51 VOL LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE . ; " - THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY AND NATURALIST: BEING THE LOCAL NOTES AND QUERIES, REPORTS OF MEETINGS OF THE HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB, & OTHER ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MATTERS REPRINTED FROM "THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT." VOLUME I, SOUTHAMPTON : F. A. EDWARDS, Hampshire Independent OFFICE. LONDON : ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER Row, E.G. 1891. PRINTED BY F. A. EDWARDS, Hampshire Independent OFFICE, SOUTHAMPTON. PREFACE. In response to a frequently expressed desire that the Local Notes and Queries and other articles on Hampshire antiquities appearing in The Hampshire Independent should be reprinted in a more convenient form for permanent reference than is afforded by the columns of a weekly newspaper, which too few think worthy of preservation, this little book has been prepared as an instalment, to be followed by others if warranted by sufficient support being enlisted. It has often too been suggested that there should be some permanent record of the meetings of the Hampshire Field Club. This Club is doing much by its periodical visits to various parts of the county to make known many interesting features in out of the way corners, and to elicit an interest in local antiquities, which has already borne fruit in increased study and better preservation. The only full and regularly published reports of these meetings are those of The Hampshire Independent, and the republication of these will doubtless be welcomed by many besides members of the Club. Some perhaps may also value the republication of the weekly weather tables of the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, and the monthly weather reports contributed by Mr. T. Westlake, of Fordingbridge, and for naturalists generally there are articles on the zoology, botany and geology of the county. Among the contributors may be named the Rev. W. Benham, F.S.A. ; Rev. J. Silvester Davies, M.A., F.S.A. ; the late Charles Roach Smith, F.S.A. ; Mr. T. W. Shore, F.G.S., F.C.S. ; Mr. W. J. C. Moens, C.C. ; &c. In the arrangement it has been found convenient to follow the order of publica- tion of the issues in which the various articles appeared. The value of the book will be much enhanced by a very full index of several thousand references. CONTENTS. ARCH/EOLOGY, HISTORY, FOLK-LORE, &c. PAGE Athelstan's Villa at Twyford . . . . . . i Milton Church i The Tradition of St. Swithin i The Commerce of Southampton a Century Ago i An Ancient Ballad . . . . - . 2 Curious Hampshire Epitaphs . . 2, 48, 51, 85, 122 Early Hanoverian Quarter Sessions at Win- chester . . . . . . . . . . 2 Winchester City Records 10 A Literary Curiosity .. .. .. 10 St. Mary's Church, Greywell, and Odiham Church ii Southampton's Ancient Commerce .. .. 12 " Royal Winchester " .. .. .. .. 12 St. Mary's Abbey, Winchester. . . . . . 13 Corhampton Churchyard . . . . . . 14 Sir John Millais, R.A., a Southamptonian .. 15 Etymology of Carisbrooke .. .. 15,18 Local Records .. .. .. .. .. 18 Jane Austen and Southampton . . 19, 66 Knotts of Hursley . . . . . . . . 20 The Serle Family 21 Reminiscences of an Old Southamptonian .. 21 Above Bar Chapel, Southampton .. .. 21 Nicholas Purdue Smith . . . . . . 21 An Ancient Anchor . . . . . . . . 22 An old Political Document . . . . . . 22 A Pathetic Story 22 Interesting Roman Coins . . . . . . 23 A Fool's Tomb 23 Recent Discoveries at Chilbolton . . 24, 25 Provincial Sobriquets . . . . . . 24, 28 Thomas Noteshullyng, Mayor of Southampton 24,25 Izaak Walton 26, 48 Interesting Discovery at Winchester . . . . 26 A History of Basingstoke . . . . . . 26 Fools 28 The Civil War in Hampshire To Gretna Green Old Southampton Names The Burrard Family A Family of Heroes A Mean and Selfish Bishop An Early Hampshire Directory " The Old Booke of Cares-brooke Priorie Some Local Place-names Sir Edward Horsey's Monument The Horsey Arms An Ancient Horseshoe Decayed Hampshire Mauufactures . . The New Forest and its Verderers Early Days of the Channel Traffic . . Sowing Sage on Graves Jonas Hanway Netherton and the Dymock Monuments The Holmes Monument at Yarmouth Explorations at Silchester 42, 85, 113, D'Evercy and De Glamorgan Families Dr. Arnold of Rugby Norman Architecture in Hampshire . . The Last of the Hampshire Windmills Antiquarian Find at Bittern The Basingstoke Canal Dean Kitchin's " Winchester " The Basis of Hampshire History Hampshire Pedigrees, &c. Holy Rood Church, Southampton Amusing Satire King William Ill's Statue at Petersfield Oxford Early Nonconformity at Romsey Selborne, Past and Present East Meon and Westbury Churches . . " The Book of Nunnaminster " PAGE 28 29 29 29 3 ' 32, 39 32 33 34 33 34 37 39 40 41 41 41 123, 130 42 43 44 47 .. 48 48, 104 49 52 .. 56 An .. 56 57 .. 58 60, 65 61 62, 64 .. 63 VI CONTENTS. ARCH/EOLOGY, be -(Continued .) PAGE Yaverland Church. I. W 65 Highclere Castle 65 Holy Wells in Hampshire 66 St. Boniface ..67,132,136 Old Winchester Hill 67 The Hambledon Cricket Club.. .. 67,115 Death of the New Forest Historian (Mr. J. R. Wise) 67 St. Mary's Church, Bentley 68 Greek Trade Routes to Britain . . . . 69 The French Invasion of Southampton . . 73 A Distinguished Prisoner of War . . . . 73 A Meonstoke Tragedy 112 years ago . . . . 74 West Meon and the Civil War . . 75. 77 Sopley Church 75 The Change of the Style in Britain . . . . 84 An Old Hunt Button 84 Small Churches 85 Southampton in 1787 86 A List of Hampshire Newspapers . . . . 94 Early Nonconformity in Alresford . . 98, 148 The Privy Council in Hampshire . . . . 98 A Visit to Newport in 1719 . . . . . . 102 Hampshire Affairs in 1778 103 St. James's Street Chapel, Newport . . . . 104 Hampshire Cricket in 1777 . . . . . . 104 Shalfleet, I.W no Francheville or Newtown .. .. .. 112 The Trenchard Family .. .. .. .. 120 The Isle of Wight " Rotten " Boroughs . . 121 The Queen's Embarkation at Southampton. . 122 French Prisoners in Hampshire .. .. 123 A Successful Poole Privateer 124 Netley Abbey I24 Hampshire Extracts from Walpole's "Anec- dotes of Painting " .. .. .. . . I2 g Mr. Bennett Langton I2 g Wooden Water Main at Southampton 129, 138, 140 Selborne and Preston Candover Carisbrooke Castle The Arms of Southampton Winchester College An Isle of Wight Election Poem By Kingsley's Home and Grave " King John's Palace," Southampton " Vestiges of Old Southampton " A Hampshire Parish History (Swarraton and 129 130 130 132 133 Northington) " The Handbook of Folk-lore " Discovery of Old Coins Stoke Charity . . The Long Stones, Mottistone . . Ancient Vaults at Southampton Church Inventories, temp. Edward III Buckler's Hard Burman's House . Monumental Brass from Hordle Decrease of Population in Hampshire English Fairy Tales Isle of Wight Heraldry Excavations at Quarr Abbey A Christmas Eve Custom Architectural Antiquities of the Isle of Wight Fourteenth and Fifteenth Century Pulpits . . The Brandon Family Tragedy. . The Welsh Family 134. 137 -. 135 .. 136 .. 136 .. 138 139 139 141, 144 .. 141 .. 141 .. 142 143 143 144 144 146 149 ZOOLOGY. Rare Moths in Hampshire Rare Birds in Hampshire A " Curious Fish " on the Itchen The Cuckoo and the Nightingale Bee Swarming Hampshire Natural History Notes Curious Viper found at Bitterne i 26, 62 23 . 69 77.84 75 . 84 Hawfinch Nested out at Liss . . Sand Martin Great Northern Diver at Shanklin A Fine Otter at Stockbridge . . Migratory Birds and Early Winter Wholesale Migration of Birds.. 98 138 r 39 139 141 145 CONTENTS. Yew Trees in Hants and Berks . . BOTANY. 3, 10 Remarkable Trees in Ampfield Wood GEOLOGY. The New Geological Survey of the Isle of Wight The Clays of Hampshire Searching for Coal in Hampshire PAGE 70 73 METEOROLOGY. Weekly Weather Report from the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, 16, 19, 20, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30, 3L 33. 34. 4<>. 4 1 - 47- 49. 5*. 57. 61, 63, 65, 67, 69, 70, 74, 75, 77, 78, 84, 86, 87, 88, 97, 99, 101, 103, 104, in, 113, 114, 115, 122, 123, 124, 125, 129, 130, 132, 133, 137, 139, 140, 142, 145, 146, 147 Monthly Weather Reports, by T. Westlake, Ford- ingbridge, n, 18, 25, 34, 42, 56, 68, 74, 85, 102, 113, 123, 130, 139, 147, 148 The Temperature in December, 1890 .. 147 Rainfall at Southampton, 1890 .. .. 148 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB MEETINGS. Visit to Winchfield, Ocliham, and Grey well. . 4 Fungus Foray in the New Forest . . . . 16 Meeting at Winchester . . . . . . . . 71 Meeting at East Meon . . . . . . . . 79 Meeting at Wonston, Stoke Charity, and Micheldever 88 Meeting at Newport, Shalfleet, and Newtown 99 Meeting at Beaulieu . . . . . . . . 105 Meeting at Sherborne St. John and Monk Sherborne .. .. .. .. ..115 An Afternoon in Old Southampton . . . . 125 Papers and Proceedings 133 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY AND NATURALIST, Being " Local Notes and Queries " and other Antiquarian and Natural History Matters connected with the County. REPRINTED FROM THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, September 21, i ATHELSTAN'S VILLA AT TWYFORD. In an article on the Easton family in the Western Antiquary for August, reference is made to " the villa at Twyford, near Winchester, which Athelstan occupied." Can any of your readers give particulars of this villa, so associated with the name of the Saxon king, and say if the remains are still to be seen ? F. RARE MOTHS IN HAMPSHIRE. Mr. M. J. Stares, of Portehester, Fareham, writes that he captured at Portehester, by sugaring, a Clifden Nonpareil moth (Catocala frazini) on Sept. 3, and also another on the following night. They were both in good preservation. He thinks this rather an unusual occurrence for this locality. Mr. H. Pope, of Ventnor, caught a specimen of the Sphinx convolvuli moth there on the evening of Sept. 5. It was a little over 4jin. in expanse of wing. He caught one only last year Sgin. in breadth of wing, too, and heard of several others being caught during the autumn. MILTON CHURCH, HANTS. Some time since I called attention in the Hamp- shire Independent to a marble effigy and an old sword in this church, of Ignatius White, who was a com- mander in Flanders and Ireland, and was born at Fiddleford, in Dorset. I found the well-built house is still existing, and will be known to many of your readers as the house at the Old Fiddleford Mill, probably of the i4th or isth century. I omitted that of the two bells at Milton one is dated 1599 ; the other is quite young and undated. GEO. PARKER, Southampton. THE TRADITION OF ST. SWITHIN. Apropos of the strong confirmation afforded this summer to the old tradition that if it rains on St. Swithin's Day we shall have bad and broken weather for forty days to come, to which we referred in a recent Note, a writer in the Standard recalls the history of the watery saint. An ecclesiastic of the ninth century, chaplain to King Egbert, tutor to his son Ethelwulf, chancellor of the latter when he ascended the throne, and finally Bishop of Winches- ter, St. Swithin has been a household word with Englishmen for over a thousand years. He is credited with having built numerous churches, and being remarkable, even in an age of priestly and monkish piety, for the virtues of charity and humility. Perhaps the general reverence in which he was held by the Church in the Middle Ages was due to the circumstances that the introduction of the Papal Tribute known as Peter's Pence was ascribed to him. When, about the middle of the tenth century, and a hundred years after his death, he underwent the ceremonial honour of canonization, his bones had to be removed from the churchyard at Winchester into the Cathedral, and the day chosen for the function was the isth of July. Tradition says that the ceremony was delayed by rain of unprecedented volume and violence, which continued on and on for forty days ; and out of this incident sprang the belief concerning St. Swithin's Day and the weather of the ensuing six weeks. In France, Belgium, Germany, and Italy analogous superstitions prevail. THE COMMERCE OF SOUTHAMPTON A CENTURY AGO. Our forefathers, or some of them at least, did not take quite the same practical view of the necessity and advantages of docks at Southampton that are entertained now-a-days, judging by an old and in- THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. teresting handbill which has been sent us by Mr. Rossiter, of the Strand, Southampton, of which the following is a copy : SOUTHAMPTON. At a Committee of Merchants and Tradesmen, STAR INN, March 15, 1793. A PETITION having been presented to Parliament, by the Mayor, Bailiffs, and Burgesses of this Town, for obtaining an Act for making: a Bason and Wet Docks, and enlarging the Quays of this port, at a very enormous and uncertain Expence, which, in the opinion of a very respectable number of Merchants and Tradesmen, from the best in- formation they have been able to obtain, will prove op- pressive and injurious, not only to the Trade and Inhabi- tants of this town, and its general interest, by the excessive increase of Imposts on imports and exports, but will materially affect the neighbouring Merchants, Tradesmen, and Ship-Owners,* insomuch that, if such an Act be ob- tained, the Trade and Commerce of this place will be con- siderably decreased, and the Prices of Goods imported or landed greatly enhanced ; A PUBLIC MEETING is therefore requested of the Merchants, Traders, Ship-Owners, and Inhabitants of this Town and places adjacent, at the Star Inn, on Friday, the 22nd Day "of this instant, March, at Eleven o'clock in the Forenoon, to consider of the most effectual means for op- posing this inimical plan. *A11 Ships coming within Calshot Castle, whether going to Redbridge, Eling, Northam, Chapel, Bursledon, &c., will be burthened with this new Impost, as appears by the new Book of Rates. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, September 28, 1889. AN ANCIENT BALLAD. The earliest ballad now remaining in the English language is believed to be a cuckoo song of the latter part of the reign of Henry III. The song speaks for itself: Sumer is icumen in, Llude sing cucu. Groweth sed, and bloweth med, And springhthe wde r.um, Sing cucu. Awe beateth after lamb, Shouth after calve on, Bulluc starteth, Buck verteth, Murie sing cucu, Cuccu, cuccu, Well sings the cuccu, Ne swick thu naver nu. i.e. Summer is come in ; loud sings the cuckoo ; now the seed grows, and the mead blows (that is in flower), and the wood springs ; the ewe bleats after the lamb ; the co%v, the bullock starts ; the buck verts (goes to harbour in the fern) ; merrily sings the cuckoo ; well singest thou cuckoo, mayest thou never cease. (Rttson's Essays, 1783.) J. DORE. CURIOUS HAMPSHIRE EPITAPHS. The following are from Corhampton : Farewell affliction, grief, and pain, Welcome eternal bliss ; Thank God, I ne'er shall live again In such a world as this. Free from malice, void of pride, Thus he lived and thus he died. From two quaintly inscribed monumental slabs in the South Choir Chapel, St. Cross : Susana Lawrence, Vas carne valens. A flesh-prevailing vessel found Beautifi'd to lye under ground. Vixit Dec. 13, 1647. Devixit Jan. 18, 1670. GEORGIUS LAURENTIUS, Ego uti laurus rigens, I under ly as laurel dry. Vixit Oct. 14, 1650. Devixit Sept. 29, 1651. The following conve3 r s the sentiment ot a very com- mon epitaph. It comes from Upham : Drae near my friends and have an i, As you be now so was I, And as I am so shall you be, The glass is a Running now for thee. 1705. These are from the same churchyard : My life like a rose or flower in a meadow, Here I flower for a while And vanish like a shadow. Plain in their forms, but they was in mind Religious, quiet, honest, meek, and kind. 1780. Father's dears and mother's darlings, Innocent lovers, Gone to everlasting glory. EARLY HANOVERIAN QUARTER SESSIONS AT WINCHESTER. Writing in the August number of the Antiquary, Mr. W. H. Jacob calls attention to a very much dilapi- dated " Minute Booke of the Sessions," ranging from 1714 to 1742, which, he says, gives a forcible idea ot justice and manners in the reigns of the early Georges. Punishment by imprisonment was rare, and the general penalty was a public whipping in the corn market, where were the stocks and whipping post, varied by the compulsory journey and flagellation at the cart tail, or in the House of Correction. The via dolorosa for the cart's tail sufferers was from the Westgate or the George Inn to the Market Cross, and all public flagellations were administered by the beadle, who received sometimes a standard of severity THE HAMPSHIRE 'ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. embodied in the words "large strokes." Apprentices, as several instances that are eiven show, seem to have had a bad time of it. One master was ordered not to correct his apprentice " with sticks or other weapons, and not to stamp upon him with his feet," but to " entreat" him as an apprentice ought to be, and to provide him with four shirts. The contempt shown towards the Mayor at various times is amusing ; for example, in 1718, one James Bye " did in public court humbly acknow- ledge an offence by him lately committed in uttering and speaking scandalous, reproachful, contemptuous, and vilipendious words of and against the right worshipful John Ffoyle, Esq., Mayor of this City, and His Majesty's Clerk of the Market, and of the Jury of the Clerk, and most derogatory to the honour and authority of a Justice of the Peace. He most humbly begged pardon." There are frequent notices of the swearing-in of the Masters and Wardens of the Society of "Taylors" and Hosiers, and the Cord- wainers, and there was also a Society of Carpenters. In 1720 two Stuart partisans were committed to prison for crying out "God bless King James the Third, lawful King of England." There was furious riding in those days, for all " horseler or other person who ride at a gallopp on any horse, gelding, or mare in the streets or lanes," were to be fined 6s. 8d., and this order was published by the Common C^er so that no person should plead ignorance of this " good and wholesome order." THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, October 5, YEW TREES IN HANTS AND BERKS. It is not often that reliable data can be obtained as to the age and growth of trees, but Mr. Walter Money, F.S.A., writes that the parish registers of Basildon, Berks, contain some interesting memoranda respecting the growth of two yew trees planted in the churchyard by Charles, Lord Fane, in 1726. One of these trees, it is recorded, was planted on the south side of the church, and the other on the north. In the year 1780, that is, 54 years after planting, the tree on the south side measured 6ft. 3in. in girth. It was again measured in 1796, when the girth had in- creased to 8ft. 6in. In 1834, or after an interval of 38 years, the dimensions had increased to 8ft. gin. In 1889, or 163 years after planting, the tree shows a girth of gft. loin. ; all the measurements being taken close to the ground. The size of the yew on the north side is not recorded in 1780 or 1796. but in the year 1834, when both trees were measured by the Rev. J. S. Herislow, Professor of Botany in the Uni- versity of Cambridge, its girth close to the ground was 9ft. 2^in. ; and at the present time (1889) it measures at the same place gft. 6iu. From these figures an idea may be formed of the time required for the yew to attain such a bulk as many of those still standing in Berkshire. At Aldworth, in this county, so celebrated for the number of rich tombs it contains of the De la Beche family, there is a yew in the churchyard, supposed to be 1,000 years old, which measures 27ft. in circumference. This tree has not increased in bulk since 1760, when its size is recorded in More's " Berkshire Queries " as nine yards in girth ; and it is well known that trees, particularly the yew, cease to increase in size after a certain age. At Bucklebury there is another ancient, time-shattered yew, which also measures nine yards in circumfer- ence near the separation of the branches from the trunk. Still more interesting are a group of venerable yews at Watcombe, a lone farm on the road from Hungerford to Wantage and Oxford the site of a cell or grange, with a church attached, belonging in pre- Reformation days to the Benedictine Monastery of Hurley, to which house it was given by Geoffrey de Mandeville about 1086, and mentioned in the Pipe Rolls as being under the charge of a provost in 1166. These yews are in the shape of a cloister court, and are planted in double rows, forming alleys or covered ways between them, with a pond in the centre. This enclosure has "for time out of mind" been known by the country people as "Paradise," derived probably from the form of the enclosed portion of the forecourt of the basilica, which was called the " Paradise," and from the surrounding porticos the cloister took its origin. The "Sprice" at Chester is a corruption of "Paradise," as it was called at Chichester and Winchester. A sturdy pair of yews, a little to the rear of " Paradise," at Watcombe, are known as "Adam and Eve," and are said to represent, accord- ing to the ancient local legend, our first parentsdriven out of " Paradise " or the garden. Singularly enough, these trees are of the male and female species, one producing berries, and one not, while the foliage of "Adam" is of darker shade than that of his com- panion " Eve." The former measures somewhat over gft. in circumference, and the latter loft. Standing- alone at some distance in the background, farthest removed from "Paradise," is the "Serpent," or " Devil," emblematic, it is said, of the evil influence he exercised in causing the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden. This tree, the hollow trunk of which is now nearly reduced to a shell, but carries a flourishing head, measures over 2oft. in circumfer- ence. It has a lateral opening, and five or six persons could comfortably obtain shelter within the central cavity. These notes may probably lead to the publica- tion of similar records, denoting the age and size of other specimens of this gloomy evergreen. The Times, Sept. 24, 1889. With reference to the above, Mr. T. W. Shore, of the Hartley Institution, Southampton, writes to us : " The account of the yew trees given by Mr. Walter Money is very interesting, and especially that which relates to the planting, growth and measurement of THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. these trees in Berkshire. We are not without evi- dence of a similar kind in Hampshire relating to the growth and measurement of yew trees. On the north side of the churchyard of East Woodhay there is a yew in a vigorous state of growth, which was planted there by Bishop Ken, who was rector about 1669. This information was given me some years ago by the late rector, the Rev. Dr. Merriman, whose re- mains now lie not far from this tree. It will be re- membered that Bishop Ken was the author of the well known morning and evening hymns. His sister married Isaac Walton, the well known angler. I last saw the yew tree at Woodhay in June 1888, when I and Mr. J. T. Hamilton, of Southampton, measured the tree about three feet above the ground. We found the girth at this height to be 91 inches, or 7 feet 7 inches. This tree appears to have had rather a slower rate of growth than those recorded by Mr. Money, but it must be remembered that differences in soil and situation would cause a considerable degree of difference in the rate of growth. " The finest avenue of yews we have in Hampshire is that at Chilton Candover, near one of the sources of the Candover stream, an upper branch of the Itchen. This avenue is about half a mile long, and is an imposing sight, particularly in winter. The tree s may be described as still in a vigorous state of growth, although probably four or five hundred years old. That difference in soil makes a difference in the rate of growth of the yew is well seen at Chilton Candover, where some of the trees in the avenue are considerably larger than others. They have all the appearance of being planted at one time, but the avenue extends from east to west down a chalk slope, consequently there has been considerable rain wash down the slope, and a deeper soil has been formed near the bottom of the slope than remains on the upper part. The largest yews in the avenue are, as might be expected, where the soil is the best." Mr. J. R. Wise, in his work on " The New Forest,' gives the measurement of a yew in Brockenhurst churchyard, "which, from the Conqueror's day to this hour, has darkened the graves of generations," as 17 feet. He adds : " An enormous yew, completely hollow, however, stands in Breamore churchyard, measuring 2$ft 4in. There are certainly no yews in the Forest so large as these ; and their evidence would further show that at all events the Conqueror did not destroy the churchyards." At Sloden, near Fritham. on the north-west confines of the New Forest, he mentions " a thick wood of yews, stand- ing, massive and black, in all their depth of foliage, mixed, in loveliest contrast, with clumps of white- beams." In Upper Clatford churchyard, near Andover, there is a fine old yew tree, with 13 separate trunks, all un- doubtedly growing from the old shell. This place was visited by the Hampshire Field Club on August 19, 1886, and at that meeting (reported in the Hampshire Independent, August 21, 1886) Mr. T. W. Shore referred to that tree as an evidence of the practical immortality of the yew. As the old tree decayed the young grew and flourished. At Mottis- font, Tisted, and many other places there were, he said, instances of the transition of yews from decayed trees to growing trees. At Hurstbourne Priors (Dr. Joseph Stephens tells us in his " Parochial History ot St. Mary Bourne") " a fine yew tree stands in the churchyard on the south side. Its age from its stature can scarcely be less than seven or eight hundred years. It was most likely planted at the building of the Norman church." Perhaps, some one or other of our readers may take sufficient interest in the subject to make a list ot the principal yews and other trees in the county, with their measurements and any records as to their age. Communications on the subject are invited for publication in this column. HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB. VISIT TO WINCHFIELD, ODIHAM, AND GREYWELL. The Club paid a visit on Saturday to the north- eastern corner of the county, when besides three churches, each one containing some feature of special, if not unique, interest, the remains of Odiham Castle and some other medieval buildings were inspected. The probabilities at first appeared against there being a large party, as the weather could not be looked forward to with confidence, but as contingents were met from different directions the party was brought up to over 40. Starting from Winchfield Station, steps were first directed to Winchfield Church, a building of Norman date, with a very curious carved chancel arch. It appears, indeed, as Mr. T. W. Shore mentioned, to be unique in Hamp- shire, if not in England, for its varied Norman archi- tecture. The small round ornate chancel arch is very peculiar, and approaches to the Moorish style, forming an instance of the influence in this country of Eastern architecture. Mr. F. Mason Good, who acted, with Mr. T. W. Shore, as one of the directors for the day, apologised here for the unavoidable absence of the rector, the Rev. F. C. Seymour, and read the following notes which the rector had pre- pared : WIXCHFIELD CHURCH. The church is dedicated to St. Mary, the Virgin date about 1150 late Norman. It is not mentioned in Dooms- day. Originally the church consisted of tower, nave, and chancel. The porch was added in Henry VIU's time ; the north aisle in 1849. The south door is a fine specimen of Norman work with some peculiar decorations, such as the lotus leaf on the easternmost capital identical with some similar work at St. Cross, Winchester. The font is a plain basin of Purbeck marble similar to the one now in St. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY <. NATURALIST. Cross, Winchester. The lead work brought over to protect the edge, which was much broken, is modern ; the base also is modern. The tower arch is plain, but in good pro- portion and untouched. The tower is remarkable for its size in proportion to the nave. The walls are of great thickness, untouched up to the floor of the belfry. On the south side of the nave, near the tower, are some oak seats in situ, probably 300 years old. The north aisle, added in 1849, is an admirable instance of an addition to the old Norman nave, in excellent proportion, and in right principles as to architecture. The roof of the nave is good and untouched. The pulpit, dated 1634, is similar to the one in Odiham Church. The carvings in the alternate panels are supposed to represent Aaron's rod that budded and the Scroll of the Law. The sounding board was un- fortunately destroyed in 1849. Behind the pulpit observe an ingenious mode of obtaining an altar to the Virgin, the counter scarping for the credence. When the Cultus of the Virgin was brought into England by the Roman Catholic Church in the isth century altars to the Virgin were added to the old Norman buildings, more frequently as additional buildings. In this case the object was attained by cutting out of the thickness of the walls sufficient space for the altar slabs. The chaneel arch is the peculiar and striking feature of the church, and as far as is known, is a unique specimen of Norman decora- tion. The billet moulding running through the soffit of the arch is of Moorish character of the usual unmeasured work of the Norman builders. There [is no true centre, and the ends of each moulding are untrue to the next, but the whole effect is very striking. Observe the ferns of the country in the capitals on each side of the arch. In the chancel the east window is modern trumpery work, unwisely put in the place of a good proportioned Early English window, removed to the new north aisle in 1845. On the south side of the altar is a good specimen of an Early English credence, now rendered almost useless by the undue raising of the altar in the restoration. The upper portions of the two north and south easternmost windows are original and untouched. The credence on one side, and priest's seat on the other are modern. The other two chancel windows are modern. The rector expresses the hope that some of the mischief done in the late restoration may in the course of next year be undone. Observe in the angle of the north wall the ends of the rood steps. The opening to the rood was, unfortunate!}', des- troyed in 1849. The rood beam, which must have cut the beautiful chancel arch in two, was removed probably shottly after the Reformation, and now supports the floor of one of the rooms at the rectory house. The porch is interesting, and was re-built in Henry VIII's time, re- taining the windows of a previous porch of the Early English period. On the western end of the outside of the tower, under the water-table, are some peculiardecorations, common in Romanesque buildings in Italy unusual in England called "intaglio plaster." Apparently demons or serpents are intended to be represented. It is much effaced by time and the work of re-building the upper part of the tower in 1849. The living of Winchfield was held under the Abbey of Chertsey. The farm house hard by, called " Court Farm," was a grange of the Abbey. Though the church was not mentioned in Dooms- day, Mr. Shore said, the parish of Winchfield was, where the name was given as " Wenesflet." The following is the extract : The Abbey of Chertsey holds Winchfield, and Walter the brother of Other holds it of the Abbey, and Alwin held it allodially of King Edward, and it did not belong to the Abbey. It was then as now assessed at five hides. Here are eight ploughlands, and ten villeins, and seven borderers with 15 ploughlands. Its value was, in the time of King Edward, iocs., afterwards 6os., and now 303. There was some discussion as to the columns and bays dividing the nave from the north aisle, the ball flower ornament being thought by some to indicate the time of Edward lor II, but as there was previously a plain wall here, this was evidently only an imita- tion of old work. The oak seat ends were thought by Mr. Shore to be much older than suggested in the paper, and probably of Norman age. There is a brass in the floor, dated 1652, to the memory of Benjamin Rudyerd, possibly a relative of the builder of the second lighthouse at Eddystone, for the name is not a common one ; and there is another brass dated 1659, to the daughter of Francis Rud3 r erd, who died at the age of nine. There are also monuments of the Beauclerk family. "DRUIDICAL" STONES. Crossing the Basingstoke Canal, a slight detour was made to see a large Sarsen stone by the side of the road against Dogmersfield Park. This, the President, Mr. W. Whitaker, F.R.S., said, was the same sort of stone as the larger stones at Stonehenge. Such stones are very largely scattered over the country up as far as London. They come from a particular part of the Upper Bagshot Sands, and have been deposited as isolated boulders when the sands which covered this part of the country were denuded away. He (Mr. Whitaker) had seen some of the stones in situ in some of the lower beds. With re- gard to the word Sarsen, he said that it was merely an old word for stone, and had nothing to do with Saracen, as some supposed. THE STOCKS. A pleasant walk along the banks of the canal, where the botanists had a good innings, and where a short halt was made on the way for lunch, led to Odiham, a clean little town, with one wide street. Here an interesting antiquarian object was the stocks and whipping post still standing in the Bury, the only instance of this old engine of punishment yet remain- ing on the mainland of Hampshire. At Brading, in the Isle of Wight, however, the stocks are still standing. That at Odiham consists of two upright posts which support the horizontal pieces of wood hollowed out for the legs of the offenders, three of whom could be accommodated at the same time, sitting on chairs against the wall with their legs through the holes, there to be subjected, it may be sometimes to a shower of rotten eggs and other unpleasant missiles, till, as one antiquary powerfully expressed it, they looked "pretty devils." One of the posts, which is higher than the other, was used as the whipping post, having bent pieces of iron hinged on each side for securing the wrists. These were found to be so small that the gentlemen of the party could not get their wrists in ; so it was THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. concluded that the post was intended only for the punishment of women. The whole thing naturally called up reminiscences of the use of this obsolete mode of punishment. The President and Mr. Shore had both seen the stocks used. Mr. W. H. Purkis said he was the last bailiff of Chapel Fair, at South- ampton, having then the command of the stocks, but he ordered no one into them. Mr. T. K. Dymond had seen people in the stocks at Launceston in Cornwall. ODIHAM CHURCH AND ITS FONT. The stocks and the church were not usually very far apart ; and so in this case a few steps led to the parish church of Odiham. This did not at first glance appear so interesting a building as that atWinchfield, but it has a unique feature in the font, of which there is not a similar one in the county. This has on one side a projection, hollowed out as if to receive some liquid, with two holes slanting outwards through it. This font has exercised the imaginations of numbers of antiquaries as to the purpose of the excrescence. Some have declared it to be a chrisom, or vessel for holding the oil which was used in baptisms ; others have supposed that it had to do with the fastening of the cover of the font. Recently, the vicar, the Rev. T. G. Clarke, said, a deputation of the Oxford Archae- ological Societj-, with Prof. Westwood, visited the church, and after learnedly discussing the matter at the Ashmolean Museum, had come to the conclusion that this protuberance was for the purpose of receiving the droppings of the holy water in which the children were baptised. Prof. Westwood thought the absence of any mark of oil was sufficient to dis- prove the chrisom theory. The members of the Field Club now brought their wits to work to try to solve the question. If it was for the dropping of the holy water, asked one, why did the drain holes lead out- wards instead ot into the basin ? One thought that these holes did not go through the stone, unless perhaps they were stopped up. Altogether the balance of opinion of the Field Clubites seemed to be against the chrisom theory of the learned antiquaries of Oxford and in favour of the more matter of fact suggestion as to the fastening or hinge of the cover, the holes being for the iron work. The closing of the fonts, the Rev. G. W. Minns mentioned, was in order to prevent the water being used for magical rites ; and there used to be a fine oak cover to this font. The consecrated water, he added, was kept for a whole year, and was then renewed with great ceremony. Mr. Shore cited edicts of the years 1250 and 1290 enjoining that all fonts should be covered for protection against magic. The inscription on the font is Meiini aiixilinm in deo qni fecit co-lain ct terram ; the lettering, Mr. Minns thought, was of later than Norman age. Other features of interest are the brasses and a fine carved Jacobean pulpit. The brasses include those of a civilian, 1450 ; a lady, 1510 ; a lady, 1520 ; a civilian, 1530; Mary Py, 1636 ; and John Haydock, 1504. The Vicar said he found these brasses lying about in 1861, and had had them put on slates and erected on the walls. Mr. Shore expressed congratulations on behalf of the Club that they had been so well pre- served, and referred to the neglect with which they were treated in manj- other places. He also men- tioned as in the church small brasses to William Goodmay, vicar, 1498, Thomas Chammsy, 1528, and others about 1400. The church was confiscated by Henry VIII, and given into the hands of lay rectors, in which it has remained till the present day. An oppor- tunity was afforded for inspecting the church registers, which date from 1538, the date when the keeping of these registers was enjoined by Cromwell. The earliest volume appears, however, to be a transcript, being on paper, not parchment, and in one hand- writing; the pages are in somewhat bad preservation, the cover of the book being too small, and if some effort is not made to bring them into better condition, portions will be irretrievably lost. A curious entry was shown under the date Jan. 4, 1784, of the marriage of "Charles Hambleton" and Mary Scamol, the bridegroom afterwards being discovered to be a woman. There is also in the vestry an old chest, with three keys for the clergyman and church- wardens, which for a long time resisted all attempts to open it. Mr. Shore gave one or two items con- nected with the history of the church. In 1290, at the taxation of Pope Nicholas, the rector}- of Odiham with its chapel, i.e. that of Greywell, was valued at 66 138. 4d., and the vicarage of Odiham at 8. At the time of the Valor Ecclesiasticus (Henry VIII), Roger Elys was rector or vicar, and the value of the benefice was 23 us. 4d. The rectory belonged to the cathedral church of Salisbury, which had the great tithes. A BIG CHALK PIT. Proceeding from here to Greywell, a short stoppage was made at a large chalk pit, one of the largest in the county. This is situated close to the line of junction between the upper chalk and the Tertiary beds which runs across this part of the county, and being in a projecting part of the chalk was no doubt sought from its accessibility from different points. It was afterwards remarked by Lord Basing, who met the party at the " Priory," that at the time the French people were interned at Odiham, they used this chalk pit to fight their duels. GREYWELL CHURCH AND ITS ROOD LOFT. The church at Gre3'well or Grewell, as the name is variouslj- spelled and we believe variously pronounced, is a small structure which possesses a very interesting feature, a rood loft, the only one now remaining in Hampshire. Steps to such rood lofts have been seen in different churches at previous meetings of the Club, as at Tichborne, but at Greywell the loft and screen are complete, and have been raised on a stone foundation so as not to interfere with the chancel THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. arch, and otherwise kept in repair. It is a carved wooden structure, and was covered up with lath and plaster, until discovered by the present vicar. This, he thought, was done during the Civil War to protect it from Cromwell's soldiers, who held Odiham, which had been a Royalist town, with a strong hand. At the Restoration the people put up the Royal coat-of- arms in the church to express their joy. Mr. Shore gave some particulars as to the purpose of these rood lofts, a general order for pulling down or altering which was issued on October 10, 1561. They were used for reading part of the service and for placing the rood or figure of the Crucifixion and the images of the saints ; friars, too, were sometimes up on them during the services. The rood lofts were commonly adorned with a row of figures of the saints, and an extract from an old ballad was read in illustration of this : " Oh hold thy peace I pray thee, The house was passing trim, To hear the friars singing As \ve did enter in, And then to see the rood loft So bravely set with saints," cS=c. The Rev. G. W. Minns, who has given some atten- tion to this subject, spoke of rood lofts in Norfolk and on the continent. At St. Fiacre, in Brittany, he had seen the saints as described in the ballad. These lofts are now generally to be found only in remote country places. The church, the vicar said, was built by King John in 1215 in commemoration of Magna Charta, though why John should wish to com- memorate this was not mentioned. The font of this church is of the time of Henry VII, and there is some Norman moulding over the north door. There are four bells, on which the inscriptions are as follow : i, the oldest or pre-Reformation bell has " Hal Mari fvlofgras'' (Hail, Mary, full of grace); 2, " Feare God, 1638"; 3, "Henry Knight made me, 1662." The small or Sanctus bell has no inscription. ODIHAM CASTLE. A short walk next led to the ruins of Odiham Castle, of which portions of the walls of an octagonal building are all that now remain. Of this, which was evidently the keep, Mr. Shore read the following quotation from Mr. Clarke's book on Medieval Military Architecture in England : Whatever its extent may have been in former times all that remains is the ruin of a single tower of an octagonal form, the faces of the octagon being about 22 feet 6 inches. The walls including the casing were 10 feet thick. The interior diameter from face to face was 38 feet. A buttress of 4 feet projection and 2 feet wide was set at each angle of the tower rising nearly to the summit 60 feet high. The tower is built of flint nodules made into a conglomerate by a large quantity of very good mortar. The whole of the exterior appears to have been faced with small ashlar blocks of stone, which casing is gone ; but the mortar has preserved the beds of the stone more or less perfect. The same stone was used in the interior for dressings. The tower consisted of a basement of two stories, and six of its eight facings appear to have been pierced for openings. The first floor was about 30 feet high. The floors were of timber and made of large beams laid about 6 inches apart, the walls being pierced with square recesses for the beams. As these recesses are radiating and not parallel it is clear that the floor rested on a central pier or post as in the Wakefield Tower of the Tower of London. A plan of this building issued by the Society of Anti- quaries and an old print of the ruin, believed to be taken from the Gentleman's Magazine, were exhibited. The position of the other parts of the castle does not appear to be known, but the surrounding moats, now more or less filled up, could be traced in the field. As to the age of the castle, Mr. B. W. Greenfield suggested that it pointed to the time of the war between King Stephen and Matilda ; the herring- bone work showed Norman age. In the fireplace of an upper floor there appeared to be some bricks, probably Roman bricks used by the Norman builders, for, Mr. Shore said, he knew of no bricks made between the time of the Roman occupation of Britain and that of Edward III. ODIHAM " PRIORY." By invitation of Mr. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S., a visit was next made to the " Priory," where there are some remains of medieval buildings. A portion of the house has been restored by the present owner. Lord Basing, and is now the dwelling-house of his brother, Mr. Sclater, whilst another part has been allowed to lapse into a picturesque ruin. It was pronounced by the architectural authorities of the party, Mr. Dymond and others, to be of the Perpendicular period. The ruined portion is generally called the " chapel," but as it had an upper floor this is evidently incorrect. Lord Basing here acted as chaperon, pointing out the features of interest and conducting the party into what was the old refectory. The building, he said, was formerly the rectory of Greywell ; but when it was dissevered from the church it was thought needful to change the name, and that of " Priory " (without any apparent reason, for the place does not appear to have been built as a priory) was chosen. Tea was then provided by Mr. and Mrs. Sclater, after which the party reassembled to hear the following paper by Mr. Shore on DIHAM MANOR. Probably no town in Hampshire of its size has a longer or more eventful history than Odiham. I cannot under- take even to mention all the main points in that history in a short paper. So far as I am aware its history has not yet been written, although there are short summaries of events connected with the town in various publications. It is much to be desired that some one of sufficient leisure should undertake to write a history of this town. The national records contain much unpublished information about it. The visit of the Field Club to Odiham brings us into touch with local illustrations and examples of early and medieval life such as few towns in this county, or, indeed, in England, could bring before us in a more forcible way. As regards its origin, the place in Hampshire which most resembles it is perhaps Kingsclere, which I hope the club will visit before long. Clere, whether the king's clere or THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. the people's clere at Burghclere, was a settlement in the northern forest of Hampshire, and Odiham was also a forest settlement, as its name implies. I have heard a wood spoken of by country people as a ood, and in Dooms- day book the name of a neighbouring parish, now called Hoddington, was known as Odingeton, and gave its name to the Hundred in which it was situated, and well it might, for it was, like Odiham, a place in the great forest land of Northern Hampshire, which was known centuries later as the Forest of Odiham or Forest of Eversley. That the original settle- ment at Odiham was a British settlement is probable, although there is no direct proof like there is at Burghclere by the remains ef the great British camps on Beacon and Ladle Hills, but circumstantial evidence points strongly towards a British settlement here, for Odiham, like Burghclere or Kingsclere, is situated near the limit which Nature must have placed on the extent of the great northern forest, or, at least, where its character was some- what changed. In both localities the outcrop of the chalk occurs, and this must of necessity have produced a differ- ence in the tree growth, and have caused open spaces to have existed near at hand. Within the town of Odiham itself the place-name of the Bury which survives tells us that some earth-work, either of British or Saxon origin, must have existed here, and in the record of an inquisition, held at Odiham in the 2nd year of Richard II, there is mention made of William Dobbs (who appears to have been the head man, or head borough) and other men ef Odiham holding twelve acres of land, and a messuage called Dunton in Odiham. This looks very much as if the men of Odiham held here their ancient fortification or Dun in common. The origin and growth of the towns and large villages of Hampshire are subjects of the greatest historical in- terest. It is my opinion that many of our towns and villages are so surrounded with circumstances pointing to British occupation, as to leave no reasonable doubt of their extreme antiquity, but whatever mists of antiquity en- shroud their origin, none whatever obscures the history of their growth. Some of our towns and villages, like Alresford and Micheldever, grew through being important episcopal or monastic manors, and others such as Odiham grew to importance through being royal manors. Odiham appears to have been a royal manor as far back as Anglo- Saxon history goes a royal ville of the kingdom of Wessex. The antiquities of Odiham bring us into touch with the sacred Folkland of the early Anglo-Saxons, and this folk- land was none other than the great forest land, which as centuries passed became vested in the king, and known as the King's Forest, and became gradually less and less even in Saxon time, as new manors and villages arose, and the population increased. The Doomsday account of Odiham, which is as follows, gives us some interesting information : " King William holds Odiham in demesne, and it was held by Earl Harold. Here are 78% hides. It was formerly assessed at 38 hides, but is not now assessed. Here are 56 ploughlands, 15 in demesne ; and 137 villeins and 60 borderers with 40 plough- lands ; also 50 slaves, 8 mills which pay 563. yd., 21 acres of meadow, and woods for 160 hogs. Its value in the time of King Edward and afterwards was .50 by toll, and now 50 in weight. Two hides of this manor belong to 2 churches situated in it, on \yhich the priest has i villein with i ploughland, and they are worth 6. Two other priests hold 2 churches of this manor, with two yardlands and i ploughlands worth 6ys. 6d." It is worthy of note that this account of Odiham in Dooms- day book comes first of all the Hampshire manors men- tioned in that record. We see by this account that William the Conqueror, Harold (here described by the Norman French scribe as Earl only out of deference to William's claim to have been the rightful heir), and Edward the Confessor all held the manor, and it probably had been held by manv Saxon kings before them. This account gives us as good an illustration of a large agricultural community in the nth century as that of any place in Hampshire. We may note that more than half the land of the manor was cultivated in common by the 137 small farmers of villeins and the 60 labourers or borderers who are mentioned. These people cultivated 40 plough- lands out of the 56, and they performed probably some manorial services on the remaining 16 ploughlands which the king and his bailiff held. This shows that the servile tenants of Odiham were not at all badly off. At the eight mills which are mentioned the tenants were all obliged to bring their corn to be ground by a general feudal custom, under which the lord of a manor had a certain toll or benefit. Probably some of the mills which still exist are on the ancient sites. The Doomsday account also tells us of pannage in the forest for 160 hogs, and we know also that the tenants had valuable pasture privileges in the forest. Of the churches mentioned one was in all probability on the site of the present church. Greywell Church is also probably one of them. The priest or parson had land of his own, which was a rare circumstance in Hampshire at the date of the Doomsday Survey. This land which the priest held carried with it certain pasturage privileges in the forest, and at a much later date, viz., about 1334, when these grazing rights of the parson were questioned, an Inquisition was held by order of the king to inquire into the " common pasture rights of the parson of the church of Odiham." Odiham possesses one remarkable object of antiquity which is apart from its scientific interest closely connected with its ancient system of agriculture, i.e., its great chalk pit. This is, I think, the largest of the old chalk pits of the county, certainly one of the largest, and its great size tells us of its antiquity. It was one of the most ancient of agricultural privileges on such a manor as that of Odiham, for the tenants to have the right to take as much chalk as they wanted for marling their clay land or any other heavy soil. This process of marling was in use in Britain in Romano-British time, it was followed by the Anglo-Saxons, and has continued down to the present day. Odiham possesses another object of antiquity, which re- calls very forcibly to our minds the ancient judicial system of this country. The old stocks of Odiham are, I suppose, no longer a terror to evil doers, but they remind us of the administration of punishment and the local courts of justice which formerly existed in this place. There can be no doubt that when the king wus here in olden time, Odiham was occasionally the seat of a high court of justice, but at other times it appears to have had several courts. Like other manors it had its manor court for regulating manorial matters between the various tenants, and it also had its Hundred Court, held by the King's Provost or Bailiff, by whom it was governed. The Hundred Court included the powers of a Court Leet, and the stocks are, I suppose, almost all that remains of the ancient judicial authority of these Courts. The Hundred Court at Odiham is mentioned in Inquisitiones post- mortem in the time of Edward II, Richard II, and Henry IV". THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. These local Courts not only punished those who com- mitted offences, but were the original safeguards of the liberties of the poorer people, who by appealing to custom defended themselves against oppression, for local customs as regulated by local courts were in olden time the defence of the weak against the strong, and it must be remembered that such an official as the King's Provost or Bailiff of Odiham, could not exercise his authority contrary to the custom of the Hundred Court of which he was the presiding officer. The men of Odiham, at a very early date, appear to have improved their social condition considerably by obtaining from the King the privileges of soc-men, by which they were relieved from many customary manorial services, such as ploughing, sowing, reaping, &c., on and for the King's land, in consideration of the payment of a fee farm or rent for the land they collectively held. There is a record of the year 1205, in which the Odiham soc-men are stated as paying ^35 45. per annum for the old fee farm, and 14 i6s. for the new, making 50 in all. The fee farm was at that time ancient, for it is described as " antiquam firmam," and from this payment being ancient in the time of King John, and from the similarity of the total amount to the recorded value of the King's interest in the Dooms- da}- Survey, it is probable that the old fee farm paid by the men of Odiham was of Saxon origin. As might have been expected, from its ancient associa- tions with our kings and queens, Odiham has been closely connected with several leading events in English history. It was here that King John lived during the early summer of 1215, while he was making up his mind what to do in the matter in dispute with his subjects. From Odiham, as is shown by his itinerary, he set forth to meet his barons at Runnimede, where he signed Magna Charta, after which he returned to his Castle here, and remained for some days very much out of humour. Odiham Castle played a very conspicuous part during the invasion of England in the next year, 1216, by a French army under Prince Louis, the Dauphin of France, who took Guildford, Farnham, and Winchester, and then turned his attention to Odiham Castle, which refused to surrender. He besieged it for a week, and the garrison made some successful sallies, and obtained the honourable terms of surrender, of being allowed to march out with their arms and horses, which they did to the admiration of the French, who counted the defending force, and were amazed to find only three knights, three squires, and seven fighting men, 13 in all, and they had lost none in the defence. During the next reign Odiham was a favourite residence of Princess Eleanor, who subsequently became Countess of Leicester. It was granted to her as Countess of Pembroke in 1237, and subsequently as Countess of Leicester. She kept a large hunting establishment of men and dogs at Odiham. In the civil war which took place in this reign her husband, De Montfort, was the leader of the popular party. Odiham Castle appears to have been held for him, and from a lawsuit in 1260 we learn that after the battle of Evesham, when the constable of the Castle gave it up to the king, he took away with him all the documents relating to the place, a convenient way probably of settling his accounts. Odiham Castle and Manor formed part of the dower which Edward I settled on his second wife, Margaret of France. In a succeeding reign it is said to have been part of the dower of a more famous Queen Margaret her of Anjou given her by her husband Henry VI. In the time of Edward III Odiham Castle was selected as the place of confinement for David Bruce, King of Scotland, who had been taken prisoner at the battle of Neville's Cross in 1346. He did not regain his liberty till 1357, when, on pay- ment of the heavy ransom of 100,000 marks and giving other security, he was set free, glad no doubt to turn his back on Odiham for ever. The National Records not only contain references to Odiham and its castle in connection with historical events and important persons, but some entries of less import- ance, although of more local interest ; for example, we know that the buildings on the manor and the houses in the town probably must have been allowed to tall into decay in the isth century, for in the 3gth year of Henry VI there is the record of an Inquisition to report on the dila- pidations within the manor of Odiham. There are also many records of earlier centuries relating to the convey- ance of wine belonging to the king from Southampton to Odiham, to repairing the park fence, to stocking the castle ditches with fish, to hiring carts for conveying the king's wardrobe and moveable effects, to the supply of farming implements for the demesne lands, and other matters of local interest. An Inquisition was held in 1275 to report on the pasture which the men of Odiham had in the " bosco de Whytmondsley." Odiham Castle and forest had many notable custodians in successive reigns. In 1225 Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, was bailiff, afterwards the King's sister, who be- came Countess of Leicester, had it granted to her. Sub- sequently the manor was held by Gilbert de Eversley, Thomas de Warblington, John Beauchamp, Henry de Sturmy, Margaria de la Bergh, John de Foxle, John de Meriet, John atte Berwe, Robert Thorpe, Hugh le Des- penser, Robert le Ewer, Nicholas Brook, Henry Esturmy, Joanna wife of John Mohun, John Berewe, William Sturmy, Thomas de Camoys, Hugh Camoys, B. Brocas, Lord Beaumont, Richard le Strange, William Warbelton,. Roger Leukenore, John Lestrange, Isabella Seymour, and many others until the time of James I, when that king, being in want of money and having some financial difficulty with his parliament, allowed the ancient royal domain' of Odiham to pass into private hands, and thus was severed the direct connexion of Odiham with the Crown which had lasted for so many centuries. Some of the manors in the neighbourhood appear to have been held by the tenure of defending Odiham Castle, such as the manor of Polling, which in the 5th of Henry VI is stated to have been held " ut de castro de Odiham," i.e., by the tenure of defending the castle. The government and town life of Odiham in the middle ages was so far peculiar as to be one of very few instances of its kind which existed in England. It had the privileges of a borough, without being incorporated, and the town is cited by Maddox in his work " Firma Burgi," as a peculiar instance of its kind, showing that the men of a town not corporate might hold their towns at fee farm as well as corporate towns. At the conclusion of the paper Lord Basing said that the history of the place which had been so suc- cinctly put before them by Mr. Shore deserved to be expanded and dealt with fully, and mentioned that there was an interesting inventory of the contents of that house (the " Priory ") at the time it was taken by Cromwell. The curate of Greywell (the Rev. F. C. Cole) took the opportunity to make an appeal for funds towards repairing the tower of his church, which, he said, is now so unsafe that they are afraid to ring the bells. 10 THE HAMPSHIRE- ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. Mr. F. A. Echvards quoted from Prof. Montagu Burrows's " History of the Brocas Family " an early reference to the making of tiles at Odiham. In 1357-8 Sir Bernard Brocas was having some building operations carried on at Beaurepaire, and in his steward's account are the items of 403. for 12,000 tiles and 6s. for " fetching the tiles from Odiham." The outcrop of the London clay, Mr. Shore added, made this a good place for tiles. On the proposition of Mr. Whitaker, who did the duties of President, and Mr. F. Mason Good, thanks were voted respectively to the directors of the day, and their host and hostess ; and with these compliments the day's proceedings came to an end. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, October 12, 1889. YEW TREES IN CHURCHYARDS. [//. /. ante, Oct. 5, 1889.] The reason why yew trees were planted in church- yards is explained by a Statute of Edward I, referred to by Douce in his " Illustrations of Shakespeare," Vol. I, p. 397. The passage may be given at length as follows : " In a Statute made in the latter part of the reign of Edward I, to prevent rectors from cutting down the trees in churchyards, we find the following passage : ' Verum arbores ipsae, propter ventorum impetus ne ecclesias noceant, ssepe plantantur ' (i.e., that trees be often planted to protect the churches from violent winds). This is, at least, sufficient for the purpose of disproving what has been so often asserted respecting the plantation of yews in churchyards for the purpose of making bows, for although these weapons were sometimes made of English yew, the more common materials employed were elm and hazel." Steevens considers that these yews in churchyards were also resorted to for bows. Shakespeare often mentions the yew, and always as a tree of ill-omen as in "King Richard III" : " Thy very headsmen learn to bend their bows Of double-fatal yew against thy state." Among the ingredients in the witches' cauldron, in " Macbeth," are " Slips of yew, Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse." The poisonous quality of the leaves of the yew is well known. C. ROACH SMITH. Temple-place, Strood. WINCHESTER CITY RECORDS. The St. James's Gazette says that persons interested in manuscripts and historical documents and their dangers and vicissitudes might have witnessed an in- structive exhibition at Mr.' Zaehnsdorfs, the well- known bookbinder, of York-street, Covent Garden. He has been entrusted by the Corporation of Win- chester with the binding of their ancient records, ex- tending as far back as 1349. As an example of the carelessness with which such documents are kept, it may be mentioned that very many of them both parch- ment and paper were, through exposure to the action of damp, crumbling away, resembling in some in- stances powder rather than paper. Yet by the method of treatment adopted they can now be easily handled, and the writing, which was in some cases faint almost to illegi- bility, can be readily deciphered. In some instances new parchment has been wedded to the old in such skilful fashion that the restoration is only de- tected after careful' examination. The documents as they are now arranged consist of the following : Books of Enrolment, 1349-1411 ; Tarrage Book, 1408-9 ; Four Court Rolls (16 vols.), 1522-1694 ; Coffer Accounts, 1589-1661. An examination of the crumbled fragments of many of these records, now carefully and securely interleaved in substantially bound folio volumes, and easy of reference, produces a vivid sense of the irreparable losses to the national history from the negligence of custodians of ancient records. In many instances discoloured fragments, so small as to be practically useless for the purpose of information, are all that are left of deeds which in their integrity would be priceless. It is satisfactory to find that, if we may take Winchester as an example, the corporations of our ancient cities are now alive to the duty of preserving what still remains to them of their historical records. A LITERARY CURIOSITY. I have just found amongst my odd papers No. 3 of the Romscy Weekly Register, printed and published by Samuel Jackson, on December 16, 1816. Its longest article is headed " Cobbett versus Cobbett, or the Hypocrite Unmasked," and bears the signature, " A Hampshire Freeholder." The writer admits that great distress prevails, and attributes it to the change our country had just undergone, from war to peace. He is severe in his treatment of Cobbett and Hunt (Henry, I suppose, he means), but says Hunt is by far the least dangerous. He avers that even in those times the wants of the poor are attended to with as much, if not with greater humanity, in this country than in any other upon earth. That Mr. Cobbett cared not for the accuracy of his statements so that he could sell his pamphlets. The poor are entreated to distinguish between their real friends and such persons as Mr. Cobbett, who, instead of co-operating with the more benevolent of his countrymen, in voluntarily contributing for the relief of the distressed, is very glad to take their pence for his pamphlets ; and to turn their misfortunes into a source of profit to himself . He confesses that a more equal representation of the property of the kingdom is to be desired ; but the evil is not of that pressing nature to require such violent measures as universal suffrage a'>d annual Parliaments ! He entreats his readers not to forget the pure and impartial administration of justice in tin's THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. ii country. Near to the end of his communication he says : "If we wanted further arguments to prove the blessings which this country enjoys, we need only mention the religions freedom which exists amongst us ; the numerous charities to be found throughout the kingdom ; and the provision which is universally made for the instruction of the poor.'' Short-sighted alarmist ! He little thought a person living at the time he penned the above would in the year 1889 be able to say that one thing he so much dreaded universal suffrage would be conferring its benefits. He omits all allusion to the shocking abuses of which the charities he praises were the subjects. As for his myth, " religious freedom," the wonder is that any man of ordinary honour and knowledge could make such an assertion. Within a few yards of my cottage exists evidence of religious persecution, in the fact that intending worshippers in a newly-erected Congregationalist Church were pro- hibited from passing some thirty yards up a road in front of the church, and along which -workmen went te their workshop, and men passed to feed their pigs and horses ; so the trustees were compelled to cut off a slice ol their ground in order to approach the church door. Religious freedom indeed ! JAS. W. BATCHELOR. ST. MARY'S CHURCH, GREYWELL. To the Editor of The Hampshire Independent. Sir, In your account of the visit of the Hants Field Club appears the following, describing the rood screen : " But at Grey well the loft and screen are complete and have been raised on a stone founda- tion so as not to interfere with the chancel arch, and otherwise kept in repair. It is a carved modern structure and was covered up with lathe and plaster until discovered by the present Vicar." I have known the Church for 50 years, or 20 years before the present Vicar came here. During the whole of that time it has never had a lathe or a bit of plaster on it, and was as distinct a feature then as it is now, the only difference being that it now rests on a stone foundation instead of as formerly on the floor of the nave. It is certainly not correct that it was dis- covered by him. I remain, sir, your obedient servant. ROBERT MULFORD, Churchwarden. Greywell, near OJiham, Hants, October gth, 1889. The Westminster' Review for October in an article on " William Shakespeare, Gentleman," has some references to the great dramatist's relations with the Earl of Southampton. Mr. Hubert Smith contributes to The Antiquary this month some "Archaeological Notes in Normandy." " The Archaeological Society " the name is somewhat vague whose congress he records, visited, among other places, the famous Benedictine Abbey of Bee, an abbey which at one time had an interest in Hampshire. For Quarley manor, in this county, was held by the Prior of Okeburn (new called Ogburn, near Marlborough) as the representative in England of the Abbey of Bee. See Hampshire Independent (June 22, 1889) " Hampshire Field Club." The Gentleman s Magazine contains an appreciative article on " Swanage," and another, with much antiquarian information in an attractive dress, on "Ipplepen: Round and about an old Devon village. " Another writer, in following the vicissitudes of "Early Mormonisra," quotes from Mrs. Stenhouse ("an educated apostate who has lately written against her former faith") a graphic account of the Mormon community as she knew it at Southampton in 1849. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, October 19, 1889. THE WEATHER IN SEPTEMBER. The rainfall in September, as in most months, varies greatly. In 1875 it was 0-37, and in 1876 473 inches, which is the least and the most in fifteen years, and the average for the ten years preceding the present is 274 inches. The past month has been exceptionally fine, the total tall being only i'io inches, the whole of which, except '01 on the 2nd, fell from the igth to 24th, and rain -fell on six days only. From August 22nd to September i8th in- clusive, only -07 in. ol rain fell, which may be con- sidered 28 days drought ; 25 days were without any rain, and 15 days are entered " fine sunshine," i.e., sunshine all day. Since January ist to September 3oth we have had 1808, the average for the same months for the ten preceding years being 21 '51 in. This gives a deficiency of 3-43 in. to the present time. 1888 was deficient 275, and 1887 10-51 inches from the average often years, so that from January ist, 1887, to the present time the deficiency here has been 16-69 inches, which is more than six months' average rain- fall. The barometer has been over the average, registering 30 inches and over on twenty days. The highest was 30^45 and lowest 29-52. The tempera- ture was high during the first fortnight, the ther- mometer reaching 75 degrees on the i2th. The maximum was 70 degrees and above on five days. There were two frosts registering 30 degrees on each night. Thermometer 3 feet from ground. Fordingbridge. T. WESTLAKE. ODIHAM AND GREYWELL CHURCHES. The Rev. T. G. Clarke, vicar of Odiham, has desired us to make the following corrections in our report of the last meeting of the Hampshire Field Club. It was at Odiham Church, not Greywell, that the people put up the royal coat of arms at the Restora- 12 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY NATURALIST. tion. " I never meant," he writes, "instating that Greywell Church, according to tradition, was built in 1215, in King John's reign, to imply that it was built ' by him, as he would not favour church building ; still less would he favour anything in commemoration of Magna Charta. Far more likely to be the work of the priests-vicars, holding the tithe. The rectorial was commuted at .1,690, and the vicarial 31^583. Both were united until the rectorial was confiscated by Henry VIII." With regard to the font, he says that there are only two others in England similar to the one at Odiham ; but many cases of such excre- scences occur on the continent. The name on one of the brasses should be Mary Pye (not Py). A paper of Miss Emma Swann, niece of Professor Westwood, on " Fonts of unusual shape with appendages " was read at a meeting of the Oxford Archl. and Historical Society, in March, 1887, and in it was described and figured the Odiham font. This paper is just being published, and the following is the part specially relating to Odiham font : Odiham font is peculiar from being, in the first place, an inscribed one. This inscription, sent me by the Rev. G. W. Minns, is cut in augulated gothic characters about six inches high round the basin of the font and is to be read : Auxiliu meum a dno qui fecit ccefu (et)tra, and is pre- ceeded by a pretty lily flower. The font is further remark- able for its curious oblong projection on the south-west side of the basin, which projection has not been added to the side of the font, but has evidently been cut out of one block of stone with the basin. It is hollowed out into a species of small trough, 5 inches in length by 3^ in breadth, and i| in depth. At the bottom of this trough are two round holes, one at each side, with an external outlet on each side of the projection which would serve as drains, by means of which any liquid poured into the trough would escape and trickle down the outside of the font. Various uses have been assigned to this projection; the most likely ones being either that it was for fastening on a cover by means of a bolt running through the two holes, or that it was a piscina to carry off the water poured over the head of the baptised person, and prevent this water from falling back into the consecrated water in the font. The use of these piscinas is required in early baptismal ceremonies, and they are still in use amongst Roman Catholics. Fonts with secondary receptacles are unusual in England, although there are some examples of them. I have drawings of fonts in France, Jersey, Sweden, and Wales with these append- ages. I may add that from the style of the lettering on the Odiham font it is probably of the i4thcenturv. SOUTHAMPTON'S ANCIENT COMMERCE. King Henry VI having taken to his own use a certain quantity of Allom soyle, of the value of eight thousand pounds, the property of the merchants of Geno, being in the port of Southampton, in order to secure the payment of the said sum to the said mer- chants, it was ordained by the King, Lords, and Com- moners, in Parliament assembled, that the said mer- chants should ship in vessels to pass the Straits of Marrok, all wools, woolfells, tin, and other merchan- dise to them belonging in the port of Southampton, and also to discharge and put to land all merchandise to them belonging, coming into the said port from parts beyond the sea, and retain the duties and customs arising thereupon in their own hands to- wards the payment of the said sum ; and should like- wise take and receive all manner of customs and sub- sidies arising and growing in the said port after a certain day then following, upon all manner of wools, woolfells, hides, tin, and other merchandise, which after that day should be shipped, until the said sum of eight thousand pounds should be fully paid and satisfied. (Rot. Parl. 29th Henry VI, as quoted in Worsley's Isle of Wight.') J. DORE. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, October 26, 1889. " ROYAL WINCHESTER." Winchester is a city with such a wealth of historical and antiquarian associations that it is not astonishing that it has attracted the pens of many writers. Its history has been recorded by Milner, and again in more popular form by the Misses Bramston and Leroy, without, however, detracting from the welcome which will greet the promised work of Dr. Kitchin, the present accomplished and learned Dean. Under the title of " Royal Winchester " there has just been published an attractive book of " wanderings in and about the ancient capital of Eng- land " by the Rev. A. G. L'Estrange, M.A.,* illustrated with numerous engravings from original sketches by C. G. Harper. The book is cast in the form of walks about the charming old city, in which the author chaperones a couple of friends, discoursing to them on the historical events connected with the various buildings met with. And as we wander about under his guidance we feel that there is scarcely a turning, scarcely a street, but has its link with the past and some tale of the older days to tell. Churches, castles, public buildings of every description are all visited in turn, the old inns are called upon, and the city walls perambulated. Of each and all there is something ot interest to record, and the guide does his work in a way that not only must have given satisfaction to his visitors, but will engross the attention of his readers. For the book is not written in a dry-as-dust antiquarian style, bristling with controvertable matter and an array of authorities, but the historical parts are dealt with in a light and sketchy manner so as not to weary the most fastidious. So far indeed is it from any danger of this that one cannot fail to find entertainment either in picking up the book and opening it here and there, or in reading it through from beginning to end. As the ancient capital of England, Winchester has taken a very prominent part in our national history 'London : Spencer Blackett and Hallara, 1889. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. from the earliest times. Mr. L'Estrange has some- thing to say of all periods, from " Druidical " times to the murder of a poor lad under a hay rick by a sailor a couple of years ago. He does not belong to the severe school of destructive historians, and hardly draws the line between legend and fact. The numerous monoliths to be found here and there are to him "Druidical" remains, associated with the offerings of the long-haired, skin-clad Britons ; the foundation of the cicy by Lud or Rous Hudibras 892 years before Christ is given as good history ; and the tradition of the town first standing on " Old Win- chester-hill " is mentioned without a hint as to its doubtfulness. King Arthur is to him an undoubted historic personage ; and the scene of the famous com- bat between Guy, Earl of Warwick, and the gigantic Dane, Colbrand, is unhesitatingly pointed out. And if doubt is cast on these pleasing stories, " why," he asks (p. 236), " should we try to dive into the mud and gravel that lie beneath our fancies ? " The book shows considerable research, and it would not be easy to point out a feature of any note which has not been touched upon, from the plague stone outside the western gate to the Winchester bushel in the museum, from the pent house to the stocks. If these mute stones have not tongues them- selves to tell the many things they have seen, he does the duty for them. From his old time pictures much may be gleaned as to the manners and customs of our predecessors. At the Penthouse, for instance, he writes : The site of the " Penthouse " was originally occupied by the " Draperie." Trade guilds existed here from Henry I's time, and this became the Guildhall. Henry III ordered that this Draperie Street should be the "Great Street," as in the time of his father. In Henry VI I I's reign we find the Penthouse mentioned as the " Pentisse." " Such shelters were very welcome a hundred years ago," said Mr. Hertford, " before umbrellas were used. You know that some have thought that 'under the rose' should be ' under the rows.' " "Close to this," I continued, "beside the wall of St. Lawrence's Church, a murder took place, in the twenty- first year of Richard II, which brings before us the lawless state of the times. One James D}-ngeley, a priest, struck a man named Walter Pynchon through the back to the heart with a baslard. This weapon was a large dagger suspended to the girdle, and worn by laymen and some priests, notwithstanding an ecclesiastical prohibition. Roger, the parson of St. Lawrence, claimed the prisoner (as an ecclesiastic) for the Bishop of Winchester, and he was incarcerated in Wolvesey Castle. From this he broke out with others on the sth of December, in the fifth year of Henry IV, but was pardoned by the King for this and other felonies a proof of the influence of the Church in those days." The author does not limit his walks to the bounds of the city, but takes us with him in pleasant country rambles to Wyke, Lainston, and Sparsholt, to Head- bourne Worthy and King's Worthy, to St. Cross and St. Catherine's-hill, to Chilcombe, Twyford, Otter- bourne, Compton, Hursley, and Tichborne, chatting on the way about the churches and old houses, and not forgetting the beauties of nature. Let us follow him in his search for the " Hampage Oak " : Bishop Walkelin found himself in want of timber (for building the Cathedral), and applied to the Conqueror to let him have as much timber as he could carry out of Hanepmges Wood in four days and nights. William at once granted the request. The astute bishop then collected all the woodmen in the neighbourhood, and they managed to cut and carry the whole wood within the appointed time (much to the surprise and anger of the king.) * * * There is a tradition that one tree was spared in this general clearance an oak under which St. Augustine had preached. I was anxious to see this venerable relic, and inquired where Hanepinges Wood was. No one could give me any information. At last I came to a man upon whom the light seemed suddenly to break. " Hanepinges ? It must be ' Hampage.' There is the Hampage oak to the south-east, near Itchen Abbas. It is rather more than five miles off." * * * I came to a butcher's shop, and saw a pretty person standing in the doorway with " Goodchild" inscribed in large letters over her. This seemed promising, so I asked her if she could tell me where to find St. Augustine's oak. "Oh, you mean the Gospel Oak," she replied. "You must go through the wicket-gate a few yards above this, and keep along the Ime of the fence for about a mile." * * Thus I tramped on, over turf sweet with thyme and starry with cinquefoil. I felt so lonely that I was glad to see a squirrel which ran along the top of the railing beside me, and would stop now and then as if looking back to see if I was following. Was it " Sent by some spirit to mortals good, Or the unseen genius of the wood ? " I know not, but soon he reached a tree up which he ran, and lo ! behind it stood the Hampage Oak. It was a mere shell, about twelve feet high, and kept together with an iron hoop, but duly honoured by having an iron fence round it. Among the green luxuriant trees it looked like an emblem of death. I observed that it stood in the centre where two green alleys crossed. It may have been in this state of decay for centuries, for oak is very durable, and Augustine may actually have preached under it. I should think, from its standing on the cross roads, that Saxon " moots," or meetings, may have been held here, and the chief man may have taken up his position under it. The visitor to Winchester can hardly do better than place himself under Mr. L'Estrange's guidance. His book is got up in an attractive form, and the many illustrations by Mr. Harper are very effective in bring- ing the familiar scenes before our eyes, proving a very welcome aid to the text. ST. MARY'S ABBEY, WINCHESTER. A site in Winchester of some historic interest is in the market, and will probably shortly be offered for sale by auction. Between the Guildhall and the Itchen, on the south side of the High-street, (is a com- paratively modern house called " The Abbey," sur- rounded by large gardens. This is all that now represents the old Nunna Minster or Abbey of St. Mary, except that the name is also preserved in Abbey Passage. Of this nunnery the ordinary guide THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. books appear to have nothing to say, for the reason, doubtless to them sufficient, that there is now nothing to be seen of it. Yet, founded as it was by royalty, having two of its lady superiors canonized, and achieving the unique distinction of staving off for a time the fate of dissolution in which its fellow institu- tions were involved in the reign of Henry VIII, is it not a place deserving of passing notice ? We must go back nearly a thousand years for the time of its foundation, when the good King Alfred sat upon the English throne. To his queen Elswitha its inception was due ; she de- sired to build a monastery for her own sex, with a view to making it a place of retreat for herself in case she should survive her royal consort. Alfred willingly seconded her efforts, but neither lived to see the building completed. However, the work was taken up by their son, King Edward the Elder, and the church of the abbey was duly consecrated by Arch- bishop Plegmund, in honour of the Virgin Mary. Of the character of this building, which became known as the Nunna Minster, we know nothing, except that it had a high tower. Elswitha outljved King Alfred by some three or four years, and immediately on his death she betook herself to the monastery. She be- haved in so exemplary a manner whilst living in the world (we are told), and devoted herself with so much ardour to the exercises of a religious life after she had embraced the latter, that upon her death, which occurred in the year 904, her name was inserted in thecalendarof English saints. Her body, however, was not laid to rest in her abbey, but with that of Alfred, in the New Minster (afterwards better known as Hyde Abbey). The person who conferred the greatest distinction upon this royal foundation was Edburga, daughter of Edward the Elder and grand- daughter of Elswitha. From her very infancy she gave signs of her preference for a retired and devout life to all the pomp and pleasures of the world. Being permitted by her father to follow her pious calling in this abbey, she become (we are told) a model of every Christian virtue, particularly of humility, insomuch that it was her custom to rise privately from her bed during the night in order to p2rform the most menial offices of the house, and par- ticularly to wash the clothes of the other nuns, who for a long time were unable to discover by what means this was effected. She was afterwards chosen abbess of her monastery, in which office she continued till her death in 960. Her body was interred in the church of her abbey, though a portion of it was after- wards translated to Pershore, and she herself was honoured as a saint, and as the second patroness of the convent. For the better support of the abbey, which does not appear to have been originally well endowed, King Edmund, brother of Edburga, settled upon it a toll to be collected of all merchandise passing by water under the city bridge or by land under the east gate. This toll was still enforced in the i4th century, as we may find by the charter of Edward III for the St. Giles's Fair, recently edited by Dean Kitchin. In 992, when Romsey Abbey was exposed to the fury of the Danes, under Sweyn, the inhabitants fled to Winchester and sought shelter at the Nunnaminster. Here also Matilda, daughter of St. Margaret, queen of Scotland, was educated and here put on the religious veil, though without making the usual solemn vows, when at length she was reluctantly forced by her father Malcolm to give her hand in marriage to Henry I. During the war between Stephen and the Empress Matilda, the abbey was entirely destroyed by the fire from Wolvesey Castle. It was, however, rebuilt. At the Dissolution of monasteries in 1536, it was in- cluded amongst those which were to be suppressed, for its income was only ^179 73. ad., the decree being against all those having less than .200 a year. But its abbess at this time, Lady Elizabeth Shelley, seems to have had considerable influence at Court, for she was enabled to obtain a respite of her convent's fate with the sacrifice of two manors in Wiltshire, and a royal charter founding it anew was granted on Aug. 27 of that year. But it was not for long, and the nuns were obliged to yield to their fate and give up their convent and possessions in 1540, four years after obtaining their charter. At that time its inmates were an abbess and 21 nuns. Passing into secular hands the building followed the fate of others, and by the be- ginning of the i6th century much of it was pulled down, and the materials used in building the present house ; though Camden says in his " Britannia "that the remains of this venerable fabric testified to its extent and magnificence. By the following century nothing was left of it but its name and a heap of stones in the garden where the church seems to have stood. Have these been pre- served to the present day ? Any one desiring to learn somewhat more about the old Abbey should turn to Milner's " History of Winchester." Looking at Woodward's " History of Hampshire " for any further information, I was disappointed to find that the index contained no reference to it. But a very in- adequate index is only one of the faults of this work. By dint of search a casual reference or two was found, and hidden away in an appendix is a list of abbesses and of the possessions of the Abbey. Its consecra- tion by Plegmund is given by Woodward as taking place more than half a century after the Archbishop was in his grave. A correspondent of a Winchester contemporary has suggested that the grounds should be purchased and preserved as an open space for the city. F.A.E. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, November z, 1889. CORHAMPTON CHURCHYARD (HANTS). The ancient yew tree here it is said to be a thousand years old is about 22ft. round, is almost all as fresh as ever, and nearly half fills, by its head, THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST, the little Saxon churchyard. The altar stone placed as a seat under the shade of the tree is not faced, like the one at Shillingstone, Dorset. It has two crosses at each end and one in the middle. The stone is as sound as ever, though many hundred years old. GEO. PARKER. SIR JOHN MILLAIS, R.A., A SOUTHAMPTONIAN. We have stated in one of our previous Notes that Sir John Everett Millais, Bart., R.A., was born in Southampton in a house still standing in Portland- place, near the railway tunnel on'the Dorchester line. His mother was en route horn the Channel Islands to London at the time of his birth. We have heard the authenticity of this as a fact doubted, but the writer in Cassell's Saturday Journal who is interviewing " Representative men at Home " sets the matter at rest by a statement from the mouth of the great painter himself. The point arose upon a suggestion that Sir Everett, as he prefers to be called, and the great Millet the Frenchman whose picture of the " Angelus " was sold the other day for ,22,000 odd come from the same stock. " It's a fact," said the painter, in the course of conversation, "for I've verified it myself. Although I was born at South- ampton, my family came from the Channel Islands, and I was taken back there while still a baby. Millet's family, as everybody knows, comes from those parts. He himself was born near there ; and looking back over the old archives (for, owing to the insular char- acter of the inhabitants, you can trace back ante- cedents for ages without difficulty), I have found our ancestors variously spelled Millays and Millayt till you couldn't tell which was which." Sir John told his companion that his earliest recollec- tion he could not have been more than four years old, if that was the making of some drawings of the officers who formed the garrison, their accoutrements, and their horses. These drawings had been shown to them, handed round, and declared to be a fraud so far as the ascription went. No child of that age could, by any possibility, have done them they were the work of a skilled and educated hand ! At last words ran high, wagers were offered and laid, and in the result the officer who introduced the drawings under- took to produce the tiny artist, and let him make similar sketches then and there before a jury of them. That is Sir Everett Millais's earliest recollection how he, still in petticoats, sat gravely sketching the uniformed Gods of War around him, their brave regi- mentals, and their wondering faces. When the artist's mother, a few years later, took him to see Sir Martin Archer Slice, the then President of the Royal Academy, and asked for his advice as to destining her son for a painter, that gentleman shook his head. " You had better, madam, make your son a sweep," said he. Mrs. Millais, however, begged him to look at the lad's sketches. The great man did so, and, having assured himself that the boy did the drawings, altered his tone, for he said to the mother " You will be committing a sin if you do not make him an artist ; nature meant him for one." He was an exhibitor at the Royal Academy in 1840, being then only eleven years old. ETYMOLOGY OF CARISBROOKE. A writer in the Western Antiquary for August last (p. 26) says that " the well-known castle of Carisbrooke in the Isle of Wight was a possession of Ailvvin Eston, and took its name from Mortkere, Karlsbroke or Garison. The two parishes of Morcette or Morchard in Devon in like manner took name from Mortkere." This is not very clearly expressed, and, so far as it can be understood, appears rather far fetched. Is " Karlsbroke " a misprint for " Karisbroke ?" Who was this Mortkere, and where can anything be found about him ? And what authority is there for this derivation? It is not the one usually given. Mr. W. T. Stratton, in his " Guide to Carisbrooke Castle " (4th edition, Newport, I.W., 1885) adduces the name written in the days of the early Norman kings " Karebroc " as proof of the early Keltic formation of the camp, " ' caer ' in the ancient British tongue meaning a wall, fort or city, and ' bwr ' or ' burh ' an embankment of earth ; although possibly it may have been only known as the ' Caer,' and the ' broc ' have been added by the Saxons to describe its position by a stream ; this, however, is not likely, because their usual affix under such circumstances would be ' burn,' as applied to similar streams in the neigh- bourhood." In Jenkinson's " Practical Guide to the Isle of Wight " (sd edition, London: E. Stanford, 1883) we read " Two derivations have been given : i, ' caer,' Celtic for stronghold, and brook, referring to the stream which flows through the valley. Taylor altogether ignores this etymology. Asser writes the word Gwiti-gara-burg, i.e. ' the burg of the men of Wight.' ' It will easily be seen/ adds Taylor, ' how the omission of the first part of the name (Gwiti), and the corruption of the last part (burg) into brook have reduced it to its .present form.'" But is it not rather probable that the place took its name from the Saxon chief Whitgar or Wihtgar, to whom, with his brother Stuf, the Isle of Wight was given by Cerdic, A. D. 534 (Ethelwerd's Chronicle)? At any rate we elsewhere (A. D. 530) find the name Whit-garas-byrg (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle), which reads uncommonly like " Whitgar'd town or castle." Then, still following the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle, we read that in 544 " Whitgar died, and they buried him in Wiht-gara-byrg." (I quote from Giles's edition, Bonn's Antiquarian Library, 1847.) Asser, too, in his " Life of Alfred," traces Alfred's connection with " Stuf and Whitgar, two i6 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY > NATURALIST. brothers and counts ; who having received possession of the Isle of Wight from their uncle, King Cerdic, and his son Cynric, their cousin, slew the few British inhabitants they could find in that island, at a place called Gwihtgaraburgh." It is curious that the name of the castle is not mentioned in Domes- day ; it is there said to be seated on a virgate of land within the manor of " Alwinestune," now Alvington, Alwine, no doubt, being the same as the Ailwin named above. F. A. E. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. The following is an extract from the meteorological register, made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southamp- ton, underthe direction of Col. Sir Charles Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E., for the week ended Oct. 30. Latitude, 50 deg. 54 min. 50 sec. north ; longitude, i deg. 24 min. os. west ; height above the sea, 84 feet. Observer Sergeant T. Chambers, R.E. Date. Bar. corrected for Temp, and Alt. Temperature of tne Air. Rain in 24hours from 9 a.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Oct. 24 " 2 I 26 27 28 i, 29 ii 3 Means Inches. 3'34 30-204 30-138 29-613 29-766 29-899 29-958 Inches. 30-142 30-196 29-948 29-688 29-861 29'945 29-750 Degrees. 5' 5 44'9 46-4 44-1 50'4 50-9 5' i Degrees. 44-1 40-9 47'6 52'4 5' 51' 52'5 Inches, o'ooo o'ooo 0-480 0*290 o'oco o'ooo 0-750 29-945 29'933 48-2 48-5 Tl. 1-520 Temp. Self.-Reg. Ther. in 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Direction of Wind. Record Sun- shine Date. Max. in Sun's Rays.* Min. on Grass Max. in Air. Min. in Air. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hrs. Deg. Oct. 24 75-6 i 2 5 98 - 3 ,, 26 81-4 ii 27 53-7 ,, 28 86-7 n 29 93-7 ii 3 L 98-7 Deg. 39' 6 34'5 34'7 42-9 38'9 39' 36-4 Deg. 52-0 52-4 Si-6 54'o 58-1 56-2 57'7 Deg. 44-1 40-6 40*6 43'5 47'4 46-1 42*2 N.N.E. N.N.E. 0-4 4-6 o'S o'o 0-8 0.3 5-8 N.E. N.E. N.E. X.E. N.E. S.E. E.S.E. S.W. Calm S.W Means. 84-0 38-0 S4'6 43'5 Tl 12-4 *Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB. A FUNGUS FORAY IN THE NEW FOREST. What is a fungus ? Many people probably would find it difficult to answer this question, and would, perhaps, regard it as an uncanny sort of plant. Others with a little more knowledge will say that there are two kinds of fungus mushrooms, which are eatable, and toadstools, which are poisonous. Yet to those who will give it a little study this is a very interesting class of vegetable. Fungi are not on\y remarkable for their varied tints and many and sometimes fantastic shapes, and the fact that in some of their qualities they very closely approach to the character- istics of animals, but a knowledge of them will open up to the gourmand some unfamiliar but very pleasing articles of food. Their study is being taken up now in different parts of the country, the way haying been led in Herefordshire by the Woolhope Club, which has tabulated a list of some 600 different species to be found in that county, and one of the members, Mr. Worthington Smith, has published diagrams showing those which are eatable, and those which are noxious. Much has been done in the same direc- tion by the Essex Field Club, and in our own county the work has been taken up by the Hampshire Field Club. A member of this club, the Rev. W. L. W. Eyre, Rector of Swarraton, has been publishing in its "Papers and Proceedings" a list of fungi which have been found in the county, and has now tabulated about 300 species. With a view to extending the interest in this study, during the last two or three autumns " forays " have been arranged in some part or other of the New Forest, and the presence at these of the great authority on fungi, Dr. M. C. Cooke, M.A., LL.D., has done much to make these meetings not only interesting, but profitable. They have served to make known the existence in the count}' of a considerable number of fungi not previously identified. At the first meeting in 1887 (reported in the Hampshire Independent of Oct. 22, 1887) a collection was made in two days of 106 different specimens. Last year (Hampshire Inde- pendent, Oct. 20) a similar two days' ramble produced no less than 171 different species, of which 103 had not been seen the previous year. Lists of the 209 species thus found in the New Forest were published in the abeve-mentioned issues of this paper. This year it was thought desirable to confine the meeting to one day, leaving the enthusiasts to follow it up by another quiet day's ramble, and the day selected was Frida}', October 25. It is strange that the number of members attending these fungus forays is very small ; one would think that, apart from the search for fungi, the walk through the Forest would prove acceptable to all, <. pccially as at this time of the year the trees arc bright with their autumn tints. But botany evidently provokes in manj' a repellent idea, and on starting from Southampton the party was not more than enough to fill one compart- ment of the railway carriage. At Lyndhurst Road Station Dr. Cooke, the Rev. W. L. W. Eyre, and Dr. Buckell and Mr. J. T. Kemp, M.A., of Romsey, were waiting, and other accessions to the party during the day brought the total number up to 30. The route selected was through the woods about the Bartley Water. Two visitors from London had had a pre- liminary search the day before, when they had bagged some 30 species. Turning into the enclosure just to the THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY > NATURALIST. west of the level crossing, baskets and collecting boxes were at once called into requisition, and a large number of specimens, including several very fine Fly Agarics (Amanita muscaria), whose brilliant crimson tops rendered them as attractive to the eye as so many bright flowers, were obtained. These, like nearly all the red varieties, are very poisonous. But here also some of the edible Hedgehog Mushrooms (Hydnuin repandum) were secured. It was not long before the room occupied by the sandwiches was wanted for the specimens, and the searchers were not sorry when an early opportunity occurred to demolish their lunch. Some turned from the path in this enclosure to \vhat is marked on the maps as Costicles Pond. This is now, however, filled up by a growth of bog moss (Sphagnum), and thus offers an excellent opportunity of seeing a peat bed in process of forma- tion. To have ventured far on this would have been dangerous, for it is very treacherous, and soft underneath, so that if anyone once sank into it it would be impossible to get out again. Horses indeed are sometimes lost in such bogs as this in the Forest. In Buskett's Wood another diver- sion was found in a small gipsy encampment, where the men were busily engaged in making clothes-pegs, whilst the bare-headed and bare-footed children squatted unconcernedly about on the damp grass. Here it became evident that some of the party were not sufficiently engrossed with the study of fungology to give themselves up to the search ; so whilst the specialists went steadily on with their collecting, about half the number broke away fora walk as far as the Kennels. This part of the Forest is always very beautiful ; but just now the trees were in the fullness of their autumn glory. The varied russet tints of the beeches glittered in the sunlight, and gave a golden tone to the landscape. For autumn tints the beech is undoubtedly superior to the oak ; not only does it retain its leaves longer, but they have a brighter and more glossy appearance ; and their beauty is also well set off by the delicate greys and greens of the trunks. Underneath, too, was the rich green of the holly, which, it was mentioned, had become much more plentiful since the extermination of the deer, and on the floor a soft brown carpet of fallen leaves. Several times the wanderers paused to admire some specially pretty scene. It was in the fitness of things that one of the party was Mr. W. H. Purkis, of Southampton, who claims to be the lineal descend- ant of the man who carted William Rufus's body from the fatal spot near Stony Cross ; he was able to point out the old cottage at Woodlands, which had been in the possession of his family for 700 years. The party was united again at tea at the New Forest Hotel, after which the collections of the day were brought out on the table for examination. The Rev. W. Eyre did the duties of president, Mr. Whitaker being away at Reading, and said there was much work to be done by botanists in this county. Of the fungi of the county he had published a list of 260 in their " Pro- ceedings," and some additions to be made would bring this up to 300. They had found about 100 specimens that day, of which one, Boletus duriusculus, was known only to occur in this and Epping Forests. In calling upon Dr. Cooke for an address, he congratu- lated him upon having nearly achieved the end of his great work " Illustrations of British fungi." Dr. Cooke said they had found a few species of interest and new to the Forest flora. The whole number collected at this foray was 140, and of these about 60 had not previously been recorded for Hampshire. The Hampshire Field Club showed up well in comparison with other clubs which had given study to the subject. The last 3 years were the worst for many years past for the dearth of species of the larger fungi ; so that what had been found was very encouraging. There was such variety in the New Forest that they would in time eclipse the number to be found in the Forest of Epping. To-day they had quite a fine specimen which they had not found before, Tricholoma acerbus, said to be eaten in Germany, but not tried here ; also a Cortinarius not found in the New Forest before, and several smaller species, one with red spores, Entolonia jubatns, only previously found in three districts. Generally speaking, members at first collected for edible purposes ; then they got a little knowledge and recognised the fungi by certain external marks, the deadly Fly Agaric, for instance, by its beautiful red cap, and the edible Hedgehog Mushroom by its spines. Examples of some of the edible kinds were passed round and described. The Hydnum was pronounced superior to the ordinary mushroom ; for no one had ever suffered from eating it. The pure white Slimy Mushroom (Agaricus niucidus) , growing on beech trees, was easily recognised ; cut and fried it had a different flavour from the ordinary mushroom and more delicate, and was more digestible. The small Hydnum gclatinosum, not very common, growing on the Continent sometimes in a mass as large as a fist, was not unlike calves' foot jelly. Agaricus prunulus, with pink spores and an odour like musty meal (which dis- tinguished it from the poisonous species), was very attractive in flavour. Boletus luteus, a very common fungus, was good to eat, and he preferred it to Boletus edidis. Each of these different fungi had its own particular flavour, and was no more to be compared with the ordinary mushroom than mutton with beef. The only way to learn what were eatable, and what poisonous, was to see and examine them, and not experiment from other people's descriptions. A vote of thanks to Dr. Cooke, proposed by Mr. Morris Miles and seconded by Mr. F. J. Warner, F.L.S., of Winchester, closed the days' proceedings. The Rev. W. L. W. Eyre writes that the total number of different species of fungi found on this i8 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY > NATURALIST. occasion was 137. Of these the following 61 species had not been found in the previous excursions in the New Forest : Agaricits (Tricholoma) acer- bus. A. (Clitocybe) cyathiformis. A. (Clitocybc) nebttlaris. A. (.Mvccna) annnonicicus. A. (ifyeetta) tuc/ut;. A. (Sfyctna) 'i'itci 2 ,, 3 ii 4 , 5 i 6 Means Deg. 95'7 98-0 98-0 59'8 80-4 65-6 77.1 Deg. 34-6 35'7 32*0 35'i 3 8-i 27*0 31-0 Deg. 57' I 56*2 56-1 54'2 55'i 48-6 54'7 Deg. 40-9 44'3 39' 7 42'2 45'2 32'5 37'2 w.s.w. s.w. w.s.w. w.s.w. W.N.W. S.W. S.W. W.N.W. 7'6 6-6 6-4 G'O 0-4 0'2 o'S N.W. N.W. S.E. S.E. N.W. N.W. 82.1 33'4 54-6 40'3 Tl.21'7 *Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, November 16, JANE AUSTEN AND SOUTHAMPTON. The novels of Jane Austen were much more widely read in England a generation or more ago than they are at present, but Hampshire people will not forget that she is one of the literary celebrities of our county. She was born at Steventon, near Basingstoke, and lived a great deal in Hampshire, from the scenery and people of which she drew many of her illustra- tions and depicted many of her characters. Her best known works are "Sense and Sensibility," "Pride and Prejudice," " Emma," " Mansfield Park," " Northanger Abbey," and " Persuasion." As Miss Austen's novels refer largely to the manners and customs of a past generation it is not surprising that they are less read in England in our day than during the period in which they were written, and I must acknowledge that I was somewhat surprised to hear how largely her works are still read in America, where she is one of the most popular authors. The circumstance under which this came to my knowledge was the visit to England during the past summer of Mr. Oscar Fay Adams, of Harvard University, Mas- sachusetts, who is engaged on a biography of Miss Austen. Mr. Adams came to England for the express purpose of visiting all the places where this novelist lived, and of collecting his material for her biography from original sources. I made his acquaintance at Winchester and invited him to have a morning's ramble round Southampton. Jane Austen lived for 20 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. some time in Southampton in a house which formerly stood on the site of Castle-square. This was about 1808. Mr. Adams was greatly interested in what he saw of Southampton, and in the view from the site of Castle-square. As he is a friend of the Longfellow family, he amply repaid the little attention I was able to show him by much information he gave me about his personal acquaintance with Longfellow, the poet. I took him tv the birthplace of Isaac Watts, where Mr. Harman showed him over the house. Since his return to America, Mr. Oscar Fay Adams has written to me to say that he could settle the question as to where Jane Austen went to church in Southampton, if I could tell him which church Dr. Mant was rector of in October, 1808. This was a very easy question, for it is well known that Dr. Mant was at that time rector of All Saints', so that the author of " Pride and Prejudice," " Sense and Sensibility," &c , must at that time have been an attendant at the parish church of All Saints. T. W. SHORE. It may be of interest to add here the notes on Miss Austen given by the Rev. F. W. Tho\-ts, M.A., in his " History of Esse or Ashe, Hampshire" (London : W. Clowes and Sons, 1889) : At the same time that Miss Mitford's grandfather, Dr. Russell, was Rector of Ashe, the parents of Jane Austen resided in the immediate neighbourhood; so the parents of two popular female writers must have been intimately acquainted with each other. Mr. and Mrs. George Austen resided first at Deane, but removed in 1771 to Steventon, which was their residence for about 30 years. Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, at the Parsonage House of Steventon. We, who know nothing but a level, well- kept road, can hardly realise what the roads in this country were in 1771. I quote from the memoirs of Jane Austen, written by her nephew, Rev. J. E. Austen Leigh, Vicar of Bray, Berks : When the Austen family removed from Deane to Steven- ton, in 1771, the road was a mere cart track, so cut up by deep ruts as to be impassable for a light carriage. Mr. Austen, who was not then in strong health, performed the short journey on a feather bed, placed upon some soft articles of furniture, in the waggon which held their house- hold goods. In those days it was not unusual to set men to work with shovel and pickaxe to fill up ruts and holes in roads, seldom used by carriages, on such special occasions as a funeral or a wedding. Among the most valuable neighbours of the Austens were Mr. and Mrs. Lel'roy and their famil) - . He was rector of the adjoining parish of Ashe. Jane Austen wrote a poem to Mrs. Lefroy's memory. This was Rev. Isaac Peter George Lefroy. Jane Austen's eldest brother, James, succeeded to the Rectory of Steventon, and his daughter, Jane Anna Elizabeth, became afterwards the wife of Rev. Benjamin Lefroy, Rector of Ashe. She died in 1872. REMARKABLE TREES IN AMPFIELD WOOD. In Ampfield Wood, near Romsey, not far from the Knapp Hill entrance, there are two trees growing together and inosculating in a remarkable manner. One of them is a beech, the other an ash, the former being considerably the larger. The diameter of their trunks may perhaps be three and two feet respectively ; this, however, is only a rough eye estimate. The beech is a fairly well-formed tree with numerous branches, and thickly foliaged in summer. The ash, on the other hand, is a good deal bent, and though tall is rather deficient in foliage. The most curious feature about the trees is the way in which the ash is deformed by huge swellings where it comes in contact with its neighbour. There are three specially notable tumours, one of which nearly encircles a branch of the beech in its relentless grip. I asked a man who was employed in clearing the road near the spot whether the trees had any particular name. He was not aware that they had, nor had he heard of any legends connected with them. A small holly bush springs from one ot the inmost interstices between the roots of the beech, while ivy has also begun to climb up it. Thus there are four different arboreal growths in the most intimate association. J. T. K. i KXOTTS OF HURSLEY. Were they in any way connected with the Knott family of Whitchurch, who had a grant of arms in 1632 ? Where can I find a pedigree of this family ? How were the3 T connected with the Series ? M. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register, made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54' 50" N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E.,and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. Nov. 7 30-531 30-539 46-3 51-8 O'OOO , 8 3' 536 30-500 53-o 47'9 o'ooo i 9 30-433 30-418 50-9 51-2 o'ooo , 10 30-416 30-402 50-1 49-6 o'ooo i JI 30'447 30*402 50-6 50-3 o'ooo i I2 30-379 30-333 44'4 39'5 o'ooo . J 3 30-322 30-307 4 .-8 49-8 O'OOO Means. 30-438 [Tl.o Temp. Self.-Reg. Ther. in Direction of i Sun- 24 hours previous to q p.m. Wind, j shine. Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Nov. 7 59'4 32-9 55-4 36-5 w. \v o'o 8 77'; 4O'o S 8-2 47-9 w. w. i"5 9 62-6 38-8 55-2 46*0 N.W. N.W. O'l 10 61-1 41-2 53-2 49-2 N.W. N.N.E. o'o ii S9'i 38-9 53-8 47-7 N.E. E. O'O 12 80-8 32-6 51-6 39'3 N.E. N.E. 3-4 13 66-7 29-3 52-6 36-1 E.N.E. E. O'l Means. 66-7 32'0 54-3 43-2 Tl.s-i "Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 21 THE SERLE FAMILY. Where can I find a pedigree of this ancient family ? There is no notice of them in Burke's Armory, merely the arms, Per pale, ar. and sa., no crest or motto ; the crest, however, is to be seen attached to a helmet in Eling Church, apparently of the sixteenth century, a tower argent flames issuing from top gu. There is also a hatchment under the tower, which might be preserved by being attached to the wall, as the family were benefactors to the parish. What relation did Peter Serle, who built the church at Chil- worth at his own expense, Richard Serle, Mayor of Southampton in 1766, and Robert Serle, lawyer of Winchester, about the same period, bear to this family, and to one another ? M. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, November 23, 16 REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD SOUTHAMPTONIAN. The name of Rogers has for many years been honourably connected with Southampton, and Mr. W. H. Rogers, J.P., has done well in printing for general circulation " A Sketch ot the Life and Remi- niscences of John Rogers (written by himself) Author of the ' Fruit Cultivator,' ' Vegetable Cultivator," &c."* In so doing he has evidently carried out the intention of his grandfather, for the preface is written by the old gentleman, and is dated " Southampton, 1838.'' John Rogers had the remarkable experience of living during the reigns of no less than five English sovereigns (one of them the longest which our history records), having been born in the reign of George II, and dying, in his gist year, in 1842. His life thus covered some stirring times, and among his earliest reminiscences are the illuminations on account of Wolfe's victory at Quebec in 1759, and the proclamation of George III in the following year. It was in the neighbourhood of London that he spent his early years, and his record carries us back to a period when the metropolis was very different from what it is now 7 , when " most of the principal streets were un- paved," old London Bridge still had houses on it and Mary-le-bone presented yet a country appearance. We have a glimpse at " the amusements at Shrove- tide when the populace set up cocks, oranges, &c., to be thrown at in the middle of Oxford Road," not far from the " large pound for impounding stray pigs " at the bottom of Tottenham Court Road. Young Rogers earlv gave his attention to gardening and was fortu- nate in obtaining a situation in the Royal Gardens at Richmond. Here he was brought into personal con- tact with King George III and his queen ; and amongst other notable men that he saw were Garrick and John Wilkes. He also witnessed the parting of Nelson and the Prince of j * Southampton : H. M. Gilbert. 1889. 8vo. 46 pages. Wales on the departure of the former just before the battle of Trafalgar. It was perhaps with some significance that to the Prince's "Adieu, adieu," Nelson answered emphatically " Farewell, farewell." In his occupation as a gardener Rogers appears to have met with that success which his perseverance and diligence deserved, and when in 1812 his son William "succeeded to an old-established nursery business in the beautiful town of Southampton," the latter was glad to avail himself of his father's ex- perience. This nursery was situated in the Avenue, but, in 1828, the son " took advantage of a favourable offer and leased for a long term of years a large tract of common land, most eligibly and beautifully situated at Basset, about two miles from Southampton, and which is now widely known as the ' Red Lodge Nursery.'" It will be seen that this little book which is illustrated with two very good etchings by Frank McFadden of the author and of William Aiton, of the Royal Gardens, Kew possesses interest which is not confined to Southampton. It is curious that Allibone, in his "Dictionary of English and American Authors," does not name the original editions of Rogers's works or gives them under wrong dates. His entry is : ROGERS, JOHN. i, Vegetable Cultivator, London, i2mo., 1848; 2nd edition, 1852. Commended. 2, Fruit Cultivator, 1852, i2mo. Yet Rogers himself, writing in 1838, speaks of the " Fruit Cultivator " as having by that time " passed through several editions," and alludes to the " Vege- table Cultivator " as having been written in his 86th year. Though Rogers's name does not occur in other works of reference which we have had the oppor- tunity of consulting, his works must evidently have met with considerable appreciation. ABOVE BAR CHAPEL, SOUTHAMPTON. " K.T." writes : Will one of the many readers of your paper kindly inform me of the meaning of those mysterious symbolic sculptured figures just beneafh the large front window of Above Bar Chapel, South- ampton ? RARE BIRDS IN HAMPSHIRE. A. P. Froggatt writes that he has shot a " little gull " (Lams inimitits) on the coast near Bourne- mouth. Mr. W. J. Green has shot a Sabine's snipe at Bishop's Waltham, and it is now in the hands of a taxidermist at Southampton. NICHOLAS PURDUE SMITH (Mayor of Winchester in 1749 and 1755). What was his father's name ? What relation did he bear to William Purdue Smith, banker, of South- ampton, 1818, and to the Purdues, mayors of Win- chester ? Any information respecting him would be of interest to M. 22 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. AN ANCIENT ANCHOR. A Cowes fisherman, named Paskins, was recently off Portland fishing, when his net came in contact with a heavy substance at the bottom of the sea. He had to procure the aid of several fishermen near in order to haul in the catch. When it came to the surface they found that they had secured a curiosity in the shape of a very old anchor. Competent judges pronounce it to be atleast three hundred years old. It has a thick incrustation of stone and shell of stonelike hardness. Mr. Ledicott, of Holyrood-street, Newport, who is always on the look out for ancient curios, has secured the prize, which is certainly very interesting. It is not at all improbable that the anchor was sunk in the engagement which took place off Portland between the " Invincible '' Armada and the British fleet. AN OLD POLITICAL DOCUMENT. A letter from the Marquis of Lansdowne, dated " Southampton Castle, September i7th, 1807," was recently discovered beneath the floorboards of an old house in South-street, Gosport. It is a very long document, and is addressed to " Thomas Pannell, Esq.," being a reply to one from that gentleman in reference to Catholic Emancipation and Parliamentary Reform. Lord Lansdowne says he is of opinion that the arguments adduced in favour of those claims are plausible enough, but he has long observed that Catholic Emancipation and Parliamentary reform, however commendable, if attainable, are merely engines made use of by the politicians of both Houses to obtain credit with the lower classes, whom they never fail afterwards to sacrifice when their interests come to be at variance with their professions. " This truth has been sufficiently demonstrated by the con- duct of Mr. Pitt and that of Mr. Fox." The writer proceeds to enforce his views at length. As to Parlia- mentary Reform, " the difficulty of bringing the several advocates for it to agree on any specific plan constitutes an almost insuperable bar to the under- taking. Moreover, as it cannot be denied that the representatives of the people are quite as virtuous as the people who depute them, it would seem necessary, as a preliminary step, to reform mankind at large, which I do not expect to see accomplished." Catholic Emancipation " is capable of being clearly defined," but the effect " would be by no means commensurate with the mighty importance which is attached to it. It would open the door to certain honour to a few individuals, not the most enlightened, for what enlightened person is there in this age who does not see the folly of differ- ing in this world about what is to happen in the next? It would do nothing for the great bulk of the Irish people. It would neither put food into their bellies nor remove whiskey from their lips." There is more of this plain speaking, and his lordship concludes as follows: " For my own part I can conscientiously declare that were I Roman Catholic I should feel no difficulty in conforming externally to the usages of the Established Church, reserving to myself the privilege of believing exactly what I pleased, and of worshipping God privately in my own way." The Marquis of Lansdowne (then Lord Wycombe), who lived somewhere on the other side of the Itchen, bought Southampton Castle in 1804, and spent a large amount of money on it. He .lie 1 in 1839, and his successor eventually sold the mansion for build- ing material, a considerable portion of it being used in the erection of East-street Baptist Chapel. The Marquis presented to the town the statue of George III in the niche on the south side of the Bargate over the central archway. It is an imitation of that in the British Museum of the Emperor Hadrian, and in his letter of presentation the Marquis said it bore "no mean resemblance to his Majesty." It took the place of a statue of Queen Anne, which was relegated to and still stands in the interior of the hall. A PATHETIC STORY. In the Newport old burial ground stands an Obelisk, on which are the following inscriptions : To the Memory of VALENTINE GRAY, the little Sweep. Interred January 5th, 1822, in the tenth year of his age. In testimony of the General Feelinjr for suffering Innocence, this Monument is erected by Public Sub- scription. There are but few of the present generation who are acquainted with the circumstances which led to the erection of this monument. In 1822, and for several years previous, a man whose name was Davis resided in South-street, Newport, and was the principal chimney sweeper of the town and neighbourhood. He had several climbing boys in his employ, whom he cruelly treated. Their onh- sleeping place was in an out-house on bags of soot stored there. Valentine Gray (his parents were unknown) was one. He be- came ill and unable to work, but this, instead of exciting the sympathy of his master, only led to harsher treatment, which hastened his death and ended his mortal suffering. All grades of society then sympathised with the little boy who was thus brought to an untimely end. A collection was made to raise a memorial stone over his remains, and though no subscriber paid more than one penny, a sum was soon raised sufficient to erect the monument above referred to. Davis was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment, and after his release from gaol he did not return to Newport, knowing that the public feeling was so strong against him, and he located himself out of the Island. The singularity of the name is accounted for as follows : The little fellow was taken into Davis's employ on the i-jth of February, and Davis not knowing his Christian name called him Valentine. J. DORE. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. INTERESTING ROMAN COINS. Sir, In the Hci'npshirc Independent lately it was re- marked that a certain gold coin of Allectus possessed by a certain doctor, and valued at ,50, was not a true coin. Thereupon I took additional trouble over the Allectus I lately secured at Brv^-istone, Dorset. The British Museum authorities declare it a thoroughly genuine one so also do Mr. Skelton (Harbour Board) and Mr. Shore. Allectus reigned in Great Britain for three years, 233 to 296. Then he was slain in battle off the Isle of Wight. He inhabited some parts of Dorset over by Swanage. This November journey I have been exceedingly lucky, and have obtained an excellent Vespasian coin found near the Badbury Rings, or earth defence works, ploughed up. The head is a masterpiece, and the words "Vespasian Augustus" on the face and " Fides Publica" on the "tail," with the letters " S.C." and a female ligure holding a laurel wreath in one hand and a horn of plenty in the other is ex- cellently preserved, although 1820 years old. Vespasian died A.D. 79, m 7Othyear of his age, having reigned well for 10 years. Probably Badbury rings, Spettisbury rings, the other side of the river Stour (four or five miles over), Bulbarrow and other defence works in Dorset are of this period. In addition to this excellent Vespasian, I have secured about 20 others of the Romano-English age, and perhaps some of ancient British times. These, Mr. Skelton (Har- bour Board) has kindly undertaken to read and label for me. Next journey (February) I shall expect, and am promised, at least 50. Many of the 20 I have came from near Corfe Castle, Maiden Castle, Sherborne, and Dorchester. Dorset is full of such relics. I am, sir, yours obliged, GEO. PARKER. St. Mark's House, Southampton, November isth, 1889. A "CURIOUS FISH" ON THE ITCHEN. Dear Sir, On Friday last I was fishing in the Itchen with a friend, Mr. M . I had on a worm trying for perch, and Mr. M was trying for pike with a pater- noster. I was some way down stream, when I heard Mr, M shouting for me, as he had a large fish on. I threw down my rod, leaving the line in the water, seized a gaff, and ran to the assistance of my friend. When I got there I found him pla3'ing a very large fish. After about twenty minutes sport, the fish bolting again and again, and, after a very pretty exhibition of skill on the part of the angler, he brought the fish up on his side, and I had the pleasure oflanding a pike which turned the scale at exactly 81bs. This fish the most sporting pike I ever saw hooked was captured with a small bait on a single hook on gimp, fastened on single gut, and a fine line. Had anyone but an expert angler been at the other end of the rod, that pike would have regained his liberty. And now comes the " Curious fish." We walked down to where I had left my rod, and when I picked it up I found something had taken my worm. I struck, and pulled up a small dabchick. The bird had swallowed my worm, and I am now having it stuffed by Mr. Patstone, gunmaker, Southampton, with the gut hanging out of its mouth. I have never heard of a dabchick being caught like this before. I remain, sir, yours faithfully, W. H. CUNLIFFE. Marchwood, Hants, November 17, 1889. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meterological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54' 50" N. ; long. i24'o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J.T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 1889. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. Nov. 14 30-3I7 30-333 47'5 47'4 O'OOO 15 30-358 30-417 5i-o 52-0 o'ooo 16 30-511 30-600 S2-S .52'9 0-057 17 30-634 30-638 Si'i 51-4 o'ooo 18 30'645 30-655 50-2 47"i O'OOO 19 30-649 30-632 43'9 43'5 o'ooo 20 30-646 30-608 44-1 41*7 o'ooo Means 30-S37 30-555 48-6 48-0 Tl. 0-057 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine. Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* [Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg Deg. Nov. 14 60' i 38-9 53-i 43"i N.E. N.E. o.o 15 91-2 37'3 5-7 44-3 S.E. S.w. 3'9 16 6 3 -3 48-9 56-0 SI'S S.S.E. Calm o'o 17 58-4 47'i 53" 7 5'i N.E. N.E. o'o 18 81-4 47-0 53'7 47-0 E.S.E. S.E. I- 9 '9 40-4 48-2 43'2 N.E. N.E. o'o 20 49-8 4I-5 46-7 41-2 E. E. o'o Means 67-4 43' 52-9 45'7 n. 5-8 * Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, November 30, it A FOOL'S TOMB. It is well-known that in the years gone over to the past lords and others used to keep fools for merri- ment. It is very few whose names are recorded for the future. This is the only record I have ever seen. Who knows of any other ? At Steepleton, where the Lord Ri verses formerly lived, the last being buried now, and " Pitt " being the name of the owners of the estate, is a stone to a fool. It is dateless and is flat, in good state, being of very hard material. These are the lines, which I copied to-day : " Near this stone Jack Webber lies, Rich as Croesus, as Solomon wise. He was born a fool a fool he died. Happy for all who can live and die like him," Steepleton is about four miles from Blandford, Dorset, next door to Lord Wolverton's Iwerne. Two miles distant is a well-wooded and pretty neigh- bourhood. The little one-belled church is the tomb of the Rivers family. Probably there are eight houses in the village. GEO. PARKER. It would be interesting if some antiquary versed in the old forms of letters could give the approximate date of the above tombstone. Fools or jesters were at one time kept by princes and by some members of THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. the aristocrac}' ' ' to inform them of their faults and of those of others under the disguise of a waggish story." Several of cur kings, particularly the Tudors, kept jesters. There was a jester at court in the reigns of James I and Charles I, but we hear of no licensed court jesters after the year 1625. (Haydn's Dictionary of Dates.) We have in Hampshire what is probably the last instance of a professional jester retained in an English family. He was in the employ of Sir Pexall Brocas, who succeeded to the Brocas family estate of Beaurepaire, near Basingstoke, late in the sixteenth century and died in 1630. So much did Sir Pexall admire his jester, that he had his picture taken, and it is still preserved, inscribed by a later generation with the words, " Hodge, Jester to Sir Pexil Brocas of Beaurepaire." It is (Prof. Montagu Burrows tells us in his " Family of Brocas of Beaurepaire and Roche Court," London, 1886) the face of a rough, humorous fellow, something like an old-fashioned roadside innkeeper. This same Sir Pexall Brocas was a very dissolute fellow, for we are told by the historianStow (quoted by Prof. Burrows) that "On Sunday, October 24, 1613, Sir Pexall Brocas did open penance at Paul's Cross : he stoode in a white sheete, and held a stick in his hand, having been formerly convicted before the High Commissioners for secret and notorious adulteries with divers women." And he had previously got into trouble for riot and forgery. Perhaps it was as some amends for his mis- doings that he proposed to " found a Colledge at Oxford to be called Brocas Colledge," a scheme, how- ever, that came to nothing. F.A.E. RECENT DISCOVERIES AT CHILBOLTON. Mr. Shore would have been glad to have been at Chilbolton lately, when some ashes and bones, and a Roman coin of Constantine, were found. Chilbolton is about a mile from Wherwell and five or six from Sutton Scotney. Mr. Grace, builder, of Winchester, was having ground prepared for work \vhen the men came across some white ashes, then a barrow with human bones, and also a coin of Constantine. What does this mean, Mr. Shore ? G. PARKER. PROVINCIAL SOBRIQUETS. Miss Linda Gardiner, of Winchester, has contributed to the Western Antiquary a note on this subject, elicited by some correspondence originated by " Devonshire Dumpling." Suffolk natives (she says) have a similar sobriquet to that of the Devonians, being " Suffolk dumplings " ; those of a neighbouring town are " Yarmouth bloaters " ; Hants has " Hamp- shire hogs," and the men of the Isle of Wight are " Isle of Wight calves " ; Yorkshiremen are " York- shire tykes." There is a saying, of which Manchester is proud, "A Birmingham snob, a Liverpool gent., and a Manchester man " ; whilst the lower classes or street loafers of Leeds are, or used to be, known as " Leeds loin-enders,'' probably corrupted from " lane- enders." To these we may add the " Wiltshire moonrakers," and perhaps some of our readers can give other local appelatives. THOMAS NOTESHULLYXG, MAYOR OF SOUTHAMPTON. On a certain agreement of the 42iid ve.ir of Kd .yard III (1368), which is amongst the muniments of the Corporation of Southampton, is the signature of Thomas Noteshultyng, late Mayor of Southampton, as witnessing and confirming the agreement. This name does not occur in the list of ma3 r ors given in the Rev. J. Silvester Davies's " History of Southampton," where the only Thomases in the preceding part ot the i4th century are Thomas de Binedon (or Bynedon), 1313? 1316, 1324, 1331 and 1336 ; Thomas del Marche, 1340 ; and Thomas le Clerk, 1350. Is he to be identi- fied with any of these ? and may Thomas the clerk and Thomas of Nursling be the same individual? A deed of conveyance of a yearly rent in Southampton of the time of Edward II has the signature of Thomas de Nosschoolyng, burgess of Southampton. [Report of the Historical Manuscripts Commission on the Archives of Southampton, pp. 59, 67.] This is not improbably the same man. F. A. E. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register, made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S , R.E. Lat. 50 54'' 5o"N. ; long. i 24' o" \V ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.R., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of IRain in Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. i 9 p.m. 9. a. m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 1889. Inches. Inches. De r. Dee. Inches. Nov. 21 30.521 3' 445 43'6 41-4 o-ooo 1 22 30.408 30-33 ST 3 40.0 o'ooo 23 30-295 30.228 52-5 50-9 0-172 , 24 29.978 29-599 Si'2 5'3 0-657 , 25 29*613 29*805 45' * 37-6 O'OOo , 26 29-769 29-694 37-2 35-5 O'OOO > 27 29-761 30.040 33' 3V3 o'ooo Means. 30-049 30-020 44-9 42-6 0-829 Temp. Self.-Reg. Ther in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine Max. in Min. Max. Min. | Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays* Grass Air. Air. 1889. Deg. Deg. Deg Deg. Nov. 21 49-8 40-7 47-2 40-3 E.S.E. E. 0.0 I 22 59' 6 33'3 52'8 39'4 S.S.W. S.E. o'o 23 60-7 42-2 54'6 48-6 s.\v. s.w. O'O , 2 4 85-6 43-6 53'7 47'9 S.E. S.W. 0'2 , 25 81.8 29'3 S3-7 36'6 X.W. N.\V. 3'o , 26 80-2 25'3 45'3 3" W. W.N.W. 4'5 , 27 74'4 24'5 38-2 30-4 X. X.E. 5' Means. 64-1 34'i 49-4 39'3 *Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY 6- NATURALIST. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, December 7, THOMAS NOTESHULLYNG, MAYOR OF SOUTHAMPTON. Your correspondent F. A. E. is not quite correct in the particulars which he has given. The name of Thomas Noteshullyng, late Mayor of Southampton, occurs in a deed of confirmation, bearing date Dec. 7 (7 Ed. Ill), 1333, which is recited in an indenture of agreement made subsequently between William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, and the Mayor and burgesses of Southampton, and dated Dec. 31 (42 Ed. Ill), 1368. This Thomas Noteshullyng is not to be identified with any of those mayors of the name of Thomas suggested by your correspondent, but rather probably with the Thomas referred to by him as occurring in a document of Edward II of uncertain year (Hist. MSS. Commission Report, p. 59), and also with the Thomas de Nutshulling or Nushellynge who, as he will see by my list, was one of the bailiffs in 1326, 1332, and 1333. The document as exhibited in the Historical MSS. Report (p. 67) leaves no room for doubt that this Thomas had been quite recently Mayor of Southampton, but when I am at a loss to suggest. Could he have been acting only for a short period, or even a deputy ? It was from this in- denture of 1368 that I supplied the name of the second bailiff tor that year. Had I read on through its recitals and found the name of this Thomas (late mayor) I should only have been able to put him in a foot note, with a query as to his year. I have now noted him for further observation. J. SILVESTER DAVIES. RECENT DISCOVERIES AT CHILBOLTON. In reply to Mr. G. Parker's inquiry in your Notes and Queries last week, I shall be glad at any time to give him or anyone else all the information I can con- cerning an3 r finds either of a scientific or archaeological character, but I cannot, of course, express any de- cided opinion on the meaning of remains which I have not seen. I am glad to know that Mr. Parker takes an interest in Roman coins and other articles of antiquity, and I shall be pleased at any time I hear of a discovery either geological or antiquarian being made, to visit the place as soon as I can, if any one will let me know of such discovery. Our county is second to none in regard to the matters of scientific and archaeological interest connected with it, and every year that passes is now adding to our know- ledge of this part of England in pre-historic time. Chilbolton is one of the oldest of our Hampshire villages, and I am not at all surprised to hear of a Roman coin beingfound there. Roman coins have been found in or near many of our old villages, a circum- stance which tends to prove that these old village sites are older than the Saxon period, and were probably the dwelling places of people in Romano- British time. We are gradually accumulating a mass of evidence concerning the old British or Celtic people of Hampshire, and I hope shortly to bring some new information before the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland concerning the characteristic remains of these people in our county. If the coin found at Chilbolton was discovered with the bones, it may have been a case similar to that dis- covered at Paulsgrove, near Porchester, in August, 1888, where several skeletons of Roman age were found, one of which I assisted to remove. One of these had among the bones of the hand some Roman coins, which were probably placed there at the burial, in accordance with the old Roman pagan custom of providing the dead with a coin to pay Charon, the mythological ferryman, his fare tor ferrying the shades of the dead across the river Styx. The Chil- bolton coin being of the age of Constantine is, of course, of the 4th century. As the old British people of Hampshire cremated their dead, the bones found may have been placed there at a later period when burial was replacing cremation, or be a Roman burial, or the bones may be of a later date than the coin. T. W. SHORE. THE WEATHER IN NOVEMBER. This month has been exceptionally fine, and there has been less rain than in any November for fifteen years, except once, which was in 1879, when it was only 0-35 inches. The total fall this month has been 1-41 inches, and the average of the previous ten years is 375 inches. Since January it we have had 24-67 inches, and the average for the same time is 28-47 inches. Rain fell on only six days, and the most in 24 hours was 0-53 inches. As is very often the case in November, the barometer has been vefy steady and high, being on twenty-five days 30 inches and upwards and on seven days over 305 inches. This is almost always attended with fog or dull weather, the weight of the air supporting a large quantity of moisture which thesun has not power to break through ; so that although twenty-lour days were without rain, only five were recorded as " fine sunshine." The temperature has been rather mild for Novem- ber. The highest in the day was twice 59 degrees ; and 50 degrees and upwards on twenty-two days. The lowest at night was twice 49 degrees. There were frosts on nine nights. The lowest was 24 degrees. Below is the rainfall for November for the last fifteen years. November is the wettest month of the year on the average : 18753-66 18763-68 18778-68 18782-07 18790-35 1880 3-40 18815-25 18824-25 3 4'49 4-1-67 54-04 6 4-21 1887 4'37 18885.47 1889 1-41 Average 3-80 Fordingbridge. T. WESTLAKE. 