Subscriptions are being invited among the Fellows for the purpose of placing a memorial portrait of the late Sir Wollaston Franks in the Society's rooms. It appears that Mr. Charles J. Praetorius, who had

FEBRUARY, 1898.

Notes of the Month.

At the meeting of the Society of Antiquaries on January 13 the following were elected Fellows: the Hon. Harry Lee Stanton Lee-Dillon, Ditchley, Oxon; Dr. Oliver Codrington, 71, Victoria Road, Clapham, S.W.; the Rev. Francis Sanders, M.A., Hoylake Vicarage, Cheshire; Captain William Joseph Myers, Kytes, Watford; the Rev. George Frederick Terry, 20, Denbigh Road, Bayswater, W.; Mr. Edward Almack, 1, Antrim Mansions, England's Lane, N. W.; Mr. Samuel Clement Southam, Elmhurst, Shrewsbury; LieutenantColonel John Glas Sandeman, 24, Cambridge Square, Hyde Park, W.; and Mr. Daniel Charles Addington Cave, Sidbury Manor, Sidmouth.

The following, among other communications, during the remainder of the present session, are announced as being promised: "Observations on some Works hitherto unnoticed, executed by Holbein during his First Visit to England," by Mr. F. M. Nichols; "Note on Further Discoveries in St. Martin's Church, Canterbury," by Mr. W. H. St. John Hope, assistant-secretary; "Note on the Will of Thomas Malory," by Mr. A. T. Martin; "On a Recent Discovery of a Chariot Burial of the Early Iron Age at Kilham, East Riding, Yorks," by Mr. Thomas Boynton, local secretary, and Mr. J. R. Mortimer; "Aydon Castle, Northumberland," by Mr. W. H. Knowles, local secretary; "On the First Foundation of Giggleswick School, Yorkshire, and its Records, Stone and Parchment," by Mr. A. F. Leach.

VOL. XXXIV.

at the British Museum, had various sketches and notes which, in his opinion, would enable him to produce a portrait; and having modelled a life-size profile head in relief in wax, the work has been approved. The council proposes to offer a duplicate copy of this for the acceptance of the Trustees of the British Museum, as a proper tribute to the memory of their late President, who was, by virtue of his office as such, a Trustee of the Museum. It is estimated that the total cost of the finished portrait in bronze will be about £150.

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A new part of Archeologia (New Series, vol. lv., Part II.) has been issued to the Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries. It contains the following papers: (1) "On Some Waxed Tablets, said to have been found at Cambridge," by Professor T. M'Kenny Hughes, and which is followed by a useful, and apparently very complete bibliography of the subject of waxed tablets. (2) "Visitations of Certain Churches in the City of London in the Patronage of St. Paul's Cathedral Church between the Years 1138 and 1250," by the late Dr. Sparrow Simpson. The paper is followed by some early and valuable inventories of the churches in question. (3) "The House of Aulus Vettius, recently discovered at Pompeii." This is a description, fully illustrated, of a house with a number of remarkable wall pictures, in Regio VI. (4) "The Prebendal Stalls and Misericords in the Cathedral Church of Wells," by the Rev. C. M. Church. This paper contains various elements of interest; it not only places on record the old arrangement of the choir of Wells prior to the "restoration," which upset everything in it fifty years ago, but it also gives a description of the old stall-work and of the misericords, the latter of which, though displaced, are fortunately preserved. Photographs of several are given, and they exhibit most excellent examples of early fourteenthcentury wood-carving. (5) "The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus-the Probable Arrangement

