thoroughly aroused. the writer believes this to be the finest example of a rose window, blossoming out at the top of a well-adjusted group of lancets, that the fifteenth century can afford. at clermont-ferrand and limoges we have noticed that the tendency at that time was to crowd the rose up too high against the roof and then try to counteract the effect by placing beneath it a row of lancets to bring down the whole group. at le mans the adjustment in the wall is perfect. further, the lower range of windows is treated with the respect it deserves, for not only is the rose beautifully glazed, but the lancets have also received the artist's careful attention: they are graceful, good-sized and filled with a triple tier of excellent canopied figures. the rose is poised above and between the points of two wide lancet windows, each of which is in turn divided perpendicularly by mullions. the subject, the crowning of the virgin, is admirably treated, and nothing could be more delightful than the numerous angels singing and playing upon various musical instruments. for the honour of the fifteenth century glazier it is well that we should see this splendid effect, because we might otherwise conclude that, notwithstanding his brilliant success in producing canopy panels, he never grasped the full possibilities of the rose window. sÉes en route from le mans to sées we must pass directly through alençon, famous for its lace, and especially for the sort known as point d'alençon. if en automobile we should stop here long enough to see the renaissance glass in the church of notre dame. although of a later period than that which we are now considering, we must not be so narrow-minded as to deliberately pass by fine glass, no matter when it was made. the exterior of notre dame struck the writer as curiously emblematic of the impression which one receives of the town. the church is squat and ugly, but it is redeemed by the lace-like gothic of its western porch, which, fearful lest it be not remarked, thrusts itself out into the street. in similar fashion, alençon as a town has its commonplaceness condoned by reason of the beauty of its lace, a beauty which is constantly thrust upon your attention by its inhabitants. the glass to be noticed is around the nave clerestory. a most charming stone setting is provided for this sixteenth century glazing by the broad and high embrasures of six lancets each. particularly note how, at the top of each sheaf of lancets, the delicate lines of the traceries flow upward and inward like flames aspiring from a broad-based fire, seeking the outlet above of a narrow chimney. the picture period is here at its best, and the artist, regardless of the upright stone mullions, has spread his subject across all the lancets of each embrasure, and has lavished upon them all the shades of his richly stocked palette. over the west portal we have the same shape of window, but here it is broader and permits of eight lancets. the subject is the well-worn one of jesse and his descendants, but the design is distinctly novel, and an unusual amount of green foliage against a blue background lends a pleasant tone to the picture. the descendants are relegated to the upper panes, while the major portion of the great surface is divided equally between jesse (on the right) and a large panel enclosing the scene of the saviour's birth (on the left). of the rest of the glass in this church it is kindly comment to say that it is unsatisfactory. but let us push on to sées, kilometres further. one reads but little of the cathedral there, and more's the pity, because from any point of view it is not only admirable, but picturesquely delightful. placed upon a slight eminence in the midst of a wide basin, this elevation suffices to make it visible from a long distance on every side. its gracefully aspiring twin spires, its mantle of flying buttresses, the charming conformation of its eastern end, all conspire to allure us and fill us with expectations of what a nearer view may reveal. nor does the interior fail to realise all this distant promise. what a graceful lightness of stonework is everywhere visible, supplemented by the glazier's intelligent delicacy of touch. the nave alone lacks its ancient glass. nowhere in france or elsewhere can the fourteenth century glass artist be seen to greater advantage than at sées. very happy is the way in which his light-admitting grisaille has been enlivened and decorated by coloured borders and bands of richly-toned, canopy-framed figures. at evreux we will find him more splendid, more varied, but here, around the choir and the transepts, he has worked out more consistently, more coherently, his new idea of combining translucence and colour decoration. dainty, almost dangerously fragile as is the stonework that supports the upper windows, the glazier's handwork is daintier still--a film of soft grisaille held in a spider's web of lead lines, whilst across the middle third are bands of early canopies. not only in the clerestory of choir and transepts, but also in the choir chapels below, do we find this treatment uniformly carried out. the completeness of the scheme of decoration, as well as the satisfactory adjustment of colour to grisaille, give an ensemble which we elsewhere seek in vain. not satisfied with the illumination provided by his airy clerestory, the architect has pierced his triforium gallery throughout. in this lower tier there has been no attempt to introduce figures, the glazier having contented himself with surrounding his grisaille by decorated borders. the only exception to this rule is where the triforium gallery passes below the lovely rosaces that decorate the transept ends--there, in each case, the row of ten lancets is filled, alas! with modern glass whose thin tones betray it at once. fortunately one is too much absorbed in looking at the great roses above to notice them very intently. so high up are these rosaces in their respective walls that the arching of the ceiling actually passes in front of their upper corners. that in the south transept is a wheel window with medallions in the ends of the spokes, but instead of the rest of the openings being glazed in grisaille (as at rouen cathedral), colour is here used throughout. very different is the north transept rose, from the centre of which six broad arms diverge, separating groups of blossom-like apertures. the colour is good, but would have been better had there been omitted the white borders that make the coloured panels seem about to start from their sockets. the luminous effectiveness of the interior is utilised and accentuated by the placing of the double-faced altar on a raised platform in the middle of the crossing where the transepts can contribute to its glory equally with the choir. the high altar carries off the unusual honour of this central position with great dignity and success. so much are we seized and held by the charm of the general effect that we are not tempted, as is so often the case elsewhere, to solace ourselves with spelling out quaint details in individual windows. nevertheless, that form of research is here well worth while. three times on the south side of the choir clerestory and again in the second choir chapel on the left, do we find the donors, ingenuously holding in their uplifted hands small models of their gift windows. several times we will note two canopy panels whose stories must be read together, as for example in the first choir chapel on the right, where a mounted man in armour is piercing with his spear the side of the crucified christ in the next panel to the right. interesting as are these and many other similar details, it is the softly tinted illumination of the whole interior, more than any particular feature, that makes us remember sées cathedral as one of the most satisfactory french examples of fourteenth century glazing. verneuil long before one reaches verneuil he remarks a great tower looming high above the surrounding house-tops, a tower so commanding as to seem to beckon us from afar, and then later when we have reached its foot, to make us halt awhile in its shadow to enjoy the innumerable delicate details of its architecture, which render a near view as delightful as the distant prospect is imperious. it is not often in france that one sees so striking a landmark, which must have been vastly more significant still in those battleworn years of the middle ages when verneuil was for so long an important post on the frontier between france and the territory held by the english. there may still be seen one of the massive round towers of the ancient fortifications, its great size bearing witness to the importance attached to the possession and defence of the city. nor is verneuil lacking in other and more homely charms, for it preserves many of its old timbered houses, as well as others of stone and brick decorated at one corner by a gracefully carved tourelle. on making our way to the centre of the town we find that the great tower belongs to the church of la madeleine, which occupies one end of the spacious market-place. no more ill-assorted collection of incongruous elements were ever found in one edifice. the lofty uplift of the choir and transepts rises so much above the low roof-tree of the nave, that viewed from a little distance, there seems no connecting link between the eastern portion of the church and the great tower at the western end. the transepts are so short as to extend but little beyond the sides of the choir, and furthermore there are two sets of transepts, side by side, and opening into each other. it is to the eastern and loftier part of the edifice that we must repair. here about the choir and the two parallel chapels that adjoin it are a dozen windows containing fifteenth century canopies, mostly arranged in two tiers, one above the other. note that it is groups rather than single figures that appear within the enframing niches, and that the stories told by these panels are more elaborate, even if less effective than their grander contemporaries in the transepts. these latter are fine tall-pinnacled examples, each canopy enclosing a single figure, and are found in three of the four great embrasures that light the end walls of the transepts. the fourth contains renaissance canopies. throughout all this fifteenth century glass the deepness of the tones used in the figures within the niches is most noticeable. there are also several sixteenth century windows, the most noteworthy one being a tree of jesse in the east end of the southerly chapel. a large figure of the virgin holding the infant jesus is shown standing on the vine just at the point where the branches separate. jesse's descendants, drawn to a smaller scale, are emerging from blossoms all about the virgin, whom they are intently regarding. although the fifteenth century glass in la madeleine is not so splendid as some we have seen elsewhere, it is in such quantity and variety as to afford valuable facilities for comparison and study. there is also good glass to be seen in the church of notre dame. the picturesque old-world flavour of verneuil will perhaps make it a greater favourite with us than some towns possessing more important windows. on leaving verneuil, whether we decide to return to paris via chartres, or to link this trip on to the next by passing directly to evreux and thence to rouen, we may, by means of a slight detour, go through nonancourt. if we do, we should delay there long enough to enter the church to see the low fifteenth century windows along the nave aisles, as well as the larger renaissance ones that stretch in a long row around the whole length of the clerestory. it will be worth the few additional kilometres to the automobilist, although hardly demanding the breaking of a railway journey. chartres besides its wondrous cathedral, chartres has another though a more modest sanctuary which also possesses its original glazing almost intact. this is the church of st. pierre, a unique example of the glazier's attempt to meet the objection of light obstruction charged against the thirteenth century mosaic method. his treatment of the clerestory lights is of peculiar interest. there are no transepts. around the clerestory each window is divided perpendicularly in half, one side being glazed in colour and the other in soft grisaille. the only difference in the nave clerestory is that there each window is divided perpendicularly into three instead of two, the middle division in each case containing colour work and the two outside ones, grisaille. this method of glazing, plus the fact that the triforium is pierced, produces the desired amount of illumination within, but one can hardly say that it is produced in an altogether satisfactory manner. it is inevitable that this sandwiching of strips of colour between others of grisaille should reduce the value of the tints and dull their glow. the effect is very strange--it is as if tall shutters of dark hue had been prepared for grisaille windows, but that these shutters had only been put up on one side of each. whether one admires it or not, the method is novel, and worth examining. the new demand for more light has been met, but we have not yet reached the perfection of church illumination. for this we must wait until the fully elaborated canopy panels of the fifteenth century, for in those the glazier hit upon just the right proportion of colour and translucency by means of convincingly complete designs containing no jarring contrasts. it is well if one defers this inspection of st. pierre, and does not go to it straight from the sombre glories of the cathedral. such an immediate comparison will render it difficult to realise what an agreeable experience the smaller edifice affords for the student of glass (see page ). do not fail to go into the lady chapel to see the delightful set of twelve enamels representing the apostles, by many considered the chef d'oeuvre of the master of that craft, leonard limousin. they are remarkable not only for their delicious combination of tones and shades, but also for their unusually large size (two feet high by one foot broad). one is not surprised at the great care everywhere apparent in their workmanship when one learns that they were ordered by francis i, who, however, did not live to see them finished. his son, henry ii, presented them to diane de poitiers for her château d'anet. before leaving st. pierre, observe how excellently the architect adjusted the relative heights of the bays, triforium and clerestory; so graceful is the result that we depart with the impression of an edifice of unusually agreeable proportions. quimper far off in the western corner of france dwells that strange race, the bretons. leave behind you paris, the standard-bearer of things modern, and set out for distant quimper, the westernmost outpost of french glass. you will find yourself in the midst of a curious folk whose origin is unknown, in a bleak country where over a million people speak an uncouth celtic tongue utterly unlike french; where customs, handed down from father to son, persist for centuries; where modern costume is ignored and the peasant glories in his bright blue and gold jacket adorned with glittering buttons. you have even passed beyond the fabled forest of broceliande, where vivien held the great merlin by her magic spell. quimper must be visited for its own sake because there are no neighbouring glass towns. long as is the journey, it is safe to say that you will be repaid for its discomforts. arrive, if you can, on a sunday. the roomy interior of the cathedral is quite as attractive as the elaborate gothic detail outside has promised. here during service, perhaps more than anywhere else in france, will the middle ages seem to you still to be lingering on. no stiff rows of pews obtrude their modern convenience upon your notice. you will find the great church filled with group upon group of breton men and women sitting on rude rush-bottomed chairs, the men in their gay attire and the women wearing quaint white caps which vary slightly in each little village or commune. all this serves to take us back into feudal times; we sink into a seat and observe the intense interest with which our neighbours are following the ringing exhortations of the priest, couched in homely phrases, quite like the discourse which his predecessors in the fifteenth century preached from the same pulpit to a very similar audience. our mood becomes so mediæval as to almost make the ancient stained glass seem contemporary. it is a pleasant thought that the series of canopy windows made for the choir clerestory in by jamin sohier should have been continued and carried along the clerestory of the nave and transepts by his son, also named jamin sohier, towards the end of the same century. one of these later ones near the west front bears the date . some of those in the nave were sadly injured by the stress of time, and a few altogether destroyed; but they have been repaired and replaced most successfully, pious care having been taken to restore them as nearly as possible to their original condition. this was done during the years to by m. luçon at the expense of the state. the nave windows of the younger sohier are much more brilliant, both in richness and in variety of colours, than the earlier choir windows of his father. the gradual development of the verre doublé (or double sheets of glass) placed a greater variety of tints at the disposal of the artist, and he eagerly took advantage of his enriched palette. by comparing the choir panels with the later ones of the nave, we have here an excellent opportunity to study the development of the canopy window. we cannot help but feel that although the earlier ones lack the brilliancy and glow which characterise those constructed later, this lack is more than balanced by the delicious softness of the light which they transmit. it is interesting to observe how many of them set forth the legend of st. christopher. do not fail to notice the skillful contrast of a strong yellow with a rich green of which the east windows of the north transept provide several excellent examples. there is a striking peculiarity in the ground plan of this church. the choir is not upon the same axis as the nave, but inclines at quite an angle to the north. this peculiarity also exists in one or two other french churches, and the local authorities always delight to tell you that it is a form of gothic symbolism intended to represent the drooping to one side of the saviour's head on the cross. when the true explanation is discovered, it generally proves to be of a more practical nature. the same slant to the north is observable in the choir of saint jean, at troyes; there it was caused by the fact that the street line on the south side of the choir had to be pushed northward after the great fire of . at quimper the explanation is even more interesting. in bishop raynaud wished to add to his cathedral the chapel of notre dame (founded in by the count of cornoucilles) which stood a little to the east and was across a small street. he extended his choir so as to take in the chapel; but as it lay a little to the north of the true easterly line, he had to slant his choir to effect his purpose. this explanation may not be poetically symbolical, but it is historically accurate. sixteenth century we have now reached the perfected period of stained glass, by some called the renaissance, and by others the cinque-cento. the latter affords a graceful recognition of italian inspiration in the revival of french art at the beginning of the sixteenth century. by this time the reader will have appreciated the truth of the statement in our introduction that stained glass saves us the trouble of dividing it into periods, because it falls of itself into divisions whose boundaries, oddly enough, coincide approximately with those of the centuries. this was heretofore illustrated when the canopy window appeared upon the scene and caused the abrupt change from the sombre glittering tones of the thirteenth century to the light-admitting silvery-grey glass of the fourteenth. now we are about to see how another change came at the end of the fifteenth century, when the renaissance sprang full-grown, not minerva-like from the brows of jove, but from those of mars, the god of war, for it was the italian wars of louis xii and francis i that brought about this sudden regeneration of all branches of french art. what the french soldiers saw in italy they remembered and told at home, and, moreover, many of their trophies bore witness to the wonderful development then reached by italian art. the fact that after several centuries french territory was at last relieved from distress of war naturally resulted in a sudden interest in building of all sorts. because of this, architecture was among the first of the arts to be affected by the new italian taste. we have before noticed the inter-relation of the needs and styles of the architect with those of the glass artist, and therefore we are not surprised to find our windows testifying that the latter quickly perceived gothic architecture was being superseded by the classic style. during the last two centuries he had grown to appreciate more and more the light-admitting advantages of the canopy window, but now he changes the simulated architecture from gothic to renaissance. in his designs we notice an even more important change, which results from the fact that he now enjoys a good working knowledge of the laws of perspective and hastens to avail himself of it in order to lend greater depth to his picture. indeed, in some instances, he carried the use of perspective almost to an abuse. his predecessors in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries knew nothing of these rules, which, indeed, were then unknown in every art. on our way down through the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, because most of the windows are either canopy, or grisaille surcharged with figures, we are by their very nature denied an opportunity to observe the same gradual development of perspective which was contemporaneously taking place in painting. the result is that when in the sixteenth century the glass artist decided to branch out from the conventional canopy style and indulge his taste in the more ambitious effort of the picture window, the sudden change from no perspective to an abundance is all the more noticeable. during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the only hint obtainable of an increasing interest in perspective was when we noticed that fifteenth century canopies were more elaborate than those of the fourteenth, not only because they had much more intricate pinnacles, but also by reason of the curtains hanging in the back of the niches, and other details showing attempts to gain depth in the picture. in his large picture windows the sixteenth century artist also has more chance to show us how greatly the discovery of enamelling on glass has enriched his palette. during the two preceding centuries his development of verre doublé (or glass in double layers) has been yielding a constantly increasing variety of hues in the costumes of his personages, backgrounds, etc.; but now he adds his brilliant enamels and fairly riots in colour. we shall often have occasion to deplore that the glazier of the renaissance never truly grasped the full artistic possibilities of the black outlines ready to his hand in the leads, and that he failed to realise, as did his predecessors, that the more the drawing was executed by the leads the more attractive and convincing the resulting picture would be. towards the end of this epoch this disregard for their usefulness in the design was often carried to such an extreme that one concludes the artist must have regarded them as of no service except to hold the glass in position. some of the men who indulged most in enamel painting became so engrossed in this form of decorating glass as to consider the leads an intrusion, and as tending to reduce the size of the sheets, which they preferred should be of large size in order to facilitate the painting thereon of their pictures. to recapitulate, the most noticeable features of the new régime are then-- (_a_) renaissance architecture depicted instead of gothic. (_b_) larger scenes. (_c_) use of perspective. (_d_) greatly increased diversity of colour. (_e_) use of enamel painting. (_f_) increasing carelessness in use of leads. [illustration: "descent of the holy ghost," montfort l'amaury ( th century). _architecture depicted now entirely renaissance. tracery lights above, much simplified, lend artist more room for his picture. lead lines now mar the picture, instead of only providing the outlines. drawing greatly perfected; note the excellent grouping, the "golden tongues," etc. kneeling donors are not only too large but intrude upon the subject. (see page )._] not only does renaissance architecture supersede the older gothic on our windows, but it very naturally brings with it certain characteristics of the new architect. for example, because he generally placed the date conspicuously upon his edifice, so in renaissance glass we find the glazier introducing the date upon some panel of the simulated architecture. before this time, windows were seldom dated; now this custom soon became firmly established and various methods for it were devised. in the parish church at les iffs, in brittany, the west panel of the small chapel on the south side of the choir bears its date upon a gold coin held by one of the figures. the writer remembers this well, because, finding no date, it struck him that it might be on the coin. he piled three chairs, one on top of the other, climbed up, and there it was. immediately after the discovery, the chairs fell down! notwithstanding the richness which the artist's palette has attained, we occasionally meet an indication that he has not forgotten the cool silvery-grey formerly yielded by the canopy window. he now sought to obtain the same result in another fashion by occasionally restricting the colour of a picture window to various shades of grey (or very light brown), relieved by flesh tints where needed, and enlivened by touches of yellow stain. we sometimes find a church glazed throughout in this style, as, for example, st. pantaléon at troyes. it was, however, chiefly used in smaller edifices and for domestic or civil purposes. this particular manifestation of sixteenth century style outlived most of its contemporaries and is found as late as the end of the next century. by this last observation we are naturally led to comment upon the almost complete collapse of the cult of stained glass that came at the end of this century. people seemed to no longer care for it, although it had for more than four hundred years been so highly esteemed. we read of many instances of artists who had no orders for work and therefore had to turn their talents into other channels. that master of so many arts, bernard palissy, writing at the end of the century, tells us that so completely had the sale of glass fallen into disrepute that it was then hawked about from village to village by those who sold old clothes and old iron, and that although the art was a noble one, many of its practitioners found it difficult to get enough to live upon. for this passing of interest there have been many reasons advanced, but perhaps the most convincing is that of surfeit. certain it is that an enormous quantity of stained glass was produced during the sixteenth century, much of which has survived. of course, in some quarters the cult lasted longer than in others, but then it is generally traceable to the existence there of a peculiarly gifted group of glass artists. we shall find this true at troyes, where the skill and fame of linard gonthier and his school produced such a demand for their work as to cause the art in that locality to survive far into the seventeenth century. while it is true that during the sixteenth century glass reached its highest perfection, it is but natural that on the way up it should have outgrown many of the indications of craft tradition which we have from time to time noticed. the perfected picture no longer needed certain conventional signs to tell its story. perspective and improved drawing obviated the need of them. there are, however, several instances which show that even the sixteenth century artist felt the charm of quaintness, though to a lesser degree than his predecessors. for example, a window in caudebec cathedral (the passage of the red sea by the israelites) takes pains to identify the sea by having the waves glazed in red! though he had discarded most of the conventions, he retained and much beautified a few of them. for example, in tree of jesse windows, he far outstripped the older schools in grace and elaboration of treatment. as an indication of the interest felt in allegory by the later men we must invite attention to the so-called "wine press" window. here we have the same branching vine found in the tree of jesse, but in this case it springs from the wounded christ, who is being bruised in the press (or sometimes from his pressed-out blood), and spreads out over the panes, bearing as its blossoms saints, apostles or historical personages. in a few instances it rises from the wine pressed by christ from the grapes. windows of this type are to be seen at conches, at troyes and many other places, but nowhere is the idea so elaborated as at st. etienne-du-mont in paris. sometimes the heads displayed on the vines indicate another tendency of this century, which can be particularly noted in the last cited window (by pinaigrier) and in engrand le prince's tree of jesse at st. etienne (beauvais). in these two the heads prove to be accurate portraits of contemporary royalties and church dignitaries, a fashion then much affected and highly esteemed. another evidence of this same tendency to add personal touches is shown in the greatly increased use of armorial bearings, not only serving as the sole decorations of a panel, but also appearing upon picture subjects. these coats of arms are not only agreeable in effect, but also by their heraldry are very useful in fixing dates. many of these armorial bearings were, however, destroyed after the edict of , forbidding their use. most sixteenth century windows bear the donor's figure, nor shall we find excessive modesty shown by the man who paid the price. in this connection it is interesting to note that although stained glass has always been very expensive, strangely enough the expense has remained practically constant throughout all its history, providing, of course, one takes into consideration the varying purchasing power of money. in fact, the cost thus corrected varies so little from epoch to epoch as to be positively surprising. when we consider how costly was a gift of this sort, perhaps it is not extraordinary that, during the sixteenth century, we generally find upon it the givers' portraits; the wonder is that the custom was not more widely spread before. unfortunately, the donor was now more aggressive than his predecessors, for often the figure is not only too large, but actually intrudes upon the subject of the window. frequently not content to appear alone, he had the portraits of several of his family added as well. before we make our selection of towns to be visited, let us look about us in paris, for it has not a little glass to show us. paris before starting on our thirteenth century tours, paris supplied us with very useful results from our comparison of the glass in the ste. chapelle with that of the north rose at notre dame. not so satisfactory was our study of the fifteenth century canopy windows at st. sévérin in that city. we shall, however, find excellent sixteenth century glass in several of the paris churches, and will thus be afforded an opportunity to prepare for our excursions by obtaining in advance some idea of the style of that period, and shall also find some examples by its best artists. let us begin at st. germain l'auxerrois, whose charmingly light tower and graceful exterior seem to give the lie to the sinister fact that from this very belfry rang out the signal for the massacre of st. bartholomew. the west wall of the north transept provides a reason for here beginning our study of sixteenth century glass, because there, side by side, are two very similar windows, harmonising agreeably one with the other, and yet the architecture of the canopies of one is fifteenth century gothic, and of the other, renaissance. this very conveniently illustrates for us one of the marked changes which came over our glass. if the canopies were not enough to date them, other details are not lacking to perform that service. the earlier window has all the features of the distant landscape put in with the leads, while in the later one they are delicately painted on greyish blue; especially note this in the well scene. the other windows in this transept are also attractive and the warmth of some of the reds in the bed draperies of the earlier one of the pair just mentioned should be noticed. the adjusting of the figures to their panes in the transept rose windows is adroitly handled, particularly some of the kneeling angels in the south one. in the west wall of the south transept, the problem of placing a central figure when the architect provided only four, instead of five lancets, is gracefully overcome. at st. gervais we have one of the few opportunities to compare two of the greatest artists produced by the new school--robert pinaigrier and jean cousin--but that is about all that can be said for this ugly church, where architecture, white windows and modern glass combine to drive away the student. the best window is by pinaigrier, the judgment of solomon (second on the right in the choir chapels); it is dated , and although considered by many his masterpiece, seems to us to have too much marble pavement, etc., for its personages; and further, the little scenes in the tracery lights contrast disagreeably not only with the picture below, but also with its minarets and their sky background which jut up into the space above. we must, however, note how the accurate perspective contributed by the lines of the pavement and the distant architecture facilitates the correct stationing of the figures without confusing them as to position or foreshortening. his, also, are the twelve panels in the lady chapel, giving scenes from the life of the virgin mary: here the composition is delightful. we may remark in passing that at least one of them displays verses which by reason of their quaint expressions are less suited to our times than to the more unrestrained speech of those earlier days. jean cousin's window, the martyrdom of st. lawrence ( ), is the first on the right in the choir, and though good in technique, is not attractive. we should reserve judgment upon his work until after we have visited vincennes. across the river and at the top of the hill crowned by the panthéon is to be found an edifice that looks more like an architectural freak than a church--st. etienne-du-mont. it seems to realise its own ugliness and tries to conceal itself behind the panthéon. once we enter its portal we find a vast improvement over the distressing exterior of this confection of stone. there are plenty of spacious windows and a general airy effect. swung high in the air across the front of the choir is a graceful stone jubé arch, seemingly fastened to the columns at each end by double loops of delicate spiral stairways. the choir is so lightly constructed, and with so few obstructing columns, that the whole of the ambulatory space becomes a part of it. this arrangement enables us to enjoy the glazing of the ambulatory and the choir chapels from all parts of the building. a little door marked "sacristie" leads off from the ambulatory through a corridor to the chapel of the catechism. along the west wall of this chapel are ranged a series of twelve panels by pinaigrier, and because they are on the level of the observer's eye, he is afforded every facility for examining what could be accomplished by a great artist in enamelling colour on glass. in fact, there is no place in france where this can be more conveniently studied. although all twelve are fine, that devoted to the allegory of the wine press is easily the best. oddly enough, it was the gift of a rich wine merchant. in it are to be found faithful portraits of pope paul ii, emperor charles v, francis i, and henry viii of england, as well as sundry cardinals and archbishops, all in rich ceremonial costume. needless to say, those individuals have nothing to do with the subject of the window, but the opportunity to display portraits of them was too good for the artist to waste. this frequently appears on glass of the period and sometimes the result verges on the ludicrous. after visiting these stately temples, the quiet church of st. merri appears even more modest and retiring than its obscure site just off the busy quarter about the hotel de ville really renders it. in fact, so well is it hidden that we would have missed it had we not been seeking very carefully. the windows here are more interesting than beautiful and their effectiveness has been impaired in several ways. we read that during the eighteenth century those in charge of the church, after careful deliberation, replaced a great deal of the coloured by white glass, especially in the nave, where they removed the two central lancets of each group of four, leaving only the upper half of the two outer ones. of course, the result was not only disastrous to the window's general effect, but entirely extinguishes any warmth of tone in such glass as remains. we cannot but deplore the absence of the abstracted panes, for the remains in the side lancets and tracery lights evidence such skill, as well in combination of tones as in drawing (more particularly in the handling of perspective), that one can readily imagine what harm has been done. even the few scenes that are left are well worth inspection, and are as interesting as any of this epoch in paris. notice in the third window on the right, the way in which the landscape is carried back until it ends in a little red-topped tower, from which peer out two heads. fortunately, these deliberate and painstaking vandals spared the glass in the three westerly windows on each side of the choir, and also in the eastern walls of the transepts. the panels on the left, showing the history of joseph, are better than their neighbours across the choir. of the sixteenth century glass to be seen in paris, this much can be said: it varies markedly, illustrates most of the types of that time, and is therefore very useful in preparing us for the tours we are about to take. sixteenth century tours we shall have to approach the subject of viewing sixteenth century glass in a very different spirit from that in which we undertook the tours of the preceding centuries. we can no longer set up any claim to thoroughness. if our pilgrim visited all the places recommended in our thirteenth century excursions, as well as those for the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, he can rest with the comfortable assurance that he has seen about all of the really good glass of those periods. now we have a different problem. there has survived a great deal more glass from the sixteenth century than from all the preceding ones combined. he cannot hope to see it all, and we will have to limit ourselves to sketching out for him three tours covering the best--supplementing these by several detached cities, so that if the glass hunter happens in their neighbourhood he will not overlook them. he will find, however, some compensations for the bewilderment caused by the great quantity of sixteenth century glass, the chief of which is that either rouen or troyes provides in its many churches a complete exposition of that period's style. if the pilgrim's time is limited, he can accomplish more during a short stay in those two cities than he could upon any tour which might be outlined. two other compensations provided by this abundance of material are--first, that there is a great deal of good glass to be seen in paris, and furthermore, the automobilist especially will delight to learn that there are a half-dozen points in its immediate neighbourhood which offer an excellent excuse for a half-day's outing. for the leisurely traveller who has both time and inclination, we will arrange three tours; but he must understand that although they will provide him with a sight of the best sixteenth century glass, there will still be left a number of towns worth visiting. each of these trips will begin in paris. on tour (_a_) we first stop at vincennes, just outside the fortifications, then on to sens, to troyes, to chalons-sur-marne and back to paris. tour (_b_) takes us by way of versailles to montfort l'amaury; then to that perfect shrine of renaissance glass, conches; next to pont-audemer; then across the seine by boat to caudebec, and from there upstream, by the interesting old abbey of st. wandrille and the stately jumièges to rouen. from rouen we run out to grand-andely, elbeuf or pont de l'arche before we push up the river seine to paris. tour (_c_) will particularly recommend itself to the automobilist, and most of the points are quite near paris. we go out through st. denis to the town of montmorency, then through the wood of montmorency to ecouen, and next a little further on to chantilly. from there our route lies across to beauvais, and back to paris. as stated before, several of the towns comprised in these three tours are so close to paris as to enable a glass lover with a half-day on his hands to pleasantly employ it in a short excursion by train or automobile. of course, if he travels by train he can hardly hope in half a day to see more than one of these. if, however, he is an automobilist and therefore untrammelled by time-tables, he can combine several. for example, a glance at the map will reveal that ecouen, montmorency and chantilly are so close together that an automobilist can fit them into one day. a word of warning is not out of place for one about to visit these nearby towns. he must be careful to ascertain from his baedeker or from the public prints, upon which days they are open to the public. montfort l'amaury and ecouen can be seen any day; vincennes and chantilly, thursdays and sundays, etc., but these statistics had better be verified in the manner suggested because the regulations are changed from time to time. there are three very important glass shrines which are, however, so located as to make it impossible to combine them into a tour. these are the cathedral of auch (down in the southwest near toulouse), the chapel of the château of champigny-sur-veude in touraine, and the famous church of brou at bourg in savoy. the pilgrim should make every effort to see them. [illustration: th century tours. (_a_) _vincennes, sens, troyes, chalons._ (_b_) _montfort l'amaury, conches, pont-audemer, caudebec, rouen, (grand-andely, elbeuf, pont de l'arche)._ (_c_) _montmorency, ecouen, chantilly (st. quentin), beauvais._ _also separate visits to bourg, auch and champigny-sur-veude._ (_for table of distances, see page ._)] vincennes vincennes lies so close to paris that it can be reached by an electric car which starts from the louvre. its sternly forbidding fortress of the most approved feudal type, and the delightful park, have been the scene of many an interesting episode in french history. in the old forest which was the predecessor of the modern park, good louis ix was wont to seat himself beneath an oak and measure out to all comers that even-handed justice which supplied one of the reasons for his canonisation. often, on our travels, we have noted how enthusiastically he espoused the cause of stained glass, and, therefore, we of the brotherhood of glass lovers should feel a sympathetic glow of interest whenever we happen upon any scene hallowed by his personality. as for the castle, perhaps the best proof of its great strength is its sinister record of having served during many reigns as a dungeon for prisoners of state. many are the great names on its roster of prisoners, nor shall we wonder it was chosen for that purpose after climbing to the top of its donjon tower and remarking the vast thickness of its walls surrounded by the deep, yawning moat that isolates it from the smiling countryside. it is with a feeling of relief that we turn from the contemplation of such a subject to the delight which awaits us in the graceful gothic chapel with its fine vaultings, set off by the superb set of windows from the hand of that great master, jean cousin. poor windows, they have suffered many vicissitudes since their completion in ; it was not enough that they should be subjected to the ordinary hazards of time--they were actually taken out of their settings and moved away! after an interval they turned up in in the collection of lenoir. later they were restored to their original embrasures, but some of the heads and limbs having been lost, a bungling repairer replaced them by fragments from other panels. fortunately for us, the last restoration in has corrected this and they are now in condition to show us what their artist intended to set forth. notwithstanding the glaring light from the uncoloured windows to the west, these stained glass pictures are so delightful in tone and drawing as to give us a very high opinion of jean cousin. it was but natural that he should, in accordance with the custom of his time, seize this opportunity to recommend himself to royal favour, and, therefore, we must not criticise him for putting henry ii attired as a knight of st. michael in one of the eastern windows. we may, however, very properly object to the presence of the royal mistress, diane de poitiers, among the holy martyrs! henry ii must have lacked a keen sense of humour, or the artist might have run some risks in so placing the fair diane. the subjects of these windows are taken from the stories of the apocalypse and allow the artist wide scope for his fancy, of which he avails himself to the fullest extent. he also indulges in several daring combinations of colour, as for example, in depicting the flames in the panel to the right of the central one, where he used lilac, yellow, brown and red, and each colour in several shades. just below, in his shipwreck picture, he again represents the flames in the same bold way. then, too, there is a distinctly bluish tone to his enframing stone canopies; all this sounds very raw and harsh, but the general effect is nevertheless excellent. this was the official chapel of the order of the saint esprit, so we are not surprised to find upon some of the windows knights of that order in full regalia. vincennes is perhaps the best place to study jean cousin; certainly far better than his birthplace, sens, which we next visit. there the cathedral contains but two examples of his skill, but they are veritable masterpieces. sens even the most enthusiastic admirer of sens could not bring himself to describe that city, or the surrounding country, as picturesque. the latter is monotonously flat, relieved only by occasional chalk ridges. the town straggles away from the river yonne with little to remind us of its former glories except the cathedral and its immediate neighbourhood. as we cross the bridge near the railway station we will remark a very incongruous service which practical science has exacted from a relic of the past. rising from the parapet at the highest point of the bridge is a crucifix up the back of which runs a wire ending over the head of christ in an incandescent electric light! when we passed through sens on our earlier trip (see page ) we took occasion to relate the fateful coincidence which took place in the twelfth century when representatives from all parts of christian europe came there to visit the exiled pope just in time to see william of sens completing, in the cathedral, the first great step in gothic. this coincidence not only caused the rapid spread of the new