Notes and Queries, Number 211, November 12, 1853

Bishop Kennett's MS. Diary.—Where is Bishop Kennett's MS. Diary, from which his often-cited description of Dean Swift is taken, to be found? Sir Walter Scott (Swift's Works, vol. xvi. p. 76.) says "it was formerly in the possession of Lord Lansdowne, and is now in the British Museum." I have never been able to find it.

F. B.

[The Diary here referred to by Sir Walter Scott will be found at p. 428. in Lansdowne MS. 1024., which forms the third and last volume of Bishop Kennett's "Materials for an Ecclesiastical History of England."]

Replies

MILTON'S WIDOW

(Vol. vi., p. 596.; Vol. vii., pp. 12. 134. 200. 375.)

It may be worth recording, that among the MS. papers of the late James Boswell, which were I believe sold by auction by Messrs. Sotheby and Co., there was the office copy and probate of the will of Milton's widow. She was described as Elizabeth Milton of Namptwich, widow; and it was dated the 27th of August, 1727. In the will she bequeathed all her effects, after the payment of her debts, to be divided between her nieces and nephews in Namptwich; and named as her executors, Samuel Acton and John Allcock, Esqs. Probate was granted to John Allcock, October 10, 1727.

Beside this, there was a bond or acquittance, dated 1680 from Richard Mynshull, described of Wistaston in Cheshire, frame-work knitter, for 100l. received of Mrs. Elizabeth Milton in consideration of a transfer to her of a lease for lives, or ninety-nine years, of a messuage at Brindley in Cheshire, held under Sir Thomas Wilbraham.

There were also receipts or releases from Milton's three daughters, Anne Milton, Mary Milton, and Deborah Clarke (to the last of which Abraham Clarke was a party): the first two dated Feb. 22, 1674; the last, March 27 in the same year; for 100l. each, received of Elizabeth Milton their step-mother in consideration of their shares of their father's estate. The sums were, with the consent of Christopher Milton and Richard Powell, both described of the Inner Temple, to be disposed of in the purchase of rent-charges or annuities for the benefit of the said daughters.

Two of these documents appear to be now in the possession of your correspondents Mr. Marsh and Mr. Hughes; but I have met with no mention hitherto of the destination of the others.

These may seem trifling minutiæ to notice, but nothing can fairly be considered unimportant which may lead to the elucidation of the domestic history of Milton.

S. W. Singer.

Mickleham.

OATHS

(Vol. viii., p. 364.)

There can be no doubt that, as your correspondent suggests, the judicial oath was originally taken without kissing the book, but with the form of laying the right hand upon it; and, moreover that this custom is of Pagan origin. Amongst the Greeks, oaths were frequently accompanied by sacrifice; and it was the custom to lay the hands upon the victim, or upon the altar, thereby calling to witness the deity by whom the oath was sworn. So Juvenal, Sat. XIV. 218.:

"Falsus erit testis, vendet perjuria summaExigua, et Cereris tangens aramque pedemque."

Christians under the later Roman emperors adopted from the Greeks a similar ceremony. In the well-known case of Omychund v. Barker, heard in Michaelmas Term, 1744, and reported in 1 Atk. 27., the Solicitor-General quoted a passage from Selden, which gives us some information on this point:

"Mittimus hic, principibus Christianis, ut ex historiis satis obviis liquet, solennia fuisse et peculiaria juramenta, ut per vultum sancti Lucæ, per pedem Christi, per sanctum hunc vel illum, ejusmodi alia nimis crebra: Inolevit hero tandem, ut quemadmodum Pagani sacris ac mysteriis aliquo suis aut tactis aut præsentibus jurare solebant, ita solenniora Christianorum juramenta fierent, aut tactis sacrosanctis evangeliis, aut inspectis, aut in eorum præsentia manu ad pectus amota, sublata aut protensa; atque is corporaliter seu personaliter juramentum præstari dictum est, ut ab juramentis per epistolam, aut in scriptis solummodo præstitis distingueretur, inde in vulgi passim ore."

Lord Coke tells us, in the passage quoted at p. 364., that this was called the corporal oath, because the witness "toucheth with his hand some part of the Holy Scripture;" but the better opinion seems to be, that it was so called from the ancient custom of laying the hands upon the corporale, or cloth which covered the sacred elements, by which the most solemn oath was taken in Popish times.

As to the form of kissing the book, I am inclined to think that it is not of earlier date than the latter part of the sixteenth century, and that it was first prescribed as part of the ceremony of taking the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. In the Harl. Misc., vol. vi. p. 282. (edit. 1810), is an account of the trial of Margaret Fell and George Fox, for refusing to take the oath of allegiance, followed by "An Answer to Bishop Lancelot Andrewe's Sermon concerning Swearing." At p 298., Fox brings forward instances of conscientious scruples among Christians in former times, respecting the taking of oaths. He says:

"Did not the Pope, when he had got up over the churches, give forth both oath and curse, with bell, book, and candle? And was not the ceremony of his oath, to lay three fingers a-top of the book, to signify the Trinity; and two fingers under the book, to signify damnation of body and soul if they sware falsely? And was not there a great number of people that would not swear, and suffered great persecution, as read the Book of Martyrs but to Bonner's days? And it is little above an hundred years since the Protestants got up; and they gave forth the oath of allegiance, and the oath of supremacy: the one was to deny the Pope's supremacy, and the other to acknowledge the kings of England; so we need not tell to you of their form, and show you the ceremony of the oath; it saith, 'Kiss the book;' and the book saith 'Kiss the Son,' which saith 'Swear not at all.'"