F

and Signification of its Principal Sculptures," by Mr. Edward Oldfield. This very important paper is fully illustrated, but it is not possible to indicate its contents here. (6) "On a Votive Deposit of Gold Objects found on the North-west Coast of Ireland," by Mr. Arthur J. Evans. This is a description of a very remarkable hoard of some magnificent gold objects, which are figured and carefully described by Mr. Evans, and compared with others found elsewhere. We do not see that the exact place where they were found is indicated. This is surely a needless omission. (7) "Excavations on the Site of the Roman City at Silchester, Hants, in 1896," by Mr. W. H. St. John Hope. This paper describes in detail (with plans, sections, and photographic illustrations) the discoveries of 1896 at Silchester, and is marked by Mr. Hope's usual careful accuracy and clearness of description. (8) "Notes on the Church. now called the Mosque of the Kalenders at Constantinople," by Dr. Freshfield. This paper is elaborately illustrated by a number. of photographic plates. (9) "The Dolmens and Burial Mounds in Japan," by Mr. William Gowland. This is a very important and elaborate communication, with a number of figures of the more remarkable of the dolmens and mounds examined by the writer, as well as of the objects found in them. It is an exceptionally valuable and important paper. (10) "The Domus Inferior or Friary of our Oldest Charterhouses," by the Rev. Henry Gee. Besides the papers above enumerated, there are illustrated notes on "A SixteenthCentury Mathematical Instrument-case," by Mr. Percy G. Stone, and on "A Silver Dish with a Figure of Dionysos from the Hindu Kush," by Mr. C. H. Read, secretary. In conclusion, we may perhaps express our opinion that this is one of the best parts of Archæologia that have been published, and that this is bestowing very high praise our readers will readily admit.

Estimates next Session, and that a commencement will be made before the summer is far advanced. The cost will probably be considerable, as the new building will occupy, next to the Natural History Museum, the most prominent site at South Kensington, and it will necessarily require to be of a somewhat ornate character. When the matter was last under discussion in the House £400,000 was the figure mentioned. Probably this may be accepted as somewhere about the cost, but it is little short of a scandal that it has not been incurred long ago, and the valuable objects of all kinds collected together in the shanty at South Kensington properly and safely housed.

Mr. R. Blair writes (December 27) as follows: "About ten days ago a Roman altar was discovered by some workmen during building operations in Vespasian Avenue, a street about 100 yards from the south east angle of the Roman station at South Shields. Un

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fortunately, the lower portion of it and the right-hand 'horn' have been destroyed. It bears the inscription 'Julius | Verax | C[enturio] leg[ionis] v[1].' The full height is 17 inches, and breadth of plane on which are the letters 11 inches. The letters are about 2 inches high."

Her Majesty the Queen has accepted the engraved sapphire signet ring of Queen Mary II., consort of William III., from Mr. Drury Fortnum. This gift forms a pendant

Christmas and New Year's Day bring with them the observance year by year of a number of well-known old customs, which are annually reported in the newspapers much as if no one had heard of them before. One of the more notable is the Boar's Head ceremony at Oxford, and it may be worth while to place it on record that on Christmas Day, 1897, the head, which was bedecked with flags, a gilt crown, and rosemary, weighed 60 pounds, and was taken from an animal bred by Mr. J. Thomson, of Woodperry, near Oxford. It was prepared by Mr. W. H. Horn, the manciple of the college, and was carried on a massive silver dish by servitors of the college. As the procession passed up the centre of the hall the Boar's Head Carol

was sung by the choir, the solo parts being taken by the Rev. W. C. Carter, of Christ Church, a former scholar of Queen's. The

company at dinner included the Fellows and a few guests. The Provost of Queen's was not present, being abroad for the benefit of his health, and in his absence the Senior Bursar presided.