style of architecture to every part of the christian world represented by these visiting delegates, but also explains why thomas à becket, then sojourning in sens, selected this architect to rebuild canterbury cathedral in far-off england. now we come to a sixteenth century tale which serves to show that the people of the middle ages were likewise keenly interested in art and that an artist's fame travelled perhaps even more widely, all things considered, than it does to-day. the beautifully light and graceful transepts at sens were built by martin cambiche, who was also the architect of beauvais cathedral and likewise drew the plans for the west front of st. pierre at troyes. first let us look at the cathedral's exterior. when viewing the west front we are struck by the appearance of unusually great breadth, due partly to the construction of the cathedral itself and partly to the placing of the officialité (a thirteenth century building) which has its greatest length extending to the south level with the cathedral's west front. note the device of the officialité's architect to increase the seeming length of his front by gradually diminishing the distances between his buttresses. within this fine hall st. louis (louis ix) was betrothed. this ponderous appearance of breadth resulting from the juxtaposition of these two buildings might have produced too massive an effect if it were not for the almost coquettish fashion in which the tower rises up at the cathedral's southwest corner, giving a decided uplift and point to the entire façade. although the cathedral has far fewer windows than we shall see at troyes (because its triforium is not pierced), the lighting here is almost garish, owing to the fact that the clerestory embrasures are glazed only in grisaille. in the charming transepts, however, we obtain what is perhaps the ideal lighting sought for by the glass artist of the sixteenth century. the windows are very numerous and of such general excellence as to render these the best glazed transepts in france. they have not only unusually ample window space in their sides, but have also large low-reaching panels below the big rose windows which, as usual, decorate the upper portion of the end walls. so generous was this architect in the number and size of wall apertures as to prove how greatly he esteemed the assistance of the glazier. the records show that those in charge of the building made most intelligent use of the opportunity provided by the unusual amount of window space. they sent far and wide for the best artists. we read that in they summoned from troyes three master glass painters, lyenin-varin, jean verrat and balthazar godon, and turned a large part of the work over to them. these men finished their task in three years, and the result amply justifies their selection. the rose windows are especially pleasing, that to the south showing the last judgment with many repetitions of the angel gabriel, and that to the north a most charming throng of angels playing upon various musical instruments, the interweaving of the glass tones being as harmonious as befits this heavenly choir. the best known window in this part of the church is a very brilliant tree of jesse with a red background bearing on one of its branches the celebrated grey jackass (a familiar figure in the old "fête des fous"): it is at the north end of the east wall of the south transept. of the beauty of these transepts, as well as of the way in which their architecture and glass prove mutually helpful, too much cannot be said. the most famous windows in the church are two by jean cousin, who, although born in this city in , is only represented in his home cathedral by these examples. his glorious st. eutropius is in the third chapel on the right of the nave, but even finer still is the tiburtine sibyl in the notre dame de lorette chapel on the right side of the choir ambulatory. it is only fair to this second window to say that it was somewhat damaged during the siege of . after inspecting these two products of his genius, it is easy to understand why jean cousin enjoyed so wide a fame. we have already referred to the splendid relics of the twelfth century which are found on the other side of the choir ambulatory. the result of this very convenient opportunity to compare the best work of the twelfth and the sixteenth centuries is that we are sure to be startled by the difference not only in results, but also in methods. [illustration: south transept, sens ( th century). _the rose is now greatly elaborated, its lines more flowing, and its position in the wall beautified by the graceful adjustment of the lancets below._] troyes to-day the flat country of the ancient province of champagne, broken only by occasional ridges of the chalk which underlie the surface to the great advantage of its famous grapes, affords but little of interest to the traveller by automobile, and has only its level going to recommend it to the bicyclist. there is not enough traffic on its roads to enliven the monotony of the journey. how different must it have been when these same highways teemed with interesting groups from every rank of society, all crowding to the famous fair of troyes, which during the middle ages was the bourne of so many traders, knights and other seekers of adventure from all parts of christendom. in those days no one would have had leisure to notice the monotony of the scenery, so engrossed would he have been in those passing crowds made up of every nationality of europe, all repairing to this great mart of trade. during those halcyon days of commercial distinction there must have been laid broad foundations of cosmopolitan tastes, and a reflection upon those times makes it easier to understand why so many artists should later have been born citizens of that stout burgh. this also explains why so large a number of flemish and italian artists resorted hither, leaving marked traces of their influence. this prosperity was temporarily checked by the edict of louis x forbidding the flemish to trade at its fairs, and the absence of these lowlanders was soon followed by that of the italians. from this cause, combined with others, the fairs lost their importance, and the hundred years war coming soon after, put the finishing touches to the city's decadence. the damaging and dreary years of the english occupation were, however, enlivened by the episode of the marriage of henry v of england to catherine of france, attended by all the pomp and pageantry that would naturally be attracted thither by so notable an event. troyes did not, however, recover her old commercial prestige until just before the beginning of the sixteenth century. then she took such a bound forward as, through the new wealth of her citizens, to make possible that encouragement of art which developed the unrivalled school of glass painters soon to make her famous far and near. in fact, so widely was their fame spread and so firmly were they established, that their school persisted far into the seventeenth century, the vigour of their art long outliving that of most of the other french glass centres. there is no place in france in which one can better see examples of the various ramifications of the sixteenth century style in glass. we have here not only the cathedral, but church after church full of the work of the best masters. we shall see not only the picture window in lively colour, but also that in the subdued style of grey and yellow stain, to which we have alluded before. furthermore, in the library there is a series of historical panels which is not excelled anywhere, the secular topics of the scenes giving an excellent opportunity to show costumes and manners of the times. nor must one confine oneself within the exact limits of the sixteenth century, because we have noted that here the style of that century extended practically unchanged far into the next. we shall begin when the style begins and we shall follow it as long as its healthy life continues. of the numerous churches in troyes, those which chiefly interest the glass student are the cathedral, st. urbain, st. jean, st. nizier, la madeleine, st. pantaléon, st. nicolas, and st. martin-ès-vignes. besides these churches, there is also the library to be visited for its series of windows devoted to civic subjects. for a description of that gothic eggshell, st. urbain, turn back to page , where will also be found an account of the splendid thirteenth century glass that makes the choir of the cathedral so glorious. let us begin our stroll about the town by a visit to st. jean. it would be difficult for a church to more completely preserve its mediæval appearance than this one. besides, the way in which it is tucked in between two crooked, narrow old streets conforms to the most approved rules of stage setting. its quaint, irregular exterior makes it appear a picturesque medley of three or four churches of varying size, while its ancient belfry perched on one side like a feather in a cap lends the ensemble an almost jaunty air. the altar before which louis ii was crowned and henry v of england married, has been removed to the east and placed in the more modern lady chapel. we get an interesting hint of the great value attached to stained glass when we learn that the original of a window on the right side of the nave clerestory (showing the coronation of louis ii) was demanded as part of the ransom of francis i when he was captured at the battle of pavia. this original window is said to be somewhere in spain. the axis of the choir slants quite noticeably from that of the nave, and the priests say that this slant is intended to symbolise the inclination of the head of christ on the cross after his death. we notice the same difference in axis, as well as the same tradition, at quimper, but we there learned that the true explanation was not so poetic. here also we are obliged to reject the quaint legend of the priests; the municipal improvements after the great fire which ravaged the city in , necessitated the rectification of the street line, and the north side of the choir had to be slanted to conform thereto. the glass is in many ways of interest, but has been a good deal mutilated. that in the nave has suffered most, but fortunately much of its beauty remains. notice the admirable judgment of solomon on the south side. in the choir and in its chapels we shall get a real taste of the troyes glass school, some of the windows being excellent, especially that of the brothers gonthier, showing the marriage feast at cana, the manna in the desert, etc. in many of the churches in this city we shall observe paintings hung upon the walls, and two of those which decorate this sanctuary will serve to remind us that pierre mignard, the great painter of louis xiv, was born here. another ancient church, and one much richer in glass, is st. nizier. its original glazing had remained practically intact until in august, , when a most unusual calamity overcame some of it. an anarchist exploded a bomb in a chapel on the north of the choir. we have observed what our poor friend has had to endure in many places, but to be shattered by an anarchistic explosion seems a most incongruous fate. it is, however, a pleasant surprise to find how little damage was done by this act of vandalism. the finest window is undoubtedly that which adorns the south transept and shows religion overcoming heresy. the central one in the choir (the virgin mary and the apostles receiving the holy ghost) is by the celebrated macadré of troyes, but the writer finds its effect injured by the fact that the artist (probably to indicate that the side panels are to be considered in conjunction with the central one) allows the hands of certain figures at the side to extend over upon the central panel. this century surely went far enough in its disregard for the delimiting duties of the leads, but when we find an artist so careless of the properties of his materials as to put a hand over on the other side of a stone mullion, it would seem that the limit had been exceeded. the most ancient of all the troyes churches is la madeleine. it contains a marvellous jubé arch swung in air between the two western columns of the choir. although of stone, the workmanship is so delicate and lace-like that we are not surprised that the epitaph of its builder buried below used to read that he calmly awaited the judgment day with no fear of the stone arch falling upon him. the glass around the choir is excellent, but we must go to the lady chapel to see the best. on the right is a tree of jesse, remarkable for the number of figures it contains. the east window is the gift of the jewellers' guild, which fact is carefully set forth thereon. to the left is a fine example of glass-making, but in addition to that, because of the treatment of its subject, it is as interesting as one will often find. beginning at the lower left-hand corner and reading to the right, are a series of scenes depicting the creation of the world, garden of eden, etc. the imagination of the artist set forth the creation of the world in a manner surprisingly close to the latest theories of modern science. he starts with a round glowing ball of matter which, by means of rotation upon its axis, develops in the succeeding pictures, first, a more symmetrical shape, and then the appearance of land, formation of continents, etc., etc. on the left of each of these scenes stands the figure of jehovah, in a costume resembling that of a high priest. there is hardly a window in france that tells as much or is more interesting in the telling than this one. [illustration: "creation" window, la madeleine, troyes ( th century). _read from left to right, beginning with lowest tier. earth evolved from chaos, shown by glowing yellow ball revolving on its axis; birth of eve, etc. tracery lights above are becoming simpler in form as elaborate gothic gives way to renaissance._] now we come to a style that is better shown here than anywhere else--the picture window composed of grey and occasionally some flesh tints, with touches of yellow stain to relieve it. two churches are entirely glazed in this manner--st. pantaléon and st. nicolas. the latter, it is true, has one or two of its upper windows in colour, but the general effect is that of a church glazed in grey and stain. of course, these two interiors, because of this glazing, are very brilliantly lighted, and in the opinion of the writer, much too brilliantly. this method proved very felicitous when devoted to domestic purposes (as found towards the end of this century and during the early part of the next), but for a religious edifice, although interesting, it is doubtful if it is beautiful or suitable. there are some unusual architectural features to be found in both these churches. st. nicolas has a very graceful stone gallery extending across the western end approached by a gradually bending staircase, the supports of which are of admirable design. st. pantaléon can hardly be said to be attractive. the interior is too high and too glaringly lighted, but it affords the best opportunity to study this grey and stain style. notice that freely as is the yellow stain used to enliven the monotony of the greys, it does not succeed in producing the charming silvery tone yielded by the canopy window of the two preceding centuries. here and there one observes an attempt to modify the ultra-yellowish grey tone by introducing blues into the borders. the falseness of style everywhere noticeable reaches its climax in a gallery on the left near the entrance, containing two stone figures which appear to be looking down from it. do not fail to visit st. pantaléon in order to study its unusual glazing, but do so out of curiosity and not expecting beauty, or you will be disappointed. its lack of charm will, however, prove useful if you go straight on from here to the cathedral, for by contrast it will intensify your appreciation of the sympathetic assistance which the wealth of colour there lends to the splendid architectural effect of the interior. we have already taken our reader to inspect the thirteenth century glass around the choir, but now we will have him stop in the nave to see the work which the sixteenth century produced. one immediately notices the particularly clear fresh colouring of the glass, and this, combined with its great quantity (for the pierced triforium permits an additional row of windows besides the clerestory above and the aisles below), produces an impression which is so unique, and so distinctive, that it always lingers in the memory. the rather unpleasant contrast noticed at bourges between the depth and the warmth of the thirteenth century and the lighter tones of the later glass is fortunately absent from troyes. the reason for this is the unusually rich colour of the later windows. from so many excellent ones it is difficult to select a few to mention, but we particularly commend the fourth on the right (a tree of jesse) and the one in the fourth chapel on the left, linard gonthier's famous wine press. the tree of jesse is not only a beautiful example of its type, but is rather out of the ordinary because it has a red instead of a blue background. upon this window, as well as on most of the others, are to be seen the donors, their coats-of-arms, and other interesting sixteenth century features. gonthier's wine press is so well known as hardly to call for a word of description. christ is stretched out in the press, his blood running into a chalice, while from his breast springs a vine spreading over the window, bearing as its blossoms the twelve apostles. although this window is dated , it is in the best style of the sixteenth century and shows no tendency towards decadence in either drawing or colouring. before leaving the interior, notice an odd architectural device in the north rose. this window is of the wheel type and has a supporting column running up through it as far as its middle, suggesting a gigantic pinwheel. there is a similar supporting column in the north rose at tours, but there it runs straight up through the window to the top, and unfortunately is too heavily and solidly built. nearly all mediæval glass was adorned with religious subjects, and therefore we have an unusual treat when we visit the large hall of the library and examine the thirty-two panels that fill its eight large windows. they are from the hand of linard gonthier, and the scenes are commemorative of the visit to troyes of henry iv in . very charming, indeed, are these pictures of the life and pageants of the time. there are many familiar little touches, such as a small boy being pushed off into the water by the crowd, etc. some of the panels are also rich in armorial bearings. we have purposely delayed until the last any reference to st. martin-ès-vignes because it was entirely glazed at the time when the troyes sixteenth century school, although still worthy of its traditions, was about reaching its end. this glass is uniformly good and provides a most pleasing interior, obviously relying for its effect upon the glazing. the dating is that of the earlier years of the seventeenth century. if we examine the windows too closely we easily find indications of a decadence of style. for instance, the second on the left gives so much importance to the kneeling donors that, although we cannot deny the excellence of the work, we must strongly criticise the taste which made them so prominent a feature. regarded as a whole, however, the result in this church is so excellent that it clearly proves what we have before stated, viz.: the virility and strength of the glassmaker's art at troyes outlasted that of most of the contemporary french schools. chalons-sur-marne before paying our second visit here to examine the sixteenth century windows, let us turn back to page and refresh our memory by glancing through the account of our thirteenth century trip to this city. we shall thus be reminded of the modestly retiring beauty of its small parks, as well as of its cathedral and two fine churches. every style of sixteenth century glass is to be found in chalons, but for all that it would hardly be selected as one of the best places in which to compare them. the small church of st. alpin has in its nave a series of excellent windows of yellow stain and grey such as we noticed in st. pantaléon and st. nicolas at troyes. in those two churches the relatively great window space exposes the weakness of this style by demonstrating that in large interiors it makes the light glaring. by contrast, in st. alpin, where the nave ceiling is low and the window apertures small, this method of glazing, by admitting a great deal of light, produces a very happy effect. in this st. alpin glass there are marked traces of italian taste, more so than in that at troyes, though the latter is commonly credited with being the most noticeably affected by foreign influence. the first one on the right, showing st. alpin before attila, is delightful, every advantage having been taken of the softness of tone which is the chief merit of this particular treatment. some of the others are also good, but the one just mentioned is the best. around the choir are interesting coloured panels, but so broken up into small scenes as to be rendered ineffective. the handsome church of notre dame does not, in its windows, fulfill the promise of its architecture. a great deal of the glass is new, and much of the old is mutilated, but in the lower row on the left side of the nave there are several brilliant examples of what the sixteenth century champagne school could accomplish in the picture window. especially vigorous and striking is the first on the left, showing st. james encouraging the spaniards to defeat the moors. it is as good a battle picture in glass as one will find. in the fifth on the left (a crucifixion scene) we note a trick often observed in this province, for the little golden stars are separately leaded into the blue sky. passing on to the cathedral, disappointment awaits us. on our former visit we found it so fruitful and interesting in thirteenth century glass that we had a right to expect more than is yielded by the inspection of the row of sixteenth century windows which extend along the lower right side of the nave. the canopies in the sixth one betray that it is fifteenth century, but all the others are later. the first on the right is the most interesting of this series, although it is the poorest in execution. on eleven of its compartments are represented scenes from the creation, garden of eden, etc., wherein certain quaint conceits are noticeable. unfortunately its many nudes are very poorly drawn and the glass used is mediocre in quality. we can here clearly see that, although the artist of this period was saved a great deal of lead work by his large pieces of glass, their use required him to select sheets of evener tone and better quality than in the days when his pieces were much smaller. montfort l'amaury an agreeable route from paris to conches, etc., is by way of montfort l'amaury, which lies beyond versailles, just off the main road to dreux, and kilometres distant from paris. if the pilgrim is travelling by train or if he wishes to go straight from paris to conches, he should then postpone until another occasion his visit to montfort l'amaury, and will thus keep in store for himself a very pleasant half-day automobile excursion. the object of the visit proves to be a small church which has preserved its sixteenth century glazing practically intact. nothing could be more simple than its ground plan, for there are no transepts, no chapels, simply one long building rounded at the east end, whose shape suggests that of a man's thumb. while we must not expect to find so splendid a glass series as at conches, neither must we fail to appreciate that here is a church with thirty-three windows, all of the sixteenth century, and in excellent state of preservation. as we enter by the small south portal the effect that meets our eye is most agreeable. closer inspection of the windows unfortunately reveals that they vary markedly in quality and are evidently the work of different artists. it cannot be denied that many of them are commonplace, although none is really poor. their dating helps to explain this mediocrity, for they were constructed towards the end of the sixteenth century, at a time when our art was hurrying into decadence. the few earlier ones, and especially that dated , are the best. the latter is the eighth on the left and depicts jesus being shown to the people. another, the third on the left, tells the story of joseph, and is an obvious example of the italian influence so prevalent during that epoch. the scene in which he is escaping from potiphar's wife is almost an exact copy from raphael. we must not fail to remark the third from the eastern end, in which the holy ghost is descending upon the assembled disciples in the form of a shower of golden tongues. the grouping of the figures, the play of the colours, and the richness lent by these touches of gold, all combine to make a brilliant picture. the second to the right of this contains the falling of manna in the wilderness, but as the tones used here are much lower, and the manna is depicted as a rain of white spots, the window, as a whole, is much quieter than the one just described. in the church at montfort l'amaury an instructive light is thrown upon the obtrusive appearance of donors so frequently found during the sixteenth century. we know that the figures are often so large as to be positively obnoxious, but it is here demonstrated beyond doubt that the artist worked very much more carefully upon these portraits than upon the rest of his window. there are few places where this can be more conveniently studied, and for this reason our visit has been a useful one, even though the glass be of a class a little below the best. conches there are four modest shrines to which every glass lover should contrive to repair, no matter what may be the difficulties in the way nor how much time it may take. of these four, one at fairford (near oxford) is in england, while the other three are in france, and are the ste. chapelle in paris, the village church at eymoutiers and ste. foy at conches. in each we find the church completely glazed in one period and, furthermore, with the best glass then procurable. the scene that to-day meets our eye in each of these small sanctuaries is practically the same that rewarded the artist the day he completed his work. we have frequently had occasion on our tours to notice how much certain glass would have been improved if contrasting windows could but be removed from the edifice, or the edifice itself in some way changed. there will be no need for any such mental correction of the picture when we visit conches. here, after you have closed the door on the twentieth century life outside, you feel that you have turned back the finger of time and are living in the days of that eloquent beauty which speaks out to you from its windows. perhaps nowhere else will you get the wonderful accord of tone with tone and hue with hue that makes the colour at conches so radiantly lovely. we find ourselves in a very simple church about twice as long as broad, the only departure from its rectangular plan being a small five-sided chapel which projects from its eastern end. there is nothing to aid the glass in its service of making splendid the interior. in fact, one might add that there is nothing which dares insult it by an offer of so obviously unnecessary assistance. practically all the windows are of the sixteenth century, and they are so fine that it seems unfair to call particular attention to the elaborate set designed by aldegrevers, a pupil of albrecht dürer. these fill the seven tall windows of two lancets each, which light the eastern chapel and are dated . of the forty-two subjects upon these windows, those in the upper range show scenes from the life of christ and those in the lower from that of ste. sophia. it is unfair to describe them; they should be seen. at this point we may comment that although it is occasionally possible to convey some idea of an individual panel by technical description, it is useless to attempt, by means of words, to give a reader a just conception of such an interior as the glass produces at conches. beside these by aldegrevers there are eighteen others whose dates, running from to , show them to be of slightly later construction. in the fourth on the right the allegorical subject contains an unusual detail. a group of figures represent the liberal arts, and among them, music: upon her insignia appears a musical phrase expressed in proper notation. this representation of written music upon glass is extremely rare. we shall see another of the very infrequent instances when we visit caudebec. among the finest windows is the fifth on the right, which represents the allegory of the wine press. here the subject is not treated in the usual gruesome fashion. it is not the blood of christ which serves as the wine but, instead, the juice of grapes which he is crushing in the press. throughout all these windows the distant landscapes are depicted in much more convincing colouring than is usually found at this time. this seems due to the fact that the light blue glass used for that purpose is left clear of all paint except that needed for delineation. elsewhere these blue backgrounds often have so much paint upon them as to be rendered partly opaque and therefore incapable of simulating the depth necessary for great distances. in strength as well as in judicious combination of a surprisingly wide range of colours, their century can show few examples to rival these. not only is their value enhanced by the simplicity of the interior which they decorate, and which, therefore, has nothing to distract our attention from their beauty, but this very beauty is made all the more impressive by the sharp contrast provided by the dullness of the little town outside and the plain exterior of the church which it so glorifies. pont-audemer the church of st. ouen at pont-audemer will always have for the writer that peculiar charm of almost proprietary right which the discoverer is sure to feel in something upon which he has happened unexpectedly. on his way through the town he saw the church, and having noticed from the outside that the windows contained stained glass, he stopped and went in, undeterred by the positively dishevelled look of the unfinished and dismantled west front. a delightful surprise awaited him. around the walls of the nave, the space usually occupied by the triforium gallery here becomes a broad frieze so exquisitely carved in gothic patterns as seemingly to drape the walls with lace. in fact, you hardly notice the unfinished condition of the upper part of the church, so engrossed are you in this very unusual feature, one of which any cathedral in france might be proud. and in the embrasures below, what a gallery of harmonious glass! not only are the individual windows excellent, but they harmonise so well as to make one feel that each artist must have been at the greatest pains to make his work contribute to and not interfere with the general scheme. it is for the glass hunter a treasure trove to find a church which has preserved a complete glazing of one period, but to have the windows all good, and better still, in such charming accord with each other, makes the occasion of his visit to pont-audemer a red-letter day. the ground plan of the church is somewhat broken up, but even that seems but to add to the charm of the interior. the first window to the left in what might be called the choir ambulatory is not only the best but by far the most interesting. without any definite division of its surface into panels, the whole picture seems to gracefully resolve itself into four contrasting scenes from the old and the new testament, entitled "devant la loy," "soubz la loy," "devant la grace," "soubz la grace." the effect of clouds in the sky is very elaborately worked out, while here and there between them peep forth the head and wings of little cherubs--it is really very engaging. possibly the over-captious visitor may consider the combination of small heads and surrounding clouds somewhat reminiscent of the buttons holding down upholstery, but such a carping critic should be packed off about his ill-tempered business! in a window on the right side of the nave the donors are ranged along a little gallery in the lowest panel. this method has in its favour that it does not present them as intruders on the picture, so often the case in this century. we carry away with us a charming impression of the service rendered by the glass in toning the light for the graceful stone carvings on the nave walls. the effect is unique. on the outskirts of the town there is a small church, st. germain, whose east window is an agreeable example of fifteenth century canopy work. caudebec-en-caux our way from pont-audemer lies for some little distance through the large fôret de brotonne, one of those tidy symmetrical woods produced by the excellent system of french forestry. its excellence, however, is largely practical, for all the charm of the "forest primeval" is pruned away. on reaching the banks of the seine we find ourselves in full view of the pretty town of caudebec, its graceful cathedral spire beckoning us across the water. it is just at this point in the river that there occurs the mascaret, the local name given to a swift-rushing wave produced by the conflict between the incoming tide and the outgoing current of the river; it takes place only at stated intervals and is then viewed by numerous tourists. assuming that we have arrived at a time when the mascaret is not interfering with navigation, we embark upon a flat, open ferry-boat and soon reach the bank on the other side and are off to the cathedral. few french churches have their gothic architecture lightened and beautified by more infinite detail of carving than this at caudebec, while over all rises an airy spire encircled at three different heights by a stone crown--a form of decoration very unusual and quite lovely. above the west portal is a gallery that attracts our notice because its open-work stone railing is composed of gothic letters. once inside the church, we realise that the windows are well worth a visit, particularly to one seeking quaint details in glass, for there are many such here. we have already referred in our introduction to the first window on the right, the israelites crossing the red sea. in order to render the scene as descriptive and realistic as possible, red glass is used to make the sea, thus removing any possible doubt in the observer's mind as to the identity of that body of water. almost opposite (the second on the left) is a tree of jesse, upon which the descendants appear at full length instead of as the usual busts. much golden brown is used, not only in the intricate convolutions of the vine, but also in the costumes and in the stone terrace supporting the pavilion below which jesse is seated. above the small north portal is a pleasing canopy window of the fifteenth century whose unusual feature is that the bottom of it is curved to fit the arched top of the door. because of this unusual base, the customary pedestals at the foot could not be used, but the irregularly shaped space is tastefully filled with decorations of yellow stain, surcharged with shields whose heraldry catches the eye of the american traveller, because they bear stars on a blue field, as well as red and white stripes. fifteenth century canopies also fill the first window to the east of this portal and the three to the west, one being dated , and all containing four lancets. a couple of windows across the church are also of this type, while the whole of the side-lights of the clerestory contain contemporary light-admitting panels, whose colour is restricted to a few round bosses bearing golden rays, and to the broad golden borders which here are carried up into and almost fill the tracery panes above. another very unusual feature (and one which we have just noticed at conches) is the presence of two pieces of music written out in the form called "full chant" and borne by angels. if one can spare the time, villequier, four kilometres down the seine, should be visited. the small church there has seven excellent sixteenth century windows, one of which, that in the centre on the north side, is really famous. the lower half of its three lancets each contains a figure on a white background bearing an etched damasked pattern, bordered richly in gold. across the entire upper half is spread out a spirited naval battle in which four ships are engaged. the armoured knights are depicted with great vigour, while excellent use is made of the artistic possibilities provided by three great pennants, two of red with white crosses, and one of yellow bearing a black eagle. the route from caudebec to rouen is charming, thanks to the ever-changing views provided by the windings of the seine. if we please, we may stop on the way to view the abbey of st. wandrille (recently purchased by maeterlinck) and also the loftily impressive ruins of the abbey of jumièges. jumièges, in the midst of its beautiful park, is most picturesquely situated within one of those very pronounced loops so common in the lower seine, which seem to signify the unwillingness of its waters to depart from this delightful corner of france. rouen upon approaching rouen one is sure to be struck by the insolent daring of its situation. lying on a sloping plain beside the river, it seems to disdain the well-nigh impregnable site afforded by the steep cliffs which rise just to the northeast. the history of the city bears out the audacity of its location. through all the centuries its inhabitants concerned themselves so continuously in conquering other peoples that little time was left in which to consider the security of their own homes. the norman boasted that his strongest defence was a vigorous offence, and he made good his boast. the town of william the conqueror seems always to have been imbued by the spirit which gave him his name, and the triumphs of the normans in england, and later in italy, are but natural expressions of that virility of race which endures to the present day. upon the arms of the city there appears a lamb with one of its forefeet lifted. upon this is based the old norman saying, "l'agneau de la ville a toujours la patte levée," a homely comment upon the restless spirit of its citizens and their disposition to be always up and doing. perhaps the most characteristic feature of rouen when viewed from a distance is the great number of its spires that shoot up above the house-tops, earning for it the sobriquet of the city of churches. this very attractive detail is all the more striking because so rarely seen in french towns, and is particularly reminiscent to one freshly arrived from england, a country whose church towers are such a charming feature of the landscape. full of significant history is this rouen--a history branded for all time by the cowardly fire that ended the tortures of joan of arc, that strangely potent and beautiful spirit. fortunately, no trace remains of that dastardly deed. turning to a less sinister page in the city's history, we see on one side of the market-place, a small pagoda-like structure called the old tower of the fiérté. here, on ascension day in every year, was freed a prisoner selected by the people, and that this privilege was jealously retained by them is proved by the existence of a complete list of the prisoners so freed from to . nor do the records stop there: they also narrate many a fierce encounter resulting from the determination of the burghers to preserve this right. most of the quaint features of the town have been modernised away--so thriving a commerce as here flourishes could not long tolerate the old narrow crooked streets. where old features remain they are so obviously protected as to look almost theatrical. of this the two best examples are the clockbearing archway over the street which bears its name (grosse horloge), and the ancient carved wood housefront transported from its original site, affixed to another dwelling and dubbed the house of diane de poitiers. placed just at the point where ships coming in from the sea must transfer their freight to the smaller vessels that go up the seine, rouen is so intent upon her commerce, that all the principal hotels are strung along the quays on the riverfront, a very unusual arrangement in a french town. when we visited the church of st. ouen to see its fifteenth century glass, we mentioned the esteem in which the rouen glass-makers were held at that time both at home and abroad. from what we are now about to see we can judge for ourselves how much truer it must have been in the sixteenth century. the number of splendidly glazed churches which have been preserved for our inspection almost consoles us for the long list of others swept away by the ruthless vandalism of the revolution, and, to a less extent, by the peaceful hand of time or the mailed fist of war. the principal ones we should visit (beside st. ouen already described) are st. maclou, st. vincent, st. patrice, st. godard, st. romain and the cathedral of notre dame. perhaps the least interesting sixteenth century glass is in that gem of gothic architecture, st. maclou, whose florid façade has its bizarre charm accentuated by the graceful bowing outwards of the west front. the glass that attracts us most is in the transept rose windows, the lancets below them and in the very brilliant western rose. all these roses are dwarfed by the excessive size of the pendent lancets: it is all the more unfortunate, because considered separately the roses as well as the lancets are excellent. the earlier windows in the choir chapels have been described in our former visit (see page ). in the south transept a well-composed crucifixion scene is carried across all the lancets. the north transept contains a tree of jesse on a blue background, and oddly enough, the tree has white branches. in leaving st. maclou, notice the dainty spiral staircase that winds up at the south side of the door; it seems almost too delicate to be made of stone. st. vincent has its entire lower part lighted by large embrasures completely glazed with glass of this period, producing a singularly brilliant and luminous effect all about us. the columns which separate the ambulatory from the choir are so slender that they do not materially interfere with our view, and thus the whole interior is exposed at once, an enclosure of glorious colour. in fact, it is not too much to say of this church and, to a less extent, of the two which we shall next visit, that they are bowers of iridescent glowing light. there are two trees of jesse at st. vincent, one over the north portal, and another at the east end of the south aisle, but inspection of the latter reveals that the genealogical tree rises not from jesse but from st. anne! in the true jesse tree over the northern door the branches are white, a peculiarity just noticed at st. maclou. st. patrice differs from st. vincent in that, instead of seeming to stand in the midst of a circle of luminous colour, our attention is rather directed towards the splendid bow-window at the east with its crucifixion scene, to which all the rest of the glass seems decorously subordinated. although glazed a little later than st. vincent, it yields the same splendidly luminous effect, the natural result of a series of panels all of this period. the chief boast of this church is the triumph of the law of grace by jean cousin in the lady chapel. nor is his the only great name that we shall find frequently upon the glass of rouen. one window much admired for its felicitous combination of theoretically uncongenial colours is that which sets forth the legend of st. hubert. its greens, reds, yellows and blues must be seen before one can believe that it is possible to agreeably unite them. our next church is st. godard, whose ancient glories have been so restored and replaced by modern trash that we find it hard to believe that, when it possessed its original glass, no church in all normandy could vie with it. to-day it is far less attractive than st. vincent and st. patrice, the latter of which, by the way, now contains several of the original windows of st. godard. the second in the chapel named after st. romain, depicting scenes from his life, is one of the few in the church which is not either restored or renewed. it is so good in every way that one is surprised the other windows do not seem more out of place by contrast. we sigh for the days when there was justified the phrase used by the norman peasant in describing good wine, "as red as the windows of st. godard." near the railway station is st. romain, which, though less ancient than those which we have just visited, is the fortunate possessor of glass brought from several of the churches swept away by the revolution. particularly notice the spirited scene of st. romain slaying the gargouille, the fabled dragon of early rouen. on the left, in what seems to be a transept, is a pretty window at the bottom of which appear such a sensibly modest row of small kneeling donors that we could wish that all sixteenth century glaziers might have seen them, and had been thereby restrained from their customary exaggeration in this particular. unfortunately, the ancient panels were not large enough to fill the embrasures here provided, so this extra space was filled by wide borders of light modern glass. the result is that these borders admit such a flood of light as to drown the beauties of the older panels. now we have arrived at the cathedral. before we enter, let us feast our eyes upon the delicate gothic detail which softens and decorates its sturdy west front. at the southwest corner rises the tour du beurre, built (as was the same named tower at bourges) from the moneys received out of the sale of indulgences to eat butter during lent. the modern iron spire is so well designed as to seem hardly out of place among its older sisters. we should enter by the north portal. just outside it is an enclosure formerly devoted to exhibiting the wares of booksellers, which is shut off from the street by a light gothic screen. viewed through it the wonderful carvings on the north portal become doubly effective. the interior of the cathedral is as full of interest as the best style of gothic can make it. on the right is a very attractive zigzag stairway which leads up to the library. in the lady chapel are two especially fine tombs, one of the duc de brézé, husband of the famous diane de poitiers, and the other of louis xii's great minister, cardinal d'amboise. the fourteenth century glass of this chapel has already been described (see page ). the windows which light the cathedral's interior are mostly glazed in colour, but they are the product of various centuries and are of varying excellence. we find here but eight thirteenth century medallion windows, but they are delightful. two of them are in the nave, the third and fourth on the left. the others are in the choir ambulatory and are so placed as to be singularly effective. if one stands in either the north or the south aisle of the nave and looks directly east, the only glass which meets his eye is that of windows brilliant with these early medallions, far off at the other end of the great cathedral. just at this time the western rose window chiefly concerns us because it is of the sixteenth century. its concentric circles of white angels, red seraphim, green palm branches, etc., provide a strong contrast between the reds and yellows (filling the centre third of it) and the dark greens and dark blues of the outer two-thirds. in the southeasterly corner of the south transept, the window on the east, as well as that on the south, are worthy of our attention. the latter is by jean cousin, and its six panels show six virtues, each entitled in latin. those of us who are subject to fits of depression should especially observe "fortitudo," for