26 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. RARE BIRDS IN HAMPSHIRE. In reference to a recent Note under this head relat- ing to the shooting of a Sabine's snipe by Mr. W. J. Green, of Bishop's Waltham, Mr. John Baker of Abbotswood Villa, Romsey, writes as follows : About 15 years ago I shot a black snipe here and I offered it to the Rev. Mr. Wood, author of a book on Natural history. As he had no use for it he asked me to send it to the Field office. When I took it they said there had not been one shot in this country on record for 22 years. The first they received they had no name for, but the chairman of their society was Major Sabine, so they named it after him, the "Sabine snipe." I have an idea that they came from the bogs in Ireland, but why one should be black in every 20 years I cannot conceive. If you examine the feathers on the back of the Sabine snipe with the feathers of the ordinary snipe you will see the wave of the colour of the plumage is reversed, or it was so with mine. It was only about a month ago that I called at the museum in South- ampton to see if there was one there. IZAAK WALTON. The Antiquary for December contains an article, which will be interesting to Hampshire readers and to lovers of the piscatorial art throughout the country, on "The Grave of Master Izaak Walton." The author, Mr. William Brailsford, gives some biblio- graphical details about the various editions of " The Compleat Angler." Walton's connection with Win- chester, where, in the south transept of the cathedral, his body peacefully rests, is well known. It was to a Bishop of Winchester that he dedicated his famous "Book of Lives." We may extract the following paragraph : The little river Test, so plentifully supplied with trout, was the scene of the Compleate Angler's efforts to obtain a full creel, but the larger Hampshire river Itchen, flowing through a chalk valley, appears to have had enticing attrac- tions lor the old fisherman. The grand Winchester Cathe- dral stands a prominent feature near the banks of this river, and has numerous phases of architectural and his- toi ical interest to arrest the notice of any antiquarian visitor. The angler, however, will pause, as in duty beund, at a chapel in the south transept, called after Prior SLlkstede, 1524, where the rich tracery of the screen and lock, and the appropriate cevice, a skein of silk, denote the elaborate and costly workmanship of an age long past. There is a blue stone on the floor of the chapel, and under- neath lies all that is mortal of Izaak Walton. The place is worthy a pilgrimage, for there is hardly a minster in the whole of Great Britain with more magnificent features of massy architectural grandeur, and with more interesting monuments than those to be seen within it; while of all the latter none can be more dear than that in Prior Silkstede's Chapel. INTERESTING DISCOVERY AT WINCHESTER. An anchor, similar to those used for small yachts, has been dredged up from a considerable depth in the bed of the river Itchen, near Winchester. Close to it were found some Nuremberg or Abbey tokens, and not far away were some massive oaken piles. It is supposed that these remains belong to the time when the river Itche.n was navigable from Winchester to Alresford, a navigation which was restored in the time of Richard Coeur de Leon. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office,;Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S.. R.E. Lat. 50' 54' 59" N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date Temp, and Alt. the Air jjhours 9 a.m. | 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m 9 a.m. 1889 Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. O'OOO Nov. 28 30-240 30.317 30-5 30-7 O'OOO >. 29 30-290 30-172 3'S 39-0 o-ooo 3 3' i 38 3<>'33i 37'9 39'6 o-ooo Dec. i 3' 385 3'47i 32-1 31-6 o'ooo M 2 30-482 3' 457 34'9 33'3 o'ooo ,. 3 30-4SS 30'438 29-8 27-8 O'OOO ii 4 3'473 3' 495 28-5 30-6 O.OOO Means 30-352 30-3*9 32-2 33-2 o'ooo lemp. Self-Keg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine Max in Min. Max Min. Date. Sun on in in 9 a.m. ,9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air Air. 1889 Deg. Degr. Deg. Deg. Nov. 28 75'2 21-5 38.5 28-4 x.w. x.w. 4-6 it 29 64-3 23-2 42-1 29-5 N.W. w.x.w 0-4 ,, 3 50-2 3V6 44 - i 36-8 U.K. N.E. o'o Dec. i 57'5 2V5 40-9 33.9 E.N.E. E.N.E. I'O ,, 2 75'3 22-5 4i - 3 3'3 E. E. i'9 ti 3 62-8 2i'5 35'3 27-5 N.E. N.E. 2-7 ii 4 74'5 2O'6 36-1 24-9 N.E. N.E. 2"! Means 65*7 23-9 39-8 29-8 I2'7 * Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, December 14,16 A HISTORY OF BASINGSTOKE. The long promised History of Basingstoke, by Mr. Baigent, of Winchester, and the Rev. Dr. Millard, the vicar of the parish, has at length appeared*, and there can be no doubt that it is a most valuable con- tribution to Hampshire history. From its situation, Basingstoke must always have been a place of im- portance in relation to the places surrounding it, and this appears in very early time to have increased, so that as time passed it gradually acquired the position of an agricultural centre, of a trading centre, and of a governing centre, not only for its own hundred, but in a degree for five subordinate hundreds of which it was the head. The very interesting way in which it grew into importance, and which is fully set forth in this history, is one of the most valuable features, and this is of value not merely to Hampshire people, but to all real students of English history. No better type could be found to illustrate the growth of one * A History of the Ancient Town and Manor of Basing- stoke. By Francis _Jns?ph Baigent and James Elwin Mil- lard. London: Simkin, Marshall and Co.; Basingstoke: C. J. Jacpb. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. 27 class of old English towns than that of Basingstoke. Towns grew from manors, and because a large number of important manors were demesne lands of the Crown, these royal manors in numerous instances became the chief market towns of the counties in which they were situated. In this way the ancient growth of such a place at Basing- stoke, set forth as it is with so much clearness in this history, and illustrated by extracts ot ancient docu- ments and court rolls, is of great value. It is scarcely too much to say that no book in the English language will afford the historical student more solid informa- tion as to the process by which a royal manor of the Anglo-Saxon period gradually became developed into a municipal town, than this history. In these days when local government is being greatly developed under forms adapted to the wants of our own age, it cannot fail to be interesting to all who take a part in town or county government to read how the same ends which our borough and county councils now have in view were accomplished by the Great Court and by the Little Court of their hundred held by the men of Basingstoke. These men of Basingstoke were those who were intrusted with important administrative functions, not merely for their own town, but for the hundred in which it was situated, and of which it was the head, and of five other sub- ordinate hundreds over which the proved men of Basingstoke exercised in some matters a jurisdiction, as coming within the purview of their Hundred Court. This book contains an account of every matter of interest connected with Basingstoke. Its ecclesi- astical history is very well sketched out ; its early connexion with the monastery of St. Michael's Mount in Normandy is explained ; and also how at a later date the figure of St. Michael slaying the dragon became incorporated in the town arms. The account of the ancient arrangement of the church is full and very instructive. The Basingstoke people may from this account learn for the first time where the chapels of various dedications were situated all under the same roof, as the book contains a plan of the church previous to the Reformation. The Hospital of St. Mary and St. John, which existed at Basingstoke at a very early date, is described fully, and also such other ecclesiastical matters as the parish registers, and the remarkable Guild and Chapel of the Holy Ghost, of which some part of the buildings, now a ruin, exists near the railway station. This Guild has had a singular history for after being suppressed in the time ot Henry VIII, it was re-established by Queen Mary, on the intercession of Cardinal Pole. It will be remembered that its old Book of Accounts was found about ten years ago, and some reference is given to this book, now preserved in the Hartley Institution. The revenues of the Holy Ghost Guild became ultimately the endowment of the Grammar School of the town, but it appears that the Guild always was a teaching fraternity. There is a chronology of the history of the town, which, owing to its geographical position and its being a Crown demesne, was often favoured with royal visits. The history of Basingstoke is insepar- able from the history of Basing. These two places, now distinct, appear to have had a closer connexion in earlier ages. The history of Basing is part ot the history of England, aud the chief events of the Civil War of the iyth century as connected with this place and the remarkable siege of Basing House, held by the Marquis of Winchester for the king, are fully described. The full account of this, which was s ably written some years ago by the historian of the Civil War in Hampshire, the Rev. G. N. Godwin i chaplain of H.M. forces, to whose work the authors very properly refer, must have rendered this part of their work comparatively light. Basingstoke can number among those who were born there or have resided there fora sufficient length of time to become identified more or less with it, a number of worthies who have left their mark on English history or literature. A good account of these is given. They comprise such men as Walter de Merton, John of Basingstoke (both noted persons in the middle ages), Richard White, a scholar of the i6th century ; Sir James Lancaster, the navigator, who discovered Lancaster Sound ; Sir George Wheeler, a generous benefactor to the town ; Thomas Warton, the poet ; Joseph Warton, Sir James Deane and others. As already stated, the most important part of the book is that which relates to the development of the town and its early government. The extracts from the Court Rolls from the i4th century to the end of the i6th century are copious and full of interesting information of the manner of life of our forefathers of that period, and of the system of local government under which they lived. A list of the mayors, cor- poration, and officers of the borough of Basingstoke is given from the earliest date to which these records extend unto the present time. In an Appendix are to be found copies of documents preserved at Merton College, Oxford, relating to St. John's Hospital. These are very important. It also contains a calendar of muniments relating to Basing and Basingstoke which are preserved at Magdalen College, Oxford, and which have been extracted from the Rev. W. D. Macray's MS. Catalogue of the College Muniments. It includes also copies of docu- ments relating to the Fraternity of the Holy Ghost and Queen's School, a list of the masters and ushers of the same school, a list of the lecturers appointed to preach at the parish church, a list of burgesses and aldermen from 1641 to 1835, and of the sergeants-at- mace from 1622 to 1836. Some very curious documents of another kind are also included in the appendix, such as a copy of the translation of the contract for the Sandys tomb, and an account of the ordination held at Holy Ghost Chapel in 1309, when a large 28 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. number of priests, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes, and others, were ordained there by David Martin, Bishop of St. David's. The book contains a map of the ancient jurisdiction of the Manor of Basingstoke, a map of the electoral divisions of the county, and a map ot the town at the present time on the six-inch scale. It contains also plans of St. Michael's, the parish church, and of Holy Ghost Chapel. It is illustrated also by engravings of a view of Basingstoke from the Holy Ghost litten as it appeared in 1669, views of the church from various points, a portrait of the Marquis of Winchester, who defended Basing House, facsimiles of seals of the deeds at Merton College, facsimiles of charters, illus- trations of Basing and of Lord Sandys's Chapel. It is not necessary to refer to the well-known inter- est which Dr. Millard takes in the parish of which he is vicar. His desire to co-operate in a History of Basingstoke such as this most able volume, is suffi- cient evidence of this, and will be a memorial for many generations. He has been most fortunate in securing such a co-worker as Mr. F. J. Baigent, whose fame in the special department of literary work he has made his own is so widely knewn and acknowledged. No one who desires to possess a collection of Hamp- shire books can do without this volume. T.W.S. FOOLS. F.A.E. (ante, Nov. 30) is in error in supposing that Sir Pexall Brocas, who died in 1630, was prob- ably the last to retain a professional jester. There are some well-known lines in the churchyard of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, written by Dean Swift on Dicky Pearce, fool to the Earl of Suffolk, who was buried June 18, 1728, aged 63. Douce says Dicky was an idiot. The following are the lines Here lies the Earl of Suffolk's fool. Men called him Dicky Pearce ; His folly served to make men laugh When wit and mirth were scarce. Poor Dick, alas ! is dead and gone ; What signifies to cry ? Dickies enougk are still behind To laugh at by and by. Very much might be written on the subject of pro- fessional fools, jesters, and clowns, and I would refer those who are interested in the subject to Douce's "Illustrations of Shakespeare," 2 vols., 1807; some information will also be found in Hone's " Year Book." I will, however, state on the first mentioned authority that in Shadwell's play, "The Woman Captain " (1680), it is stated that it was then " ut of fashion for great men to keep fools," but that the practice was by no means abolished in this country so late as the beginning of the last century, and the author proceeds to cite instances (vol. 2, pp. 308-10). On the staircase at Muncaster Castle, Cumberland, is a portrait of Thomas Skelton, "The fool of Mun- caster," who is said to have lived at the time of the Civil War, and of whose sayings there are many traditional stories. Some curious lines, entitled, " Thomas Skelton late Fool of Muncaster's last Will and Testament," are inscribed beneath the picture. (Jefferson's " History and Antiquities of Allerdale Ward above Denvent," 1842, pp. 215-6.) Plymouth. J. S. ATTWOOD. PROVINCIAL SOBRIQUETS. [Ante, Nov. 30.] I would add " Sussex calves," who are said to have earned their name from an astute native, who, in his perplexity, cut off the head of a calf which had become fixed in a five-barred gate, in order to release him. " Peter Pindar" (Dr. John Wolcott), in a note to his ode " The Frogs and Jupiter," says " Bolting ; a term to be found in the Hampshire Dictionary ; implying a rapid deglutition of bacon, without the sober ceremony of mastication. It is, moreover, to be observed that Hampshire servants who are bacon- bolters have always less wages than bacon-cheivers." Plymouth. J. S. ATTWOOD. THE CIVIL WAR IN HAMPSHIRE. The following extracts from the exhaustive " History of Basingstoke," by Mr. Francis Baigent and the Rev. Canon Millard, D.D., recently published by Mr. C. J. Jacob, Basingstoke, throw interesting light upon the troublous days of the Civil War in Hampshire. In the Churchwardens' accounts for St. Michael's Church, Basingstoke, we read (pp. 516 52i): 1643-44. Received for Henry Roe, a soldier's knell, is., and for Joachim Van Herne, a soldier's knell, 25. Paid for digging 21 graves, 75. ; and for carrying 6 men and digging their graves, 8s. ; Richard Beckley (the beadle) for digging 5 graves, is. 8d. Paid Richard Beckley for making clean about the church, is. lod. 1645. Reed, for a captain's knell, is., and for another captain's knell, is. Fora soldier's knell, 23. Paid Binfield for digging a grave for a soldier, 6d., and for carrying the soldier, is. 6d. Paid Roger Binfield for digging 2 graves for soldiers, is., and for burying them, 53. Paid for burying 2 soldiers, 33. 6d., and for digging a grave, 6d. Paid Richard Beckly for digging a grave for a soldier, 4d. Paid Andrew Bastin for carrying a soldier to burying, 23. Paid Roger Binfield for digging three graves for soldiers, is. 3d. Paid Binfield for digging 2 graves for soldiers, lod. Paid Andrew Bastin and Binfield for digging a grave for a soldier and burying him, 2S. 6d. Paid William Hawkins for a shroud fora soldier, 33. 1646. Received for an Engineer's burial, is. Monies given towards the reparation of the Church by those whose names are hereunder written. Here follows a list of 25Q names, many of them for amounts not exceed" ing 6d. or is. The highest donation was 405., given by Stephen James. The learned authors thus explain the THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 29 reason for this subscription on page 503. The Church received some damage at the time of the first attack upon Basing House, so that in 1643 fresh repairs had to be undertaken, and then again in 1645 a still greater havock was made in the church by the Parliamentary soldiers assembled for the storming of Basing House. Some barrels of gunpowder appear to have exploded in the church, near the south aisle, which wrecked the windows on that side, and shattered and blev out all the glass, even from the clearstory windows. The accounts of 1646 will give some idea of the damage done. Money was again collected for the .reparation of the church, and the inhabitants succeeded in getting a grant of ;ioo towards the costs from the Parliamentary Committee sitting at Winchester. Among the payments lor the year 1646 occur " Paid to Peter Sandsbury (parish clerk) for his pains in going to Odiham to seek after the chalice or communion cup which was taken out of Vicar Webb's house by the Parliamentary soldiers the 2ist day of May, 1645, being Wednesday, and still detained by them, is. " Paid fora coffin for the soldier which was killed at Francis Dowce's house, and for a shroud, a woman watch- ing with him, with other charges, by the command of the Garrison of Bazinge then being, 8s. 8d. "Paid to Mr. Joseph Collyer for twice drawing and en- grossing of the petition delivered to the Committee at Winchester for allowance towards the reparation of the church, being much torn by the blowing up of gunpowder lying in the church, 33. 4d. " Paid to Nicholas Coles for his dinner when he came to view the church how the windows might be repaired, 8d." " In the next entry we have particulars with respect to materials brought from Basing House for the repairs of the church, as the House of Commons had, on isth October, 1645, issued an order for the demolition of Basing House, ' and that wheever fetches away the materials shall have them for their pains.' " Paid Thomas Arnold for taking down 4,000 tiles at Bazing ios., and for two days' work for his man to help load tiles at Bazing, 2od." " 1647. Received for one of the Lord Marquess's groom's knell, is. In 1648 we read " Paid to Barnard Hawtrell for his fee in gaining of our money (i.e. 100) given by the Com- mittee, .5." In the inventon' of Church goods made in April, 1650, we find this entry : " Church goods taken by force away. One silver chalice with a cover by the Parliamentary forces, and robbed by thieves in the night of one green velvet pulpit cloth given by Mrs. Hatfield, one green velvet cushion given by Robert Walker, a satin cloth for the pulpit, a cloth of chamlet, two carpets for the communion table, one of silk and the other of tuftaffety, a case of silk taffety, and a surplice." "1659. Paid the ringers when Richard, Lord Protector, was proclaimed, 2S. 6d." "Richard Cromwell was pro- claimed Protector on 4th September, 1658, and resigned the office on 25th May, 1659. He died at Hursley on the i2th July, 1712, aged 85." WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54' 59" N. ; long, i' 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected lor Temperature of Rain in Date Tdrnp. and Alt. the Air 24 hours g a.m 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. from 9. a.m. 1889 Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Dec. 5 3'597 3'67i 3V2 35'3 0-008 6 30*620 30^44 35'9 35'o 'o-i 93 t 7 3O'i27 30-188 34'i 37'7 O.III 8 30-347 3 2 38 30-7 39'5 0-152 9 29-980 29*749 47'4 5' I 0-040 10 29-503 29-353 46-7 37'i 0*005 ii 29-482 29'834 34' 2 32-7 o'ooo Means 30-094 30-068 37-5 38-2 0-509 Temp. Self Reg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine Max in Min. Max Min Date Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. 1889 Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Dec. 5 40-4 26-8 36-9 29-6 N. N.N.E. o-o 6 44'4 30-1 38-7 33'9 N.E. S.E. O'O 7 40-7 31-6 38-7 32-8 N.E. N.W. o-o 8 62-8 24'3 40*6 30-0 N.W. S. 1-7 9 59'8 36-8 Si'o 39' 5 s.w. w.s.w O'O 10 53-8 28-3 Si'i 36-9 s.w. s.w. O'O ii 72'2 22'I 44 '3 3'"3 w. W.N.W 5-6 Means 53'4 286 _43'f>_ _33'4 7-3 *Black bulb in vacuo. tMelted snow. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, December 21, it TO GRETNA GREEN. ' ' Last week eloped from her father's house in the Isle of Wight, with a young gentleman of the 25th regiment, Miss L , an amiable young lady of 15 : it is imagined they are gone towards Scotland, and will evade the diligence of their pursuers, as they had more than 24 hours start of them." The Salisbury Journal, Aug. 19, 1771. OLD SOUTHAMPTON NAMES. Kindly allow me through the medium ot your paper to ask your correspondent who is so well versed in local folk lore if he can tell me whether the John Mayor, of Southampton (about 1630), de- scended from the Mayors of Jersey, was the father of J. Mayor, who lived in Northampton soon after. CENTURION. [According to the Rev. J. Silvester Davies's " His- tory of Southampton," John Mayjor was Sheriff of Southampton in 1598 and 1613, and Mayor in 1600 and 1615, and was returned to Parliament as member for the town in 1627-28. He was a benefactor of the town, a bequest of his having " suggested or acceler- ated" the foundation of the workhouse. ED. L. N. and Q.] THE BURRARD FAMILY. Sir Harry Paul Burrard, who has this week passed his public examination in the Bankruptcy THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST, Court, comes of a well-known Hampshire family, concerning which the London Echo says : His ancestors monopolised the Parliamentary representa- tion of either Lymington or Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) for over a century and a half, from 1679 to l8 35' w i tn the ex- ception of one Parliament, during Sir Robert Walpole's second Administration, from 1735 to 1740. Sir Harry is the sixth baronet, the title being created in 1769. Most of the previous bearers of the title have become notorious in one way or another. The first baronet, for instance, Sir Harry, who was M.P. for Lymington for forty-three years, held what was considered the proud position of Bow Bearer to the Ring in the New Forest, and was also Riding Forester to His Majesty, besides being Gentleman Usher to the Prince of Wales. Admiral Sir Harry, the second baronet, held Lymington for forty-six years. He was pre- sented with the thanks of the City of London for the gallantry he displayed at the Mutiny at the Nore, which consisted in cutting the cable of his frigate, the St. Fiorenzo, and successfully running the gauntlet of a severe fire from the men-of-war by which he was sur- rounded. A FAMILY OF HEROES. Mr. G. Waller, of Southampton, forwards to us a biographical notice of Admiral Ayscough, taken from the Illustrated London News of January 9, 1864. Admiral Ayscough lies buried in St. Mary's Church- yard, the tomb, which was restored a few years ago, being close to the Workhouse wall in the north-east corner. He died in his 8gth year. From the notice referred to we extract the following : Admiral John Ayscough, Admiral of the Red, the oldest Admiral in the Navy, whom Sir J. Duckworth characteris- tically styled " a child of the service," was born on board H.M.S. Swan at the very time a desperate action was fought by that vessel on her passage home from North America. He was the son of the late Captain John Ayscough, who was in command of the Swan on the occa- sion, and lost his leg from a wound. Admiral Ayscough was also the brother of Commander James Ayscough, an officer distinguished as Lieutenant in the Monarch, at Copenhagen, in 1801, and presented by the Patriotic Society with a sword for his gallantry in storming a battery in Martinique, and was grandnephew of the Rev. Francis Ayscough, D.D., Dean of Bristol, and preceptor to King George HI, and cousin of Admiral Sir George Cockbum, G.C.B. Admiral Ayscough entered the Royal Navy in August, 1787, and when he obtained his lieutenancy he comtnandeJ the Blanche in the expedition to the Helder, and was one of the first boats that effected a landing. He was in the expeditions to Quiberon and Cadiz, and led a party of seamen in the Egyptian campaign, 1801, and obtained, in reward, a Turkish gold medal. After a further course of active and gallant conduct, Ayscough, then a captain, was employed at the blockade of Havre de Grace. He formed part, at the request of Admiral Sir G. Hood, of that officer's squadron in the ex- pedition against Madeira, and, on his return home with the Admiral's despatches, he was sent to a high northern latitude for the protection of Greenland fisheries, subse- quently taking the Earl of Roden and suite to the Medi- terranean, and had charge of a fleet of merchantmen, by the masters of whom Captain Ayscough was forwarded a letter of thanks for his great and unremitting attention. During 1809, Captain Ayscough was cruising off Italy, and was at the capture of Procida and Ischia, destroying the batteries and capturing several gun-boats. Captain Ayscough about this time attracted the notice of Admiral G. Martin by his handsome support of the Spartan and Espoir in an attack on the batteries at Terracina. Shortly after, Captain Ayscough, with two frigates and se\ eral sloops under his orders, had assigned to him the deeply responsible duty of protecting Sicily against the threatened invasion of Joachim Murat, whose every attempt although in com- mand of 40,000 troops and 200 gun-boatsto gain a foot- ing on the island Ayscough ablv and happily succeeded, by the most indomitable exertions, in frustrating. From 1822 to 1825 he commanded the Ordinary at Plymouth ; and, for his subsequent able management as Commissioner of Jamaica and Bermuda dockyards, was honoured with the thanks of the Board of Admiralty. When the practice of awarding good-service pensions was instituted Captain Ayscough was the first to whom the boon was extended. He became an Admiral of the Red Oct. 3, 1855. The Admiral married Miss Parr, daughter of Commodore Thomas Parr, a descendant of the celebrated Earl Godolphin, and has left a son, Hawkins Godolphin Ays- cough, Esq., and two daughters. The Admiral's remains were interred with naval honours in the family vault in Southampton. Admiral Ayscough's son and daughter still reside in Prospect-place, Southampton. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S , R.E. Lat. 50 54 '' so"N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9. a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 1889. Inches. Inches. Deg. Deg. Inches. Dec. 12 30.085 30-017 25'4 43'7 0-104 ., 13 29.825 29-967 46-9 34-5 0-027 , I4 30.223 30.387 33'3 32*6 o'ooo i i5 30.470 30-478 33'2 41-6 0-029 , 16 30-469 30-511 46-5 49-0 0-026 . '7 30-518 30-472 50.0 49-2 0*029 , 18 3'335 30.272 49-2 47'7 0-063 Means. 30-275 30-301 40.6 42-6 0-278 Temp. Self.-Reg. Ther in 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Direction of Wind. Sun- shine Max. in .Min. Max. Min. 9 a.m. Date. Sun's on in in 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. 1889. Deg. Deg. Deg Deg. Dec. 12 63-0 18-1 44'5 25-0 S.E. s.w. 3'7 >i 13 73'2 26-6 48-1 34-3 s.w. Calm 2"2 ., 14 4i'5 22'6 36-9 31-0 x.w. N. O'O IS 52'8 27'5 42-8 31-4 s.w. S.E. O'O ii 16 57'2 38- s S0.4 4' - 3 w. Calm O.O ii 17 56'6 43-8 52-6 48-1 s.w. s.w. O'O i. 18 56-7 40-1 50-7 47-4 s.w. s.w. O'O Means. 57-3 3i' 46-6 36-9 5'9 *Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, December 28, 1889. A MEAN AND SELFISH BISHOP. Mr. F. E. Gretton has recently published his " Memory's Harkback through Half a Century 1808- 1858," and a very readable book it appears to be. " Episcopal Recollections" have a chapter to them- selves. On the whole they are pleasing, and the narrator is certainly kindly. Even Dr. Hampden of Hereford, one of the most unlucky appointments that was ever made, has apologies made for him. But one, Pretyman-Tomline, of Lincoln and Winchester, is beyond the line of the most comprehensive charity. He had been tutor to Pitt, who gave him all that he had. Pitt was attended by him on his death-bed. Near the end he said : " I am too poor to leave you money ; but you will value the old silver inkstand we have so often used together." Some time after, the Duke of Cumberland saw the inkstand in Rundell and Bridges' window. The Bishop had exchanged it tor one of a more modern shape ! After this one enjoys the more the story of his discomfiture. Bishop Barrington ot Durham was very ill, and Tomline, who was looking out for his see, was diligent in his inquiries. One day the answer to the Bishop's man was, " Give my kind regards and thanks to your master, and tell him that he will be glad to know that I am much better indeed almost well, but that the Bishop of Winchester has a nasty cough, if that will do." AN EARLY HAMPSHIRE DIRECTORY. I send you the transcript of the title page, with collation, of an interesting directory of the county of Hants of 100 years ago, which has been for some years in my possession. As each of the sections, besides bearing the usual signature, is marked ' ' No. 7," I sup- pose the first issue was for the year 1783. [If this supposition be correct, the present work probably suggested to Mr. John Sadler, of the High-street, Winchester, the publication by subscription, in 1784, of the first known Hampshire directory, a duodecimo of nearly 200 pages, a copy of which is in the possession of Mr. Henry Johnson of Winchester. See Baigent and Millard's " History of Basingstoke," just published, p. 555.] Do any of your readers know of the existence of an earlier copy than mine ? The particulars of each town are not very lull, Southampton occupying three pages, enumerat- ing the members of the Town Council, the principal professional men and traders, inns, schools, charities, vessels trading to and from the port, &c. If of sufficient interest I will transcribe this portion for your columns. Plymouth. J. S. ATTWOOD. THE Hampshire Pocket Companion : Or, COMPLETE LEDGER for Cash and Time, For the Year of our LORD 1790, Being the Second after BISSEXTILE, OR LEAP YEAR : Particularly calculated for NATIVES, STRANGERS, DEALERS, and TRAVELLERS in that extensive County ; CONTAINING Officers in the Militia, Ports- mouth Dock, Victualling Office, Haslar Hospital, Customs, Excise, &c. in Hampshire. 104 Pages neatly ruled. Abstracts of all the Public Acts of last Sessions Courts of Law. Lunar and Tide Tables. Term Table, 3 30-421 30-419 34-6 33'4 o'ooo 30-364 30-334 30-8 38-1 o'ooo Jan. i 30-404 30-355 3o'S 28-7 o'ooo Means. 30-415 30*388 S3-? 33'7 Tl. o'ooo Temp. Self.-Reg. Ther. in 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Direction of Wind. Sun- shine. Max. in Min. Max.] Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Nov. 26 49-7 27-5 43'4 31-2 N.W. E. o'o ,, 27 67'! 41-7 3 2 '4 E. N.E. 2'I 28 3 8'i 24-3 34-8 29-3 N.E. N.E. o'o 29 38' i 24 'o 37'2 29-3 CALM W.N.W o'o ,, 30 41-8 27-8 37'7 32'o N.W. N.E. o'o .. 3i 46-0 30'7 41-4 30-4 CALM S.E. o.o Jan. i 6g'2 21-3 39-5 28-3 N.E. N.E. 5-7 Means. So'o 26-4 39-4 I 30-4 Tl.7'8 SIR EDWARD HORSEY'S MONUMENT. In St. Thomas's Church, Newport, I.W., there is a handsome altar tomb. On the top of it is a recum- bent effigy of Sir Edward Horsey, Governor of the Island in the reign ef Queen Elizabeth. He died of the plague that was then raging in the town. The inscription is in Latin, of which the following is a translation : SIR EDWARD HORSEY, A very valiant soldier, Captain of the Isle of Wight. Was courageous both by sea and land ; Brave, yet pacific in disposition, And no less a worshipper of justice than a faithful friend. A supporter of the Gospel, and a man of liberal spirit. He lived esteemed by his Sovereign, and much beleved by the people, And as he lived holily, so he executed holily his particular duties. Dying on the 23rd of March, 1532. J. DORE. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, January H, 1890. *Black bulb in vacuo. AN ANCIENT HORSESHOE. The Field publishes an engraving of a curious old horseshoe, picked up a short time ago in the neigh- bourhood of Alton, Hants. A most curious feature of the shoe is that it is deeply concave on the upper surface, where it touches the foot, and canvex on the lower surface, where it touches the ground. When placed on the floor with the concave side uppermost, the distance from the top of the shoe to the ground (taken at the first nailhole at the heel) is within an infinitesimal fraction of seven-eighths of an inch ; at the point of the toe it is as nearly as possible half an inch. At the heels the shoe is slightly depressed, and there are very small calkins, with the result that when the shoe is placed on a table the heel is slightly elevated, and no portion of tfte lower surface quite touches the ground till about midway between the third and fourth nail holes, counting from the heels ; and it is at that spot that the greatest pressure on the ground would come. The specimen appears to have had some wear, though not very much. What the object of such a pattern could be it is difficult to divine ; and it is equally hard to understand how a horse could have gone sound in it for a single hour. The apparent object of the shoe is to prevent the frog touching the ground ; but the wider portion of the frog must have been pressed upon by the hinder part of the opening, while tremendous strain must have been thrown on the outside wall of the foot. The Field is unable to fix a probable date for the shoe, and does not know whether it is of the type worn by Roman, Norman, Flemish, or Danish horses. It weighs ilb. 6oz. 34 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. THE HORSEY ARMS. The following is a description of the Horsey arms upon the monument referred to by Mr. J. Dore (ante January 4) : Quarterly : The First and Fourth Grandquarters quarter!}' quartered. I and IV. Quarterly, i and 4, Azure 3 horses' heads couped, or, reined gules. 2, Azure, a chevron between 3 cross-crosslets fitchee within a bordure or. 3, Barry wavy of 8 azure and gules over a saltier or. 4, same as first. II and III. Gules, a chevron engrailed between three lions' faces or. The whole charged with a mullet gules for a difference. Crest. A horse's head couped or, reined gules, a mullet of the 2nd. Arms and Crest of Sir Edward Horsey, who died 23 March. 1582. Newport. J. H. P. MEW. WEATHER IN "DECEMBER AND IX 1889. This has been a fine month for December, and the rain that was wanted to make up the average of the year did not fall ; indeed it was nearly an inch less than usual. The total for the month was 2-40, and the average of the ten preceding years 3-36 inches. Since January i we have had 27-07, the average for the same time for ten years being 31 '85 inches. Rain fell on fourteen days. The barometer has again been high, registering 30 inches and upwards on twenty-four days. The highest was 30-66, and lowest 29-36 inches. During the year it has been on 189 da3 r s 30 inches and above, and on 176 days below. There have been frosts on 20 nights during the month, but not of great severity ; the lowest was 18 degrees on the nth. The maxi- mum has been high for December, twice registering 53 degrees, and on five other days 50 degrees and upwards. The rain for the past 12 months has been : Jan. 0-94 April 2-65 July 2-75 Oct. 5-18 Feb. 1-69 May 2-16 Aug. 2-26 Nov. 1-41 Mar. 2-73 June i'8o Sept. i'io Dec. 2-40 27-07 The average of fifteen years for each month is as follows, placed in the order cf least rain : Mar. 1-91 May 2-21 July 2-64 Dec. 3-30 June 2'oi Sept. 2-50 Feb. 2-69 Oct. 3-44 April 2-14 Aug. 2-60 Jan. 2-75 Nov. 3-80 The rainfall for the 15 years is as under : 1875 3'94 1879 35'37 1876 34-18 1880 30-51 1877 40-36 1881 31-29 1878 29-24 1882 39-03 Fordingbridge. 1883 30-26 1887 23-09 1884 27-86 1888 29-13 1885 34-26 1889 27-07 1886 37-83 Average 32-03 T. WESTLAKE. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.RS., R.E. Lat. 50 Sl'so" N. ; long, i* 24' o" W. ; m-ight above sea, 84 leet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J.T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9P m. 9 a.m. 1890. i Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. Jan. 2 30-189 2' C933 28*5 28*0 o'ooo 3 : 29-741 29*616 33'3 39' 0*090 4 29-714 2( '774 46*7 o*434 5 1 29-740 29-968 48-9 50-9 6 30*231 V >'347 5' 7 0-168 7 3" 376 ''39 48-5 50*0 0-040 8 30-301 30*207 48-8 45'3 0-109 Means 30*042 30-034 43'4 44-6 Tl. 1-065 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind, shine. Max in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on : in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg Deg. Jan. 2 68-5 19-2 36*1 26-8 N N E. 5*1 3 43'8 20*0 39-8 27-3 E S E. o'o 4 74*2 35*8 48*8 38*6 S S 2*7 5 53'i 38*8 51-7 4 6*i S W. S W. o'o 6 45'3 53' 49' 3 s S W. o'o 7 80-6 42-3 53'2 47-6 s s.w. s \v. 2-9 8 69.2 37-2 5I -6 45'2 S S.E. S W. 0-7 Means 63.3 34'. 47'7 40*1 Tl.ii'4 *Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE IXDEPEXDEXT, January iS, 1890. DECAYED HAMPSHIRE MANUFACTURES. In these days of progress in the manufacturing arts, when a new invention or a new application of an old process may alter a whole trade, it will not be without its use to review briefly some of the old manufactur- ing industries which formerly existed in this county, and afforded employment to many of its inhabitants. In common with other southern counties, Hampshire was in olden time much more of a manufacturing county that is the case at present, but some of our old manufacturers have become much decayed, and others have been entirely crushed out of existence by the competition of the present century. The mid- land and northern counties have beaten those of the south, and have taken from them most of their old local manufacturing trade, owing, no doubt, to a large extent to the greater natural facilities these counties have as regards their coal supply, for we find the de- cayed manufactures of such a southern county as Hampshire suffered most when steam power became a necessity in the fiercer trade competition of the pre- sent century. Whether any share of these manu- factures of the present day could have been kept in Hampshire, under the altered condition of trade, if THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 35 employers and employes in this county, in the early part of the present century, had been as much alive to the signs of the times as the people of the mid- land and northern parts of England were, and had moved forward with the times, it is scarcely worth our while now to inquire, tor the fact remains that either through want of enterprise or want of know- ledge among the employers, want of support by capitalists in the county, or want of intelligence among the workers, some old manufacturing indus- tries in Hampshire which had long been carried on in it, could not be dragged out of the old rut, and, consequently, could not be made to pay, and therefore became extinct. The awakening intelligence of the present day, in my opinion, however, is such as will cause people to inquire whether in the future some more manufactur- ing employments may not be profitably carried on in Hampshire, than those which exist at the present time. Labour-saving machines and inventions for the economy of power are now among the objects which manufacturers ot all kinds have to steadily keep in view. Any further improvement in machinery in the direction of economising steam power must imply a less consumption of coal and a less necessary depend- ence on coal, and perhaps bring into consideration the question of water power, as a source, possibly, of electricity for a motive force. Such changes, what- ever they may be, can scarcely take anything from us, and they may be such as may enable such a county as Hampshire to extend its present industries. I think there can be little doubt that the future will continue to bring new adaptations of scientific pro- cesses and methods into practical use in various trades and industries, and this appears to me to be another reason why all who are interested in the prosperity of Hampshire, may take a hopeful view of its future. There is, of course, another aspect of this subject, viz., the educational aspect in regard to the scientific education, both of masters and workmen, for it must be plain to everyone that as modern manufacturing processes are becoming more and mone closely identified with the applications of scien- tific principles, it will in the future be a matter of prime necessity for employers and directors of works to be well acquainted with the latest improvements in their particular trades, and for the employes to be so intelligently instructed, as to be well aware of the scientific principles on which their particular work depends, and, therefore, more skilful artizans. One of the most important manufactures which Hampshire has lost is its old manufacture of woollen cloth and worsted goods. This manufacture was carried on for centuries at Winchester, Romsey, Alton, Andover, Basingstoke, Whitchurch, South- ampton, Odiham, Petersfield, Alresford, and Fording- bridge. This trade in the middle ages formed one of the most profitable occupations of the people ot this country. The wool was produced on the Hampshire downs, and in all the places I have named there were manufacturing processes of some sort carried on by which it was spun and woven into cloth and worsted goods. The name " Winchester cloths" was a term well understood as a trade name for Hampshire goods of this description, and the usual size of these pieces was from twenty-six to twenty-seven yards in length . Village medley cloths was another trade name for those produced by handlooms in villages. The trade guilds of weavers and fullers were im- portant bodies at Winchester, which was, no doubt, the distributing centre of this old local industrj'. Alton, however, appears to have had a woollen export trade of its own in plain and figured barragons, ribbed druggets, serges, white yarn, tabinets, bombazines, and other goods, which early in this century found a market in America, and were in much demand in Philadelphia and its neigh- bourhood, as a material for summer clothing. Worsted yarn was also spun in the villages round Alton within a ten miles radius. At Andover, the latest cloth trade was the making of shalloons in the early part of this century. About the same time coarse woollens and fine linen were woven at Odi- ham, a small manufacture of linseys was carried on at Alresford, druggets and shalloons were made at Basingstoke, serges were made at Whitchurch, and a factoiy existed at Fordingbridge for spinning woollen yarn. Romsey also had at one time 200 looms em- ployed in weaving, and in Southampton there was a " Company and Fellowship of the Art and Mystery of Cloth workers/' who used to make kerseys, serges, and other kinds of cloth. Although its old woollen manufactures have been lost, Hampshire still produces a great quantity of wool. At the annual wool sale in Winchester 90,000 fleeces are commonly sold. The wool which our county produces is sold at from tod. to is. 4d. per lb., and the worsted manufactured goods made from this quality of wool, which are brought back to this county and some no doubt bought by the people who sold the wool, fetch as much as 43. per lb. in the condition of manufactured worsted. Unless there is some mis- take in these prices, which I quote from Dr. Beres- ford Earle, of Winchester, there ought to be a possibility in these figures for a revival of a local industr3 T . Another decayed Hamphire manufacture is that of silk. Silk throwing mills were established in 1792 in St. Peter's-street, Winchester, the drums of the old machinery bdng turned by manual labour. This was soon improved upon by the removal in 1797 of the works to a site near the Abbey Mills to get the advantage of water power. Women and children were the chief employes in the trade, and the wages earned were not more than seven shillings weekly. This industry, however, appears to have grown, for in 1807 there were more mills at work, the silk was both spun and woven at Winchester, one firm alone employing 300 hands, and the raw material was imported from Bengal and Italy. Silk mills were also THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. formerly worked at Andover, Odiham, Alton, Whit- church, and Overton. The silk goods woven at Alton were partly exported to America. At Overton a silk factory was working as early as ijqi, and so continued for more than half a century. About 1842 this manu- facture afforded employment for the greater part of the female population in and near Overton. At Andover the silk manufacture had in about 1840 superseded the making of shalloons. About the same time silk-weaving was the employment of many of the inhabitants of Odiiiam. This old silk manufacture of Hampshire is not extinct, for it is carried on by .Mr. ]. Hide at Victoria (Waten Mill, Whitchurch, but this is now the only silk mill in the county. About 1840 there were two silk mills at Whitchurch employing 100 people, and in 1858 about 150 persons were engaged in this manufacture. The survival of .this industry in Hampshire, notwithstanding the fierce competition of the last quarter of a century, proves that this county has natural facilities for certain manufactures. In the matter of knitted silk goods Christchurch held a foremost place at the beginning of this century, the silk knit stockings made there being considered the best in the market. Hampshire has not only been a silk manufacturing county, but has grown silk, although I regret to say not at a profit. Many years ago Mr. G. Mason, of Yateley, near Winchfield, laid out a considerable acreage of land and planted it with mulberry trees, from which he reared silk worms, and produced raw silk. Specimens of this Hampshire silk, and articles woven from it, were presented by him to the Museum of the Hartley Institution, where they are still ex- hibited. From silk we may turn to salt. There has been some talk lately about salt syndicates and the rise in the price of this commodity, and if the rise should be considerable, the time may come for a revival of the Hampshire salt trade. This is one of the very oldest industries in the count}', and it has survived at Hayling Island, notwithstanding all the great com- petition our sea salt has had to meet from the salt works of Worcestershire and Cheshire. The salt manufacture was so considerable near Lymington, that the tax formerly levied on the salt amounted to ^50,000 annually paid on that made near Lymington alone. Salt works formerly existed all along the Hampshire coast, and in several parts of the Isle of Wight. At Lymington, Epsom salts were also largely made as well as culinary salt, and bay salt used for curing purposes. The salt exported annually from the Isle of Wight about a century ago amounted to i, too tons. So old is the Hampshire salt trade, that it was an old industry when Charles I attempted to dispose of the right of salt-making as one of his monopolies, as the records of the Corporation of Southampton show. Another decayed manufacture in Hampshire is that of paper making. Formerly there were many paper mills in various parts of the county. There are, I believe, now only four, viz., that at Laverstoke, where the Bank of England Bank Note paper is made, and other mills at Romsey, Alton, and near Headley. The raw material now used in the manu- facture of paper is so varied that the old trade has been much changed. The paper-making industry is now connected with tree products, and when we get an improved system of Forestry carried out on the Crown lands of Hampshire there will be more raw material close at hand for- the paper makers. This county had at one time a considerable industry in the manufacture of sacking, made by handlooms at Win- chester, Fareham, Alton, near Lymington, at Romsey, and elsewhere. At Fordingbridge the manufacture of striped bed ticking, which had been carried on for many years, at the beginning of the present century afforded employment to two-thirds of inhabitants who were engaged in the processes of spinning, bleaching, weaving, and dressing flax. The manufacture of sailcloth from flax is still carried on there. A lace factory formerly existed at Newport, where about thirty years ago it gave employment to 200 hands, chiefly women and children, but this trade is now extinct. At an earlier period, Newport had a manufactory for starch, which was in successful operation a century ago, paying an annual duty on it amounting to a thousand pounds. The old iron manufacture of Hampshire has gone past recall. The manufacture of iron from native iron stone was carried on till the beginning of the present century, and the sites of some of the old iron forges can be pointed out. The last to suspend its opera- tions was that of Sowley, near Lymington, where several heaps of iron stone, rich in metal, and a quantity of iron slag may still be seen. This iron stone is still collected on the shores of the Solent in small quantities, and sent to South Wales. When iron came to be used so largely in modern manufactures and arts, the old iron smelting works of Hampshire as well as those in Sussex and Kent were doomed, from a lack of the raw material as well as from lack of coal, and this iron manufacture has gone for ever. Something else which may in time partially displace iron, may as years go by take its place, for man} 1 distinguished metallurgical chemists of Europe and America are at the present time at work to discover a cheap process for the extraction of aluminium from clay, and their expectation, if this can be done, that aluminium will displace iron in some structures where lightness is a consideration as well as strength, is not unreasonable. Hampshire contains an abundance of clay. No fewer than a dozen different geological kinds of clay and loam, to say nothing of different varieties of these kinds, are used in this county, in the manufacture of bricks. There are metallurgists who believe that before the twentieth century is far advanced, ships built of aluminium will not be un- known. The next paper I shall write for the Hampshire Field Club will be on the clays of the THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 37 county, and the products made from them, concern- ing which I shall be glad to receive any information which I do not already possess. A curious little decayed Hampshire manufacture, which is evidently a survival of a larger trade, viz., that of edged tools, is carried on at Conford and Bramshott. It is but a small industry, for the tools are all made by hand from wrought iron, but they are much sought after by harvestmen, copse cutters, and hoop-makers, and they fetch a higher price than the Sheffield articles sold in the shops. Axeheads, hooks, and hoes, &c., are made in these villages. A similar industry formerly existed at Wickham, close to Bere Forest, and I suspect that the supply of charcoal had some connection with the origin of this industry. No place in Hampshire appears to have made a braver fight for its local industries than the little town of Fordingbridge, which in addition to its old worsted and canvass trade, formerly carried on calico printing in a small way in various buildings in that town. The manufacture of straw plaited goods used to be a considerable industry at Overton and Christchurch. The manufacture of glass which appears to have been carried on in Hampshire for centuries is now extinct, but as late as about 1840 there was some manufactured. Although this county has lost its glass trade, it still supplies raw material for the manu- facture. Some thousands of tons of white sand are annually exported from the Isle of Wight to the glass works in London, Bristol, and elsewhere, and formerly a similar sand was shipped at Eling. T. W. SHORE. THE NEW FOREST AND ITS VERDERERS. Before the reign of King Canute there were no settled laws regarding Royal forests ; kings and their officials then punished those offending, at will. The first Forest Laws are found registered in the "Red Book " of the Exchequer, compiled by Alexander de Swereford, Archdeacon of Shrewsbury, who died i4th November, 1246. These laws (or Charta de Foresta) were enacted at a Parliament held at Win- chester in the first year of Canute, and virtually with amending Acts of 9 Hen. Ill, 21 Edw. I, 33 Edw. I, statute 5 ; 34 Edw. I, i Ed. Ill, cap. 8, st. i ; 32 Hen. VIII, cap. 13 and cap. 35 ; 17 Car. I, cap. 16 ; 9 and 10 Will. Ill, cap. 36 ; 48 Geo. Ill, c. 72 ; 14 and 15 Viet., c. 76 (some of which affected the New Forest only) served to regulate the Royal forests until the statute of 1877. By section i of this ancient Act of 1016, four free- holders were appointed to administer justice in the Royal forests, the same number as had been used to do so before this date. These four officials were later termed Verderers, so named from their chief duty being to guard the vert, or trees, of the forests. They were regarded as the chief men of the forest, and received as their fees two horses, a sword, five lances, a shield, and two hundred shillings annually. They were free from all taxation and liability to serve at Courts outside their own jurisdiction. At first the Verderers held four Svvainmote Courts in the year, to try cases against Vert and Venison, which terms covered everything in the forests. The forest laws greatly regarded the preservation of the Vert of the forest, as without Vert there would have been no shelter for the Royal beasts of the forest. The Vert was of two natures: i. Over Vert or Hault Boys, great timber, trees that bore fruit or no fruit (o\d hollies were included in this term) ; 2. Nether Vert or South Boys, that is underwood, bushes, gorse, etc., and as some think (but improperly) fern and heath. This served and was necessary as covert for the deer. The grace and beauty of the forest depended on the woods then as they do now. The Red Book of the Exchequer tells us that the maintenance of this Vert was necessary to the end that Kings and Princes might be refreshed when laying aside all cares, and be able to breathe awhile refreshed by free liberty. In these later times, it is no less the duty of the Verderers, under statute, to duly preserve ornamental timber and the ancient woods, to refresh not only Royalty but the Com- monalty of the realm. Now, as of old, as was then recorded, if Vert be cut down the forest would soon be no forest, but assarted and a waste. Such was the law when William the Conqueror en- larged the then Royal domains in South Hants, which he afforested and called the New Forest. It was enacted, 9 Henry III, that only three Svvainmote Courts should be held annually. By 32 Henry VIII, cap. 13, the enactments regarding drifts of the forest were amended. No stallions over the age of two years, not being 15 hands of 4 inches high, might be turned out after the last day of March. When drifted, any mare or foal deemed not good enough for breed- ing purposes was to be forthwith killed and buried. It is clear that then, three hundred and fifty years ago, attention, as is now, was paid to breeding horses in the New Forest. Tenants, owners and occupiers of de-afforested land enjoyed common rights, if living within the purlieus of the forest, by a clause in 17 Charles I, cap. 16 (1641). Anciently Verderers were chosen by King's writ, de viridario eligendo, directed to the Sheriff" of the county, who ordered an election by choice or vote of the freeholders. They were selected from esquires, gentlemen of good account, ability, and learning, wise and discreet men, learned in Forest law. The names of the successful candidates by the return of the writ were certified to the Ceurt of Chancery. This procedure was by statute of 34 Edward I. (1306). Verderers, unless by death, could only be discharged from office by Royal writ. Then the chief duties of Verderers were to guard the rights of the Crown ; now their chief concern is to protect the rights of the Commoners from encroachments of the Crown in- THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY . NATURALIST. directly made. By the old forest law the four Verderers or judicial officers of the Crown, one for each \vard or precinct of the forest, were sworn to maintain and keep the assize or laws of the forest ; also to view, receive, and inrol the attachments and punishments of the trespasses of Vert or of Venison ; of Assarts, or conversions of land into arable by destruction of Vert ; of Purprcstures, or building houses in inclosures by which the forest would become populated, or the wrongful occupation of land ; of Agistincnt, or taking in of cattle, &c. , to graze in the King's domains ; of Pannage, or feeding of swine on mast in the King's woods ; of Fcnccmontli for fawning, fifteen days before Midsummer day to fifteen days after, when all cattle were drifted and turned out of the forest and no one allowed to wander there ; of Common and Commoners and of Drift, which were always twice in the year, viz., in fence-month and on Holy Rood day (i4th Sept.), and as often as deemed necessary. Verderers by the Charter or Act of 1016 held full power. If assaulted by a person, the latter lost his freedom and all his goods ; if he were not a freeman, his right hand was cut off. On a second offence his life was forfeited. It" anyone brought a suit against a Verderer he forfeited all he was worth. Verderers by this ancient la\v had the right of trying an offender by ordeal, or trial of fire or of water. The former was that the prisoner had to carry in his hand a hot piece of iron so many paces, or to walk barefooted over so many red hot plough-shares. If he did so without harm to himself he was considered innocent ; but if otherwise guilty. The trial by water was to totally immerse the prisoner in hot or cold water. If the accused person remained there without struggling for a certain time he was free ; if otherwise he was punished. There were three kinds of Courts held in the forest, formerly ; i, the Court of Attachments or Woodmote, to receive the attachments, and to enter them in the rolls ; 2, the Court of Swainmote, where offenders were tried and remanded for judgment (all matters for the management of the forest were also considered in this Court) ; 3, the Court of Chief Justice in Eyre, or Justice Seat of Forest, which was the General Sessions, where judgments were given and fines assessed. The Verderers held the Woodmotes once every forty days during the year. No one could be attached personally, unless taken within the forest, otherwise by his goods only at this Court ; on due evidence prisoners were remitted for trial to the Swainmotes (i Ed. Ill, c. 8). Three Svvainmotes were held in each year : (i) i5th day before Michael- mas, when matters connected with agistments in the woods were gone into ; (2) on the feast of St. Martin (loth November) ; (3) fifteen days before the feast of St. John Baptist (241!! June), to arrange for fence month. At these Courts freeholders had to attend to serve on juries. The Court of the Chief Justice in Eyre was held once every three years, or as often as requisite, on receipt of the King's Commission, when a precept was sent to the Sheriff of the count}-. At this Court all Verderers had to appear under fine, with all high officials of the county, and a jury was sworn. The Verderers presented the rolls of offences passed at the Woodmotes and Swainmotes under their seals ; all matters appertaining to the forest were looked into, especially those connected with the Verderers' duties, to ascertain whether these were properly carried out ; all strangers who had turned cattle or horses into the forest were presented aud fined, but an appeal was allowed if demanded. At this Court only were judgments delivered and fines assessed. The law differed from the usual law of the realm, as shown in the Red Book of the Exchequer. The Chief Justice in Eyre could at this Court depute his authority to another, but this could not be done elsewhere than in Royal forests ; this was by 32 Hen. VIII, cap. 35. Until the passing of the New torest Act, 1877, Ver- derers from the first afforestation were elected by the freeholders of the countyasabove stated, and the}' acted more or less under the old forest laws, matters being for many years before this date carried on very easily. The Courts of Woodmote and Swainmote were, or should have been, held as has been described. The office of Chief Justice in Eyre at last fell into abey- ance ; Mr. Thomas Grenville was the last of them, he died circa 1847. At this latter period, the chief duties of the Verderers were to prevent encroachments on the herbage by the Crown and to maintain the rights of the Commoners. The vigorous action of the New Forest Commoners' Association, maintained for some years, at last brought about a better state of affairs. By the New Forest Act, 1877, six elective Verderers were appointed instead of four, as formerly, and, in addition, one Official Verderer, who was to act as Chairman of the Court; these, unlike their prede- cessors, were to take no oath or declaration on enter- ing office. The duties of the new Verderers by this Act are chiefly : 1. To see that no more land is inclosed than authorised by the Act, i.e., 16,000 acres at one time. 2. To maintain the picturesque character of the forest. 3. To preserve the ancient ornamental woods and trees, and to provide wood for fuel rights without sacrifice of these or ornamental timber. 4. To expend the purchase money paid by the London and South-Western Railway Company, which was set apart for her Majesty and the commoners, and to see it so expended for their benefit within a certain specified period. 5. To appoint and dismiss forest officials and servants. 6. To order drifts of the forest, as thought expedient. 7. To levy sums from commoners by rate and payments, not exceeding a schedule, in order to pay the expenses of their Court and officials ; the expenses of an election of Verderers to be paid out of the Verderers' funds. 8. To inquire into unlawful inclosures, purprestures, encroachments, and trespasses within the forest, and to levy fines for such offences. 9. To punish offenders, and to perform all acts, powers, &c., as the Verderers in their Courts of Attachment or Swainmotes are by any law, statute, or custom authorised THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 39 to exercise, do, or perform. Thus, if the ancient Acts of Parliament are not repealed the present Verderers have many powers now undreamed of. The Verderers may at any Swainmote Court, at which not less than five are present, make, alter, or repeal by-laws, viz : (i.) For prevention of the spread of contagious or infectious diseases in the forest ; (2.) the condition as to time, breed and otherwise, under which stallions, bulls and other entire animals may roam in the forest ; (3.) The removal of animals not belonging to Commoners. Appeals from the decision of a Swainmote Court may now be made to the next Court of General or Quarter Sessions by any person aggrieved by a decision ot the Verderers. All fines and other money recovered or received by the Ver- derers must be carried to a general fund, and applied in paying salaries of officials and in defraying the other expenses under the Act of 1877. Verderers have all powers and jurisdiction in the forest as if they were justices of the peace. The Court of Swainmote has now the same power and jurisdiction in the forest as a Court of Special or Petty Sessions in any Petty Sessional Division, and the seal of the Verderers is a proper and sufficient seal. These elective Verderers must have a qualification of ownership of 75 acres of land, with forest rights, and are disqualified on receiving any profit or place of profit under the Verderers. The electors are (i) those only whose names are on the lists of Parliamentary voters of any parish of which a part is within the perambulations of the Forest ; (2) those who are on the register of persons entitled to rights of common. The Verderers hold office for six years, but retire from office two of them every second year, and then are re-eligible for election unless disqualified. Casual vacancies are filled up by the Verderers, but such new Verderer takes the place, as to time of office, of the one whose place is so filled. This Act of 1877 is the charter which at present safeguards the rights of Commoners. It was the result of the work of an Association formed shortly before 1867 to prevent the open land of the Forest being set out in plantations, by which the feed would have been lost for the horses and cattle of the Commoners and the forest ^vould probably have been sold bit by bit. Colonel Esdaile was foremost amongst those whose labours were terminated by the passing of the New Forest Act of the above year. This limited, as has been stated, the amount of land that could be planted, and prevented any more of the forest being lost by sale. January 12, 1890. W. J. C. MOENS. the trade between Southampton and France and the Channel Islands is a matter of paramount im- portance : We have much pleasure in announcing the intention of . the Commercial Company to afford the public great and increased accommodation lor merchandise and passengers to a large portion of the West of England, the Channel Islands, as well as the French ports. We know it to be the determination of this spirited company that a daily communication shall be made between Southampton and the Channel Islands as well as between that port and Havre, as soon as the season advances a little and the wants of the public require it. We observe that a communication is already announced twice a week, namely, Wednesday and Satur- day, from Southampton to Guernsey and Jersey, which must prove of vast importance to those islands, as likewise a communication weekly to and from Havre de Grace, which will be increased, as, we have before noticed, to a daily one very early in the spring. The advantage to the proprietors of the South Western Company by these arrangements will be incalculable; the convenience to the public as well as to the merchant must be equally so, and we sincerely hope that the Commercial Company will likewise reap the full benefit of the services they have rendered to the community generally by so judicious a disposal of some of their finest steamships. The inhabi- tants of Southampton ought likewise to remember that they are indebted to the same Company for bringing their town first to public notice by selecting its port for the Peninsular station during the whole period that they held it and thus pointing out its great advantages, which were, before the time they adopted it, so little known or con- sidered. EARLY DAYS OF THE CHANNEL TRAFFIC. The following appeared in the Morning Advertiser in th first week of January, 1841, and will be read with interest by the large number of persons to whom "THE OLD BOOKE OF CARES-BROOKE PRIORIE." [H.I, ante January 4.] The individual inquired for by your correspondent from Carisbrooke was Robert Glover, whose surname was not Somerset, but he was Somerset Herald. The book from which he gave his information to Camden was most probably a chartulary of Carisbrooke Priory ; and I have in my possession a transcript chartulary of that house which the writer surmises to have been made from the "old booke " which the learned Somerset Herald showed to Camden. This he states on the fly leaf. There is a chartulary of Carisbrooke among the Harleian MSS. at the British Museum. Whether my transcript is a copy from that I do not know ; for though some years ago I consulted the Museum MS., yet I was not at that time aware of my own pos- session. This I found subsequently when catalogu- ing a mass of family papers, among which it had been hidden. I shall satisfy myself on the first possible day. The sentence of Camden, quoted by Mr. Groves, appears to be derived partly at least from a genealogy of Isabella de Fortibus, which stands on the first page of the transcript. At the end of the volume is the form of receipt from the Prior, as Procurator of the THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. Abbey of Lire, for the sum of g 53., paid him by the bailiffs of the town of Southampton ; that sum (see " Hist, of Southampton," under Carisbrooke and Lire) having been a charge on the revenues of the town for the abbey of Lire. The receipt is dated 6 Henry IV (1404-5). J. SILVESTER DAVIES. It is asked by the writer of the article, who Master Robert Glover Somerset was ? This is intended for Robert Glover, Esq., the famous genealogist oi the i6th century, and Somerset, herald-at-arms. Doubt- less the "old booke" is in the Herald's College. Peter Heylyn, D.D., an old writer, states that the I.W. was taken from the English by William-Fitz Osborne, Earl of Hereford, in the time of William, and that he became the first lord thereof. After his death, and the proscription of his son Roger, it fell to the Crown, and %vas by Henry I bestowed on the family of the Ryvers, Earls of Devon, who continued until Isabel de Fortibus surrendered her interest in the Island to Edward I. In 1445, Henry Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, was crowned King of the Isle of Wight, and 1466, Richard, Lord Widevile, Earl of Ryvers, was made by Edward IV lord of the Island. Du Chaillu, in his new work, "The Viking Age," states that in the year 1006 (temp. Ethelred II) a great fleet came to Sandwich and ravaged wherever it went. It returned in winter to the Isle of Wight ; the distress and fear in the land was extreme. 