The Daily Graphic, which often does the study of archæology and folklore a good turn, printed a communication in its issue of January 1 regarding some old Herefordshire customs, which are not, we believe, so widely known as many of the others recorded in newspapers at this season of the year, and we venture to quote the following from our contemporary's columns, as well as to reproduce the small illustration of the blackthorn globe which accompanied it. Some correspondence followed, in which one or more of the writers contended for a differently-shaped globe or crown. The explanation surely is that the shape varies more or less in different parts of the county. The following is the original communication. which appeared in the Daily Graphic:

"A strange custom still lingers in out-of-theway country places in Herefordshire. On New Year's Day, very early in the morning, the farm-boys go out and cut branches of the

blackthorn, which they weave into a kind of globe of thorns. Then a large fire of straw is made in the farmyard, in which the globe of thorns is slightly burnt, while all the inmates of the farm stand, hand in hand, in a circle round the fire, shouting in a monotonous voice the words 'Old Cider,' prolonging each syllable to its utmost extent. When the globe of thorns is slightly charred it is taken indoors, and hung up in the kitchen, when it brings good luck for the

rest of the year. No one seems to know the origin of the superstition, though probably the words 'Old Cider' are a corruption of some much older words, possibly an invocation to a heathen deity. Old people say that in their youth the practice was general in all country places in Herefordshire, and it was a pretty sight on New Year's morning to see the fires burning all over the neighbourhood. ticular kind of cake, and on New Year's Another custom still in use is to take a parmorning to bring a cow into the farmyard, and place the cake on her head. The cow walks forward, tosses her head, and the cake falls, and the prosperity of the New Year is foretold from the direction of its fall."

Speaking on a former occasion of the observance of old customs, and alluding to the conservative habits of the English people in these matters, we mentioned the practice still followed at Newcastle-upon-Tyne of presenting Her Majesty's Judge of Assize with a Jacobus when he leaves the town. Mr. W. A. Day, of Redcar, Yorkshire (a son of Mr. Justice Day), kindly writes to us as to this as follows:

"In looking through the Antiquary, in the 'Notes of the Month,' for January, 1896, I observe a paragraph about giving the judge of assize a Jacobus. It occurs to me as possible

that you may not know the origin of this custom. As a fact, two judges visit Newcastle. The senior judge receives one coin and the junior another. One coin is a Jacobus and the other a Carolus, once termed, tradition says, a Carolus by the worthy mayor who presented it! In the old days of the Northern circuit the judges posted from Newcastle to Carlisle, and the Sheriff of Northumberland escorted them as far as Cumberland, where that county received them by its sheriff. This escort was caused by fear of border marauders. As things settled, the escort was given up, and the judges received a little dagger each in lieu thereof. To-day the dagger has disappeared, and the coins suggest that the judges shall buy their safe journey. Newcastle shares with Bristol the peculiarity of putting up the judges free of all cost. Lodgings are always found by all counties, but Newcastle and Bristol find food and drink. I do not know the explanation of this, though I have often. asked."

Mr. J. Russell Larkby writes:

"I enclose a cutting from the Globe, referring to the deplorable destruction of Wrottesley Hall by fire. Surely it is a matter for congratulation to think that so considerate a body of borough authorities preside over the administration of affairs at Wolverhampton. All antiquaries will be pleased with the 'recent regulations,' prohibiting the attendance of a fire-engine, when its presence would probably have saved the valuable contents of Wrottesley Hall from almost total destruction."

The paragraph (Globe, December 16) is as follows:

"Wrottesley Hall, Staffordshire, the ancestral seat of the Wrottesley family for two centuries, has been entirely destroyed by fire. The flames were first discovered in Lord Wrottesley's dressing-room shortly after midnight, and before help could be obtained the entire west front was in flames. A mounted messenger was despatched to Wolverhampton for the steam fire-engine, but, under recent regulations of the borough authorities, the police brigade are prohibited from attending fires outside the borough, and consequently the engines were not sent. Lord Dart mouth's private engine from Patshull arrived