there the bishop has slain the blue devil, and is pursuing its lilac and its green brothers! although st. ouen has already been visited for its magnificently complete fourteenth century glazing (see page ), the rose windows of its transepts are such noteworthy examples of the renaissance that we must not omit a comment upon them at this point. that in the north transept has its diverging figures arranged like herrings in a barrel, but while those at the sides and around the lower part are light in tone, those in the upper part are red seraphim and blue cherubim: this is very unusual. the south rose is peopled by a multitude of small personages, each occupying a pane by itself. careful examination reveals that we have here a tree of jesse. he is in the middle, but it is only with some difficulty that we distinguish the branches of the vine radiating from him. before leaving rouen the traveller should see the interesting carvings on the house of bourgetheroulde, depicting the field of the cloth of gold, nor will he fail to admire the magnificent apartments which norman love of equity constructed for it in the palais de justice. besides the towns already visited, there are three others near rouen which contain interesting glass, grand-andely, elbeuf and pont de l'arche, distant, respectively, , and kilometres from rouen. they are worth a visit if one can spare the time, but we risk an anti-climax in recommending our traveller to see them after the glories of the norman capital. the nearness of these towns and also of pont-audemer ( kilometres), caudebec ( kilometres), and conches ( kilometres), suggests a way in which one can change the whole itinerary just outlined. this can be done by using rouen as a centre from which to run out and back, and thus visit all this group of six without cutting oneself off from one's base. to one at all encumbered with luggage, this suggestion will probably appeal. grand-andely of the trio just mentioned, grand-andely is much the most interesting, in fact it deserves greater renown for its glass than it at present enjoys. unfortunately only one side of the church retains its original glazing, but we find ample compensation for this, because the entire southern half is filled with brilliant sixteenth century subjects, not only along the chapels below, but also in the clerestory. after a delightful hour spent here one readily credits the tale that a youth of the neighbourhood, by constantly contemplating their glories, so developed his love of colour that he determined to devote his life to painting. this youth was nicolas poussin. the great width of the embrasures, as well as their number (six in the nave and four in the choir, on each side, both above and below), provide ample scope for the display of the glazier's skill. among so many of such excellence it is difficult to select which to praise the most, but the third on the right in the nave clerestory (dated ), because of abraham's gorgeous yellow robe, as well as the blue canopy with red draperies above the aged isaac, will linger longest in the writer's memory. even when viewed on a dull, grey day, one cannot escape from the impression that a bright sun is shining outside, because of the brilliancy of this window's hues. it is one of the few examples of this epoch to possess that peculiarity, which, by the way, is so common among the mosaic type of the thirteenth century. this tendency towards the ornate, everywhere apparent throughout this series, finds its ultimate expression in the sixth nave chapel on the right, where the stonework of the renaissance canopies is heavily overlaid with golden designs. the choir's four southerly clerestory windows each contains a large figure under a canopy of the time, the treatment varying in each case. below, in the south wall of the choir, the tracery lights of the two easternmost windows are filled with diminutive angels, eleven praying or playing musical instruments in one of them, and in the other, nine, each carrying a symbol of the passion. the way in which each angel is adjusted to the small pane it occupies is very graceful. the apse end is square, in the english fashion. its great east window contains good fourteenth century canopy work, in bands across a grisaille field. the subsequent addition of a lady chapel to the east has injured the effect of this glass, not only by an entrance being cut through it below, but also because the second tier of canopies is entirely shut off from the light by the wall of this later chapel built against it outside. there is thus left only the third, or upper tier, for our inspection. if the northern side of this church were as fortunate as the southern in the possession of its original glazing, this would rank among the best french glass shrines, which is high praise. elbeuf elbeuf has two churches worthy of our attention, st. etienne and st. jean, but the former is very much the better. in st. jean the first four windows on the right, three of those opposite them, and the first on each side in the lady chapel are all of the sixteenth century. there is, however, so much restoration as to greatly diminish our interest, except in the lady chapel. there the one to the right displays scenes from the life of the virgin, with a label below each. the lower right-hand panel, in which appear joseph and mary, carries realism to an extraordinary point, while its label prevents any misunderstanding of its meaning. however unsatisfactory st. jean may prove, we shall be consoled when we enter st. etienne. there the whole effect leads up to and culminates in the splendid bay that, with its three lofty windows, each containing three lancets in double tiers, forms the eastern end of the choir. there are no transepts, the nave joining directly on to the choir. although the nave glass is all modern, it does not affront the glories of its older neighbours in the choir, which is, unfortunately, so often the case elsewhere. one is tempted to confine one's comments to the splendid easterly screen of colour, but that would be discriminating unjustly. the famous legend of st. hubert, dated (the second from the east in the southerly choir aisle), has been too much restored, but this is the only one that can be thus reproached. in the east end of this aisle we find at the bottom of a window two panels with tapestry-makers at work, showing that it was the gift of that guild. across, in the north aisle, the easternmost window in the north wall is a tree of jesse, dated . jesse is seated beneath a pavilion; from the tent pole sprouts a vine, out of whose blossoms arise the usual half-length figures. in the topmost pane of the traceries, the virgin is seen emerging from a great lily. pont de l'arche pont de l'arche, approached from rouen, is most picturesque. it lies snuggled down by the river, its bridge flung invitingly towards you across the seine, while behind it the forest comes down the steep slope almost to the town. the church, perched high upon a corner of the old fortifications, seems to be keeping watch over the homes of its parishioners. its elaborately carved exterior gives rise to expectations that are not realised, for within we find but little glass to arrest our attention, although what there is dates from the sixteenth century. at the eastern end of the north wall there is a tree of jesse, but it is clumsily imagined and coarsely drawn. the flowers upon the vine are too large, and from them protrude great half-length figures, so much out of balance with the rest of the design as to render the ensemble lumbering and ungraceful. the reason for our visit is provided by the second window east from the south portal. the upper part shows christ walking on the sea. below, reaching across the entire window, is a scene full of the liveliest local interest. a boat is being drawn under an arch of the bridge over the seine, and pulling upon the two long tow-ropes are groups of the townspeople, fifteen of them and two teams of horses tugging at one rope, and eighteen and one team at the other. these groups are carefully painted in enamel. a second vessel is being similarly assisted under another arch of the bridge, the tow-rope in this instance being made fast to a rowboat. the details of the bridge, of the fortified island in the right foreground, and of the enamelled figures of the citizens, are all most engaging. in the matter of correct perspective, the artist relies heavily upon the indulgence of the spectator, but otherwise the panel is agreeable, full of quaint interest, and absolutely unique. montmorency glass the tour which we now propose will prove particularly attractive to the automobilist or bicyclist, although we do not by that statement desire to discourage the traveller by train. he will find the same glass and the same towns, but he will miss the opportunity to enjoy, en route, the forests of montmorency and chantilly which during the summer are so alluring. during the first part of the journey we will see glass designed for moderate sized interiors and, therefore, adapted for close inspection. on these windows will be found many careful portraits of the donors, some of which in their perfection of treatment have never been surpassed. it would be unfortunate if this itinerary for any reason should be omitted, because without it our study of sixteenth century glass would not be comprehensively complete. we leave paris by the road going north through st. denis: our pilgrim will hardly, upon this occasion, stop to visit the abbey church, because nearly all of its glass is modern and glaringly poor. what there is of old glass is twelfth century and either fragmentary or much restored and repaired. the celebrated window showing the devout figure of its donor, abbot suger, excites our reverence, hardly our admiration. its chief interest lies in the fact that there has come down to us the good abbot's own account of this among other windows which he presented. the tombs of the french kings are, of course, most impressive, and provide one of the great sights of france to one interested however slightly in its history, but to-day we are in pursuit of stained glass, so the abbey of st. denis must wait until another occasion. the road straight on to the north leads to ecouen, but that visit must be deferred a little, so just outside of st. denis we turn sharply to the left and after eight kilometres arrive at montmorency, delightfully perched upon a hill with orchards on every side. from the little platform just outside the west front we get a fine view of the forest of the same name which, fortunately for american eyes, has not been so pruned as to no longer resemble a forest. from montmorency we take the right hand to ecouen there to rejoin the straight road running north out of st. denis. we follow this road to chantilly, where the montmorency glass ends, then turn northwest to beauvais, and after enjoying its splendid cathedral, return to paris. at this point let us remark that although automobiles and trains undoubtedly add to the comfort of the traveller, it would be better for us on this particular trip if we could substitute for them a mediæval belief in magic. then our first move would certainly be to seize a fairy wand and summon as our guide that glorious warrior, courtier and patron of the arts, the great constable, anne de montmorency. nothing could be more incongruous than the selection for him of a woman's name, even though borrowed from the queen of louis xii. the reason for summoning him is most obvious: it was he who built the castles of ecouen and chantilly, while the church at montmorency, though founded by his father, william, was completed by the son. who, then, could better tell us their stories or more delightfully revive by familiar anecdote the originals of their glass portraits? even after our conjuring had secured for us his company, we might find ourselves in trouble, unless we were willing to discard our automobile or train for a stout horse. the arts by which we secured his presence in the flesh might seem to him quite natural, for magic was much more respected in his time than in these more practical days, but it is greatly to be feared that the puffing engine would overcome that stern courage, tested in many a stricken field, and that it would take the utmost vigilance on our part to prevent him from bolting back into the sixteenth century. after accompanying him to montmorency and ecouen, and after wandering together through the forest, park and château of chantilly, we shall bid him farewell, but we must not be surprised if he stoutly objects to our turning off towards beauvais, demanding that, having recalled him from the spirit world, we hear his story out, and to that end push on to st. quentin. the lusty old warrior would be quite right, for the chronicle of his career would be incomplete if it omitted the delaying and glorious defeat he there received while commanding the french forces, thereby providing time for henry ii to rally the remaining strength of france and save paris from the victorious philip ii of spain. the result of that battle proved highly satisfactory to both victor and vanquished, for while its delay saved paris, on the other hand philip's victory so elated him that in memory thereof he erected the famous palace of the escorial near madrid. though most of us will conclude to refuse the constable's request, some few of our company may desert us and follow him to st. quentin. once there, they must not fail to view the two splendid sixteenth century windows in the second northern transept of the church already visited on our thirteenth century tour. they are each two and a half metres wide by nine and a quarter high. one is dedicated to ste. barbe and is dated , and the other, dated , to ste. catherine, each displaying elaborately gruesome episodes depicting the martyrdom of the heroine. the latter one shows god the father at the top receiving the saint, who is borne upward by flying angels. in the lowest panel we remark catherine's headless body sitting bolt upright, while nearby on the floor lies her severed head intently regarding it (see page ). montmorency up a steep road that has more turns and branches than a grape-vine, and suddenly we come out on a little platform before the west front of the diminutive church of st. martin. off to the west and around on each side there unfolds a panorama of smiling valleys and green hillocks in most enticing succession. as one enters the western portal, he first observes that the three westerly windows on each side are modern, and of these there can be no higher praise than that they harmonise admirably with their fourteen ancient neighbours to the east of them. these fourteen are chiefly interesting because of the delicacy of their composition, which is really delicious. [illustration: constable of montmorency and his five sons, montmorency church ( th century). _here the donors are frankly the important feature. so proud were the constable and his wife (madeleine de savoie) of their five sons and seven daughters that we find four pairs of windows portraying them._] perhaps the chief interest here is the gallery of family portraits afforded by the donor's figures upon the panes. among the many admirably drawn faces of distinguished scions of the house of montmorency, the best is that of the founder of this church, william, the father of our friend the great constable, which is behind the altar, to the left. it is evidently the work of a great artist. the fourth on the right and the fourth on the left (and, therefore, opposite each other) are two windows containing one, anne de montmorency, and the other, his wife, madeleine de savoie, each attended by their children. these two were made about , while those to the east of them range from to . the constable is supported by his five sons and his wife by her seven daughters. she is looking toward the altar, but he is looking across at her. each of these domestic groups occupies nearly half of the entire embrasures, but it does so in such a frank manner as to entirely avoid the appearance of intrusion, so generally the result of portraits like these. as we walk around the church we are amazed that so fragile a medium as glass should have preserved through all the centuries these portraits in more perfect condition than many which were consigned to canvas or marble. in fact, one wonders why this was not more often done, and at the same time wishes it had been effected as frankly as in these two just described, and not by the intrusion of donors upon a window devoted to another subject. it is impossible to repress a smile upon noticing that the crucifixion scene which bears the portrait of its donor, guy de laval, shows him kneeling in the central panel, while the crucifix is in a side one! lest these comments may have seemed severely intended, let us point out a few of the many lovely features. for instance, the second window from the east in the north wall has in its central panel the virgin holding the infant jesus, who reaches out his baby hand to receive a dove. the greensward below is picked out with bright flowers and peopled by small animals, quite as one sees them on the early tapestries. nothing could be more charming. the tracery lights are excellently treated throughout, sometimes in a most unusual manner. above the window just described, we find on a lilac field thirteen golden coins, each bearing a different head. this comment upon the higher panes leads us to speak of a most delicate group of four panels perched up above the north portal. across them extends what appears to be a long cloister having a rich damasked curtain fastened shoulder-high from column to column, above which is afforded a distant prospect of gardens, etc., while in each of the panels there stands a female saint. but little height is needed for this picture, so the traceries above come down low, and are filled by a throng of blue eaglets on a golden ground, the heraldic insignia of the montmorencys. before the battle of bouvines the shield of this house bore but four eaglets, but on that day mathieu de montmorency captured twelve of the enemy's standards with his own hand. in recognition of these deeds of prowess king philip augustus added twelve more eaglets to his arms, one for each captured standard, thus raising the total to sixteen. these arms we shall see often repeated in the windows at montmorency, ecouen and chantilly. a visit to this little church is a delightful experience and fills us with eager expectation of what its founder's son, the great constable, can show us in his two castles of ecouen and chantilly. we are tempted to stray off into the charming forest which stretches away more than five miles to the northwest and to revel in the natural beauty of its chestnut trees, but the constable awaits us, so off we must be to ecouen. ecouen ecouen is generally visited because of its fine château, built on the crest of a hill and entirely surrounded by a delightful wood except on the side where from a flowered terrace there is disclosed a far-reaching view out over a smiling country. but it is not the château which lures us hither, but the parish church down in the town that nestles at the foot of the castle walls. the château has lost its old glass, the two panels from its chapel showing the children of anne de montmorency being now in the chapel at chantilly, which place also rejoices in the possession of the famous series of forty-four scenes from the adventures of cupid and psyche, which originally decorated the now destroyed salle des gardes at ecouen. for us, therefore, the château has lost most of its charm; if you wish to inspect it you must obtain a carte d'entrée from the chancellerie de la legion d'honneur in paris, for it is now a school for daughters of members of that order, and is not open to the public. for those of us who have come here to see the parish church there will be no bother about permits, for none is needed. this church not only contains excellent renaissance windows, but upon them we shall find a fine array of montmorency portraits as well. the upper panels of the lofty lancets that flank the high altar are filled with scriptural scenes, but below they contain, that to the left, anne de montmorency with his five sons, and that to the right, his wife attended by five daughters. although we have here the same family portraits as those seen in montmorency church, this pair is much older ( - ), and not only shows the children as much younger than at montmorency ( ), but also has but five daughters instead of the seven seen on the later glass. nor are these the only similar pairs of these windows. the constable was so proud of his children and of their number that he seemed to never tire of having them portrayed on glass. we have just referred to a third pair (dated ) made for the chapel of ecouen château, but now at chantilly, and there is still a fourth pair in the nearby church of mesnil-aubry which are the latest of all, for the constable is there shown with a snow-white beard. at ecouen we observe that the parents occupy each a separate panel from the children, but at chantilly the parent panels are both missing. the remaining three windows on the south side of the choir bear as donors still other montmorencys, but the work is later and not nearly so good. the high altar concealed the lower half of the central eastern windows, so they did the next most sensible thing to lowering the altar back--they transferred to a little northern chapel the panels it obscured. the whole northerly side of the choir opens out into a chapel whose northern and eastern ends are lighted by three large embrasures filled with excellent renaissance glazing, depicting scenes from the life of the virgin. especially fine is the second from the east, showing in the lower half, the death of the virgin, while above are clouds peopled with angels, all leading up to the father in the top pane of the tracery. the traceries of the three easternmost choir embrasures are filled with blue eaglets on a golden ground, the insignia of the montmorencys. this same treatment of the traceries may also be remarked in the chapel of the château; in fact, they are all that remains there of the original glazing. we have already admired this same form of decoration over the north portal at the montmorency church. it seems a pity that the ecouen glass now at chantilly could not be restored to the embrasures for which it was made; it obviously does not belong where it is now found, and, besides, it loses there the historic significance which it would enjoy in its old home at the château of ecouen. chantilly at one time or another during our glass pilgrimages we have happened upon examples of other mediæval arts and crafts which all combine to make france so absorbingly interesting. it has been reserved for our visit to chantilly to show us one of the formal gardens of old france in which nature has been made to yield to the whim and fancy of the landscape artist. most travellers have seen the famous gardens of versailles and have heard that they were designed and arranged by le notre, but those at chantilly were designed by this same master before he was called by the king to do his greatest work at versailles. there are many who prefer his earlier effort, and we must be grateful to our glass for having brought us to this delightful spot. the forest of chantilly, which covers over six thousand acres, forms an excellent foil for the formal stateliness of the gardens. one is not allowed to visit the château except on thursdays and sundays and not then if it happens to be a day when there is racing at the chantilly track. this regulation is to prevent race crowds from overrunning the château and grounds. the beautiful building with its priceless collections was the private property of the duc d'aumale and was by him presented to the institut de france. in a long low gallery especially constructed for them, and which receives all its light through them, is a much travelled and widely discussed series of forty-four panels narrating episodes from the adventures of cupid and psyche. they are of the yellow stain and grey type which we have noticed at troyes and chalons, but here the workmanship is far superior. note that the grey is in places almost brown, and that the yellow is used but sparingly. the high state of perfection to which the design and drawing are carried, combined with the fact that their subjects are non-religious, make them delightfully unique. it is easy to observe the strong influence of italian art, not only in their general style but also in the very liberal borrowing of designs from well-known italian paintings. until recently they were attributed to that versatile master of many arts, bernard palissy, but that has been definitely disproved. they are now generally acknowledged to be the work of cocxyen, a flemish student of van orley (who made the windows of ste. gudule in brussels), and the italian influence is explained by the fact that he studied in rome. these panels are dated - and were originally made for the windows of the salle des gardes at the château of ecouen upon the order of constable anne de montmorency. the revolution dislodged them and they found their way into a museum arranged by lenoir. this collection was dispersed in . it is narrated that the prince de condé, when visiting the museum, admired this set of glass. hearing someone remark that they had formerly adorned a castle belonging to his family (meaning ecouen), he had them bundled up and packed off to his château at chantilly, where they have since remained. this picturesque tale serves to show that stained glass panels were not then regarded as necessarily stationary. we have seen several other instances of this lack of respect for their stout iron bars. they were beautiful and valuable, and therefore, when the occasion arose, they were removed! excellent as is the work upon these panels and graceful as are the figures, we cannot but notice that our art is taking rapid strides towards its decadence. they are no longer windows where the full value of colour and leading are appreciated and used. in this set they are careful colourless paintings on glass in which the artistic value of the leads is so disregarded that they no longer provide or even assist the drawing--they only mar it as they run across the panes wherever their supporting strength is necessary. we have arrived at a time when the windows are becoming painted pictures done in the manner of paintings on canvas. the artist no longer remembers that stained glass is a separate art and that he has certain advantages in technique over the oil painter, just as the latter has over him. the small ante-chapel has on each side a tall window. in the middle of each is set a large panel of sixteenth century glass, the one on the right showing five montmorency daughters kneeling in a row, attended by ste. agathe, and the one on the left their five brothers, also kneeling, and similarly attended by st. john. the remainder of the embrasure is, in each case, filled with modern glass done in the renaissance manner and intended to harmonise with the older panel in its midst. the artist devoted more care to the faces of the boys than to those of their sisters, for although the latter are monotonously alike in drawing and posture, the former differ markedly. the face of the smallest boy is most diverting. his hands are clasped in prayer, but unlike his more devout brothers and sisters, his eyes are not turned toward the altar, but he is gazing out into the chapel with childish curiosity. in these two panels the leads are not so cumbrously intrusive, but there is a lesson which every glass artist should learn from an inspection of the carefully painted windows at ecouen, montmorency and chantilly. he cannot fail to notice how the misuse of the leads has been accentuated by the careful painting, and he should carry away with him a firm conviction that the more delicate the design the less it can afford to quarrel with the leading. beauvais the average tourist looks forwards with keen interest to his first visit to beauvais. he has, of course, heard of the ancient glories of its tapestry, which industry is still kept up by the french government. he has also read that the perfect french cathedral would be composed of the choir of beauvais, the nave of amiens, the west front of rheims and the towers of chartres: so of the choir of beauvais he expects great things. nor will he be disappointed, especially if he first views it from the amiens road. this approach reveals the town to him in the most picturesque way imaginable. on reaching the brow of a short hill he becomes suddenly aware of beauvais, lying below him in the valley beside a lazy river. one could more properly say that he first saw not the town, but the amazing uplift of the cathedral, and next the town about it. the great height of this edifice is accentuated by the fact that only the choir and the transepts are now standing. long ago the nave succumbed to the great strain which its unnatural height put upon the materials of which it was constructed, and collapsed. the architect's vaulting ambition o'erleapt itself. in fact it is only by means of constant shoring and repairing that this choir, the loftiest in france, is preserved in a safe and solid condition. when the pilgrim descends into the town he comes upon many interesting timber-framed houses, some of them with second stories projecting over the arcaded footway below and exhibiting quaintly attractive carvings on their heavy beams. we find an intelligent attempt to preserve the best traditions of the older beauvais tapestry in the modern factory. just as formerly, it bears floral designs and very rarely personages, being of the sort called "basse lice," and woven on a horizontal frame, thereby differing from the "haute lice" of the gobelins factory, where the frames are perpendicular. not only in the cathedral, but also in the church of st. etienne, do we find excellent glass of the sixteenth century. the latter's fine gothic choir, adorned with graceful flying buttresses, provides a strong contrast to its sturdier romanesque nave. the glass is only to be found around the choir, and is well deserving of its high repute. one should notice the tone of the blues, especially in the background of the church's finest window, a tree of jesse, the first on the left from the lady chapel. it is the work of engrand le prince, and is one of the best known examples of the irrelevant use of portraits of high dignitaries. their half-length figures appear as blossoms on the vine. among the fourteen, almost all contemporary likenesses, the most recognisable are francis i and henry ii. at the back of the choir clerestory there is a fine window, blue with golden rays of the sun spreading out over it. the legend of st. hubert is very agreeably set out just to the east of the small south portal, the green used therein being seldom surpassed. [illustration: "tree of jesse" st. etienne, beauvais ( th century). _popular subject in stained glass; the vine springing from the loins of jesse generally bears his descendants as blossoms, and culminates above in a great lily from which emerge the virgin and child. here occurs an interesting th century variation--among the descendants of jesse appear contemporary portraits, francis i, henry ii, etc._] it is difficult to express in words the effect of extreme loftiness which strikes one as he enters the south door of the cathedral. it seems almost impossible to shake off this impression; in fact, one is constantly being surprised that he does not grow accustomed to the great sweep of the upward lines. in the two great rose windows which decorate the transept ends, and in the double row of lancets below each, there is excellent glass of this period. the northern rose shows the golden rays of the sun spreading out over a blue background, reminding us of its prototype at st. etienne. below, the ten figures of women are attributed to le pot. the southern rose contains the history of the creation with such interesting detail as to well repay the trouble to decipher it caused by its great height above us. below are two handsome rows of lancets dated , the upper containing prophets, and the lower, saints. the western wall, rising abruptly at the point where the nave should commence, has in its north and south corners two chapels. each of these chapels has large sixteenth century windows, the northerly one in the west wall, the descent from the cross, being very fine; in fact, it is by some considered the best in the cathedral. the choir also has fine renaissance glass, although in several of the choir chapels (especially in the lady chapel) and around the clerestory at the east end, there are some very interesting thirteenth century windows, one, in particular, a tree of jesse, rendered attractive by the halo of flying birds about the head of the saviour. so tall are the clerestory embrasures that generally only the middle portion of them contains personages, the upper and lower parts being filled with grisaille. most of these upper embrasures were glazed in the fourteenth century, and show to a marked degree the revulsion from the sombre mosaic, and the demand for greater illumination. all this glass would be much more effective if nearer the eye of the observer, the great height at which it is placed not only spoiling the perspective, but resulting in a jumble of colours. the city hall contains the flag which the gallant townswoman, jeanne hachette, captured with her own hands upon the occasion of the attack on the city made by charles the bold and his army. although this gallant deed was performed in , it has never been forgotten by the people of beauvais, and its anniversary is reverently commemorated upon the th of every june. bourg in addition to the glass seen during these three trips, there are three isolated churches whose windows are so interesting as well as important that one should not be contented to conclude his sixteenth century studies without visiting them. not only is each one of them distant from other contemporary glass, but it would seem as though the imp of the perverse had taken a hand in placing them as far away from each other as possible. bourg is down south in savoy; auch is near toulouse in the southwest; and champigny-sur-veude is off in the western part of touraine, near the lower reaches of the river loire. each of these three not only was completely glazed during this epoch, but has also retained its glass in good condition. in each case the special interest which causes our visit is quite peculiar and very different from that which attracts us to the others. when we concluded our trips of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries we were confronted with the advisability of a separate journey to quimper, and in like manner we should now decide to visit bourg, auch and champigny-sur-veude. it must be confessed that it is inconvenient, but it will prove well worth while. first in importance is the church of brou at bourg. although savoy now forms part of france, we shall, upon this excursion, find proof that it was not always french, and shall furthermore encounter much interesting history wrapped up in the tale of the building and glazing of the church of brou. up in the north, at st. quentin, we found the high-water mark (on french soil) of that splendid empire which the spaniard, charles v, agglomerated under his banner and which he resigned to his son, philip ii, the victor of the battle of st. quentin. so vast and important was his empire that he lacked only france to have all the continent of europe beneath his sway. it was the aunt of this emperor charles v, marguerite d'autriche, who built the exquisite church of brou in memory of her husband, philibert le beau, duke of savoy, killed in a hunting accident. after this glance at history, it is not difficult to understand why marguerite sent to flanders for her architect and for her glass designers, for as flanders was part of her nephew's empire, none was more fully advised than she of the high reputation then enjoyed by the artists of the low countries. apropos of the way in which her husband philibert died, it is related that when his father had been at the point of death from a similar hunting accident, philibert's mother, marguerite de bourbon, had vowed to erect a chapel to st. hubert, patron saint of huntsmen, if he recovered. her failure to comply with this vow was by many firmly believed to be the reason why her son philibert was killed upon the hunting field, and that his untimely end was a solemn warning that a vow to st. hubert must be strictly kept. in any event, st. hubert must have been fully satisfied with the manner in which the oath was finally carried out, for the chapel so built has remained to amaze and delight many generations. the wonderful marble tombs, the graceful rood screen, the splendid glass, all go to prove that there was here lavished everything that wealth, power and intelligence could command. it is bewildering to decide with which of the eighteen windows we shall begin our inspection. because of our interest in the foundress and her husband, let us commence with that in the choir, which is at the left of the most easterly window. upon this one and its neighbour to the left we shall see spread out much concerning the life, family and habits of philibert. the first window shows the duke himself attended by his patron saint, st. philibert, while in the background there looms up his favourite ducal palace of pont d'ain, where he lived and died. as indicating the importance of his duchy there are arranged above him thirteen shields displaying the arms of provinces at one time part of savoy. the next window to the left bears a splendid array of thirty-five shields whose heraldry serves to complete our information about duke philibert by showing the individuals composing his family tree. those on the right are of the paternal line of savoy, and on the left we follow his mother's line (the house of bourbon) as far up as louis ix, whose arms appear at the very top of the embrasure. it is most fitting that the arms of our old friend, the royal patron of stained glass, should preside over the most brilliant window in this famously glazed sanctuary. it is to be noticed that this church is very rich in heraldic blazons; in fact, upon five of its windows we find seventy-one shields. the chapelle des sept joies contains a gorgeous work, the crowning of the virgin, in which every effort of the glassmaker's skill seems to have been exerted. above the principal subject runs a panel-like frieze showing in allegory the triumph of christ. this frieze is done in grey and yellow stain. the whole window would leave nothing to be desired in either technique or colour if it were not made the victim of an exaggerated outbreak of the curse of donors' figures. the foundress and her husband are not only allowed to intrude upon the drawing of the general subject, but each of them is actually larger than the figure of the virgin. the records show that this church (begun in ) had all its glass installed at the time of its completion in , thus showing that the windows were made during the most vigorous part of the century, a fact thoroughly borne out by internal evidence. we may consider ourselves fortunate that the use of this glorious building for a store-house during the revolution damaged the glass so little. in this connection it is surprising to read that its beauty was so much appreciated that the people voted to preserve it as a public monument, thus staying the hand of the ever-ready vandalism which then raged through so many french churches. a sketch of bourg would not be complete without a reference to the noble poem of matthew arnold. the following lines are particularly appropriate to the moving cause for our visit to this lovely shrine: so sleep, forever sleep, o marble pair! or, if ye wake, let it be then, when fair on the carved western front a flood of light streams from the setting sun, and colours bright prophets, transfigured saints, and martyrs brave, in the vast western window of the nave; and on the pavement round the tomb there glints a chequer-work of glowing sapphire-tints, and amethyst, and ruby--then unclose your eyelids on the stone where ye repose, and looking down on the warm rosy tints, which chequer, at your feet, the illumined flints, say: "what is this? we are in bliss--forgiven-- behold the pavement of the courts of heaven!" auch seventy-seven kilometres west of toulouse there lies the interesting city of auch, built upon a hillside rising sharply from the river gers. here one will happen upon many an ancient architectural bit which will take him back to the days when henry of navarre here entertained, much against her will, his mother-in-law, catherine de medicis, in this south-western corner of france, far off from her beloved paris. the very remoteness has preserved many of its old-world features, and this ancient flavour, combined with the picturesque position above the river, renders it distinctly a town to be visited. but something more than the general mediæval air of auch is the cause for our long jaunt hither. this reason we shall find in the eighteen windows that adorn the choir ambulatory of the cathedral of ste. marie. an inscription in the gascon dialect on the final one of the series tells us that they are by the hand of arnaud desmoles and that they were finished june , . we have here the work of a frenchman, a gascon at that, and there is no trace of italian, german or any other foreign influence; it is the true flower of the country's genius growing on its native soil. perhaps the drawing and the colouring are not quite so good as we may see elsewhere, but it is purely french. any imperfection of detail is hardly noticed, because we are instantly struck by the ensemble of eighteen windows made for the building which they decorate, as well as for each other, and all by the same artist. his scheme of subjects, showing the agreement between the teachings of the old and those of the new testament, is fully carried through to its completion. the colours show strength and yet are not too robust. the proportions, too, are very satisfactory, each window being about three times as high as it is broad. their stories begin with the creation of the world and carry us on, step by step, until they conclude with the appearance of christ to his disciples. the central part of each embrasure is filled by a large personage, with sundry smaller figures above, and groups below. it is but natural that so complete a series as this should have always enjoyed a wide reputation. although we may feel, after examining them, that they do not reach the standard of perfection attained by some of their contemporaries elsewhere, still they cannot fail to please us. the charm lent by their logical completeness causes us to prefer them to others where the perfection of drawing and style in the individual window is partly offset by lack of harmony with others near it. champigny-sur-veude any mention of touraine generally calls up before us the picture of a smiling country through which rolls the lazy loire hemmed in by its sandy banks, with every now and again the vision of a charming château, type of the best mediæval architecture. to the glass lover, however, the chief and almost the only attraction of the province is the cathedral at tours (see page ). we say "almost," because although not generally known and but seldom visited by the tourist, touraine has another glass shrine lying within a few kilometres of the château de chinon. the chapel in which we find this glass was formerly part of the château of champigny-sur-veude, but the chapel alone remains. before we enter, the writer wishes to deliver himself of a partial explanation or apology, and he does so for the following reason: he has all along inveighed bitterly against the curse of donors' figures upon windows, but on this occasion he must frankly admit that he is guilty of taking you to see glass of which a most interesting feature is these very representations of the donors. in fact the chapel has a peculiar value because it contains thirty-six portraits of the bourbon-montpensier family. they are to be found along the lowest panels, each one kneeling before a prie-dieu. the chapel is admirably lighted, partly due to the destruction of the old château, but chiefly to the eleven large windows, each seven by three and a half metres. the same scheme of decoration prevails throughout. lowest down we find the kneeling donors; above them and occupying far more space are historical episodes from the life of louis ix, of peculiar interest to us, his humble followers in the love of stained glass. among the most interesting of these glass pictures may be cited one showing a battle with the saracens in the holy land, several portraying ships filled with armoured knights, and particularly the episode of st. louis dedicating the ste. chapelle at paris. above these in the roomy oval traceries are scenes from the passion. highest of all are small panes containing either a capital l with a crown slipped down around it, or a bird's wing similarly encircled by a crown, referring respectively to king louis and the bourbons. the only variation from the regularity of this general scheme is the east window, which shows the creation of the world and has below it christ between the two thieves. the fact that this chapel is to-day completely glazed in its original glass and that there is a thorough coherence of style throughout, would alone serve to repay us for the long trip from paris; but when we add the fact that this is a bourbon portrait gallery, an historical interest is at once added to its other attractions. these arguments in its favour will keep us from observing too keenly how much the crudeness of some of the colours accentuates the dullness of others. it would be better if the greens could be softened and the greys enlivened. lest we may seem by thus criticising the glass to wish to disparage it, we make haste to urge our reader to visit champigny. he will find ample compensation for its isolation from other glass of its century by the many châteaux which make a trip through touraine so enjoyable. [illustration: dedication of paris ste. chapelle at champigny-sur-veude. _panel containing kneeling donors not shown. th century glass picture of a th century event. (see page )._] itineraries showing distances in kilometres thirteenth century paris-- --bourges-- --poitiers-- --tours-- --angers-- --le mans-- --chartres-- --paris. paris-- --auxerre-- --sens-- --troyes-- --chalons-- --rheims -- --paris. paris-- --soissons-- --laon-- --st. quentin-- --amiens-- --paris. fourteenth and fifteenth centuries paris-- --evreux-- --rouen-- --paris. paris-- --bourges-- --moulins-- --riom-- --clermont-ferrand-- --eymoutiers-- --limoges-- --poitiers-- --angers-- --le mans-- --alençon-- --sées-- --verneuil-- --chartres-- --paris. paris-- --quimper. sixteenth century paris-- --vincennes-- --sens-- --troyes-- --chalons-- --paris. paris-- --montfort l'amaury-- --conches-- --pont-audemer-- -- caudebec-- --rouen-- --paris. (rouen-- --grand-andely, rouen-- --elbeuf, rouen-- --pont de l'arche.) paris-- --montmorency-- --ecouen-- --chantilly-- --beauvais-- --paris. paris-- --bourg. paris-- --auch. paris-- --champigny-sur-veude. index kilometres from paris epochs page alençon th century amiens th " angers th " angers th " auch th " auxerre th " beauvais th " bourg th " bourges th " bourges th " caudebec th " chalons th " chalons th " champigny-sur-veude th " chantilly th " chartres th " chartres th " clermont-ferrand th " conches th " ecouen th " elbeuf th " evreux th " eymoutiers th " grand-andely th " laon th " limoges th " mans (le) th " mans (le) th " montfort l'amaury th " montmorency th " moulins th " nonancourt th " poitiers th " poitiers th " pont-audemer th " pont de l'arche th " quimper th " rheims th " riom th " rouen th " rouen th " st. quentin th " sées th " sens th " sens th " soissons th " tours th " troyes th " troyes th " verneuil th " vincennes th " * * * * * transcriber's note: minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; otherwise, every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words and intent. produced from images generously made available by the internet archive and the gooogle print project.) the church on the changing frontier [illustration] [illustration: big hole river, montana] committee on social and religious surveys town and country department edmund des. brunner, director the church on the changing frontier a study of the homesteader and his church by helen o. belknap with illustrations maps and charts new york george h. doran company copyright, , by george h. doran company printed in the united states of america preface the committee on social and religious surveys was organized in january, . its aim is to combine the scientific method with the religious motive. the committee conducts and publishes studies and surveys, and promotes conferences for their consideration. it coöperates with other social and religious agencies, but is itself an independent organization. the committee is composed of: john. r. mott, chairman; ernest d. burton, secretary; raymond b. fosdick, treasurer; james l. barton and w. h. p. faunce. galen m. fisher is associate executive secretary. the offices are at fifth avenue, new york city. in the field of town and country the committee sought first of all to conserve some of the results of the surveys made by the interchurch world movement. in order to verify some of these surveys, it carried on field studies, described later, along regional lines worked out by dr. warren h. wilson[ ] and adopted by the interchurch world movement. these regions are: i. colonial states: all of new england, new york, pennsylvania and new jersey. ii. the south: all the states south of mason and dixon's line and the ohio river east of the mississippi, including louisiana. iii. the southern highlands section: this section comprises about counties in "the back yards of eight southern states." iv. the middle west: the states of ohio, indiana, michigan, illinois, wisconsin, iowa and northern missouri. v. northwest: minnesota, north dakota, south dakota and eastern montana. vi. prairie: oklahoma, kansas and nebraska. vii. southwest: southern missouri, arkansas and texas. viii. range or mountain: arizona, new mexico, utah, colorado, idaho, wyoming, nevada and western montana. the director of the town and country survey department for the interchurch world movement was edmund des. brunner. he is likewise the director of this department for the committee on social and religious surveys. the original surveys were conducted under the supervision of the following: beaverhead county--rev. charles t. greenway, state survey supervisor of the interchurch world movement for montana. the county leader was rev. thomas w. bennett. hughes county--mr. c. o. bemies, state survey supervisor of the interchurch world movement for south dakota. the county survey leader was rev. h. h. gunderson. sheridan county--mr. a. g. alderman, state survey supervisor of the interchurch world movement for wyoming and utah. the county survey leader was rev. m. dewitt long, d.d. union county--rev. h. r. mills, state survey supervisor of the interchurch world movement for new mexico. the county survey leader was professor a. l. england. in the spring of the field worker, miss helen belknap, of the committee on social and religious surveys, visited these counties, verified the results of the survey work previously done, and secured additional information not included in the original study. special acknowledgment should be made to the ministers, county officers and others in these counties for their helpful coöperation and assistance in the successful completion of the survey. the statistical and graphical editor of this volume was mr. a. h. richardson of the chief statistician's division of the american telephone and telegraph company, formerly connected with the russell sage foundation. the technical advisor was mr. h. n. morse of the presbyterian board of home missions, who was also associate director of the town and country survey in the interchurch world movement. valuable help was given by the home missions council; by the council of women for home missions through their sub-committee on town and country, and by a committee appointed jointly by the home missions council and the federal council of churches for the purpose of coöperating with the committee on social and religious surveys in endeavoring to translate the results of the survey into action. the members of this joint committee on utilizing surveys are: _representing the federal council of churches_ anna clark c. n. lathrop roy b. guild u. l. mackey a. e. holt a. e. roberts f. ernest johnson fred b. smith charles e. schaeffer _representing the home missions council and the council of women for home missions_ l. c. barnes, chairman rodney w. roundy, secretary alfred w. anthony rolvix harlan mrs. fred s. bennett r. a. hutchison c. a. brooks florence e. quinlan c. e. burton w. p. shriver a. e. cory paul l. vogt david d. forsyth warren h. wilson introduction the point of view this book is a study of the work of protestant city, town and country churches in four counties on the range. it discusses the effect on the church of the changing conditions in the rocky mountain states, and the task of the church in ministering to the situation which exists to-day. this survey, therefore, does not attempt to deal directly with the spiritual effect of any church upon the life of individuals or groups. such results are not measurable by the foot rule of statistics or by survey methods. it is possible, however, to weigh the concrete accomplishments of churches. these actual achievements are their fruits and "by their fruits ye shall know them." the four counties studied in this book are beaverhead in montana, sheridan in wyoming, union in new mexico and hughes in south dakota. many considerations entered into their choice. for one thing, it must be borne in mind that this book, while complete in itself, is also part of a larger whole. from among the one thousand county surveys completed or nearly completed by the interchurch world movement, twenty-six of those made in the nine most representative rural regions of america were selected for intensive study. in this way it was hoped to obtain a bird's-eye view of the religious situation as it exists in the more rural areas of the united states. all the counties selected were chosen with the idea that they were fair specimens of what was to be found throughout the area of which they are a part. in selecting the counties an effort was made to discover those which were typical, not merely from a statistical viewpoint, but also from the social and religious problems they represented. for example, the four counties described in this pamphlet were chosen because they are representative of large sections throughout the range area. it is recognized that there are reasons why exception may be taken to the choice of counties. no area is completely typical of every situation. a careful study of these counties, however, leads to the conclusion that they are fair specimens of the region they are intended to represent. all these studies have been made from the point of view of the church, recognizing, however, that social and economic conditions affect its life. for instance, it is evident that various racial groups influence church life differently. germans and swedes usually favor liturgical denominations; the scotch incline to the non-liturgical. again, if there is economic pressure and heavy debt, the church faces spiritual handicaps, and needs a peculiar type of ministry. because of the importance of social and economic factors in the life of the church the opening chapters of this book are occupied with a description of these factors. at first glance some of these facts may appear irrelevant, but upon closer observation they will be found to have a bearing upon the main theme--the problem of the church. naturally the greatest amount of time and study has been devoted to the churches themselves; their history, equipment and finances; their members, services and church organizations; their sunday schools, young people's societies and community programs, have all been carefully investigated and evaluated. intensive investigation has been limited to the distinctly rural areas and to those centers of population which have less than five thousand inhabitants. in the case of towns larger than this an effort has been made to measure the service of such towns to the surrounding countryside, but not to study each church and community in detail. the material in this book presents a composite picture of the religious conditions within these four counties. certain major problems, which were found with more or less frequency in all four counties, are discussed, and all available information from any of the counties has been utilized. the opening pages of the book, however, summarize the conditions within each county. while this method has obvious drawbacks it is felt that the advantages outweigh them, and that this treatment is the best suited to bring out the peculiar conditions existing throughout this area. the appendices present the methodology of the survey and the definitions employed. they also include in tabular form the major facts of each county as revealed by the investigation. these appendices are intended especially to meet the needs of church executives and students of sociology who desire to carry investigation further than is possible in the type of presentation used for the main portion of the book. contents chapter page i the range country ii economic and social tendencies iii what of the church? iv the church dollar v to measure church effectiveness vi the preachers' goings and comings vii negro and indian work viii non-protestant work ix seeing it whole appendices i methodology and definitions ii tables illustrations, maps and charts illustrations big hole river, montana _frontispiece_ page. the town lock-up loneliness in union county after some years two community centers a spanish-american type and a typical adobe house in new mexico where main street might have run a wyoming ranch a montana mining camp when oil is found a farm bureau demonstration a home demonstration agent a truck farm in hughes county fruits of the earth up-to-date reaping on the plains wisdom is justified camping in sheridan county a frontier celebration a voice in the wilderness no room for both episcopal church and parish house a neglected outpost of christianity not a store but a church a case of coÖperation happy little picnickers a good time was had by all program of a community rally a parsonage but no church an oasis in the desert watering her garden a community rendezvous "mary, call the cattle home!" waiting at the church hitting the trail the family mansion a real community house a church that serves the community maps montana and wyoming south dakota and new mexico church and community map of hughes county, south dakota - community map of sheridan county, wyoming map showing churches and parish boundaries of sheridan county church and community map of beaverhead county map showing churches and parish boundaries of union county, new mexico community map of union county, new mexico roman catholic churches and parishes, union county, new mexico charts i analysis of protestant church members ii churches gaining in membership iii active church membership iv churches with less than members v relation of size of church membership to gain vi the church dollar vii frequency of church services viii number of pastors during past ten years ix residence of the ministers the church on the changing frontier chapter i the range country a vast expanse of endlessly stretching plains, dun-colored table-lands, mysterious buttes against a far horizon, and "always the tremendous, almost incredible distances"--this is the typical range country. there are a sweep to it and a breadth, and such heavens over the earth! in the east, unless some crimson sunset attracts indifferent eyes, the sky makes less of the picture than the earth. but this is sky country. roughly, the range area comprises the states between the middle west and the far west, and includes a wide variety of landscape. contained in this picturesque area are eight states with parts of others, a million square miles over which are spread four million people about a third less than are crowded into new york city. the four counties here studied, each in a different state, provide fair samples of a great deal of the country. beaverhead county, in montana, and sheridan county, in wyoming, are not far distant one from the other. both are partly mountainous, rugged in contour, with wide valleys rimmed by mountains, and miles of undulating range land and low-lying hills traced by rivers. this is the country where "the smoke goes straight up and the latch-string still hangs on the outside of the old-timer's cabin," where still the "sage-hen clucks to her young at the water-hole in the coulee ... with lazy grace, the eagle swings to his nest in the lofty pinnacle and the prairie dog stands at his door and chatters." beaverhead is in the extreme southwestern corner of montana, slightly northwest of yellowstone park and straight south from butte. it is bounded by rocky mountain ranges on the west, south and northwest. on the south and west it faces the state of idaho. the county is well drained and watered by the two principal rivers, the big hole and beaverhead, and by their tributaries, and here, too, the missouri river has its source. beaverhead county embraces , square miles or , , acres. of this area, , , acres are included in the beaverhead national forest reserve scattered over the north, west and southern parts of the county. a small part of the madison national forest also extends into the county on the west. the altitude at monida, in the southern part of the county, is about , feet above sea level. [illustration: montana and wyoming locating beaverhead and sheridan counties.] the wyoming county, sheridan, lies in the extreme north central section of the state, about miles east of yellowstone park, montana forming its northern boundary. sheridan is about miles long and thirty miles wide, the total area being , square miles, or , , acres, less than half the area of the montana county, beaverhead. the big horn forest reserve covers , acres of sheridan county. rivers and creeks are numerous, the chief ones being tongue river, powder river and big goose, prairie dog and clear creeks. the city of sheridan, the county seat, has an altitude of , feet above sea level. the other two counties, union in new mexico and hughes in south dakota, consist largely of plain lands. union lies in the northeastern corner of the state of new mexico, with three states, colorado, oklahoma and texas, to the north and east of her. union included , square miles, or , , acres, at the time this survey was made. about one-sixth of the southwestern part of union county has, however, been added to part of mora county, to the southwest, to form a new county named harding which was formally inaugurated on june th, . the land consists mainly of dry, level plains and mesas, although there are some mountains and isolated hills or buttes. aside from the mountainous area, which is wooded, there are scarcely any trees with the exception of a few along the larger creeks and those cultivated around ranch houses. the northwestern corner of the county is the most mountainous. the county is drained chiefly by ute creek, flowing southeast through the western and southwestern sections into the canadian river, and in the northern part by the beautiful cimarron. there are a number of small streams, but many are dry during a large part of the year. union has exhilarating, bracing air and radiant sunshine. [illustration: south dakota and new mexico locating hughes and union counties.] hughes is a small county almost exactly in the center of the state of south dakota. it has the shape of a right-angled triangle with the missouri river forming its hypothenuse from the northwest to the southeast corner. it covers , acres of high and rolling prairie, with river and creek bluffs and bottom lands. several creeks and small rivers flow directly through hughes, and it is on the whole one of the best-watered counties in south dakota. pierre, the county seat, is the capital of the state. early days on the frontier the story of these counties is bound up with the discovery and subsequent history of the west. it is, as viola paradise says, "the story of indians and early explorers; of hunters and fur traders in the days not so very long ago when the bison ranged the prairies; then of a few ranchmen, scattered at great distances; of great herds of cattle and sheep, succeeding the wild buffaloes; and of the famous cowboy; then of the coming of the dry farmer with his hated fences; and of the crowding out of the open range cattlemen and the substitution of the homesteader." [illustration: the town lock-up this primitive jail at bannock, once chosen as the capital of montana, has held some rough characters in its time, but is now abandoned.] it was at two forks, in beaverhead county, near what is now the village of armstead, that lewis and clark, at a critical point in their expedition, were met and befriended by the shoshones, the tribe of their indian girl guide, sacajawea.[ ] this was on august , . white fur traders soon followed in the track of this famous expedition, and after them came jason and sidney lee, in , the first missionaries to reach montana. the next landmark in the county's history is the "gold strike" on grasshopper creek, in . news of the find spread like wild-fire. miners rushed to the creek and set up their tents, shacks and log cabins. unlike rome, this first town of montana, called bannock, was built in a single night. soon after the gold seekers had settled down to work in earnest, the road agents, a well-organized gang of "roughs" from all over the west, began to rob the stage-coaches travelling between bannock and virginia city. "innocent" was their pass-word; mustaches, beards and neckties tied with a sailor's knot, their sign of membership. after a succession of miners, homeward bound with their gold-dust, had dropped from sight, never to be heard of again, those who remained decided to elect a sheriff. their choice fell upon a certain henry plummer, who was also sheriff of virginia city. plummer, however, never seemed to arrest the right man, a circumstance which was explained later when it was discovered that he was the chief of the gang of road agents. the funeral of a miner who had died of mountain fever, the first man for some time to die from a natural cause, gave the community the opportunity to organize secretly the "vigilantes," and finally to round up the road agents, either hanging them or giving them warning to leave the country. montana was established as a territory in , bannock becoming the first capital, and in the sane year the first county seat of beaverhead county. the capital was removed to virginia city in , but not until did dillon become the county seat. the boundaries of beaverhead changed very little until , when square miles of madison county, , acres in all, were annexed. men began settling on the land west of bannock as early as ; stock men mainly with herds. a few farmers also began to take up choice bits of land along the rivers. the railroad, then the utah northern, entered from the south in . as it was being built, tent towns were established every fifty miles. one of these towns was never moved and grew into the present town of dillon. the first attempt to open up to the white man the land along the powder and lower tongue rivers, in what is now sheridan county, was made by general patrick e. conner on august , , and was eminently successful. he attacked the arapahoe indians with a force of regular soldiers and successfully routed seven hundred warriors. the next effort ended, however, in disaster. on the twenty-first day of december, , at a point on sheridan's southern boundary now known as massacre hill, eighty-two officers and men sacrificed their lives to the hostile sioux and cheyennes in attempting to open a road across the country from fort laramie to montana. [illustration: loneliness in union county the black spot in the center of this not very attractive picture is a squatter's hut.] [illustration: after some years in contrast with the top picture is this one of an attractive farmhouse which shows what can be done on the plains of new mexico.] the first claim ever taken up in this region was in , on little goose creek, near big horn, and the first irrigation ditch was constructed the next year. big horn was laid out in , and the first store opened. the first newspaper in the county was the big horn _sentinel_, and the first agricultural fair was held in big horn in . the first cabin was built on the present site of sheridan city in . sheridan was laid out in and incorporated as a city in . until , the territory contained in johnson and sheridan counties was unorganized and had no county government, but lay within the jurisdiction of carbon county courts. it became johnson county in . in it was divided by popular vote, the northern portion being named sheridan county in memory of the gallant general phil sheridan, whose army, in the expedition, camped on the site of sheridan city. union county, in centuries past the camping grounds of vanished tribes, is now white man's country, but it did not become so until the santa fé trail opened the great southwest. with the rabbit ear mountains to guide settlers the old trail came across union county, untravelled until , and finally, two years later, the first wagons crept slowly westward, facing in that pioneer mood now become historic the hardships of climate and the perils of hostile redskins. in union county the story survives of a massacre by indians, which accounts for the tardy white settlements in this region. in , there were about a dozen homes of white settlers in the whole area. the railroad, in - , encouraged development which began with clayton a year later. in february, , the territorial legislature incorporated into union county parts of colfax, mora and san miguel. the original boundaries of union county were not changed until , when square miles were added to quay county. beginning in the northern part of the county and gradually working southwards, stockmen took up claims close to water and used public land for grazing. up to about , most of the territory remained open range land in which cattle were raised on a large scale, but since that time, it has gradually been homesteaded. [illustration] [illustration: two community centers the local store and the school of de grey community, hughes county, s. d., the only meeting places for widely scattered "neighbors."] the section around pierre, in hughes county, was the oldest settlement in the state of south dakota. fort pierre, across the river from pierre, was established in , and there was continuous settlement after that. at the conclusion of the red cloud war of - , the laramie treaty with the sioux indians established a great sioux reservation embracing all the land west of missouri, from the niobrara river on the south to the cannon ball river on the north and northwest, to the yellowstone. this reservation lay unbroken until , the year when the indians surrendered the black hills. when the gold rush to the black hills began, fort pierre was the nearest settled point and the traffic center. because the railroad had no right of way through the reservation, the line could not be extended to the black hills. the first permanent american settlement in hughes county was made in , when thomas l. riggs established the congregational indian mission at oahe, where he still continues a church. when the railway reached pierre in , there came the first "boom" in the history of the county. all sorts and conditions of people took up half sections, and hughes county was almost homesteaded between the years and . the second boom came in the years - , later followed by a reaction and slump. about the year , pierre was selected as the state capital. all sorts of efforts were made to steal the honor for some other town until in a bill provided for a capitol building at pierre which was completed in . the railway began in to extend to the black hills. thereafter, until , all the region west of missouri was settled, and practically all of these new settlers came through pierre. in the construction was finished, people were out of work, and there came another slump. there was also a drought during the period - - . transportation and roads there is practically no competition between railroads in any of these counties. each has one main line running through it, along which are located the county seat and other smaller centers. beaverhead has the oregon short line; sheridan the chicago, burlington & quincy; hughes the chicago & northwestern; and union the colorado & southern. three counties also have small sections of branch lines, and sheridan has twelve miles of trolley line giving city service, and reaching all but one of the mining camps to the north of sheridan city. none of these counties has really adequate train service. the distance from markets thus becomes an acute problem in certain parts of all four counties, but especially in beaverhead, sheridan and union on account of their greater distances. each county has at least one good stretch of road. a large proportion of the crossroads have never been improved. many of them are only trails. beaverhead has , miles of roads, of which , miles are improved and are unimproved. approximately $ , . has been spent on roads in the last five years. the combined length of public roads in sheridan county is miles. five miles are hard-surfaced, five are red shale, seventeen are gravel, are state highway and are legally established traveled roads, sixty-six feet wide and dragged when necessary. there are also miles of unimproved roads known as "feeders." during the last five years, approximately $ , . has been spent on county roads, not including the amount spent on state roads. both sheridan and beaverhead are fortunate in their location on highways leading to yellowstone park; beaverhead is on the western park-to-park highway, and sheridan is on the custer battlefield highway. during the past four years roads in union county have improved. the colorado to gulf highway from galveston to denver, enters the county at texline and continues for seventy-five miles to the colfax county line northwest of des moines. this is graded road and it is maintained partly by the federal government, which pays per cent., and partly by the state and county which pay per cent. each. there are miles of state highways in the county for which the state and county each pay per cent. two federal aid projects are also under way in the county at present. something over miles of roads are maintained by the county, and there are about , miles of community roads which are dependent upon local care. the total road mileage of hughes county is , with no hard-surfaced but with four miles of gravel roads, and miles of other improved roads. there are also miles of unimproved road. forty-five miles of highway have been built by the state between pierre and harrold and are maintained by the county. the people all these counties were settled chiefly by homesteaders who came from all over the united states, but chiefly from the middle west and southwest. missouri, nebraska, iowa, kansas, texas and oklahoma are the states most widely represented. a great many are children of original homesteaders. the breathless haste with which settlers occupied and developed this great primeval region of the west, rich in natural resources, is shown by the following figures of population: beaverhead hughes sheridan union , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , the greatest period of growth for beaverhead was from to ; for hughes from to ; but both union and sheridan made their largest increase from to , while beaverhead during those years has made a slow, steady gain. hughes has had "booms," and has gained and lost population in succeeding decades. sheridan and union, the newer counties, have forged rapidly ahead of the others in population. sheridan, on account of her city, has made a rapid urban increase, but her rural increase has been slow and steady. union is a large county with no forest reserve area and has been homesteaded rapidly. although, in , square miles were taken away from union, the population in was , , or an increase of . per cent. during the decade from . the density of rural population per square mile in beaverhead is . , in sheridan . , in hughes . and in union . the west has a smaller percentage of foreign-born population than the east or middle west. in three of the states represented, montana, wyoming and south dakota, the percentage of foreign-born has decreased in the last decade. in montana, it decreased from . per cent. to per cent.; in wyoming, from . per cent. to per cent.; and in south dakota, from . per cent. to . per cent. new mexico, with the smallest proportion of foreign-born of any of the four states, went from . per cent. in to per cent. in . sheridan, with . per cent., is the only one of the four counties studied whose foreign-born population remained constant. in beaverhead, the proportion fell from . to , in hughes from . to . and in union from . to . . the total number of foreign-born in all four counties is , , or . per cent. of the total number of people. germans predominate in union, hughes and sheridan. in beaverhead, the predominating nationalities are danes, swedes and austrians. the new americans in beaverhead, hughes and union are largely on the land; in sheridan county, the majority are in the mining camps. [illustration] [illustration: a spanish-american type and a typical adobe house in new mexico] less than one hundred indians are reported in the combined four counties, and the number has been diminishing in every county except union. sixty-nine of the eighty-one reporting are in hughes county, a small section of which is included in the crow creek indian reservation. but hughes had in . spanish-americans in union, a cross between mexicans and pueblo indians (the spaniards brought no women with them for years), equal between one-fourth and one-third of the total population. they live chiefly in the south-central and southwestern sections of the county, and together with their habitations remind one of picturesque mexico. sheridan county has the largest proportion of negroes of any of the four counties-- out of a total of ; but these western states in general have only a small percentage of negroes in their population, varying from . per cent in new mexico to . in wyoming. the chinese and japanese in the four counties number, all told, less than . wide spaces and few people county areas ordinarily group themselves into so-called "communities," where individuals share common social and economic interests centering in a definite locality. in this country, with its scattered pioneer population, community groupings are less definite and permanent than in the east or middle west. here they are usually determined by topography, and especially by the rivers and creeks and the railroad. along the railroad are trade centers which serve the entire county. the majority of these communities are of small population and large area, with a small trading center containing stores, hotel, school, possibly a church or two and some houses huddled together. the county seat largely centralizes the life of each county. outside the trade centers and the open country area included within their community boundaries, the counties fall into certain social groupings. where the land is good, and is being intensively developed, there are well-defined permanent communities. some have even grown staid and conservative. in other sections the story is pathetically different. one lonely family, a forlorn row of claim shacks along the horizon, are all that is left of a real social life that existed only a few years before. a woman standing at the door of the only habitation in a round of sky and stretch of plain, tells how "all the good neighbors are gone and us left grieving for the fine times we once had." transiency is usual in homesteading country, many people only remaining long enough to homestead their land. in beaverhead and hughes, which have been longer homesteaded, there is a larger proportion of residents of more than fifteen years than in the other two counties. but in all four counties, there are temporary groups of people with some social life at present, which may or may not have significance in the future. on the whole, present development tends to be permanent because most of the desirable land in beaverhead, sheridan and union, and all of the land in hughes has long since been taken up. all community limits are more or less indefinite. for example, a rancher living near the boundary of two communities may go to two or more centers for trade. and a dance or barbecue will bring people from any number of the communities. [illustration: where main street might have run the hut of a lonely homesteader.] county interests tend to become concentrated in increasing proportion in the county seat. dillon, the beaverhead county seat, is fairly well located in the central eastern section. it is considered one of the best business towns of the state, drawing trade from every point in idaho. dillon is a retired ranchers' town, conservative and wealthy. community spirit is not manifest. the old settlers run the town and are not friendly to the ideas of others. even a commercial club has found it hard to survive in dillon. sheridan city, the county seat of sheridan county, with a population of about , , is wide-awake and progressive. although there are a number of growing industries and it is a division point on the railroad, sheridan is also dependent to a large extent upon farming. clayton, the county seat of union, a town with a spirit of "boost," informs travellers by means of a bill board that it is "the smallest town on earth with a rotary." clayton's large proportion of transient population is at once typical of the frontier in its nonchalant spirit, in its cowboys with sombreros, jingling spurs and high-heeled boots that click along the pavements; it typifies the range country in the canvas-covered wagons, coming in provided with camping outfits and rations to last for several days because "home" is far away. but all this is gradually changing, and clayton is becoming more of a farming center, less like the frontier and more like the middle west. pierre, the hughes county seat and state capital, is a busy town. it has a number of industries and is the center for an extensive farming and stock-raising region, but the capitol overshadows the rest of the town in importance. means of livelihood cattle were once raised on a large scale in this country. that was the day of the cowboy. but with the coming of the homesteader and his fenced land, stock has had to be raised in smaller herds and more restricted areas. in the old days, there was a great deal of open range land. most of this has now been homesteaded. naturally the rancher has resented the steady appropriation of his "free range" by the farmer. while cattle raising is still the chief source of income, there has been a steady gain in the relative value of farming, especially since the introduction of irrigation and dry-farming methods. about half the farm land in both beaverhead and sheridan is under irrigation, and there is some irrigated land in the northern part of union, but practically no irrigation in hughes county. some dry farming is carried on in every section of each county. general farming and dairying rank next to stock raising. hay and forage are the chief crops. considerable farm land is fit only for range land for cattle; it is too broken or dry for crops. dairying is comparatively a new development. forest reserve land in beaverhead and sheridan is allotted to ranches for cattle range. in beaverhead national forest, , acres have been homesteaded and seventy-five claims have been listed, chiefly in acre tracts. very little homesteading has been done in the big horn national forest because the entire area is above the practical range of farm crops, and killing frosts occur every month in the year. in the entire forest, only about a dozen tracts have been taken under the homestead laws, averaging a little over one hundred acres each; all have been abandoned, except a few used as summer resorts. [illustration: a wyoming ranch the home of a well-to-do rancher in sheridan county.] as is usually the case in frontier country, a large majority of the farms and ranches are operated by owners. south dakota, at the threshold of the west, has a larger proportion of tenancy than any of the other states represented. the percentage in south dakota is . per cent., in new mexico it is . per cent., in wyoming it is . per cent., and in montana it is . per cent. in beaverhead tenancy has decreased from . per cent. in to . per cent. in . in sheridan, it has remained about the same, . per cent. in and . per cent. in . hughes has had a marked increase--from . per cent. in to . per cent. in . tenancy has increased . per cent. in union during the past decade. this has been partly because so much of the land is held by absentee owners who have proved up on the land, moved away, and are waiting for property to go up in value; also because on account of the high taxation some cattlemen find that they make better profits by renting instead of owning. beaverhead county is rich in minerals, including gold, silver, copper, lead, ore, graphite, coal and building stone. comparatively little mining has been done since the war on account of low prices. a large amount of coal is produced in sheridan county. stretching out one after the other in a compact series, there are six large mines north of sheridan city, set in the midst of an agricultural area and having little relation to the rest of the county. there is also a small coal mine being operated at arvada in the eastern part of the county. a number of farmers and ranchmen are lucky enough to have small coal veins on their land, and mine their own coal with pick and shovel. [illustration: a montana mining camp] oil is thought to be present in both hughes and union, but very little has been done with its development. there is some coal in the mountains in union, and building stone and deposits of lime and alum are found in some communities. there are numerous gas wells in hughes county. many ranches have wells giving sufficient gas for all domestic purposes. each county has a number of smaller industries, such as printing establishments, lumber yards, etc. sheridan city has several large plants, including an iron works, flour mill, sugar beet factory and a brick and tile plant. all the counties benefit from the summer auto-tourist trade. the city and towns all have camping grounds for tourists. sheridan has a tourist building, with a sitting-room, fire-place for rainy days and rest rooms, in her city park. sheridan also has a park in the big horn mountains. both beaverhead and sheridan have a small number of resorts. sheridan has three "dude" ranches, the largest of which is the eaton ranch, established in . the young idea good school systems have been developed in the comparatively short time since these counties were organized and running as active units of group life. buildings are almost all fairly well built. teachers receive good salaries. of course, the schools are nowhere near ideal. the isolation and distances present serious school problems. small rural schools persist where distances are great. union is the only county of the four with any consolidated schools. the problem of supervision is great. each county has local school districts and a local board of trustees in each. the county superintendent, a woman in each county, has a difficult time visiting the more remote schools and does not reach them often. many roads and trails are practically impassable during the largest part of the school year. because of the isolation it is often difficult to find a teacher or to get a place for her to live, when one is secured. school terms vary from five to nine months, the longer terms predominating. only six communities in the four counties have active parents' and teachers' associations. [illustration: when oil is found the snorty gobbler project at grenville, n. m.] besides the two elementary schools in dillon, used as model schools by the state normal which is located there, beaverhead county has forty-six elementary schools. two of these, the schools in both villages, wisdom and lima, offer one year of high school. the only four-year high school in the county, located at dillon, has sixteen teachers and a student enrollment of . the entire school enrollment in the county in - was , ; the total number of teachers, ; the total cost of school maintenance $ , . . the state normal had an enrollment of during the summer of ; in the winter of - and in the summer of . there were seventy-four schools running in sheridan county in - , not including the city schools. in addition to the sheridan high school, there are five schools in the county offering some high school training. big horn has had a four year course, but this year ( - ) is sending her third and fourth year high school pupils to sheridan city in a school bus; dayton offers two years of high school, and ranchester, ulm and clearmont each have one year. an annual county graduation day is held in the sheridan high school. it is an all-day affair with a picnic in the park in the afternoon. the total number of pupils in rural schools in - was , , the total cost of maintenance, $ , . . the sheridan high school with its enrollment of is the largest in the state. the total school enrollment of the county, including the five sheridan city elementary schools and the high school was , . there was a total of teachers, of which ninety-six were employed in the rural schools. a parochial school in sheridan city has an enrollment of about and four teachers. the city also has two privately owned business colleges with a total enrollment of . in union county, there are elementary schools outside of clayton, with a total enrollment of , and a force of teachers. nine schools have some high school work. five have a two-year course; two have a four-year course. several elementary schools have been consolidated within the past few years, and occupy new buildings to which the children living at a distance are transported in motor trucks. besides four earlier issues of school bonds, totalling $ , , the people have voted, in this year of hard times, an additional issue of $ , . clayton has four elementary schools with seventeen teachers and an enrollment of . the clayton high school has twelve teachers and an enrollment of . it has a new well-equipped building. hughes county has thirty-nine rural schools outside of pierre. four schools offer some high school work, two offering one year, one two years and one three years. pierre has three elementary schools. the pierre four-year high school has students. the total school enrollment of the county, including the schools in pierre, was , , the total number of teachers seventy and the total cost of maintenance $ , . . there is a government indian industrial school located just outside pierre. the lack of opportunity for high school training in so large a part of each county, brings about an increasing migration into the county seat for educational advantages. many families leave their ranches and move in for the winter instead of sending a child or two. some come in for elementary schools, because of bad roads and the inaccessibility of their country school. this is one of the greatest factors in the growth of these centers. to illustrate the number of pupils from the country, of the pupils of the sheridan high school are non-resident and all but about ten are from sheridan county. in union county, fifty of the pupils in the clayton high school come from all over the county, the majority coming from ten miles around clayton. the number of county children attending clayton schools is increasing at the rate of about per cent. a year. these children have certain marked characteristics. they are older for their grade than the town children, they average higher marks, and are anxious to make the best of their opportunity. in other words, they do not take education for granted, like the town or city child. chapter ii economic and social tendencies growth of the farm bureau no greater laboratory exists for scientific farming than in this western country. a farm bureau, popularized through county agents, is an asset of prime significance to a region that will endow the rest of the country with the fruits of its development. hughes, in , was the first of the four counties to organize a farm bureau. sheridan and union followed in . beaverhead county has no farm bureau. a county farm agent was employed for eight months in , but did not have the support of the ranchers. they felt that an agent, in a stock raising county like beaverhead where hay flourished without cultivation, was a needless expense. as one rancher remarked, "we did not want some one who knew less about our business than we did." as an index to the success attending expert farm advice, one entire community in beaverhead attempted and abandoned dry farming, whereas in other counties where farm bureaus and agents have given service and advice no entire community has failed so completely. the farm bureaus not only improve agricultural methods, but are creating local leaders and a community spirit. the farm bureau offers a definite program that is rewarding if adopted. it develops in the individual community a spirit of independence and self-respect which must precede coöperation. the sheridan farm bureau records a typical objective: "to promote the development of the most profitable and permanent system of agriculture; the most wholesome and satisfactory living conditions; the highest ideals in home and community life, and a genuine interest in the farm business and rural life on the part of the boys and girls and young people.... there shall be a definite program of work ... based on the results of a careful study of the problems of the county. it shall be formulated and carried out by the members of the organization, with the assistance of their agents and specialists as may be available from the state agricultural college." each farm bureau has county leaders or a board of directors, each member specializing in and promoting some particular project, as poultry, cattle, marketing of grain, dairying, roads, child welfare, clothing, food and county fair. during - forty-three farm bureau meetings were held in sheridan county, with a total attendance of , . twenty extension schools or courses were given with a total attendance of . two community fairs were held, and six communities put on recreation programs. the farm bureau upheld governor carey's announcement of good roads day by donating $ , worth of work on the roads. seventeen communities were organized; twelve have community committees. nothing can better create community spirit and enlist coöperation. [illustration: a farm bureau demonstration the county agent for sheridan is making grasshopper poison.] each community also adopts a program of work of its own under the leadership of the community committee. a community program for union county, which is inaccessible to the railroad, is as follows: program of work goal for accomplishments work still to be to date done poultry market eggs letters written prices not sufficient for markets to warrant shipping as yet livestock organize pig two talks club two leaders organize calf