36,000 and provisions was paid as tribute to the in- vaders. H.D.C. Robert Glover, referred to by William Camden, was one of the officials of Herald's College, known as " Somerset Herald." Camden himself was another official, namely, " Clarenceux King at Arms." Possibly the " old booke of Cares-brooke Priorie " is still at the Herald's College, where it may have been, in Glover's time, in his charge. J. S. ATTWOOD (Plymouth). I have received the following interesting letter from Mr. Harris Nicolas Pinnock upon the subject about which I wrote last week. J. GROVES, Carisbrooke. Master Robert Glover was Somerset Herald in Camden's time Sir Harris Nicolas in his preface to the " Siege of Caerlaverock " states that " the text has been formed from a MS. copy of the poem in the autograph of Glover, the celebrated herald, preserved in the Library of the College of Arms, to which was attached the following certificate that it was transcribed from the original : ' Exemplar verissimum vetusti eundem reverendae antiquatis monumenti, religiose admodum transcripti renovati, et ab injuria temporis vindicati eundem fideliter cum prototipo sive original! in omnibus concordare testatus Robert Glovcrus, Somersett fecialis regius nomen inditum Mariscallus designatus. Qui veritati testimonium perbibere pulchrum ducens tarn hie in ponte, quam etiam in calce, manu propria nomen suum subscribsit, tertio nonas Februarij Anno Christo Salvatoris MDLXXXYIIo Regno vero Serma 1 Reginae Elizabethae tricesimo. Glover Somersett, Mareschal au Norroy Roy d' Armes." The signature at the end of the poem is " R. Glover, Somersett." Query. "The old booke of Caresbrooke Priorie'' presumably was amongst the Heralds' records when Glover showed it to Camden. Can it still be preserved in the Library of the College of Arms? HARRIS X. PINNOCK. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register, made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50" 54' 50" N. ; long. i24'o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook . Bar corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24hours 9 a.m. | 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. Jan. 9 3' 303 29-995 42-1 51-2 0-366 o 30-109 - 0-251 44'7 40-4 0-007 i 30-258 30-166 41-4 49-0 0*005 2 30*228 30-366 47-8 38-8 O'OOO 1 30-182 0-232 48-8 4V9 0-036 4 30-236 30-126 42-8 48-5 0-050 5 30-176 30-182 47-8 47-8 0-038 Means. 30-21^ 30-188 45'i 45-9 0-502 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther in Direction oi Sun- 24hours previous togp.m. Wind. shine. Max. in Min. Max. Min Date. Sun's on in in 5 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Jan. 9 57-6 28-5 5i'7 37-8 S.E. s.w. o-o 10 85-7 30*0 52-8 40-0 w. N.W. 5'5 ii 55'9 29*0 5i'4 38' S CALM s.w. o'o 12 89-9 29-5 56-0 lS'8 W.N.W. E.N.E. 6'3 13 56-5 29-7 52-2 37-2 S W. s.s.w. o'o M 56-3 30 'o SO-3 36-3 S.E. s.w. o'o 15 59'8 40-7 50-9 46-6 s.w. s.w. 0'2 Means. 66"o 3i' i 52-2 39' 3 I2'O * Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE IXDEPEXDEXT, January 25, 1890. SOWING SAGE ON GRAVES. " Sir George and I, and his clerk Mr. Stephens, and Mr. Holt, our guide, over to Gosport ; and so rode to Southampton. In our way besides my Lord Southampton's parks and lands, which in one view we could see 6,000 per annum, we observed a little churchward, where the graves are accustomed to be all sowed with sage. At Southampton the town .is one most gallant street, and is walled round with stone, etc. , and Bevis's picture upon one of the gates ; many old walls of religious houses, and the keye, well w-orth seeing." Pepys's Diary, April 26, 1662. I should be glad to know whether the custom of sowing sage on graves is still known in any part of Hampshire, and also whether any other herbs are commonly used for a similar purpose ? Can anyone suggest what churchyard is here referred to ? It is presumably one near Titch field. J.H.K. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY NATURALIST. 4 1 JONAS HANWAY. " Evans's Temperance Annual " for 1890 contains a biographical sketch of "Jonas Han way, the humani- tarian citizen of the world," with some extracts from his works, showing his "views regarding temperance, diet, bread, tea-drinking, extravagant charity dinners, city feasts, the rights of labour and the great land question." Hanway was a Hampshire man, being born at Portsmouth, where his father was Agent Victualler to the Fleet, on August 12, 1712. As with his distinguished fellow-townsman, Charles Dickens (whose father also held a naval appointment there), his residence in Portsmouth was limited to the first two years of his life, for on the death of his father, his mother removed with her little family of four children to London. Hanway will perhaps be best remembered as the man who first introduced umbrellas into this country, but he was an ardent philanthrophist, who took a deep interest in those questions that concerned the welfare of the people. His denunciation of the harmfulness of drinking in- toxicating liquors entitles him to a prominent place amongst temperance pioneers. He was equally strong in his condemnation of tea-drinking, which led to a passage of arms between him and the great Dr. Johnson. This cheap little book is issued from the National Temperance Publication Depot, London. NETHERTON AND THE DYMOCK MONUMENTS. In a letter to The Times of January 8, " A Hamp- shire Man " directs attention to some relics of the Tudor period which, until recently, existed in the out-of-the-way village church of Netherton, between Andover and Newbury viz., a helmet and sword said to have been those of Sir Edward Dymock, champion at the coronations of Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth. " The church was (he writes) pulled down some 20 years ago, and rebuilt in a mongrel Gothic style at Faccombe, leaving the chancel, which contained memorials to the Dymock and Lucy families, the former a curious brass with inscription ; but on visit- ing the spot a few days ago I found that even that had disappeared. "There being no good county history, and the registers having been lost in the Commonwealth, I cannot say what connexion the Dymocks had with Hampshire, but perhaps some of your readers may, and likewise be able to trace the lost armour. " I daresay Mr. Barnum would be glad to make an offer for the ' old iron ' that would make the local authorities open their eyes.'' A Thomas Dymock, Dymmok, or Demok was Sheriff of Southampton in 1486, and Mayor of that town in 1491, 1492 and 1502. [See Davies's " His- tory of Southampton," pp. 175, 240, 244 ; Hist. MSS. Commission Report, p. 90.] There are some casual references to the family of Dymoke, king's champions, in Prof. Montagu Burrows's " Family of Brocas of Beaurepaire and Roche Court," but they do not throw any light on the above question. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S , R.E. Lat. 50 54'' so"N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J.T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of vain in Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9. a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 1890. Inches. Inches. Deg. Deg. Inches. Jan. 16 30-152 3 -i33 48-0 48-8 o'ooo , '7 30-101 29-949 45'S 45-9 0-150 ,, 18 29-777 29.619 42-7 49-2 0*310 ,. J 9 29-543 29-546 47-6 43'4 0-073 20 29-564 29-530 38-3 38-6 O'OOO II 21 29-717 29'459 36.4 46-6 o'374 II 22 29-188 29.236 39'7 42-2 0-415 Means. 29-720 29-639 42.6 45'o 1-322 Temp. Self.-Reg. Ther in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. 1890. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Jan. 16 59-8 40-9 51-8 46-7 s.s.w. s. 1-6 ii 17 49' 8 4i'o 5'7 43' s. S.S.E. ,, 18 84-6 34-0 50-3 . 41-0 w.s w. s.w. 5'6 ., 19 82-7 34'8 SI'S 42-0 w.s w. s.w. 3'6 ,, 20 87-2 30-3 4S'2 36-9 w.s w. N.W. 4.6 II 2! 70'S 25-7 47-2 34'2 s.w S.W. i'5 ,, 22 8g'6 3i-3 47-6 37'4 W.N.W. W. 5-6 Means. 74'9 34' 49-2 40-2 1 22-5 Black bulb in vacuo. THE HOLMES MONUMENT AT YARMOUTH. It is not generally known, even in the Isle of Wight, that in Yarmouth Church is to be seen the most splendid specimen of sculpture in the Island, which was erected to the memory of one of our local celebrities, Sir Robert Holmes, Knight, who died November 18, 1692. His effigy is standing erect, holding in one hand a scroll, the other is placed on a cannon. The inscription is in Latin, of which the following is a translation : Here lies interred Sir Robert Holmes, Warrior, the third son of Henry Holmes, of Mallow, in the county of Cork, Ireland. From his youth he was given to military glory, and therefore entered the army. On his first setting out he fought under the banners of His Most Serene Majesty King Charles I valiantly and successfully against the common enemy. Afterwards, with equal courage and renown, he engaged in actions at sea, and greatly dis- tinguished himself under the command of the most valiant Prince Rupert ; but when he found the Royal cause could no longer be defended by his services he withdrew, and went to aid foreign princes in France, Germany, and THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. Flanders, and became famous for warlike actions. At length, at the happy restoration of King Charles II, he was by him created Captain of Sandown Castle, and, as a reward for his former merit and courage, afterwards knighted him. In the year 1666, being constituted Vice-Admiral of the Red, he entered the Dutch port of Uly with a small fleet, and having there burnt 180 ships, sailed to Schelling, and destroyed by fire Bradderium, the chief town in that island. For these and several other noble exploits his Serene Majesty honoured him with just rewards for his valour and loyalty, made him Captain Governor of the Isle of Wight during Hie. Moreover, he ordered that the English lion should be added to the arms of his ancestors; also for his crest a mailed arm extended from a naval crown, bearing a trident. These honours, which this valiant man acquired by merit, he defended by his virtue, patriotism, and faithfulness to his King. Sir Robert Holmes died November 18, 1692. This monument was erected over the sepulchre of his honoured uncle by Henry Holmes, Esq., Lieut.-Governor ol the Isle of Wight. J. DORE. THE HAMPSHIRE L\DEI'E.\DEXT, February 8, 1889. THE WEATHER IN JANUARY. January has more than established its claim to be one of the four wettest months. The average of 15 years is 2-75, and of the preceding 10 years 2-46 inches. The total fall for the month has been 3-91 inches, and rain fell on twenty days. No heavy fall occurred, the most in 24 hours was o'5oin. on the 4th. There was a heavy fall in the barometer on the 23rd, which registered 28-83^., the lowest since March, 1888, when 28-68 was recorded. The lowest in 1889 was 28-98 in March. The depression in January was accompanied by most destructive gales, of which full details were given in the newspapers. The barometer was low for four days, being 29-58 at 9a.m. on the igth, and only recovered to 29-56 at 10 p.m. on the 23rd. The weather has been unusually mild ; only eight frosts occurred, the lowest reading of the thermometer being 25 degrees. The maximum was on eighteen days 50 degrees and above, the highest being 54 degrees on the gth. Fordingbridge. T. WESTLAKE. EXPLORATIONS AT SILCHE3TER. A systematic and exhaustive examination of the Reman station of Silchester will, it is hoped, thanks to the co-operation of the Duke of Wellington, be soon commenced ; it will probably prove to be one of the most important archaeological enterprises under- taken in England during the century. The Antiquary , January, 1890. According to The Reliquary the plan for the exca- vation has been drawn up by Mr. W. H. St. John Hope and Mr. G. E. Fox, and will shortly be sub- mitted to the Society of Antiquaries, under whose direction the work will be carried out. General Pitt Rivers, Dr. John Evans (President oi the Society of Antiquaries), Mr. C. D. E. Fortnum, V.P.S.A., Mr. F. G. Hilton Price, F.S.A., and other well-known antiquaries have promised their support. D'EVERCY AND DE GLAMORGAN FAMILIES. In the second of a series of articles on " Brympton (Somerset) and its early owners " in the Western Chronicle of December 20, 1889, some particulars are given of these families, which were at one time con- nected with the Isle of Wight. The following extracts will prove interesting to local antiquarians : There is not much material for a history of the house of D'Evercy, but it may be fairly presumed that the family sprang originally from Evercy a ville in Normandy situated a few miles south-west of Caen. Several of the name occur as benefactors to the Cistercian Abbey of Alnay or Aimay, founded by Jordan de Say, about 1131. In 1222, Thomas D'Evrecy (sic), Kt., by charter gave to that abbey certain lands and rents at Evrecy. The seal to this charter displays a female figure with her right hand extended holding a branch of palm, with the legend " SIGILLUM THOME DE EVRICIE " (D'anisy Cart, da Calv., ii, 55), and in the same work is the seal of Graveran D'Evrecy, Abbot of Aunay, an eagle dis- played, standing on one leg, with the legend " SIGILLUM GRAVERAN DE EBRECIO." We find the family in England at a very early date. They seem to have been particularly connected with the Isle of Wight, and were probably in the retinue of the Earls of Devon, lords of the Island. In the reign of Henry II " Giffard de Everci " was one of the witnesses to a grant (sans date) of the ville of Techmul, in Ireland, by Earl Richard FitzGilbert, progenitor of the great family of Clare, and husband of Rohesia Giffard, to Peter Giffard, of Chillington (Proc. Brit. Arch. Assoc., vol. iii, 347), and the same "Giffard de Evreci " (sic) was also witness to a charter (sans date; of William de Vernon, afterwards 6th Earl of Devon, granting land at Piddletown, Dorset, to the Abbey of Quare, in the Isle of Wight (Harl. Charters, 55, D. 22). Of the same family was Robert D'Everc3 r , who, 7th John, obtained confirma- tion from the Crown of a grant made by him of lands in Yate, in the county of Gloucester, to Ralph de Willington and his issue by his wife Olympiad, who, we may conjecture, was a daughter of D'Evercy (Index to Chart. Rolls, p. 158) ; and who by another charter (sans date) granted land at Bishopshall, in Yate, to William FitzHarold in free marriage with Margaret, his cousin, daughter of Robert de Meysey. (The Rev. George Harbin's MSS.) Another D'Evercy married Annora de Albem'arle, daughter of Robert de Albemarle of Gloucestershire, and, 40 Hen. Ill, her son, Thomas D'Evercy (who THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY . NATURALIST. 43 may have been the purchaser of Brympton), succeeded in her right as one of the heirs of William de Albe- raarle, of Ruardyn, Gloucestershire (brother of Robert), to one-fourth part of land in Stintescombe in the same county (Inq. p.m., 40 Hen. Ill, No. 34 ; Ext. Rot. Fin., ii, 228). From this there can be no doubt that the Gloucestershire and Brympton D'Evercies were the same family, as we afterwards find both Stintescombe and Brympton held by the same individual member. 8 Edward I, Thomas D'Evercy, with Robert de Glamorgan, claimed wreck of the sea bordering on his lands in the Isle of Wight against Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon, the owner of the Island, and he was one of the witnesses to a charter (sans date) granted by the Countess to the borough of Newport. He also held of her one fee in chief, of which the Manor of Standon or Stanton was part. Sir Thomas D'Evercy, Kt., died at Ruardyn before 21 Ed. i, and it was found by In- quisition that he held certain lands in Ruardyn of the King, in chief by serjeanty, and that his grandson, Thomas, son of Thomas D'Evercy, aged 23, was his heir (Inq. p. m., 21 Edw. I, No. 10). Contemporary with Thomas D'Evercy was Peter D'Evercy, also a knight, who, we presume, was the son of Thomas, but as he did not die until 18 Edw. II he must have been preceded by one, if not more, of the same name, as Peter D'Evercy was witness to a charter granted to the borough of Newport, I.W., not later, according to Worsley, than 30 Hen. II and 39 Hen. III. Peter D'Evercy was charged with scutage for his land in the Isle of Wight. Brympton had been, as we learn from Harl. MS., 4120, entailed on this Peter (supposed son of Thomas) and his issue. # * * * Sir Peter D'Evercy was the founder, 34 Edw. I, of the chantry at Brympton, and he endowed it with a messuage and 40 acres of land in Brympton juxta Montacute, the messuage being worth is. and the land ^13 143. per annum, for a chaplain to pray daily in the Church of St. Andrew, Brympton, for the soul of Sir Peter and his ancestors, but he remained owner of other lands, as well in the Manor of Brympton as in the Manor of Standon in the Isle of Wight (where he founded another chantry), which were quite sufficient to answer feudal services, being worth ^30 per annum. Sir Peter D'Evercy must have been an important personage both in Somersetshire and in the Isle of Wight, as he represented the former county in Parlia- ment, 35 Edw. I and 8 Edw. II, and he was member for the county of Southampton iath and i6th Edw. II. He was living 17 Edw. II, being in that year witness with his son-in-law, John de Glamorgan, to a grant by the Abbey of Quarr (MadoxForm. Angl., p. 165), i4th July, 18 Edw. II, but must have died shortly after- wards. An inquisition after his death was held at Yeovil, before the Escheator. * * * * * The family of de Glamorgan was one of consider- able influence in the Isle of Wight, residing at their Manor of Brooke, and they were also landowners in Surrey and Sussex, for which counties Robert de Glamorgan was Sheriff from 21 to 26 Edward I. Ralph de Glamorgan was witness with Peter D'Evercy and others to a charter said to be granted to the borough of Newport in the reign of Henry II, and we find them at a very early period interested in pro- perty in the neighbourhood of Yeovil. i John, Robert de Glamorgan was engaged in litigation with Robert de Mandeville respecting five hides ol land in Hardington (Rot. Cur. Reg. i, 245) ; and in the following year Ralph de Glamorgan was engaged before the Justices Itinerant against Robert de Man- deville for a moiety of one knight's fee, also in Har- dington (Rot. de Obi. and Fin., p. 59, Pipe Roll, D. and S., 3 John). 8 Ed. I, Robert de Glamorgan was chief lord under the Countess Isabella de Fortibus, of the Manor of Broke, Isle of Wight (Worsley's Isle of Wight, App. No. xxx), half a kn ; ght'sfee in which was held of him by John Passelewe (Test, de Nev., Hants) ; and Ralph de Glamorgan and Philip de Glamorgan were witnesses to a charter (sans date), whereby William de Oglander granted lands to Quarr Abbey (Worsley, Appx. No. Ixxiv). This Philip had the custody of the lands and heir of Bald- win de Lisle, jth Earl of Devon, and died 31 Hen. Ill, when William de Glamorgan was proved to be his heir (Inq. p. m., 31 Hen. Ill, No. 9). He is sup- posed by the writer in " Early Sussex Armoury," already mentioned, to have married the daughter of de Lisle, but the evidence only shows that he was one of de Lisle's heirs. Sir John de Glamorgan, who was perhaps the son of William, was, as early as 17 Edw. II, one of the representatives in Parliament for the county of Southampton, but we hear nothing of him in connection with Brympton ; the cause of which probably was that Dame Isabella D'Evercy, who held it for her life, outlived him, for according to Harl. Mb., 4120, Peter, son and heir of John de Glamorgan, took possession after her death, which did not occur until after Edw. II, when she was taxed to a subsidy at Brympton at 4od. DR. ARNOLD OF RUGBY. Dean Stanley's very interesting "Life of Thomas Arnold, D.D.," which, since its first publication in 1844, has passed through several editions, lias now been issued by Messrs. Ward, Lock and Co. in a cheap form for more popular dissemination as one of the volumes of their admirable " Minerva Library." This series of books, which already comprises such works as Darwin's "Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle," "The Ingoldsby Legends," Wallace's "Travels on the Amazon," &c., forms a library which is within the reach of all, and it is an event even in the history of "cheap reprints" that these neat and well-printed volumes can be purchased at 2s. apiece indeed one of our enterprising local " discount " booksellers is offering them at is. 6d. each. 44 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. Apart from the general interest which attaches to the life of Dr. Arnold, it should specially appeal to Hampshire readers from the fact that he was, both by birth and education, a Hampshire man. It was at West Cowes, \vhere his family had been settled for two generations, that he first saw the light in 1795. After some time at Warminster school, he entered Winchester as a commoner in 1807, and, becoming a scholar ot the college, remained there till 1811. Throughout the book we have evidences of the influence of his early associations, though as his biographer remarks, "the period both of his home and school education was too short to exercise much influence upon his after life. But he always looked back upon it with a marked tenderness." This makes it regrettable that the index is so incomplete as to give but one reference to the Isle of Wight and two to Winchester. In one of his letters (to J. T. Coleridge, November 4, 1829), Arnold writes : Brought up myself in the Isle of Wight, amidst the bustle of soldiers and sailors, and familiar from a child with boats and ships, and the flags of half Europe, which gave me an instinctive acquaintance with geography, I quite marvel to find in what a state of ignorance boys are at seventeen or eighteen, who have lived all their days in inland country parishes, or small country towns. After a visit to the Island in 1836 he wrote to his sister (July 28) : I admired the interior of the island, which people affect to smile at, but which I think is very superior to most of the scenery of common countries. As for the Sandrock Hotel, it was most beautiful, and Bonchurch was the most beautiful thing I ever saw on the sea coast on this side of Genoa. Slatwoods was deeply interesting; I thought of what Fox How [his holiday home in the lake country] might be to my children forty years hence, and of the growth of the trees in that interval ; but Fox How cannot be to them what Slatwoods is to me the only home of my childhood. Again, Sept. 21, 1840 : If my father's place in the Isle of Wight had never passed out of his executors' hands, I doubt whether I ever could have built Fox How, although in all other respects there is no comparison to my mind between the Isle of Wight and Westmorland. Winchester also retained a place in his affections ; he sent his own boys there to be educated (p. 284) ; and was more than once urged to stand for the mastership there (pp. 30, 32, 49). He always cherished a strong Wykehamist feeling, and, during his headmastership at Rugby, often recurred to his knowledge, there first acquired, of the peculiar constitu- tion of a public school, and to his recollections of the tact in managing boys shown by Dr. Goddard, and the skill in imparting scholarship which distinguished Dr. Gabell both, during his stay there, successively head masters of Winchester (p. i). And whilst he would look to Winchester as a model for guidance in his own school at Rugby (p. 58), the influence of his raising the moral tone at Rugby reacted on Winchester. In a letter to Dean Stanley Dr. Moberly, the head master, wrote : I have always felt and acknowledged that I owe more to a few casual remarks of his in respect of the government of a public school, than to any advice or example of any other person. If there be improvement in the important points of which I have been speaking at Winchester, (and from the bottom of my heart I testify with great thankful- ness that the improvement is real and great,) I do declare, in justice, that his example encouraged me to hope that it might be effected, and his hints suggested to me the way of effecting it. After a visit to Winchester in 1836, Dr. Arnold wrote (July 28) : I had also a great interest in going over the College at Winchester, but I certainly did not desire to change houses with Moberly ; no, nor situation, although I envy him the downs and the clear streams, and the southern instead of the midland country, and the associations of Alfred's capital with the tombs of Kings and Prelates, as compared with Rugby, and its thirteen horse and cattle fairs. Any who may like to follow up the connections of Winchester with Dr. Arnold we may refer to the following pages : 1-4, 30, 32, 49, 58, 63, 83, 84, 88, 104, 136, 214, 234, 282, 284, 303, in place of the two meagre references afforded by the index. The book contains several illustrations, including a portrait ot Dr. Arnold and a view of Winchester College. NORMAN ARCHITECTURE IN HAMPSHIRE. At a meeting of the Hampshire Literary and Philosophical Society, at the Hartley Institution, Southampton, on Monday, February 3, a paper, entitled " Some remarks on Norman Architecture, especially as seen in Hampshire," was read by Surgeon A. M. Davies (assistant Professor of Hygiene, Army Medical School, Netley). The Norman or Anglo-Norman style (the lecturer said) prevailed from the middle of the nth to the end of the i2th century, that is, from the time of Edward the Confessor to the end of Richard I's reign, the Early English style being adopted about the year 1199. The Norman period is sometimes divided into Early Norman (to about 1125), Later or Developed Norman (about 1125 to 1175), and Transition Norman (1175- 1199); though such division is necessarily artificial and imperfect. Hampshire is especially favoured in most beautiful and instructive examples : Winchester, Christchurch, St. Cross, and Romsey are indeed a rich possession for any one county ; and as dwellers within its borders, whether born and bred here, or only, as it were, birds of passage, we should try to enter into the spirit and the meaning of those old builders who have be- queathed to us such a precious inheritance. Winchester Cathedral was built of stone brought from Quarr, in the Isle of Wight, which was em- ployed both by Walkelin, in the nth, and William of Wykeham, in the i4th centuries. There is, per- haps, no building in this country more instructive from an architectural, and hardly any more interest- ing from an historical point of view than this Hamp- THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 45 shire Cathedral. The present building (probably the fourth Cathedral founded on or near the same site) was erected by Bishop Walkelin in 1079 1093 > tne tower was rebuilt and part of the transepts in the early part of the i2th century ; the eastern portion beyond the Presbytery aisles is by Bishop Godfrey de Lucy, 1204 ; the nave altered to its present appear- ance, the Norman being converted into Perpendicular work, by Bishops Edyngton and William of Wyke- ham, 1345 1400 ; and the Lady Chapel built by Prisrs Hunton and Silkstede, 1470 1524. We are now concerned only with the Norman portions of the building, which are of two periods, an earlier, 1079 1093 1 a d a later, 1107 (about) to 1120 and some years later than this. Of the work of Bishop Walkelin we have remaining the crypt and the north and south transepts (in part). Of these Sir Gilbert Scott says that they "may be described as the text-book of Norman architecture in its earlier form." There is a sternness and dignity in this ancient church that must strike the most care- less ; the severity is majestic, it is almost forbidding ; it seems to indicate not only the fierce and stern spirit of those old Northmen, but also the uncompro- mising severity of their religion. There is only one capital that is ornamented, and that is in the west aisle of north transept. There is no doubt that these parts of the Cathedral are nearly in the condition in which Walkelin left them ; and Professor Willis points out one fact worthy of notice, that at the end of each transept there is a column with a peculiar abacus namely, a thin, square abacus, with a round capital, identical with similar columns in the crypt ; indicating, therefore, identity of work between crypt and transepts. Walkelin's Norman nave was trans- formed about 300 years later into the Perpendicular style. Fergusson says, as regards the arrange- ment of the pier arches, and proportions of the triforium and clerestory, that in Norman cathedrals " the general scheme seems to have been to divide the height into three equal parts, and to allot one to the pier arch, another to the triforium or great gallery, and the third to the clerestory. When William of Wykeham undertook to remodel the style of the nave, he first threw the two lower compartments into one. He then divided the whole height, as nearly as the masonry would allow him, into two equal parts, allotting one to the pier arches, and apportioning the upper as nearly as he could by giving two-thirds to the clerestory and one-third to the triforium." It is interesting to compare this transformation at Winchester with the similar, and yet different transformation of the choir at Gloucester. In our Cathedral Norman arches remain behind the triforium wall, Norman shafts may be seen above the vaulting, and Norman flat buttresses are traceable outside between the clerestory windows on the south. The old Norman nave extended further west than the present west front, and was flanked by two large square towers, the foundations of which have been made out. Gilbert Scott suggests that these may have really been the foundations of a western transept like that of Ely, part of which still remains. In 1107 the tower fell, as a judgment some said for bringing inasacred precinct so profane a person as Rufus more pro- bably, however, from insecure foundation or bad building. In rebuilding, the junction between the old and new work can be distinctly traced, and we find a mark by which we can readily distinguish early from later Norman work. This is derived from the jointing of the masonry. In the old work the joints between the stones are wide, filled in with a great thickness of mortar ; in the new work they are comparatively fine, " often leaving room for scarcely more than to pass a knife," as Parker says. According to Parker this is the best and safest distinction between early and late Norman work, or generally between the nth and i2th centuries, and is of almast universal application. Two compartments in each transept were rebuilt, and these arches are seen to be stilted, all the other transept arches being circular. The tower was not completed, as it is now, until the end of the century. The architectural history of the Priory church of Christ- church is not altogether certain, and from a student's point of view, therefore, perhaps not so instructive ; but the comparison between this noble building and the others is of great interest. The original structure was erected by Ralph Flarabard, Dean of Christchurch and afterwards (or perhaps contemporaneously) Bishop of Durham ; he held the bishopric from 1099 1128, and Christchurch is supposed to have been commenced about noo. The exist- ing nave and transepts (except the nave clerestory) are probably of this date. It is by some supposed that they may be dated between 1093 1099, when Flambard was Dean of Christchurch, before promotion to Durham. The nave aisles, the clerestory, and the great north porch are probably of about the time of Edward I (Early Decorated) according to Dr. Paley ; and the choir and Lady chapel are Perpendicular, about 1500 and 1400 respectively. TheNor- man portions therefore are later than the old work in Win- chester transepts, but earlier than St. Cross and much earlier than Romsey. The advance on the primitive character of Winchester is seen in the carving of the capitals, the somewhat freer (but still limited) use of mouldings, and in the employment of arcades, both within and without the building. Thus all the capitals of the shafts attached to the nave piers, of the triforium columns, and of the shafts in the wall arcades are, with hardly any exception, carved ; the prevailing design is that of the volute with rude foliage. A shallow zig-zag mould- ing is used over all the nave arches, and the billet is also seen in several parts of the church ; their sparing use and simple character clearly indicate that the building is some- what early in the style. The intersecting arcade in the wall of the south aisle, and the richer series of arcades in the stones outside the north transept are a marked and beautiful feature of the building, and show a great advance on Winchester. By the intersection of round arches, a pointed arch is produced, and this has been thought by some to be the origin of the latter form. The turret at the N.E. corner of the N. transept with these arcades, and shallow but effective ornamentation in the spandrils over the arches, also a kind of network pattern worked on the stone above, is very striking. St. Cross is said to be the best example of Transition Norman in existence. The exact date is not known ; the hospital was founded by Bishop Henry de Blois, brother of King Stephen, and grandson of William the Conqueror, in 1136 (or 1132 according to some) ; but it was probably built later, between this date and 1171, the latter year THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. being the date of the bishop's death. Various additions were made subsequently during the next century up to 1292. Gilbert Scott says of the Norman portion of the church that "it is of agrand and severe, but highly refined character, but with pointed arches to all the principal parts." The foliage is as yet untinged by French taste. The style is " massive, without being heavy ;" it is " im- pressive but not oppressive." The choir is the earliest portion of the present church, and must have been built, Mr. Parker thinks at any rate before 1156. Here the pointed arch is used as an arch of construction, but the semi-circular arch is retained as an arch of decoration. Above the pier arches is a beautiful triforium arcade of intersecting round arches, to which some have attributed the origin of the Pointed style. The similar arcading at Christchurch was earlier, however, than this example, as has already been noticed. The transepts are somewhat later than the choir. The eastern- most bay of the nave is Transition Norman, the other bays Early English, the clerestory and west window are De- corated. The ancient buildings of the original foundation of Henry de Blois were situate on the south side of the church (as was usually the case in conventual and monastic establishments, and as may be seen at Christchurch, Rom- sey, Winchester, Westminster, and elsewhere), and here are now the only existing remains of those olcl buildings at the end of the south transept. Here in the outer wall is the "triple arch," which guide-books call "exquisite," but which is, I think, more curious than beautiful ; pro- bably it led into the cloister, but why the angle of the transept and choir walls should have been selected in which to place an arched doorway is hard to understand. On the south wall of the south transept are still to be seen remains of an ancient fresco, representing the " Descent from the Cross." It must always be remembered that the Normans intended the inner surface of the walls of their churches to be covered with paintings, or, at any rate, colour ; the roughness of the masonry was hidden by plaster, and the plaster was the medium for paintings of scriptural subjects, that, no doubt, contributed very largely to the religious education of the mass of the people. Whether the colouring was applied as well to the mould- ings and architectural details is a different matter ; as Mr. Butterfiald has decorated the choir of St. Cross in this manner, at any rate some authorities hold the view that it was so employed originally. I am inclined to think that the colour is rather too pronounced ; but that is a matter of opinion. I also would prefer the details of mouldings and ornaments uncoloured. The conventual church of Romsey was founded, it is supposed, early in the loth century, but the present build- ing dates mostly from the i2th century. There seems, however, to be some doubt as to what part of this century we are really to refer its erection. A description by Mr. Littlehales gives about 1130 as the date of the principal part of the church. Parker gives 1160, and some say 1180. I should be inclined to suppose the later date more prob- able, and that it is, at any rate, not earlier than St. Cross. The choir, transepts, and four eastern bays of the nave are of one period, one of the dates just mentioned; the clerestory of the eastern part of the nave is later, perhaps about 1190 ; and the three western bays, with the north and south doorways, are Early English, as is the west window, erected about the middle of the i3th century. The east window, and two windows in the eastern aisle, or ambulatory, are early Decorated, dating from the end of the i3th century. This church presents several points of great interest to the architectural student. Throughout the choir, transepts and the Norman part of the nave, there are round pier arches; above which is a triforium gallery consisting of round arches, but differing greatly either in height or width from the pier arches ; and above this again a clerestory consisting of a central and two lateral arches, that is, a triple arch for each arch of the main series below. The height of the clerestory is much greater, relatively to the other tiers of arches, than at Christchurch : and accordingly Romsey approaches more nearly to the general Norman plan, already alluded to, of dividing the height into three nearly equal portions, and allotting one each to pier arch, triforium, and clerestory. The trilorium arches are each divided into two sub-arches, with a central shaft ; and here occurs a feature, with which I am not acquainted elsewhere, and which I cannot find alluded to in books, but which seems tome very extraordinary. From the union of these two sub-arches a small shaft is carried up to the centre of the arch above; a proceeding that must obviously be useless constructively, because there cannot possibly be any thrust downwards at the centre of the arch, and by no means pleasing artistically. Whilst Christ- church presents a marked advance on Winchester in respect to the carving of the capitals and the use of orna- mental mouldings, Romsey shows this advance to a much greater degree. A few capitals are plain cushions, but with these few exceptions all of them are carved, and the diversity and variety is wonderful ; hardly any design is repeated. Besides the capitals there is great profusion of ornament in the mouldings, which are more used and used in greater variety, than at Christchurch. An interesting point in this church is the occurrence of classical ornament in two or three places, derived, no doubt, through a Byzantine channel. Thus, in the choir arch, at the level of the triforium is a shaft on each side, semi-cylindrical, resting on a corbel. This corbel is carved with a distinctly classical pattern of a kind of acanthus leaf. The same pattern occurs as a moulding over the south doorway leading into the cloister. Again, the easternmost pier arch on the south side of the nave is enriched with three mouldings ; internally a treble zigzag, externally, a hatched, and between the two an ornament resembling the ccliinus, or egg and anchor, with- out the anchor or dart, but still obviously of classical origin. In the south choir aisle is a capital with very well carved acanthus foliage. Thus there are three as it were reminders of classical styles in this Gothic church, nearly 400 years before the classical revival, which gave us a pro- fusion of similar ornamentation, as seen, for instance, in Bishop Gardiner's chantry at Winchester. But there is another " reminder" here, which is perhaps more curious, and not so commonly met with. In the ambulatory, or eastern aisle, beyond the altar, leading from the north to the south choir aisle, are four shafts possessing capitals, that distinctly recall a form of ornamentation called " stalactite," that was a very favourable one with the Arabian Mosque builders, throughout the palmy period of Arabian architecture. Whoever carved the capital must have taken his idea from an Arabian capital that he had seen in the East. The first crusade was in 1099 ; the second, 1144 ; and the third, 1187-1192. Therefore we may suppose that the classical and Arabian influences just noted reached Romsey en the return of some knight or priest or monk from one or other of these expeditions. Of course, it is well known that many features of Norman architecture are derived from Byzantine and Saracenic or Arabian sources. A very unusual feature in the plan of Romsey Abbey is seen in its four apsidal chapels, one at the east end of each aisle of the choir, and one on the eastern side of each transept. While Walkelin was build- ing Winchester, 1079-1093, whose crypt and transept we THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 47 can still see, at Hereford Walter de Lozing was building the choir, 1079-1005, and after this the nave, 1095-1110. At St. Albans, Paul of Caen was building the nave and other parts, 1080-1115 ; Walstan's crypt at Worcester dates from 1089 ; Gloucester nave and crypt were built by Serle, 1089- noo ; Tewkesbury Abbey about 1089 (Scott) ; but most interesting is Ely, because this was built by Simeon, brother of Walkelin, of Winchester, and almost at the same time, 1082-1107. The portion that remains of this date, unaltered or nearly so, consists, as at Winchester, of the transepts. Simeon's tower fell in 1322, two hundred years after the fall of Walkelin's tower. The general character of this early \vrk at Ely is very similar to that at Winchester, equally severe, equally impressive. As examples of Nor- man work in its later, more developed, stage, we have the five-jointed transept work at Winchester, 1120; Porches- ter, 1133; St. Cross, in part, 1136 and after; elsewhere we have the north transept of Hereford, 1131-1148; Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire, 1135; St. Bartholomew, Smithfield, about 1125; and (according to Parker) Tewkesbury, 1120. Then for the last quarter of the i2th century, we have the tran- sept of St. Cross ; Romsey, about 1180; the two western bays of the nave at Worcester ; and the nave, west tower, and south-west transept of Ely, 1189. The transition from pure Norman to almost pure Early English is seen to per- fection in the choir of Canterbury, the work of William of Sens and William the Englishman, 1175-1184. Dr. Davies concluded a very interesting paper by a dis- cussion of the leading features of Norman architecture arches, capitals and apses ; and a glance at Italy, Ger- many, France, and Palestine, as regards architecture in the period from 1050 to 1200 A.D. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, February 15, 1890. THE LAST OF THE HAMPSHIRE WIND- MILLS. I may not be correct, but my memory does not at the moment supply me with a picture of any other living windmill used for grinding than the one at Owsle- bury, between Upham and Winchester. I mean as regards the County of Hants. There are several dead windmills in the county perhaps I know the most of them one at Hythe, one at Bursledon, one or two in the Isle of Wight, and others but I feel sorrow in saying that many of the picturesque and old-time windmills are not now in the active life of the living. Ovvslebury is a place I had not been into till last Tuesday. I had seen its church high up and its mill miles off but had not been within touch and sound. It certainly has much of a by-gone look about it, and I take it Mr. Shore would feel as happy as if in paradise if ke had half-a-day around and about it. Perhaps he can say why it is called " Ussel- bury." There is room for improvement in the work- ing of the land here, and the natives say "Let us have it in 40 or 50 acre lots and we can live and pay our way." So mote it be, say I. P. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meterological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas." Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54' 50" N. ; long. i24'o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 1890. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. Jan. 30 30-466 30-380 38.7 45' I 0*003 Feb. 3 l 30-398 30-335 30-394 30-197 47'i 46-7 48-S 46-8 O'OOO o'oo6 ,, 2 30-180 30-421 43'9 38-i o'ooo 3 30-502 30-370 29'3 33'3 o'ooo 4 30-227 30-099 30-0 36-8 o'ooo .1 5 3O"ni 30-199 39'7 37'Q o'ooo Means 30-317 30*295 39'3 40-9 Tl. o'oog Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine. Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg Deg. Jan. 30 80-7 27-2 48-1 35'2 w. N.W. 0-6 ii 31 56-5 40-4 5i'2 44-8 N.W. N.W. O'O Feb. i 56-1 42-9 50-2 46*0 w. s.w. o'o II 2 633 29-6 48-2 37'9 s.w. N.N.E. O'l i. 3 77-6 22"O 46-7 27'5 N.W. Calm 6'5 ii 4 74'9 22"O 44'9 27-9 N. N. 6-1 5 S9'9 29-7 44-6 30-1 N.W. N.N.E. o'o Means 67-0 30' 5 47-7 36-5 n. 13-3 WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54' 59" N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Date Bar. corrected tor Temp, and Alt. Temperature of the Air Rain in 24 hours from 9. a.m. 9 a.m 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 1890 Feb. 6 .. 7 i 8 n 9 i ,, ii it I2 Means Inches. 30-240 30-386 3' 39 30-218 30-250 30-291 29-958 Inches. 30-294 30-404 30-315 30-170 30 - 3i9 30-120 29'759 Degrees. 35'3 37'7 3i'7 34'9 37'7 3i'4 36-5 Degrees. 37' 34*5 32-8 33'3 36-2 35'9 35' o'ooo o'ooo o'ooo o'ooo o'ooo o'ooo o'ooo 30-248 30-197 35' 35'o o'ooo Temp. Self Reg. Ther. in 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Direction of Wind. Sun- shine Date Max in Sun's Rays.* Min. on Grass Max in Air. Min in Air. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. 1890 Feb. 6 7 8 9 10 ii 12 Deg. 71-6 87-2 8o'o 80-2 81-7 76-2 832 Deg. 24'5 26-5 22'I 22'4 27-2 2I'9 23-3 Deg. 42-2 44'9 '42-3 42-6 45'4 43*7 4' '7 Deg. 32'4 34'i 28-9 SI'S 32-1 9'S 31-0 N.E. E. E.N.E. N.E. E. 2'2 5'6 7-8 4'9 5'9 6-6 6-1 N.E. S.E. N.E. E. E. S.E. S.E. Means 8o'o 24*0 43'3 gj4 39' i Black bulb in vacuo. *Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. A CHRISTCHURCH EPITAPH. The following is to be seen in Christchurch burial ground : \Ve were not slayne, but raysed ; Raysed not to lyfe, But to be buryed twice By men of stryfe ; \Vhat rest could lyving have When dead had none ? Agree among you ; Here are ten to one ! This epitaph refers to one Henry Rogers, who died April 17, 1641. Various suppositions as to its meaning have been hazarded. Southey believes that it refers to ten men who were killed by a fall of earth in a gravel pit, and dug out to be buried ; whilst another writer supposes that they were ten Royalists, whose bones were dug up by Cromwell ; but the first line, " We were not slayne" sufficiently confutes the latter supposition. J. DORE. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, February 22, 1890. ANTIQUARIAN FIND AT BITTERN. I happened, a day or two ago, to be up on the Bittern estate just by where the 'bus stops, and I saw a man on the left excavating and levelling. So, going over to him, I said " Come across anything of any value about here in your turning over of this good soil ? " " No," said he, " hardly anything at all, but just there,'' he observed, "is a fine old yew tree, which in levelling we found buried." I went across to see, and there was an old yew tree, with bark eaten off, laid at its length, and almost as hard as ever. It had laid there buried nobody knows how long who can tell ? No hand of man planted the buried yew tree on the Bittern estate. The trees themselves live 1,000 years, and to live and be buried, and nobody doing it, must take time and time again. Said one of the men, "You know the well on the Common, and that it's down several hundred feet." I said " Yes, I know." "Well," he remarked, "a part of a tree was found right away down there, and it was brought up and preserved. Do you remember the great finds made 12 or more years ago out to\vards Swathling ? " I said, " Yes, I remember.' 7 He said, "That was the place to find things, but we valued them not. Urns and crockery of every description I found there, and found continually. One da}- I came across a small jar of about 200 Roman coins, and another day we came across a huge trench in which there must have been at least 200 horses' heads, almost as sound as they could be, till the air got to them. Then we found grain pressed in all sorts of ways, still sound, or getting black." I re- marked " Yes, and why is it a lot of it got down to Dorchester Museum ?" " O ! " said he, " the men in charge of the engines took many things, urns, &c., down thereand sold them. Some, too, went to Salisbury Museum. We did not value the finds as we ought. I would like," he said, " to find some now, I would know what I was at better. There was one old gentleman who came out in a cab from Southampton most days, and he picked up any stray bit of anything and fancied himself rich with shards and so forth. Many of the coins we found we sold for a song at first, but later the railway company claimed the most they could." P. IZAAK WALTON. The Atlantic Monthly for February contains a re- view of a recently published American edition of Walton's " Complete Angler," * which is introduced by an editorial essay by Mr. Lowell. "Type and page are all that can be desired even in an edition de luxe, and there are a great number of illustrations ap- propriate to the text, including several portraits. . . Mr. Lowell's essay is biographical in form, such as an editor would naturally write ; it contains the facts of the author's life, a discussion of the vexed points in his career and in his literary work, an account by the way of some of his friends, and a personal and critical characterization. . . . He takes pains to show Walton in his own dress and habits, and to make sensible the charm of his presence So even is the flow cf Mr. Lowell's thought and nar- rative that one hardly feels the successive touches, but is surprised te find Walton almost at once a man already known and familiar. ... It is unneces- sary to say that Mr. Lowell has mingled with the lines of this portrait something of himself, and in drawing it has occasionally stopped to say a word of his own upon a variety of topics naturally arising in connection with the subject. ... It results from this that the reader not only obtains a truthful and living portrait of Walton, full of intelligence and sym- pathy with his shy and withdrawn genius, and touched with a poet's appreciation of a peculiarly gentle and open nature, but together with this he sees Walton in the light of that criticism which takes pro- portion and justice from the widest acquaintance with literature in its whole compass." THE BASINGSTOKE CANAL. Messrs. Baigent and Millard have told us in their "History of Basingstoke" that the London and Basingstoke Canal was opened in 1789, " an act for making a navigable canal from the town of Basing- stoke to communicate with the river Wey in the parish of Chertsey, Co. Surrey, and to the south-east * " The Complete Angler, or the Contemplative Man's Recreation of Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton." With an Introduction by James Russell Lowell, 2 vols. Boston, U.S. : Little, Brown & Co. 1889. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY > NATURALIST. 49 side of the turnpike road in the parish of Turgiss, Co. Southampton,'' having been passed in the preceding year. The scheme seems to have taken a long time in hatching, preliminary steps having been taken some nineteen years earlier, as will be seen by the following advertisement which appeared in The Salisbury Journal of October 29, 1770 : LONDON NAVIGATION, OR BASINGSTOKE CANAL, HANTS. At a meeting ot many gentlemen, clergy, and freeholders ot the counties of Southampton, Berks, and Wilts, held in the Town-hall of Basingstoke aforesaid, the nth of October, 1770, pursuant to an advertisement, for taking publickly into consideration the matter of making a navig- able canal from the said town of Basingstoke to that part ot the river Thames, in Berks, nearest the city of London, Resolved as follows : Resolved, that the making of a navigable canal from Basingstoke aforesaid, to communicate with the river Thames, at a place called Monkey Island, near Windsor, will be of great public utility. That application be made to parliament as early as may be in the next session to obtain a bill for that purpose, a petition being prepared, produced, and read, was approved of and signed. That a committee be appointed to carry into execution the resolution of this meeting. That the first meeting of the committee be held at the Town-hall, in Basingstoke, on Friday the ninth of No- vember next. Ordered that these resolutions be published in the news WILLIAM BEST, Clerk to the meeting. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, March i, 1890. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S.. R.E. Lat. 50' 54' 59" N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date Temp, and Alt. the Air 24hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m 9 a.m. 1890 Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Feb. 13 29-675 29.723 33'2 37'7 0-048 ., 14 29 902 29-827 36*2 38-6 o- 44 8t 15 29'5i5 29-640 33-8 37-8 o'iSSt i> 16 29-725 29'745 41-1 44'7 o'ooo 17 29-772 29-909 44'3 45' O'OII ,, 18 3'57 30-142 44-2 43'9 o'ooo iQ 30-189 30-187 4**3 40-7 0-044 Means 29-8^4 2Q-882 39'2 41-2 0-706 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine Max in Min. Max Min. Date. Sun on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air Air. 1890 Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Feb. 13 73'7 22'I 41-0 29'3 E. E. 0-7 M 5"i 28-0 41-6 34'7 N.W. E. o-o is 43'i 3 I-0 39'9 33'2 N.N.E. W. o'o 16 90*6 25-2 48-6 33.9 t always united in itself, Winchester had a tendency to support the cause of the kings rather than that of the people. Indeed, we are told, it " seems always to have loved its worst kings best," whilst in the struggles between kings and people the Londoners took the popular side. As in religious affairs, so apparently in matters of state " Winchester never did or suffered mue'i tkat was heroic." The Norman Conqueror was received in Win- chester with open arms, but in the time of Stephen, and again during the Civil War of the seventeenth century it was the scene of severe fighting. In the former struggle Stephen and Matilda naturally struggled for the possession of the capital, and it does not enhance the reputation of the prominent representative of the Church, the fighting Bishop Henry of Blois, that the destruction of the city should be laid at his door. It was by no means an unmixed evil when the Bishops were " dis- established " from their castles, and probably some will see in other misguided actions of the leaders of the Church arguments for still further " disestablish- ment " from a position of worldly power. But, in spite of much corruption, the history of the Church in Winchester is the history largely of great and good works. To its Bishops we owe the grand old cathedral, and it was Bishop William of Wykeham, " the father of the English public school S3 - stem,'' who founded the colleges of St. Mary at Winchester and Oxford. All are treated with a fair and impartial hand. Dr. Kitchin must have felt strongly tempted to dwell more at length on some of those characters THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY > NATURALIST. with whose history he is so familiar. But he has kept his pen well under control throughout. There is, perhaps, a certain want of proportion between the chapter devoted to the fighting bishop Henry of Blois and the few pages given to the great architect bishop William of Wykeham. But in the case of the former there is more incident in the stirring period of internecine war which centred round Winchester. Wykeham was also a "statesman-bishop," though his political services led him farther afield than those of Blois, thus rendering them of less moment in a local history. Should we not have been told something of this and of Wykeham's fall and subsequent restora- tion ? The work is throughout written in a most temperate manner, the author's motto evidently being to " nothing extenuate nor aught set down in malice." He hesitates not to condemn the wrong doing whether of bishop or people ; possibly some Win- tonians will resent the slur on their civic character when they read that " Winchester never did or suffered much that was heroic for either faith " in the Reformation struggle between Anglicanism and Romanism, and the slighting suggestion during tVe trial of Raleigh that the citizens " after all may have had some love of fair play." It must have been a touching scene that when Raleigh's fellow victims were brought out into the Castle Square for execu- tion, only to be reprieved at the last momeut. The chapter on " The civic constitution and com- merce of Winchester" the Merchant Guild the Fairs the Mayor the Bailiffs, &c. contains some interesting and debatable matter. The author is of opinion that the office of Mayor is not so ancient as is generally supposed. The evidence, unfortunately, for coming to a definite opinion, is very scanty. Then after a rapid glance at " Winchester from the Re- formation period," Dr. Kitchin takes affectionate leave of his subject with a graphic word-picture of the city as it now is. From the top of St. Giles's Hill he sur- veys Winchester after its long years of turmoil and activity peacefully reposing in the valley of the Itchen at the foot of the two hills on east and west, and points out to us the beautiful and varied scene, the quaint old houses in the Soke, with the towers of St. John and St. Peter in the Chisol, the massive cathe- dral, '' looking its best from this point," the long nave being so foreshortened as not to dwarf the tower, the houses of the Close with their fine trees, the ruins of the bishop's castle of Wolvesey, and Wykeham's College, with its graceful tower ; whilst farther away are other historic spots, the King's Palace, St. Cross, St. Catherine's Hill, and Oliver's Battery. The book contains three maps one of " S.E. Eng- land after the Germanic settlement," showing the position of Venta Belgarum with its radiating Roman roads in relation to that part of the country, a map of Norman Winchester, circa 1119, and a copy of Speed's map, 1615, A. D. ; and there is a fairly good index. CURIOUS EPITAPHS. Mr. J. Dore, of Newport, I. W., sends the follow- ing : IN UPHAM CHURCHYARD, HANTS. A BEAUTIFUL ORTHOGRAPHICAL SPECIMEN. " Heer lize Sarre F. Flougger Whu dyde by the krewel Youzitch ov her usban. " ! IN YARMOUTH. ' Here lies a woman By all men esteemed Because they proved her Really what she seemed." In a Parish Register of Brading Church, I.W. , there is the following curious entry : BURIALS'. Novemb. ye aoth, 1677. Jowler (alias) John Knight, of Merlon, who rather than he would be charit- able to hitnselfe (when he was capacitated,) Hv'd like a miserable wretch on ye public charily. He lived in a p'petual slavery through feare and suspicion, and punish'd both his back and belly to fill ye purse. He soe excessively idolized his poore heap of dung yt it was death to him to think of p'ting. He was alwaies soe afraid of want, or ye should dy as he had alwaies liv'd, abeggar, ye he dar'd not use what he had for his o\vne wellbeing, but liv'd and died with his beloved bagg in his nearest embraces ; and at length, yt he might pay his utmost homage both by lyfe and death to his greate God Mammon, he voluntarily sacri- ficed himself, aud even dyed to save charges. Left (which was found) 06 173." WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54' 50" N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected tor Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. gpm. 9 a.m. 1890. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. Feb. 20 30-103 30*116 39' i 4O'6 o'oi4 > 2I 30-185 30-297 37'9 41-9 o'ooo ,, 22 30-464 3"598 39'9 39'7 o'ooo ,, 23 30-691 30-668 37'7 33' 7 o'ooo ii 24 30-604 30-511 34-0 41-9 o'ooo ii 2 5 30-518 30-301 40-2 4O'o o'ooo 26 30-299 30-396 38-4 39'3 o'ooo Means 30-409 30-412' 38' 2 39'6 I"I. 0-014 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in I Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m.) Wind. shine. Max in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Feb. 20 49' 3S'S 43'9 38-7 N.E. N.E. O'O ,, 21 64-6 37'3 46-7 36-0 N.W. S.S.E. 0-4 II 22 84-7 32-5 47-6 39' * N.E. N.E. 3'i 2 3 81-2 23'7 43'5 3'3 N.E. N.E. 8-0 ii 2 4 74'9 22-9 42'5 2 q-H N.E. N.E. I"2 ii 25 84-2 29-7 4O'6 35'0 N.E. N.N.E. 7'9 ,, 26 5- 5 33'6 39' 7 37'5 N.E. N.E. o'o Means 69.9 3'7 43'5 3S'3 ri.20-6 *Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, March 8, 1890. THE BASIS OF HAMPSHIRE HISTORY.* This was the subject ot an address delivered before the members of the Hampshire Literary and Philo- sophical Society, at Southampton, on Monday, by Mr. T. W. Shore, F.G.S., F.C.S., the president of the society (Mr. R. Westlake, J.P.), in the chair. Mr. Shore said it had always appeared to him that one of the subjects which had, perhaps, been taught least satisfactorily in their schools was that of history. In these days, when they had had within the last few years such great political changes, it was most important that the best methods should be adopted for research into history, and that history should be taught in a correct and intelligible way. Many years ago, when, as a boy, he began to learn English history, the book he used began with the Norman Conquest. It was a very hazy intro- ductory page or two to which boys were treated in those days relating to the time previous to the Norman Conquest. That evening he should not talk of much after the Norman Conquest. A great deal of improvement had been made, certainly, in teaching history since that time, but much remained to be accomplished. With regard to their own county, it was quite certain that the history of Hamp- shire was not yet written. He did not think it would be written satisfactorily in the lives of any of those present. The county was so full of all kinds of those ancient matters which were the foundation of the history of the people for it was only with regard to that he would deal that he could see many many years of work and research in the county before it could be possible to say the time had come when the history of Hampshire could bewritten. They had fortunately in the county several societies doing preliminary work in that way. The Hampshire Record Society had published some records of the county, and there were also the Literary and Philosophical Society and the Hampshire Field Club, which he hoped would do much work in the future bearing some useful result. The basis of Hampshire history must rest, as concerned the institutions of the people, more or less upon all the various races of people who had inhabited the county ; and perhaps the earliest race they could trace distinctly he would only say perhaps was a branch of that great Celtic race which was an important part of that great Aryan family of nations, that great family which their books told them was Indo-European. They found in connection with these preliminary remarks upon the Aryans how modern research was opposed to the old theories. The old proverb was no doubt familiar to them that civilisation travelled westward, and that the Aryans had their origin in India, passed westward and reached western Europe, and in the great Anglo-Saxon * From The Hampshire Independent, March 8 and 15, 1890. emigration passed over to America. Modern investi- gation threw great doubt upon that, but it was far too wide a subject for that evening. Great confirmation was to be met with in Hampshire that the original home of the Aryan nations was not in the far East, but in Scandinavia. The Celts, of whom he must first talk, were the earliest people with whom they had any very considerable acquaintance as regarded their re- mains in Hampshire. They had traces of earlier people, of people who buried their dead in a sitting posture. These were in all probability the Iberian race, and could be traced from North Africa. They built dolmens like one in the centre ot Stonehenge, and could be traced through the Iberian peninsula to Great Britain. As far as his personal investigation went he had only met with three instances of that kind in Hampshire. Fortunately in one case he secured the bones for the museum from Wherwell, near Andover. But it was with the Celtic people, who perhaps succeeded, or conquered, them that they had to deal. These Celtic people invariably cremated their dead. Their distribution must have depended on the food supply ; consequently, to judge from prinia facie evidence, there would have been a great popu- lation round Southampton Water, seeing that it was an estuary affording abundant fish supply. They found the remains of these people along both banks of this great estuary. They also knew that these people followed the river valleys he could prove that to a certainty. After their immigration very probably their course was along the valleys of the Itchen and Test, up the Avon, and so on until they occupied all that part of Hampshire which naturally fell into those chief river basins. The intervening land between these basins was forest land, and, as such, was certainly unoccupied in the time of the Celts or Britons as they were sometimes called and to a large extent in the time of the Saxons and Normans, down to the period of the Middle Ages. These Celtic people must have been living there in a tribal state, constant evidence pointing to that. In all probability in the tribal state the people were more or less under kinship. If there was no real relationship, the men of a tribe in all probability established a blood-relationship by certain rites of their own, such as Stanley described as existing at the present day in Africa. They knew that these Celtic people had refuges, called camps, existing in some parts of their hills and valleys. At least forty of these still existed in Hampshire. The shapes of some he showed on a diagram, that at Wai bury being the largest. This was in the north-west part of the county, the highest point to which chalk attained in England 970 feet above the sea and overlooked an enormous area of country, being within sight of seven or eight counties. The people who lived near rallied around it in case of attack. It was used as a refuge against such raids as those of the Moss Troopers of Scotland. He had pointed out in a paper read before the British Association that this camp, according to the lowest computation of THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 53 modern theories, required at least 5,000 men to de- fend it, and it was quite possible that a tribe sufficiently large to put 5,000 men in the field would find food supply within the area that the camp would command. But as that was an exceptionally large one, he would instance some others. There was a camp at Burghclere which they could see from a distance of 20 miles, and if the sun was shining on Beacon Hill they could see the outline of the camp very well. This commanded the northern part of the county, and so these camps were situated in different parts of Hampshire. They had a curious survival of the Celtic people at the present time in some huts still used in the New Forest by charcoal burners. They were round, and the survival was in the matter of shape. The Celts in Hampshire certainly had a system of coast defences. At the mouth of the Avon was the great fortification of Hengistbury. Mr. Shore described on a large map several sites of similar works, such as at Exbury. In the case of Hampshire he found that the word " bury " was evidence of a place where there had been a defence. There was Bursledon, Sarisbury Green, and further north they found the fortification of Bevois Mount different in shape, but in all probability merely an artificial hill removed within the present century. They might, he thought, reasonably conclude that the very spot on which they were assembled for ancient South- ampton would scarcely be neglected by these old people so careful to take advantage of a peninsula to fortify was fortified. On the opposite side of the Test there were traces of an earth-work at Bury farm ; a little further was an earthwork at Tatchbury Mount ; a little away to the north of Redbridge still remained what in Saxon times was called the King's Dyke, and was not yet quite obliterated by the canal and railway. Passing down the river near Bury Cross, Alverstoke, there was a defence and they had on Hayling Island very distinct traces remaining, for one of the most complete camps in Hampshire was at Tunorbury in Hayling. Passing beyond the limits of their own county they came to what was now a pasture, a rich alluvial tract Pagham Harbour. They could see there that the church at Selsea was enclosed in an entrenchment. There were manv examples, therefore, that the Celts had a system of coast defence by fortifying the rivers. It had been pointed out by a very celebrated local antiquarian, the late Rev. William Barnes, of Dor- chester, that the name " Ford " really came from an old British name spelt " fordd," meaning road, or track, and he argued that if the word fordd was brought in by the Saxons, surely some traces would be found in North Germany, whence these people came ; but there were none. Upon this point and the meaning of the word as a passage way across water, Mr. Shore quoted instances in support of his contention that a crossing place was meant, mentioning Fordingbridge and Mansbridge as illus- trations. He then passed on to speak of remains of old British trade. Certainly there were traces of the tin trade. Devonshire people would not allow it, but a great trade in tin lasted down to the isth century in Southampton. Just as there was competi- tion between Germany and England in Africa, so in former times was there between the Phoenicians and the Greeks in Britain. Just as the Phoenicians came to Cornwall to get tin, so the Greeks tried to cut them out by crossing Gaul to the Isle of Wight to get their tin in opposition to Cornwall. The reason for tin being so greatly in demand was because at that period bronze which contained tin was largely used. One of the actual surviving British trades to their own day was the making of salt. At Hayling Island particularly there were salt works in operation, the name clearly coming from the old Celtic word " hal," meaning salt. Reference was made to Hayling Island in the 4th century, when Bishop afterwards canonised as Saint Ambrose spoke of the salt works in Britain. These Britons certainly lived in communities, and almost in common. In those days there was no possession in land, and it would be found that personal property arose long before landed property. The place where they could study old Celtic customs best was Ireland, and there in the remotest times they found the earliest form of property which might be summed up in the terms " chattels " and " capital." The " chattels " were personal effects, and the " capital " cattle. That could be traced through other communities, but in all probability that was the primitive form of propertv. Land was in common, and was inclosed later. Then arose an institution which had survived in a modified form to these days. Into those very primitive times they had to grope their way through many dark recesses. In various ways, by the study of folk-lore, historical and anthropolo- gical research, light came in. The institution re- ferred to was the law of distress. How could a man having an injury, as he thought, against another man, seek his remedy ? It was by what was called dis- tress : he could seize his chattels and cattle ; and the principle recognised in that most ancient law the unwritten law of this primitive people survived right through the period of the Roman occupation of Britain and Hampshire, of the Anglo-Saxons, and the Middle Ages, and in a modified form, sanctioned by the Legislature, existed now only in favour of landlords. But that was the key to a great deal of what appeared very obscure and mysterious in the Middle Ages. No doubt that gave rise to one of the most singular re- mains in Hampshire or any other county the Pound. Sir Henry Mayne said " The pound is older than the kingdom far older." It was not simply a place in which to put up stray cattle which might be tres- passing, but .a means of enforcing one man's right against another man. Traces were also found in Hampshire of a very remarkable custom. Of nine manors in this country they found that the practice of inheritance by the youngest son prevailed. 