Still the laying of the hand on the book seems to have been an essential form; for, during the trial, when the oath was offered to Margaret Fell, "the clerk held out the book, and bid her pull off her glove, and lay her hand on the book" (H. M., p. 285.). And directly after, when the oath had been read to Fox, the following scene is described:

"'Give him the book,' said they; and so a man that stood by him held up the book, and said, 'Lay your hand on the book.'

"Geo. Fox. 'Give me the book in my hand.' Which set them all a-gazing, and as in hope he would have sworn."

And it appears from the case of Omychund v. Barker, that, at that time, the usual form was by laying the right hand on the book, and kissing it afterwards (1 Atk. 42.). It seems not improbable that Paley's suggestion, in his Moral Philosophy, vol. i. p. 192. (10th edit.), may be correct. He says:

"The kiss seems rather an act of reverence to the contents of the book, as, in the Popish ritual, the priest kisses the gospel before he reads it, than any part of the oath."

The Query respecting the Welsh custom I must leave to those who are better informed respecting the judicial forms of that country; merely suggesting whether the practice alluded to by your correspondent may not originally have had a meaning similar to that of the three fingers on the book, and two under, as described by Fox in the passage above quoted.

Erica.

Warwick.

In the bailiwick of Guernsey the person sworn lifts his right hand, and the presiding judge, who administers the oath, says "Vous jurez par la foi et le serment que vous devez à Dieu que," &c. Oaths of office, however, are taken on the Gospels, and are read to the person swearing by the greffier, or clerk of the court. The reason of this difference may be accounted for by the fact that the official oaths, as they now exist, appear to have been drawn up about the beginning of the reign of James I., and that in all probability the form was enjoined by the superior authority of the Privy Council.

Which of the two forms was generally used before the Reformation, I have not been able to discover; but in an account of the laws, privileges, and customs of the island, taken by way of inquisition in the year 1331, but more fully completed and approved in the year 1441, it appears that the juries of the several parishes were sworn "sur Sainctes Evangiles de Dieu par eulx et par chacun d'eulx corporellement touché,"—"par leurs consciences sur le peril de la dampnation de leurs ames."

I remember to have seen men from some of the Baltic ports, when told to lift their right hands to be sworn, double down the ring finger and the little finger, as is done by bishops in the Roman Catholic Church when giving the benediction.

In France the person making oath lifts his right hand. The oath is administered by the presiding judge without any reference to the Deity, but the person who swears is required to answer "Je le jure." I observed that in Britanny, when the person sworn was ignorant of the French language, the answer was "Va Doué," which, I believe, means in the Breton dialect, "By God."

In the Ecclesiastical Court of Guernsey I have seen the book presented to the person swearing open at one of the Gospels; but in the Royal Court the book is put into the right hand of the party making oath, shut. In either case it is required that the book should be kissed.

Honoré de Mareville.

Guernsey.

COMMINATORY INSCRIPTIONS IN BOOKS

(Vol. viii., pp. 64. 153.)

Many inscriptions, comminatory or exhortatory, written in books and directed to readers, have been commemorated in "N. & Q." Towards the beginning of the present century, the most common epigram of the kind in the French public schools was the following elegant motto, with its accompanying illustration:

"Aspice Pierrot pendu,Quota librum n'a pas rendu!"

Poor Pierrot is exhibited in a state of suspension, as hanging from the inverted letter L (Γ), which symbolises the fatal tree. Comminatory and exhortatory cautions not to soil, spoil, or tear books and MSS. occur so frequently in the records of monastic libraries, that a whole album could easily be filled with them. The coquettish bishop, Venantius Fortunatus, has a distich on the subject. Another learned Goth, Theud-wulf, or Theodulfus, Charlemagne's Missus dominicus, recommends readers a proper ablution of their hands before turning the consecrated leaves:

"Utere me, lector, mentisque in sede locato;Cumque librum petis hinc, sit tibi lota manus!"—Saith Library.

Less lenient are the imprecations commemorated by Don Martenne and Wanley. The one inscribed on the blank leaf of a Sacramentary of the ninth century is to the following effect:

"Si quis eum (librum) de monasterio aliquo ingenio non redditurus, abstraxerit, cum Juda proditore, Annâ et Caïphâ, portionem æternæ damnationis accipiat. Amen! Amen! Fiat! fiat!"—Voyage Littéraire, p. 67.