secured club home beautifi- plant trees, planted cation vines and shrubbery road fix bad secured county keep at it places aid. got bridge rodent rodent poison poisoned eradication demonstration coyote "kill 'em" nine put out complete it coyote poison and killed coyotes [illustration: a home demonstration agent here is a woman's club at an all-day meeting in union county receiving instructions in the workings of an iceless refrigerator.] the farm bureau works with the county agents, the home demonstration agents, and the boys' and girls' club leaders, wherever such agents exist. the county agents are giving themselves whole-heartedly to their jobs, and the demands for their services keep them busy driving through counties for purposes of demonstration or organization. the hughes county agent reports the following schedule: fifty days on animal disease, thirty-seven and one-half days on boys' and girls' club work, thirty-seven days on organization, twenty-three days on marketing and days on miscellaneous work. sheridan and union have home demonstration agents, energetic women, who go out over the county organizing groups of women and giving demonstrations and talks. some of their achievements in sheridan county may be cited. hot lunches were established in six rural schools in coöperation with the public health nurse; some phase of health work was carried on in four communities and in sheridan city schools a clothing school was held; women were taught the cold pack method of canning; four home convenience demonstrations were given; five pressure cookers were purchased; twenty-five flocks were culled; twelve american cheese demonstrations were given, and pounds of cheese made. boys' and girls' club work is carried on in every county except beaverhead. the boys and girls all over the county are organized into clubs and work on various kinds of projects. union county's record for is notable: kind of club total membership value of products, pig club $ , . calf club , . poultry club . cooking " . serving " . bean " . maize " . corn " , . --- ---------- total $ , . pure-bred hogs and cattle owned by boys and girls are sold under the auspices of the farm bureau. prizes are offered. in sheridan county, the county club champions are sent to the "annual round-up" at the state university. in hughes, three teams of three members each were given a free trip to the state fair as a reward for their efforts and achievements. one member of the cow-calf club won a free trip to the international live stock show in chicago as a prize for his exhibit at the state fair. development of coöperation irrigation means coöperation, but coöperation in buying and marketing is comparatively a new development. coöperation, however, is a necessity because so many farmers are distant from the trade centers and shipping points. coöperation is the prime interest of the farm bureaus which, in some counties, undertake coöperative buying and selling. the hughes county farm bureau has been especially effective in promoting coöperative enterprise. says the county agent: the medicine valley farm bureau has done considerable work along different lines, but the most outstanding has been the promotion of a farmers' coöperative elevator. most of the stock in this enterprise has been sold and work will be started very soon on the building.... the harrold live stock shipping association was promoted by the farm bureau community club south of harrold. several meetings were held by this club on marketing. members were supplied with coöperative shipping instructions and information. at the present time, most of the stock shipped out of harrold is shipped through this organization. it has proved a success. this community club was also instrumental in the promotion of a coöperative elevator at harrold ... in addition to the organization projects on marketing, considerable buying and selling in car-load lots has been done by the different farm bureau community clubs. the snake butte community club has bought four car-loads of coal for its members, with a saving of at least $ . they have also bought a car of flour, a car of apples and a car of fence posts, all of which has effected a saving of another $ . three other community clubs have bought supplies by the car-load. these purchases have netted members of the county a saving of approximately six hundred dollars.... (the farm bureau through its exchange service has located , bushels of seed flax, pounds of grimm alfalfa seed, bushels of seed wheat, bushels of rye and bushels of seed corn.) one thousand, six hundred and eighty-five pounds of wool was also directed to the state pool of the national wool warehouse and storage company at chicago, illinois. [illustration: a truck farm in hughes county] beaverhead county has three active stock-growers' associations, the most active of which is the big hole stockmen's association which established stock yards at wisdom and at divide, their shipping point. they finally induced the railroad to help pay for the yards. this association was founded chiefly to work for a road from the big hole over into the bitter root valley. the forest service was willing to help build the road if beaverhead and ravalli counties would also help. beaverhead county did not favor the project because it feared competition from the bitter root products. but the big hole valley wanted the road on account of the business it would bring in. the stockmen's association raised about $ , towards it and the county finally put in $ , . besides their contribution of money, the members of the association donated time and teams. one reason why they have held together so well and so long was because they shared the debt. it has been hard sledding, but they have won out. their wage scale, which is established annually, was successfully operated for the first time last year ( ), when all but two ranchers stuck to the prescribed wage of $ . per day for hay hands. they have fixed up the fair grounds at wisdom and give a pow-wow there every year. [illustration: fruits of the earth the community spirit expresses itself in friendly rivalry at union county fair.] largely through the influence of the farm bureau, two coöperative organizations were recently started in union county, the union county farmers' mutual hail insurance association and the registered live stock and pure bred poultry association. there is only one other active coöperative at present, a telephone company at mount dora, capitalized at $ , . a state-wide marketing association has union county members who produced in one-third of all the products marketed through the organization. besides the marketing associations, hughes has a coöperative farmers' lumber company. all these counties have coöperative stores. a coöperative store at wisdom in beaverhead county has fifty stockholders. lima had a coöperative store in - which failed through poor management. two rochdale coöperative stores were started three years ago in ulm and clearmont in sheridan county. when the central organization took the surplus earnings of the branch stores to make up failures in other stores in the chain instead of declaring dividends, both the sheridan county stores withdrew and organized coöperatives of their own in march, . sheridan city for the past eight years has had a coöperative store in which ranchers and farmers from nearby communities have most of the shares. there is also a miners' store in sheridan city. hughes county has one coöperative store with stockholders. urban and rural rivalry all the centers are service stations for the farmers. in some places the old, deep-seated antagonism between town and country is noticeable. there is the feeling that the merchants overcharge, that big business sets the prices, that capital is to be distrusted. most of the merchants have been of the old individualistic type which places the dollar higher than the community, an idea which the commercial clubs are altering. this is especially noticeable in union county, where the feeling between country and town has been very bitter. the farmers unfortunately are unfriendly to and distrustful of the merchants and business men. each group is really interdependent, but 'such' a feeling retards progress and development. as one leading farmer put it, "the prejudice between the farmer and business man _must_ be overcome. there is no limit to the results if we can just get together." the farmers feel that the average merchant in buying farm products has not discriminated between a good and a bad product so far as price goes. in short, the honest farmer does not want to sell bad eggs or sandy maize, but he doesn't like to get a poor price for a good product. farmers feel that the merchants have overcharged them for goods and obtained high profits and they are undoubtedly right to some extent. the farmers believe that the fact of their charging goods on credit with the merchant gives the latter an unfair advantage over them, that the merchant thinks he can pay any price he wants when purchasing from the farmer. chambers of commerce and commercial clubs are working toward a better understanding. get-together meetings have been started. the first union county meeting prepared the farmers by letters and visits, in order to suggest a more friendly and constructive meeting ground. in sheridan and pierre, the commercial clubs have been very ready to coöperate in any movements that would benefit the farmer. an example of happier relations between farmer and merchant is the rest room for farmers' wives maintained in dillon by the good government club. [illustration: up-to-date reaping on the plains answering the world's prayer for daily bread.] hard times in the history of this range area the last three years have been the most difficult for farmers and ranchers. they have suffered acutely from the sharp drop in prices of stock and farm products. part of the range section has had a severe drouth. beaverhead has had several dry years. last year ( ), thousands of dollars' worth of hay had to be shipped into the county as feed, and much livestock had to be sent out of the county to graze. in addition to drouth, grasshoppers, fairly plentiful before, became a scourge in part of sheridan the summer of . the farmers, helped by the farm bureau, worked hard to exterminate them with poisoned oats. simultaneously with the drouth and grasshopper scourge in certain sections, the decrease in prices has led to hard times and much suffering. whereas a rancher was "well off" a few years ago, he now considers himself lucky if he is "in the hole" for only a few thousand. the farmers are bitter. they feel that something is wrong with the "system." one can hardly blame them when crops bring no profit, while taxes seem to be higher than ever. the hard times have made ranchers and farmers do more serious thinking about taxes, farm conditions, and the marketing of farm products than they have ever done before. e. t. devine, writing on "montana farmers" in _the survey magazine_, gives the farmers' position: montana farmers are much like other american producers, urban and rural, but they are even harder hit than most of their fellow countrymen, except, of course, unemployed town workers. they share in the general calamity of relatively low prices for agricultural products and they have also just passed through several years of unprecedented drouth. freight rates are high and burdensome, and the things the farmers have to buy are still high in proportion to the prices which they get for their grain and stock. these farmers are therefore in debt, and are borrowing more than they can. they are actually and not merely in a chronically distorted imagination, having difficulty in paying their interest and taxes; and if their equity is small they are losing it.... the farmers are not seeking fundamental or permanent solutions. what concerns them is to get immediate and appreciable relief from taxes. hard times, as in union county, usually strike our best assets. the county first had a county agent in , a home demonstration agent in , and assistant county agent in and a club leader in . unfortunately, the hard times forced upon the country a program of retrenchment. in the assistant county agent and, early in , the club leader were removed. at present, there is a determined effort in some quarters to dispense with the other two workers. social agencies country folk keep track of things. county papers as well as outside newspapers are read in all communities. these outside newspapers come from denver, kansas city, butte or omaha, depending upon location. four newspapers are published in beaverhead, two in the county seat, and one in each of the two villages. rural sheridan prints but one newspaper, _the tongue river news_, at ranchester. two dailies are published in sheridan city. three communities in union, and three in hughes county, publish their own papers. the town of clayton has the _examiner_ and the _tribune_, as well as a paper printed in spanish. grenville and des moines, two villages in union, also have local papers. in hughes county, pierre has two papers, and blunt and harrold one each. the editors are almost all progressive and up-to-date, and vitally interested in the welfare of their communities. more and better libraries are an urgent need of all these counties. sheridan, pierre and dillon all have splendid carnegie libraries. the majority of the schools have small school libraries. but there is only one public library in beaverhead county, besides that in dillon, in the community house of wisdom village. sheridan has no other library in the whole county. the only libraries in union county are a collection of books for public use in the office of a village lumber yard and a small travelling library. hughes county has a town library and three circulating libraries. [illustration: wisdom is justified the community house at wisdom, beaverhead county.] good leadership is always essential to progress. every one of these counties is fortunate in having some splendid county-wide leaders who are devoting themselves to their county's progress. wherever a county has a farm bureau, leadership is developed by that organization. but in rural sections where distances prevent people from coming together, leadership is wanting. each ranch is a small isolated world and by the very nature of things there are few community undertakings. the development of local leadership, especially in remote sections, should become the concern of this country. as hart says in his book, "community organization," "the destiny of civilization is wrapped up in the future of community life. if that life becomes intelligent, richly developed, democratically organized, socially controlled--the future of civilization is secure.... the determination is largely one of leadership." community spirit red cross work, during the war, did a great deal toward bringing about a unified spirit. the farm bureau is working in this direction. when real needs arise, a community spirit is born, and unsuspected qualities of loyalty, coöperation and leadership develop, as happened in one community in sheridan county, when that community wanted the state highway: they canvassed every load of wheat that went to sheridan city from their community to show how much their road was used. another splendid example of community spirit was the pageant staged by armstead community, in beaverhead county, to celebrate the anniversary of the lewis and clark expedition. every one in the community, even the babies as indian papooses, took part. about half of all the communities have a real community spirit, i.e., a willingness on the part of the people to work unselfishly, coöperatively, for the best interests of the community. this spirit, fostered by the farm bureau or by war work, has directed communities to concern themselves with their roads, schools, methods of farming and the creation and strengthening of all community bonds and interests. the results of this spirit are shown in social and educative agencies like lodges and the local branches of the farm bureau. of the sixty-eight lodges only seventeen are for women, and their total enrollment is about , members. while women have fewer lodges their attendance is more enthusiastic and regular than in the case of the men. there are commercial clubs in the city and towns, and in a number of the villages. the american legion has five branches in the four counties. eight communities have literary societies meeting regularly. then there are the many clubs and societies which are purely social. these include sewing clubs, card clubs, athletic clubs and similar organizations which are found in the city and towns, and in about one-third of the other communities. there are musical organizations in seven communities, and four communities have community singing. these organizations, together with the schools and churches, give the inspiration for most of the social life. [illustration] [illustration: camping in sheridan county the colored cook, at least, seems to delight in her surroundings.] "movies," motors and the dance all the larger centers have moving-picture theatres. with the coming of the "movie," and the general ownership of cars, there is a growing tendency to go into the centers for amusement. dancing is the most popular recreation. if an event is really a success, it ends with a dance. in many communities a dance is the only thing that will "go." one reason for this is the lack of leadership; a dance needs no planning to speak of, which is not the case with other forms of indoor recreation. dances attract people from great distances and are generally held on saturday night, lasting until sunday morning, with a feast at midnight. perhaps the farm bureau has an exhibition during the day, and there is a community dance in the evening. it is held in the hall over the poolroom. an orchestra of three army veterans plays good lively jazz. the latest tunes and dances of the city are as familiar in these remote communities as are the latest modes and fashions. no country square dances here; nothing older than the very latest dancing, and the most modern of ear-capped coiffures! whole families attend, and parents take the floor along with the young folks. there is a great friendliness. the young men are well set-up, muscular and tanned, and some of them even wear spurs which clink together as they dance. feminine noses are not as white as they might be, though powder puffs are here, very properly concealed. most of these girls ride horseback as well as their brothers, and both young women and men, with their athletic supple figures, their innate sense of grace and rhythm, might put to shame our tired, anæmic city dancers. at midnight, there is a supper of fried chicken, sandwiches and real cake brought a few dozen miles more or less by team or car. everything tastes good because it is made at home. afterwards, the tireless feet continue the intricate, graceful measures. but outside the brightly lighted hall, and beyond the sound of laughter and music broods the silent, mysterious night of a spacious country. how many city dancers know the homeward drive through a big country, the moon perhaps lighting the river, the contours of plain and butte, and the sleeping hamlets? the most popular forms of outdoor recreation are the community barbecues, frontier days and pow-wows. only those who live this free, healthy life in the heart of nature have appetites worthy of a barbecue. at noon the delicious beef, roasted all night over a deep trough of coals, and basted with real butter, is a social meal that many of us envy. there are frontier field days with sports belonging to ranch life, such as horse racing and broncho busting. the day usually ends with a big dance. even the "dude" ranches in sheridan hold frontier days, and great events they are, too, with many spectators. in sections of sheridan and union counties, but especially in beaverhead, there is the beauty of the country which furnishes recreation in itself. nature has lavished upon them every gift of line and color. the mountains and the streams, the woods and the canyons, hold a hundred delightful possibilities that are within the reach of almost every one. it is a playground as varied as it is perfect. on saturdays and sundays in the summer, car after car, packed with camp equipment and home-made delicacies, head for the health-giving hills and mountains. [illustration: a frontier celebration the barbecue is an institution typical of the range country and is attended by settlers from far and near.] [illustration: church and community map of hughes county, south dakota] chapter iii what of the church? what country landscape is complete without the church spires? in this spacious western region, in the heart of awe-inspiring natural scenery, the church spires are guideposts to almost , people. this land is new. it has been the changing frontier. tremendous developments have been in process. the country is in a transition stage between the stock-raising past and the agricultural future. population has increased rapidly; population has been shifting. the whole background has been kaleidoscopic. the church has faced bewildering changes and growth. the burden of increasing its service and equipment has been heavy; it has not been able to "keep up" with the pace of civilization. the story of early church growth in the cowboy country is one inspiring loyalty since it eloquently traces the faithfulness of a few in a country where god was easily forgotten. one of the first things to be read of rough-and-ready bannock, among the earliest mining towns on the range, is that church services were held there. the church migrated with its congregations. missionaries from the east came through with the fur trappers and preached the word of god. when the land began to be taken up by settlers, impromptu meetings were held, and sunday schools were started in many places which had no ministers. some of these points of worship gradually developed into organized religious bodies so that at present there are churches which have grown up with the country. a difficult field the church in this frontier country has always faced great difficulties. chiefly, there is the vast area of it, with a scattered and transient population. homesteaders are a restless, uncertain, human quantity. some are engrossed in getting a start. others move on as soon as they have "proved up" on their claims. all are poor; there is always an economic struggle going on. the old frontier spirit of "let have and let be" survives from the cowboy days. this free and easy spirit says: "boys drinking?--well, boys have to have their good times. streets weedy?--well, they might be worse." the same spirit says: "no churches?--well, we're just as well off and our money is better in the bank than paying for a minister who never gets out and does an honest day's work." "good-bye, god, we're going to wyoming," said a little boston girl as the family was starting west. this typifies what happened as people from the east and middle west moved out to the frontier. in the desperate struggle for existence homesteaders had little time for christian enterprise. because of the great distances and scattered population, adequate church ministry has been difficult if not impossible. people had for so long lived without a church that indifference developed. the longer they stayed the less they took the church for granted. the older the section, one finds to-day, the less likely it is to want church ministry. newer homesteaders, recently come from other parts of the country where the church was more available, are more eager for church and sunday school. [illustration: a voice in the wilderness the m. e. church at mosquero, union county, n. m.] development and distribution the differences in religious development and psychology according to the time of settlement are well illustrated by these counties. generally speaking, beaverhead grew up before the church had made much headway. it is conservative. the general attitude is the wary one of "let the church alone." men class churches among those feminine luxuries with which a real, red-blooded man has little to do. on the other hand, union, the most recently developed county of the four, still has a marked "church consciousness." the majority of the people have not yet broken with the habits and customs of the more closely settled and churched middle west from which they came. the other two counties combine these two conditions. part of sheridan is like union, a region newly homesteaded. part of it is like beaverhead, old and settled with frontier habits. hughes, on the threshold of the west, retains the frontier sentiment of all the other counties. [illustration: no room for both the presbyterian church at melrose, montana, and its next-door neighbor, a deserted saloon.] church work has been going on in these counties since , when protestant work was started at bannock, in beaverhead county. churches were organized in the other counties in succeeding decades. the first protestant church was organized in hughes between and , in sheridan and union counties between and . in this comparatively short time, some churches have gone under. beaverhead has had nine protestant churches, of which six are now active. one church, located just outside the border of the county in melrose, a small hamlet, is included in this report. dillon, the county seat, has four churches, or one protestant church for about every persons. outside dillon, the habitable rural area of the county has two protestant churches, or one church for about every , square miles and for about every , persons. roman catholics have two organized churches in the county, mormons have one active and one inactive church, and there is one christian science church. [illustration: community map of sheridan county, wyoming] [illustration: map showing churches and parish boundaries of sheridan county] [illustration: church and community map of beaverhead county] [illustration: map showing churches and parish boundaries of union county, new mexico] [illustration: community map of union county, new mexico] sixteen protestant churches have been organized in hughes county, all but one of which are now active. pierre, the county seat, with six of the churches, has a protestant church for about every people. outside pierre and the section occupied by the crow creek indian reservation, the rural area of the county has one protestant church for about every seventy-three square miles, and for every persons. there are three catholic churches outside the indian reservation. sheridan county has had twenty-two protestant churches, of which seventeen are now active and two are inactive. the city of sheridan has nine protestant churches, one church for about every , persons; outside sheridan, the habitable area of the county has one protestant church for about every square miles, and for about every , persons. the county has five catholic churches, a mormon, a christian science, and a theosophical organization. the newest county of the four has the most churches. thirty-nine protestant churches have been organized in union county, thirty-one of which are now active. clayton, the county seat, has four churches, one for about every persons; outside clayton, the rural area of the county has one protestant church for about every square miles and for about every persons. there are five organized catholic churches. the four counties now have a total of seventy active protestant churches representing eleven different denominations, but there is an acute need of a more strategic distribution. churches located in the city of sheridan will henceforth be referred to as "city" churches; churches located in the towns of dillon, pierre and clayton will be referred to as "town" churches; those located in villages, a classification applying to all centers with a population of to , , will be referred to as "village" churches; and those located in hamlets of less than population or the open country will be known as "country" churches. classified in this way, nine, or per cent. of the total, are "city" churches; thirteen, or per cent., are "town" churches; fourteen, or per cent., are "village" churches, and thirty-four, or per cent., are "country" churches. other than protestant churches will be discussed in a separate chapter. god's houses a live church organization should have a building of its own. it is hard, indeed, to preach the reality of religion without a visible house of god. yet nearly one-third of the organizations have no buildings and must depend on school houses, homes or depots. some of these churches, located in strategic places, acutely need buildings and equipment if they are to hold their own in the future. for others, however, the possession of buildings would be a tragedy, since they would thus become assured of a permanency which is not justified. all the city and town churches have buildings, as well as twelve of the fourteen village, and fifteen of the thirty-four country, churches. in addition, two inactive organizations have buildings which are available and are used to some extent. [illustration: episcopal church and parish house beaverhead county, montana.] the majority of the buildings are of wood; fourteen are of brick, cement or adobe. unfortunately, the range has no typical pioneer architecture of its own. most of the buildings are reminiscent of new england forbears. many of them look barren and unkempt. standing forlorn upon the plains, most of the open country churches are unrelieved by any sign of trees. little or no effort has been made to make them attractive. thirty buildings are lighted by electricity. twenty-two churches are of the usual one-room type, eleven have two-room buildings, four have three rooms, three have five rooms, six have six rooms or more. a few possess special facilities for social purposes. one town church has a parish house. nine have extra rooms and some special equipment, including three gymnasiums. stereopticon outfits have been installed in one city and in two town churches. one other town church borrows a stereopticon once a month from a public school, and one town church occasionally borrows the county moving-picture machine. a new kind of community house was built last summer by the sheridan presbyterian church. it is a summer camp on a mountain stream not far from the big horn mountains, about twenty miles south of sheridan. the building is used for kitchen, dining room, rest room and general headquarters. each family brings its own tent when using the camp. the purpose is to make it a place for tired people, and especially for those who have no cars or other means of taking an outing during some part of the hot weather. the community idea expresses itself in a plan whereby those owning cars shall sometimes transport a family that otherwise might have no outing. church property is valued at $ , , and it is noteworthy that the churches have acquired property of such value in so short a time. the fact that church growth is a present-day phenomenon is illustrated by the two splendid buildings erected since this survey was made, and the preparations for a third which will cover an entire block. the highest value of any city church is $ , , of any town church $ , , of any village church $ , and of any country church, $ , . twenty-eight churches have parsonages, their total valuation amounting to $ , , or an average value of $ , . about one-third of the churches carry some indebtedness on their property. twenty-five churches report a total debt of $ , , of which amount $ , was borrowed by six city churches, $ , by four town churches, $ , by five village churches and $ , by eight country churches. the money was spent for new buildings, new parsonages, repairs and, in one case, for a garage to hold the preacher's ford. curiously enough, instead of being a hardship, working to pay off a debt often brings church members together into a unified working group. the interest paid ranges from to per cent. church membership even more important than the material assets of the churches are their human assets--their members. the total number enrolled in protestant churches in the four counties is , . active members number , , or per cent., while , , or . per cent., are classed as inactive, i.e., they neither attend church services nor contribute to church support, and , or . per cent., are non-resident. the country and city churches have the highest proportion of non-resident members-- . per cent. and . per cent., respectively; the town figure is next at . per cent., and the village percentage is . . these people have moved, or else live too far away to come to church services. in addition to the enrolled membership, there are members of distant churches who have never transferred to local churches. they are scattered through all these counties, and their number is, of course, not known and cannot be estimated. some may have been asked to join local churches, but it is certain that some have not, and that no one knows or seems to care if they have been members of some church elsewhere. they may attend local churches occasionally, but it is more likely that they do not. some of them feel like the little hard-working ranch lady who said, "i was a church member out in iowa, thirty-five years ago, but i've never done lifted by letter and i've been here so long now, i guess i never will." [illustration: chart i] the protestant church member who moves away is not followed up by his church as a general thing. this is partly due to frequent ministerial changes, partly to the lack of well-kept church records, and partly to lack of interest. of course, the fault is not only with the churches on the range; it is a shortcoming of the churches everywhere. since, however, a transient population is characteristic of this country, it would seem to be a matter of prime importance for churches to keep track of the movements of their members. this matter concerns not only local churches and their denominations, but also calls for coöperation among different denominations. [illustration: chart ii] most of the churches are in the larger centers. of the total resident church membership nearly per cent. belong to city churches, per cent. to town churches, per cent. to village churches and only per cent. to country churches. as the center decreases in size, the more it draws from the surrounding country. thus, per cent. of the total resident families of city churches live in the city and per cent. live outside; per cent. of the total resident families of town churches live in the town and per cent. live outside; per cent. of the total resident families belonging to village churches live in villages and per cent. live outside. somehow the church has failed to appeal to the men. a prominent man who never came to church in one of the towns in the counties studied, said to a minister: "here is a hundred dollars. for god's sake, don't let the church go down!" this man realized that the community needed the church, but he chose to help from the outside. this is the prevailing attitude: the men are not antagonistic, but they are indifferent. all the counties have a higher proportion of men than of women in the population; each has a higher proportion of women than men in the church membership. beaverhead, preponderant by . per cent. in males, has the lowest proportion of adult men in the church membership, . per cent. union has the highest proportion of men, . per cent. for all the churches of the four counties, . per cent. of all church members are males over twenty-one, . per cent. are males under twenty-one, . per cent. are females over twenty-one and . per cent. are females under twenty-one. a larger proportion of young people are enrolled in the city and town churches than in those of the village and open country. city and town church memberships have per cent. boys, and . per cent. girls. villages have . per cent. boys, and . per cent. girls. open country churches have . per cent. boys, and . per cent. girls. one reason for the small number of young people is that many grew up without the church. the children now growing up have better church opportunities. the hope of the church for the future is to reach the children. the small church prevails on the range, the average active membership being only about fifty-seven. for the various groups, the active membership is as follows: average active membership country village town city average beaverhead hughes sheridan union the country churches have an average of eighteen, the village churches thirty-five, the town churches ninety-one and the city churches members each. forty-nine of the seventy churches have fifty active members or less, and thirty-six, or . per cent., of these have less than twenty-five each. twenty-one churches have each more than fifty active members. forty-four out of the forty-nine churches of less than fifty members are either in villages or in the open country. all the churches of more than members are either town or city churches. [illustration: chart iii] [illustration: chart iv] it is an acknowledged fact that the size of membership has a good deal to do with church efficiency; in a word, that the small church is a losing proposition. until the present, the small church on the range has been a necessity because of the small and scattered population. it is only the larger centers that have been able to support good-sized churches. even with the coming of irrigation, this western country will never be as thickly populated as the east or middle west. nor can a fair comparison be made between the churches in the larger centers in the middle west and far west. a different policy is likewise needed here because many of these centers in the west are surrounded with large unchurched areas and on that account their churches should be strategic centers for a radiating religious work. [illustration: chart v] in the matter of gain or loss in membership, it is to be noted that, during the last year, a little more than half the churches made a net gain in membership, sixteen churches broke even on the year and seventeen showed a net loss. thus, per cent. of all the churches remained stationary, per cent. lost in membership and per cent. gained. of the churches with or more members, per cent. gained; of those with less than members only . per cent. gained. seven hundred and sixty-four new members were taken in during the year. forty per cent. of these were taken in by letter, the rest on confession of faith. this gain by confession was about per cent. of the previous net active membership. gain was distributed according to sex and age as follows: adult male . % adult female . % boys . % girls . % chapter iv the church dollar one way, though by no means the only way, that the church can judge of its successful work is by the financial support that it receives. in this range country nearly all of the church dollar is raised locally, except about twelve cents donated toward church work by denominational boards. various methods are used by the local church for raising the other eighty-eight cents. half the churches use a budget system. that is, they set down at the beginning of the fiscal year an itemized budget of the amount which they need, on the basis of which amount subscriptions are obtained from each church member or family. twenty-five churches finance all their work this way and ten churches budget only their local needs. thirty-two churches make an annual every-member canvass, i.e., every member is asked regularly each year to contribute something toward the church. weekly envelopes, in single or duplex form, are used in twenty-four churches. forty churches can be said to have a system of regular, frequent payments. the rest of the churches depend upon various combinations of quarterly or annual payments, plate collections at services, bazaars and other money-raising devices. incidentally, the ladies aid and missionary societies are real stand-bys in the matter of church upkeep and benevolences. in fully half the churches, women's organizations undertake to raise some part of the church expenses in various ways, from regular weekly contributions to distributing bags to be filled with pennies for every year of the contributor's age, or by making gayly colored holders at three cents each. nearly one hundred thousand dollars were raised by the , active members in the year of the survey. this is the "real thrill" of the church dollar. the total amount of the budget raised on the field by sixty-eight of the seventy churches[ ] was $ , . . of this amount $ , . , or little less than three-fourths, was procured by subscriptions; $ , . , or slightly less than one-tenth, by collections, and the balance of the $ , . by miscellaneous means. this is an average amount per church of $ . . here again it is clear that the larger the membership of a church, the greater the impetus from within for further growth and activities. this condition is evident in the various church campaigns. the city churches raise more than twice as much as the churches in the town, village or country, but with their larger membership there is not a corresponding drain on the individual. thus, the city and village church members give about the same, $ . and $ . respectively per year; the town members give $ . ; the country members, with fewer buildings, fewer services, and less resident ministers to maintain than the members in the centers, pay $ . each. [illustration: chart vi figures refer to total amount raised and spent, including home mission aid.] considering that nearly half the churches raise their money haphazardly, the average contribution per church and per member, in these four counties on the range, is most encouraging. of course, it must be borne in mind that - came at the end of the fat years, and hard upon this prosperous period followed the lean one of high freight rates and low prices for farm products. church finances depend in part upon the practical presentation of the financial needs of the church, and upon education in christian stewardship--i.e., in learning the value of church work at home and abroad. but there is another side to the question which is quite as vital. is the church rendering a real service to the community, and has it an adequate and worth-while ministry? after all, people cannot be expected to give more than they receive in service. not quite all the money was spent. in each group there was a small surplus; $ . for the country churches, $ . for the village, $ . for the town, and $ . for the city churches. of the total amount spent, $ , . , or about per cent., paid salaries, $ , . , or per cent., was given to missions and benevolences, and the remaining per cent. was used for local expenses and upkeep. the total amount given to benevolences averages $ . a year. all the money spent averages $ . per resident active member, a good record indeed for a homesteading country. the question of benevolences is important because many churches offer no other means to their members of learning and practising unselfish giving and service. one of the standards adopted by the interchurch world movement was that the amount given to benevolences should at least equal per cent. of the total amount spent. the proportion of all money raised which is used to pay salaries and local expenses is higher in country and village churches, while the proportion given for missions and benevolences is lower than in the town and city churches. in other words, the country and village churches have less surplus over and above their running expenses. benevolences receive . per cent. of all money raised by the country churches, and . per cent. of all money raised by the village churches. town churches, on the other hand, give . per cent. of their receipts to benevolences, and the city churches give . per cent. the finances of city churches are well proportioned, almost an equal amount going for salaries, missions and all other expenses. home mission aid it has already been stated that about twelve cents of the church dollar come from the denominational boards in the form of home mission aid. the total amount given to the local churches in the year preceding the survey was $ , . , which went to forty-one churches in amounts varying from $ to $ . two more churches would have been receiving aid if they had had a pastor, and still another church had there been a resident pastor. of the forty-one churches receiving aid, two are city, seven are town, seven are village and twenty-five are country churches. of course, some of these churches, in their turn, hand back money to other boards in the form of missions and benevolences. all the city churches give $ , . in benevolences and missions and receive $ , ; all the town churches give $ , . and receive $ , ; the village churches give $ , and receive $ , , and the country churches give $ , and receive $ , . by counties, beaverhead gets back . per cent. of what she gives, hughes gets back . per cent., sheridan . per cent., while union is the only county which receives more than she gives-- . per cent. the churches which receive aid send back to the boards $ , . . in a word, the churches send money to the church boards, who in turn remit this money. this would seem a strange story to some one not versed in church ethics and denominational procedure. but giving and serving is one of the fundamental ideas of the christian religion, and money given for missions and benevolences is good training as well as definitely a service to humanity. the range has always been home mission territory; justifiably too, because homesteaders have not been able to pay for religious ministry. a homesteader's "bit" is hard earned enough, and seldom adequate to his needs. nevertheless, the problem of financial aid is always a serious one. subsidization of persons as well as institutions must be wisely handled or moral deterioration is likely to set in. the y. m. c. a. never subsidizes a county for its rural work. if the county cannot pay, it must do without the work. ordinarily, several counties combine for rural y. m. c. a. work and have one secretary among them. an excellent grading system for their aided fields has been worked out by the presbyterian home mission board.