54 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. It was so at Hursley the manor of Merdon. When the copy-holderdied on this manor, the interest in the copy- hold passed not to the eldest son, as it did every- where else over Hampshire, but to the youngest. That formerly existed also on one of the manors of Bishop's Waltham. It could be traced also on one c! the manors ofEling. The law books, such as Blackstone, would probably tell them that the custom was brought in or modified by the Normans, and modified afterwards. It was easy enough a century ago, when books were written for a public not so critical as that of the present day, t j find a reason for this ; but this practice of inheritance by the 3'oungest son of Borough English as it was sometimes called could be traced to the remotest antiquity. Coming to the actual occupation of the -county by the Romans, Mr. Shore said it was not necessary to point out that the Romans were great road formers. Wherever they found in the ancient world that Roman influence prevailed there they would find a great impress made. Just as the English impressed their individuality as a nation upon India, so it was in the ancie.it world subjected by the Roman people. There was the impress of the Roman law, which to this day was the foundation of all legal statutes in England. After the Roman period they would find that a great change came over the people in Hampshire. They passed from the tribal condition in which land was held by tribes, to a more or less territorial condition, into districts, and this county, and others, was parcelled out not into tribes only- The earliest recorded of the territorial divisions they could find were called " hundreds." They were not to imagine that these " hundreds " were of Roman origin. He thought not, but of tribal origin, though after a certain time the nature of these communities became not tribal but territorial. No doubt they had in Hampshire the survival of a great many inflences of the Roman occupation. In all probability under their vigorous system of government there must have been a greater fixity among the people. On nearly all their village sites Roman remains were to be found. It might be a coin, found now at Chilbolton, and then another at Upham, or in or near other villages in the county. If they looked at many of the country roads they found they were narrow and deeply worn proofs of great antiquity. In the old charters they found roads mentioned as long as a thousand years ago, and one shown on the map before them at Swathling was spoken of as the Law Path. At Redbridge there was one called the Hollow Way mentioned in 1045, ail d it was a country road to-day. It was quite certain that this road could not have originated in Anglo-Saxon times. It was a curious fact that in the Institutes of Justinian, which summarised the laws over the whole of the Roman empire, it was laid down as a right that every man who occupied a holding had his road- way, and that it should be eight feet wide on the straight, and 16 feet wide where the road turned. Going along many lanes to-day they would find a great many of that mea.-ureinent. Another curious tiling was found in Roman law in i..reshore rights. The law of Justinian stated th.it the public h.i'l a perfect right to the shore, or beach, as far as the tide rose between high and low water in irk. That was a right, unless conveyed away by medieval charters, to the present day in Ha:n;>-!n'r.-. They could find traces of the Roman survivals in ll.i npsliire in two kinds of people. The old Roman merr : i:i old British population was the language ; the whole county was full of Celtic names. They were chiefly names of water and hills, foreign to the Anglo-Saxon language. If the extermination theory was to prevail, how was it that they called water by such names as " An " and " dwr," hills by the name of ;< knock," and marshes by " eannagh " or " anna" as Andover, some names Cymric and some Gaelic? The future history ot Hampshire, when it came to be written, must utterly ignore this theory. The Saxon monks who wrote 400 years after their ancestors came to England knew far less of these early times than was known by those living now. A very important matter relating to the Saxon system in England was the rise of courts. If they wanted to understand the history of Hampshire rightly they must not look to parishes THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 55 but to manors. He should like to see a map of Hamp- shire \vith the outlines ot manors as they existed in the Doomsday Book. He did not think that beyond possibility. If the Hampshire Record Society, with its 250 members, went on with its useful work and it was now issuing its third volume he should cer- tainly propose that it should produce a manorial map. The unit of organised life in the county was the manor. There were the old Courts Baron. Besides these there were three or four distinct courts. First of all was the Shire Court represented in modern days by Quarter Sessions, called then the Shire Gemot, meeting at stated times ; and then the " Hundred" Courts them^st difficult to trace, but the most interesting. In addition to these were the courts of Liberties, such as the borough courts, the Burgh Mote, or Court Leet as it was called in Southampton. They were a relic of the ancient liberties of the town. In addition, scattered over the whole of Hampshire, were the old Manor courts. To understand history rightly they must understand the courts. The Saxon way was to make every man a policeman, to look after every other man. A frank pledge had to be given for every boy above a specified age for his good behaviour. An interesting description was given of the manner in which this pledge was enforced, and Mr. Shore then explained the conditions under which Courts Baron and Courts Leet could be held, naming places where they continued to the present day, and also denning the divisions of tythings and trythings. Passing on to consider the state of society in Hamp- shire in the Anglo-Saxon period, and the privileges of different classes of Thanes, he mentioned that before the Norman Conquest there existed a relic of the old Roman coloni. The existence of traces of the Coli- berti in Hampshire was further dealt with, and the origin of land measurement was also noticed. The settlement of the Jutes in Hampshire was very in- teresting, but he must pass it by. He must also pass by, to a large extent, any remarks on the Danes and Norsemen till they came to the days of Canute. Canute impressed his individuality a great deal upon this county. He was a man who finally made laws which regulated the action in his day of that ancient law of distress and pounds. He laid down this law, amongst others and no doubt it had great influence on the institu- tions of the country that no man should take his distress from another man till he had applied three times to the Hundred Court for redress. If he got it, well and good ; if not, he must appeal to the Shire- gemot, meeting at Winchester. If that would not give him redress, he had to get what remedy he could. Former writers thought this meant appeal to the king, but it was nothing of the kind. It simply meant that he might put in force the extra-judicial system of distress. Canute also made efforts to stamp out the old paganism. They sometimes read of the missionary labours of St. Augustine and Birinus, but, as a matter of fact, the struggle to uproot paganism was as great and fierce as anything in these days in India. There was abundant proof that the people in this county showed a stubborn adherence to the forms and ceremonies of their old forefathers. The early Christianity as prevailing in Hampshire and other counties must have b;en largely tinge 1 with the old paganism. If he had time he would tell of the old churches built on the old pagan mounds in 1 lampshire, in accordance with general instructions received from Rome by various Christian missionaries. The laws of Canute were very severe. He ordered that all groves and stones and the worship of trees and fire, all these very old pagan customs, should be sup- pressed. When he looked at Stonehenge, and saw that wonderful old circle, no doubt of pagan origin in reverence of the sun, and saw the destroyed state in which the remains were in the present day, he could but think that it must have been in accordance with this decree of Canute issued in ail probability from Southampton that they now saw it in this dis- organised, partly thrown down and demolished condition. Canute did his best to suppress and thoroughly exterminate all pagan customs, but he was not successful. There was plenty of evidence that old pagan customs lived after, in the nominal form of Christianity, down to the time ot Henry III. The rise of feudalism was very curious in England, and, indeed, in Hampshire. The Norman Conquest affected Hampshire less than many counties, because it did not take a great part against William. After the Conquest a great number of thanes were allowed to retain their land. Thanes were different from Knights, the former having but three obligations, and the Knights having great burdens to bear. They must recognise as one of the ^reat bases of Hampshire history the way in which land was held. According to the Doomsday book more than half Hampshire at that time was common land. There were two classes : the demesne land, held by the lord ; and the common land, by villeins and borderers. The conditions of the land-holding were set fort li by Mr. Shore, who spoke next ot the Sheriff a most important man in the middle ages his duties, re- sponsibilities, and jurisdiction. In this connection an "exchequer tally" was shown, by means of which, down to as late as 1719, the Sheriffs had their receipts for the contributions conveyed by them to London. The existence of local govern- ment, in the form of the Shiregcmot, was next dis- cussed, together with the operations of the manorial courts. Having referred to certain old officials, now superseded, Mr. Shore spoke of markets and fairs, and of the privilege it was considered to be allowed to open a shop. The matters he had referred to, he continued, formed part of the basis on which the history of the county rested. The administra- tion of justice was another item in the later period after the Norman Conquest, for all large manors then seemed to have emulated each other in trying to get THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. the judicial privileges Furca and Fossa such as existed in Southampton ; privileges of drown- ing women and hanging men the former signifying putting up gallows, and the latter meaning a ditch. A curious thing in Hampshire was the survival of the ordeals of earlier ages. An instance of trial by ordeal which took place at Winchester was quoted. They found in the old charters some curious examples of the right of trial by water and iron. This prevailed nominally till they came to the days of Henry III, or a little after, for it was doubtful when the new system of justice began to prevail in this county and others. Justice was administered in Southampton by the Bailiffs and Court Leet. The latter had the power of registering titles to estates. Shortly after that, through some changes it was found necessary to establish what then existed, he believed, in no other country in Europe, the local justices of the peace. There were justices of the peace for counties and liberties, and in the person of their President and Mr. Thomas they had examples of justices of the peace for liberties in this modern igth century amongst them that evening. In concluding, Mr. Shore said there was a mine of information not yet explored in the county. The surface was only scratched, but he expressed an earnest hope that its history might, some day or other, be written. They could only hope to collect materials for that history. They should not neglect, for the benefit of those who came after them, to study the history of their own county. HAMPSHIRE PEDIGREES, &c. In The Antiquary for March there is a note on the proposed excavations at Silchester ; and amongst some " Pedigrees from the Plea Rolls " are two con- nected with Hampshire. In one, from De Banco Roll, Michaelmas, 12 Edward II, Roger de Pede- wardyn and Alice his wife sued the Abbot of Croy- land for the advowson of the church of Suth Warne- burne [South Warnborough]. The pleadings give this pedigree : William de Longchamp, who held the manor in right of his wife Petronella, temp. King John, was the father of Henry, who was the father of Alice, the plaintiff. From the other, De Banco, Trinity, 17 Edward II, we learn that Robert de Wykham, who, temp. Henry III, held the manor of Swaleweclyve. Oxon., was the father of Robert, whose son Robert (living 16 Edward II) granted the advowson to John Pecche, the plaintiff. [References to the Petwardyne and Pecche families occur in Prof. M. Burrows's " Family of Brocas of Beaurepaire and Roche Court."] fall has been 0-78 in., and the average of the previous ten years is 2-71 in. Since January ist the amount is 4*69, and the average of the same time 5-17 in. One often hears the proverb " February fill dyke '' when February is wet ; it is often very wet, which no doubt gives rise to it ; but it is generally considered one of the dryest months. During the last 15 years, how- ever, its average is 2-65 in. here, which places it in the position of the wettest but four. Probably no month varies so much in the quantity of rain. In the 16 years past we have recorded 3-15, 4*52, 4-06, 3-82, 5'39i 3' 2I i ar >d 4'5O inches ; once during that time it was the wettest month in the year. During the same period we have also entered 0-93, 077, 073, and 0-78 inches. It is more than probable that the remainder of the ten years beginning with 1886 will see dry Februaries, or moderately so. The barometer has been very high, reaching 30-69 in. on the 23rd ; and it was 30 in. and above on 23 days. The lowest was 29-59 in-> on the isth. Ihe month has been much colder than January. Frosts occurred on 18 nights, and the thermometer registered 22 deg. on the night of the 28th. The highest in the daytime was 52 deg., on the ist, and the maximum was only on two days 50 deg. and above. East, north-east, and north winds prevailed all through the month, except one day S. W. and tsvo days S.E. Fordingbridge. T. WESTLAKE. WEATHER IN FEBRUARY. This has been a very dry month, and rain fell only on six days. 0-51 in. was recorded on the i4th, the rest of the month only registered 0-27 in. The total HOLY ROOD CHURCH, SOUTHAMPTON. AN AMUSING SATIRE! Your notice in last Saturday's paper of the old organ of this church reminded me of an article, which I will extract from one of my MSS. books, of a satirical notice inserted in the St. James's Evening Post for Feb. I3th and 24th, 1731, viz. : Whereas it has been advertised, that an organ nad lately been set up by the ingenious Mr. Jordan, in the parish church of Holy-rood, in the town and county of Southamp- ton ; this is to give notice, that the churchwardens of the same parish are willing to show all manner of encourage- ment to any one who shall offer himself as organist, pro- vided he understands nothing of his business ; the candi- dates to be approved of by the clerk of the said parish, who, according to his profound judgment and skill in music, promises on his part, to determine the controversy fairly and impartially in favour of him that shall perform the worst. N.B. If any one, who is an ingenious man in his proffesion (though never so strongly and with justice re- commended by the ablest masters in the kingdom), should, notwithstanding this advertisement, presume to offer him- self, he must expect to be rejected : it being fully resolved that none but bunglers, or those who know the least ol their business, shall be entitled to the place. The latter are desired to meet in the said town of Southampton, on Lady-day next, being the 25 March, 1731. where they may be assured to find a very kind reception and a suitable encouragement. H. D. C. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY < NATURALIST. 57 KING WILLIAM THE THIRD'S STATUE AT PETERSFIELD. In the Market-square, Petersfield, is an equestrian statue of William III. Artistically it is not great. It is of lead, and was erected about 1734 by the then lord of the manor, Sir William Jolliffe, Knt. The figure represents his Majesty habited as Caesar, with a commander's baton in his hand. A similar statue stands in Queen's-square, Bristol. This is described in Arrowsmith's Dictionary of that city as having been designed by a Dutch flower painter, whose name has slipped my memory. The Bristol statue is much superior to ours, and though very similar, was evi- dently not cast in the same mould. At Hull William III again figures in the same guise, and the statue there is also constructed ot lead, and was gilded, which was once the case with ours. Tradition also says that a sum of money was left by Mr. Jollifle to have the statue regilt when required. This, how- ever, has not been done, and all we have to remind us of our statue's pretention to a resemblance of the precious metal is a public known as the Golden Horse, which stands opposite it. Strange to say, the present Lord Hylton knows nothing about the statue, neither is it known who designed or constructed it. There is, I believe, a similar erection at Dublin, but I have not seen it. Could any of your readers give me some information on the subject ? Re the Roman dress of the statue, in The Medallic Hist, of W. Ill I read " after the victory of Namur a medal was struck commemorating the event, on which William III is represented on horseback in a Roman dress, a commander's baton in his right hand, inscribed with ' Gallos ejecit, Hispanos restituit, hostes tcrruit, socios firmavit, assertor orbis.' " (He has driven away the French, restored the Spaniards, terrified the enemies, confirmed the allies, this deliverer of the universe.) On the reverse, tame flying, and underneath this legend Guilelmo III. Maximo alterius orbis regi. Totius patrias vindici Restitutori Herculi Redivivo imperatori pio, felici inclyto in aeternam memoriam lubens lilat, dedicat consecratque. (An eternal monument freely consecrated to the new Hercules. The most great William III, King of the new world, the deliverer and defender of his country, a general no less illustrious by his pietv than by his glorious deeds.) This bears a great similarity to the inscription on our statue, viz. : " Illustrissimo Celsissimo Principi GULIELMO TERTIO. Qui ob plurima quam maxuma Officja De his Gentibus optime meritus est Qui Rempublicam pene labefactum. Fortiter sustentavit. Qui purum et sincerum Dei cultum Tempestive conservavit. Qui legibus vim suam senatuiq auctoritatem : Restituit et stabilivit Qulielmus JollifFe Eques Ne aliquid qualecunque deeset Testimonium Quanto eum amore Studioq : tam ipsam Libertatem. Quam egregium hunc Libertatis Vindicem Prosecutus est Hanc Statuam TESTAMENTO suo dicavit et in hoc Municipio poni curavit. Ex ts - Samuele Tufnel, Edvardo Northey, Johanne Jolliffe. " To the most noble and illustrious Prince William III, who so highly deserved the gratitude of these kingdoms for the many and signal offices which he rendered to the people who seasonably preserved our pure and sincere worship of God, who bravely sus- tained the drooping State, restored the free force ot the laws and strengthened the authority of the Senate. That no testimony might be wanting with how much love and emulation he admired liberty itself, as well as this its celebrated avenger, William Jolliffe, Esq., erected this statue to his memory and placed it in this town." The story that the sculptor committed suicide owing to some omission (generally said to be the tongue) in the statue, is known in connection with each of the statues I have mentioned. At one of the Parliamentary elections our statue was covered with tar, which was the cause of its being painted. Any information your readers can give me on the equestrian statues of William III will be of great interest to FRED. E. YOUNG (Petersfield). WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register, made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50" 54' 50" N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches Feb. 2- 30-461 3'393 37'7 . 33'i O'OOO 28 30-467 3'338 34-6 30-0 O'OOO Mar. i 30*104 29-944 3S'i 34'7 0-026 I 2 30-178 3'324 32' i 2V4 0-023 t ii 3 30-467 30-510 26*1 26'2 O'OOO 11 4 30-453 3' 137 30-3 33'i 0-027 I 5 29-953 29-963 41-1 37'7 O'OO2 Means. 30-298 30-230 33'9 3i'S 0-078 Temp. Sell-Reg. Ther in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous tog p.m. Wind. shine. Max. in Min. i Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Feb. 27 79-2 24'3 39'4 3i-6 N.W. N. 1-6 ., 28 go'8 2O'O 42-2 27-4 N.E. N.W. 7'7 Mar. i 6 1 -9 I9-I 39 '6 25'3 N.W. N.E. 0-8 2 84-2 21.4 35'7 25'5 N.E. N.E. 6-0 i 3 85-6 17*5 34'9 22 'O N E. N. 56 4 75' i 16-1 37' i I9-5 N.E. S.W. 6'8 ii 5 89-3 28-4 47'4 32-2 N.W. w.s.w. 2-7 Means. 80-9 2I'O 3Q'5 26'2 1 31*2 Black bulb in vacuo. I Rain and snow. t Melted snow. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. OXFORD.* There is so much community of interest between Oxford and Winchester, and, we may say, Hampshire generally, that Mr. Andrew Lang's " Oxford : Historical and Descriptive Notes " should find many readers in this county. On the one hand Oxford owes several of its colleges to Hampshire men our Bishops have been great benefactors of learning and on the other hand many of Hampshire's sons have gone for their education to the ancient university. Mr. Lang's o\vn college, Merton, apparently owes its origin to a native of Basingstoke. For Walter de Merton, who is usually supposed from his name to have been a native of Merton in Surrey, was, if we may trust Messrs. Baigent and Millard's " History of Basingtoke," a native of the Hampshire town. So they state definitely on page 40 of that work, though it somewhat shakes our confidence in their reliability when they say further on (page 571) that " he was probably born there." Though not the earliest college, Merton was the first to receive the complete organization which distinguishes the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge from those of other ancient universities. A century later Bishop William of Wykeham founded " Seinte Marie College of Wyncestre in Oxenford," or New College, as it is popularly called. Then another Bishop of Win- chester, William of Waynflete, founded Magdalen College, using the revenues of the suppressed monastery at Selborne as part of the endowment. And, after another hundred years had elapsed, Bishop Fox founded Corpus Christi. Of Waynflete Mr. Lang writes, with a certain sigh of regret, how much harm to study has he unwittingly done, and how much he has added to the romance of Oxford. " It is easy to understand that men find it a very weary task to read in sight of the beauty of the groves of Magdalen." Mr. Lang's work is not a history, and in this re- spect differs from the Rev. C. W. Boase's " Oxford.'' It is indeed a series of descriptive notes, written, we might almost say, to illustrate the pictures. He gives us pleasantly sketched accounts of the town and the university in early times, of the period of the Renais- sance and the Reformation, and of the Jacobean and Georgian times, giving also a special chapter to " Poets at Oxford : Shelley and Landor." Of Gilbert White, of Selborne, who was Proctor in 1752, he gives some pleasant touches. White paid some attention to dress, and got a feather- topp'd grizzled wig from London ; cost him 2 53. He bought " mountain win^, very old and good," and had his crest engraved on his teaspoons, that every thing might be handsome about him. When he treated the Masters of Arts in Oriel Hall they ate a hundred pounds weight of biscuits not, we trust, without marmalade On November 6, White lost one shilling " at cards, in "Oxford : Brief Historical and Descriptive Notes. By Andrew Lang, M. A., late Fellowol Merton College, Oxford. London : Seeley and Co., 1899. 8vo. With 40 illustra- tions. common room." He went from Selborne to Oxford" in a post-chaise with Je-iny Croke "; and he gave Jenny a " round China-turene." .... It is well to remember White and Johnson when the Gibbon of that or any other day bewails the intellectual poverty of Oxford. The illustrations are from drawings by several different artists, and include views of Merton College and its muniment room, New College, and the tower, stone pulpit, and cloisters of Magdalen. The book is nicely got up, and forms a pleasing reminiscence of the old university town. THE HAMPSHIRE IXDEPEXDEXT, March 15, 1890. THE NEW GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT. The original geological survey of the Isle of Wight, made on the old Ordnance Map on the scale of an inch to the mile, was published in 1856, and in the same year appeared the Memoir, by Edward Forbes, " On the Tertiary Fluvio-marine Formation of the Isle of Wight," which of course referred only to the northern part of the island, except for a few notes near the end. In 1862 the general Memoir on the island was issued, and this has been out of print for some years. From the preface of what is nominally the second edition of the last work*, we take the following remarks made by Mr. Geikie, the Director General of the Geological Survey: "The onward progress of geological science . . has not left the Isle of Wight unaffected. When, therefore, . . it became necessary to undertake the preparation of a second edition, I felt that no satisfactory progress could be made . . until the Map of the Island had been first revised," and this revision was made on the new Ordnance Survey maps, on the scale of six inches to a mile, which have been reduced, for publication, on to a map, specially prepared for the purpose, from four sheets of the new one-inch map. " In the preparation of the present edition of the Memoir (to continue from Mr. Geikie) so many and important have been the changes required that the work may not unfairly be described as a new one,'' and this remark may be applied to the map also ; for not only has much of the old boundary-lines been revised, but a great many new lines have been drawn, which are wholly unrepresented on the old map. The chief points in which the new map differs from the old are: i. The extension of the Alluvium up the valleys, whereas in the old one it is shown only at parts of the eastern and western valleys, which un- fortunately are tenanted by streams of the same name, Yar. 2. The mapping of the Drift, in five divisions * Memoirs of the Geological Survey, England and Wales. The Geology of the Islg of Wight, by H. W. Bristow. Second Edition, revised and enlarged, by C. Reid and A. Strahan. Pp. xvi, 350; 5 folding plates. Dated 1889, but not really issued till lately. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY <- NATURALIST. 59 (two brickearths and three gravels), which is quite new, Drift-mapping not having been invented when the old map was made. 3. The great exten- sion of the Hamstead Beds (the uppermost division of the great Fluviomarine Series), which, originally shown as two patches west of the Medina, have now been proved to spread across the island, from just east of Yarmouth to Brading, and to reach southward sometimes to within half-a-mile of the outcrop of the Chalk. 4. The separation of the Bembridge Lime- stone from the overlying clays, instead of the massing together of the two. 5. The division of the Chalk ; though it was found impracticable to separate the Lower and the Middle Chalk, as has been done in some other places. 6. The division of the Upper Greensand by marking the chert- beds, where practicable. 7. The separation of the Lower Green- sand into four groups. 8. The mapping of a layer of sandstone in the Wealden Beds. The new map therefore is not only more precise, but also much more elaborate than the old one. Though the work is published only on the one- inch scale, it should be understood that anyone can have a copy of any six-inch sheet, by paying the cost of making such, and it is to be hoped that Corporations and other Sanitary Authorities will avail themselves of this. For general purposes, of course, the one- inch scale is handy, but for special work it is too small. It should be mentioned that the sheet of so-called " Horizontal Sections " across the Isle of Wight has also been revised, in accordance with the new work. Turning to the Memoir, which will perhaps have the greatest interest for the general public, we may note that it is just twice the size of the earlier edition. The Cretaceous part is by Mr. Strahan, the Tertiary pait by Mr. Reid, each author sharing in the description of the Drift and of other matters common to the two tracts. It opens with a note of sadness, for Mr. Bristow, whose last official work was the correction of his intro- ductory notice, died whilst the work was passing through the press. Of the Wealden Beds, the oldest that occur in the island, we are told that they consist of variously coloured clays below and chiefly dark shales above, with freshwater shells. The most interesting part of this series perhaps is the " Pine Raft," with its mass of prostrate tree-trunks, to be seen only at low water at Brook Point. The Lower Greensand, which succeeds, is a marine formation, and here conformable to the Wealden Beds, though the division between the two is sharp. Whilst about 400 feet thick at Compton Bay, a few miles eastward it is 800 or more. Some beds are fossilifcrous, and sometimes abundantly so. The uppermost division, the Carstone (a ferruginous grit) passes up into the Gault, a clay 120 feet and upwards in thickness. This last, locally known as " blue slipper," is the bed that has brought about the great landslip, after the manner of clays. It will be satisfactory to resi- dents of the Undercilff to be told that their beautiful tract is likely to last, and " that the strata now form- ing the cliff will never be in a position to slide so readily as those portions that have already gone," though we are at once cautioned that " still, as the sea, in the course of centuries, removes the fallen debris which forms the coast, the movements will doubtless be renewed from time to time." The Gault passes up into the Upper Greensand, a formation which, though only from 80 to 120 feet thick, is the cause of some of the chief beauties of the island, such as the mural cliffs that tower above the picturesque broken masses of the Undercliff, them- selves fragments of the same formation, and the bold inland brow of Gatcliff (visited by the Hants. Field Club last summer). These marked rocky features are " due to the hardness of a bed composed of alterna- tions of chert and sand," and the chert abounds with sponge-spicules . The Chalk, into which the Upper Greensand passes up, reaches right across the island from east to west, forming the highest ground, the long undu- lating hill-range that is so conspicuous from the main- land. For the most part this range is narrow, and the beds vertical or highly inclined ; but south-west of Newport they flatten southward, and spread out to a wider tract, of the former extent of which the out- liers, or detached masses around Ventnor bear witness. It is here that the Chalk reaches its greatest thickness in England, for, whereas under London it is less than 650 feet thick, the Upper Chalk alone, with its marked layers of flints, is more than double that, being estimated at over 1,350 in the Isle of Wight. The Middle Chalk is 180 feet, and the Lower Chalk over 200, but these figures are not ex- cessive, though they bring the total to about 1750. It seems a pity that the name Chlontic Marl is still kept for the basal bed of the Chalk, as it does not con- tain the mineral chlorite, the green grains being glauconite ; but geologists are horribly conservative and dreadfully illogical. To the Chalk succeed, with a sharply marked plane of separation, the Tertiary beds, the uptilted junction being well shown in Alum Bay and, less clearly, in Whitecliff Bay. We have first the mottled clays, with occasional sand, of the Reading Beds, and then the London Clay, with its fossiliferous and pebbly basement-bed, the formation being seen in section at no other places than the above-mentioned Bays. Above this come the Lower Bagshot Beds, to which a thickness of over 660 feet is assigned, in Alum Bay, though it is doubtful whether part of the overlying Bracklesham Beds is not included. As the series here is composed of alternations of clays and sands, whilst at Whitecliff Bay we find onl}- sand, 6o THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. less than 100 feet thick, one is led to regret the absence ol good sections inland, between the two points. Mr. J. S. Gardner contributes an account of the flora of the Alum Bay beds, which he has studied so carefully. Next succeed the Bracklesham Beds (consisting ot clays and sands, sometimes with lignite), the details of which vary much in the two coast-sections ; and this division is overlain by the Barton Clay, so cele- brated for its fossils on the coast of the mainland. Both these are marine, as also are the overlying " Headon Hill Sands," a bad name, as they do not form part of the Headon Beds. We now come to the great Fluviomarine Series, as it was originally called ; and it is doubtful whether the change of name to Oligocene is an improvement. In England this set of deposits is confined to Hampshire, and is to be seen in all its glory in the Isle of Wight alone, the lowest division only, the Headon Beds, being represented on the mainland. The other divisions are the Osborne Beds, the Bembridge Beds, and the Hamstead Beds; but " this grouping is so much a matter of opinion, and there is such an entire absence of real breaks," that the whole may be described as clays ot various colours, with occasional sands, and sometimes with layers of limestone (only one of which, the Bembridge Limestone, is of more than local importance). These beds are often crowded with fossils, which show alternations of marine and freshwater condi- tions, and the limestones are due to the latter. Woodcuts of fossils are given throughout, from the Wealden up to this point. So far all has been regular, but we now pass to those surface-deposits of gravel, etc., which are characterized by the irregularity with which they occur, resting indifferently on the various formations already noticed. These are classed as Deposits now forming, or of recent date, Deposits formed after the present valleys, Deposits formed before the present valleys, and Deposits partly earlier than the above, but partly contemporaneous with all three. The last is the angular flint gravel of the chalk downs, no doubt of subaerial origin, "the insoluble residue of a great thickness of Chalk " (the calcareous matter having been dissolved away), together with some material from the Tertiary beds. The Plateau Gravels, next described, cap flat- topped hills, and the patches are mostly separated by broad deep valleys. Not belonging apparently to one continuous sheet, for they occur at various levels, perhaps "they represent successive stages in the pro- cess of development of the existing system ol val- leys." Newer than these are the Gravel and Brick-earth at various levels along the valleys, and which must have been formed by streams, of whieh the present ones are the direct descendants. The Recent beds consist ot the Alluvium and peat of the streams, the tufa ot springs, the Hazel-nut gravel of the south-western coast, the Blown Sand, and the talus of the Chalk slopes (so well shown in Compton Bay). Chapter xiv is devoted to disturbances, which play so important a part in the island, the Tertiary beds being in a great trough, whilst the Cretaceous beds are largely affected by the uprise of a great fold. Faults are but few, and these " produce only a trifling effect on the position of the outcrops, and have had no share whatever in producing the physical features of the Island." Formerly there was supposed to be a great fault along the Medina Valley ; but this has been found to be imaginary. Physical and economic geology are referred to. Tables of fossils take up 43 pages. Well-sections and water-supply fill 19 pages, and amongst these sections, now first printed, are many of great interest. A full geological bibliography is given, and an index of 12 pages. The plates consist of a coloured geological map ; a detailed section along the coast, from the Chalk of Compton Bay to St. Catherine's Hill ; comparative sections of the Cretaceous beds in different parts ; ideal sections across the island from High Down to the Solent, and from the former place toTotland Bay ; and comparative sections of the Fluviomarine Series in various places. In closing the book, we may say that it is a credit both to its authors and the Geological Survey to which they belong, and that, taken together with the newly published one-inch maps and with the MS. copies of the six-inch maps, it places the Isle of Wight amongst the most thoroughly geologized parts of the kingdom. It may be useful to mention that this really cheap work may be obtained of Mr. H. M. Gilbert, South- ampton. AN INTERESTING ROMSEY DOCUMENT. At a small museum of antiquities and curiosities arranged a few days ago in connection with a sale of work, &c., at the Wesleyan Chapel, Romsey, a document, of which we give a copy, was on view, lent by Mrs. Honguez, in whose family it had been a number of years, as follows : " Be it known to all men, that I have this day received into the Registry of the Lord Bishop of Winchester a certificate that the house of Moses Comley, situate in the Parish of Rom- sey, in the County ot Southampton and Diocese ot Winchester, is set apart by the congregation of Protestant Dissenters from the Church of England, in the Denomination of Methodists, as a place for the exercise of the worship of Almighty God. Dated at Winchester the thirtieth day of January in the year of our Lord one Thousand and eight hundred. " J. RIDDING, Depy. Regr." THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 61 WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S , R.E. Lat. 50 54'' 5o"N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J.T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of lain in Temp, and Alt. J3^te t the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9. a.m. 3 p.m. 9 a.m. 1890. ' Inches. Inches. Deg. Deg. inches. Mar. 6 29.880 29-910 47-8 45-8 O'OOO ,, 7 29.892 29-784 46-9 4S-i o'ooo ,, 8 29.638 29.480 48-3 43'3 0-118 9 29-894 3'337 45 'o 33'7 '55 ,, 10 30-244 30-240 44'3 SO'? 0^030 ,, ii 30-330 30-414 Si-i 52-5 o'ooo ,, 12 30-407 30.274 52' ' 48-4 o'ooo Means. 1 30-041 30-058 47-8 45'6 0-203 Temp. Self.-Reg. Ther in 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Direction of Wind. Sun- shine Max. in Min. Max. Min. 1 Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m . 9 p.m Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. 1890. Deg. Deg. Deg Deg. Mar. 6 100-7 26-7 56-1 36-7 N.W. N.W. 6'3 ,, 7 IOD'I 3i'3 55'9 42'5 W. S.W. 2 "4 ,, 8 9 2 '5 35-8 52'4 42-7 S.W. S.W. 0-6 i. 9 99-8 24-8 48-5 : 33 - 3 N.N.W N.W. 9'9 Io 5'4 24-0 52-0 30-9 S.W. S.W. o.o i< ii 74'9 45'5 56-9 48-8 S.W. W. o'5 ii 12 no"6 34'2 S9'3 44'6 N.W. w.s.w 3'8 Means. 90-7 3i-8 54-4 40-2 1 23'S * Black bulb in vacuo. SELBORNE, PAST AND PRESENT. The Rev. J. Vaughan, of Alton, contributes an in- teresting article on " Selborne, Past and Present" to the March number of Murray's Magazine, in which he draws a comparison between the place as it is now and as it was in the time of Gilbert White, a hundred years ago. Mr. Vaughan is a student of nature him- self and a frequent attendant at the meetings of the Hampshire Field Club, of which he is a member, and just at the time that he is leaving to take the living of Portchester, it is well that he should have put on record some ot the results of his observations. It is almost a century since, in 1793, Gilbert White was laid to rest in Selborne churchyard, and this interval of 97 years has effected some changes in the quiet country village, though in other respects time has passed it by unscathed. Mr. Vaughan writes : In spite of the inventions of steam, in spite of the enor- mous growth of railroads, in spite of the thousand so-called modern improvements, the village of Selborne is still a very quiet spot, and as picturesque as it is quiet. There is no railway station nearer than five miles, and the post- town is the same distance away. In its outward aspect, and to the ordinary observer, the changes may be but few, The church, though restored, is still the same church where Gilbert White officiated, and where many genera- tions of Selborne villagers have worshipped. The ancient yew-tree, thought by White to be coeval with the church, still throws its shadows over the turf, beneath which the forefathers of the hamlet sleep. The house where White lived, though now enlarged, yet contains his study and other rooms, in almost the same condition as he left them The hollow-lanes, perhaps now a little deeper than even " sixteen or eighteen feet beneath the level ol the fields," are still water-courses in winter, and luxuriant with foliage in summer and autumn. The path-way down the Lythe, a secluded valley between the village and the site of the old Priory, remains as still and quiet, as when, in the days before the Reformation, the Augustinian monks wandered along its tiny stream. The Hanger is still covered with beech-trees, " the most lovely," as White said, " of all forest-trees ;" and many of the rarer plants remain. For one hundred years the swallows and other migratory birds have returned every spring, as they most likely have done for thousands of seasons ; the harvest moon has looked calmly down, autumn after autumn, on the sleeping village ; year by year, the grass has grown in the church- yard, and the beech-trees have blossomed on the Hanger, and the wheat has ripened in the fields, since the man who made Selborne famous passed away, and in its main features the parish remains the same. But to a naturalist of Gilbert White's observation many changes have occurred. The royal forest of Wolmer, which in the last century was " without one standing tree in the whole extent," is now partly planted and enclosed ; and larch-trees and Scotch-firs flourish, where before was only bracken, and heather and gorse. Bin's Pond, which in White's time was a " considerable lake," has long since been drained ; but the surrounding bogs and pools still afford " a safe and pleasing shelter to teals and snipe," which continue to breed there. Changes there are in the animal life of the place. Birds which White met with in abundance are not now to be found there, though it is satisfactory that some uncommon birds in which he took a special interest still frequent their old haunts ; and several are to be seen there now which White does not name at all. So, too, with the plants. Mr. Vaughan naturally expresses a passing regret " that White thought it ' needless work ' to ' enumerate all the plants ' found in the immediate neighbourhood. Such a catalogue would now be of considerable interest to the local botanist." Some of those he does name are still to be found in their old localities ; but some are, unfortunately, extinct. In its main outlines the village itself has perhaps but little changed in the last hundred years. The " cart-way " of the "village" deep in mud in winter time has given way to a more modern thoroughfare The church has been thoroughly restored. The irregular pews, " of all dimensions and heights," " patched up according to the fancy of the owners," have been removed, and are replaced by low modern benches. The tomb of the supposed founder of the edifice, in " the north wall of the north chancel," has entirely disappeared. The old barrel organ, with its half-a-dozen tunes, which was in use as late as within the last thirty or forty years, has gone the way of almost all church barrel organs, and a fine-toned modern instrument is played in its stead. The east end chancel window is filled with beautiful painted glass. On the south wall of the chancel is placed a marble tablet in memory of Gilbert White. During the work of restoration several interesting discoveries were made. Beneath the floor of the south chantry two stone coffins, with orna- mented lids, were found, together with a quantity of thirteenth-century tiles, which tend to confirm the state- ment of Gilbert White that the east end of the south aisle 62 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. was formerly " within these thirty years," says White "divided off by an old carved Gothic framework of timber, having been a private chantry." The design on the dis- covered coffin-lids lends colour to the suggestion that this " private chantry" was formerly the chapel of the Knights Templars. Mr. Vaughan concludes with some notes on the vil- lagers and their customs and superstitions. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, March 22, 1890. RARE BIRD IN HAMPSHIRE. Mr. A. F. Springford, of Shelbourne House, Botle3', writes: I have secured, slightly maimed in one of its wings, a specimen of the Palestine vulgaris, or Syrian cuckoo. These birds are migratory, but seldom reach our shores, now and then only visiting the south-east coast, but never before, as far as I can ascertain, has a specimen been seen in this locality- The habits of these birds are exceedingly remarkable and peculiar in their native land. It not only usurps the nests of other birds like its English prototype, but it has extraordinary imitative powers of the calls of other species, so that whilst in the act of depositing its alien eggs the rightful owners of the nests have been known to be imposed upon to that degree by its mimicry that they have fed it, evidently under the impression that it was their own offspring to whom they were supplying Nature's needs. EAST MEON AND WESTBURY CHURCHES. " Peter Lombard " contributes to The Church Times of March 14 last, the following notes on some old Hampshire churches : Two miles from Eastmeon lies Westbury House, a building of about 180 years old, surrounded with splendid woods. The present building stands on ancient foundations ; no wonder ; for Westbury is named in Domesday. It is partly in Eastmeon, partly in Westmeon parish. In the Conqueror's time it belonged to Hugh de Port, who was one of the greatest landowners in Hants, I think the greatest. He had another estate about three miles further down the Meon river, called Warnford, and the two are in several respects alike. In each case the river Hows along in front of the house, and by the banks of it is a small church. That at Westbury is in ruins, and that at Warnford is little better, though it is still used as the parish church. More of Warnford here- after. But I have made these few notes on Westbury ruin. It is a rectangular building, about 40 feet by 22. The east and west gables remain, and the side walls as high as the roof plates. It is built of flint with stone facings. On the south side is a two-light window almost complete, narrow lancets, with a somewhat sharply pointed hood over them, the moulding plain but good. Another window, blocked up, is apparently of the same character, and between them is a round-headed door. The tracery of the east window is so destroyed that I could not make it out, but it looked Geometrical, at least I thought I could discern signs of a quatrefoil. On the north are also two windows, with very large splays. On the west gable are two small rectangular windows of excellent workmanship, and above these a two-light window apparently Perpendicular, but I could not be sure because of the overhanging ivy. Inside is the round bowl of the font, and close to it the upper portion of a richly covered monumental slab, consist- ing of a canopy cusped, and a head and neck. The rest is clean gone. bince the Reformation this chapel has thus stood desolate. It is mentioned in the Visitation of that time as a chapelry of Eastmeon, and I here subjoin the inventories of Eastmeon church and this chapelry, as well as of another chapel "in the field " belonging to Eastmeon, which those who know it better than I do may recognise. Perhaps it was at Oxenbourne, but I have never seen any remains of it. But these inventories were made in 1554, and they prove con- clusively that the vestments and other church orna- ments were in use until then. The object was to abolish the form of service as carried on in the first and second years of King Edward, as that of the Elizabethan rubric was to restore that. These inven- tories therefore are of great historical value. EASTMEOX. A suit of vesments of blew silk. Another suit of blew satin of Bridge. Another suit of blew and white silk. An old vestment of white fustian. 2 hearse cloths, whereof one silk. 2 pairs of candlesticks of latten. 2 pairs of iron candlesticks. A shovell, a bar of iron, and a pick axe. 2 altar cloths, six surplices. 3 copes, one of redd velvet, the other of greene velvet, the srd white damask. A pair of organs, 2 barres of iron. A cope of cloth of gold that was taken away by one Nicholas Langridge which remaineth in his hands. OUR LADY CHAPELLE IN THE FIELD. Goods and other ornaments belonging to the said Chapellc. One vestment of yellow old fustian. A chalice of silver with a paten. 2 small belles in the steeple. THE CHAPELLE OF WESTBURY. Goods and other ornaments belonging to the said Chapelle. A vestment of redd silk. A chalice with a paten. One hanging bell. There it is, bad spelling and all. It may be well to note that " Bridge " means Bruges in the Nether- lands, that the " hearse " was the bier, that " latten " was fine brass beaten out into plates. The expression ' pair of organs " is curious. It was applied by our fathers simply to what we call an organ. We still use the same form of expression when we talk of a pair of bellows. The " vestment,'' I need not sav, was the chasuble. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. But I have one word more about Westbury. It was here, and not at Westbury in Wilts, as some histories have it, that the meeting of Henry I and Robert of Normandy took place. The one came from Odiham, the other from Gosport. They were about as likely to meet at Sheffield as all down in Wilts. Westbury is only a short mile from theGosport-road. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meterological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chu. Wilson. K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54' 50" N. ; long. i24'o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. | 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 1890. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. Mar. 13 30-081 29-924 46.0 44'7 O'OOO M 29-859 29-769 46-2 44'4 O'OOO 15 29-637 29-471 46-9 45'i 0*017 ,, 16 29-220 29-324 50-6 41-9 OT53 ,, 17 2^-426 29-516 47-0 41-0 0-027 18 29*456 29-342 43'7 43'2 O'O2O ,, 19 29-475 29'553 4i'7 43'4 0-004 Means 20-593 29'543 46-0 43'4 Fl. O'22I Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Direction of Wind. Sun- shine. Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg Deg. Mar. 13 82-6 40-8 49'7 44-2 s.w. S. O"2 14 101*8 29-7 57'3 38-0 s. S.E. 7-5 .. '5 IOt'9 32-2 53-8 42-8 s. S.E. 5'4 ,, 16 96 o 36-5 54'4 4*'5 S.E. S.W. i'S 17 103-9 27-! 53'9 34'5 W.N.W Calm 9-6 18 99'9 29-6 52-8 34'7 S.E. N.E. 6-3 ,1 19 57'7 35'5 44-6 38-4 N.N.E. N. o'o Means 92*0 33'i 32'4 39'3 Tl. 30'S Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, March 29, 1890. "THE BOOK OF NUNNAMINSTER." The Hampshire Record Society has now issued to its subscribers a volume dealing with " An ancient manuscript of the eighth or ninth century formerly belonging to St. Mary's Abbey, or Nunnaminster, Win- chester."* This manuscript is a missal or liturgy written by some unknown scribe and containing " the accounts of the Passion of our Lord as narrated by the four Evangelists, followed by a short series of prayers or collects, the greater part of which follow the order of our Lord's life and passion, which are in their turn succeeded by a few metrical pieces." Apart * "An Ancient Manuscript of the Eighth or Ninth Century formerly belonging to St. Mary's Abbey, or Nunnaminster, Winchester." Edited by Walter de Gray Birch, F.S. A., of the British Museum. London: Simpkin and Marshall ; Winchester : Warren and Son. 1889. from its caligraphic importance the document is of considerable interest in its bearing upon early liturgical history, but fewdocumentsofso early an age being known. Chief among the metrical pieces is the " Lurica (or Lorica) of Lodgen," supposed to have been composed by the celebrated Welsh monk and historian, Gildas, of which this manuscript is the earliest copy known. As to the date of the document, although some authorities place it in the eighth century (pp. 10, 27), Mr. Birch is more inclined to date the writing in the ninth century (p. 17). Its connec- tion with the Nunnaminster lies in the fact that it was in the possession of that monastery in the ninth or tenth century, and that during that period some one who had access to the book not improbably the Abbess of the time inserted on a blank space a record of the boundaries of the property ot Queen Ealhswith (and therefore of St. Mary's Abbey) in Winchester. The manuscript appears to have been intended for use by the head of a nunnery, but it could not have been compiled for this particular in- stitution, for it w r as not till the close of the ninth century that it was founded by Alfred the Great and his queen. There is nothing in the document itself to throw light upon this point. A map is given to illustrate the entry of the boundaries of the abbey property, which approximately occupied the ground between the lower part of High-street, or Cheap-street as it was then called, and Colebrook- street ; but every vestige of the abbey has so com- pletely disappeared that no attempt is made to indicate the exact spot occupied by the abbey. Occasion is taken by the editor to give some par- ticulars of the history of the abbey, with a list of the abbesses, to which additions have been made from the Compotus Rolls of Froyle Manor, and also the adjustment by King Edgar of the boundaries between this and the Old and New Minsters. We gave a short historic account of the abbey in the Hampshire Independent of October 26 last in con- nection with the sale of the site, which we are now glad to know has become public property. The subsequent history of the manuscript is equally fragmentary. Presumably it must have got into lay hands on the dissolution of the monastery (which was delayed till 1540), and then or soon after got into the possession of some member of the Roscarek family of Cornwall or Ireland. In 1720 it was purchased by Robert Harley, first Earl of Oxford, from John War- burton, of co. Somerset, and is now in the Harleiaa Library at the British Museum. Facsimiles are given of a page of the manuscript, which is written in a clear bold hand, and of its ornamental initial letters. The document consists of 41 leaves of stout vellum 85 by 6j inches. Mr. Birch does not give us any information as to the binding, but it appears incidentally that the leaves must have been fastened together in book form at the time of compilation, for two leaves have been cut out leaving only a narrow slip running up the back without 6 4 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY 6- NATURALIST. breaking the sequence of the text. The book, how- ever, has been unfortunately rendered incomplete by the abstraction of other pages. This is a book for scholars, throwing light as it does on early philology and liturgical literature, and giving some slight addition to our knowledge of Win- chester history. We regret therefore to notice a number of misprints %vhich should have been detected in revising the proofs. And there appears to be some confusion in the title, or rather titles, of the book. The running heading of the pages is "The Book ot Nunna-Minster,'' under which most suitable title it will have been seen the book appears in the news- paper advertisements (its circulation is not confined to subscribers). The title page however gives the long title we have already quoted, and on the outside of the book there are only the three vague words " An Ancient Manuscript." This is, to say the least, very inconvenient for reference. From the announcements at the end of the volume we learn that the records now in course of prepara- tion by the society include " The Records of the Manor of Crondall," "Charters and Documents re- lating to Selborne Priory," " The ' Liber Niger ' of the Town of Southampton," " The Hyde Register," " The Chartulary of Godesfield, Rownhams, and Baddesley," " The Episcopal Registers of John of Sandale and Rigaud de Asserio, Bishops of Win- chester," and " The Rental of Mottisfont Priory." It will thus be seen that the society has lost no time in getting fully into work. EAST MEON CHURCH. " Peter Lombard" contributed the following notes to The Church Times of March 7 last : The Meon river, which rises above Oxenbourne and Hows into Southampton Water, becomes a consider- able little stream before it reaches the end, clear and deep, and a capital trout stream. There are three or four villages named after it, of which at present I shall name only two, East Meon and West Meon. From the former let me start now. Oxenbourne is within the parish of East Meon, which has one of the finest parish churches in the country, built by Bishop Walkelin, the famous architect of Winchester Cathe- dral, and added to and altered, like the Cathedral, by subsequent builders. It is cruciform, with a heavy Norman tower at the intersection, surmounted by a lead-covered spire of, I think, Edward Ill's time. There is also a rich Norman west door, and above ita Perpendicular window. Some forty years ago was published a volume by Mr. Gresley, entitled Church Clavering. To this volume is given a frontispiece re- presenting East Meon Church, for no reason except that evidently some good artist who was called on to illustrate the book had made a sketch of it, and now utilised it. It is exact in ever y line as the church was then, but it was restored about 20 years ago, and not over well. One or two characteristic features was obliterated, but anybody who has Church Clavering will still recognise the church without the least difficulty. One act of vandalism was the removal of a sanctus bell, which until then hung outside the Norman tower. Readers no doubt are aware that such a bell was rung in the middle ages at the moment when the Holy Sacrifice was pleaded at the altar, and so those who were unable to attend knew what part of the service was reached, and were able to join their prayer with that of their brethren. When the church was repaired I suppose the contractor said that as the bell was never used it might as well be removed ; the vicar saw no objection, and so it was carried off. I myself mentioned it to the architect, who said he would have it restored, but he probably forgot. It has never been done. The late vicar, who came some years after the alteration, endeavoured to trace the bell to put it back, but could not find what had become of it. The font of this church, too, is very interesting, evidently by the same hand which carved that in Winchester Cathedral. There are two others like it in the county. A model of this one is in the South Kensington Museum. It has a remarkably large and massive basin of black marble, square-sided, and adorned with rude sculptures, all, so far as I remem- ber, from the early chapters of Genesis. (Winchester has the story of St. Nicholas of Myra on it.) The most learned of Hampshire antiquaries, Mr. F. J. Baigent, has found evidence that these fonts were presented by Bishop Henry of Blois, "in some ways the greatest of Winchester Bishops," as Dean Kitchin calls him, the founder of the beautiful Hospital of St. Cross. But there is another curiosity in this church of which no satisfactory explanation seems at present to be forthcoming. In the south transept is a stone on the floor inscribed with the words " Amens plenty." What does it mean ? O that some reader of this might hit upon it ! The only guess that has ever appeared possible to me is that it refers to a skirmish in the Civil Wars which took place here, and of which I hope to say more hereafter, and that this is a contemptuous epitaph by a Roundhead on the Cavaliers who were killed and buried here. It does not run very easy, but I am not prepared with anything better. East Meon, before the Conquest, belonged to the king, afterwards to the bishop. The little bridge over the Meon, which leads into the village, is called " Knus- berry Arch " (more of it anon), and an old local antiquary used to assert that the name meant Knut's borough, and that the great Danish king lived here. May be or not ; the Bishop had a country house here, and the remains of it are still seen opposite the church gate. It is in a woeful condition, but here is the great guest chamber, with its arched roof and beautiful corbels, pitiable to look upon. One is a king's head, I think Edward II, another is the Bishop. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. But the jackdaws have it all their own way, and, though the building is strong, the place must betore long tumble down, unless some munificent antiquary steps in. I wish some skilful friend, say Mr. Mickle- thwaite, would at any rate visit it, report upon it, and make sketches of it. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, April 5, 1890. EARLY NONCONFORMITY AT ROMSEY. A correspondent, referring to a recent Note* con- cerning an interesting Ronisey document on view at a bazaar there, sends for our inspection the original of the following letter : Winton, n Martii, 1718-19. These are to certifie that on the day of the date hereof was delivered into the Registry of the Right Reverend fiat her in God, Jonathan by Divine p'mission Lord Bpp. of Winchester at Winchester a certificate under the hands of William Troughton Willm. Baker Willm. Thorne and others certifying that there was and is a new erected meeting house in Rumsey Infra in the County of Southampton for the use of his Majties protestant Dissenters called presbyterians for the Worship of God according to the Act of parliament in that behalfe. THO. CRANI.EY, Depty. Reg. The Presbyterian chapel referred to, we are informed, stood in " the Abbey," on a site nearly opposite that now occupied by the new Congregational church. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register, made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54' 50" N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected lor Temperature ol Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. Mar. 20 29 - 5M 29'538 42*0 39'7 c'ooo > 21 29-658 29'759 44-3 41-6 0-018 ,, 22 29-802 29-794 49-1 46-9 o'o6o ,. 23 29-698 29-725 47-8 42-2 O"I2O >. 24 29-522 29-190 43'9 45'i 0-393 ,. 25 29'333 29-621 5i' 47'7 0*030 26 29-826 30-049 50-8 50-0 0*026 Means. 29-622 29-668 47-0 44'7 Tl.o'647 I Temp. Self.-Reg. Ther. m 1 24 hours previous to q p.m. Direction of Wind. Sun- shine. Max. in Min. | Max. Min. Date. Sun's on | in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.t Grass Ait. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Mar. 20 98-3 BI'I 53'S 39' 6 N.W. N.W. 2"! 2I 103-7 24-8 55-6 30-8 w.s.w. W. 6-7 22 92-2 29-9 52*6 40-4 s.w. S.W. 2'5 , 23 104-9 35'5 53'4 42-0 s.w. W. 2-9 .. 2 4 53'5 28-6 47-7 35'i S.E. s.w. o'o .. 25 109-9 37-4 56-6 43'i W. s.w. 5-2 i. 26 108-7 32-2 61-7 42-2 S W. s.w. 5'2 Means. 95'9 3''4 54'4 39' Tl.24'6 YAVERLAND CHURCH, I.W. According to a report of the Society for the Pro- tection of Ancient Buildings, published in The Reliquary for this month, it appears likely that serious injury will be done to this interesting old church. The edifice is of great archaeological value as a relic of Norman times, and the proposed destruction of the north wall seems to be entirely uncalled for. It is a great pity that such valued heirlooms of the past should be left to the tender mercies of ignorant aud meddlesome busybodies. The extract from the re- port is as follows : In November of last year a gentleman wrote to the society to say that this church was to be destroyed, and at the same time gave the address of one who would be willing to correspond on the subject. The committee at once wrote for particulars, and when it had obtained all the necessary information, laid its views before the vicar. The reply received showed that the views of the society were not appreciated. The vicar informed the committee that he had accepted the living for three years, for the purpose of restoring and preserving Yaverland Church, and that he was going to pull down the north wall in order to enlarge the building, by adding a north aisle. The committee urged the vicar not to enlarge the church, as it was qnite large enough for the population of the parish , and it was shown that to enlarge such a perfect little building, which had escaped enlargement since Norman times, in order that accommodation for summer visitors might be provided, was not justifiable, for it was spoiling the building for its rightful owners, who would have to suffer the inconvenience of being in a church far too large for them during the greater part of the year. All appeals to the vicar soon proved useless, and the committee then wrote to the patron, but with no better success ; for he assured the com- mittee that the church was in Mr. Christian's hands,, and consequently safe. * Page 60 ante. t Black bulb in racuo. HIGHCLERE CASTLE. The English Illustrated Magazine for this month contains an interesting article on Highclere Castle, the seat of the Earl of Carnarvon. Formerly a strong- hold of the bishops of Winchester, Highclere Castle is now in the possession of the younger branch of the great Herbert family, of which the repre- sentative of the elder branch, the Earl of Pembroke, has his family seat at Wilton, near Salisbury. The present building is of the Elizabethan, or, more strictly speaking, the Jacobean, style of architecture, and dates only from the year 1841, but its massive walls still attest to its strength as a place of defence. " The Herberts have been a clan, rather than a family, and in every age noted for great intellectual capacity. When Henry, third Earl of Carnarvon, whilst still Lord Porchester 66 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. married Henrietta Howard daughter of Lord Henry Howard and niece of the twelfth Duke of Norfolk, the alliance was spoken of as a union of the blood of the Howards with the hereditary genius of the Herberts, who themselves date back to Charlemagne, the great Duke of Brabant, King of France, and Emperor of the Romans." It is told of the first Earl of Carnarvon that when, as Colonel Herbert, he represented Wilton in the House of Commons, he was present at the time of the Gordon riots. When Lord George Gordon took his seat wearing a blue cockade, the House being meanwhile besieged by the mob, Colonel Herbert declared with great spirit that he could not sit and vote in that House whilst he saw a noble lord in it with the ensign of riot in his hat, and threatened if he would not take it out he would walk across the House and de so for him. Whereupon Lord George put the cockade in his pocket. In Highclere church there is a memorial tablet to Charles Herbert, the eldest son of Philip, fourth Earl of Pembroke, who in the earlier part of the sixteenth century " was sent out to Italy as a youth in order to obtain some of the science and knowledge that was then the almost exclusive property cf that country." Dying there, he was buried, till at the French Revolution his tomb was ransacked and his bones scattered. They were, however, subsequently recovered by the present Earl of Carnarvon and now lie peacefully in one of the family vaults. The house, it appears, is not without its ghost, which more than one attempt has been made to lay. The park is noted for its fine trees and its celebrated collection of rhododendrons and azaleas. The article is illustrated with views of the Park, the Castle, the Library, the chair and table from Fontainebleau which belonged to the great Napoleon, and portraits of the fourth Earl of Carnarvon and Thomas, Earl of Arundel (the collector of the Arundelian marbles). "LIFE OF JANE AUSTEN." Hampshire readers will welcome the " Life of Jane Austen " which Professor Goldwin Smith has contributed to the "Great Writers '' series,* for Miss Au.sten is distinctively a Hampshire worthy. With the exception of a short period spent in Bath her whole life was spent in this county. Her early life was spent at Steventon, where she was born on December 16, 1775, and it is the life at Steventon that forms the groundwork of some of her novels. Between 1805 and 1809 she, with her mother and sister, resided at Southampton, in a large old- fashioned house in Castle Square, with a garden bounded by the town wall. From here the Austens removed to Chawton, to be near Jane's brother, who had come into some property there and changed his name to Knight. Lastly, on account of illness Miss * " Life of Jane Austen." By Goldwin Smith. Lon- don : Walter Scott. 