We desire to call renewed attention to a work of the highest possible value to every antiquary, and which has been undertaken by Mr. G. L. Gomme, F.S.A., on behalf of the Congress of Archæological Societies, this being no less formidable a task than the preparation of an index of archæological papers published from 1682 to 1890. The records of British archæology are scattered through the transactions of so many societies that the need for a collected index has long been felt, and the formation of the Congress of Archæological Societies in 1888 led to the first important step being taken three years later of the compilation of a yearly index. This index has been compiled and issued for each of the years since 1891, and is admittedly of great value to the cause of archæological research, but to make it complete the index from the beginning of the Royal Society in 1682 up to 1890 is needed. This index has been compiled up to 1885, and prepared for the press by Mr. Gomme, who has offered the use of his manuscript to the Congress, and it is now proposed to complete the work for the five intervening years-1886 to 1890-and to issue to subscribers the entire index from 1682 to 1890. The index consists of a transcript of the titles of papers contributed to every archæological society and other societies publishing archaeological material in the United Kingdom, these titles being arranged in proper bibliographical form, under author's name in alphabetical order, and to this is added an exhaustive subject index. Intend ing subscribers should send their names, with as little delay as possible, to Ralph Nevill, Esq., 13, Addison Crescent, Kensington, W. de

Some uneasiness has been occasioned by a statement that the Whitgift Hospital in Croydon is in danger of being demolished. From a paragraph in the Times of December 21, it appeared that at the meeting of the Croydon Town Council held on the previous evening a memorial was received from the

Professor Boyd Dawkins delivered a lecture in December at Douglas, under the auspices of the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian Society, upon "The Isle of Man in Prehistoric Times." Professor Boyd Dawkins gave a sketch of the continental epoch, when the woolly mammoth and other extinct animals ranged over the continent, of which the island then formed a part. He dealt with the period of insularity, and described the fauna and flora of the island when it became surrounded with sea. to the great Irish elk, a very fine skeleton of which has been quite lately found in the marl beds near Peel, he said the country must at one time have been much larger, to have supported such noble specimens of the deer tribe. Professor Dawkins then proceeded to describe the island during the Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and dealt with the human inhabitants of the island during those ages.

Referring

In conclusion, Professor Dawkins earnestly appealed to the Manx people to establish in the island a Manx museum. This, we understand, they are likely to do.

The picturesque fortified manor - house of Westenhanger, near Hythe, Kent, known in the locality as Fair Rosamond's Bower, has, we regret to learn, become the headquarters of the new Folkestone Racecourse Club. In connection with the racecourse the shifting of a large amount of earth has taken place, and the moat has been dug out, in what manner we do not know, in order to furnish earth for a mound in front of the grand stand. In digging the moat many worked stones and other objects have been found. Up to the present the remains found have been for the most part of an archi

Mr. Robert Craufurd, of Stonewold, Ballyshannon, writes to us: "With reference to the very careful and appreciative review of Mr. Allingham's account of 'Captain Cuellar's Adventures in Connacht and Ulster,' which appeared in the Antiquary for December, I should like, as the translator of the Spanish document, to add a word or two in support of what appears to me to be the important suggestion of the reviewer as to the identity of the Bishop who helped Cuellar to escape.

"In Captain Duro's book, La Armada Invencible, he quotes from Cuellar's narrative thus: Llámase el Obispo D. Reimundo Termi (?) Obispo de Times (?),' the literal translation of which is, 'The Bishop was called Don Reimundo Termi (?) Bishop of Times (?).'

"Now, as the notes of interrogation occur in the Spanish text, they suggest, I think, that Captain Duro found difficulty in deciphering the words 'Termi' and 'Times' in the original manuscript, and that he was not altogether satisfied as to having got them correctly in print. The reviewer's suggestion that we should read 'Tierney' for 'Termi' is one that will, I think, recommend itself to everyone who has studied the subject. It should be remembered, too, that Cuellar had no note-book in which to enter names, and had to depend altogether upon his memory.

"Assuming, then, that the reviewer's suggestion is correct, and that Raymond Tierney, a Galway man, who was Bishop of Elphin at the beginning of the seventeenth century, was he who succoured Cuellar, the question remains, What is the meaning of Bishop of Times'?

"The word "Tuam' might easily be mistaken, in writing, for Times.' Tuam is in