[ ] one of the first questions considered is the prospect of self-support. how far has it been the policy of the boards to help a church to a status of self-support? forty-four of the seventy active churches have had aid during the last thirty years. only four of these churches are now self-supporting. it has already been pointed out that three churches did not receive aid during the year preceding the survey because they lacked pastors. development toward self-support has evidently not been a criterion of the boards in granting money. another test is whether the field is a "strategic service opportunity"--either allocated to this denomination or a field presenting a unique need. some of the churches fall within such a classification. a total of about $ , has been received, given by eleven denominations. city churches have received $ , , town churches $ , , village churches $ , and country churches $ , . of the total amount, $ , has gone to fifteen strategic service churches. in addition, four of the aided churches receiving $ , serve special groups of population, of which one is swedish, one norwegian, and two are german lutheran churches. there remain thirty churches receiving $ , . three churches, receiving $ , , are the only ones in their community. all the rest are in communities with other churches, at least one of which in each case is aided. [illustration: a neglected outpost of christianity a village church in the center of a large unevangelized area, served by a minister living thirty-five miles away.] aid misapplied some aid has very evidently been granted without a definite understanding on the part of the board as to whether other churches were concerned, whether the community could really support a church, whether, after all, it was good sense to assist a church in that particular situation. not very much money has been spent. more could have been used to advantage. as h. paul douglass says in "from survey to service," "it is in the nature of the case that the conquest of distance by the gospel will take very disproportionate amounts of money compared with other forms of missions. it can be cheap only when it is adequate." the policy has too often been to help keep alive a great many struggling churches which did little to justify support, rather than to develop a smaller number of churches in greater need of help in a poorly churched area. in other words, the policy has been one of denominational expansion rather than of denominational concentration and demonstration. home mission aid too often creates futile competition within a community by supporting a church for selfish denominational purposes. some of these churches were better dead, and they would have died of natural causes but for home mission aid. there are good and bad instances of denominational help. one denomination has aided three churches for thirty years, but has not helped any one of them for the last ten years. they had reached a self-supporting status. but, when a denomination lavishes $ , of home mission aid in keeping alive a church in a village of population, where there is also another church, and when the village is situated near to a large, well-churched center, such aid is wasted. the same denomination fails to give with liberality to a far needier case, the only protestant church in a small village, a railroad center, located fairly in the center of a large unevangelized area. in one of its valleys, a resident recently remarked that they had heard no preaching for twenty years. this instance of neglect is in montana, and the territory has been allocated to this denomination since , so that other churches are keeping their hands off. yet this church, which had a resident pastor until two years before the time of the survey, is now being served by a pastor of a town church living thirty-five miles away who preaches there on a _week-day_ night. no preaching on sunday, no pastoral work, obviously no community work in the village and no touch at all on the districts outside of the village! how well could the lavish aid of $ , have been put to use in this churchless area! this desperate condition needs as much aid every year as _all_ the boards give _all_ forty-one aided churches at present. instead, this church has been allocated to one denomination, and is now getting less attention than before. this case constitutes an abuse of the principle of allocation. chapter v to measure church effectiveness add members contributing to the support of an organization to a probable minister and possibly to a building and you have the ground-plan of the average church in this western country. what, then, is the church program? how are the churches attempting to serve their members, and just how much are they contributing through their program and activities to the life about them, toward bringing about a genuine christianization of a community life? religious values, it is true, are spiritual and cannot be tabulated in statistical tables. this fact is as fully recognized as the corollary that circumstances often limit ideals. what the churches are doing, however, ought to be a fair test of their underlying purpose. in a word, then, what do they consider their job and are they "putting it across"? opportunities for worship all the churches have services for the preaching of god's word, but it has already become evident in the preceding pages that in certain sections of the range country the church, even as a social factor, is regarded rather as a curiosity by the men. an amusing story with a bret harte flavor is told of an early meeting in beaverhead county. the hall in glendale, a busy place then, with banks, restaurants, even a paper, was filled with a rough-and-ready audience of miners and cowboys listening to a lantern lecture. vastly delighted over the trick, one man after another quietly rose from his seat and stepped out of the window. when the preacher ended his talk and the hall lighted up not a soul remained but himself. the next day, however, his audience made it right. they passed a hat and collected $ for him. as has been noted, more than half of the church buildings are adapted to preaching and nothing else, nineteen churches, of necessity, holding their meetings in school houses. the frequency of services varies. the larger centers have an abundance of church meetings. all but two of the town and two of the city churches have two preaching services each sunday. but only three country and two village churches are so fortunate. two additional churches, one a village and one a town church, have the advantage of two services a sunday because they unite regularly with other churches near them, both of which hold two services a sunday. [illustration: not a store but a church christian church at des moines, union county.] forty-five of the seventy churches have less than two services a sunday. of thirty churches, twenty-five country and five village churches, each has less than four services a month. those located in the larger well-churched centers have an ample number of services, while the majority of churches with less than two services a sunday are country churches. yet most of these are holding the only service in their community. seventy-three and five-tenths per cent. of all the country churches have less than four services each month, and per cent. have only one service or even less. all but one of the eighteen churches with only one service or less per month are country churches. ten churches hold special musical services. mid-week prayer meetings are held by sixteen of those which have two services each sunday, but by only one of the forty-five churches in the group holding the fewer number of services. except in winter, the chief handicap to attendance in beaverhead and sheridan lies in the rugged landscape. country members in all the counties have real difficulty in getting to church throughout the year. most of them have long distances to go, and the roads make travel difficult in winter and early spring. in summer, haying is carried on very generally seven days of the week, and church attendance is a problem even if the church service is held at night. the aggregate monthly attendance is , and as the total number of services is , the average attendance per service is about sixty-five persons, low enough, but higher than the average active membership per church, which is about fifty-six. average seating capacity, active membership and attendance compare as follows: [illustration: chart vii] country village town city churches churches churches churches total average seating capacity [ ] [ ] average active membership average attendance at services it is evident from the table above that the churches are only about one-fourth filled on the average. nothing is more disheartening than a church three-quarters empty in which the echoes of the minister's voice reverberate over the vacant seats. union services tangible evidence of coöperation and good-will among churches of different denominations is found in "union" services, which thirty-eight churches might reasonably hold in these counties. just twenty-one of these churches do unite, the majority for thanksgiving day services and in fewer instances, for chautauqua, baccalaureate, memorial day, and summer evening services. in two instances, two churches, methodist and presbyterian, are uniting for services and sunday schools, their other organizations meeting separately. since the time of the survey, two churches, located in an overchurched hamlet, have also temporarily put this plan into effect. [illustration: a case of coÖperation the m. e. church at blunt, s. d., which being pastorless joined with the presbyterian church for preaching services.] evangelism a greater portion of the evangelistic work is done through revival meetings, although less than half of the churches hold them. of all the members admitted on confession of faith by all the churches during the year, per cent. were converted in revival meetings, and joined one of the churches holding such a revival. thirty-one of the seventy churches held or united in thirty such meetings, one being a union meeting of two churches. pastors conducted fifteen meetings, in three of which a neighboring pastor or evangelist assisted. fourteen meetings were held by visiting clergymen. the meetings were well attended, extending from seven to thirty-five days, the average meeting lasting thirteen days. eighty-seven per cent. of the converts and the thirteen who were reclaimed joined the churches holding the revival. this gain amounted to per cent. of the total gain in membership made by these same thirty-one churches during the entire year. forty-four per cent. of all the churches held revivals, and while they represent only per cent. of the total harvest by confession and letter, yet three-fourths of all the gain made by confession of faith were obtained by these churches. the country churches held seventeen meetings, averaged four new members each, and made per cent. of the total gain. the village churches held five meetings and the town churches held four meetings, both averaging five new members each, the village churches making per cent. of the total gain and the town churches per cent. the city churches held only four meetings, averaged about fifty-seven new members each and realized one-third of the total gain made. children and the churches sunday schools are the big hope of this country. young people and older people are not so much interested in the church and religion because so many have grown up without it, but the children have had more chance to know the church. sunday schools are to-day the most frequent form of church work in these western counties. they are especially hopeful because so many of them over-ride denominational lines and unionize; also because they persist when all other church spirit seems to be dead. fifty-six churches have sunday schools of their own, and one city church has a mission sunday school in addition to its own. two groups of two churches each combine their sunday schools. only three churches neither maintain their own sunday schools nor help with a union school. thirty-seven union sunday schools are being carried on in the four counties, nine of which have the assistance of church organizations meeting in the same building. three are located in mining camp villages, the rest in small hamlets or open country. these union schools have a fourth of the total sunday school enrollment. people on ranches and far from town start sunday schools under local leadership without waiting for churches to be organized. when a newcomer sends his children to sunday school it is often the only contact made with religious activity in the new country. the independent sunday school has, therefore, in a sense, a greater responsibility than the church sunday school. the importance of the sunday school is brought out in a comparison between sunday school enrollment and resident church membership. country village town city total number of churches number of sunday schools total resident church membership , , , total enrollment of church sunday schools , , , total enrollment of all sunday schools , , , , average enrollment of all sunday schools average attendance of all sunday schools the enrollment of church sunday schools is larger than the total church membership in union county, and larger than resident church membership in beaverhead, hughes or union. the total enrollment of all sunday schools is per cent. higher than the total resident church membership. without the union county sunday schools this enrollment equals only per cent. of the resident church membership. thirty-five churches have a larger sunday school enrollment than resident church membership; all nine churches helping with union sunday schools have a smaller membership than the union school enrollment. this discrepancy is high in some churches. for example, a country church has thirty-five enrolled in the sunday school and only eight church members; a village church with sixty-five enrolled in its sunday school has seven church members; a town church has fifteen church members and enrolled in its sunday school. country and village sunday schools show the best record. the total enrollment of all country sunday schools, including the union schools, is more than three times as high as church membership. the enrollment of all village sunday schools is about per cent. higher than village church enrollment. there are no union sunday schools in the towns or city. except in the city the average sunday school enrollment exceeds average resident church membership, the advantage being twenty-two for the country schools, nineteen for the village, and twelve for the town schools. the average city church membership, however, exceeds average sunday school enrollment by . when sunday school enrollment is higher than church membership, it is ordinarily encouraging as a promise of future growth. but the large discrepancies between village and open country church membership and sunday school enrollment, coupled with the low percentage of young people in their church memberships, show that these churches are not recruiting new members from their sunday schools as they might. nor are the churches relating themselves to any extent to the separate sunday schools in outlying sections. this _can_ be done, and is most successful in a few cases. for example, the apache valley sunday school, which meets on sunday afternoons at a schoolhouse in union county, is being "fathered" by two ministers from clayton, six miles away, who go out on alternate sundays. this sunday school is live and flourishing. it maintains a high percentage of attendance and carries on various activities. attendance in general is good. the percentage of enrollment represented in the attendance on a typical sunday varies from . per cent. for the town to . per cent. for the city schools. yet only twenty-five schools make definite efforts to increase their attendance. the various methods used are contests such as a competitive boys' and girls' day, a fall rally day, cards, rewards and prizes, a banner class, a look-out committee and the cross and crown system. during the year preceding the survey, pupils joined the churches from the sunday schools, and there were seven probationers at the time the survey was made. decision day was held in four country, one village, five town and four city schools. the results were meager. only thirty-five declared for church membership. nine town and city schools have classes to prepare for church membership, eight schools have sent twenty scholars into some kind of christian work during the last ten years. a country sunday school in hughes county has shown what can be done in this respect. it has sent five young people into christian service during the last ten years, and five more in the whole history of the school. it is significant that one consecrated pastor has served this sunday school and church during this entire time. cradle rolls are another excellent method of enlistment. yet these are kept in only twenty-six schools. the total enrollment is . one of the greatest needs of this country is more local and better trained leadership, not only for sunday schools but for the community at large. the only definite training for leadership is eight teacher training classes, held in two city, four town, one village and one country school. mission study is carried on in seventeen schools more or less frequently, several additional schools annually presenting the cause of missions. one city school has a four-day institute for the study of sunday school methods and missions. twenty-nine schools make regular missionary offerings, and seven take them once a year. twelve schools have libraries with an average of seventy-three volumes each. eighty-three schools give out sunday school papers. there are classes, an average of about twelve per class. proper preparation is one of the greatest needs of the sunday schools in these counties. much of the instruction is haphazard and indifferent. men teach classes and . per cent. of the total enrollment. ordinarily, the man teacher, if there is one, takes the adult class at the expense of the growing boy who needs him more than the adults. graded lessons are used exclusively in ten schools and twenty others use them in some classes. seventeen schools have organized classes. sixty-six schools are open throughout the year. the pastor is superintendent in six schools, teacher in fifteen, substitute teacher in one, "helps" in nineteen, is a student in two, and in one reports his job as "superintendent; teacher and janitor." social events for the sunday schools mean picnics, class parties, and sometimes a real ice cream sociable. about one-third of the schools have a reasonable amount of social activity, while sixteen report a great deal. fifty-seven schools have picnics, and great events they are, too, with more cakes and pies and goodies of all sorts than the community is likely to see again for another year. one or more classes have socials, parties and "hikes" in seventeen schools (four village, nine town and four city). the "anti-kants" is an interesting class of young women. every time one of the class becomes engaged, there is a party and a shower, called a graduation. twenty graduations have taken place in the history of the class. about half of the schools have programs for special days, especially for children's day, christmas and easter. one union school has an easter picnic and egg-hunt. nineteen schools have mixed socials, such as parties, indoor picnics, ice cream suppers and entertainments. one town school has a weekly social. the only special sunday school organizations are a choir association and sunday school athletic teams in three town churches which play competitive games. twenty report no social life of any sort in connection with their schools. they do not even have a picnic to liven things up. [illustration: happy little picnickers the baptist mission at kleenburg, wyoming, does good work for the kiddies.] [illustration: a good time was had by all a sunday school class picnic in union county.] other church organizations various other organizations have been developed within the churches for business, educational and social purposes. women have a great many, men have very few. fifty-six women's organizations are carried on in thirty-seven churches, of which nine are village and nine country churches. there are twenty-eight ladies' aids, thirteen missionary societies and various guilds, circles, auxiliaries, a manse society, a king's daughters, an adelphian and a dorcas. the total enrollment is , , or about per cent. of the total female resident church membership over twenty-one, and per cent. of the total female population aged from eighteen to forty-four, in the four counties. the attendance averages about twenty-one to each organization. in sorry contrast to this array, men's organizations number only seven, and all are connected with city or town churches in pierre, the county seat of hughes county. the enrollment is , or per cent. of the total resident church membership in city and town of males over twenty-one years of age, and only per cent. of the total male population between the ages of eighteen and forty-four in the four counties. men and women have two organizations in common. one is a missionary society which, contrary to custom, shares its endeavors with men, the other is a dramatic club for any one old or young who has dramatic ability. this interesting organization gives a splendid amateur show every year. a former professional actor, who also coaches dramatics in the high school, is the coach. boys left out there are only eight organizations for girls in seven town or city churches. two hundred and twenty-two, or per cent., of all the girls under twenty-one in the town and city resident membership are enrolled. one is a friendly society, and the rest are various kinds of guilds. but boys are the most shabbily treated of all. there are only four organizations especially for them, all in town churches and two in one church, so that only three churches have special clubs for their boys. the enrollment is sixty-nine, or about per cent. of all the boys under twenty-one enrolled in city and town church membership. boys and girls together have two organizations in two town churches with a membership of seventy-three. one is a junior league, and the other a junior baptist young people's union. young people have twenty-eight organizations in ten country, three village, nine town and six city churches. eight of them are epworth leagues, eight are christian endeavors and the rest are various young people's societies, baptist young people's unions, mission volunteers, young people's alliances, two choir organizations and one purely for fun club. their total enrollment of , together with the membership of the mixed boys' and girls' organizations, equals per cent. of the total church resident membership under twenty-one.[ ] more people in the community are reached through the meetings of these organizations than by any other single church activity, with the exception of the celebration of special days. these meetings are often community affairs, especially in the case of the women's organizations. in twenty organizations, the attendance exceeds the enrollment. the men's clubs work for the church, and several do practical community work. their programs in all but two cases include dinners, either at every meeting or at special banquets during the year. one club puts on a father and son banquet every year. men's forum and ladies' aids the most interesting outcome of the work of any of the men's organizations is the men's forum, recently developed in sheridan by the combined men's clubs of the congregational and protestant churches. this was the first open forum held in wyoming. the attendance at the meetings averaged . the principles of the forum are as follows: the complete development of democracy in america. a common meeting ground for all the people in the interest of truth and mutual understanding, and for the cultivation of community spirit. the freest and fullest open discussion of all vital questions affecting human welfare. participation on the part of the audience from the forum floor whether by questions or discussion. the freedom of the forum management from responsibility for utterances by speakers from the platform or floor. among the subjects presented have been "community problems," "the church and industrial conflict," "the golden rule in business: is it practicable?" "the farmers' movement in america," "bolshevism," "feeding the world: is it america's job?" there is no more encouraging sign of community interest in public questions, and a conscious effort on the part of the church to develop a public opinion on social, economic and religious problems. [illustration: program of a community rally] the ladies' aid is often the only woman's organization in the community. most of these clubs meet once or twice a month, with regular programs for bible study or missions, organize sewing and quilting bees, and bazaars, etc. the help they give in church finances has already been appreciated. any such common interest and responsibility holds many an organization together. several promote social welfare work. one organized a teachers' training class to improve material for sunday school teachers. one village has a community ladies' aid which works for the church, although only a few are church members. the community woman's club in a small hamlet is studying missions as a part of its program. in one community, the ladies' aid of the only church, which is pastorless, meets regularly and holds a yearly bazaar to pay the occasional supply preacher and keep the church in repair. at the "frontier day" given by a dude ranch, the ladies' aid from a nearby hamlet had a booth for selling hamburgers and lemonade. in one of the mining camps, the ladies' aid of the mission church sent out invitations for an afternoon tea to raise money for a new piano for the kindergarten. it turned out to be a great social event attended by women, many of them foreign, from all the camps in the vicinity. here is another ladies' aid, the only organization in all that part of a sparsely settled country, and many miles from town which holds eight socials a year and every social is a supper. those suppers bring out whole families, and are the biggest annual events. is it any wonder? the woman on the range has a lonesome time of it. ranches are far apart. she rarely sees her neighbors and less frequently goes to town. this woman needs social activities more than her town sister. yet only nine out of thirty-four country churches have women's organizations. young people's meetings are generally held sunday nights, and the majority hold an occasional social. one town young people's organization has a successful bible study class. the purely for fun club, as its name implies, is purely social and meets twice a month. it has a special garden party once a year. this club is one of the activities of a m. e. community church located in a new dry-farming community which is having a struggle to make both ends meet, but is doing good work in that community. the people are loyal, even enthusiastic. there is not, however, even a church building, let alone any equipment for social activities. a building is desperately needed for church and community center, nor can the members provide it themselves. cases of this kind represent possibilities for the most effective sort of home mission aid. chapter vi the preachers' goings and comings this is a field that challenges a preacher. the love of a new world has drawn his potential flocks and with them a pastor may come to new pastures where the satisfaction of creative pioneer work is not its least attraction. settlements have grown up almost over night. people have come from all over the east, middle west and southwest. many families live far from their neighbors. leadership is the challenging need and it is primarily the task of the church to furnish and develop it. the initial handicap is that here people, from a matter of habit, do not yearn for church ministry as they do in other parts of the country. their traditions do not include it. it is the preacher who must "sell" the idea of religion and the church. no one else will do it. he must be a "builder of something out of nothing--a pioneer of the gospel, creator as well as evangelist." the vagrant minister one of the most startling facts brought out by this survey is the degree to which the ministers have been transient. always a detriment to effective work, this lack of permanency is especially unfortunate in a country of such rapid growth and so transient a population. it takes more than average time to win people's confidence because they do not accept the church _per se_. there are problems enough to be met when a preacher "hog-ties," as the western slang puts it, meaning when he stays on the job. but the preachers have come and gone along with the rest. three of the forty-five churches organized for ten years or more have had the same preacher throughout the period, and five more churches have had only two pastors. but seven churches have changed pastors three times, ten have changed four, seven have changed five, six have changed six, five have changed seven, one has changed eight and one has changed nine times during this period. about half of the country and village churches, per cent. of the town, and one-fourth of the city churches have had five or more pastors during the last ten years. of the churches organized within the last ten years, ten have had one pastor, eight have had two, one has had three, three have had four, one has had six, one has had seven and two have had no regular pastors during the entire time. these men have indeed had the spirit of wanderlust. they have scarcely stayed long enough to get acquainted with their task. [illustration: chart viii] lapses between pastors are revealed. the changing has meant loss of time to three-fourths of the churches. thus, of the group of churches organized ten years or more, city churches have been vacant . per cent. of the ten years, town churches per cent. of the time, village churches per cent. and country churches per cent. of the time. the churches organized in the last ten years, of which the majority are in small hamlets and the open country, have been vacant per cent. of the time. again the churches in the larger centers fare better. distribution of pastors the churches in the four counties are at present being served by forty ministers who have been a long time in church service, but only a short time in their present fields. their average length of time in their present charge is only two and one-third years. twelve of the forty-one present pastors have been in their parishes less than a year, and fourteen more have been serving from one to two years inclusive. thirty-two ministers give their entire time to the ministry. eight have some other occupation in addition to their church work. one is a student, and the rest are ranchers. these eight men serve eleven churches in the four counties and eight churches outside. thirteen churches were without regular pastors at the time of the survey, but five churches were only temporarily pastorless--transiency caught in the act! four of the thirteen were being supplied by local or travelling preachers, one a woman homesteader. the remaining fifty-seven churches, therefore, were being served by forty regular ministers, and two resident social workers who take care of a baptist mission at a mining village in sheridan county. the regular ministers also serve twenty churches in other counties, making a total of seventy-seven churches, or . churches per man. this is a slightly lower proportion of ministers per church than the region averages. how the ministers are divided up so that they will go around is shown in the following table. the sixteen preaching points and missions which these same men also serve are not included because in general they do not take the same amount of time as a regular church.[ ] preachers with no other preachers with occupation other occupation serving one church (b- , h- , s- , u- ) (h- , u- ) serving two churches (b- , h- , s- , u- ) (..., u- ) serving three churches (..., h- , s- , u- ) (..., u- ) serving four churches (..., u- ) serving five churches (...............u- ) -- -- total the denominational basis of church organization, as a preceding chapter shows, leads to an uneven distribution of churches and ministers. if it were not for denominational lines, it would be possible to make a better distribution of the ministers so as to give a larger proportion of the communities a resident minister. the centers have an abundance of ministers, but outside the centers there are too few. thus, thirty-three of the churches have resident preachers, but twenty-two, or _two-thirds_, of these churches are located in centers which have other resident ministers. more than half of the churches with resident pastors are town or city churches. only _nine_ communities have one or more resident ministers serving a single church on full time. one of these communities is the city, three are the towns, one is a village community in beaverhead, one the mining town with the two social workers, and three are country communities. only eighteen communities have such full-time resident pastors. ten other churches have pastors living adjacent to their buildings, but in each case the pastor also serves other churches, or has other occupation. fourteen churches have pastors living from five to eighteen miles distant, four have ministers living from eighteen to thirty-five miles distant. one has its pastor living fifty miles away, one sixty-five and one miles. four pastors live outside their counties. [illustration: chart ix] an adequate parsonage is one means of keeping a resident pastor. about half of the churches have parsonages. of the forty churches with buildings, thirty-four have parsonages and one country pastor has a parsonage and no church building. three parsonages were not being used at the time of the survey. the residence of pastors and the distribution of pastoral service have a clear relation to growth. the pastor is ordinarily responsible for the evangelistic success of the church. if a pastor is non-resident or has too large a territory to serve, his personal contribution is lessened. of the churches having resident pastors, two-thirds made a net gain. of those with non-resident pastors, only one-third gained. pastors' salaries. the question of ministers' salaries is important. inadequate salaries have undoubtedly caused some of the restlessness among the ministry. salaries vary as the minister is on full or on part time, as shown in the following table. the full-time one-church man commands a wage higher than the man with more churches, or the man with another occupation. [illustration: a parsonage but no church the m. e. pastor shown here with his wife and baby has a house but no church building on his circuit. he preaches in three school houses.] minister full time with other full time part time minister occupation minister minister with more and more with one with one than one than one church church church church maximum salary $ , $ , $ , $ , minimum salary average , , , these average salary figures may be compared with the average salary of the y. m. c. a. county secretaries for the entire united states which was $ , in . training of ministers standards of the various denominations as to the educational qualifications of the ministers vary. eighteen of the forty-one pastors are graduates of colleges and theological seminaries; six others are college graduates, three are graduates of seminaries or bible schools, but have no college training. one minister is going to seminary. ten ministers have had no special training for the ministry. chapter vii negro and indian work racial cordiality in this range country, there are not many negroes in proportion to the white settlers, and the relations between the races are cordial. beaverhead county has twenty-eight negroes in dillon and lima communities. sheridan county has a total of about . a small neighborhood, cat creek, six miles west of the city of sheridan has about negroes. there are six negro farm owners at cat creek with farms of acres each. considerable community spirit has been developed, which is manifested by increased friendliness and by pride in the farms. the plum grove club has sixteen members, and meets twice a month for discussions on crop welfare and for social times. there is a sunday school, with an enrollment of fifteen and an average attendance of ten, which is kept going for eight months of the year. preaching services are held occasionally. the negroes in the city of sheridan are hard-working and industrious. they are mainly laborers, but some have small businesses. organizations include a mutual aid society with fifty members and three lodges which are all inactive at present. the national association for the advancement of colored people has a local branch with members. a recently organized athletic club of fifteen members hopes to branch out into a regular athletic association. colored churches there are two colored churches--a methodist episcopal and a baptist north. the methodist episcopal was organized in ; the baptist in the following year. both churches have resident pastors, serving but one point each. each denomination has a church building and a parsonage. the combined value of the church buildings is $ , , of the parsonages $ . the baptist church has recently been rebuilt. both churches use weekly envelopes for raising their money which amounted to $ , . last year, $ , . of which was by subscription, and $ by collection. there was no surplus or deficit. from this fund $ . was spent for salaries, $ . for missions and benevolences, and $ , . for rebuilding and repairs. the baptist church receives home mission aid of $ . the methodist church has thirty-six members, having made a net gain of seven in the year preceding the survey. the baptist church has twenty-six members whose membership has remained constant. the total net active membership of the two churches is fifty-one. each church holds eight sunday preaching services a month. both have sunday schools. the methodist sunday school, with an enrollment of sixteen, is kept going the year round; the baptist sunday school, with an enrollment of twelve, meets for only seven months. the methodist church has three other organizations--a woman's missionary society, a willing workers and ladies' aid, and a literary society for both sexes with a membership of fifty. the baptists have one organization, a christian aid, with a membership of twelve, to which both men and women belong. one church has had six, the other five, pastors in the last ten years. the present pastors are graduates of both college and seminary. a friendly feeling exists between the white and colored people in sheridan, which is manifested by a willingness on the part of the white churches to help the colored. the colored ministers are included in the sheridan ministerial union. indian missions part of the crow creek indian reservation extends into the southeastern part of hughes county, and about per cent. of the people living in this section of hughes are indians. all are farmers owning their own land. an episcopal indian mission was established here in . the pastor, who lives in fort thompson, conducts one morning service a month. there are twenty-six members, of whom twenty-one are active. there is no sunday school, but a ladies' aid with five members meets every week and has twice as large an attendance as it has enrollment. there is also a catholic mission located near the episcopal mission, which was started about . the priest comes from outside the county and holds one mass each month. there are about fifteen families in the membership. chapter viii non-protestant work roman catholic the roman catholic work is the strongest non-protestant religious activity in all the four counties and naturally has a large number of foreign-born and spanish-american communicants in its parishes. there is a total of twenty-four organized catholic churches. beaverhead county has two, hughes three, sheridan five and union fourteen. the city of sheridan, and each of the towns supports a catholic church; eight are located in villages, two of which are in sheridan mining camps, and twelve in small hamlets. nine priests, seven of whom live in these counties, serve the twenty-four churches. four churches, two in villages and two in small hamlets, are served by priests living outside the county. [illustration: an oasis in the desert the grounds in which this catholic church and parsonage stand make this the only spot of verdure in a barren waste extending for miles on every side.] each of the twenty-four churches has a building. there are six priests' houses, valued at $ , , and two parochial school buildings. the value of church buildings is estimated at a total value of $ , . the total value of church property, including land, is $ , . none of the churches have any social equipment. the total receipts of all the churches last year amounted to $ , . and this amount was spent largely on salaries and church upkeep. the only churches receiving aid are two in union, each of which received $ . the average salary is $ . [illustration: roman catholic churches and parishes, union county, new mexico] the total membership is about , , which is within of the total protestant figure for seventy churches. the average total membership is per church. only three of the twenty-four churches have as few as fifty members or less. thirteen churches have catechism and confirmation classes, with a total enrollment of . attendance is high; it equals per cent. of the enrollment. there are seventeen other organizations, three for men, ten for women, one for boys, one for girls and two for young people. the total enrollment is . the church in sheridan has a parochial school. catholic church membership increased more rapidly than the protestant in beaverhead and hughes and less rapidly in sheridan from to , according to the united states religious census. in union, from to , the protestant membership increased more rapidly than the catholic. catholic membership is greater than protestant membership in every county but hughes. there are a total of nineteen catholic mission centers in union and beaverhead. penitentes there are about five groups of penitentes in union county, with an average of twenty-five members each. no women belong. the penitentes are all spanish-americans and are largely sheep and cattle herders. their small adobe and stone buildings are called "morada." meetings are held in lent, on the last three days of holy week. during the ceremonies, members inflict personal punishment, often carrying it to an extreme. this sect, which was at one time distributed over the whole territory of new mexico, since has retreated towards the north. as to their origin, twitchell in his "history of new mexico" says: "it is possible that the penitentes, particularly by their scourging themselves with whips made of cactus, come from the order of flagellants which was a body of religious persons who believed by whipping and scourging themselves for religious discipline they could appease the divine wrath against their sins and the sins of the age." the penitentes are not recognized by the catholic church. latter day saints dillon, in beaverhead, and the city of sheridan, each have a mormon church. there is a church building in dillon, and the one in sheridan is now being erected. there is also an inactive church at lima, organized in . the mormon membership is eighty-five in dillon and thirty-six in sheridan. both churches have sunday schools, with a total enrollment of seventy and relief societies with a total membership of thirty-five. christian science there are two christian science churches, located in dillon and in the city of sheridan, both organized in . the dillon church meets in an office, but the sheridan church has a building valued at $ , . the church membership is about . both churches have sunday schools, with an enrollment of about thirty in dillon and about fifty in sheridan. theosophical the city of sheridan has a theosophical society which meets in a real estate office. the membership is seventeen. six new members were taken in last year. meetings are held every friday night. two meetings a month are for members only, and two are public lectures. chapter ix seeing it whole the range, our last real frontier, has grown up. round-ups are miniature and staged. all the land is fenced. the cowboy is passing, if not gone. even "chaps" and a sombrero are rare, unless worn by a "dude" from the east. the last years have seen a remarkable growth and change in this country. the cattleman and the cowboy have largely given way to the homesteader, and he in turn has become a regular farmer or, as he prefers it, "rancher." the land of the homesteader the cowman used to insist that no one could make a living on the semi-arid range. for many years "there was no sign of permanent settlement on the plains and no one thought of this region as frontier." then the homesteader came. "and always, just back of the frontier," says emerson hough in "the passing of the frontier," "advancing, receding, crossing it this way and that, succeeding and failing, hoping and despairing, but steadily advancing in the net result--has come that portion of the population which builds homes and lives in them, and which is not content with a blanket for a bed and the sky for a roof above." homesteaders are good stock upon which to build a civilization. many of them are sturdy folk who have come to the west to establish homes and with determination are doing so. of course, there are the habitual drifters who have always been failures because they never stayed long enough anywhere to succeed. but they prove up on their claims and then go elsewhere, drifting still. others leave, holding their land as an investment, because they have not found the land or the circumstances up to their expectations. the free land has gradually been taken up, so that there is very little of it left in any one of these counties. the population is becoming less transient on this account. more people are staying because there is no more free land, and no other newer frontier. what, then, has the survey shown of the range? how has it fared in its years of growth? what are its assets as well as its needs? in a word, what has it made of itself? the very presence of real farm-houses on dry farming land and mesas speaks in itself of a small world conquered. of course, there are farm-houses in the valleys. but sheer grit is all that achieves a house and a barn and a wind-shield of trees out on the mesa. lumber is expensive and must be hauled from the nearest market. trees, so wary of growing there, must be watched, watered and carefully tended every day for the first five years. a home on the plains means more sweat and toil and effort than a home anywhere else in our country. [illustration: watering her garden this homesteader of ten years' standing has succeeded in cultivating an attractive garden patch even in the thirsty soil of new mexico.] self-help the rule the development of the range has been haphazard. any land company has been able to work up a "boom" at will. not even misrepresentations and uncounted, unlimited hardships have stirred the government to form and follow any better colonization policy for its unoccupied lands than its "homestead laws." the western farmer has never been cherished by his government as has been the canadian farmer. until the comparatively recent development of county agent services and the farm bureau, he has had to work for everything he got with very little help from any one. an intense economic struggle is behind the homesteaders. they begin from the bottom up. some are just now beginning, but for the majority the difficulty of getting a start is over. but the last few years have been hard for every farmer and rancher on the range, old settler and new alike. no part of the country can afford to have the men on the land as hard pressed as these men have been. too large a proportion of the farms have been mortgaged for the economic well-being of a nation. [illustration: a community rendezvous often the general store is the only gathering place for neighbors miles apart.] made up largely of people from the middle west, this country has taken on some of the characteristics of that region--in the development of small and large centers, and in the improved roads and schools. but on account of the nature of the soil, it will be many years before the range becomes a second middle west, if ever. the land will not support as many people per square mile. much of the area will remain, for years to come, a land of large distances and comparatively few people. the future of the range is not to be summed up by saying, "go to, this country will soon become a second middle west. just give it time." "if you want to see neighbor adams, you'll find him in town on saturday afternoon, most like round perkins' store." such will be the advice given in regard to meeting almost any farmer living in almost any part of these counties. as roads have improved, and autos have come to be generally used by the farmers as a means of transportation, the trade centers along the railroads, especially the county seats, have increased greatly in size and importance. this growth of the centers is characteristic of the whole united states. until after less than per cent. of the american people lived in cities of , population and over. in there were but five cities in the united states having a population of , . now a majority live in the cities; but the west does not yet have the urban