1890. Austen removed to Winchester, where she died on July 18, 1817, and was buried under a slab of black marble in Winchester Cathedral, near the centre of the north aisle. Her life was therefore devoid of any exciting interest, and it is with her works, rather than with herself, that her biographer necessarily has to deal. As a novelist Jane Austen takes a high position, not only for the merits and lasting interest of her works, but as having initiated the modern " novel of manners " as distinguished from the romantic school of Mrs. Rakliffe and other writers. Her novels are simply portrayals of the familiar commonplace lite around us, and in this consists their verv charm. As Mr. Goldwin Smith remarks, " her genius is shown in making the familiar and commonplace intensely interesting and amusing. Perfect in her finish and full of delicate strokes of art, her works require to be read with attention, not skimmed as one skims many a novel, that they may be fully en- joyed. But whoever reads them attentively will fully enjoy them without the help of a commentator." We can thus learn what a quiet country life was like at the beginning of the present century. After narrating what is known of her life, Mr. Goldwin Smith devotes a chapter to each of her works, " Pride and Prejudice," " Sense and Sensibility," " Northanger Abbey," " Emma," " Mansfield Park " and " Persuasion," and concludes with an estimate of her novels as a whole. Appen- ded are a table showing her chronological relation to the other English novelists, and a bibliography of her works and of books and magazine articles relating to her, compiled by Mr. John P. Anderson, of the British Museum. HOLY WELLS IN HAMPSHIRE. The Antiquary for April contains the second instal- ment of a list of " Holy Wells: their Legends and Superstitions," by Mr. R. C. Hope, F.S.A., F.R.S.L., and (we may add) litera^' cribber, for we find that the list of these wells in our own county of Hampshire has been taken bodily without acknowledgment from some notes on the subject contributed to the Hamp- shire Independent of April 9, 1887, by Mr. T. W. Shore, F.G.S. These notes have been unblushingly appropriated word for word, with only some slight transposition. To show at once the clumsiness and palpable dishonesty of the operation, we may mention that where by a trifling printer's error, a full point was in our issue inserted instead of a comma, Mr. Hope has copied and intensified the blunder. But, infinitely worse than this, he has appropriated Mr. Shore's remarks in the first person as if the opinion ex- pressed were his own. Thus we read, and the words are not in inverted commas : On the mainland we have St. Clare's Well, near Sober- ton, St. .Mary's Well, at Sheet, near Petersfield. and the holy bourn and spring- at Holybourn, near Alton. These I take to be genuine examples of the mediaeval holy wells. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 67 Would any one think, on perusing the Antiquary, that the " I" in this quotation was the erudite curator of the Hartley Institution, and not a literary hack who is trading upon other people's brains ? ST. BONIFACE. The Western Antiquary for February-March (double number) contains an article by the Rev. H. Barter, on St. Boniface and his shrine at Fulda. Boni- face, or Winifrid of Crediton, as he was first known, was educated at the monastic school of Nutschalling, near Southampton, of which he became rector and subsequently Abbot. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S.. R.E. Lat. 50 54' 59" N.; long, i" 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature ef Rain in Date Temp, and Alt. the Air 24hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m 9 a.m. 1890 Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Mar. 27 30-096 30.114 49'3 49-8 0-007 ,, 28 30-085 29-977 SI'S 46-2 O'OO2 M 29 29-969 30*081 SO'o 45'7 o-ooo .i 3 30-131 30-126 5'7 46-7 O'OOO n 3i 30-231 30-290 5^'t 42'5 o'ooo April i 3'375 30-274 42-6 39'8 o'ooo 11 2 3'i53 30-079 44'3 39' O'OOO Means 30- 149 3' '34 48-8 44'2 0-009 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in Direction of bun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine Max in Min. Max Min. Date. Sun on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air Air. 1890 Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Mar 27 63'7 44-8 51-6 48-1 s.w s.w. ,, 28 70-1 39'3 52-6 45'3 S.S.E. S.S.F. ii 29 109-8 34-2 6o"6 42*9 N.W "N.W. 60 ,, 30 106-8 27'S 63^2 34.3 CALM N.N.E. ii 3 n 3< 101-8 28-9 58-2 37-8 E. N.E. 8 8 April i loo" 8 27-7 54'S 33-7 N.N.E. E. 7 4 II 2 103-2 24-1 56-9 3i'3 N..E. N.E. ii 7 Means 93'7 32'4 56-8 39-1 45'2 * Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, April 12, 16 OLD WINCHESTER HILL. " Old Winchester" is a British oppidum, and has no connection whatever with Winchester. In one of the more recent volumes of the British Archaeological Association I have fully described it, and to that I refer your correspondent. c RQACH SMITH . AN OLD HAMPSHIRE CRICKET CLUB. " Tuesday last, after two days' sport, ended the grand cricket match at Guildford, between the Hamp- shire lads, known by the name of the Hambledon Club, and eleven picked men from different counties, when the former were beat by very considerable odds. The Hambledon Club were reckoned the best cricket players in England, and were never beat before. Several thousand pounds were won and lost on this occasion.'' The Salisbury Journal, Monday, August 19, 1771. " We hear the Gentlemen of the Hambledon Club have made two great cricket matches with the Buke of Dorset and Sir Horace Mann for 500 guineas, on the following terms : the Earl of Tankerville, with ten Hampshire men, against any eleven in England ; the first match to be played on Stoke Down, near the Grainge, Hants ; the second at Seven-Oaks Vine. The particulars of the match on Stoke Down will be advertised in due time in this paper." The Salisbury and Winchester Journal, May 24, 1779. The Rev. Canon Benham, who is a native of West Meon, has contributed to the Newbery House Maga- zine for April some very interesting and chatty " Easter memories," chiefly of cricket in the neigh- bourhood of Hambledon. But the Hambledon Club of his youth was not the famous club, which broke up in 1825, and which towards the close of the eighteenth century several times defeated all England. The Hambledon players, as old pictures show them, had a uniform comprising knee breeches, buckled shoes and a velvet cap. The beginning of cricket is in Mr. Benham's memory indissolubly connected with Good Friday, and he draws a pretty picture of the players going to church on Sunday afternoon dressed in their best, depositing their bats and stumps in the belfry till afternoon service was over, and then, with the parson and their sweethearts, adjourning to the field. But a stricter Sabbatarian spirit has arisen, and play on Good Fridays and Sundays is no longer known. Nor is this all. For Canon Benham is of opinion that " cricket is not so much cultivated as of yore ; volun- teering and bicycling have both given it heavy blows." It is a pleasant picture of the past that he gives us, and we can hardly wonder that he looks back upon it with a sigh. DEATH OF THE NEW FOREST HISTORIAN. There passed away at Lyndhurst on Thursday morning week, at the age of 60, a gentleman who was well known in the New Forest some years ago, namely. Mr. John R. Wise, author of the well-known work on "The New Forest: its History and its Scenery. " Anyone who has read this book, which is considered a standard work on the Forest, will appreciate Mr. Wise's love of the woodland, glades and dells of this great public demesne, and will not wonder at his coming to reside in the midst of the scene of his literary labours to die. He has been staying in the village for the past six months, and lately underwent an operation from the effects of which he never recovered. The funeral took place at Lyndhurst on Saturday. 68 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. A correspondent writes : Deceased was well known in literary circles as the author of several valuable works, the chief of which were the " History and Scenery of the New Forest" and ''The High Peak of Derbyshire.' 1 The former work was illustrated by Mr. Walter Crane, and met with general approbation, and has been regarded as an authority on the subjects pertaining to the early history of the Forest the flora, entomology, &c. The work has gone through several editions. The first was published by Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co., and the next by Messrs. H. Sotheran and Son, of the Strand. We believe Mr. H. M. Gilbert, of Southampton, is now the possessor of the copyright, &c. , and he has published editions, with the drawings on India paper, and supplementary illustrations, thus increasing the artistic value of the work. "The High Peak of Derbyshire " was also a valuable contribution to the literature of the scenery and topography of that in- teresting part of England. Mr. Wise's last work was "A Fairy Masque," entitled "The First of May," charmingly and daintily illustrated in a series of 52 designs by Mr. Walter Crane, for which we are told the author paid more than 500 guineas. We have been informed that Mr. Wise was correspondent for one of the London papers during the Franco-German war. He had not visited the scene of his former labours in the New Forest for many years, and was pained to find on his return that so few of his old friends and acquaintances (some of whom had materially assisted him with valuable information) were living. He came to Lyndhurst in August of last year for a week or two, but, being in a weak state of health from paralysis, he remained at South View through the winter, greatly enjoying the air and rest the New Forest afforded him. His death was somewhat sudden, he being taken ill on the Sunday previous. In accordance with his wish, he was buried in the new Cemetery, which commands extensive views which he knew so well how to describe. His cous'n, a clergyman, came down to bury him. It seems to fall in with the nature of things that the gifted author's earthly resting-place should be amidst the surround- ings he loved so well About me round I saw Hill, dale, and shady woods, and sunny plains, And liquid lapse of murmuring streams. MILTON. WEATHER IN MARCH. The rainfall for this month is under the average, the total being i -22 and the average of the previous ten years 2'i2 inches. March is the driest month in the year, the average for the fifteen years being 1-91 inches. Since January ist we have had 5'gi, the average of the same time being 7-29 inches. Rain fell on nine days. It is a common saying that as the weather is for a week each side of the Equinox such will be its general character for the next six months. From the i5th to the aoth rain fell on one day only, viz., 0^25 in. on the i6th ; the wind was southerly on two days, northerly on two days, and the other two E. and W. From the 22nd to 27th rain fell on four days, the total being o'68 in. ; the wind was S.W. on four days, S.E. on one day, and W. on one day. The fortnight, therefore, was variable, and southerly winds most prevalent. The last seven days in the month were very fine, six being without rain and only o - 9 in. of rain on the 25th. This is said to be indicative of a fine summer. Among other prognostics we have oak before ash wet ; ash before oak fine ; which is recorded in the doggerel " Oak, ash, splash, splash, Ash, oak, choke, choke." At present in this neighbourhood both seem to be equally forward. The barometer has been under the average. It was on thirteen days 30 inches and over, and on eighteen days under. The highest was so'56, and the lowest 29-22 in. This was attended, as is almost always the case, by a violent storm. The temperature during the early part of the month was the coldest of the winter, and the thermometer registered 15 degrees on the night of the 3rd and 20 degrees on the 2nd. The rest of the month has been nothing remarkable. It was 60 degrees on two days, 61 degrees being the highest, on the 28th. There were frosts on thirteen nights. Fordingbridge. T. WESTLAKE. ST. MARY'S CHURCH, BENTLEY. We have elsewhere referred to the report of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (as published in The Reliquary for April) in regard to the proposed injuries to Yaverland Church. St. Mary's Church, Bentley, near Alton, is in similar danger. The report states : This is almost, if not quite, the worst case which has come under the society's notice this year. At the end of last year the building was surveyed for the society, and the committee did its utmost * * * The committee's fears were not without foundation, for we find that two new arcades and a new chancel and chapel arch have been built, and the interesting passage which ran from the nave into the chapel on the north side of the church has been destroyed, as well as the north wall of the nave. All the buttresses have been replaced by new ones. The old gallery and all the old fittings have gone. In the place of the old pavement Staffordshire tiles are to be laid down. The old red tiles on the roof are to be replaced by Broseley tiles, and the pretty old red brick upper stage of the tower is to be pulled down and a new stone top put in its place. All new work is in imitation of Gothic work ; in fact, it is a case of thorough restoration, such as would have been considered thoroughly satisfactory twenty or thirty years ago. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY 6. NATURALIST. 69 WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson. K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R S., R.E. Lat. 50 54' 50" N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 leet. Observers-Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J.T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p m. 9 a.m. 1890. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. April 3 31*116 30-124 47'7 4i'3 o'ooo ., 4 3' '43 30-129 41-9 45'7 O'OOO 5 30'I34 30-065 49'7 45' I o'ooo ,, 6 29-959 29-810 48-8 48-8 0'OI2 7 29'594 29-672 48-5 44'4 o'oos 8 29'7i3 29-816 48-9 43'i O'O2( 9 29-938 29-864 47-0 41-9 0*056 Means 29-942 29-926 47'5 4V3 Tl. 0-094 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine. Max in Min. Max. Min. | Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. April 3 toi'7 28-7 56-7 35' E. ,N.E. 11-4 ., 4 107*2 24-2 58-9 3i'7 N.N.E. 'N.E. 9'9 , 5 107-7 23'9 6l'S 3i'S N.N.E. S.W. 11-4 6 63-7 36-6 52"6 43'5 s.w. s.vv. o'o , 7 112-5 33'9 59'3 44-0 S.W. N.W. 6-0 . 8 io8"7 36-7 . 9 103*2 27-4 51-6 35'7 N.E. W.N.W. 8-5 Means 100.7 28-9 56-5 36-9 Tl. 5 8-4 *Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, April 19, 1890. THE CUCKOO AND THE NIGHTINGALE. Mr. J. W. Batchelor, of Cheriton, writes : On Wednesday last the cuckoo and the nightingale were heard in Cheriton Wood, and on the same day a pair of swallows were observed skimming over the streams in the water meadows here. Apropos of the swallows, I may add, the query, do they revisit the locality of their nest of the past season? has been asked. In confirmation of the answer that they do, I relate the following particulars. A few years ago a farm labourer, living near Hartley Westpall, hung his hand-saw on a nail in the wall of his cottage, against which a lean-to woodhouse stood. It was bruited about that a swallows' nest was built on the top of the saw handle. The report caused me to visit the place, and to my great surprise I found the rumour to be correct. I took the saw down from the nail, looked at the eggs, saw that the nest, by use of some adhesive material, was firmly fixed on the wood, replaced the whole on the nail, made my exit, and witnessed the ingress of the birds through a hole in the door (they would not go in while the door was open). I was further gratified by learning that the cottager* had forbidden all of his family to molest the birds in any way. In the succeeding season I went again and ascertained that a second nest had been built on the handle, its owner having, in compliance with my request, kindly re- hung the saw on the identical nail. Did not these incidents indicate the possession of reason, or some higher attribute than instinct ? Mr. Reginald Hooley, of Fir Grove, St. Denys, Southampton, writes to the Southern Echo that the nightingale was heard there on Wednesday night. GREEK TRADE-ROUTES TO BRITAIN. In the first number (for March) of Folk Lore : a Quarterly Journal of Myth, Tradition, Institution and Custom (London : David Nutt) there is an article of much interest to archaeologists on " Greek Trade- Routes to Britain," by Prof. William Ridgeway. In the course of this the author carefully analyses the references to our island in the early Greek and Roman writers, and draws from them some very important conclusions as to the direction of the early routes. This is surrounded with some little difficulty on account of the vagueness of the old descriptions. But Prof. Ridgeway is able to differentiate the routes of the old Phoenicians and Carthaginians, the Greeks and the Romans, and shows thereby a gradual east- ward movement. For, first the Phoenicians voyaged to the Cassiterides direct, though whether these Cassiterides were the Scilly Islands or islands lying off the coast of Spain is still a moot question. Then the Phocean colony at Massalia (Marseilles) seems to have opened up a route up the Loire, across Armorica to the Isle of Wight. This brings us to the question of the identity of the Isle of Wight (the Victis of the Romans) with the Ictis of Diodorus Siculus and the Mictis of Timseus or Pliny. That it is so seems al- most incontrovertible, the evidence is so strong ; and any difficulty in reconciling it is far less in the case of the Isle of Wight than in those of St. Michael's Mount or Thanet. The Isle of Wight route is in- geniously supported by the discoveries of coins found along the lines of the two main routes described by Strabo, by the Seine and by the Loire or Garonne. Coins of the type of those of Massalia, dating back to about 450 B.C., have been found among the various nations of the west of France from Toulouse to Armorica; " they are likewise found in the Channel Islands, and in the south and west of England, as at Portsmouth, at Mount Batten, near Plymouth, and in Devonshire." On the eastern route extending from Auvergne through central France to Kent the coins are of the latter type of the gold stater of Philip of Macedon, which dates only from about 250 B.C. From this it is evident that the earlier route was from the Isle of Wight to Armorica; The more eastern route appears to have been developed by the Belgae, who obtained predominance in the south-east of England before the time of Julius Caesar. Then we come to the omission of tin by Strabo, in his account of British trade ; as to this Prof. Ridgeway argues that " when the Romans in THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY NATURALIST. the time of Caesar discovered the short route to the tin islands off the coast of Galicia (north-west of Spain), the British trade almost ceased, so that when Strabo wrote (1-19 A.D.) tin was no longer exported from Britain." WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meterological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, underthe direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson. K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54*50" N. ; long. i24'o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J.T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 1890. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. April 10 29-723 29-889 40-2 39'7 0*024 ii 29-931 29-914 42-2 39'i 0-005 12 29-854 29-732 46-9 39'3 O'OOO 13 29*642 29-528 46-2 46*2 O'OOO 14 29-448 29'373 52-2 50-0 0-029 15 29-348 29'323 56-8 5'5 0-158 16 29'35 29'39 8 54' I 49'4 0-094 Means 29-614 29'59 48-4 44'9 Tl. 0-310 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in 1 Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. 1 Wind. shine. Max. in Mm. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Aii. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg Deg. April 10 83-8 33'3 47'4 38-2 N N.E. N.E. i'3 ii 109-3 27-8 5' 5 33'4 N.W. N.E. 4'2 12 100-3 27-6 5'7 1V S.E. S.E. 6-1 13 103-3 3 - 9 S3* 36-2 S.E. S.E. 7'8 14 108-0 39'9 63-3 42-8 N.E. E.N.E. 6-9 15 "5'9 4V4 64-6 47'4 E.N.E. E. 6-S 16 109.2 42-6 S7'4 48-0 S.E. N.E. 9-6 Means 104.3 35'4 SS'4 40*0 Tl. 42-7 Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, April 26, 1890. THE CLAYS OF HAMPSHIRE. At the annual conversazione of the Hampshire Literary and Philosophical Society and the Hampshire Field Club at the Hartley Institution, Southampton, on April 23, Mr. T. W. Shore delivered an address on " The Clays of Hampshire and their economic uses," which was illustrated by specimens. Mr. Shore spoke of the efforts which were being made to extract aluminium from clay, and said that should these prove successful, they would be able to start an entirely new industry in Hampshire. Hampshire was singular in possessing a large number of clays, and he would call attention to twelve or thirteen of these of different geological ages. The oldest of the clays was the Wealden tound in the Isle of Wight, and made into bricks at Sandown. Next in age was the Gault a blue clay which existed in the eastern part of the county on the surface of the earth. He produced a specimen from Alton, and said it made a brick similar in colour to those used in the fermation of Above Bar Chapel. The next clay was the Lower Greensand formation, found in the Isle of Wight and the eastern part of Hampshire. Formerly, fuller's earth was quarried in Hampshire, but nothing had been done in that industry since the cessation of the Hampshire cloth trade. Some of this earth had lately been quarried in the neighbourhood of Grayshot, and as in the market it fetched the large sum of ^i per ton the}- would readily believe that the}' had not yet exhausted all the physical resources of Hampshire. These clays were all found beneath the Chalk. The clays the}' next came to included the mottled or Reading clays, such as Stamshaw clay ; then they had the London clay, the Lower Bagshot, and the Bracklesham, of which the last was of great import- ance to Southampton, as most of the place was built of it, and they had fine specimens in that building and in the South-Western Hotel. Above their horizon they came to the younger lot of clays, includ- ing the Barton, Headon, Osborne (so named after the Queen's Island residence), Bembridge marls, Ham. stead, drift clays, higher and lower, the lower called the river drift, from which clay Portsmouth was largely built, and, lastly, they had the clays from the top of the hills. Mr. Shore entered at length into the ancient and modern uses of clay, exhibited several old pipes and specimens of pottery and brickmaking, and in connection with the latter traced the early history of brickmaking in the county. His address was listened to with much attention, and frequently applauded. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50' 54' 59" N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected tor Temperature of Rain in Date Temp, and Alt. the Air 24 hours 9 a.m 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9. a.m. 1890 Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Apl. 17 29-421 29-478 47'5 45"9 0-747 18 29-592 2Q'757 43'i 43-6 '342 '9 29-89- 3'45 42-9 43*0 o'ooo 20 30-18.: 30-233 46* i 47'2 o'ooo 21 30" 2 ii 30*128 53'3 49'3 0-125 22 29-915 3' 2 5 52 - 5 46-6 O'OOO 23 30-076 | 29-975 54' i 47-6 0-340 Means 29-895 29-949 4?-5 46-2 i'S54 Temp. Self Reg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous tog p.m. Wind. shine Max in Min. Max Min Date Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. 1890 Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Apl. 17 67-9 37-8 54'8 44'5 N.E N.E O'O , 18 49'5 43'i 47'' 42*1 N.E N.E O'O '9 56-5 41-0 46-1 40*8 N.E N.E o'o > 20 1O2'2 40-4 53'9 42-3 S.W S.W t'9 , 21 87-2 43'2 55'2 46-8 S.W S.W 0*4 > 22 IH'9 38-2 60-7 46-6 W.S W W. S'l , 23 108 2 33-5 6vi 41-2 N.\\ S.W. 6-0 Means 83-3 39-6 54-o 43'5 I3'4 *Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, May 3, 1890. HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB. MEETING AT WINCHESTER. A new departure was made in regard to the Field Club on Tuesday in holding the annual meeting away from Southampton. It met with considerable success, the attendance being unusually large. The business meeting was held in the Mayor's parlour ot the Guild- hall, when difficulty was found in accommodating the large party assembled. Mr. W. Whitaker, F.R.S., presided. The annual report, read by Mr. W. Dale, F.G.S., stated that 45 fresh members had joined and 23 had been lost through death, removal and other causes. The Proceed ings had been enlarged and been exchanged with those of several similar societies. Reference was made to the conversazione and the monthly meetings of the club at Basmgstoke and Old Basing, Mottisfoiit, Thruxton and Quarley, Godshill, I.W., Cheriton and Tichborne, Winchfield, Odiham and Grey well, and a supplementary meeting for the study of fungi in the New Forest. The financial secretary read the statement of accounts which showed a balance brought forward from the previous year of ^35 8s. sd., and receipts from subscriptions, &c., ,65 153. The expenditure, which included sub- scriptions to the Commons Preservation, Footpaths Preservation and Selborne Societies, part expenses of the soiree, printing the Proceedings, stationery &c., though the actual amount was not mentioned, appears to have been kept within the in- come, for the balance in hand at the end of the year was increased to 39. It was proposed by Mr. F. J. Warner, seconded by Dr. Buckell, and carried that the report and statement be adopted and printed in the Proceedings. The election of officers was then proceeded with : Mr. Morris Miles proposed the re-election of Mr. Whitaker as President. Dr. Buckell, of Southampton, seconded, and the pro- position was carried with acclamation. On the motion of Mr. B. W. Greenfield, the Rev. T. Wood- house, Mr. W. E. Darwin, Professor Notter, and the Dean of Winchester were appointed vice-presidents. The President stated that in increasing the number ot vice-presidents the committee proposed that, like that of president, the office should be held only for two consecutive years. This proposal was adopted by the meeting. Mr. Morris Miles was elected treasurer on the motion of the Rev. T. Woodhouse, and his place as financial secretary was taken by Mr. J. Blount Thomas, J.P., it being explained that it would be more advantageous that the financial secretary should be someone in the town. Messrs. 1'. W. Shore and W. Dale were re-appointed organizing and general secretaries. The local secretaries were re-appointed) with the exception that the Rev. J. Vaughan, who had removed from Alton to Porchester. had taken the Rev. A. A. Headley : s place as secretary for Fareham ; and with the addition of Dr. E. Buckell for Romsey. The Rev. G. W. Minns was re-elected editor of the Proceedings, Mr. Shore paying testimony to the able way in which he had discharged the duties. The remaining members of the committee (Messrs. Griffith and Crowley) were re-elected. Mr. Shore then brought forward the subject of the geological survey of Hampshire ; they had memorialized the Government for a new survey of the county and the Isle of Wight, to be put on the six inch maps, and several maps of portions of the county had been completed, as had the Isle of Wight. These maps would tend to promote the study of the natural history of the county. But they wanted more than that. The information already obtained extended to a comparatively short distance under- ground. They knew, for instance, that a great cake of chalk extended over the county, but they did not know what was 500 feet beneath. With the object of promoting underground exploration in Hampshire, he proposed the formation of a small committee of the Club, to bring the matter before the town and county councils and other bodies. If coal was not found, they might find some other commodity ot commercial value. For instance, as he had men- tioned at the conversazione the other day, they had found in the eastern part of the county some fuller's earth, which formed at one time a staple production of the county. The motion was secpnded by Mr. Dale, and supported by Mr. J. Blount Thomas, and Mr. F. A. Edwards having raised a point as to the " ways and means" of providing for the expenses, which, it was explained, would not fall upon the Club, it was carried, and Messrs. Dale, Colenutt, Thomas and Shore were nominated to be on the committee. The Rev. W. L. W. Eyre next introduced the subject of the preservation of the ancient monumental brasses in the county. At Bishop's Sutton, he said, which the Club had visited last year, there was an ancient brass which had been detached from its position in the floor and mutilated and roughly nailed against the wall of the church, apparently uncared for. In the vale of Candover during the last few years, five churches had been destroyed, three or f our ot them containing brasses, which had been lost. He had himself recovered one (to whom it referred was not known) and restored it to the church of Brown Candover, where it was now erected, though without any name. Some reprints of a description of this interesting figured brass, with an illustration, from the Proceedings of the Society for Antiquaries of last year were handed round to those interested. Mr. Eyre moved that a committee of the Club be ap- pointed to look after these brasses. The Mayor of Winchester, Mr. W. H. Jacob, in seconding this spoke of brasses belonging to the College, which duringthealterationshad been taken up and lost ; many had been so lost, to the great disadvantage ot those engaged in making out pedigrees. The resolution, THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY < NATURALIST. having been made to include other internal memorials, was adopted, and the committee elected as follows : Revs. G. W. Minns and W. L. W. Eyre, and Messrs. B. W. Greenfield and T. K. Dymond. Mr. F. A. Edwards next advocated the arrange- ment of more of the half day excursions, of which there had been only two the previous season, and moved a resolution asking the committee to endeavour to do this. This having been adopted, a rather long business meeting was closed with an expression oi thanks to the Mayor for his kindness in allowing the use of the room, and the members gladty found their way out into the bright sunshine to wend their way to the ruins of Wolvesey Castle. Several, however, lingered to inspect the city charters, which were ex- hibited and explained by Mr. T. F. Kirby. These, some dating from the time of King Henry II, were of great interest, and were very interesting and deserv- ing of a more lengthened examination than time would then allow. The inspection of the ruins of Wolvesey Castle, a place rich in the historical associations which centre around it, was the most attractive feature of the day's proceedings, and the party had the advantage of going over it under the guidance of the Dean of Winchester, Dr. Kitchin, whose antiquarian know- ledge and pleasing manner make him an excellent chaperoii. Canoti Collier, also, who has given much attention to the history of Wolvesey and has made some excavations on the site, and who wrote a short "History of Wolvesey " (second edition, Winchester, 1864), was also of the part}-, but not being in good health, was unable to take a prominent part in the day's proceedings. Starting from the north-east corner of the wall of the castle, where it forms also a part of the city wall, and passing southward, the Dean pointed out the features of this old defence, with its bsrdering ditch parallel to but distinct from the River Itchen. That this wall was of early Nzrman if not Saxon age was shown by the " herring-bone " work in some places and the characteristic Saxon " long and short " course ; and the frequent occur- rence of Roman bricks in the wall was also pointed out. Coming round to the main entrance at the south side, the part}' entered the grounds, and passing the more modern place of Bishops Morley and Trelawney assembled on the greensward in what was at one time the main hall of the castle. Here, by the aid of some plans drawn by Canon Collier and himself, the Dean pointed out the different features of the place, the high tower at one corner and the keep, which, as was almost invariably the case with the Normans, was foursquare. In the walls of the keep the herring- bone work was again pointed out, and also the remains of Roman columns and capitals built into the walls of the dungeon. These columns were pronounced by Mr. Shore to be Isle of Wight lime- stone, Mr. Whitaker adding that some of them were Oolitic, possibly from Portland. It appeared, the Dean said, that this spot had been used by the Romans, as was shown by these relics and the finding of a Roman pavement just outside. When the castle was first built was unknown. Bishop Henry de Blois probably added to a previously existing build- ing in which Alfred the Great probably resided, and where he is said to have had the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle compiled the earliest triumph of literary English histor}-. Some of the associations of the place were brought in review ; it was told how Bishop Alphege, slipping by the guards, stood for half a night doing penance in the water. At that time apparently the bishops did not live in palaces of their own, but in the retinue of the king. Blois built upon the old materials, and here he resided for some time till he fell into disfavor with the king, and the place was dismantled as one of the adulterine castles. It was reduced to its present condition of utter ruin at the time oi the great Civil War. But anyone desiring to follow the history of the place is referred to Canon Collier's pamphlet, to Dr. Kitchin's "Winchester" (Historic Towns series) and other easily accessible works. Of Blois's great castle nothing now remains but ivy-mantled portions of the walls and even the foundations in places are obscured. There is thus little to be seen bej'ond the rough masonry, though here and there is a well finished window, and the corner stones in places are as fresh and clean as if but just hewn. The thick overgrowth of ivy on the walls led to discussion as to the damage or otherwise which it occasions, and it were generally agreed that though a moderate growth might possibly, by taking off the rain, &c. , have a preservative effect, the leaverage alone of the thick outspreading branches could but be prejudicial in loosening the stones of the walls. More than this, too, there were actually trees growing on top of one part of the wall a yew, and another too high to be recognised ; but the Dean stated that instructions had already been given for the destruction of these as a deflection of the wall caused by them was apparent. With regard to the ivy, Mr. Shore suggested that if the Bishop knew it was doing damage he might probably have it cut, and thought it would be well for the Club to make representations on the subject to him. After spending some little time in wandering about these interesting ruins the party was conducted into Bishop Morley's chapel, where the injurious effects of the ivy (there making a surreptitious entry into the window) was again apparent, as were the effects of general neglect and decay. Here Mr. Whitaker felicitously proposed a vote of thanks to the Dean for his guidance, and the Rev. G. W. Minns, in seconding, suggested that the Bishop's attention should be called to the dilapidated condition in which the place has fallen. The chapel, it appears is not at present used, and the building is occupied for techni- cal and other education in connection with the College. From here the party proceeded to the Museum, where the curator, Miss Moody, was in attendance. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 73 to inspect the collection of flint implements lent by the Earl of Northesk. It had been arranged that Lord Northesk should meet the club and explain the collection, but owing to some misunderstanding his Lordship missed the party. Mr. Whitaker explained that the collection was formed by Lord Northesk and consisted of weapons of all ages brought from all parts of the world. It included a good collection of Paleolithic flints from the river gravels, but none from Hampshire. Mr. Shore also made some remarks on the collection, and Mr. Dale drew attention to the very interesting prehistoric carvings on bones from caves, including a cast of a very early representation of a mammoth on a piece of ivory, On leaving here a large number of the party was entertained at tea at the City Restaurant by the Mayor, at the conclusion of which the Rev. G. W. Minns expressed thanks to the Mayor, and referred to the success which had attended the holding: of this annual meeting in Winchester. The attendance, as already mentioned, was large, and we understand that as many as 90 were counted in the Palace grounds. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, May 3, 1890. SEARCHING FOR COAL IN HAMPSHIRE. Amongst the various speculations with which the Rump Parliament was concerning itself shortly before its sudden dissolution by Cromwell's coup d'etat was " the finding of coal," not in Kent, but in another county on the southern coast in Hampshire. The discoverers were Peter Priaulx and others, of South- ampton, and they urgently pressed upon the Rump Parliament, which had hard work to find money for its magnificent naval fight against the Dutch, to appoint a Committee to look into the matter. Colonel Fielder, Colonel Thompson, Colonel Morley, and two civilian members of that very military Parliament, Mr. Wallop and Mr. Love, were accordingly made a Committee in P'ebruary, 1653, and ordered to draw up a report on the Hampshire coal-fields. Has any one followed up in later times this dropped specula- tion ? Pall Mall Gazette, April, 1890. THE FRENCH INVASION OF SOUTH- AMPTON. In the reign of Edward III, when that Prince and Philip of Valois contended for the kingdom of France, the town of Southampton was plundered, and the greatest part of it destroyed by the French, who, with their allies, the Spaniards and Genoese, landed in October, 1338, from a fleet of fifty gallies, putting all that opposed them to the sword. Stow gives the following description of the de- struction of this place : " The fourth of October fifty gallies, well manned and furnished, came to South- ampton, about nine of the clock, and sacked the town, the townsmen running away for feare. By the break of the next day, they which fled, by the help of the country thereabout, came against the pyrates, and fought with them, in the which skyrmish were slain to the number of three hundred pyrates, together with their Captain, the King of Sicilies sonne ; to this young man the French King had given whatsoever he got in the kingdom of England ; but he being beaten down by a certain man of the country, cried out ' Ranfon, ranfon,' notwithstanding which the husband- man laid him on with his clubbe till he had slain him, speaking these words : ' Yea (quoth he), I know thee well enough, thou art a Francon, and therefore thou shall die ' ; for he understood not his speech, neither had he any skill to take gentlemen prisoners, and to keep them for their ransome ; wherefore the residue of these Genoways, after they had set the town on fire and burned it up quite, fledde to their gallies, and in their flying certain of them were drowned, and after this the inhabitants of the town encompassed it about with a great and strong wall." J. DORE. A DISTINGUISHED PRISONER OF WAR. The Rev. G. N. Godwin, B.D., has compiled from Bryan's " Dictionary ot Painters and Engravers " and other sources the following notes on Ambrose Louis Garneray, a French artist who was taken prisoner during our war with France in the early years of this century and unwillingly spent eight years of his life at Portsmouth. His father, Francois Garneray, born in Paris in I 755> was a pupil of David. He painted portraits, architectural views, and fancy (not to say historical) pictures. The latter are interesting, and his early portraits are in the Flemish style. He was living in 1831. His son, Ambrose Louis Garneray, was a dis- tinguished marine painter, and was born at Paris in 1783. He, having received his first lessons from his father, went to sea at an early age, and between the years 1796 and 1806, served in a dozen different ships, was in several engagements, suffered ship- wreck, and at length was taken prisoner near the Azores by a British squadron, under the command of Sir J. B. Warren, on March 16, 1806, and brought" to Portsmouth, where, after several desperate but un- successful efforts to escape, he remained until the peace in 1814. During these eight years he worked hard, and some of his pictures, especially of the hulks in Porchester Creek, on board one of %vhich, the Prothee, 64, he was confined, are still to be found in and near Portsmouth. On his return to France, he left the navy, and devoted himselt to painting under the patronage of Louis XVIII. His first exhibited picture was painted in 1816, " A View of the Port of London." In 1817 he was appointed painter to the Due d'Angouleme ; in 1833 he was 74 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. made Director of the Museum at Rouen, after which he spent six years in the porcelain manufactory at Sevres, where he painted pictures frr other artists to copy on the manufactured work. He received a gold medal at the exhibition of 1819, the decoration of the Legion of Honour in 1852, besides medals and an annual Government pension for the discovery of a new kind of canvas tor painting on. Amongst his known works are at Nantes " An incident in the Battle of Navarino " (ordered by the Government), 41 The Duke and Duchess of Berri returning to France on board English frigates "; at Rochelle, " The Capture of the Kent by La Confiance "; at Marseilles, " A view of the Straits of Furnes " ; at Rochefort, "The frigate Virginie attacking an English squadron 1 '; at Rouen, " Cod-fishing on the banks of Newfoundland "; and at Versailles, "The Battle of Duguenes." He, at the close of his life, painted a large picture for the French Government of "Napoleon I quitting Elba for France." Jazet engraved many of his pictures. He himself studied aquatint under Debucourt, designing and engraving 64 views of French, and 40 views of foreign ports. He published in the Patne newspaper the " Voyages of Louis Garneray" and the " Captivity of Louis Garneray." These works were afterwards re-pub- lished in book form, profusely illustrated by himself. He died at Paris in October, 1857. His brother Auguste was likewise a somewhat celebrated artist. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, May 10, 1890. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54' 59" N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected lor Temperature ol Rain in Date Temp, and Alt. the Air 24 hours 9 a.ra 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9. a.m. 1890 Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Apl. 24 29-676 29-630 53-6 49-6 0-367 25 29-224 20-529 45'i 45-0 0*261 26 29'58S 29-805 50-6 42-2 0*062 27 2g-.>7i 30'02O 50-8 48-S o'ooo 28 29-997 29-954 55' 48-0 0-103 29 29-930 29-932 52' i 45'8 o'ooo 30 29-950 29-916 6 '7 52-8 o'ooo Means 29-762 29-827 S2'7 47'4 0-703 Temp. Self Reg. Ther. in 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Direction of Wind. Sun- shine Max in Min. Max Min Date Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. 1890 Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Apl. 24 100-3 46-6 58-6 46-2 N.W. N.W. I'O -5 74'9 37'7 50-6 40-6 E.S.E. N.W. o'o 26 97-2 29-4 Si'7 34'9 S.E. N.N.E. 5-4 27 114*2 31-2 57'5 3-5 N.W. N.W. 7-2 28 109-8 42-3 59' 4 39' s.s.w s.w. 6-4 29 114-6 33'7 57'S 40*0 S.E. N.E. lO'O 3 in i 34-7 64-6 41-2 S.E. E. 12-8 Means 103-2 35" i S7'i 40-1 43'7 WEATHER IN APRIL. Proverbial April weather has marked the present month, sunshine and showers, though the latter have prevailed over the average. The total rainfall has been 2'66 ; and the average of the preceding ten years i '93 inches. Since January we have had 8-57, the average for the same time being 9-22 inches. Rain fell on thirteen days, and ten days are entered as " fine sunshine." Allusion was made last month to the leafing of the ash and the oak ; a good deal of discussion has taken place in some magazines respect- ing it, with very conflicting opinions, most maintain- ing that the ash being before the oak is followed by wet. There may not be much in it either way. This year, without any doubt, the oak is before the ash, oaks at present being in pretty full leaf, and the ash hardly bursting. It may be interesting to note the weather that follows. The barometer has not shown any great fluctuation, but has been rather under the average. The highest was 30^40, and the lowest 29-23 inches. It was 3oin. and upwards on eleven days. The temperature has been somewhat cold, especially at night ; frosts occurred on nine nights, the lowest being 27deg. on the night of the 4th, and the highest 64deg. on the I5th ; it was 6odeg. and above on six days. Fordingbridge. T. WESTLAKE. *Black bulb in vacuo. HAMPSHIRE NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. The Rev. E. D. Lear, of Blackmoor Vicarage, Petersfield, writes to the Field as follows: "On April 21 I looked into a wren's nest which I had found last year in an Irish yew in Lord Selborne's garden, and was astonished to find a dead wren sitting in a perfectly natural position. It had plainly been there for some time, but there was no smell from it, and all the feathers were still on the bird as if alive. In fact, the only difference was the absence of the eyes and the weight of the bird, which was so very little as to prove that all the flesh had gone, having been eaten probably by insects." " E.L.M.," of Winchester, referring to an announcement of the cuckoo being heard on April 23, writes in the same paper : " I myself heard it on March 29, when there were several people by, some of whom saw it, though I did not myself." Mr. Arthur Royds, junr., of Droxford, says the earliest arrivals of summer migrants as noted by him there this season are : Swallow, 6th April ; cuckoo, i2th ; blackcap, i3th ; house-martin, 151!! ; and nightingale, i6th. A gentleman at Droxford noticed some of the swallow tribe, probably sand- martins, towards the end of March. A MEONSTOKE TRAGEDY 112 YEARS AGO. Not long ago I purchased at one of our old book- stalls an old Evangelical Magazine, in which is THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 75 narrated a strange incident which happened, it said, in Hampshire 112 years ago. I know that sometimes cases of this sort are over-coloured in even religious magazines, and so on Monday, April 2ist, 1890, being at Meon, I decided to ascertain if any such fact was locally known. In the old churchyard I found on grave stones the names of both Bignell and Earwaker, and still the names exist near the locality. The clergy- man here is over 90, and he occasionally does duty, and most always manages to preach an extempore sermon of 40 or 45 minutes. The parish register shows the fact of the death of the person under the circumstances recorded, and if any doubt they can see the register. The box is still in the village, and the farm-house is known. I have not seen the box, but I am told where I can see it, and the parish register I can see on my next visit. GEO. PARKER. St. Mark's-road, Southampton. FROM THE EVANGELICAL MAGAZINE OF JANUARY, 1802. The following narrative was lately communicated by Mr. John Bignell, jun. He resides at Mr. Robert Bowyer's, Pallmall ; who also can testify the truth of it. " In the year 1778, there died at Meonstoke, in Hamp- shire, a Mr. Thomas Wyatt, by trade a wheelwright. He had, through his own industry, accumulated a sufficiency to live the latter part of his days independent. Messrs. John and Francis Bignell being his nearest relations, he made them his executors, and left them the greater part of his property. Having many distant relations, however, and being of a generous disposition, he bequeathed to each of them 2 trifling legacy. For this purpose he had con- cealed a certain sum of money under the floor, at the bottom of a closet, specifying particulars in a letter which he had left written in Latin, directed to Mr. John Bignell. After the funeral the above-mentioned money was searched for, but could not be found. Mr. Wyatt having only a ser- vant-maid in the house with him for some years before his decease, the executors concluded that she must be the person who had it, and accordingly accused her of having done so. She denied it in the most solemn manner, wish- ing that God might stiike her dead if she had ever seen it. After being discharged she went to a lodging in the same village. The executors still concluding that the money must have been taken away by her, procured a warrant and proper officers in order to search her lodging. Upon their entering the house, she met them with the greatest cheerfulness, still declaring that she had never seen the money. They proceeded first to search the upper part of the house. After having gone through several rooms, she said ' Now we have been in all the rooms upstairs we will go down,' but they perceived another door, which they soon found led to her apart- ment. As soon as they entered this room they observed a box, which was locked. Upon demanding the key, she said she had lost it. In consequence of their threatening to break it open, however, she took the key out of her pocket, and unlocked the box herself; but immediately on its being opened she was observed to take out something, and attempt to put it into her pocket. On stopping her hand they found it to be a silver tooth-pick, which be- longed to Mr. Wyatt ; and searching further into the box they discovered sheets, table-cloths, spoons, a pair of silver buckles, &c., all of which she had taken from him. At the bottom of the box they found the money in a smaller box, which Mr. Wyatt had particularly described. Finding herself thus detected she fell down on the bed, and expired immediately. " N.B. Among other legacies which Mr. Wyatt left he had bequeathed fifty pounds to his servant, and which bequest was thus expressed: 'To my true and faithful servant, Elizabeth Earwaker,' . 4 26-673 29'539 59 '4 57'7 'i39 5 29'55i 29-656 49'9 40'6 o'ooo .. 6 29-675 29-652 53-8 50-8 o'ooo ' 29*628 29-613 57'4 49'7 o'ooo Means. 29'738 29-720 56-0 5i-6 0-139 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous togp.m. Wind. shine. Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in c, a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. May i 117-8 37-0 68-7 45' i E. N.E. 9-2 ,, 2 110-8 36'7 63-1 43'4 S.E. S.S.W. ii'i 3 "3'7 37-a 62-1 44'5 S.S.W. S.E. 5'5 4 118-9 46' S 65'4 48-2 S E. E.S.E. i'S 5 Il6'2 43' S 59'8 49-1 S.S.W. S.E. 6-8 ., 6 iio'g 38-4 59'' 44'9 S.E. S.E. 5-8 7 H9'3 37'4 63-6 47'9 S.E. S,E. 10-4 Means. H5'4 39'6 63-1 46-2 50-3 * Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, May 17, 16 WEST MEON AND THE CIVIL WAR. " Peter Lombard " contributed the following further notes on the Meon country to The Church Times of April 3 last : In a former paper I gave Edward VI's inventories ofEastmeon and two chapelries in the parish, viz. , Westbury and " the chapel in the field," and I said that I had not local knowledge enough to identify the latter. An old friend and former pupil of mine, Mr. T. W. Shore, of the Hartley Institution, Southamp- ton, solves the difficulty, and tells me that it is Frox- field, now a separate parish, but formerly a chapelry of Eastmeon. I have no doubt that he is right. Next to Mr. Baigent, he is the best living historiographer of 7 6 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. Hants. I have only seen Froxfield once ; it is a secluded place, off the road. I think there is an old church there surrounded by a burial ground, and a new church hard by. Two hundred and forty-six years ago this very day on which I write March 29, 1644 this is the date on which I propose to speak in the following notes. England was in the agony of civil war, and in no part was this more fierce than in Hampshire. Basing House was being besieged by the Parliamentary army. Lord Hopton was at Winchester in command of the King's men, thirteen or fourteen thousand strong. Sir William Waller, the Parliamentarian general, was in Sussex, where he had been besieging Arundel Castle, but he was now moving forward to try conclusions with Lord Hopton. On the i8th of March he reached Chichester with a train of artillery, and next day a solemn fast was observed by his army. All the farmers' teams were impressed by him for the transport of his baggage and guns. Other forces were to join him, some from London, some from Portsmouth, and the appointed place of meeting was to be Tichbourne Down. On he came through Havant, Catherington, and Petersfield. Lord Hopton, in order to prevent the junction, marched out from Winchester against him, and sent his advanced guard to occupy Westmeon. This was on Saturday evening, March 23rd. The London Parliamentary Brigade were on their way from Alton when the news reached them that Hopton's army was at Westmeon. After some skir- mishing, in which the Royalists got the worst of it, a rumour reached the Roundheads that reinforcements were coming against them. They drew oflf awhile, but finding it a false alarm they returned, especially as they heard that Sir William Waller had reached Eastmeon. There was a good deal of fighting among outposts there, and it was probably then that the victims of the fight were buried under the " Amens Plenty " stone. On the evening of the 26th Waller's advanced posts occupied Westmeon. There was a regiment amorg them kno\vn as the " Lobsters," because they wore hard armour like iron shells. An account of the proceedings is preserved by one who signs himself "Eye Witness," but whose name is not known. He is perhaps the first instance of a 41 war correspondent," for he had been sent down by the Lord Mayor of London to re- port the doings, and he tells how the two armies were in constant movement, not only watching each other, but sometimes marching side by side, each afraid to attack. Two things, however, I have to chronicle. The first is that Waller's Lieutenant, Major-General Browne, stabled his horses in the church, the old church of which I have had so much to say. The other is that his soldiers destroyed the village cross. This cross had been set up in the centre of the village by Cardinal Beaufort, the muni- ficent founder of the Hundred Men's Hall at St. Cross, Winchester. The site at Westmeon is to this day called " the Cross," though every vestige of the ancient cross has disappeared. It is a charming spot, in the very heart of the village, surrounded by trees, among them a very ancient yew. I think it probable that if the place were excavated, pieces of the old cross might be found. I would give much labour, and what little money I can afford, to restore the beautiful symbol of redemption in the dear village. Next day, March 27th, General Browne's army received orders to move out of the village, on the intelligence that the enemy was assembling in force, and he took the road for West Tisted, a village some four miles to the north, on the way to Alton. " We drew our men into a body near Westmeon," says the Eye Witness, " and marched as tootmen in hourly expectation of an attack, and about a mile from the village the enemy [i.e., the Cavaliers] attacked us." This, then, was Westmeon fight, and I could show the reader the very spot. More than fifty years ago a new broad turnpike-road was made for the benefit of the Gosport coaches, for the old road was dangerous. They cut through some wide fields, and in doing so came upon three skeletons, with some pieces of armour and a halberd beside them. Of course, very few persons living remember the circum- stances, and I do not believe there is a single person besides myself who could point out the exact place. I was a very small boy, and used to be sent by my father to show it to chance visitors. And I could do it still. No doubt, if the field were explored others would be found. It delighted me hugely when I read Eye Witness's account, to find it exactly tallying with this discovery. At West Tisted there was another brush, but the parish register has the record of a man " killed in the fight." On the aQth the two main armies came to a decisive battle at Cheriton. Mr. Shore, who has been all over the ground, tells me that the main brunt of it found place in the field which lies beside the road leading from the Winchester and Bramdean road to Cheriton. I know the place well, but have never ex- plored the neighbourhood to identify other sites which are named in the records. Close by is Tichborne House, noted in our own time for the attempts of an imposter to get possession of it, but known also for centuries of Hampshire history for the romantic adventures of some of the owners. The possessor at the time of the fight was Sir Benjamin Tichborne. He was a King's man of course, and was M.P. for Petersfield. After an obstinate fight the Royalists were beaten with fearful slaughter. They killed 200 horses to prevent the enemy getting them, and also to block up the road. And they buried nine cannon which some day will be dug up when any excavator happens to come upon them. Sir Benjamin hid him- self in a hollow tree, still standing, and now called " Sir Benjamin's Oak." Not many years ago the villagers used small cannon balls, which had been THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 77 dug up in the field, in their games of bowls. This battle did much to ruin the royal cause. On March 3ist the House of Commons heard two sermons at St. Margaret's, Westminster, one from Master Obadiah Sedgwick, text Psalm, iii, 8, and the other from Master Thomas Cox, text Daniel, xi, 32. When I was a boy the traditions of the Westmeon fight lingered in the village. An old labourer named Shaw- yer, whose family name appears in the parish registers from the beginning, used to say that he had " heerd tell as how there was a terrible fight once up the hill in Oliver's time." He certainly had not got it from books. His great grandfather might have been there. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S , R.E. Lat. 50 54 '' so"N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9. a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 1890. Inches. Inches. Deg. Deg. Inches. May 8 29.613 29-617 60-0 54'7 O'OOO 9 29.584 29-458 51-8 50.0 0-687 10 29.456 29.472 Si'S 52'4 o 023 ii JI 29'53 29-596 56 '9 53'7 o 027 ii I2 29-581 29' 554 60-6 57'2 o ooo i 13 29-613 29-750 62.6 5'7 0030 14 29.897 30.072 59' 2 SO' I o 008 Means. 29-607 29-646 57'S 52.7 0-775 Temp. Self.-Reg. Ther in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. 1890. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. 37 -6 N.E. N.N.E. 9 63-8 48-0 55'7 47'9 N.E. N.W. o'o ,, io f 07-0 45'9 59'2 . 47'7 3.W. S.E. 4'3 ii i6'o 48-0 64-4 49-1 W.S.W. S.E. 9' 1 ,, 12 25-0 41-9 69'6 47'3 W.S.W. N.W. 9-3 ,, 13 i8'i 46-5 66'4 49'o N.W. W. 12-4 14 18-3 45'o 63-9 48-8 W.N.W. S.W. IO'O Means. 108-7 44'7 63'5 ' : 47'4 52*6 * Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, May 24, 1890. SOPLEY CHURCH. A correspondent writes : In the quaint old church of this parish, the chancel end, there is a finely carved large chair, dated 1604, when James the first was king. It is ornamented with cross swords and other well-cut designs. Near the belfry are three ancient stone recumbent figures. There is some pretty fresco work in the church, one subject being the " Marriage supper of the Lamb," another " The Crucifixion," with the two women and the Centurian looking on. " Tyrell's Ford" is near, over which 1'yrell escaped when he had shot Rufus. BEE SWARMING. E.D., of 35, Nelson-road, Freemantle, writes under date of Wednesday : I had my first swarm of bees to-day, the 2ist of May. WEST MEON. " Peter Lombard" contributed the following notes to the Church Times of March 21 last. They should have preceded those in last week's Independent. Yet a mile further westward from Westbury, and we are at Westmeon, the furthest point of my pilgrimage into the Meon country for the present. A very pretty village and not without historical interest. Fifty years ago there used to be an old church here, heavy and uncouth to look upon. It was partly Norman, partly, I believe, Saxon, and withal, a good deal of it was modern churchwarden. They had put in hideous windows, and a big gallery with a lion and unicorn, and square doors. That church had, according to tradition, been founded by St. Wilfrid of York during his banishment into Sussex. He had come up the Meon country and converted the people from heathenism, and two churches further down the valley unquestionably owe their foundation to him. In the hands of a skilful architect this old church might have been restored to its pristine massive beauty ; but unfortunately, church architecture was not understood fifty years ago as it is now, and the rector of those days, a munificent and persevering church-builder, caused it to be pulled down and another to be built a few yards from it, at an expense to himself of some 11,000. It is one ofSirGeo. G. Scott's, and has considerable beauty of its own, though it is by no means what the great architect would have designed a few years later. The outer walls are of black flint, each of which was cut in a square mould, and as the builder did his work in the most substantial style, the appearance is like that of black marble. I saw the old rector lay the foundation-stone on August 9, 1843. It lies out of sight just above the level of the ground under the east window, and bears the following inscription. I want to give it here, for I believe there is no copy of it to be found in any journal or parish record, and if printed here once for all, it will at any rate be interesting to antiquaries in generations to come, who otherwise would have no record of it : Antiquo Dei jam ruente templo Huncce primum ^dis novae lapidem Posuit H. V. Bayley, D.D., Rector. ix Aug., MDCCCXLIII. Hicks ) jfloody f aedituis, et T. Lewis, aedificatore. I believe it is a good piece of Latin. At any rate he had the character of being one of the best classics ot his time. ( um-J 7 8 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY NATURALIST. The old church had some relics which have quite disappeared. The font has, after a good many ad- ventures, been turned into a piscina in a London church. There were two Latin inscriptions of great length on the south wall. I wish some one had copied them. They are quite gone. There was a stone on the chancel floor to the memory of Eliza- beth, wife of Dr. Abraham Alleyne, rector of this parish, who died in 1685. That was taken to form a basis for the churchyard gates, and the inscription is now all but trodden out. I could make out the " Elizabethae " the last time I saw it. Abraham Alleyne was an interesting man. Some day I may have more to say about him. A few marble tablets have been removed to the walls of the tower of the new church. Ages hence no one will know that they do not tell strict truth when two of them begin " In a vault beneath this seat." One ot these is to Stephen Unwin, who was rector here for fifty years. He was, if I recollect aright, the brother of Morley and uncle of William Unwin, the two friends of Cowper. After him came one Thomas Dampier, who was, however, a year or two later made Bishop of Ely, but who pro- cured the living for his brother John, and he also was rector for near upon half a century. One of the tablets is to him. Mr. Dampier is said to have been the fattest man in the county. One day he came in from hunting. " Thompthon," said he, " what have you got for my dinner?'' " A goose, your reverence." " Bring him up, I'll goothe him." He did. He picked every bone. A lady still living remembers him, and told me the following anecdote of him : A child was brought to be baptised, the son of the village doctor. This child has come to be a somewhat well known man, an able Professor of to-day at Oxford. "Name thith child, 1 ' said the rector. "James Edwin Thorold," replied the sponsor. " What ? " ejaculated the amazed rector. The sponsor repeated the former answer. " Bleth my thoul, what a lot of nameth ! Thay it oneth more." The sponsor did so, and the child was duly baptized. To a third of these mural monuments a curious romance attaches. The space still open to me will not allow me to relate it this week. Let me mention instead that in the churchyard lie buried the father and mother of Richard Cobden, ot whom I have heard old people who remembered them speak with much affection and respect. In the same churchyard is buried also John Lord, the author of Lord's Cricket Ground. He left Marylebone in 1830, I believe, and came down to end his days in the house in which I began to write these Meon papers. He died suddenly on the i5th of January, 1832. Let us hope that the Marylebone Club, for which he did so much, will always keep in order the stone which covers him. A coat of paint even now would not hurt it. Another object of interest is the marriage register of Wm. Howley, Rector of Ropley, a village some seven miles off. Why he came here to be married I know not, perhaps it was because his wife was below him in social position. She could not write her name, and a cross stands for her signature. They became the parents of him who was called " the last Prince Archbishop," a man of real dignity, and ot vast munificence. Merit or good fortune, or both, thus raised the son of a peasant girl to an exalted position, and he showed himself as worthy to fill it as if he could have traced his lineage back to the Con- quest. On the " Amens Plenty " in Eastmeon church a letter appeared in the correspondence columns a fort- night ago stating that the " s " is a later addition. I never observed that, and think the writer must be mistaken. I have received many letters suggesting interpretations, one from a lady in the neighbour- hood, which I transcribe : " A record of Lord Hopton's march from Winchester to take Arundel was discovered at Eastmeon not long ago, when four bodies were found buried in an upright posture (like Ben Jonson's in Westminster Abbey) under a stone bearing the mysterious legend, ' Amens Plenty.' Let the imagination conceive that four ' Psalm-singing knaves ' were killed here, and buried in grim jest as a quartette sing Amens plenty without interruption." It is not entirely satisfactory. Might it not mean, assuming the correctness of the fact ot the burial, that somebody meant " Amen is plenty " for such fellows as these ? None of the other solutions commend themselves to me. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meterological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson. K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54*50" N. ; long. i24'o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J.T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 1890. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. May 15 30' 126 30-087 55' 5' i O'OOO 16 29*920 29-710 59-8 54' 2 0*362 n J 7 2 5>'7i5 29-727 54-6 5'9 O'OOO 18 29-717 2 9'753 56-9 5 2 '4 0*004 '9 29-736 29' 589 57'4 56-8 0-405 20 29*602 29^93 1 51-6 51-2 0-003 2I 3'i37 30-263 58-2 52-2 o'ooo Means 29-850 29-864 56-2 5*'S Tl. 0-774 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine. Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg Deg. May i s in"9 4i'3 59'8 4 b-i s w. s w. 7'5 16 117-0 43'3 65-6 47'7 s S E. 5'6 ii '7 114-2 47'7 58-6 5'4 s w. S E. 8-8 .. 18 989 44'5 59' 5 49'5 s s.w. E 2 '5 >i *9 73' 7 44-6 58-6 4"7 e. N E. 0-9 ii 2O 97'8 4T3 57-6 49-2 S E. S W. i '9 >i 21 117.1 43'i 64-2 49' 2 s S E. i:-6 Means 104.4 44'3 60-6 48-7 Tl. 38-8 Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST, 79 THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, May 31, THE HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB. MEETING AT EAST MEON. The Hampshire Field Club added another chapter to its exploration of the beauties and antiquities of the county by its meeting at East Meon on Thursday. The district comprises one of the most beautiful parts of Hampshire, with its hilly lanes and varied wood- land scenery, and the neighbourhood is associated with the history of the country during the great Civil War. To this, therefore, and to the increasing popu- larity of the Club, is due the fact that a large number of members (nearly 60) assembled at Alresford station, under the guidance of the Rev. G. N. God- win, B.D., and Mr. T. W. Shore, F.G.S., whence, on account of the distance to be traversed, the party pro- ceeded in brakes Passing through Bishop's Sutton, which was visited last year, a stop- page was made at West Tisted to inspect the church. This edifice contains some features of Norman date. The old church originally extended only the length of the present nave, as may be seen by an old piscina in the south wall near the junction with the chancel. In the time of Domesday (the Rev. G. N. Godwin mentioned) Tisted was held by Ranulph of the Bishop of Winchester, when it was assessed at seven hides, the value being 6. The church was mentioned in that survey. The font was pronounced to be as old as the early part of the building, and in the doorway an ancient stoup was pointed out. In one of the walls is an inscribed tablet to one of the Tichborne family Benjamin Tichborne who died in 1677. In the churchyard some interest was elicited by a fine old yew, which it was thought might be a thousand years old. The trunk of this tree is hollow, and inside is growing a newer stem, an instance, as Mr. T. W. Shore pointed out, of the powers of rejuvenescence possessed by the yew. It evidently has the power of renewing its youth, and to this fact is due (the Rev. H. R. Fleming, of Corhampton, mentioned) its selection for church- yards as an emblem of immortality. Similar instances of the growth of new stems inside or mingled with the old ones were mentioned at Cor- hampton and other places. Close by the church is the Jacobean manor house which was in the seventeenth century occupied by a branch of the Tichborne family. Permission had been obtained to inspect this, and the interior disclosed a fine large hall, with a great old fashion open chimney, where the fire dogs are still in use for the fire. Adjoining is a wainscoted room with some good paneling. Here Mr. Godwin read some notes on the Tichborne family, which is so intimately associated with the place. The name, it appears, was originally De Ytchingbourne, which became con- tracted to Ticeburn or Tichborne. A Sir Roger de Tichborne was mentioned in the time of Henry I ; and Sir John Tichborne was, temp. Edward II, sheriff and knight of the shire and under Edward III, a justice itinerant. Not far from the old manor house is the Tichborne Oak, a tree famous as having been the hiding place of Sir Benjamin Tichborne after the battle of Cheriton. It was noted as a curious coincidence that this meeting of the Club was held on Oak-apple day, and though not on the programme the party proceeded to look at the tree, but owing to a somewhat peremptory indi- cation from Mr. Shore that the work planned out for the day would not allow a long stoppage here, the party was unable to hear from Mr. Godwin the story of this tree. A pleasant drive from here on the road to Privett led to some tumuli known as the Jumps, or the Devil's Jumps, where a halt was made for refresh- ments. These tumuli, which are some three or four in number, were stated on the programme to be of Keltic origin, though Mr. W. Dale, F.G.S.,one of the hon. secretaries, expressed doubt upon this point. He said they resembled those at Petersfield rather than those near Stonehenge. Mr. Shore drew atten- tion to their position as lying along a line pointing to the rising of the midsummer sun, as was the case with the stones at Stonehenge, and dwelt on the significance of this fact as showing that the builders of these mounds paid reverence in their worship to the sun. It is curious how these old remains, of the origin of which our medieval ancestors could divine nothing, were attributed to the Devil. Several instances of the attribution to satanic origin of other relics in different parts of the country were cited, and the President (Mr. W. Whitaker, F.R.S.) raised a humorous protest against the failure in the Ordnance Maps to give the old gentleman his due by naming these mounds merely The Jumps. Mr. Morris Miles suggested that some of those mounds about the country were made to commemorate battles, and not merely as burial places, and in corroboration of this the Rev. T. Woodhouse mentioned a mound in Somersetshire at a place where the Danes were defeated in the time of Alfred. Sandwiches despatched, a little business engaged the attention of the Club, and the President having " taken the chair " on a heap of broken road metal, the Club proceeded to remedy an omission at the annual meeting by the election on the committee ot the Rev. G. N. Godwin, a gentleman who has done useful service to the Club, and this was unanimously agreed to. A recommendation was also received from the committee that a limitation should be put to the number of members, which was now becoming inconveniently large, so that it occasioned difficul- ties in the arrangement of some of the meetings. It was stated that over 20 members had joined since the annual meeting, bringing the number up to some 240, and it was recommended that the number should be So THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. limited to 250, with the understanding, however, that this should not prevent the committee from electing any member beyond that number who was known to have been engaged in some scientific researches con- nected with the county. There was some discussion on this proposition, in which Messrs. Miles, F. A. Edwards, Dale, and Shore took part, and it was ulti- mately adopted with one dissentient. Privett church was next visited. This is one of the finest modern village churches in Hampshire, and was described in the programme as the best example of a flint building in the county. It was built by Mr. W. Nicholson, lately M.P. for Petersfield, and the cost was variously stated at from 25,000 to 40,000. It is a beautiful building in design, and it is evident that no pains were spared in the execution. Several different kinds of stone are brought into requisition in the interior of the building Bath Oolite, yellow stone from Ham Hill in Somerset, red sandstone from Dumfries, Purbeck marble (for the shafts), and carboniferous limestone (for the chancel steps). On the use of the Purbeck marble it was remarked by Mr. B. W. Greenfield that after a long period of disuse the rediscovery of this stone was contemporary with the building of the Temple Church, about 1837. The chancel floor and aisles are inlaid with mosaic work in patterns, for the laying down of which an Italian artificer had to be employed. Some informa- tion about the flints and the deposit named Clay with Flints of the surrounding country was given by Mr. Whitaker, who stated that it was a deposit left by the denudation of the chalk, which had been dissolved away, whilst the insoluble matter remained. It lay like a cap on the tops of the surrounding hills, having a very irregular junction with the chalk. The flint work of the church, Mr. Whitaker thought, would not compare favourably with similar work in Norfolk and Suffolk, where the flints were dressed so as to present a more even surface. A pretty drive through Mr. Nicholson's park led to East Meon, the central point of the day's excursion. The church here is an interesting building, dating from Norman times. In shape it is cruciform, with a central tower (with Norman windows) and spire. It was entered by the beautiful west doorway, with the well known Norman moulding. The Rev. G. N. Godwin gave some account of the history of the church. In the time of Edward the Confessor Meon was held by Archbishop Stigand for the use of the monks of Winchester. It contained 72 hides, though assessed at 35 hides, and its value was 60. At the time of Domesday it paid 100, but appears to have been too highly rented at that figure. Bishop Walke- lin then held of the manor six hides, one yardland and the church, so that by this time the Church had been deprived of a large slice of its possessions. It is supposed by some authorities (e.g. Rev. Canon Benham, History of the Diocese of Winchester), that the church was built by Walkelin, but Mr. Shore expressed a .doubt on this point ; was it likely when the Conqueror had taken possession of so much of the land that Walkelin would have erected the Church ? Was it not rather the work of Stigand ? To answer this question archi- tectural lore was brought into requisition. Mr. Dale thought it was earlier than Walkelin's work in Win- chester Cathedral ; Mr. Nisbet, an architect of the party, said that whilst the west door was later than the time of Walkelin, the tower arches were earlier. These tower arches are very similar to those of St. Michael's Church in Southampton. The tower is supported on four massive pillars connected with severely plain round arches ; the moulding from which the arches spring is on one side only of the stone, which in itself indicates a very early period. Attention was drawn to the stone in the floor (which was referred to in our Notes and Queries column a week or two ago), on which are the words " Amens Plenty " ; but the mystery surrounding it was hardly altogether cleared up. Mr. Godwin thought it showed the place where some of the Parliamentary soldiers slain in the Civil War were buried ; Mr. Shore sug- gested that the stone might be the last tribute to the memory of a deceased parish clerk, and asked whether Plenty occurred as a surname in the village. Some support to Mr. Godwin's theory was afforded by a resident of the locality, who stated that the stone was not now in its original position, and that when it was removed six skeletons were found under it which had been buried upright. Perhaps the most interesting archaeological feature of East Meon Church is the font, which is formed of a square stone, with carvings in relief on the four sides, and also in the spaces be- tween the round basin and the four corners. This font is similar in character to those at Winchester Cathedral, at St. Michael's Church, Southampton, and at St. Mary Bourne. These fonts have given rise to much discussion amongst archaeologists as to the stone of which they are made and as to their origin. Some have pronounced them to be of slate and of Norman work- manship. Mr. Shore is of opinion that they are of Byzantine origin, being brought over to this country by early merchants, possibly at the time of the Crusades. The style of carving he pronounced to be nothing like a typical Norman font, but undoubtedly Byzantine ; and it was stated in support of this theory that a model of this font in the South Kensington Museum is labeled as Byzantine, and another of the Winchester one, now or lately at the Crystal Palace, is similarly labeled. The carvings on this font were described by the vicar, the Rev. Mr. Tomlinson, to represent the creation of Adam and Eve, the tempta- tion, the expulsion, and the angel teaching Adam and Eve to dig ; on the third side there are doves and dogs, and on the fourth dragons. In the top corners are birds drinking out of vessels, which Dr. Davies thought distinctly Byzantine. Around the sides were also represented series of arches, and Mr. Shore suggested that these might be intended to represent THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. 81 the ancient idea of the baptistery. Mr. J. M. Peake, of Liphook, mentioned a tradition that there was formerly a similar font in Bramshott church ; and the Rev. G. N. Godwin had seen another in the museum at Bruges. Not far from the church is an old building known as the Court House. This formerly contained a large hall, which has, however, been cut up into different rooms, part being used as a dwelling-house. The woodwork of the roof is in good preservation, and apparently untouched by worms or spiders. On the corbels are carved heads of royal and episcopal personages, and these gave rise to some speculation as to their identity. The Vicar intends, we believe, to have some of these photographed for the purpose of identification. Mr. Shore here read the following paper : THE HALL OF THE OLD COURT HOUSE. It is historically interesting to consider that while we are constructing in England a system of local government at the present day, in which all householders shall have a voice through their representatives in a district council, here in what remains of this old Court House, we come upon the relics of an ancient system of local government. The parts which remain of this delapidated hall are like the wreckage of some gooc 1 old ship which has drifted down to us from the sea of time. Here was the place of the ancient Hundred Court of East Meon, an ancient seat of local government and also of justice, where the Bailiff of the Hundred and a jury in olden time administered both criminal and civil law in the Hundred Court. We may look on these ruins with respect, for they have voices of their own, which come to us from an obsolete system and from past centuries. The building itself is, I think, prob- ably of VVykeham's time. This old Court House at East Meon has been for a long time popularly known as King John's House. This tradition connecting the place with King John must be very ancient, and some kind of authority has been given to it by the mention of King John residing at East Meon, when Earl of Mortain and Glouces- ter, in the well known local election petition and trial called the Petersfield Case. It is certain that John, when Earl of Mortain (not Moreton, as erroneously stated in the Petersfield Case) and Earl of Gloucester, in right of his first wife, granted a charter to Petersfield, which I believe is still preserved there at any rate a lac-simile is published. I have no wish to deprive East Meon of any of its ancient glories, but I do not think John ever lived here, and I will now explain how the Court House may, perhaps, have otherwise become connected in the popular mind with his name. East Meon Manor, with the Hundred, was in 1086 held by the King. It had been held by Archbishop Stigand, but the Doomsday record does not say that it had always been Church land, as it states in connection with so many other ecclesiastical manors. Stigand held it after his deprivation, while a semi- prisoner at Winchester, and at his death the Conqueror kept it as a royal manor. He held nothing in West Meon, and these places in Doomsday are called each of them Menes, and West Meon is mentioned also as Mene. East Meon appears to have been held as a royal manor for more than 120 years alter the Doomsday Survey, for in the glh year of Richard I the accounts of the Exchequer show that in that year the Sheriff of Hants was allowed so much off his account " for stocking the king's lands in Mienes." This was in 1198, and the amount allowed was the value of 12 oxen at 33. each, and 100 sheep at 4d. each. No doubt the Bishops of Winchester between 1086 and 1198 were anxious to get this manor back, but I cannot find any record of its restoration until the ist year of King John's reign, when a charter was granted by that king conveying the manor of East Meon to the Bishop of Win- chester. In after years I can well imagine that the Court House might from this very likely get the local name of King John's House, and one of the royal heads here appears to me to be intended to represent that king. In the year 2 Edward II. 1309, a plea was made before the King and his Council between the Bishop of Win- chester and the men of his manors of Waltham, Merdon, Crawley, Twyford, Sutton, Overton, and Menes, and this probably followed on differences expressed between the Bishop and his tenants here. In 17 Edward III, 1344, there appears to have been another matter in dispute between the Bishop and his men of the manor oi Menes, for the Patent Rolls show that in that year a plan or description of the land in the Manor of Menes was ordered to be made from the Doomsday Book, and was no doubt produced here. From here a short walk led to the site of an ancient vineyard terrace lying on the side of the hill over- hanging the church, and then several of the party made a hurried ascent of this hill, from which an ex- tensive view was obtained, which well repaid the climb. It was in the programme for Mr. Whitaker to give a description of the geological features of the district. He did so on the summit of this hill, but to an audience of two only. From this point the escarpments of the chalk with an outlier could be distinctly traced. Time did not allow of a repetition of the discourse to those who had not ventured so- high, as the party had received an invitation to tea at Westbury Park, the seat of Mr. H. Le Roy Lewis. Arrived here, the members were very hospitably en- tertained by Mr. and Mrs. Lewis on the green-sward in front of the house. After tea, Mr. Shore read the following papers : THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME MEON. Whatever may be the meaning of the word Meon, I think there can be no doubt that the name is as old as the British period. In Ireland there are at least 50 names of places of sufficient importance to be included in county maps com- pounded of the words mon, meeny, money, and these names appear to denote a pasture of some kind. If the name Meon as applied to this valley is from the same root word, it may be a Gaelic name denoting a pasture, or high pasture, near springs. I have shown in a paper read before the Anthropological Institute that Hampshire con- tains many examples of Celtic names derived from the Gaelic branch of the Celtic race, as well as others ap- parently more allied to the Cymric branch. A distinguished scholar and antiquary has, however, given another explanation of the origin and meaning of this name Meon. It is certain that the early inhabitants of this valley both the Celts and the Jutes, who succeeded them were pagans. 1'he Jutes were worshippers of Woden, Thor and Freya or Mother Earth, in which we must include water sources, all of the Teutonic mythology. We know less of the religion of the Celtic or British people who preceded them, but they certainly also reverenced the sun and moon, and also water sources. I think the name Meon as applied to this district is an older name than the date of the Jutish settlement, and the word may be very old indeed. 82 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. The mythology of ancient nations had many resemblances. Seneca says " Where a spring rises or a river flows let us build our altars and offer sacrifices," and these water sources which were sacied places to the Romans, were reverenced also by the Celtic tribes of Britain. East Meon is just such a place as a primitive tribe would choose for the headquarters of their settle- ment from such considerations, and I should not be at all surprised if Roman or Romano-British remains were found at Oxenbourn or Fairfield, the two water sources above East Meon or near the spring; south of \Vestbury, as the sites of Roman villas have been found in many similar situations in Hampshire and elsewhere. Oxenbourn I take to be a duplicated name, perhaps triplicated, partly Celtic and partly Saxon, of which we have many other examples in this county ox and an being Celtic syllables, both denoting water as much as the Saxon word, bourn. It is difficult to imagine how the ancient pagan races of this part of the world could have been other than worshippers of Nature, of the visible heavens, and of the sun as the dispenser of life and fertility. If they had any religion at all they could not fail to be impressed with these pheno- mena, and our names Sunday and Monday testify how deeply rooted this widespread ancient mythology of the heavens really was. A distinguished writer on linguistic antiquities, the late Rev. Samuel Lysons, a learned Hebrew scholar, in his book on " Our British Ancestors,'' specially mentions the name of this district Meon as a name of extreme antiquity, which he traces from the far east, and as a name applied to those who worshipped the material heavens, and especially the sun as the dispenser of fertility and of life. I have already, during this meeting, pointed out to the club the line of the Celtic tumuli at the Jumps, which are at the northern limit of East Meon Hundred. This line is the line of the mid-summer sunrise, and of the mid- winter sunset, as is the case with the chief lines at Stonehenge. In support of his statement that Mone and Meon are ancient words of Eastern origin come into Britain by ancient migrations from the East, the late Rev. Samuel Lysons refers his readers to two texts of Scripture, viz., Ezekiel, xxv, 9, where the prophet denounces Bael-Meon, worshipped by the Moabites, and Jeremiah, xlviii, 23, where Beth-Meon, or the temple of Meon, is denounced. Mr. Lysons also mentions that the name Menu is still used in India to denote the same worship, and he specially names this Meon country as one of the parts of Britain where this worship of the sun and heavens must have sur- vived the longest. These are suggestions I point out for your consideration without being responsible for them, but I agree with Mr. Lysons that such a religion prevailed in Britain. EARLY CHARTERS RELATING TO MEON. The earliest historical documents connected with this district of which I know are the Anglo Saxon records relating to Meon. These are 1. Grant by King Beortric, A.D. 790, to Prince Hamele of land at Hissaburn in exchange for land on the river Meona. (Cartularium Saxonicum, I, 359.) 2. Grant by Egbert, King of the West Saxons, to the Prefect Wlfheard of land on the river Meon. (Cart. Saxon., I, 514.) 3. In his will about A.D. poo King Alfred bequeaths his land in Meon to his younger son. 4. Grant by King Athelstan to the thane jEthelgeard of land at Meon, A.D. 932. 5. Charter of King Edgar, A.D. 963, granting land at Ambersham, in Sussex, to the Church of St. Andrew, Meon (i.e., St. Andrew's Church, West Meon). (Cart. Saxon., 111,349.) This refers to the strip of land south of Hazelmere, in Sussex, formerly included in East Meon Hundred, which led to one of those geographical anomalies of a piece of onecountv being situated within another, now altered by a revision of boundaries, I believe. THE MANOR OF WESTBURY. Westbury is probably so named as being a bury or defen- sive place, near the western boundary of the Hundred of East Meon. The earliest record we have, as far as I know, of the Manor of Westburv is that contained in Doomsday Book, when it was held by a knight named Gozelin, by feudal tenure, as part of the extensive domains of Hugh de Port, who held the Manor of Warnford, lower down the valley. The remains of the Norman house at Warnford are no doubt the ruins of one of the mansions of the de Port family. Another of this family, Adam de Port, is said to have rebuilt Warnford Church, for Camden records that towards the end of the i6th century there was an inscribed stone on the wall there with this inscription : Adda hie portu benedicat solis in ortu Gens Deo dicata perquem sic sum renovata, which has been put into English, Good folks in your devotions every day For Adam Port who thus repaired me, pray. The record of Westbury in Doomsday Book is as follows : Hugh de Port holds Westbury, and Gozelin holds it under him, and Ulnod held it of King Edward. It was then as now assessed at three hides. Here are four plough- lands, two in demesne, and five villeins, and six borderers, with two ploughlands, also two slaves, three acres of meadow and wood for four hogs. Its value in the time of King Edward and now is 4 and when it came into posses, sion 403, This entry shows that the Manor was held as part of the fief or barony of Hugh de Port, in which con- nexion it remafned apparantly till the reign of Edward III, perhaps until the general decay of the feudal system. The Doomsday account tells us that whatever its actual extent was, the manor was assessed for the purposes of taxation at three hides, the hide being the basis of early taxation. There were four ploughlands, probably' about 100 acres each, under arable cultivation, two ploughlands being held in demesne cultivated by the lord, by the services his manorial tenants, the villeins and borderers, were obliged to render him, while they held in community also two ploughlands, or about 200 acres of arable land, which they cultivated for their own support. This Doomsday account of Westbury is interesting from another point of view, for it tells us that in the days of King Edward the Confessor it had been held by Ulnod, directly of the king. Ulnod was no doubt a Thane who held his land by thane service, for the feudal system came in with the Conquest. Ulnod, as a thane, would only have three obligations to discharge in return for his land, viz., to take part in the repair of local defences, such as that no doubt of the Westbury itself and that on old Winchester hill, the repair of bridges of the hundred (that of Meon- stoke), and the liability for military service. After the Conquest, Westbury Manor certainly became a feudal tenure, for it was held, not of the King directly, but of Hugh de Port as part of his barony, which he held of the King. GozeliH, the Norman knight, would have many other obligations to bear, for the Manor of Westbury that Ulnod THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY > NATURALIST. his predecessor had, such as wardship, primier seizin, escuage, reliefs, fines, escheats and others for the benefit of his feudal lords. Its early history therefore affords one of the best examples in this county of the changa in tenure introduced by the Normans. In the latter part of the reign of Henry III the Manor of Westbury was held as a knight's fee by John of Westbury as part of the barony of Robert de St. John and by him of the king. The entry of this occurs in the record known as the Testa de Neville, compiled by Neville, one of the officials of the Exchequer in the i3th century. In the next reign the manor was held by Robert Levver, or Robert le Ewer. In the Nomina Villarum or return of manors and their holders, ordered in the gth Edw. II, Westbury is stated as held by Robt. le Ewer and the Charter Rolls of the isth Edward II contain a record of the grant of free warren made to him in Westbury and Pekelond. There is another ancient record relating to this possessor of Westbury. After the time when castle building was prohibited and many of them destroyed, licenses were sometimes granted to knights and others to kernellate their houses, i.e., place embattlements on them for defence. In the i5th Edw. II Robert Lewer was allowed by Royal Patent to kernellate his house at Westbury. (Patent Rolls.") Some remains of the medieval house which Robert Lewer was allowed to kernellate may still be seen in the cellars of this mansion. In 1334, at the time of the taxation of the loth and ijth in Hampshire the amount of tax which this manor was assessed to pay was 4-25. 46. The entry in the record of this assessment couples West- bury with a place called Stocke ; both Westbury and Stocke being included within the Hundred of Meonstoke. Stocke was, I suppose, what is known as Stock farm, north of Peak farm, some three miles away. This assessment in 1334 is interesting, seeing that it remained in force as the amount this manor would be required to pay as a tax on moveables or personal property for nearly 300 years the amounts each hundred and manor was assessed at in 1334 not being revised for so long. In the 27th year of Edward III an Inquisition was held which probably placed the tenure of Westbury manor on a different basis, and this appears to have been brought about by the death of Edmund de St. John, son and heir *of Hugh de St. John, without issue. In that year an Inquisi- tion was held for the partition of his lands among his two sisters, Margaret Philberto and Isabella de Ponynges and it may be noted that this occurred a few years after the king had granted a licence to Robert Lewer to kernellate his house. The most interesting historical event connected with the manor of Westbury is one of national importance, for there is I think every reason to believe that it was the place of meeting- of Henry I and his brother Robert, Duke ot Normandy, early in the year 1102. You will find no mention of Westbury in connexion with the event in any books on the history of England, and so I will mention the evidence on which this supposed event rests. The old French chronicler, who is quoted by Professor Free- man in his history of the reign of William Rufus, narrates the circumstance that Robert Duke of Normandy landed at Porchester with his army and marched towards Win- chester, intending to besiege that city, but hearing that the queen Matilda was there lying ill, and that his brother was elsewhere, he from motives of chivalry turned from Winchester and directed his march towards London. Henry was at Pevensey in Sussex apparently not knowing where his brother would land, but hearing of this and his march towards Winchester he moved his army also towards that city. In the meantime Robert had turned from Winches- ter eastward, and passed through the forest of mid-Hamp- shire, the wood of Hantone as the chronicler mentions twice, or the wood of Altone as he mentions once ; he, hear- ing bis brother was on the other side of the wood, arranged an amicable meeting, and a treaty was made between them early in February, 1102. Freeman puts the place of meeting at Alton, but acknow- ledges that he has not studied the country. Henry came, no doubt, as quickly as he could with his troops from Pevensey, through Lewes and Midhurst, on the shortest way to Winchester, and under these circum- stances the place of meeting could not fail to have been in the valley of the Meon and if Professor Freeman had studied the geography of this campaign, which he acknow- ledges he did not, I think he would have come to this con- clusion. In this doubtful state as to where the meeting actually took place, this matter remained until about 1880, when Mr. Chester Waters discovered a charter granted by Henry I in the chartulary of the Abbey of Colehester, dated Feb. 1102, and stated as " made on the first day of the week after the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, after the concord made between me and my brother Robert at West- bury." The significant words are " apud Westbian," or " Wesbrian," and this place, I think, must be this manor of Westbury, where we are now assembled, and where we have been so hospitably received. References to the discovery of this charter of Henry I, tested " apud Wesbian " or Westbrian, may be found in Notes and Queries, Jan. 3, 1880, and in the Athenceum, Dec. 19, 1885. Following this the Rev. G. N. Godwin gave some account of the incidents of the Civil War connected with this place. This is a subject which Mr. Godwin has made his own, and the result of his researches will be found in his book upon the subject. In Westbury Park are the ruined walls of an ancient chapel, to which the party was next con- ducted by Mr. Lewis. This consists now only of the four ivy-clad walls, with windows of the early Decorated age. Inside are an old plain round stone font and a broken tombstone, which Mr. Greenfield thought was of the time of Henry III or Edward I or II. If ot the time ot the last-named king, Mr. Shore suggested that it might have belonged to some member of the Lewer family. Through the grounds close to the chapel flows the upper course of the Meon river, and this led to a discussion of the intermittent character of this and other streams. It appears that below this park the bed of the stream. is sometimes dry. Mr. Whitaker explained this as due to the variation of the underground water levels or rather slopes in the chalk, the water finding an outlet higher or lower according as the ground was saturated. Mr. Shore added some details about other intermittent streams at Ludgershall (theCollingbourn), at Church Oakley, &c. The President then expressed the thanks of the club to Mr. Lewis for his kind entertainment, and this gentleman in response ex- pressed a wish to receive the club there again. 8 4 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. On the way back to Alresford station a short stop- page was made at Bramdean to see the circle of large greywether stones erected by the late Col. Green- wood. These stones had been gathered from the surrounding county by the Colonel and erected in the form of a " Druidical " circle. Col. Greenwood, who died some ten or 12 years ago, was a distinguished man, and wrote some books upon " Rain and Rivers " and "River Terraces." Close by, too, is a large cairn of stones erected over the grave of Col. Greenwood's horse, and it was men- tioned as an interesting lact that this cairn figured in the Tichborne trial, as Sir Roger had worked at it. From here a short drive brought the party to the station again, and closed a very pleasant day's outing. EARLY BEE SWARMINS. Mr. Alfred Jewell, of Mottisfont, writes that he had bees swarm on the following dates : May i, 7, n, 17 and 21. CURIOUS VIPER FOUND AT BITTERNE. " E. J. M.," of Bitterne, writes under date of the igth inst. : A day or two ago I captured a viper here with somewhat peculiar markings. At the back of the head there is a divided band of bright yellow, and immediately behind this another band of intense black. I have seen many vipers, but never one marked thus ; it is about 2ft. long. Can you inform me if it is any particular kind ? Not having any spirits of wine at hand, I placed the viper in a jar of paraffin. Will it keep in this? I enclose sketch of the markings on viper's head. Replying to the en- quiry, the Editor of the Field says : Paraffin will not keep the specimen. Vipers vary greatly in colour and markings, but we have not seen any like the one described. THE CHANGE OF THE STYLE IN BRITAIN. Cham bers's " Book of Days '' contains the follow- ing local reference to the Change of Style : " The Act for the change of the style provided that the legal year in England 1752 should commence, not on March 25th, but on January ist, and that after the 3rd of September the next ensuing day should be held as the i-jth, thus dropping out eleven days. "In Malwood Castle in Hampshire, there was an oak tree which was believed to bud every Christmas in honour of Him who was born on that day. The people of the neighbourhood said they would look to this venerable piece of timber as a test of the propriety of the change of style. They would go to it on the new Christmas Day and see if it budded ; if it did not there could be no doubt that the new style was a monstrous mistake. " Accordingly on Christmas Day (New Style) there was a great flocking to this old oak to see how the question was to be determined ; on its being found that no budding took place the opponents of the New Style triumphantly proclaimed that their view was approved by Divine Wisdom, a point on which it is said they became still clearer when on January 5th, being old Christmas Day, the oak was represented as having given forth a few shoots." J-.H. K. AN OLD HUNT BUTTON. The Field says that many hunting readers will be interested in a sketch it gives of what is apparently an ancient hunt button. The original was dug up a short time ago in the garden of Bridge House, Twy- ford, near Winchester, and was sent by Mr. Campbell- At the back is a broken shank, which plainly indicates that it was at least made for a button. The legend " The Joy of Life," with fox, hounds, and huntsman, sufficiently shows the enthusiasm of the designer, and the keenness with which the hounds are running is no doubt to be accounted for by the fact that they are close to their fox, whose white brush is plainly visible. Unfortunately, there is no way of assigning a date to this interesting relic of a byegone time. Whether it was designed for and used by Lord Stawell, Mr. Nicholas Poyntz, Mr. Nicoll, or some other of the old Hampshire M.F. H.'s, or whether it was originally an imported article from some distant hunt, is a matter for speculation. Perhaps a reader with antiquarian knowledge can throw some light on the matter. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register, made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54' 50" N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Mr. J. T. Cook. : Bar. corrected tor Temperature ot Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. May 22 30-310 30-247 63*9 SS'S O'OOO . 2 3 30' i 73 30*084 68*0 59' 7 o'ooo i 2 4 29-992 29-930 70*8 64*8 o'ooo , 25 29-861 29-889 74*2 61*3 o'ooo , 26 29-941 29'957 57*2 52'7 o'ooo . 27 29-978 3'33 56-6 49*8 o'ooo , z8 30-122 30*169 57*7 56'o o'ooo Means. 30-054 30-044 64*1 57'l Tl.o'ooo Temp. Self.-Reg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine. Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.t Grass Ait. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. May 21 18-3 42-3 68-0 47*0 s. s.s.w. 4'5 23 26-9 43'i 74'S 47'4 E.N.E. N.E. 3' 24 26-4 47-8 80-4 5*' N.E. N.E. 3'5 25 26-3 S''2 81-1 S5'3 E. E. 2'7 26 20-3 Si'i 64*7 49*2 N.E. N.W. i'i 27 19-1 40-0 63*2 43*0 N.E. N.N.E. 1.2 28 '9'3 36-6 65*0 41-1 N.N.E. S.W. 8-3 Means. 122-4 44-6 1 71-0 47*8 T1.8 4 -3 t Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. CURIOUS EPITAPHS. The following are in Carisbrooke churchyard. Sacred to the memory of five children of William and Ann Cheverton, who died in their infancy. There was a heavenly friend who knew What perils would your path bestrew, And in his arms he sheltered you, Sweet babes. MOSES MORRIS, Died May 6th, 1841. This humble stone shall bear one humble line, Here lies a sinner saved by grace divine. J. DORE. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, June 7, 1890. WEATHER IN MAY. This has been a beautiful month, perhaps such a one as is scarcely remembered. Sixteen days we entered " fine sunshine," that is sunshine all day ; added to this the rains have been copious, so that everything abounds with the greatest luxuriance. The total rainfall has been somewhat over the average, being 2 '24, and the average of the previous ten years is 2-09 inches. Since January i we have had io'8i, and the average of the same time is 11*31 inches. The barometer has been under the average, registering 30 inches and above on only nine days. The fluctuations have been small, the highest being 30-30 and the lowest 29-45 inches. The latter part of the month showed a high rate of temperature by day. The highest was 76 deg. on the 25th, and it was 70 deg. and upwards on six days during the month. On the other hand, the nights have been frequently cold. The thermometer recorded 34 deg. on the night of the 3ist, three feet above the ground, which was probably a frost on the grass ; it was also 36 deg. on two nights, and 37 and 38 deg, on one night each during the month. Fordingbridge. T. WESTLAKE. SILCHESTER. The arrangements for the projected systematic ex- cavations at Silchester, the English Pompeii, are making steady progress. The Society of Antiquaries, without any asking, has already received 200 to- wards the undertaking, and this in addition to the generous undertaking of Dr. Freshfield, the treasurer, to provide the funds for the excavation of an entire irtsula, or square, It has already been ascertained that the city of Calleva (Silchester) was divided into squares by streets intersecting each other at right angles, and this fact renders the conduct of excava- tions more easy. Everything tends to point out that a most promising return may be expected from these \vorks. The coins, for instance, that have been already found on the site are exceedingly interesting, not only in number, but in chronological range. They commence with the reign of Caligula, A.D. 37, and end only with the Roman evacuation of Britain in the reign of Arcadius, about A.D. 410 to A.D. 415, pointing to a continuous occupation of Calleva during the whole of this period. " The result of excavations at Silchester," say Messrs. Fox and Hope, to whom the whole credit of the project belongs, " if those excavations are carried on steadily and thoroughly, will be to reveal to the world the whole life and history, as seen in its re- mains, of a Romano-British city, a city which we already know had a long-continued existence. Our country has many Roman sites still awaiting the pick and spade, none more promising than Silchester, and it is a reproach to English archaeology that so little has as yet been done to make them yield the harvest of knowledge which they would undoubtedly afford. That the site of Silchester ought to be completely and systematically excavated is a point upon which English antiquaries have for some time been agreed ; but either from unwillingness to face so large an undertaking, or the question of expense, or some such cause, no definite plan has yet been brought forward. The complete excavation of a site of a hundred acres is of course a stupendous work, and the large size of the area as seen from the walls is enough to dishearten a good many people. If, however, we give way to such feelings, Silchester will never be excavated at all, and even if it will take more than one man's lifetime to do it thoroughly, that is no reason why the work begun by Mr. Joyce should not be systematically resumed and carried on unflinch- ingly year after year.'' The Antiquary. SMALL CHURCHES. The claim for the apparently enviable distinction of being the very smallest parish church in the kingdom has been hotly disputed from time to time, but since it was shown that the small Sussex church of Lullington, alleged to be only 16 feet square, was after all but the chancel of a much older building (though there were only 16 parishioners, or just one square foot per head), St. Lawrence, in the Isle of Wight, has been acknowledged to deserve the pre-eminence in this strange category. Of all the small churches this must indeed be the smallest, for its precise dimensions until recently were 20 feet long, 12 feet broad, and 6 feet high to the eaves dimensions which would leave much to be desired even in the dining-room of a private household. At Pilham, in Lincolnshire, a parish church was built for a congregation of 58, and the builders were so economical of space that thev dispensed with a chancel, putting the Communion table in an apse of 6| feet deep. Without this recess the church would not be 27 feet long. In Somersetshire and Dorsetshire, placed where in olden times they would serve the needs ot the scanty scattered populations upon the sheep grazing downs, there may still be found an occasional church of wondrously small dimensions, whose fame even for this type of lowliness has never been noised abroad. As these little houses of prayer were in their prime in the three-decker days, so to speak, when the parson and the clerk were inseparable, and when high enclosed pews wasted what little space there was for use, 86 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. it is easy to understand that the arrival of a few children home for the Christmas holidays would make all the differ- ence between an ordinary and a crowded congregation. The Chilcombe parishioners, for example, numbered, a short time since, 21 persons, and in the absence of a belfry or any other tower, the congregation were summoned by a small bell suspended from the arch at the west end of the church. Culbon Church is 34 feet by 12, and has the further distinction of being so romantically situated deep down in a cove or gully that the sun never reaches it during three months of the year. Abbeys and Clint dies. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50" 54' 59" N.; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature ef Rain in Date Temp, and Alt. the Air 24hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m 9 a.m. 1890 Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. May ZQ 30' i 76 30.098 60-3 53' o'ooo a 3 29-989 30-126 58-9 5i'4 O'OOO .. 3' 3'i93 30-166 57'0 49' O'OOO June i 30-115 30*010 6i'o 52-0 O'OOO ii 2 29-991 30-002 6i'o 55' o'ooo 3 30-014 29-936 56-9 55'9 0-160 >. 4 29-860 29-908 55'i 56-6 0-380 Means 30-048 30-035 S8-6 53'4 0-540 | Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- (24 hours previous to g p.m. Wind. shine Max in Min. Max Min. Date. Sun on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air Air. 1890 Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. May 29 "3'4 42-8 66-4 47'3 N.W. w 4'6 a 30 107-3 45-8 6V7 5'9 W.N.W N 3'3 31 I2O"7 34-i 6|-4 38-0 N. S W. n-6 June i 120-0 3S'-z 66-0 38.8 W. w i'5 ii 2 120-0 42-7 66-4 48-9 W.N.W S V. 2-9 M 3 93'5 45-8 60- S Si'4 S.W. S W. '3 i. 4 66-1 52'3 58-6 53-8 s.w. S V. o'o Means 105-9 42-7 6.V9 47-0 33'2 Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, June 14, 1890. SOUTHAMPTON IN 1787. Mr. Alexander Paris, of Southampton, has in his possession an interesting Southampton "Guide," published in 1787, and giving "an account of the ancient and present state of that Town," to which are added " Rules observed in the Subscription Coffee Room, Terms of Board and Lodging ; the going out and coming in of the Mail ; account of Pacquets and Hoys ; Rates of Chairs ; a List of the Stage Coaches, Carriers, &c. , and the Days they set out from South- ampton, with the places where they inn, &c." It is an eighth edition, "corrected and enlarged, "and was sup- plemented by a map which, unfortunately, is missing. The Advertisement states that "as the present Master of the Ceremonies is studiously attentive to show every mark of respect to the Nobility and Gentry who honour this place with their presence it would prove- highly conducive to that end, as well as beneficial to the proprietors of lodging-houses, if they would fur- nish him with immediate notice of the names, rank, and arrival of their respective lodgers." We are next informed in the Preface that "A Guide is a matter of real utility, as well, perhaps, as of some amusement," and that a certain "de- viation from the plan of similar performances has been of considerable expense and undertaken out of respect to the good sense of the public, who are more pleased with rough proofs than polished fictions, such as the history of King Bladud in the Bath Guide. It was judged proper to enlarge the first design of this Guide, and take in a number of agreeable objects . . . hereby exhibiting a pleasing variety, without danger of cloying, too often the consequence of attending closely to one subject." The Guide proper (which was published by Skelton, " near the Bank") starts with a history of Southampton "from the earliest ages down to the present time/' We are informed that the town "shared in the common miseries of the nation during the Danish tyranny." The story of Canute is told in grandiloquent language, copied from " Henry of Huntingdon." The South- ampton Water is " an arm of the sea, and runs up so deep for many miles that men of war of 74 guns have been built upon it." Richard II "built a strong castle on a high mount for the defence of harbour." The walls " consisted of those small white shells, like honeycombs, that grow on the back of oysters ; it is a sort of stone extremely hard, and was gathered on the beach of the town ; and indeed a very trifling expense might form this town into a Peninsula, if not an Island, which would render it the most eligible port in the kingdom for foreign trade. The castle is now converted into a pleasure house." In the article on the "present state of Southampton, 1 ' we are told " the Corporation have several officers, such as a Town Clerk, whose em- ployment is both genteel and lucrative ; four Sergeants at Mace, a Town Crier, &c. " Borough Surve3 r ors, Water Engineers, Borough Treasurers, Officers of Health, and such like officials were never even dreamt of in those days. "The Mayor is Admiral of the liberties from South Sea to that of Hurst." The principal trade was with Portugal, for wine and fruit, and the Channel Islands "to these are exported, annually, certain quantities of un- kembed wool, allowed by Act of Parliament " in pro- portions that are given. " Besides the many opulent wine-merchants, we have some considerable corn- factors and timber-merchants, together with manu- factories for silk, carpets, parchment, &c., which meet with good encouragement." The principal fair " at Trinitytide " was held " near Chapel Mill, about half a mile from the town " " a Pie Powder Court is constantly held to determine disputes and punish offenders." " The officer who presides is the senior THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. Bailiff, who has a booth, in which he entertains the Corporation during the Fair " a custom that was annually observed till within the last 20 years. The market house " lately built, stands near the center of the town, and is universally admired for its uni- formity, neatness, and commodiousness." Holy- rhood " is the fashionable church, service being there twice every day." The churches are mostly old buildings " except that of St. Mary's, which being many years ago destroyed by fire has been re-built in the modern manner" what a contrast this remark- ably ugly building was with the present beautiful edifice, raised by the personal effort of Canon Wilber- force. There is a reference to the charter of God's House Hospital ; the names of the donors, and quantity and bounds of its lands are " inexplicable," and " of no great importance if known" an opinion not held in these latter days, when efforts are being made to recover to the town some of the rights in the funds of the charity of which many believe it has been deprived through carelessness in past times. Sunday Schools were established in 1786, at the in- stance of the Corporation. Their operations seem to have been confined to " poor boys and girls," and " one happy tendency is already obvious, viz., that few children are now to be seen idling in the public streets on the Lord's Day ; a practice which has been of late too prevalent." In respect of the great busi- ness establishment of which Mr. Edwin Jones is the head, the following may be quoted as a coincidence : South of East-street, a number of well planned building's, with outlets, are in great forwardness, and, from their pleasant situation, conveniency for manufactures, and contiguity to the town, bid fair to increase rapidly. A manufactory for ropes is established by Mr. Edwin Jones. The " playhouse " was built in 1766 by subscrip- tion. " The company come here annually, in the beginning of August, and perform thrice a week till the latter end of November. They then take a regular circuit, and remain at Salisbury 4 months, at Chichester 2 months, at Winchester 2 months, from whence they come to this place." The town was a resort of " the nobility and gentry during the summer months, for the advantage of the sea bathing." There is a highly coloured recommendation of "cold bathing" it may be news to some that " in very fat persons the fibres are so stuffed up that they have not room to vibrate, or contract with the squeeze of the bath." The "Long Room" still standing was built in 1761 ; it took the place of the old Assembly Room in the High-street, and was first pro- posed "as a place to walk in while others were bathing." But, the company increasing, another spacious room was added in 1767. The following conclusion applies as forcibly to to-day as it did when it was written : In a word, Southampton is so beautifully situated as to com- mand a variety of the most charming and agreeable enter- tainments by land as well as by water. The neighbouring country is well cultivated and improved, the seats and plea- sant towns near it are numerous, and the roads unequalled. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S , R.E. Lat. 50 54'' so"N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J.T. Cook. Date. Bar. corrected for Temp, and Alt. Temperature of the Air. Rain in 24 hours from 9 a.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9. a m. 9 p.m. 1890. June 5 i, 6 , 7 , 8 i 9 , 10 , ii Means. Inches. 30.011 29.931 30.3-8 30*289 30-088 29'793 29.689 Inches. 30-074 30' 136 30.361 30-131 30-026 29-746 29.643 Deg. 56-8 srs 6o'o 58-8 65-6 62.5 58-7 Deg. SS'7 54-7 SS'S 54'3 55' 2 53"4 54'5 Inches. 0*017 O'OOO o'ooo O'2OO o'ooo 0-039 o"o6o 30*018 30-017 6o'o 54-8 0*667 Temp. Self.-Reg. Ther in 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Direction of Wind. Sun- shine Date. Max. in Sun's Rays.* Min. on Grass Max. in Air. Min. in Air. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. 1890. June 5 ,, 6 7 8 9 n IO Iz Means. Deg-. 117-3 113-8 II9'8 80-8 I20'8 9 I- 3 114-2 De-. 53-6 52 '3 37'2 41-6 50*0 44-2 49'7 Deg-. 65-4 68-0 68-7 59'3 66-4 62-7 59'5 Deg. 52*6 53-8 42-3 44*6 53-8 48-5 52'3 s.w. s.w. N.N.W. s.w. N.W. s.w. 2'2 6'3 i3'8 1*2 I2'2 I'7 5'7 S.W. S.W. S.E. S.W. s.s.w. s.w. w.s.w. s.w. 108-3 46-9 64'3 ' 49'7 Tl.43'1 * Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, June 21, 1890. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R S., R.E. Lat. 50" 54' 50" N. ; long, i* 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 leet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9p.m. 9 a.m. 1890. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. June 12 29-608 29-821 6i'o 55-6 O'OIO .1 J 3 30-064 30-267 58-3 S6'4 o-ooo ii M 3'37S 30-377 62'7 56*2 o'ooo i IS 3'398 3'347 6-9 60- 1 o'ooo ii 16 30-291 3o'i59 58-9 SS'S 0-074 ii J 7 30-063 30 022 56-6 53-8 0-070 18 3' 134 3O"I2O 54'S 61-9 o'oio Means 30-133 30.159 59'7 S7'I Tl. 0-164 Temp. Selt-Reg. Ther. in i Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m.) Wind. shine. Max in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. June 12 27-9 48-9 67-3 51-8 E.S.E. N.W. 3-8 ii J 3 08-7 48-8 65-2 5f N.E. N.E. 4'6 n M 24-7 43' i 69-1 46-9 N.E. S.W. 8-0 is 26-3 46-3 72-7 So-i N.W. s.w. 7'6 n 16 I7'5 50-7 68-2 52'9 S.W. s.w. 5'r ii *7 89'3 54'7 63-2 53'3 S.W. w.s.w. o'o ,. 18 n6'4 47-0 66-7 SO-i W. W.N.W. i'3 Means 115-8 48-5 67-5 Si'o 1 T1.30- 4 *Black bulb in vacuo. 88 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY <. NATURALIST. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, June 28, 1890. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meterological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson. K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54' 50" N. ; long. i24'o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J.T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 1890. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. June 19 3' i 67 30-184 64-9 58-6 O'OOO ii 20 30-126 30*098 58-7 57'9 O'OOO i> 2I 30-124 30-162 65-7 57'7 O"IO2 1. 2-2 30-189 3' 194 56-8 59'2 0*017 23 30-190 30-207 65-0 62*9 O'OOO i. 24 30-205 30-168 62*1 59'3 o'ooo 25 30-136 30-084 63-5 58-5 0-145 Means 30*162 30-I57 62-4 59'* Tl. 0*264 i Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- 1 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine. Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg Deg. June 19 n6'6 SI'S 70-4 55' i N.W. S.W. 7-6 2 I2I"9 47'3 67-4 5'9 W. S.W. S'o i 21 116-6 4V6 70-8 49-0 E. N.W. 5'2 i 22 95' 7 47'7 66-0 5'9 S.W. S.W. I'O . =3 86-9 54 '9 71-1 57'9 N.W. N.W. I"2 I 24 125-9 rjro 75-2 55'i N'.\V. S.W. 6'5 i 25 120.3 52-2 71-1 53'5 S.W. S.W. 8-7 Means II2'O 50' o 70-3 53'3 Tl. 35-2 * Black bulb in vacuo THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, July 5, 1890. HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB. MEETING AT WONSTON, STOKE CHARITY AND MICHELDEVER. A meeting of the Club, postponed from last week on account of the weather, was on Wednesday carried out at the above three villages, under the guidance of the Rev. G. N. Godwin, B.D., B.A., and Mr. T. W. Shore, F.G.S., F.C.S. On this day the weather held out a favourable promise, and there was a fair muster of members, the party numbering just 40. Proceeding by the Didcot, Newbury ' and Southampton " Railway, the party alighted at Sutton Scotney station and walked thence in an easterly direction to Wonston, where the inspection of the church formed the first item of the day's programme. There is not very much of antiquarian interest in this edifice, it having been burnt down in the year 1714, but there is some decorated work of the Transition period (the latter part of the isth century) in thechancel arch, and the walls contain some Isle of Wight lime- stone which must have been quarried before the fourteenth century. The church is a plain building, consisting only of a nave and chancel, north aisle and west tower. Mr. B. W. Greenfield spoke of the late rector, the Rev. Alexander Dallas, who had written a book about the place, giving some information about deceased inhabitants, and Mr. Godwin mentioned that Mr. Dallas was the founder of the Irish Church Missions. Mr. Shore here read the following paper on WONSTON. Wonston is one of those places concerning which the histories of Hampshire are silent. Indeed, not one of the three places the club visits to-day is even mentioned in the so-called county history. This circumstance shows how much need there is in these educational days for such societies as the Hampshire Field Club and the Hampshire Record Society. The parish of Wonston having been during its entire history an ecclesiastical manor, must have much light thrown upon its history by the publication of the diocesan records, such as the ancient episcopal registers, which will be iucluded in the work of the Hampshire Record Society. I hope all members of the Field Club will do what they can to promote the objects of the Hampshire Record Society, by becoming members or advocating its support to others able to sub- scribe to it. The earliest name of this manor, as far as we know, was Wynsygestune, and later Wansington, a name denoting, I think, the tun or settlement in or by the water meadows a name its surroundings will bear out. Wonston as a name has no connexion with Woden of the Anglo-Saxon mythology, as Canon Isaac Taylor, in his book on " Words and Places," is inclined to think, but he had evidently when he wrote not seen the name as it occurs in Anglo- Saxon charters. Kynegils, the earliest Christian King of Wessex, gave all the land within seven miles of Winchester to the old monastery there, afterwards known as the Priory of St. Swithun ; and Wonston probably formed the northern limit of this grant made about A.D. 635. Thereasonfor thinking this is contained in the Doomsday record, which says that it always belonged to the monastery, and is as follows : " The Bishop holds Wenesistune. It alwa3*s belonged to the monastery. In the time of King Edward it was assessed at 10 hides, now at 7 hides. There are 7 plough- lands, 2 in demesne, and 10 villeins and 6 borderers with 5 ploughlands. Here is a church, and here are 10 slaves and a mill worth 73. 6d. In the time of King Edward and afterwards it was worth 5, now 10." As the manor was always Church land, the monks had a perpetual succession, and the national records contain no such references to it as they contain of those which de- scended by inheritance. It is to the unpublished ecclesi- astical records we must chiefly look for information con- cerning it. Its church is, however, mentioned at a very early date, A.D. 901, in a charter of Edward the Elder, which contains the boundaries of the land at Cranbourn that adjoined this manor close by the church. This is, certainly, one of the earliest authentic references to a country church in Hampshire, perhaps the very earliest which we can find, and it shows that a church stood on this very spot nearly a thousand years ago. The mention of the church in the charter (which is in Latin) is: "These are the boundaries of the land at Cranbourn. First begin at the stream ol Micheldever, which flows before the place where the church of Wonston stands, then go along the stream to Waddange," NATURALIST. freemen, who could not remove without losing the land according to the testimony of the jury of the hundred. Only a few examples of this tenure existed in Hampshire at the time of the Conquest. This great manor of Micheldever, with its dependent manors, appears to have been ancient demesne land of the kings of Wessex, and there can be little doubt that it was the land which King Alfred specially intended as the en- dowment of his projected New Minster, afterwards the Abbey of Hyde. Certain it is that his son King Edward the Elder, who carried out his father's intentions, conveyed Micheldever to the Abbey in the first year of his reign. MICHELDEVER IN ITS RELATION TO ENGLISH HISTORY. This charter of Edward the Elder is dated 901,30 that Micheldever has nearly a thousand years of history. The charter states that the king gave this land, amounting to 100 hides, to the Abbey " for the good of his soul," and the gift was witnessed by many of the chief men of the king- dom. The moot, or meeting place, for the hundred is mentioned in this charter. In 904 the same king made a supplementary grant of land adjoining his former grant, this latter being specially given for the purposes of the monks' refectory. This second grant was what is now Stoke Charity, and the extensive lands of these and other grants were peaceably held by the Abbey until the time of the Norman Conquest. At that time Hyde Abbey was ruled by an abbot named Elfwy, who was a brother of Earl Godwin and uncle of King Harold. Under such circum- stances, when the Norman invasion was imminent, the Abbey resolved to support the cause of Harold, and twelve monks of Hyde took up arms and joined the Saxon army with twenty other men-at-arms, some of whom were no doubt drawn from this manor of Micheldever. The monks were all slain on the field of Hastings or Senlac, and probably many of the men-at-arms also. The Conqueror on learning that the monks had fought against him is said to have remarked that the " abbot was worth a barony and each monk worth a manor." He took from the Abbey the lordship of Andover and several great manors- In addition, he laid his hand heavily on Micheldever. I have already mentioned at Stoke Charity that 200 years afterwards the title of the de Ferity family to that manor was still that derived from the right of Conquest, and is entered in our National Records as " ex conquestu Angl." (in right of the conquest of England). That part of this great domain which had been given to the Abbey of Hyde by King Edward the Elder for the purposes ol the monks' refectory was taken from them, and never returned ; while, in addition, the Conqueror worked his vengeance on the abbey whose military monks died while fighting against him on the field of Senlac, by imposing on Micheldever manor for the future the burden of three knights' fees. There appears to me to have been stern irony in this vengeance, in thus imposing military burdens on the monks of that abbey whose predecessors dared to assume military functions, although in the defence of their country. As we study the antiquities of our country parishes in Hampshire we have brought before us very forcibly many circumstances in the ancient life of England which the history of our towns does not bring out so well. One country place has archaeological associations of one kind and one of another. Micheldever brings before us the consequences of the Norman Conquest, and brings home to ns the nature and burden of knight's service. This military tenure of land prevailed in England from the Norman Conquest until the time of the Commonwealth, when the great political revolution swept it away, and on the restoration of the Stuarts an Act of Parlia- ment was passed, 12 Charles II (so quoted), i.e. 1660, which abolished it by statute. Since that time the national delence has been provided for by other means. We may feel quite sure that this military tenure of land at Micheldever was intended by the Conqueror to be no nominal matter, and we may also feel sure that the Abbot of Hyde was often called upon during the reigns of the Norman and Plantagenet kings to send his Micheldever contingent to their frequent wars. We can realise to some extent what this feudal tenure was like, from the number of writs requiring his military service which the Abbot re- ceived during one reign, that of Edward II, a record of which still exists. In the second year of Edward II the Abbott was sum- moned to send his service against the Scots, to assemble at Carlisle on August 22. The dependent manors of Micheldever, which were held of the Abbot by knight's service wereCranbourn, Drayton, Popham and Stratton, and about this time the Knight of Cranbourn was Sir Hugh de Braiboef, the Knight of Dray- ton was Sir Roger Woodlock, the Knight of Popham Sir John de Popham, and the Knight of Stratton Sir Richard de Stratton, all of whom held their lands under the Abbey and were liable for service. In the third year of Edward II the Abbot received another writ, ordering his service to meet for further war against the Scots, at Newcastle-on-Tyne, on September 29. In the fourth year of the same king the Micheldever knights were ordered by the Abbot's writ to assemble at Tweedmouth on September 19, and probably owing to their deaths or wounds in previous campaigns the Abbot was unable to supply three knights, and so he begged the king to allow the services required of the three knights from this manor to be performed by one knight and four men at arms, with six barbed horses, and his request appears to have been allowed. In the seventh year of Edward II he received another writ ordering his knights to assemble at Berwick-on- Tweed,on June 10. This was in the year 1314. Fourteen days later the battle of Bannockburn was fought. Two years later the Micheldever knights had to meet the army at Newcastle-on-Tyne on July 10, the day being subsequently postponed by another writ to August 10. In the eleventh year of the same king the Abbot was ordered to send his knights to Newcastle-on-Tyne by Sep- tember 15. In the twelfth year of Edward II another writ ordered them to assemble at York on August 25, all these wars being against the Scots. In the fifteenth year of the same king the knights were required to assemble for military service at Coventry, on February 28, to fight against the adherents of the Eaii of Lancaster, who was in rebellion. A year later the Abbot was ordered to send his service to Newcastle-on-Tyne by July i, for further war against the Scots, but he was subsequently discharged from sending his service. In the next year, on receipt of another writ, the Abbot appears to have had no knights to send, and so was allowed to pay a fine in lieu of the service of his knights from this manor. In the i8th year of Edward II he was ordered to send his knights to Portsmouth for service in Gascony, but was subsequently again discharged from this duty. Happily as regards all this fighting the times are changed, so that to. day we visit Micheldever in peace and bring some of the Scots with us. One of the National Records has preserved for us the names of about 24 of the socmen of the Abbot of Hyde, at Micheldever, about the year A.D. 1290. These socmen were small farmers, who paid a rent to the Abbey in lieu of the THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 93 manorial services they or their predecessors would other- wise have to render, and among these small tenants were those bearing the names of Herbert, Galfrey, Crock, Nigel, Clavig, Auden, Corveiser, Turville, Dunton, Grimbaud, Husseley, Alan, Marshall, Pistor, Ducket, Cheldewell, Lugman, Cocus, and Bere. Some at least of these names are names of Hampshire families at the present day, and may, perhaps, some of them, still be found in this neighbourhood. There is no mention of a church at Micheldever in the Doomsday Book, but from the circumstance that the manor was Abbey land, it is very probable that there was one here. The great Abbey of Hyde would scarcely leave their great manor without a parochial church, while the Priory of St. Swithun, which held the Manor of Wonston, had a parish church there. Probably, therefore, this was one of the omissions in that Survey which we know occurred in several other instances. The parochial clergy at Micheldever, or the secular clergy as they would be called, were well endowed in early time, for in 1291 the rectorial revenue of Micheldever Church amounted to 66 133. 4d. per annum, and the vicarial revenue to ^10 133. 4d., the value, I presume, in the main of the great and small tithes respectively. This would suffice to maintain here a considerable staff of secular or parish clergy, but in the reign of Edward II a change occurred, and on the applica- tion of the Abbot, the king granted a license to the Abbey to appropriate, notwithstanding the provisions of the statute of Mortmain, some one church in the diocese of Winchester with the consent of the Bishop, in place of the church of Collingbourn Pewsey, in the county of Wilts, which had been made over by the Abbot and convent of Hyde to the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury, in substitu- tion of an annual payment of -20 from the Abbey. The church of Micheldever was that one which was thus appro- priated, and the Bishop's license for this appropriation recites that the revenues of the Abbey had become in- sufficient to meet the demands upon it arising from the large number of poor, sick, and infirm persons resorting to its hospital. Some centuries later I think the Abbey of Hyde must have built the fine tower of the church which exists at the present day, and which is one of the finest towers of the Perpendicular style we have in the county. On the dissolution of Hyde Abbey, the manor of Michel- dever was given to Thomas Wriothesley, afterwards Earl of Southampton and Lord Chancellor, whose sepulchral monument in Titchfield church has been described by Mr. Greenfield in the last part of the papers and proceedings of this club. It was held successively by the Earls of Southampton, viz., Henry, the 2nd Earl, the supporter of Mary Queen of Scots, Henry, the 3rd Earl, the friend and patron of Shakespeare, and Thomas, the 4th Earl. On his death it passed into the family of Russell by the marriage of Lady Rachel Wriothesley to Lord William Russell. From the Russell family this ancient domain passed by purchase to the Baring family, and is now held by the Earl of Northbrook, the representative of that family. The vicar, the Rev. W. A. Whitestone, gave some particulars about the church. When Lord Northbrook was making an excavation for a vault there, he said, he came upon very solid foundations, supposed to be either Saxon or Norman. The present church is no doubt the third on the spot, and underneath the plastering and present walls can be detected remnants of the older edifices. The lower arch dates from about 1350, and the tower from about 1360; the stones were evidently taken from some other building, as they are some ot them carved and show evident signs of painting. Tea was partaken of at the hotel by Micheldever station, on account of the rain, indoors. Afterwards the Rev. G. N. Godwin read a paper on old coaches, and early railways and telegraphs, in which he gave some interesting information about those means of communication. Micheldever station, he said, was established at that spot to meet the coach traffic. The use of semaphores was introduced into England from France in 1795. There were ten between London and Portsmouth ; and one on Southsea Com- mon was kept at work all day long. The transmission of messages by them was described as as quick as a cannon ball. They sent Greenwich time daily to Portsmouth in about 45 seconds. They were worked in a very simple way, three or four persons being at each station ; and there were in all 67 signals representing letters, figures, and phrases. The last message along that line was sent in 1847. Coaches were established in 1580, and were in perfection about 1820 to 1840 ; the Southampton and Portsmouth mail coaches were still running in 1841, after the opening of the London and South- Western Railway. Particulars were given of the early opposition to railways by the canal people, farmers and others ; the surveys for the lines were carried out under great difficulties. The President having expressed thanks to Mr. Godwin for his paper, Mr. W. H. Purkis added some of his reminiscences of the coaching days in Southampton, when, he thought, the town was much better off as regards trade than at present. There were n four- horse coaches to London ; and they had some of the very best horses. One coach went from Brighton to Bristol via Southampton in a day, travel- ling at the rate of n miles an hour. This quickness was not without ill results ; he once saw three horses drop dead in rushing up the Commer- mercial-road, Southampton. The journey from Southampton to London took eight hours by day and ten hours by night. When the railways were talked about it was said that they would ruin the farmers, as no oats would be required. There were no steamers at Southampton in those days, only sailing packets ; and one, called the Speedy, took a fortnight to get to Jersey. After some remarks from Mr. Shore and Mr. F. A. Edwards, and an inspection of some curiosities belonging to Mr. Showier (including an autograph letter from Lord Nelson to Dolland, 1805), the remaining time before the departure of the train was given to a walk to see the chalk sections at the Micheldever tunnel and then on to Pophara beacon, where three bell shape barrows came in for examination. These barrows were marked on the old one-inch Ordnance Survey maps as lying in an east and west direction, but they really lie about 20 deg. to the east of north. Their direction gave rise to some discussion between Mr. Shore and Mr. Dale 94 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. in connection with Mr. Shore's theory that the builders worshipped the sun and made them point towards its rising and setting ; but Mr. Shore added that they worshipped the pole-star as well. Mr. Dale remarked that the tumuli were similar in character to those at Hythe and Fawley. During the meeting at the hotel the Rev. G. W. Minns, Mr. Whitaker, and Mr. Greenfield were elected to represent the club at the meeting of the Society ot Antiquaries. A LIST OF HAMPSHIRE NEWSPAPERS. Having been asked to compile a list of Hampshire newspapers for the new edition of Mr. H. M. Gilbert's " Bibliotheca Hantoniensis," I shall be glad to enlist the aid of any readers of the Hampshire Independent in making it as complete as possible. BeN'ond the lists of papers in Mitchell's, May's, Sell's and other newspaper press guides which necessarily exclude defunct papers I am not aware of any attempt to make an approximately complete list of those connected with the county. The following is by no means perfect, but it will serve as a nucleus, any additions to which or corrections will be welcome. Those marked with an asterisk (*) are still published. It will be seen that I have included the names of some newspapers, not actually printed in the county, which make a practice of publishing cor- respondence from the parts of Hampshire adjacent to their own counties. The collection brings to light some curious facts. We see, for instance, how some papers displayed a fondness for changing their names, a practice which it would be thought must have been very inconvenient. The Hampshire Chronicle was the greatest sinner in this respect ; and this paper was also more than once mixed up in another incon- venient practice when two papers of identical titles were published simultaneously. When, for instance, that paper, which was originally printed in South- ampton, changed hands and was removed to Win- chester in 1778, the former publisher started another Hampshire Chronicle in Southampton. A few years later the Winchester paper similarly usurped the title of the Salisbury and Winchester Journal, and in 1814 it adopted similar questionable tactics to combat the Hampshire Courier, ot Portsmouth. Evidently the cop3"right laws could not have been very severe then. F. A. EDWARDS, Hampshire Independent Office. ALDERSHOT AND FARNHAM OBSERVER. Established 1872. Lasted about a year. *ALDERSHOT CAMP GAZETTE. Established 1879. Became May's Alciershot Camp Gazette, 1886. Wednesday, id. ALDEKSHOT CAMP TIMES. Established 1869. Lived about 9 months. ALDERSHOT GAZETTE. Established 1859. A localized issue of Surrey and Hants News (Faraham). Friday, id. *ALTON AND PETERSFIELD OBSERVER (Winchester). Established 1877. A localized edition of the Hampshire Observer (q.v.) Saturday, id. *ANDOVER ADVERTISER AND NORTH HANTS GAZETTE. Established 1837 [Sell], 1857 [Mitchell], or 1858 [May]. Friday, id. ANDOVER CHRONICLE. Established 1870. North Hants Telegraph incorporated with it, ? Incorporated with the Andovei Standard (q.v.), 1879. *ANDOVER STANDARD AND NORTH HANTS CHRONICLE. Established 1858. Andover Chronicle (q.v.) incorporated with it, 1879. Friday, id. THE ARGUS; OR RECORD OF POLITICS, LITERATURE, AND- THE ARTS AND SCIENCES (Southampton). No. 1=1831 Feb. 5. No. 8 (and Iast)=i83i May 21. 