development of the east. importance of the county seat as the county seats are coming gradually to have more of a direct relationship to the country around them, they should assume more responsibility toward their counties. through their organizations and civic leagues of business men, these centers are just waking up to the fact that the towns are dependent upon them. as one farmer in union county said, "there is no permanent prosperity except that based on the farmer. if our town is big and top-heavy and the farmers are taxed heavily to keep the town up, it is killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. the , farmers tributary to clayton must pay the bills of everything brought in because, ultimately, the products of the farm have to pay for everything. when conditions are bad, the farmer has to pay the bill and keep going besides." if the development of the future is to be sound each side will do its best to understand the other. a centralized school system school systems are becoming better. people realize the advantages of education. more and more young people are being sent to college. but as distances are gradually being overcome, schools should be administered wholly from the county seat. the county unit plan does away with the local school district boards. this system equalizes burdens and advantages, minimizes dissension, and conduces to economy and efficiency. the average school board has no standards by which to judge an applicant for teaching. one disadvantage of the district system is that so often daughters are put in as teachers. the county unit plan means centralized control. the county superintendent, who is selected solely because of education, training and successful experience, takes over most of the duties which the various districts now have. this means a comprehensive and efficient plan of education for the whole county. social needs other great needs are a better organized social life and more recreational activities. outside the larger center, there is a great lack of social life. social organizations are fairly abundant, but they are almost all city or town affairs. living on the land is a more solitary affair for women than for men. the men drive to town, but the women stay home week in and week out with few diversions. a postmistress in montana told about two women living on large cattle ranches about six miles apart, a small distance in that country. she said to one of them: "there is mrs. denis at the door just going out. did you see her?" the other lady answered: "yes, but i hardly know mrs. denis." they had lived there for more than ten years, near neighbors for the range country, and yet barely acquainted! [illustration: "mary, call the cattle home!" but this "mary" is a homesteader's wife and the range is a long way from the sands o' dee, and "mary" herself is usually a long way from anywhere.] the part of the church finally, there is the duty of the church. "the churches performed an inestimable social function in frontier expansion," says john dewey. "they were the rallying points not only of respectability but of decency and order in the midst of a rough and turbulent population. they were the representatives of social neighborliness and all the higher interests of the communities." the church has played an important rôle in the past, but its position in this same country to-day is disappointing. for some reason it has not become essential to the landscape. [illustration: waiting at the church a christian church in union county which draws its congregation from a wide area.] the immense distances and scattered population have, of course, been a great problem. all the country west of the mississippi makes up . per cent. of the total area of the united states, while the western area has only per cent. of the total population. in , it had only . per cent. of the population. the average density per square mile in the united states is . persons. illinois has . people per square mile, but montana has an average density of only . , wyoming of , new mexico of . and south dakota of . persons. much of the range has never had the chance to go to church, and one result of the lack of church facilities in the past is that it is difficult now to create a church spirit. homesteading is no fun. it means being away from doctors and comforts, getting ahead little by little, facing set-backs, discouragements and loneliness. of course, a homesteader is absorbed by his place. unless he is simply proving up on his claim for the purpose of selling it, he must be absorbed if he is to succeed. he broke with most of his home ties before he came and, after arriving, has not had time to go adventuring for any but those simple things which he must have. "church" is one of the things he left behind. church services have rarely followed him, and generally he has been too busy to seek them. even if he were minded to hunt them out, it takes more than average courage to be "different" when one's neighbors are largely of a common mind. so the absence of church has become a habit. [illustration: hitting the trail will this settler find a church welcome in his new home?] but probably the greatest hindrance to church work has been the shifting population. churches have trained lay leaders only to have them leave "en masse." out of the fourteen churches which have been abandoned in these four counties, nine have gone under because their members melted away. the carrying over of the care-free frontier spirit often makes for a general slackness. this spirit has in it the freedom of the west, the perfect democracy of the cowboy, and is essentially individualistic. if directed into right channels, it should be an asset instead of a drawback. what the frontier church is five sentences sum up the church on the range. it is a church of the center. it is, in the main, a church of the middle-aged. it has been a church with haphazard leadership. it is a church of past achievements and of unlimited future possibilities, provided it has an inspired and sustained leadership. it is a church which needs a social vision. it is natural that, where the centers along the railroad have been the only "sure" things in a country of constantly shifting settlements, the largest number of churches have been established in such centers. but these churches have not reached the great unevangelized areas around them. the "isolated, unattached christian," who lives perhaps only a few miles from town, has been neglected by the church in the center. it is natural, too, that this should be largely a church of the middle-aged. what is there to attract the young people? many of the church organizations have no buildings. with few exceptions, buildings are equipped for little else but preaching and listening. nearly half of the churches have less than four services a month. the sunday schools are not well organized. with the start the sunday schools now have, possibilities are unlimited if they can be conducted on a more business-like basis. yet these young people and children are the great hope of the church. no more wide-awake, vigorous young people are to be found. "if only the church could work out something that would last through the week," said one of them, "it would seem more real." but in many communities the women's organization is not only the sole organization in the church, outside the sunday school, but the only one in the community. the work has been haphazard. home mission aid has been spent out of all proportion to fitness. the same amount now received would go further, eventually, if spent in fewer places. with means and leaders adequate for a small area only, the general idea of some denominations has been to hold, but to do little with a large area. there has been some unnecessary over-lapping of work. with their large fields, the ministers cannot be expected to do more than they are doing at present which is, in most churches, occasional preaching. a missionary pastor said, concerning one of his charges in a neglected community in union, "the second time i went to preach no one came. do you think i'd go back?" under the present system of many points and long distances, this pastor could hardly afford to use the time to go back. yet, to succeed, church ministry must be steadier and more long-suffering. there are some new americans in each county, but they are in larger numbers in sheridan and beaverhead. a large number of the spanish-americans in union are not provided for by the catholic church, and the only protestant work for them in the county, a spanish american mission in clayton, has been given up. in sheridan county there is great need of a comprehensive program that shall include all six mines. there should be at least two community houses built with organized social activities and evening classes; the staff to include a domestic science teacher. with the exception of one class for half a dozen italian mothers in one of sheridan's mining villages, no americanization work is being done in any county. the churches should enlarge their vision so as to include the new americans. [illustration: the family mansion with the family and the union county doctor in front of it. the family is spanish-american.] what the frontier church can be it is possible for the church to serve this kind of country with its scattered people. it is difficult but it can be done. certain denominations have succeeded with what they call a "demonstration parish." the plan is exactly the same as that of the experimental farms conducted by the government. a comprehensive seven-day-a-week plan, which has in mind the whole man, mind, body and soul, in place of the old circuit-rider system, is the program of the congregational demonstration parish in plateau valley, colorado. six thousand feet up on the western slope of the rockies, this valley is shut in on three sides by rugged, white-capped mountains. it is thirty miles long, from one to six miles wide, and contains about square miles of territory. this is a small world in itself, self-contained by the nature of its environment. of the , people, live in the four small villages of collbran, plateau city, melina and mesa. the one great industry of the valley is stock-raising. farmers have devoted themselves chiefly to raising beef cattle, but an interest in dairying is increasing. pure-bred stock is now the goal of their efforts. this beautiful mountain valley was chosen as a "model parish" to show what could be done by the church throughout a large, thinly settled area. although there were five church buildings in the valley, the church-going habit seemed to have been lost or never acquired, possibly because religious privileges had been meager and not altogether suited to the peculiar needs of the people and the country. it is doubtful if people living in the valley were church members or attendants, while not more than children went to sunday school regularly. few persons, however, were actually hostile toward religion or the church. here was the opportunity and the challenge. the work centers in collbran village, where there is a congregational church organization and building. there are two men on the staff. the pastor has charge of the church school, the christian endeavor, and the work with men and young people in collbran village. he also does visiting throughout the valley. the director of extension work has the responsibility for establishing and maintaining out-stations, financing the local budget, and supervising the activities and the building of the community house. this community house is to be the center and great achievement of the modern socio-religious program. the completed building will have rooms and equipment for an ideal church school, kindergarten, game room, library, rest-room and men's club. the gymnasium will have a floor space seventy-five by forty feet and a gallery; it will also serve as an auditorium, while a stage, dressing-rooms and a moving-picture booth form part of the equipment. the basement will have billiard room, bowling alleys, lockers, baths, dining room and kitchen. the entire cost of the building will be approximately $ , , to be financed in part by the congregational church building society and in part by local pledges. this is home mission aid well spent. the first and second units were completed and opened for use on christmas day, . the first unit is the auditorium. the second unit contains the library, assembly room, men's room, women's room, large billiard room and two offices which are to be used as headquarters for the boys' and girls' organizations. the third unit will be completed in the summer of . the pastor and extension man have office hours in the morning. in the afternoon, the women's rest room, with its easy chair, lounge and cribs for babies, and the men's club are open. the billiard and reading rooms are open from one to five-thirty and the library is open from three-thirty to five. this library already has , books, and there are shelves for , more. the library service is probably the most appreciated part of the work for it fills a long and sorely felt need. in the evening, the men's and women's rooms are open, and the reading room and billiard room are open from seven to nine. the privileges of the community house are for each man, woman and child in the valley irrespective of church or creed. so far as possible, everything enjoyed at the center is to be taken to the furthest circumference of the valley. the equipment for the extension work consists of a truck, auto, moving-picture machine and a generator. the community truck is used to furnish group transportation and to promote inter-neighborhood "mixing" in competitive and other ways. the extension director is organizer, social engineer and community builder. he has a regular circuit of preaching appointments and sunday schools. his program includes a one-hour visit to four schools every week. ten minutes are used for physical exercises, thirty minutes for public school music with the coöperation of the teacher and twenty minutes for religious education. he takes out library books and sunday school papers to the teacher, and once a month shows educational moving-pictures. the people are already responding to this constructive program. within four months, the collbran church school has increased nearly per cent. in average daily attendance. the christian endeavor society includes practically all the young people of the intermediate age. the scouts and camp fire organizations are very active and recently held a dual meet with the mesa organizations. wrestling, basket-ball, hog-tying and three-legged races were some of the events. within the year, thirty-seven members were added to the collbran church, among whom were the leading lawyer, banker, doctor, contractor, editor, merchant and rancher. the other two denominations in the valley, the methodist episcopal and baptists, are coöperating in the effort. the small methodist episcopal church at plateau city has come into the movement by arrangement with the methodist episcopal conference, and has become part of the larger parish. this church and community will unite with the congregational church on a common budget for the support of general work. there is now methodist episcopal work in the extreme end of the valley, baptist in the central part, and congregational in the extreme west. each church sticks to its own territory; each urges members of its own denomination to work with churches in other sections. but the larger parish equipment serves all in the extension program. the work is only begun. the larger purpose is to break down distinctions between neighborhoods, as well as between village and country, and to weld all people living over a wide area into one large community with community spirit and a common loyalty. this cannot be done by the church alone; doctors, visiting nurse, school teachers, county agent and farm bureau will gradually be called into a coöperative team play. this, then, is the church not merely aspiring to leadership, but utilizing its opportunity with a real program. asking no favors because of its divine origin, it is determined to make itself a necessity in the community by virtue of what it does. it is the church "actually practising a religion of fellowship, giving value for value and serving all the people and all of their interests, all of the time." the larger parish plan this larger parish plan is the old circuit rider system brought up to date, and given an all-around significance through the use of modern means of transportation and an equipment suited to a religio-social program. the minister is no less a preacher and man of god because he is a community builder. his measure of "success" is his ability to work out with his people a genuine program of rural and social service. with its community church and program, the larger parish plan seeks to make the church both a religious and a social center. under its own roof, if necessary, or better, with an adjoining community house, it has equipment which provides for ideal worship, a modern church school and well-supervised social and recreational activities. it amounts to a church that offers advantages like those of the y. m. c. a. and y. w. c. a. by means of this program, the rural church puts itself at the center rather than at the far circumference of rural life, and becomes one of the most active agencies in the community. [illustration] [illustration: a real community house members of this presbyterian church at sheridan building their own community house under the leadership of the pastor. the women of the church provided the eats.] this plan remedies a characteristic disability of the average rural minister and his church--the neglect in farmstead visitation. especially on the plains, isolation and loneliness persist despite modern improvements. there are country homes near to villages or towns into which no minister or church visitor goes from one year's end to another. within reach of almost any church on the range, and over great stretches of country, children may be found who are growing up without any religious training. in the face of this need and its challenge, the larger parish plan need not wait for people to come into the church. by means of a well-equipped extension program the church, and everything it stands for, is taken to all who need its ministrations. [illustration: a church that serves the community the m. e. church and parsonage at clearmont, wyoming.] preaching is essential. but when a minister and congregation can "brother" scattered peoples, they are most helpful in bringing the kingdom of god to rural america. there may be some justice in the excuse that "the farmer and his family might easily come in to services in their automobile," but it is true that a "house-going minister makes a church-going people." the larger parish plan furnishes the minister the equipment and help to do just this thing. it views the church as a service institution. the montana plan it is even possible for a whole state to make a united plan for church work. montana has had its area, community by community, county by county, or valley by valley, "allocated" to the religious care and undisputed responsibility of one or more denominations. for this new and progressive policy the people of the state were themselves responsible, and its development will be watched with intense interest. unfortunately one of the fields in the only montana county in this survey is not receiving the attention it should from its "allocated denomination." this is the work in the southern part of the county, now served by a non-resident pastor. a glance at the map will show how effectively the larger parish plan could be applied. two tasks face the churches in these counties: first, to increase and enlarge the work of the churches already established, and, secondly, to reach and serve the great unevangelized areas. the former is a problem for the individual church and community. the latter is a problem demanding the coöperation of all religious forces on the field, for "there is religious need enough to tax the best energies and resources of all." the churches in this new western country must keep pace with their rapidly changing environment, and with elastic yet inclusive programs really become community churches. the county seat towns should assume more responsibility for their surrounding areas; in other words, they should plan and develop larger parishes. especially in beaverhead and hughes, this area is unchurched and to a great extent neglected. while the social and economic life of these "centers" naturally overshadows a great portion of the county areas, yet the churches minister very inadequately to their needs. the church parishes on the map represent few members. the centers are growing, their influence is ever widening, so that the church, in building up her work at the center with the idea not only of serving the people at hand but of reaching just as thoroughly the people in the surrounding areas, will naturally fulfill her destiny. to reach areas outside the influence of the church work at the centers, colporteurs should be employed. a sunday school missionary could give permanence to all sunday school work and help to organize new schools in union and possibly in sheridan county. some additional churches should be established; others might very well be closed. but it is chiefly up-to-date, educated, resident pastors that are needed, with a belief that the rural task is worth their lives. coöperation the solution the psychological and religious differences in these four counties have already been shown. all should not be treated alike. every county is different. every county demands individual study and treatment. such conditions call for the survey method and for intensive coöperation. this is the key to the whole situation. business, though still competitive and on an individual basis, combines for the community good, as in the case of rotary and civic clubs. the churches might well emulate this example in organization. there are competent ministerial unions in pierre and sheridan city. what is needed now is a council of religion in each county with a program enlisting every minister and every church, and including every square mile of occupied land in the county. all problems are related. the causes of church ineffectiveness lie in non-coöperation. ministers have stayed too short a time to relate themselves to their parish and their people; denominations in establishing new churches have not been curious enough about the lay of the land; the various component parts have been unrelated--the preacher to the church, the fringe areas to the church in the center and, finally, the church to the people. the frontier of the future yesterday the range population was busy settling down. to-day it is haphazardly here, and still coming. and what of to-morrow? franklin k. lane wrote at the end of his term of service in the department of the interior: "we are quickly passing out of the rough-and-ready period of our national life, in which we have dealt wholesale with men and things, into a period of more intensive development in which we must seek to find the special qualities of the individual unit whether that unit be an acre of desert, a barrel of oil, a mountain canyon, the flow of a river, or the capacity of the humblest of men." here is fertile ground for well directed and progressive development. the east is crystallized into its habits and customs. the west is more plastic because it is in the social making, and is willing, at need, to change its ways. the social baggage of the eastern states is only partly unpacked in this region. the young west is developing a flexible social and institutional life in keeping with its phenomena of time and place. great possibilities are ahead. a real welding process has begun during the last few years as the population tends to become more static, or as it learns to coöperate in such agencies as red cross work during the war and the work of the farm bureau. a new social spirit is developing. the church has counted for a great deal on the range and has done some good, fundamental work. but in order to keep abreast of the new development and to help bring to the range a "satisfying community life which is profitable, sociable, healthful and full of culture and charm and, above all, full of god," the church must make its ministry broader, steadier and more available. appendices i: methodology and definitions ii: tables appendix i methodology and definitions the method used in the town and country surveys of the interchurch world movement and of the committee on social and religious surveys differs from the method of earlier surveys in this field chiefly in the following particulars: . "rural" was defined as including all population living outside incorporated places of over , . previous surveys usually excluded all places of , population or over, which follows the united states census definition of "rural." . the local unit for the assembling of material was the community, regarded, usually, as the trade area of a town or village center. previous surveys usually took the minor civil division as the local unit. the disadvantage of the community unit is that census and other statistical data are seldom available on that basis, thus increasing both the labor involved and the possibility of error. the great advantage is that it presents its results assembled on the basis of units which have real social significance, which the minor civil division seldom has. this advantage is considered as more than compensating for the disadvantage. . the actual service area of each church as indicated by the residences of its members and adherents was mapped and studied. this was an entirely new departure in rural surveys. four chief processes were involved in the actual field work of these surveys: . the determination of the community units and of any subsidiary neighborhood units included within them. the community boundaries were ascertained by noting the location of the last family on each road leading out from a given center who regularly traded at that center. these points, indicated on a map, were connected with each other by straight lines. the area about the given center thus enclosed was regarded as the community. . the study of the economic, social and institutional life of each community as thus defined. . the location of each church in the county, the determination of its parish area, and the detailed study of its equipment, finance, membership, organization, program and leadership. . the preparation of a map showing, in addition to the usual physical features, the boundaries of each community, the location, parish area and circuit connections of each church, and the residence of each minister. the following are the more important definitions used in the making of these surveys and the preparation of the reports: geographical _city_--a center of over , population. not included within the scope of these surveys except as specifically noted. _town_--a center with a population of from , to , . _village_--a center with a population of from to , . _hamlet_--any clustered group of people not living on farms whose numbers do not exceed . _open country_--the farming area, excluding hamlets and other centers. _country_--used in a three-fold division of population included in scope of survey into town, village and country. includes hamlets and open country. _town and country_--the whole area covered by these surveys, i.e., all population living outside cities. _rural_--used interchangeably with town and country. _community_--that unit of territory and of population characterized by common social and economic interests and experiences; an "aggregation of people the majority of whose interests have a common center." usually ascertained by determining the normal trade area of each given center. the primary social grouping of sufficient size and diversity of interests to be practically self-sufficing in ordinary affairs of business, civil and social life. _neutral territory_--any area not definitely included within the area of one community. usually an area between two or more centers, and somewhat influenced by each, but whose interests are so scattered that it cannot definitely be assigned to the sphere of influence of any one center. _neighborhood_--a recognizable social grouping having certain interests in common, but dependent for certain elemental needs upon some adjacent center within the community area of which it is located. _rural industrial_--pertaining to any industry other than farming within the town and country area. population _foreigner_--refers to foreign-born and native-born of foreign parentage. _new americans_--usually includes foreign-born and native-born of foreign or mixed parentage, but sometimes refers only to more recent immigration. in each case the exact meaning is clear from the context. the church _parish_--the area within which the members and regular attendants of a given church live. _circuit_--two or more churches combined under the direction of one minister. _resident pastor_--a church whose minister lives within its parish area is said to have a resident pastor. _full-time resident pastor_--a church with a resident pastor who serves no other church, and follows no other occupation than the ministry, is said to have a full-time resident pastor. _part-time pastor_--a church whose minister either serves another church also, or devotes part of his time to some regular occupation other than the ministry, or both, is said to have a part-time minister. _non-resident member_--one carried on the rolls of a given church but living too far away to permit regular attendance; generally, any member living outside the community in which the church is located unless he is a regular attendant. _inactive member_--one who resides within the parish area of the church, but who neither attends its services nor contributes to its support. _net active membership_--the resultant membership of a given church after the number of non-resident and inactive members is deducted from the total on the church roll. _per capita contributions or expenditures_--the total amount contributed or expended, divided by the number of the net active membership. _budget system_--a church which, at the beginning of the fiscal year, makes an itemized forecast of the entire amount of money required for its maintenance during the year as a basis for a canvass of its membership for funds, is said to operate on a budget system with respect to its local finances. if amounts to be raised for denominational or other benevolences are included in the forecast and canvass, it is said to operate on a budget system for all monies raised. _adequate financial system_--three chief elements are recognized in an adequate financial system: a budget system, an annual every-member canvass, and the use of envelopes for the weekly payment of subscriptions. _receipts_--receipts have been divided under three heads: a. subscriptions, that is monies received in payment of annual pledges. b. collections, that is money received from free will offerings at public services. c. all other sources of revenue, chiefly proceeds of entertainments and interest on endowments. _salary of minister_--inasmuch as some ministers receive, in addition to their cash salary, the free use of a house while others do not, a comparison of the cash salaries paid is misleading. in all salary comparisons, therefore, the cash value of a free parsonage is arbitrarily stated as $ a year, and that amount is added to the cash salary of each minister with free parsonage privileges. thus an average salary stated as $ , is equivalent to $ , cash and the free use of a house. appendix ii tables i land and farm area in the range counties according to the federal censuses for and beaverhead hughes approximate land area (acres) , , , , , , land in farms (acres) , , , , improved land in farms (acres) , , , , woodland in farms (acres) , , , , , other unimproved land in farms (acres) , , , , per cent. of land area in farms . . . . per cent. of farm land improved . . . . average acreage per farm . . . . average improved acreage per farm . . . . sheridan union , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the average acreage per farm in beaverhead and sheridan has increased very slightly in the past ten years, while the improved acreage per farm has decreased. in hughes and union, however, there is a decided increase in both the acreage per farm and the improved acreage per farm. ii farms and farm property in the range counties according to the federal censuses for and _farms operated by owners_ beaverhead number of farms per cent. of all farms . . land in farms (acres) , , improved land in farms (acres) , , value of land, buildings (dollars) , , , , number of farmers owning entire farm number of farmers hiring additional land _color and nativity of owners_ number of native whites number of foreign-horn whites number of non-whites _farms operated by tenants_ number of farms per cent. of all farms . . land in farms (acres) , , improved land in farms (acres) , , value of land and buildings (dollars) , , , , _color and nativity of tenants_ number of native whites number of foreign-born whites number of non-whites _farms operated by managers_ number of farms land in farms (acres) , , improved land in farms (acres) , , value of land and buildings (dollars) , , , , hughes sheridan union , , . . . . . , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . . . . . , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , as is usual in districts that have been homesteaded, the proportion of ownership is high. but because of absentee ownership, land companies operating over large areas and high taxes, the rate of tenancy is increasing. iii acreage and value of cultivated crops in the range counties according to federal censuses for and beaverhead hughes _cereals_ corn , , oats , , , , wheat , , , barley , rye _hay and forage_ all tame and cultivated crops , , , _special crops_ potatoes all other vegetables dollars dollars dollars dollars value of all crops $ , , $ , , $ , , $ , cereals , , , , hay and forage , , , , , , vegetables , , , , dairy products , , , , sheridan union , , , , , , , , , , , , , dollars dollars dollars dollars $ , , $ , , $ , , $ , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , the most important crops are hay and forage in beaverhead and sheridan; in union cereal crops; in hughes, both in nearly equal proportions. dairying is a comparatively new development. iv urban and rural population of the range counties according to the federal censuses for and beaverhead hughes distribution of population: rural population , , , , rural increase - . % - . % urban population , , , urban increase - - . % total population , , , , total increase - . % - . % density of population per sq. mile: rural density . . . . total density . [ ] . . . no. of dwellings , , , , no. of families , , , , sheridan union total , , , , , , . % . % . % , , , , . % % , , , , , , . % . % . % . . . . . [ ] . . . , , , , , , , , , , , , v racial composition of population of the range counties according to federal census of beaverhead hughes sheridan union[ ] number rank number rank number rank number rank total population , , , , native white, total , , , , native parentage , , , , foreign parentage , , mixed parentage , foreign white, total , , austria canada czecho-slovakia denmark england finland france germany greece hungary ireland italy jugo-slavia mexico norway poland russia scotland sweden switzerland syria wales all other countries other than white vi age and school attendance in the range counties according to the federal census for beaverhead hughes sheridan union number per number per number per number per cent. cent. cent. cent. under years , ... ... , ... , ... to years inclusive ... ... , ... , ... attending school . . , . , . and years ... ... ... ... attending school . . . and years ... ... ... ... attending school . . . . to years inclusive ... ... ... ... attending school . . . . the proportion of children in school is high through the age of sixteen. beyond that age the ratio of attendance falls off rapidly, sheridan and union having a smaller proportion in school than the other two counties. vii illiteracy in the range counties according to the federal census for beaverhead hughes sheridan union number per number per number per number per _ten years and over_ cent. cent. cent. cent. total , ... , ... , ... , ... illiterates . . . . native whites , ... , ... , ... , ... illiterates . . . . foreign born whites , ... ... , ... illiterates . . . . negro ... ... ... ... illiterates ... ... . ... _ - years inclusive_ total ... ... , ... , ... illiterates . . . . _illiteracy years and over_ males . . . . native whites ... ... ... ... ... foreign born whites ... ... ... ... negro ... ... ... ... ... ... females . . . . native whites ... ... ... ... foreign born whites ... ... ... ... negro ... ... ... ... ... the rate of illiteracy is higher in sheridan and union than in beaverhead and hughes. viii development of protestant church organizations on the changing frontier a beaverhead total number churches k sheridan number now abandoned b beaverhead number now active l sheridan number now inactive c beaverhead number now abandoned m union total number churches d beaverhead number now inactive n union number now active e hughes total number churches o union number now abandoned f hughes number now active p union number now inactive g hughes number now abandoned q total total number churches h hughes number now inactive r total number now active i sheridan total number churches s total number now abandoned j sheridan number now active t total number now inactive period of organization: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t - .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. - .. .. .. .. .. .. - .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. - .. .. .. .. - .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- total .. .. about one-sixth of all the churches which have been organized are now either abandoned or inactive. population has shifted; communities have changed; the churches sometimes have not survived. ix-a distribution of churches among denominations churches in _denominations_ country village town city total baptist, north baptist, south church of christ or christian church of christ (unprogressive) congregational evangelical association lutheran: norwegian lutheran of america german swedish polish others methodist, north methodist, south nazarene presbyterian in u. s. a. protestant episcopal seventh day adventist united brethren -- -- -- -- -- total ix-b _denominations_ beaverhead hughes sheridan union total baptist north } baptist south } church of christ or christian church of christ (unprogressive) congregational evangelical association lutheran: norwegian lutheran of america } german } swedish } polish } others } methodist north } methodist south } nazarenes presbyterian in u. s. a. protestant episcopal seventh day adventist united brethren -- -- -- -- -- total with so many denominations at work in the field, every square mile of inhabited area ought to be reached. but large areas and many people are not even touched by the church. x-a residence and activity of church members by types of communities churches in country village town city total net active members , , , inactive " , non-resident " total enrollment , , , average per congregation x-b by counties churches in beaverhead hughes sheridan union total net active members , , inactive " , non-resident " total enrollment , , , , average per congregation the non-resident member is an "unattached christian" and no one looks out for him. xi-a churches classified according to size by types of communities churches with a net active membership of: country village town city total or less to to to over -- -- -- -- -- total xi-b by counties churches with a net active membership of: beaverhead hughes sheridan union total or less to to to over -- -- -- -- -- total scattered and transient population together with denominational competition has resulted in a large proportion of small churches. xii how the churches have grown during a one-year period by types of communities country village town city churches churches churches churches total number per number per number per number per number per cent cent cent cent cent gained stationary declined -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- total the gain in church membership increases with the size of the community. xiii membership gain of the churches organized ten years or more, during the last ten years nine seven thirteen eight country village town city year churches churches churches churches total , , , , , , , , , village and country churches increased % town and city churches increased %. xiv age and sex of resident members by counties beaverhead hughes sheridan union men over % % % % women over % % % % young men and boys under % % % % young women and girls under % % % % the churches are not winning the boys and girls. they need better recreational methods and broader programs. xv ways of raising money a city beaverhead k village sheridan b city hughes l village union c city sheridan m country beaverhead d city union n country hughes e town beaverhead o country sheridan f town hughes p country union g town sheridan q entire county beaverhead h town union r entire county hughes i village beaverhead s entire county sheridan j village hughes t entire county union number of churches with: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t budget for all monies [ ] budget for local expenses only annual every member canvass [ ] both budget and every member canvass [ ] no budget and no every member canvass total number of churches a fair proportion of the churches are using modern methods of financing their work. xvi occupations of church members a number of members b per cent of total churches located in city town village country entire county a b a b a b a b a b beaverhead: retired farmers . . operating farmers . . farm renters farm laborers business or professional . . . all others . . . total reporting occupations hughes: retired farmers . . . operating farmers . . . farm renters . . . farm laborers business or professional . . all others . . . . total reporting occupations sheridan: retired farmers . operating farmers . . . farm renters . farm laborers . . business or professional . . . all others . . . total reporting occupations union: retired farmers operating farmers . . . farm renters . . farm laborers . . business or professional . . . . all others . . total reporting occupations of the four counties, union is the only one with a higher percentage of farmers on its rolls than of men in other occupations. yet over half the churches in the four counties are country churches. xvii-a the amount of money raised and spent the amount raised by the local churches is $ , . . per cent. subscription $ , . . collections , . . all other methods , . . ---------- $ , . xvii-b the amount spent by the local churches is $ , . . per cent. salaries $ , . . missions and benevolences , . . upkeep and all other expenses , . . the entire amount spent for church purposes is $ , . . per cent. salaries $ , . [ ] . missions and benevolences , . . upkeep and all other expenses , . . of the entire church dollar, about per cent. comes from denominational boards. xviii receipts per church country village town city total thirty-one fourteen thirteen eight sixty-six from: churches churches churches churches churches subscription $ . $ . $ , . $ , . $ , . collections . . . . . all other methods . . . . . ------- ------- --------- --------- --------- total $ . $ . $ , . $ , . $ , . xix receipts per active member country village town city total thirty-one fourteen thirteen eight sixty-six churches churches churches churches churches subscription $ . $ . $ . $ . $ . collections . . . . . all other methods . . . . . ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ total $ . $ . $ . $ . $ . the average active member is generous in the support of his church. xx expenditures per church country village town city total thirty-one fourteen thirteen eight sixty-six for: churches churches churches churches churches salaries $ . $ . $ , . $ , . $ . missions and benevolences . . . , . . upkeep and all other expenses . . . , . . ------- ------- --------- --------- --------- total $ . $ . $ , . $ , . $ , . xxi expenditures per active member country village town city total thirty-one fourteen thirteen eight sixty-six for: churches churches churches churches churches salaries $ . $ . $ . $ . $ . missions and benevolences . . . . . upkeep and all other expenses . . . . . ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ total $ . $ . $ . $ . $ . xxii-a how a typical dollar is raised and spent by the local churches country village town city total thirty-one fourteen thirteen eight sixty-six by: churches churches churches churches churches subscription $. $. $. $. $. collections . . . . . all other methods . . . . . ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- total $ . $ . $ . $ . $ . xxii-b country village town city total thirty-one fourteen thirteen eight sixty-six for: churches churches churches churches churches salary $. $. $. $. $. missions and benevolences . . . . . upkeep and all other expenses . . . . . ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- total $ . $ . $ . $ . $ . on the average, these churches devote one-fourth of their receipts to benevolences. xxiii grading for home mission fields--presbyterian church in u. s. a. a. promising field: . prospect of self-support. . strategic service opportunity. b. problematic field: . uncertain of community development. . denominational responsibility uncertain. c. field to be relinquished: . should be self-sustaining. . work should be discontinued. this would be a good test to apply to every aided church on the range. xxiv number of church services number of services country village town city a month churches churches churches churches total eight [ ] [ ] seven six five four [ ] three two one no regular service services in summer only -- -- -- -- -- total about three hours a week set aside for church services and sunday school means six days a year; only twenty-five out of seventy churches have as large a number. xxv attendance at services compared with seating capacity and active membership beaverhead hughes sheridan union average seating capacity average active membership average attendance at services an average attendance one-third less than the seating capacity means many empty seats. xxvi organizations in the churches other than sunday schools mixed men women grown-up young people number members number members number members number members churches in: country village town city -- --- -- ----- -- -- -- --- total , boys girls boys and girls number members number members number members -- -- -- --- -- -- women's organizations are numerous; men have only one-eighth as many. less than half of the churches have young people's organizations. xxvii number of pastors who have served the churches which have been organized ten years or more a one pastor f six pastors b two pastors g seven pastors c three pastors h eight pastors d four pastors i nine pastors e five pastors churches in: a b c d e f g h i country village town city -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- total the turn-over on the part of the ministers has been high. two-thirds of these churches have had a new minister every two and one half years or oftener. xxviii residence of pastors in relation to their churches country village town city total churches with: pastor resident in parish [ ] pastor resident in community but not in parish pastor resident in other community in same county pastor resident in another county no regular pastor supply pastor -- -- -- -- -- total about half of the churches have their ministers resident among the members. xxix salaries of ministers according to proportion of time devoted to the ministry ministers giving ministers full time to with other ministry occupation with one with more than church one church pastors receiving:[ ] over $ , $ , -$ , $ , -$ , $ , -$ , $ -$ , $ -$ $ -$ $ or less no salary -- -- -- total with the high cost of living, it is difficult to sustain adequate family life on many of these salaries. it is not strange that eight of the ministers must earn part of their support at other occupations. xxx gain and loss in membership as related to residence of ministers (one year period) churches with: country village town city total resident minister [ ] number gaining number stationary number losing non-resident minister number gaining number stationary number losing about two-thirds of the churches with resident ministers made a gain in membership; of the churches with non-resident ministers only about one-third show a gain. fourteen churches were either pastorless or were served by a supply. six of them made a gain during the year preceding the survey. footnotes: [ ] see wilson, "sectional characteristics," _homelands_, august, . [ ] a monument to sacajawea was erected in armstead in . [ ] three country churches raised no money during the year and one city church, which tithes, did not have financial figures available. [ ] see table xxiii. [ ] country churches have buildings. [ ] village churches have buildings. [ ] the membership of the separate boys' and girls' organizations cannot be added here because it would involve duplication. [ ] the capital letters in parentheses in the table indicate the respective counties, beaverhead, hughes, sheridan, union. [ ] in deriving these figures the census board has included the forest reserve territory. the following figures were obtained by excluding this area (with the exception of the inhabited portion of beaverhead): total density per square mile of beaverhead . total density per square mile of sheridan . on the range the development of centers is just beginning. [ ] the census does not give spanish-american separately. they are of course native-born and are included under that division. per cent. of native increase is . in beaverhead for - " " " " decrease " . " hughes " - " " " " increase " . " sheridan " - " " " " " " . " union " - in sheridan, the "new americans" are in the mines; in the other counties, they are on the land. [ ] two federated churches have a single budget and a single canvass. [ ] . % of this amount was raised by local churches. the rest came from the denominational boards. [ ] one church in each of these groups unites regularly with a church holding eight services. [ ] one church in this group also has four week day services. one church has its four services on week day nights and has no sunday services. [ ] one church in this group has two resident social workers. [ ] including $ rental value of parsonage if there is one. [ ] one church in this group has two resident social workers. unique studies of rural america town and country series twelve volumes made under the direction of edmund des. brunner, ph.d. what the protestant churches are doing and can do for rural america--the results of twenty-six intensive county surveys _description_ _publication date_ ( ) church and community survey of salem county, n. j. ready ( ) church and community survey of pend oreille county, washington ready ( ) church and community survey of sedgwick county, kansas ready ( ) religion in the old and new south forthcoming ( ) the new and old immigrant on the land, as seen in two wisconsin counties ready ( ) rural church life in the middle west ready ( ) the country church in colonial counties ready ( ) irrigation and religion, a study of two prosperous california counties ready ( ) the church on the changing frontier ready ( ) the rural church before and after the war, comparative studies of two surveys forthcoming ( ) the country church in industrial zones ready ( ) the town and country church in the united states forthcoming "_they are fine pieces of work and examples of what we need to have done on a large scale._" dr. charles a. ellwood, dept. of sociology, university of missouri. "_i am heartily appreciative of these splendid results._" rev. charles s. macfarland, genl. secy., federal council of the churches of christ in america. published by george h. doran company, new york for committee on social and religious surveys fifth avenue, new york [frontispiece: "_the kneeling people lifted their wet faces ... but the chancel was empty_"] the supply at saint agatha's by elizabeth stuart phelps _with illustrations_ by e. boyd smith and marcia oakes woodbury boston and new york houghton, mifflin and company the riverside press, cambridge copyright, , by elizabeth stuart phelps ward and houghton, mifflin & co. _all rights reserved._ _the riverside press, cambridge, mass., u. s. a._ electrotyped and printed by h. o. houghton & co. the supply at saint agatha's. at the crossing of the old avenue with the stream of present traffic, in a city which, for obvious reasons, will not be identified by the writer of these pages, there stood--and still stands--the church of saint agatha's. the church is not without a history, chiefly such as fashion and sect combine to record. it is an eminent church, with a stately date upon its foundation stone, and a pew-list unsurpassed for certain qualities among the worshipers of the eastern states. saint agatha's has long been distinguished for three things, its money, its music, and its soundness. when the tax-list of the town is printed in the daily papers once a year, the wardens and the leading parishioners of saint agatha's stand far upwards in the score, and their names are traced by slow, grimy fingers of mechanics and strikers and socialists laboriously reading on saturday nights. the choir of saint agatha's, as all the world knows, is superior. her soprano alone (a famous prima donna) would fill the house. women throng the aisles to hear the tenor, and musical critics, hat in hand, and pad on hat, drop in to report the anthem and the offertory for the monday morning press. in ecclesiastical position, it is needless to add, saint agatha's has always been above reproach. when did saint agatha's question a canon? when did she contend with a custom? when did she criticise a creed? why should she contest a tradition? she accepts, she conforms, she prospers. in one particular saint agatha's has been thrust into an attitude of originality foreign to her taste. her leading men feel called upon occasionally to explain how the eternal feminine came--a little contrary to the fashion of our land--to be recognized in the name of the church. saint agatha's first pastor, one should know, was a very young man of enthusiastic and unconventional temperament. he did not live long enough to outgrow this--for a clergyman--unfortunate trend of nature, having died, full of dreams and visions, in the teeth of a lowering conflict with his wardens; but he lived long enough to carry the day and the name for a portion of his people who desired to call their church in honor of a sweet, though rich, old lady who had put her private fortune into their beautiful house of worship, and her warm heart into their future success. it had befallen this dear old lady to bear the name of agatha, which, for her sake,--and, of course, in due ecclesiastical remembrance of the strictly canonical saint of similar cognomen,--was accordingly bestowed upon the church. in the year of our lord eighteen hundred and another numeral, which i am requested not to indicate, but i may not deny that it is a recent one, the popular rector of saint agatha's took a winter vacation. he was an imposing and imperious man, full of years and honors, in the full sway of his professional fame, when he fell a victim, like any common person, to the grippe. in the attempt to recover from this vulgar malady, he was forced to observe that his select physician had drugged him, via an exclusive bronchitis, into a minister's sore throat, such as any ordinary country parson might develop for lack of an overcoat, or a fire in his bedroom. without undue delay or reluctance, the rector of saint agatha's took ship for the south of france; and in the comfortable way in which such things are done in such quarters, the church was set trundling upon the wheels of a two-months' "supply." this was managed so gracefully by the experienced vestry of saint agatha's that hardly a visible jar occurred in the parish machinery. many of the people did not know that their rector had gone until a canon from london sonorously filled the pulpit one sunday morning. a distinguished middle state clergyman followed the next week; the west sent her brightest and best the succeeding sunday; and so it went. eminent variety easily occupied that sacred desk. the wardens of st. agatha's have but to say, come, and he cometh who weigheth the honor of ministering in this aristocratic pulpit. in brief, the most distinguished men in the denomination cordially supplied. on the whole, perhaps the parish enjoyed their rector's vacation as much as he did. now, upon the vestry there chanced at that time to be one man who was "different." one does find such people even among the officers of fashionable churches. this man (he was, by the way, a grand-nephew of the old lady who built the church when saint agatha's was an unendowed experiment) had occasional views not wholly in harmony with the policy of his brother officers; and, being himself a heavy rate-payer, was allowed, sometimes, by the courtesy of the majority,--when his notion was not really in bad form, you know,--to have his way. he did not get it so often but that he was glad to make the most of it when he did; and when his turn came to control the supply for that sunday with which this narrative has to do, he asked the privilege of being intrusted with the details of the business. this request, as from a useful man of certain eccentricities, was indulgently granted; and thus there occurred the events which i am privileged to relate. it was just before lent, and the winter had been a cold one. one friday evening in early march there came up, or came down, a drifting snow-storm. it was bad enough in town, but in the suburbs it was worse, and in the country it was little less than dangerous to passengers through the wide, wind-swept streets, the choking lanes, and bitter moors. an old clergyman, the pastor of a scattered parish, sat in his study on that friday night, and thanked god that the weekly evening service was over, and his day's work done. he would have regretted being called out again that night, for he had got quite wet in walking to church and back, and the cold from which he had been suffering for a week past might not be benefited thereby. this fact in itself was a matter of no concern, under ordinary conditions, to the old clergyman, who, being a lonely man in a forlorn country boarding-house, with nobody to take care of him, was accustomed to live under the shadow of a "common cold," and who paid no more attention to his own physical discomforts in the face of daily duty than he paid to the latest fashion in sable trimmings in the front pews at saint agatha's. there was no fur trimming on his overcoat, which was seven years old and pitiably thin. but he had been invited to supply at saint agatha's next sunday, and to that unexampled honor and opportunity he gave the pathetic attention--half personal pleasure, half religious fervor--of an overlooked and devout man. in the course of a forty-years' ministry he had not been asked to preach in a city pulpit. the event was tremendous to him. he had been agitated by the invitation, which ran in some such way as this: [illustration: "_he had been invited to supply at st. agatha's_."] ... "in closing, permit me to say, sir, that it would be agreeable to us to welcome among us the grandson of our first pastor, that young rector who died in the bud of his youth and christian originality. the fact of your ancestry will give to your presence a peculiar interest for our people at large. but i beg to be allowed to add on behalf of the committee, that certain qualities in yourself and in your own work have led us to believe that you may exert positive influences upon us of which we stand in need. in your remote and rural parish your life has not passed unobserved. your labors as a pastor, and your methods of preaching, have been an object of study to some of us. we have come to rate you, sir, as one of the men of god. there are not many. in meeting with our people, the writer personally hopes that you may be able to teach us something of the secret of your own happy and successful experience as a minister of christ our lord." ... the old clergyman sat with his feet upon the base of his little cylinder coal-stove. his thin ankles shrank in the damp stockings which he had not been able to change since he came in out of the storm, because, owing to some personal preference of the laundress, he could not find any dry ones. his worn slippers flapped upon his cold feet when he moved. but he had on his flowered dressing-gown of ancient pattern and rustic cut; his high arm-chair was cushioned in chintz and excelsior behind his aching head; the green paper shade was on his study-lamp; his best-beloved books (for the old saint was a student) lay within reach upon the table; piled upon them were his manuscript sermons; and he sighed with the content of a man who feels himself to be, although unworthy, in the loving arms of luxury. a rap at the door undeceived him. his landlady put in her withered face. "sir," she said, "the widder peek's a-dying. it's just like her to take a night like this--but she's sent for you. i must say i don't call you fit to go." "a man is always fit to do his duty," said the old clergyman, rising. "i will go at once. did she send--any--conveyance?" "catch her!" retorted the landlady. "why, she hain't had the town water let in yet--and she wuth her fifteen thousand dollars; nor she won't have no hired girl to do for her, not that none of 'em will stay along of her a week, and dobson's boy 's at the door, a drippin' and cussin' to get you, for he 's nigh snowed under. she 's a wuthless old heathen miser, the widder peek." "then there is every reason why i should not neglect her," replied the clergyman, in his authoritative, clerical voice. "pray call the lad in from the weather, and tell him i will accompany him at once." he did look about his study sadly while he was making ready to leave it. the fire in the base-burner was quite warm, now, and his wet, much-darned stockings were beginning to dry. the room looked sheltered and pleasant; his books ran to the ceiling, though his floor was covered with straw matting, with odd pieces of woolen carpet for rugs; his carpet-covered lounge was wheeled out of the draft; his lamp with the green shade made a little circle of light and coziness; his bible and prayer-book lay open within it, beside the pile of sermons. he had meant to devote the evening to the agreeable duty of selecting his discourse for saint agatha's. his mind and his heart were brimming over with the excitement of that great event. he would have liked to concentrate and consecrate his thoughts upon it that evening. as he went, coughing, into the cold entry, it occurred to him that the spot in his lung was more painful than he had supposed; but he pulled his old cap over his ears, and his thin overcoat up to meet it, and tramped out cheerfully into the storm. "well, well, my lad!" he said in his warm-hearted way to dobson's boy; "i 'm sorry for you that you have to be out a night like this." the boy spoke of this afterwards, and remembered it long--for a boy. but at the time he did but stare. he stopped grumbling, however, and plunged on into the drifts, ahead of the old rector, kicking a path for him to right and left in the wet, packed snow; for the widow peek lived at least a mile away, and the storm was now become a virulent thing. what passed between the unloved, neglected, dying parishoner and her pastor was not known to any but themselves, nor is there witness now to testify thereof. neither does it in any way concern the record of this narrative, except as the least may concern the largest circumstance in human story. for, in view of what came to pass, it is impossible not to put the old, judicial question: did it pay? was it worth while? when the miser's soul went out, at midnight, on the wings and the rage of that blind, black storm, did it pass gently, a subdued, forgiven spirit, humble to learn how to live again, for christ's sake and his who gave himself--as his master had before him--to comfort and to save? did it pay? _do_ such things pay? god knows. but as long as men do not know, there will always be found a few among them who will elect to disregard the doubt, to wear the divinity of uncalculating sacrifice, and to pay its price. for the soul of the widow peek the price was large, looked at in our mathematical way; for, when the old clergyman, having shrived her soul and closed her eyes, started to come home at one o'clock of the morning, the storm had become a malignant force. already wet through and through his thin coats and worn flannels, weak from the exposure, the watching, and the scene of death, every breath a sword athwart his inflamed lungs, with fire in his brain, and ice at his heart, he staggered against the blizzard. dobson's boy had long since sought the shelter of his own home, and the old man was quite unattended. true, the neighbor who watched with the dead woman suggested that he remain till morning; but the widow peek's house was cold (she was always especially "near" about fuel), and he thought it more prudent to get back to his own stove and his bed. whether he lost his way; whether he crossed and recrossed it, wandering from it in the dark and drift; whether he fell and lay in the snow for a time, and rose again, and staggered on, and fell again, and so pushed on again, cannot be known. it is only known that at half-past two on saturday morning his landlady put her wrinkled face out of the window, for the twentieth time, in search of him (for she had a thought for him in her own hard-featured way), and saw him fallen, and feebly trying to crawl on his hands and knees up the drifted steps. she got him in to his warm study, past the chair where the flowered dressing-gown and old slippers awaited him, and as far as the carpet-covered lounge, beyond this he could not be taken. by morning the whole parish rang the door-bell; the hands and hearts and horses, the purses, the nurses, the doctors, the watchers, the tears, and the prayers of the village, were his--for he was dearly beloved and cherished in that parish. but he lay on his old lounge in his study among his books, and asked of them nothing at all. the kerosene lamp, behind its green shade, went out; and the bible, with the pile of sermons on the table, looked large in the snow-light of a day when the storm ceases without sun. he did not talk; but his thoughts were yet alive. he remembered saint agatha's, and the sermon which he was to preach to-morrow. he knew that not one of his people (ignorant of such matters) would understand how to get word to the city vestry. he tried to give directions, but his voice refused his bidding. he knew that he would be supposed to have failed to meet his appointment, perhaps to have been thwarted--a rural clergyman, old and timorous, baffled in an important professional engagement--by a little snow. he was to have taken the evening train. he was to be the guest of the vestryman who wrote that pleasant letter. he was to preach in saint agatha's to-morrow. he was to-- nay,--he was not,--nay. he was to do none of these things. a sick man, mortally a sick man, past power of speech, he lay upon his carpet lounge, shivering under the pile of thin blankets and cotton comforters that had been wrapped around him, and gently faced his fate. he could not preach at saint agatha's. and he could not explain to the vestry. perhaps his heart-sickness about this matter subsided a little--one likes to think so--as his disease grew upon him; but there are men who will understand me when i say that this was the greatest disappointment of his humble, holy life. as saturday night drew on, and the stars came out, he was heard to make such efforts to speak articulately, that one of his weeping people (an affectionate woman of a brighter wit than the rest) made out, as she bent lovingly over him, to understand so much as this: "lord," he said, "into thy hands i commit my s-p--" "he commits his spirit to the lord!" sobbed the landlady. but the listening parishioner raised her finger to her lips. "lord," he said again, and this time the dullest ear in the parish could have heard the words--"lord," he prayed, "into thy hands i commit--my supply." sunday morning broke upon the city as cold and clear as the sword of a rebuking angel. people on the way to the west end churches exchanged notes on the thermometer, and talked of the destitution of the poor. it was so cold that the ailing and the aged for the most part stayed at home. but the young, the _ennuyé_, the imitative, and the soul-sick, got themselves into their furs and carriages when the chimes rang, and the audiences were, on the whole, as comfortable and as devout as usual. the vestryman sat nervously in his pew. he had not fully recovered from the fact that his supply had disappointed him. having sent his coachman in vain to all the saturday evening trains to meet his country parson, the vestryman had passed but an uneasy night. "i had supposed the old man had principles about sunday travel," he said to his wife, "but it seems he is coming in the morning, after all. he might at least have sent me word." "telegraphing in the country is--difficult, sometimes, i have heard," replied the lady, vaguely. she was a handsome, childless woman, with the haughty under lip of her class. her husband spoke cheerily, but he was not at ease, and she did not know how to make him so. the sunday morning train came in from the country station forty miles back, but the old clergyman was not among its passengers. now thoroughly alarmed, the vestryman had started for his hat and coat, when his parlor-maid brought him a message. it had been left at the door, she said, by a messenger who brooked neither delay nor question, but ordered her to tell the master of the house that the supply for saint agatha's was in the city, and would meet the engagement at the proper time and place. the old clergyman, the messenger added, had been suddenly stricken with a dangerous illness, and could not be expected; but his substitute would fill the pulpit for the day. the vestryman was requested to feel no concern in the matter. the preacher preferred retirement until the hour of the service, and would fulfil his duties at the church at the appointed hour. but when the vestryman, feeling flurried despite himself, tapped at the door of the luxurious vestry-room, gracefully refurnished that winter for the rector with the sore throat who was in the south of france, he found it locked; and to his unobtrusive knock no answer came. at this uncomfortable moment the sexton tiptoed up to say that the supply had requested not to be disturbed until the service should begin. the sexton supposed that the clergyman needed extra preparation; thought that perhaps the gentleman was from the country, and--ah--unused to the audience. "what is his name? what does he look like?" asked the chairman, with knotted brows. "i have not seen him sir," replied the sexton, with a puzzled expression. "how did you receive the message?" "by a messenger who would not be delayed or questioned." struck by the repetition of this phrase, the chairman asked again: "but what did the messenger look like?" the sexton shook his head. "i cannot tell you, sir. he was a mere messenger. i paid no attention to him." "very well," said the church officer, turning away discontentedly. "it must be all right. i have implicit confidence in the man whose chosen substitute this is." with this he ceased to try to intrude himself upon the stranger, but went down to his pew, and sat beside his wife in uneasy silence. the chimes sang and sank, and sang again: holy, holy, holy-- the air was so clear that the sound rang twice the usual distance through the snowlit, sunlit air; and the sick and the old at home listened to the bells with a sudden stirring at their feeble hearts, and wished again that they could have gone to church. one bed-ridden woman, whose telephone connected her with saint agatha's, held the receiver to her sensitive ear, and smiled with the quick gratitude for trifling pleasures of the long sick, as she recognized the notes of the chime. with a leap and a thrill as if they cast their metal souls out in the act, the voices of the bells rose and swelled, and ceased and slept, and where they paused the anthem took the word up: holy, holy-- and carried it softly, just above the breath, with the tone which is neither a sigh, nor a cry, nor a whisper, but that harmony of all which makes of music prayer. he must have entered on the wave of this strain; opinions differed afterwards as to this: some said one thing, some another; but it was found that most of the audience had not observed the entrance of the preacher at all. the choir ceased, and he was; and no more could be said. the church was well filled, though not over-crowded, and the decorous rustle of a fashionable audience in the interval preceding worship stirred through the house. in the natural inattention of the moment, it was not remarkable that most of the people failed to notice the strange preacher until he was among them. but to the church officer, whose mind was preoccupied with the supply, there was something almost startling in the manner of his approach. the vestryman's uneasy eyes were not conscious of having slipped their guard upon the chancel for a moment; he had but turned his head politely, though a bit impatiently, to reply to some trivial remark of his wife's, when, behold, the preacher stood before him. afterwards it was rumored that two or three persons in the audience had not been taken by surprise in this way, but had fully observed the manner of the stranger's entrance; yet these persons, when they were sought, were difficult to find. there was one shabby woman who sat in the gallery among the "poor" seats; she was clad in rusty mourning, and had a pale and patient face, quite familiar to the audience, for she was a faithful church-goer, and had attended saint agatha's for many years. it came to be said, through the sexton's gossip or otherwise, that this poor woman had seen the preacher's approach quite clearly, and had been much moved thereat; but when some effort was made to find her, and to question her on this point, unexpected obstacles arose,--she was an obscure person, serving in some menial capacity for floating employers; she was accustomed to slip in and out of the church hurriedly, both late and early,--and nothing of importance was added from this quarter to the general interest which attended the eccentricities of the supply. the stranger was a man a trifle above the ordinary height, of majestic mien and carriage, and with the lofty head that indicates both fearlessness and purity of nature. as he glided to his place behind the lectern, a hush struck the frivolous audience, as if it had been smitten by an angel's wing: such power is there in noble novelty, and in the authority of a high heart. when had the similar of this preacher led the service in that venerable and fashionable house of worship? in what past years had his counterpart served them? whom did he resemble of the long line of eminent clerical teachers with whose qualities this elect people was familiar? what had been his history, his ecclesiastical position, his social connections? it was characteristic of the audience that this last question was first in the minds of a large proportion of the worshipers. whence came he? his name? his titles? what was his professional reputation--his theology? what were his views on choirboys, confessionals, and candles--on mission chapels and the pauperizing of the poor? these inquiries swept through the inner consciousness of the audience in the first moment of his appearance. but in the second, neither these nor any other paltry queries fretted the smallest soul before him. the stranger must have had an impressive countenance; yet afterwards it was found that no two descriptions of it agreed. some said this thing, some said that. to this person he appeared a gentle, kindly man with a persuasive manner; to that, he looked majestic and commanding. there were some who spoke of an authoritative severity in the eye which he turned upon them; but these were not many. there were those who murmured that they had melted beneath the tenderness of his glance, as snow before the sun; and such were more. as to the features of his face, men differed, as spectators are apt to do about the lineaments of extraordinary countenances. what was the color of his eyes, the contour of his lips, the shape of his brow? who could say? conflicting testimony arrived at no verdict. in two respects alone opinions agreed about the face of this man: it commanded, and it shone; it had authority and light. the shrewdest heresy-hunter in the congregation would not have dared question this clergyman's theology, or the tendencies of his ritualistic views. the veriest pharisee in the audience quailed before the blinding brilliance of the preacher's face. it was a moral fire. it ate into the heart. sin and shame shriveled before it. one might say that all this was apparent in the preacher before he had spoken a word. when he had opened his lips these impressions were intensified. he began in the usual way to read the usual prayers, and to conduct the service as was expected of him. nothing eccentric was observable in his treatment of the preliminaries of the occasion. the fashionable choir, accustomed to dictate the direction of the music, met with no interference from the clergyman. he announced the hymns and anthems that had been selected quite in the ordinary manner; and the critics of the great dailies took the usual notes of the musical programme. in fact, up to the time of the sermon, nothing out of the common course occurred. but having said this, one must qualify. was it nothing out of the common course that the congregation in saint agatha's should sit as the people sat that day, bond-slaves before the enunciation of the familiar phrases in the morning's confession? "what a voice!" whispered the wife of the vestryman. but her husband answered her not a word. pale, agitated, with strained eyes uplifted, and nervous hands knotted together, he leaned towards the stranger. at the first articulate sentence from the pulpit, he knew that the success of his supply was secured. what a voice indeed! it melted through the great house like burning gold. the heart ran after it as fire runs through metal. once or twice in a generation one may hear the liturgy read like that--perhaps. in a lifetime no longer to be counted short, the vestryman had heard nothing that resembled it. "thank god!" he murmured. he put his hat before his face. he had not realized before what a strain he had endured. cold drops stood upon his brow. he shook with relief. from that moment he felt no more concern about the service than if he had engaged one of the sons of god to "supply." "are you faint?" asked his wife in a tone of annoyance. she offered him her smelling-salts. had there existed stenographic records of that sermon, this narrative, necessarily so defective, would have no occasion for its being. one of the most interesting things about the whole matter is that no such records can to-day be found. reporters certainly were in the gallery. the journals had sent their picked men as usual, and no more. where, then, were their columns of verbal record? why has so important a discourse gone afloat upon vague, conflicting rumor? no person knows; the reporters least of all. one, it is said, lost his position for the default of that report; others received the severest rebukes of their experience from their managing editors for the same cause. none had any satisfactory reason to give for his failure. "i forgot," said he who lost his position for his boyish excuse. "all i can say, sir, is i forgot. the man swept me away. i forgot that such a paper as 'the daily gossip' existed. other matters," he added with expensive candor, "seemed more important at the time." * * * * * "when the son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" the stranger announced this not unusual text with the simple manner of a man who promised nothing eccentric in the sermon to come. yet something in the familiar words arrested attention. the phrase, as it was spoken, seemed less a hackneyed biblical quotation than a pointed personal question to which each heart in the audience-room was compelled to respond. the preacher began quietly. he reminded his hearers in a few words of the true nature of the christian religion, whose interests he was there to represent. one felt that he spoke with tact, and with the kind of dignity belonging to the enthusiast of a great moral movement. it occurred to one, perhaps for the first time, that it was quite manly in a christian preacher to plead his cause with as much ardor as the reformer, the philanthropist, the politician, or the devotee of a mystical and fashionable cult. one became really interested in the character and aims of the christian faith; it did not fall below the dignity of a browning society, or a study in theosophy or hypnotism. the attention of the audience--from the start definitely respectful--became reverent, and thus absorbed. it was not until he had his hearers thoroughly in his power that the preacher's manner underwent the remarkable change of which saint agatha's talks in whispers to this day. he spoke entirely without manuscript or note, and he had not left the lectern. suddenly folding his hands upon the great bible, he paused, and, as if the audience had been one man, he looked it in the eye. then, like the voice of the living god, his words began to smite them. what was the chancel of saint agatha's? the great white throne? and who was he who dared to cry from it, like the command of the eternal? sin! sinners! shame! guilt! disgrace! punishment! what words were these for the delicate ears of saint agatha's? what had these silken ladies and gilded men to do with such ugly phrases? smiles stiffened upon refined, protesting faces. the haughty under lip of the vestryman's wife, and a hundred others like it, dropped. a moral dismay seized the exclusive people whom the preacher called to account like any vulgar audience. but the shabby woman in the "poor" seats humbly wept, and the young reporter who lost his position cast his eyes upon the ground, for the tears that sprang to them. from the delicate fingers of the vestryman's wife the smelling-salts fell upon the cushioned seat; she held her feathered fan against her face. her husband did not even notice this. he sat with head bowed upon the rail before him, as a good man does when reconsecrating himself at the communion hour. the choir rustled uneasily in their seats. the soprano covered her eyes with her well-gloved hand, and thought of the follies and regrets (she called them by these names) that beset the musical temperament. but the tenor turned his face away, and thought about his wife. down the avenue, in the room of the "shut-in" woman, where the telephone carried the preacher's voice, a pathetic cry was heard: "forgive! forgive! oh, if suffering had but made me better!" but now the preacher's manner of address had changed again. always remembering that it is now impossible to quote his language with any accuracy, we may venture to say that it ran in some such way as this: the son of god, being of the father, performed his father's business. what do ye who bear his name? what holy errands are ye about? what miracles of consecration have ye wrought? what marvels of the soul's life have ye achieved upon the earth since he left it to your trust? he came to the sinful and the unhappy; the despised and rejected were his friends; to the poor he preached the gospel; the sick, and overlooked, and cast-out, the unloved and forgotten, the unfashionable and unpopular, he selected. these to his church on earth he left in charge. these he cherished. for such he had lived. for them he had suffered. for them he died. people of saint agatha's, where are they? what have ye done to his beloved? thou ancient church, honored and privileged and blessed among men, where are those little ones whom thy master chose? up and down these godly aisles a man might look, he said, and see them not. prosperity and complacency he saw before him; poverty and humility he did not see. in the day when habit cannot reply for duty, what account will ye give of your betrayed trust? will ye say: "lord, we had a mission chapel. the curate is responsible for the lower classes. and, lord, we take up the usual collections; saint agatha's has always been called a generous church"? in the startled hush that met these preposterous words the preacher drew himself to his full height, and raised his hand. he had worn the white gown throughout the day's services, and the garment folded itself about his figure majestically. in the name of christ, then, he commanded them: where were those whom their lord did love? go, seek them. go, find the saddest, sickest souls in all the town. hasten, for the time is short. search, for the message is of god. church of christ, produce his people to me, for i speak no more words before their substitutes! thus and there, abruptly, the preacher cast his audience from him, and disappeared from the chancel. the service broke in consternation. the celebrated choir was not called upon to close the morning's worship. the soprano and the tenor exchanged glances of neglected dismay. the prayer-book remained unopened on the sacred desk. the desk itself was empty. the audience was, in fact, authoritatively dismissed--dismissed without a benediction, like some obscure or erring thing that did not deserve it. the people stared in one another's faces for an astounded moment, and then, without words, with hanging heads, they moved to the open air and melted out of the church. the sexton rushed up to the vestryman, pale with fear. "sir," he whispered, "he is not in the vestry-room. he has taken himself away--god knows whither. what are we to do?" "trust him," replied the church officer, with a face of peace, "and god who sent him. who he may be, i know no more than you; but that he is a man of god i know. he is about his father's business. do not meddle with it." "lord forbid!" cried the sexton. "i'd sooner meddle with something i can understand." upon the afternoon of that long-remembered sunday there was seen in saint agatha's the strangest sight that those ancient walls had witnessed since the corner-stone was laid with a silver trowel in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost "whom we, this people, worship." before the chimes rang for the vesper service, the house was filled. before the bronze lips of the bells were mute, the pews were packed. before the stranger reappeared, the nave and the transept overflowed. the startled sexton was a leaf before the wind of the surging crowd. he could not even enforce the fire-laws, and the very aisles were jammed. who carried the story? how do such wraiths of rumors fly? every member of that church not absent from town or known to be ill in his bed sought his pew that afternoon. many indeed left their sick-rooms to be present at that long-remembered service. but no man or woman of these came alone. each brought a chosen companion; many, two or three; some came accompanied by half a dozen worshipers: and upon these invited guests saint agatha's looked with an astonishment that seemed to be half shame; for up those velvet aisles there moved an array of human faces at which the very angels and virtues in the painted windows seemed to turn their heads and stare. such wretchedness, such pallor, hunger, cold, envy, sickness, sin, and shame were as unknown to those dedicated and decorated walls as the inmates of hell. rags and disease, uncleanliness and woe and want, trod the house of god as if they had the right there. every pew in the church was thrown open. tattered blanket shawls jostled velvet cloaks, and worn little tan-colored reefers, half concealing the shivering cotton blouses of last summer, rubbed against sealskin furs that swept from throat to foot. wretched men, called in by the throb of repentance that follows a debauch, lifted their haggard eyes to the chancel from the pews of the wardens, and women of the town sat gently beside the "first ladies" of the parish and of the city. there were a few ragged children in the audience, wan and shrewd, sitting drearily beside mothers to whom they did not cling. the pew of our friend, the vestryman, was filled to overflowing. the wife with the under lip sat beside him, and did not protest. she had herself gone with him to the hospital to select their guests. for their pew was filled with the crippled and other sick who could neither walk nor afford to ride, and whom their own carriage had brought to saint agatha's. one of these, a woman, came on crutches, and the lady helped her, not knowing in the least how to do it; and a man who had not used his feet for six years was lifted in by the pew-owner and his coachman and butler, and carried the length of the broad aisle. the church, as we say, was packed long before the preacher appeared. he came punctually to his appointment, like any ordinary man. it was mid-afternoon, and the sun was declining when he glided across the chancel. already shadows were lying heavily in the corners of the church and under the galleries on the darker side. a few lights were glimmering about the chancel, but these served only to illuminate the stranger's form and face; they did not lighten the mass of hushed and appealing humanity before him. the choir, with bowed heads, just above the breath, began to chant: who shall lay anything to the charge of god's elect? it is god that justifieth, it is christ that died. while they sang the preacher stood quite still and looked at the people, that strange and motley mass, the rich and the poor, the sick and the well, the disgraced and the reputable, the pampered and the starving, the shameful and the clean of life, the happy and the wretched together. when the singing ceased, he spoke as if he talked right on; he read no prayers; he turned to no ritual; he did not even use the great bible of saint agatha's--but only spoke in a quiet way, like a man who continues a thought begun: "for the lord," he said, "is the maker of you all." there was no sermon in saint agatha's that afternoon. ecclesiastically speaking, there was no service. but the preacher spoke to the people; and their hearts hung upon his words. but what those words were no man may tell us at this day. it has been whispered, indeed, that what he said took different meanings to the members of that strange audience. each heart received its own message. wide as the earth were the gulfs between those hearers. but the preacher's message bridged them all. from his quivering lip and melting voice each soul drank the water of life. afterwards each kept its own secret, and told not of that thirst, or of its assuaging. "he speaks to me," sighed the patrician, with bowed head. "how happens this, for i thought no man did know that inner history? i have never told"-- "to me! to me!" sobbed the pauper and the castaway--"the preacher speaks to me. my misery, my shame--the whole world knows, but no man ever understood before." the afternoon waned. the shadows deepened under the galleries. the great house clung like one child to the voice of the preacher. it was as still as the courts of heaven when a soul is pardoned. the stranger spoke in a low but penetrating voice. not a word was lost by the remotest. he spoke of the love of god the father, and of the life of christ the son. he spoke of sin and of forgiveness, of sorrow, of shame, and of peace. he spoke of sacrifice, of patience, of purity, and of hope, and of the eternal life. not once did he allude to the petty differences among the people who sat bowed and breathless before him. such paltry things as riches or poverty, or position, or obscurity, he did not recognize. he spoke to men and women, the children of god. he spoke to sinners and to sufferers, and to patient saints; he said nothing about "classes;" he talked of human beings; he rebuked them for their sins; he comforted them for their miseries; he smote their hearts; he shook their souls; he passed over their lives as conflagration passes, burning to ashes, purifying to new growth. as he spoke, the manner of his countenance changed before them, like that of any great and holy man who is charged with the burden of souls, and who persuadeth them. a fine, inner light glowed through his features, as a sacred lamp glows through alabaster or some exquisite shell. his plaintive lip trembled. his deep eyes burned and retreated, as if they veiled themselves. an expression dazzling to behold settled upon his face. his white garment gathered light, and shone. suddenly pausing, he stretched forth his hands. what delicate arrangement of the chancel lamps illuminated them? it was noticed by many, and spoken of afterwards below the breath. for, as he raised them in benediction upon the people, there scintillated from the palms a light. some said that it was reflected from the radiance of the man's face. some said that it had another cause. only this is sure: when he did uplift his hands to bless them, all the people fell upon their knees before him. it was now almost dark in the church, and no man could see his neighbor's face. the choir, on their knees, began to sing, "holy, holy, holy"-- when their voices fell, the preacher's rose: "and now may the grace of god the father, and the love of jesus christ his son, your lord, and the peace of the holy spirit, be upon you; for there is life eternal; and god is the light thereof; whose children ye are forever. amen, and amen." his voice ceased. the hush that followed it was broken only by sobs. the electric lights sprang out all over the church. in the sudden brilliance the kneeling people lifted their wet faces to the stranger's, thinking to catch a last sight of him for life-long treasure. but the chancel was empty. as silently, as strangely, as he had come, the preacher had gone. it was the fashion of the man. such was his will. he was never seen at saint agatha's again; nor, though his name and fame were widely sought, were they ever learned by any. the great, strange crowd of worshipers melted mutely away. no man spoke to his neighbor; each was busy with the secret of his own soul. the sick returned to their sufferings; the bereaved to their loneliness; the poor to their struggles; the rich to their pleasures; the erring to their temptations; and god went with them. down the avenue, in the room of the life-long invalid, the receiver fell from a woman's shaking hand. all these--all they, the saddest, the sorest, of them all--had been preferred before her. "oh, to have seen his face!" she cried. she held her thin hands before her eyes. then, flashing by that inner light which burns in the brain of the sensitive sick, the face of the stranger swam before her for an instant--and was not; for she had recognized it. [illustration: "_the face of the stranger swam before her_"] in the monday morning's paper, the vestryman of saint agatha's observed a line or two of obituary notice tucked away in one of the spaces reserved for the obscure. it set forth the fact that the old clergyman who had failed to meet his appointment died on sunday morning, of pneumonia, after a brief illness, aged seventy-two. books by elizabeth stuart phelps. 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