8vo. "Published every other Saturday morning." 6d. This is not strictly a newspaper, but as it deals largely with politics of the time it can hardly be excluded from this list. BASINGSTOKE OBSERVER. Established 1883 August n. Incorporated with the Winchester Observer, 1884. BASINGSTOKE STANDARD AND NORTH WILTS GAZETTE. Connected with Andover Standard. Discontinued several years ago. BOURNEMOUTH GAZETTE AND HANTS AND DORSET CONSERVATIVE JOURNAL. Established 1889. No. 43=1890 February i, the last number published. Friday, id. *THE BOURNEMOUTH GUARDIAN. Established 1883 August. Saturday, id. Liberal. A localized issue of the Southern Guardian (q.v.) *THE BOURNEMOUTH OBSERVER AND GENERAL VISITORS' LIST. Established 1875 March 31. Wednesday, id. "BOURNEMOUTH VISITORS' DIRECTORY, AND POOLE, CHRISTCHURCH, AND EAST DORSET ADVERTISER. Estab- lished 1858 as a fortnightly publication. Soon became a weekly, and about 1879 a bi-weekly. Wednesday and Satur- day, id. *CHAT (Portsmouth). Established 1884. No. 15=1885 January 16. Friday. 410. id. CHRISTCHURCH CHRONICLE. Incorporated with the Observer and Chronicle for Hants, 1879. CHRISTCHURCH GUARDIAN. Established 1883. Incor- porated with the Southern Guardian, 1887, or with the Bournemouth Guardian. *CHRISTCHURCII TIMES. Established 1855 June 30. Saturday, id. *THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN : AN ADVOCATE OF RIGHTEOUS- NESS IN RELIGION, POLITICS AND SOCIAL LIFE (Ports- mouth). No. 1=1890 May i. royal 8vo. 52 pages and wrappers, id. COUNTY CHRONICLE. Established 1787. This paper is spoken of as having made " many profitable tours one hundred miles round London." For various editions the title at one time was preceded by Middlesex, Hci'tfoidshiic, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamthirt, Surrey, Hampshire, or Essex. [May's Press Guide (1889), pp. 208, 210.] CRESCENT (Portsmouth). No. 17=1888 March 16. Friday. 8 pages of 4 columns, id. EVENING ECHO (Portsmouth). No. 1=1888 July 7, Saturday. Last No.= i888 July 12. Daily. Liberal. 4 pages. |d. "EVENING MAIL FOR HAMPSHIRE, ISLE OF WIGHT AND- SUSSEX (Portsmouth). Established 1884 Jan. Daily. Jd. Conservative. [See Printers' d>c. Effective Advertiser (1889, Feb.) p. 41.] THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &> NATURALIST. 95 *EVENING NEWS (Portsmouth). Established 1877 April. Southern Standard incorporated with it, 1883? Daily, id. Liberal. EVENING STAR (Southsea). Establ. 1882 Sept. 6. Ceased 1883 Nov. 17. FUN AND GOSSIP : RADICAL-POLITICAL, QUIZZICAL AND SATIRICAL, COMICAL AND FARCICAL, SPORTING AND THEATRICAL, AND IN NO SENSE DULL, HEAVY AND LACKADAISICAL (Landport). No. 3=1887 Sept. 29. Saturday. 16 pages 4to. id. GNAT (The), Ventnor. Wednesday. id. [Browne's Advertiser's A.B.C. (1890).] THE GOSPORT TIMES AND PORTSMOUTH, ISLE OF WIGHT AND SUSSEX WEEKLY NEWS. No. 1=1866 January 5, Friday. A localized issue of the Hampshire Independent. No. 54 (the Iast)=i867 January n. HAMPSHIRE ADVERTISER (Southampton). See South- ampton Herald. *HAMPSHIRE CHRONICLE. Established at Southampton, 1772, as the Hampshire Chronicle or Southampton, Win- chester and Portsmouth Mercury. No. 3=Monday, 1772 September 7. 2jd. Sub-title dropped, 1775 August 15. Office removed to Winchester and first number printed there, 1778 June i. Monday. 3d. Title became Salisbury and Winchester Journal and Hampshire Chronicle, 1784 January 5, and for a few weeks the second title was Hamp- shire and Wiltshire Chronicle, but Wiltshire was dropped 1784 August 16. There were thus two Salisbury and Win- chester Journals in the field at one time. With No. 690, Monday, 1785 December 5, name changed to The Hampshire Chronicle and Portsmouth and Chichester Journal. Price raised to 3jd., 1789 August 8. Enlarged to 20 columns, 4d., 1795 September 29. Price increased to 6d., 1797. Sub-title altered to Winchester, Southampton, Portsmouth, and Chichester Journal, 1800 March. Became the Hampshire Chronicle and Weekly Adverlis:rfor the Counties of South- ampton, Sussex, Surrey, Berks and Dorset, 1806. Price raised to 6.jd., 1809 May 29. Enlarged, 1813 September 27, and name Hampshire Chronicle and South and West of England Pilot. In September 1814 it was called the Hamp- shire Courier for a few weeks. Price raised to 7d., 1836 September. Name became Hampshire Chronicle and Courier, 1816 July. No. 2283=Monday, 1818 February 9, The Hampshire Chronicle and Courier; \ Portsmouth, Porlsea, Gosport, Chichester, Salisbury, Winchester, Southampton and Isle of Wight Gazette ; \ and South of England Pilot; Ot, Naval, Military, Commercial and Agricultural Register for the Counties of Hants, Sussex, Surrey, Berks, Wills and Dorset. \ 7d. In 1823 it became the Hampshire Chtonicle and Southamp- ton Courier. Reduced to sd., 1836 September 19. En- larged, 1837 May. Day of publication altered to Saturday, 1844 January 6. Enlarged to 8 pages (40 columns) 1849 May, price 2d. ; and to 48 columns, 1881. Present title: Hampsliire Chronicle, Basingstoke, Andovcr, Alton, Alresford, Southampton and Isle of Wight Courier, and General Advertiser for the South and West of England. HAMPSHIRE CHRONICLE, OR PORTSMOUTH, WINCHESTER AND SOUTHAMPTON GAZETTE. Established 1778 September at Southampton, in opposition to the Hampshire Chronicle published at Winchester. Saturday. 30. Removed to Portsmouth, 1780. Office destroyed by fire and publication ceased, about 1785-6. HAMPSHIRE COUNTY TIMES (Portsmouth). Established 1873 January [Mitchell's Directory and Sell's Directory], or 1885 [May's Press Guide (1889)]. A Wednesday edition of the Portsmouth Times (q.v.). Discontinued 1889 Dec. 25- HAMPSHIRE COURIER (Portsmouth). Published from 1809 to 1815 (or later). Monday. 7|d. HAMPSHIRE COURIER (Winchester). The Hampshire Chronicle (q.v.) was for a few weeks published under this title (1814 September). HAMPSHIRE GUARDIAN. Became Port of Portsmouth Guardian, ? *THE HAMPSHIRE HERALD (Alton). Established 1885. Friday, id. Conservative. *HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT (THE), ISLE OF WIGHT AND SOUTH OF ENGLAND ADVERTISER (Southampton). No. i= Saturday, 1835 March 28. 4 pages. ?d. Price reduced to 4|d., 1836 September 17, and time of publication altered from Saturday afternoon to Saturday morning. Price raised to sd., 1837 July i. Increased to 8 pages, price 6d., 1846 March 21. Reduced to 3d. unstamped, 4d. stamped, 1858 April 3. Extra issue on Wednesdays, price id., com- menced, 1861 October i, and price of Saturday issue reduced to 2d. [This was the first penny newspaper in the county.] Saturday issue reduced to id., 1870 January i. Daily issue commenced, 1870 Januarys; discontinued, 1872 March 31. The Wednesday issue merged in The South- ern Echo (q.v.), 1888 August 22. Enlarged to 64 columns, 1889 Feb. 9. Saturday. id. Liberal. [See Gosport Times.'} HAMPSHIRE OBSERVER (Winchester). Winchester Observer (q. v.) became Hampshire Observer, 1886 [Willing's Press Guide] or 1887 [Sell's Dictionary]. Satur- day, id. Liberal Unionist. "HAMPSHIRE POST (Portsmouth). Established 1874 as Southsea Observer (q. v.). Friday, id. *HAMPSHIRE TELEGRAPH AND SUSSEX CHRONICLE, AND GENERAL ADVERTISER FOR HANTS, SUSSEX, SURREY, DORSET AND WILTS (Portsmouth). Liberal. Estab- lished 1799 Oct. 14. 4 pages. 6d. The Sussex Chronicle amalgamated with it, and the paper enlarged, 1803. Price raised to 6Jd., 1815 ; reduced to 4d., 1860. A Wednesday issue at id. started, 1865 July 5, the Saturday issue being reduced to 2d. The Wednesday issue discontinued, 1883 October. *HANTS AND BERKS GAZETTE AND MIDDLESEX AND SURREY JOURNAL (Basingstoke). Established 1878. Saturday, id. THE HANTS AND DORSET JOURNAL, AND BOURNE- MOUTH, POOLE AND CHRISTCHURCH CONSERVATIVE GAZETTE (Bournemouth). No. 11=1889 June 22, Saturday. *HANTS AND SURREY TIMES (Aldershot). May's Aldersliot Advertiser (q.v.) became Hants and Surrey Times, ? Friday, id. *!SLAND STANDARD (Sandown). Established 1887. Saturday, id. *!SLE OF WIGHT ADVERTISER AND RYDE AND VENTNOR TIMES (Ventnor). Established 1859 August 27. Ryde and Ventnor Times (q.v.) incorporated with it, ? Satur- day, id. Conservative. *!SLE OF WIGHT CHRONICLE (Sandown). Established 1866 May. Thursday id. Conservative. *!SLE OF WIGHT COUNTY PRESS (Newport, I. W.) Es- tablished 1884 November 29. Saturday, id. *!SLE OF WIGHT EXPRESS, ISLAND LIBERAL NEWS- PAPER. Established at Ventnor, 1870, April. Shanklinand Sandown Weekly News incorporated with it, 1887. Re- moved to Newport, 1890 January 25. *THE ISLE OF WIGHT HERALD AND COWES VISITORS' DIRECTORY (Cowes). Established 1864. Saturday, id. Conservative. 9 6 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. ISLE OF WIGHT JOURNAL,- NEWPORT TIMES AND GENERAL COUNTY NEWS (Portsmouth). Established 1870. An Island edition of the Portsmouth Times. Saturday, id. Discontinued 1890. *!SLE OF WIGHT MERCURY. Established 1855. Became Ventnor Gazette, 1884. Became Isle of Wight Mercury and Vcntnor Gazette, 1890. Wednesday, id. *!SLE OF WIGHT OBSERVER (Ryde). Established 1852 September 4. The oldest newspaper in the Isle of Wight. Saturday. i|d. Conservative. *!SLE OF WIGHT TIMES AND HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE (Ryde). Established 1862 April. Thursday, ijd. Liberal. *LYMINGTON AND SOUTH HANTS CHRONICLE. Estab- lished 1857 Nov. 13. Thursday, id. Liberal. Alocalized edition of the Poole and Bournemouth Herald (q. v.). [See The Worlds Printers' c. Effective Advertiser (1888 July) p. 25.] LYMINGTON OBSERVER. Established 1867. Incorpo- rated with the Observer and Chronicle for Hants, 1879. MAY'S ALDERSHOT ADVERTISER. May's Monthly Circu- lar (q.v.) became May's Aldershot Advertiser, 1879. Be- came Hants and Surrey Times (q.v.) MAY'S MONTHLY CIRCULAR (Aldershot). Established 1879. Became May's Aldershot Advertiser (.q.v.), 1879. THE MONITOR (Portsmouth). No. 109=1880 July 17. Saturday. 12 pages demy 4to. id. *THE NEWBURY EXPRESS. A CONSTITUTIONAL JOURNAL FOR BERKS, HANTS AND WILTS. No. 1=1886 Mch. u. Thursday, id. *THE NEWBURY WEEKLY^NEWS, AND GENERAL ADVER- TISER FOR SOUTH BERKS, WEST HANTS AND EAST WILTS (Newbury). Establ. 1867. Thursday, id. NEW FOREST GUARDIAN (Bournemouth). Ringwood Guardian became New Forest Guardian, 1885. An edition of the Bournemouth Guardian. Incorporated with the Southern Guardian 1887. NEWPORT ECHO. [Brown's Advertiser's A.B.C. (1890) P. 567-] NEWPORT TIMES. A local edition of the Portsmouth Times. Establ. ? Ceased ? NORTH HANTS TELEGRAPH. Incorporated with Andover Chronicle, ? *THE OBSERVER AND CHRONICLE FOR HANTS AND DORSET (Bournemouth). Establ. 1872 April. Chnst. church Chronicle, Lymington Observer, and Poolc Sun (establ. 1877) incorporated with it, 1879- Saturday, id. Conservative. *PETERSFIELD EXPRESS AND EAST HANTS JOURNAL (Lewes, Sussex). Establ. 1864. A localized issue of the Sussex Agricultural Express (Lewes). Tuesday, id. Con- servative. *PETERSFIELD WEEKLY NEWS. Establ. 1883. Wednes- day, id. *POOLE AND BOURNEMOUTH HERALD (Poole). Establ. 1846 April 9, as the Poole and Dorsetshire Herald, which became Poole and South-western Herald, 1849. an d became Poolc and Bournemouth Herald, 1877 June. Thursday, id. Liberal. [See Lymington and South Hants Chronicle.'] PORT OF PORTSMOUTH GUARDIAN (?). Establ. as Hamp- shire Guardian (?). PORTSEA AND GOSPORT JOURNAL (PortSea). Establ. 1802. Ceased ? Sunday morning. 6^d. THE PORTSMOUTH AND GOSPORT GAZETTE AND SALIS- BURY JOURNAL (Salisbury). Establ. 1736-8 ? No. 736= 1752 February 24. This was evidently a localized edition 1 the Salisbury Journal. THE PORTSMOUTH PIONEER : A CHRONICLE OF THE PRINCIPAL LOCAL EVENTS AND HAMPSHIRE FREE PRESS. No. 8=1883 Feb. 24. Saturday. 8 pages of 3 columns, dy. fol. id. THE PORTSMOUTH, PORTSEA AND GOSPORT HERALD, Establ. 1829 August ; ceased 1835. Sunday. ?d. 4 pages. *PORTSMOUTH TlMES AND NAVAL GAZETTE. No, 1 = 1850 March 30, 4 pages, price sd. Increased to 8 pages, 1850 June 22. Enlarged, 1853 July 2, price 6d. Price reduced to sd., 1853 J uly 7 ; 3d., 1857 November 28 ; and 2d., 1861 April 4. Wednesday issue, price id., commenced, 1872 April 3. Enlarged to 56 columns, 1873. Price reduced to id., 1880 Jan. 30, and Wednesday paper enlarged to 8 pages. West Sussex County Chronicle (establ. 1877) in- corporated with it, 1880. Enlarged 1889 Dec. 28, on the discontinuance of the Wednesday edition the Hampshire County Times. Saturday. Conservative. [See The Worlds Printers' <$>c. Effective Advertiser (1889 Feb. i) p. 41.] RINGWOOD GUARDIAN. Establ. 1883. Became New Forest Guardian (q.v.), 1885. ROMSEY CHRONICLE. Establ. 1854; ceased ? *ROMSEY REGISTER. Establ. 1861. Alternate Thursdays, id. ROMSEY STANDARD. Incorporated with Andover Standard. THE ROMSEY WEEKLY REGISTER. No. 3= 1816 December 16, Monday. ijd. 4 pages, 8|in. x io|in. *RYDE AND ISLE OF WIGHT NEWS. Establ. 1869. Friday. id. RYDE AND VENTNOR TIMES. Establ. 1857. Incorporated with the Isle of Wight Advertiser. *THE SALISBURY AND WINCHESTER JOURNAL (Salisbury). Establ. 1729 as the Salisbury Journal. Became the Salis- bury and Winchester Journal, 1772 December 7. At present, Saturday, 8 pages, 2d. Contains correspondence irom Winchester and western parts of the county. [See Portsmouth and Gosport Gazette."] SALISBURY AND WINCHESTER JOURNAL (Winchester). This title was adopted by the Hampshire Chronicle for a short time(i784 January 5 to 1785 Dec. 5), doubtless to com- bat the already existing Salisbury and Winchester Journal. SANDOWN FREE PRESS. Establshed 1883. Incorporated with the Shanklin and Sandoivn Weekly News, 1886. SHANKLIN AND SANDOWN WEEKLY NEWS. Shanklin Weekly News became Shanklin andSandown Weekly News, 1886. Sandoivn Free Press incorporated with it, 1886. In- corporated with the Isle of Wight Express, 1887. SHANKLIN FREE PRESS. Establ. ? Incorporated with the Shanklin Weekly News, ? SHANLIN WEEKLY NEWS. Establ. 1878. Shanklin Free Press incorporated with it, ? Became Shanklin and Sundown Weekly Nezvs, 1886. *SHELDRAKE'S ALDERSHOT AND SANDHURST MILITARY GAZETTE AND FARNHAM CHRONICLE (Aldershot). Establ. 1859 August 6. Saturday, id. Conservative. *THE SOUTHAMPTON HERALD AND ISLE OF WIGHT GAZETTE. No. i = Monday, 1823 July 28. Price 76. Name changed to Southampton Town and County Herald. Isle of Wight Gazette, and General Advertiser, 1825 ; and again to Hampshire Advertiser and Royal Yacht Club Gazette, 1831 September 29. A Wednesday issue, id., started, 1869 March 31, the Saturday issue being reduced from 4d. to 2(1. Conservative. THE SOUTHAMPTON LUMINARY AND COUNTY CHRONICLE, ISLE OF WIGHT, PORTSMOUTH, WINCHESTER AND- THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 97 LYMINGTON GAZETTE (Southampton). No. 3 = Sunday, 1822 April 28. Price jd. No. 16 = Monday, 1822 July 29. Ceased ? *SOUTHAMPTON OBSERVER AND WINCHESTER NEWS (Southampton). Establ. 1867. Saturday, id. Conservative. SOUTHAMPTON STANDARD. About 1870 ? Only lasted about a fertnight? 'SOUTHAMPTON TIMES AND HAMPSHIRE EXPRESS. Estab. 1860. Saturday, id. Liberal. *SOUTHERN COUNTIES REVIEW (Basingstoke). No. 2= 1890 April 19. Saturday, id. 8 pages demy, illustrated. *THE SOUTHERN ECHO (Southampton). Establ. 1888 August 20. Daily. |d. 4 pages. SOUTHERN GAZETTE (Alton). Establ. about 1875. Be- came Winchester Observer, 1877, and localized as Alton Observer. SOUTHERN GUARDIAN (Wimborne). Establ. 1887. New Forest Guardian and Cliristchurch Guardian incorporated with it, 1887. Saturday, id. Liberal. [Same as Bourne- mouth Guardian ?] SOUTHERN POST (Bournemouth). Establ. 1885. THE SOUTHERN REFORMER, A POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND CRITICAL REVIEW FOR THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES (South- ampton). No. i= 1880 May 29. No. 45=1881 May. Satur- day, id. THE SOUTHERN STANDARD AND HAMPSHIRE EVENING TELEGRAPH (Portsmouth). No. 3=1883 Sept. 26, Wednes- day. Daily. 4 pages. id. Incorporated with the Evening News, ? SOUTH HANTS DAILY PRESS (Southsea). No. 55=1880 March 4. 4 pages. |d. SOUTH HANTS EVENING STAR (Southampton). No. i= 1888 August 20. Jd. Ceased, 1888 August 27. SOUTHSEA OBSERVER. Establ. 1874. Became Hampshire Post, 1874. *SURREY AND HANTS NEWS (Farnham). Establ. 1859. Saturday, id. VENTNOR GAZETTE AND ISLE OF WIGHT MERCURY. Isle of Wight Mercury (est. 1855) became Ventnor Gazette 1884. Became Isle of Wight Mercury and Ventnor Gazette , 1890. Wednesday, id. VENTNOR POST AND VISITORS' JOURNAL. Establ. 1889. Wednesday. |d. WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED ISLE OF WIGHT GUARDIAN (Shanklin). Established 1882 Oct. Saturday, id. WESTERN CHRONICLE (Yeovil). Sherborne, Dorchester, and Taunton Journal became Western Chronicle, 1886. Friday, id. Liberal. *THE WESTERN GAZETTE (Yeovil). Establ. 1863. Fri- day, id. *WEST SUSSEX GAZETTE (Arundel, Sussex). Establ. 1853. Thursday, id. WIDE AWAKE : A JOURNAL FOR GOSPORT, PORTSMOUTH, AND ISLE OF WIGHT (Southsea). No. 5=1881 Apr. 2. 12 pages demy 4to. Saturday, id. [A successor to The Monitor!] WINCHESTER HERALD. Established 1869. Saturday. id. Conservative. Ceased ? WINCHESTER JOURNAL OR WEEKLY REVIEW (Reading and Winchester). Established 1743 ; No. 84=1745 May . 4 folio pages, 2d. Ceased ? WINCHESTER OBSERVER AND COUNTY NEWS. Estab- lished 1877 August. Liberal. Basingstoke Observer (q.v.) incorporated with it, 1884. Became Hampshire Observer 1886 or 1887. WYKEHAMIST (Winchester). Winchester School maga- zine. Established ? About monthly, except during vacation. 4d. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.RS., R.E. Lat. 50* 54' 50" N. ; long, i* 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 ieet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J.T. Cook. Bar. corrected lor Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 1890. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. June 26 29-963 29-904 58-9 57-7 O'II2 . 27 29-866 29-863 60-5 56-8 0-090 28 29-859 29-841 I6'9 5i' 0-428 ,. 29 29' 49 29-847 62-0 55'7 o'35 T .. 3 29'336 29-214 S7'I SI'S o'n6 July i 29-306 29-599 6r 7 57'7 o'ooo ,, 2 29-821 29-85 z 65'9 56-8 0-055 Means 29-729 29.731 60-4 5.V4 Tl. 1-151 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine. Max in Min. Max. Min. i Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg:. De S . De ? . June a6 92-8 53' i 64-8 56-8 S.S.W. N.W. 2"2 > 27 rig-8 45V3 67-4 49-1 N.W. W. 10-9 ,, 28 119-7 44-8 64-8 48-2 S.W. W. 7*3 ., 29 I22'7 44-8 67-8 45' N.W. S.W. n'4 T .. 3 Il8'3 52'i 65-7 Si'S S.W. S.W. 4-6 July i I22'2 48-0 69- 1 4'q W. N.W. 9-0 >i 2 Iiy-2 55'i 69-6 55' i N.E. S.W. 5-6 Means n6"i 49-0 67-0 5o-i Tl.g'so *Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, July 12, 1890. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register, made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50' 54' 50" N. ; long, i* 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches July 3 29-817 29-897 62-6 53'9 0-067 i) 4 29'855 29-633 6r8 5'5 0-451 >i 5 29'539 29-769 52'3 S3'7 O'OIO >. 6 29-866 29-968 58-0 .55' 0-017 ,, 7 29-989 29-781 6i'S 54' 0-713 it 8 29-562 29-758 S7'9 59' O"OI2 9 29-768 29-787 59" 5 56-8 o'n6 Means. 29-771 29-799 59' i 54'7 1-386 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous togp.m. Wind. shine. Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 5 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. July 3 118-8 5'7 67-5 S3' i w. w. 9'S. i 4 3'3 43'7 63-6 46-4 S.W. N.E. 4'3 5 04-2 49'9 62-0 48-9 N. N.W. 1*7 , 6 24-2 42-8 66-6 46-0 N.W. N.W. 3'5 , 7 19-8 43'4 65-3 46-0 W. S.W. 4'2 8 i5'9 S3'7 70-2 S2-8 w.s.w. W. 3'9 . 9 92-0 56-6 61-6 56-1 S.W. Calm Means. 111*9 48-7 65-3 49'9 27-2 Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY > NATURALIST. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, July 19, 1890. EARLY NONCONFORMITY IN ALRESFORD. (Continued.) " Honest Densham " as he was designated by the people of Reading, to which town he also itinerated, says "the minister of the parish has preached a sermon against us," &c. The conduct of the "spiritual pastor" there at the time of my persecution must have been one of the same ilk, or the riot so near his church doors would have been summarily suppressed. Who was their reverend guide at that time ? Why none other than the Earl of Guildford, whose association with the Hospital of St. Cross was not of the most honourable kind, and about whom in connection with his master- ship many hard things were said until he resigned. As was the teacher.so were the taught. "Honest Densham" alleges " Alresford was totally without the Gospel." If the "Gospel" were not there, cock-fighting, bull-bait- ing, pugilism, and such like were galore. After the suppression of the cock-pit at Tichborne Down, birds were pitted against each other in secret places, and on market days the farmers aad others contravened the laws by holding cock-fights in their market rooms. I believe I saw what was the last of such exhibitions by peeping, when a schoolboy, between the closed shutters of the "Bell Market Inn, "on a Thursday after- noon, and seeing two steel-spurred birds fight until one thrust his spur through the other's head, and then mounted its lifeless body and lustily crowed. I allude to the fact that a "better dispensation exists,'' Colonel Guildford who, in all probability, has kept a main of game cocks in his time if he have not his brothers did now preaches on Pound Hill in peace, and the Salvation Army are permitted to hold their meetings if they don't obstruct the highway. I am old enough to remember the ring in the sward on the hill, to which the bulls were fastened. Bull-baiting also took place in the yard at "The Swan," and my maternal grandfather used to relate a story, almost too horrible to believe. A bull was baited in the said yard, and it was pinned by a dog the property of a butcher occupying the premises where the Hasted family have so long carried on their respectable busi- ness. The butcher was so elated at the success of his dog, that he made a bet of 5, that the dog would pin the bull after its (the dog's) forefeet were chopped off! The brutal butcher took his dog to the shop, and there chopped off its feet, and returned to the bull-baiting yard and won the ^,5. " Honest Den- sham" says in 1798 the mob at North Chapel followed him with bells, horns, &c., like madmen. At Steep, two persecuting farmers swore they would throw him to the dogs or into the pond, and they brought their great dogs. At Rogate he was pelted with rotten eggs, of which they threatened him with a bushel. Verily, it there be any responsibility con- nected with the office of a State Church minister how great must be that responsibility. J. W. BATCHELOR. THE PRIVY COUNCIL IN HAMPSHIRE. The " Acts of the Privy Council," of which the first volume of a new series, containing a transcript of the register of the Council from 1542 101547,1133 recently been issued by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, contain (according to a review of the work in The Times of March 20 last) some items of a local bearing. The Council, which at that time was almost exclusively composed of officials and prelates nominated by the king, followed the king whither- soever his fancy or his business led him, and, during the few years included in the present volume, visited Cowdray (Sussex), Farnham, Portsmouth, Titchfield and Woking. The matters with which it concerned itself were most multifarious, ranging from such things as the prohibition of flesh eating in Lent to the greatest affairs of state. It was also active in deciding private disputes. Among other disputes recorded as decided was one between John More and his neighbours in Hampshire as to a bridge over the Loddon. Is this the same John Moer who, according to an extract from the Court Rolls of Basingstoke in Messrs. Baigent and Millard's " History of Basingstoke" (p. 346), was on the 23th June, 1567, fined 2d. tor fishing in the waters of Wildemoor without leave in company with the rector of Newuham (or Nately Scures) and some others ? HAWFINCH NESTED OUT AT LISS. The most interesting event in bird history that has recently happened is that the hawfinch has bred so far south. On July 8, a young bird, about six weeks old, was sent to me to be named. It had struck against a verandah at East Hill, Liss, that day, and killed itself, and it was kindly sent to me by the Hon. Mrs. Cardew. The bird was in splendid plumage ; the orange tints under the beak and on the feathers of the mantle were very conspicuous, though when the base of the feathers were examined the dark hue showed the coming black tippet of the adult hawfinch. There was also a good deal of orange tint over the dorsal feathers, just above the tail. The hawfinch rarely nests out in England, and Morris says "The young hawfinch if said to have," &c. , &c. He notes that varieties occur, some being yellowish white, and from the dorsal yellow of this bird it seems likely that this is a sort of semi-albino. The great interest of tkis circumstance is that as the hawfinch breeds now so far south (it is not recorded as breeding hereabouts in White's Selborne, who marks it only as a winter bird) there is good hope of other northern birds, e.g., the Scandinavian woodcock, being able also to accomplish the feat of parentage in the south east of England. The fact that the hawfinch has nested at East Hill, Liss, speaks much for the gentle habits of the human and humane inhabitants of a beautiful site, and birds love beauty. An exquisite water colour picture of this bird has been made by Mr. Hume, South Harting, whose talent in delineating birds and their colour is first-rate. Mr. H. D. Gordon in the West Sussex Gazette, July 17, 1890. THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 99 WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50' 54' 59" N. ; long, i* 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, August 2, 18 Bar. corrected tor Temperature of Rain in Date Temp, and Alt. the Air 24 hours 9 a.m 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9. a.m. 1890 Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. July 10 30-001 29-977 63-6 57'7 O'OIO ii 29-930 30-002 57'5 53-8 O'OOO 12 29-999 29-007 60-5 54' i 0-029 13 29-88:: 29-888 62-5 58-1 0*072 14 29-890 29-878 59'7 59' 6 0*007 IS 29-902 30-056 68-6 61-7 o'ooo 16 30-108 30-052 68-5 63-7 o'oo Means 29-959 1 29-966 63*0 58-4 o'n8 Temp. Self Reg. Ther. in Direction of 1 Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. 1 shine Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. 1890 Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. July 10 123-3 45'9 70.3 47-2 N.W. N.W. IO'2 n liog'i 4/0 62-7 49'7 w. N.W. 3'2 12 97'9 45' 64 4 46-8 W.N.W S.W. 0.4 13 114*2 55-2 66-7 53'8 S.W. s.w. 0-9 14 101-3 58-0 64-0 57'o s.w. S.W. O*2 IS 126-7 59' ' 75-0 57'9 N.W. N.W. 8-5 16 124 3 49'5 75 '4 499 S.W. Calm 10-5 Means 113-8 Si-8 68-4 5r8 33'9 *Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, July 26, 1890. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meterological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson. K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 54*50" N. ; long. i24'o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J.T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 1890. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. July 17 29-924 29-819 66-4 60-5 2*065 18 29-918 29-836 64-9 57-9 o'*58 . 19 29-879 30-180 6o'o 55-6 o'ooo i 20 30-278 30-269 60-2 57'7 0*030 1 21 3'243 30-219 58-0 60-4 O'OOO , 22 30-130 3' *54 66-0 62*0 o'ooo , 2 3 30-215 30-I34 70-1 63-7 o'ooo Means 50*084 30*087 63-8 59'7 Tl. 2*353 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Direction of Wind. Sun- shine. Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Dep. Deg. July 17 91-8 59'2 69-6 59'5 E.N.E. w. 0*1 18 119-6 56*7 69" 5 5.S-8 W.N.W S.W. 4-8 19 104-9 52-2 64-8 55'5 f.W. N.W. 4'5 20 "99 4'9 71-0 47'9 N. W. 10*6 21 83-4 5i'4 63-6 S2-3 N.W. S.W. o'o 32 I22'8 154-0 75'4 57'7 N.W. N.W. 9'i ! 23 127.3 53'2 76-6 57-3 N.W. S.W. 0*8 Means IIO'O S3'' 70-1 55*i Tl. 3 8-9 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB. MEETING AT NEWPORT, SHALFLEET AND NEWTOWN. Black bulb invacuo. The members of this Club had a day in the Isle of Wight on Friday, the 25th July, the district visited being Newport and neighbourhood. At Newport the museum was inspected, and Dr. Groves read the following paper. THE NEWPORT MUSEUM. Coming into a district so rich in objects which are attractive, the members of the Hampshire Field Club would naturally expect to find here a far more extensive and important collection. During the last century the Isle of Wight shared in the interest in Roman and Grecian antiquities, which arose in the reign of Queen Anne. This interest was increased by finding in 1727 ten Roman urns at Stenbury, close to Appuldurcombe, and others at Bonchurch, and Roman coins at Newport in 1759 ; and it was fostered by the cultured family who occupied Appuldurcombe House, the principal residence in the Island. The publication of Worsley's history of the Isle of Wight towards the clese of the century stimulated the interest in its archaeology ; and the preparation of Englefield's work at the beginning of this one, and the controversies to which it gave rise caused a good deal of excitement about its geology. This move- ment in men's minds obtained practical expression by the founding of the Isle of Wight Philosophical Society in 1810 or 1813 both dates are given of which most of the gentlemen of the Island became members. The society had its home in the Isle of Wight Institution, built in 1801 by Nash, who also built the pretentious looking town hall, which replaced that, a photograph of a painting of which hangs in the museum, and the disappearance of which all must regret. Lord Yarborough, the successor of the Worsleys at Appuldurcombe, was President of the Isle of Wight Institution for many years. .1 do not know what became of the records of the Philosophi- cal Society. They would be exceedingly interesting, for the society existed some forty or fifty years. It was in existence in 1854. The members and friends of the society deposited with it from time to time, for safe custody in the Isle of Wight Institution, objects and specimens, and this collection became known as the Museum of the Isle of Wight Philosophical Society. The Rev. E. Keil, F.S.A. , who was pro- bably known to many of you, was custodian of this collection for twenty-five years, from 1825 to 1850. In 1852 possibly as a result of the general stimulus of the exhibition of the previous year, and because the Prince Consort favoured the project, and possibly as a result of the interest excited by the labours in Roman archaeology of Mr. Roach Smith, F.S.A., a IOO THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. native of the Isle of Wight and widely connected with its families a general desire was felt lor a public museum. Mr. Wilkins, a local surgeon who took a very active part in its establishment, obtained the consent of the Isle of Wight Philosophical Society and the members of the Isle of Wight Institution to the removal of their collection to a room at the Guildhall, lent by the Cor- poration of Newport. In 1855 the British Archaeological Association held its annual meeting at Newport, and the interest excited led to the offering of gifts to the museum until the room was crowded. The museum was managed by a committee, who, in an evil day, removed it to more spacious apartments for which rent had to be paid, and eventually to a house, which they rented tor the purposes of the museum in Lugley-street. Interest soon after began to flag, the subscriptions fell off, and Mr. Wilkins, the curator, had to pay out of his own pocket the balance of the rent. Thinking he had a lien upon the collection, he removed part of it to his own house, and stored the remainder in a house in Holyrood-street. After Mr.Wilkins's death in 1881, Mr. Roach Pittis, the President of the Young Men's Literary Society, and Mr John Wood, its great benefactor, heard that his executors were negotiating a sale of the portion of the I. W. Museum at his house, and his private geological collection, out of the Island. They brought the matter before the com- mittee, who agreed to give them house room, and some of them subscribed for and purchased the col- lections. Mr. W. B. Mew, who had a lien upon the other portion of the collection for rent due in Holy- rood-street, generously handed it over to the com- mittee. It is to be feared the museum maybe again sent upon its wanderings, as several members of the Literary Society, who have no appreciation of such things, look upon it askance, and grudge the room it occupies. It was thought desirable that the geological portion of the collection should be arranged as perfectly as possible, and Mr. Keeping, the curator of the Woodwardian Museum at Cambridge, who is more familiar than most vrith Isle of Wight geology, was engaged to do it. The remainder of the museum was arranged by Mr. John Wood, whose last days were devoted to this, to him, labour of love. Unfortunately, Mr. Wood was not a scientific man, but it would seem a sacrilege to interfere thus early with his work, which remains as he left it. You will be able to understand that, removed from place to place as the museum has been, a large number of specimens have disappeared and the labels from other specimens have been displaced ; and now, in my opinion, the archaeological portion of it is very poor. Of course, the Island is visited by many anti- quaries who have been only too glad to secure speci- mens which have been taken away. Lord Londes- borough purchased a magnificent collection of objects collected from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery on Chessell Down, and a great many other things which should never have been allowed to leave the Island have gone from it. I think the State should support local museums in every district in which the minutest object of interest, in which what are really ancient monuments illustrative of the history of the district, should be stored. We have here collections of coins of various kinds, also of old deeds and documents and of minerals and shells. As all who have had to do with local museums know, a great deal of lumber is shot into them, which has nothing at all to do with the district or its produc- tions. It is so here. The geological portion ot the collection fairly well illustrates the rocks which are at the surface in the Isle of Wight. The most interesting specimen, perhaps, is one of the phal- anges of the claw of the iguanodon. With reference to the archaeological collection, I may say we have in the valleys between the downs, in the centre of the Island, most interesting remains of the pits which, when roofed over with straw, ferns, and dry grass formed the dwellings of our Celtic ancestors. Mr. Kell investigated and described them ; and \ve have bones of animals used for food from them, and among them human bones in a state which leaves little doubt that these pit dwellers were cannibals. All over the Island are scattered the burial places of its ancient inhabitants, and more particularly upon the downs. These are the graves of the pre-Roman inhabitants, in which no traces of metal have been found, and in which the remains have not been burnt ; the graves in which Romano-British interments have taken place, and in which the remains have been incinerated in some cases, and in others not, and in which there are often found ornaments and weapons of bronze, and in some cases of iron ; and the post Roman or Anglo-Saxon graves in which gold and silver ornaments have been found and other bricks in great quantity, evidencing the great material prosperity of the inhabitan ts of those days. Dr. Groves then called attention to a very interesting specimen presented by Capt. Thorp, from a barrow he opened on Nunwell Down in 1881. It consists of a skull and femur, and an urn, or food vessel. On one side of the skull is a cut through the bone corresponding with a flint flake found im- mediately beneath it and corresponding with it, the suggestion being that it was the instrument which caused death. There were also two water-washed pebbles, about the size of a large hen's egg, found, one on each side the skeleton. As an example of a Romano-British interment he pointed loan enameled fibula in the form of a hare, found just below the right knee of a skeleton without the skull, which evidently had not been interred with it, and a pierced and ornamental bag of bronze found halfway down the right thigh bone. These came from the Romano- British cemetery on Bowcombe Down, the grave having been opened by Mr. Hillier in 1854. The THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 101 right humerus and left fibula, and left fifth rib of this skeleton were fractured. As examples of Anglo- Saxon interments, he described ornaments of gold and silver found in graves on Bowcombe and Ches- sell and Shalcombe Downs. He pointed out iron swords found on Chessel Down by Mr. Dennett in 1826. He also showed a very fine collection of bronze celts found at Northwood and Barton ; and a neolithic implement which fell from among the gravels of an old river bed in the cliff at Freshwater Gate. He said that some ot the vessels found in the barrows were evidently burnt on the spot ; but many of them corresponded with the pottery found at the Roman pottery works at Barnes Chine, near Brigh- stone, to specimens of which he directed attention. A discussion took place and Mr. Shore said he regarded the fractured skull, found in the tumulus, as an example of a slave being slain at the cremation of a cheftain. He had given this instance in a paper read before the Anthropological Institute. Mr. Dale questioned whether these ancient people were so bad as they were represented to have been, and claimed for them the benefit of the doubt, especially as to the habit referred to of splitting up the bones of their de- voured toes to enjoy the marrow. The party then proceeded to view some fine old houses with overhanging eaves, and one with a quaint portico over the doorway, and also to inspect a fine piece of carving from an old house in course of demolition and two wells ; one 180 feet deep and stone lined, recently discovered under an old house removed for new buildings to be erected on the site. A journey by rail then took the party to Ningwood for Shalfleet, where the interesting old church, with a fine Norman tower, was inspected. At the base of this tower an interesting paper was read by the Vicar, the Rev. John Thomas, M.A.* A discussion followed as to the origin of the name St. Winifred's well, and the Vicar was inclined to believe it was of Welsh origin, but it came out later in the day at Newtown that it was from the Countess of Salisbury, whose name was Winifred, that the name became associated with the well. Three sources were suggested for the name Shalfleet, namely fleet, a stream, and wood, stream in the wood ; and, again, 41 shall" from a hollow and fleet, a stream ; and, third, from Scaldis, through the Dutch Scheldt, as no doubt the ancestors of the ancient Dutch visited this neighbourhood in early times in their vessels. An inspection of the church followed, and two stone coffin lids were the object of much interest, Mr. B. W. Greenfield considering that the one with spear and shield formed one ot the most interesting examples in England of this kind of monument. The other contained an engraving of a spear-head and knight's head. Both were in good condition, and their removal from the floor was suggested as a means for their better preservation. * See page no post. One of the most interesting features of the meeting was the botanical portion. A number of gentlemen and farmers in the neighbourhood had collected all the rare plants in the district whose names and classes had hitherto puzzled them, and the botanists present viz., Mr. F. J. Warner, F.L.S., Dr. Buckell, of Romsey, and Dr. Embleton, of Bournemouth identified them, and it was a sight worth remember- ing to see one of the rooms in the inn at Shalfleet crowded with a party engaged for a considerable time in these investigations. A pleasant walk through country lanes brought the Club to Newtown, where they comfortably seated themselves on the grass in front of the still remaining "Town Hall" to listen to a paper by Mr. G. W. Colenutt (hon. local sec. of the Club for the Isle of Wight) on " Frenchville " or " Newtown." * An ancient map showing the burgage tenures of this pocket borough was exhibited. This map was copied in 1768 from an older one. Mr. Shore sug- gested the desirability of publishing a copy of this map in the proceedings of the Club, with a paper on New- town, and we understand that Mr. Estcourt, who has the custody of the map, has consented to allow this being done. Questions having been asked as to how the district of Newtown, which formerly belonged to the Bishop of Winchester, came into the possession of the present owners, Mr. Greenfield pointed out that it was sold to the King, and by him given to Montague, and passed, through the Countess ot Salis- bury, to FitzWilliarn Barrington. Newtown Church was next visited, and a descrip- tion of it given by the Vicar, the Rev. H. R. Venn, M.A. It is a modern erection, built from the materials of the old church, which was in ruins, and partly on the old foundations, but of smaller dimensions, the architect copying (?) as nearly as possible the older structure. The general opinion, however, was that he had drawn very much on his own imagination. The President proposed, in his characteristic way, a vote of thanks to the Vicars of Shalfleet and New- town for their kindness in connection with the out- ing, which was carried with acclamation, and the rev. gentlemen having suitably replied, a movement was made for Calbourne, where tea was provided, after which the party returned by train to Cowes, and a pleasant run by boat ended a most successful and enjoyable day. The Southampton contingent numbered thirty, and these were increased to fifty on arrival in the Island. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, underthe direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50 * See page m post. IO2 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 54' so"N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24 hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9. a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 1890. Inches. Inches. Deg. Deg. Inches. July 24 30.021 30-015 67-7 62-0 o'ooo >i 2 5 30.121 30-129 67-5 60.2 0-070 26 30.071 30.056 63-5 59'3 o'ooo > 2 7 30-011 29-927 62-9 59*5 0*009 28 29*875 29-976 64-2 57'4 o'ooo 29 30-048 30-030 67-3 57-6 O.-QOO ,, 30 29.980 29.997 59' 9 61-7 0-014 Means. 30-018 30-019 64-7 59-7 0-093 Temp. Self.-Reg. Ther in 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Direction of Wind. Sun- shine 'Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.* Grass Air. Air. 1890. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. July 24 24-8 54'7 74'7 57-1 N.W. N.W. 9-0 ,, 25 2IO 50-2 72-1 SI'S N.W. S.W. 10-7 ,, 26 i6'2 SS'S 70-5 S8-2 s.w. s.w. 5-6 ,, 27| i6'8 53'7 69-1 S7'i s.w. s.w. 2-8 ,, 28 32' i 54'2 75'' 57'4 N.W. W.N.W. 5'3 ,, 29 ig'8 47-2 70-5 49-8 W. S.W. 9'3 1. 30 82-9 53-8 65-2 55-8 s.w. s.w. o'o Means. 116-2 52-8 71-0 S5'3 Tl.42'7 * Black bulb in vacuo. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, August 9, 1890. WEATHER IN JULY. This month can hardly be said to have been genial summer weather. It has been marked by small sunshine and considerable rain. The i7th was visited in many parts byasevere thunderstorm and very heavy rainfall in some over four inches in the 24 hours. Here we had i'25in., and the total fall in the month has been 3-16 inches considerably over the average, which for the previous ten years is 2-41 inches. Rain fell on 15 days in one instance there were four days without rain, but in no other more than two. Since January i the quantity has been 17-14, and the aver- age of the same time is i6'oo inches. Only three days are entered as " Fine sunshine." The barome- ter has been under the average, on twelve days only 30 inches and above. The highest was 30.26, and the lowest 29-51 inches. July is the hottest month on the average, but it has not proved itself so this year. The highest was 76, in June it was 77, and the maximum was on thirteen days under 70. At night it was also cold for the season, and the lowest was only once 60*, and was on thirteen nights under 50, the lowest in the month was 40, and 41 and 42 on two other nights. Fordingbridge. T. WESTLAKE. A VISIT TO NEWPORT IN 1719. The following paper is copied from a curious MS. in the British Museum, which tells its own story. I have not been in Newport for many years and have no means of knowing how far the description answers to the present state of things, nor which of the in- scriptions still remain. But I send it to you, as the good people of Newport will probably be interested in it, and perhaps some one may kindly tell me how it compares with the present. I purpose from time to time to send other notes from the same volume. The next place dealt with is Carisbrooke. W. BENHAM, F.S.A. 32, Finsbury-square, July 4, 1890. Tuesday, i7th March, 1719, morning I set out from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight, in a Hoy, and sailed up Cowes River to Newport, where I made the following observations, viz., Newport is a pretty large market and borough town of ye Isle of Wight, in Lat. Medina, or Novus Burgus de Medina ; it is situated at the upper part of Cowes River, which is so narrow and shallow that it will not admit any ships of great burden to come quite up to it. It had its first grants from Richard de Rivers Earl of Devon, and Baldwin his son, and Sister Isabella de Fortibus, Lords of the Isle, descendants ot Fitz Osbern. The last charter was granted to them by K. James I by the name of Mayor, Aldermen, and 24 chief burgesses, who elect members to Parliament. Famous for the Treaty of the Parliamentary Commissioners with King Charles I, held anno 1648. They have a market every Wednes- day and Saturday, and one fair on Whitson Monday for three dayes. The church is like, at first view, 3 ridged houses joyned, embattled on ye top ; on ye upper part are five windows between 6 leaden spouts, and underneath 4 larger windows, with a large porch, which is the grand entrance in the middle of the south side ; the tower is pretty lofty and em- battled with four pinnacles. Within the Church is one of the most curious carved pulpits that I ever saw, the work of one Thomas Sayer (who now lies buried in Salisbury) anno 1630, in which year the seats were likewise erected. It was a donation of one March, whose crest is against the back of the pulpit. As for the carving round the sounding board of it is this circumscription in neat wrought and gilded letters, Cry aloud and spare not ; lift tip thy voice like a Trumpet. The pulpit is divided into two rows of bas-relief carved images, on the uppermost row are curiously described ye four Cardinal Virtues, and the three Graces with their types ; and on the lower rank the seven liberal sciences, viz. : Grammatica, Dialectica, Rhetorica, Musica, Arithmetica, Gcometria, Astronomia ; %vith the several symbols and character- isticks of each science. Tis a true Church Militant, for there is a cannon placed to defend the church now it is in danger. Nothing more remarkable in it but a neat light grey marble font. Underneath the step THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. 103 that goes up to ye altar is the vault wherein is interred the Lady Elizabeth, daughter to K. Charles I, and this is the inscription as Mr. John Gilbert, jun., told me. The Lady Elisabeth, daughter to King Charles I, Sept. 8, MDCL. Against the south wall is the much famed tomb of Sir Edward Horsey, knight, who was often sent thither in Henry VHI'ths time to defend it from any sudden invasion from France. Tis a curious marble monument on which lies his effigies at length, armed at all points compleat with his hands joyned in a praying manner, and on an oval piece of black marble this epitaph : Edwardus qui Miles erat Fortissimus Horsey Vectis erat Praeses constans terraque marique Magnanimus placid* sub pacis nomine fortis Justitise cultor quam fidus Amicus Amico Fauta Evangelii dilectus Principe vixit Munificus populo multum dilectus ab omni Vixit et ut sancte sic stamina sancta peregit Qui obiit 230 die Marcii Anno Domini, 1582. [Then comes an elaborate drawing of his arms.] In ye churchyard which is about a quarter of a mile west of the church neatly walled in, are the iollowing remarkable inscriptions : Here lyeth the body of Master George Shergold, late Minister of Newport, who during 16 years in discharge of his office strictly observed thetruedisciplineof theChurch of England, disliking that dead bodies should be buried in God's house, appointed to be interred in this place. He dyed universally lamented and esteemed. Jan. xxiii, 1707. On a headstone on the south side of the churchyard this : Here lyeth the body of John Smith, who departed this life ye i2th day of August, 1712, in the 24th year of his age. Stay, gentle reader, spend a tear Upon ye dust yt sleepeth here, And whilst thou readst ye state of me, Think on ye glass yt runs for thee. On a brass plate on a fine raised tomb near the middle of the churchyard : Here is laid the body of Mr. John Skinner, who departed this life ye 26th ot March, 1713, in ye 64th yeare of his age. A man exemplary for piety and forward in works of charity, especially worthy of a good and lasting [sic], for an act of gratitude more than common, as in return for a seasonable (though noe great) benefaction he bequeathed the greater share of his estate (gotten by honest industry) to come to ye great grandchildren of that his benefactor. See by this how ye bread that a man may have cast upon the waves cometh to be found again after many dayes. On another stone in the north part of the church- yard : John Gilbert de Pan, Gen., repentina morte xxx Julii, MDCXCVI. Eupotmoteros dia touto kai kakon apeiratos eteleutesen. [i.e., "his death was the happier hereby since he first tasted not of its bitterness."] Subita morte modo non improvisa Felicius transitur ad Portum. Mr. Gilbert is the present incumbent, and John Leigh, Esq., patron. 'Tis only a chapel to Caris- brooke. Ther's a free school there endowed with 50 per annum for a schoolmaster to teach 10 poore children ; he is put in by the Corporation, who is at present Mr. Pickerson. Before I leave this town I can't help taking notice of a certain man there who from nothing raised a pretty considerable fortune, wrote over his door by way of motto God's Providence is my inheritance. HAMPSHIRE AFFAIRS IN 1778. From the London Magazine for Feb., 1778, I send you a cutting of " country news" from Southampton and Reading : Southampton, Feb. 14, (1778.) Lord Charles Montagu, brother to the Duke of Manches- ter, is now raising a company at his own expense, which, we are informed, is either to join the Manchester or Liver- pool regiment. This was over the war with America. What came of that company ? Reading, Feb. 14, 1758. Thursday last the inhabitants of this borough met at the Town Hall in consequence of bills distributed by the Mayor for that purpose, to consult what measures were necessary to be taken respecting the pro- posed canal from Basingstoke to the river Wey, when it was unanimously resolved t to the very utmost to oppose it. Where is the canal ? GEO. PARKER. WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S.. R.E. Lat. 50* 54' 59" N.; long, i" 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observers Sergt. T. Chambers, R.E., and Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature of Rain in Date Temp, aad Alt. the Air 24hours 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m 9 a.m. 1890 Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. July 31 3O'ooi 30.017 62-3 61-9 0-026 Aug. i 29'8go 29-878 64-7 S9'o O'OOO ,, 2 29-981 30-103 64-4 58-1 0-042 ii 3 3' 193 30-207 61-7 60-9 O'OOO i> 4 30-246 30-256 62-4 61-9 O'OOO 30-231 30-151 69-6 62-9 o'ooo i. 6 30-124 30-121 69-6 63-9 o'ooo Means 30-095 30-105 65-0 6l"2 0-068 Temp. Self-Reg. Ther. in Direction of I Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. | shine Max in Min. Max Min. Date. Sun on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays* Grass Air Air. 1800 Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. July 31 8s'i 60-6 65-2 60-8 s.w. s.w. o'o Aug. i 16-6 54'9 70-5 59* i s.w. W.N.W 2-6 II 2 18-7 48.4 71-0 5i'9 N.W. w.s.w 5'i ii 3 26-2 49'4 75'9 52.2 N.E. W. 8-9 ii 4 25' 56-3 75' 56'9 N.E. s.w. 7'8 ii 5 33-1 50-4 77-2 52'7 S.W. N.W. 12-6 ii 6 29-0 49'3 79-1 Si'9 N.E. s.w. 12-8 Means 117-7 52-8 7.V4 SS'i 49-8 .Black bulb in vacuo. 104 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. ST. JAMES'S STREET CHAPEL, NEWPORT. The following, engrossed on parchment, was enclosed in a bottle, and placed in the foundation stone ot St. James's Street Chapel, Newport, Isle of Wight. JOHN DORE. The Foundation Stone of this Chapel, built for the use of the oldest Society of Protestant Dissenters in the Isle of Wight, was laid May 30, 1848, by the Rev. Edward Giles, the Pastor of the Church. Trustees. Mr. James Wavell, Mr. John Hollis, ,, John Adams, John Adams, jun., ,, James Kirkpatrick, Richard Gibbs, ,, Edward Upward, ,, Richard Aldridge. Thomas Hellyer, Esq., Architect. Mr. Richard Aldridge, Builder. John Dore, Scripsit. spoken of as being the owner, but some legal pro- ceedings took place, and a Canal Company was said to exist. JAS. W. BATCHELOR. THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, August 16, 18 "WHERE IS THE CANAL?" Mr. George Parker puts the above query as a foot note to his cuttings from the London Magazine of February 14, 1778, which cutting demonstrates the foolish obstructiveness as far as the wish was concerned of the Reading people, who stultified themselves by " unanimously resolving to oppose the movement " for making the said Canal, though, how the watery way could be detrimental to their inter- ests, I am unable to imagine. The Canal is in existence, from the wharf at the bottom ot Wote- street, Basingstoke, to its juncture with the river Wey, not far from the increasing village of Wey- bridee. From its western point, upwards to London, it passes through the grounds (ruins) of Basing House, leaving the village on its left ; goes under Greywell Hill, very near the residence of the late Lord Dorchester, touches the town of Odiham where was once a considerable wharf; skirts a large portion of Dogmersfield Park, via Crookham to Farn- borough (North Camp) ; on to Woking and to Wey- bridge. Portions of the Canal are still used London to Farnborough Basingstoke to Odiham but many parts are full of mud and weeds, while the water as the late Robert Hall would say stands still for people to drown themselves therein. To show that the Canal is utilised for pleasure as well as busi- ness, the Fleet Rowing Club announce a regatta to take place there on the igth inst., when valuable silver cups and other prizes will be competed for. The Times recently published an interesting account of the various canals of the country, and doubtless the one in question appears in the list. The specula- tion was a most unfortunate cne ; the bondholders got no dividend, while the original shareholders got less, if possible. To whom the property belongs I cannot say. I remember about ten years ago a Mr. St. Aubin repaired the Greywell Hill tunnel, and he was WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK. From the meteorological register, made at the Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, under the direction of Col. Sir Chas. Wilson, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., F.R.S., R.E. Lat. 50* 54' 50" N. ; long. i 24' o" W. ; height above sea, 84 feet. Observer Mr. J. T. Cook. Bar. corrected for Temperature ol Kain in Date. Temp, and Alt. the Air. 24hours 9 a.m. | 9 p.m. 9 a.m. 9 p.m. 9 a.m. Inches. Inches. Degrees. Degrees. Inches. Aug 7 30-161 30-142 69-1 62-7 o'ooo i, 8 30-130 30*064 64-1 59'4 o'ooo .. 30-008 29-914 6i'9 6 t -i i'233 >t I0 29-750 29'759 63-8 61-4 0-188 .. ii 29-760 29-831 61-2 60-9 0-038 I 2 29-820 29-821 63'9 59'8 0-015 II 13 29*802 29-777 64-9 58-7 o'ooo Means. 29-919 29-901 64-1 60-6 Tl.i-474 Temp. Self.-Reg. Ther. in Direction of Sun- 24 hours previous to 9 p.m. Wind. shine. Max. in Min. Max. Min. Date. Sun's on in in 9 a.m. 9 p.m. Hours. Rays.t Grass Air. Air. Deg. Deg. Deg. Deg. Aug 7 119-8 S3'i 74'4 5<5'9 S.E. E.S.E. 10-5 8 114-0 Si-B 66-4 53*7 E. N.E. 4-6 ii 9 92*0 55'4 67-5 S6'3 E. N.E. I'Z ii i 121-3 =16- S 71-2 60-7 S.E. S.W. 4'5 II H I2I'O 59' 69-9 S9'8 S.W. S.W. 2'I ii 12 I22'9 56'9 73'5 59'7 W.N.W W.N.W 4'4 11 13 126-8 52-2 70'S 54" 6 N.W. W.N.W 9'5 Means. 116-8 SO'Q 70'S 57 '4 Tl.36-8 t Black bulb in vacuo. HAMPSHIRE CRICKET IN 1777. A correspondent has forwarded us a copy of a hand- bill giving the score of a celebrated match played in 1777, between Hants and England. The following is a reprint : A List of the Gentlemen Cricketers who played On Sevenoaks Vine, June 20, 1777, For one thousand guineas, Hampshire, with the Right Hon. Earl Tankerville, against all England ! With the state of the game. HANTS. First innings. Lord Tankerville 3 b Wood. Brett 9 Small 33 c White. Francis 260 Wood. Nyren 37 b Lump. Sutler 46 b Wood. Lear 7 b Wood. Aylward 167 Veck 16 b Lumpy. Taylor 32 c Bullin. Curry 22 c Minshall. Bies 5 Total 403 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY &* NATURALIST. 105 ENGLAND. ist inn. and inn. total. D. of Dorsett, b Brett o c Tankerville 5 5 Lumpy, b Brett i 2 3 Wood, b Brett i b Nyren i 2 White, c Veck 8 run out 10 18 Miller, c Small 27 b Brett 23 50 Minshall 60 bTaylor 12 72 Bowra, b Brett 2 c Taylor 4 6 Bullin, c Lord Tankerville... 13 b Nyren 2 15 Brooker, c Brett 8 b Brett 210 Yalden, c Small 6 c Nyren 8 14 Pattenden, b Brett 38 c Suter 038 Bies 2 Bies o 2 1 66 69 235 The match was won by Hampshire in one innings, by a majority of 168. Aylward, on the side ot Hants, went in at five o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, and was not out till after three on Friday ! THE HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT, August 23, 1890. HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB. MEETING AT BEAULIEU. There was a very large attendance of members on Wednesday for the excursion to Beaulieu. Favoured with fine weather the excursion doubtless owed some of its popularity especially among the ladies to the fact that it was a brake drive, the walk- ing being thus reduced to a minimum. When heads were counted at Hythe pier gate the number totaled up to 82, and others joined the party later on. Tuesday was a soaking wet day, but on Wednesday the club experienced its usual good fortune, and there was nothing worse during the day than an occasional threatening cloud. At Hythe the brakes provided were rapidly filled and a start was made for Beaulieu. About half way across the heath, a short distance to the west of the road, is a group of tumuli, where the first stoppage was made. At first it looked as if these tumuli could not be approached, as the ground was so marshy from the previous day's rain ; but Mr. Shore successfully pioneered a way over dry ground and throughout the day kept the large party well together and up to time during the numerous stoppages. The tumuli consist of one long barrow between two ring barrows, lying almost north and south. Of these, as Mr. Shore said, the long barrow is the oldest and is a relic of very ancient times. The round barrows, which are of a good shape with the circular hollow or moat round them, would if opened doubtless show remains of cremation, with flints and pebbles, and may probably be associated with the Belgae of pre-Roman or Roman times. These people after burning their dead buried the ashes in urns inverted on a bed of flints and then covered them with these earth mounds. There is much wisdom in Mr. Shore's sugges- tion that these barrows on the Crown property should be scheduled under the Ancient Monuments Act, and so saved from the risk of destruction which befell those on Holbury Purlieu a little while ago. A little to the south, on the opposite side of the road, the remains of a Romano-British road were visited. This is a raised trackway across the marshy heath and that the heath is marshy was shown by the presence of the round leaf sundew, Drosera rotundifolia extending in an east and west direction towards another Roman road, pointed out to the eastward, marked on the new one inch Ordnance map. This second road was at one time an important thoroughfare leading to Lepe, whence a short water passage led to a corresponding road in the Isle of Wight. The road on which the party was assembled led probably from Hythe across Hertford Heath (as it is called on the map, though Mr. Shore suggested that it was Har- ford or old ford) to a ford over the Beaulieu or Exe River. It was not, Mr. W. Dale suggested, a Roman road, but constructed by the British in probably Roman times. Just after entering the Beaulieu manor a halt was made to visit the monks' well, lying in the wood just off the road. Here the party was met by Lord Montagu, who courteously pointed out some of the antiquarian features on his property and gave some interesting information about them. The well, which was made by the old monks to supply the abbey and fish ponds with water, is a solidly built dome-shaped structure covering a basin into which the water rises from the ground. Into this one enthusiastic young lady, who wanted to be first in exploring its dark recesses, unexpectedly precipitated herself ; but as the water was not more than two feet deep the ill result was nothing worse than a cold bath. When Lord Montagu first came into possession of the property the well was filled up, and he has done good service in cleaning it out and exposing the well-made dome and basin. It is an instance of the solidity of the structure that when the men were excavating, a settlement of the ground caused the dome to tilt slightly without any breakage. Near by is a modern reservoir constructed by the uncle of the present Lord Montagu about 60 years ago for the water supply of the village ; and the President (Mr. W. Whitaker, F.R.S.) congratulated his lordship on the excellent water supply, which in the New Forest generally is not very satisfactory. These springs, he said, find their origin in the gravels of the heath and emerge with the outcrop of the underlying clay. The central point of the day's meeting was Beau- lieu Abbey. This, like Netley, Quarr, in the Isle of Wight, Tintern, Fountains, &c. , belonged to the Cistercian order. It was founded by King John in 1204, and erected at an early period of the history of the Cistercians in this country, being the mother abbey to Netley. Its history it has some notable io6 THE HAMPSHIRE ANTIQUARY & NATURALIST. associations \vith Margaret of Anjou and Perkin Warbeck has been well told in the late Mr. J. R. Wise's " New Forest," so that we need not detail it here. All that is left of the ruins now is the cloister court, and the surrounding domestic buildings, of which the refectory (or dining hall) is now used as the parish church. These domestic buildings are in a good state of preservation, and if the church itself was in the same condition it would have been one ot the finest ruins in the country. It would have been one of the largest, too, for the church was 404 feet long. But of this scarce a vestige now remains. Its extent was a few years ago indicated by a stone course, with the positions ot the great pillars support- ing the roof ; but this is now overgrown by the grass, and nothing is to be seen save the two little patches of tile pavement. It is to be hoped that every effort will be made to save these, though they have considerably deteriorated since they were first discovered, and it would be well if the stone course marking the outlines of the building could be again brought into view. Lord Montagu possesses a valuable historical heritage, and fortun- ately takes a great interest in its intelligent preserva- tion, and has already done much to ensure this. He has it in contemplation to remove the great unsightly buttress which mars the triplet window at the south end of the present church, an improvement which will be welcomed by antiquaries generally, regard of course being had to the stability of the building. The stone of which this church is built is (Mr. Shore mentioned) mostly from Binstead, in the Isle of Wight, with some Purbeck, and (inside) a little Port- land. The vicar, the Rev. R. F. Powles, M.A., met the party in the churchyard, and led the way into the church, where great admiration was expressed for the beautiful carved stone pulpit, formerly the lectern or reading desk of the refectory, This is com- posed of two, or three, kinds of stone Caen and Pur- beck, the lower part being so covered with limewash as to be uncertain. Here also Lord Montagu's anti- quarian taste has been brought into requisition in re- moving the high modern cills of the windows made to be out of the way of the pews and exposing the old sloping cills with their marble stringcourse, with f in places, traces of the old wall colouring. Some of these yet remain to be done. Mr. B. W. Greenfield, F.S.A., gave an account of the carved heads and armorial bearings on the woodwork of the roof, among which are the heads of (possibly) King John and his son Richard, King of the Romans, the arms of the abbey, of William of Wykeham, of the Wriothesley family, c. After a look at the clock-tower or old water gate, Lord Montagu allowed his visitors to inspect some of the antiquarian features of the in- terior of the Palace House, where the fine groined roof of what was formerly the entrance hall to the monastic building was much admired. Around the house a predecessor of Lord Montagu constructed a defensive moat, spreading the soil removed from it over the lawn, which thus hid away two or three feet of the wall of the house. This has now been removed, so as to show this fine en- trance in its entirety. It is now an integral part of the dwelling house, windows having been put in where formerly a porch was open to the weather, and the doorway inside being now blocked up with fireplaces. Ui*der the lawn, between the water-gate and the house, Lord Montagu had exposed (but again covered up) the foundations of the domestic buildings of the monastery, with two perfect domed water chan- nels, whilst beyond, to the eastward, had been dis- covered remains of the old quay. That the roof of the Palace House was formerty flat was shown by the old corbel table along the upper part of its front, with some curious gargo\ - les, of which the centre one represents Adam and Eve with the tree between them. In the cloister court Lord Montagu took leave of his guests to meet another party of visitors, not, however, before the President had expressed thanks for the kindness he had shown. Sandwiches were then dispatched, and a further examination made of the ruins and the museum, which contains some interest- ing antiquities, including some remains from tumuli on the heath, elaborate!}- carved tombstones (some of which had evidently possessed brasses) and orna- mental tiles. Of these tiles several have been pre- served in tablets on the wall by a former Vicar, Mr. Baker, and here, by an old Purbeck marble table (possibly an altar slab), Mr. Greenfield read the following paper, illustrated with a number of specimens and carefully coloured drawings of the tiles : MONASTIC DECORATIVE TILES. Pavements formed of encaustic tiles did not come into use until the end of the twelfth century ; and although there appears to be no natural or necessary connection between this kind of pavement and the Gothic style of architecture, yet, as a matter of fact, they came in together and went out together. This, not without reason, m