That is fierce and fiery, and in very earnest. A MS. of the Bodleian bears this other inscription, to the same import:

"Liber Sanctæ Mariæ de Ponte Roberti. Qui eum abstulerit aut vendiderit … aut quamlibet ejus partem absciderit, sit anathema maranatha."

Canisius, in his Antiquæ Lectiones (I. ii. p. 3. 320.), transcribes another comminatory distich, copied from a MS. of the Saint Gall library:

"Auferat hunc librum nullus hinc, omne per ævum,Cum Gallo partem quisquis habere cupit!"

Such recommendations are now no longer in use, and seem rather excessive. But whoever has witnessed the extreme carelessness, not to say improbity, of some of the readers admitted into the public continental libraries, who scruple not to soil, spoil, and even purloin the most precious and rare volumes, feels easily reconciled to the anathema maranatha of the ninth and tenth centuries.

P.S.—Excuse my French-English.

Philarète Chasles, Mazarinæus.

Paris, Palais de l'Institut.

LIVERIES WORN, AND MENIAL SERVICES PERFORMED, BY GENTLEMEN

(Vol. vi., p. 146.)

However remarkable the conduct of the rustic esquire of Downham may appear in the present duly, when he accepted and wore the livery of his neighbour the Knight-Baronet of Houghton Tower, it was a Common practice for gentlemen of good birth and estate to accept and wear, and even to assume without solicitation, upon state occasions, the livery of an influential neighbour, friend, or relation, in testimony of respect and affection for the giver of the livery.

Thus it appears in the Diary of Nicholas Assheton that, in 1617, to the Court at Mirescough "Cooz Assheton came with his gentlemanlie servants as anie was there," and that the retinue of menial servants in attendance upon Sir Richard Houghton was graced by the presence of more than one country gentleman of good family. Baines, in his History of Lancashire, vol. ii. p. 366., also relates concerning Humphrey Chetham, that—

"In 1635 he was nominated to serve the office of sheriff of the county, and discharged the duties thereof with great honour, several gentlemen of birth and estate attending and wearing his livery at the assizes, to testify their respect and affection for him."

Evelyn, in his Diary, gives a similar account of the conduct of "divers gentlemen and persons of quality" in the counties of Surrey and Sussex:

"1634. My father was appointed sheriff for Surrey and Sussex before they were disjoyned. He had 116 servants in liverys, every one livery'd in greene sattin doublets. Divers gentlemen and persons of quality waited on him in the same garbe and habit, which at that time (when thirty or forty was the the usual retinue of the high sheriff) was esteemed a great matter. Nor was this out of the least vanity that my father exceeded (who was one of the greatest decliners of it); but because he could not refuse the civility of his friends and relations, who voluntarily came themselves, or sent in their servants."

The practice of assuming the livery of a relation or friend, and of permitting servants also to wear it, appears to have existed in England in the time of Richard II., and to have had the personal example of this sovereign to support it. He seems, however, to have thereby excited the disapprobation of many of his spiritual and temporal peers. I produce the following passage with some hesitation, because it is by no means certain that any one of the liveries thus assumed by Richard was a livery of cloth:

"17th Richard II. A.D. 1393-4

"Richard Count d'Arundell puis le comencement de cest present Parlement disoit au Roy, en presence des Achevesques de Canterbirs et d'Everwyk, le Duc de Gloucestr', les Evesques de Wyncestre et Saresbirs, le Count de Warrewyk et autres....

"Item q le Roy deust porter la Livere de coler le Duc de Guyene et de Lancastr'.

"Item q gentz de retenue de Roi portent mesme la Livere....

"A qei nre Sr le Roi alors respondi au dit Count … q bientot apres la venue son dit uncle de Guyene quant il vient d'Espaign darrein en Engleterre q mesme nre Sr le Roi prist le Coler du cool mesme son uncle et mist a son cool demesne et dist q'il vorroit porter et user en signe de bon amour d'entier coer entre eux auxi come il fait les Liveres ses autres uncles.

"Item (quant au tierce) nre Sr le Roi disoit q ceo fuist de counge de luy et de sa volunte q gentz de sa retenue portent et usent mesme la Livere de Coler."—Rolls of Parliament, vol. iii. p. 313.

"Richard Earl of Arundel, after the commencement of this present parliament, said to the King in the presence of the archbishops of Canterbury and of York, the Duke of Gloucester, the Bishops of Winchester and Salisbury, the Earl of Warwick, and others....

"Item. That the King uses to wear the livery of the collar of the Duke of Guienne and of Lancaster.

"Item. That persons of the retinue of the King wear the same livery.

"To which our lord the King then answered to the said earl....

"That soon after the coming of his said uncle of Guienne, when he came from Spain last into England, that himself our lord the King took the collar from the neck of the same his uncle and put it on his own neck, and said that he vowed to wear and to use it in sign of good love of whole heart between them also, as he did the liveries of his other uncles.

"Item (as to the third). Our lord the King said that it was by leave from him, and by his wish, that persons of his retinue wear and use the same livery of the collar."

This practice of one of our early sovereigns seems to afford a precedent for the mode in which divers gentlemen and persons of quality voluntarily showed civility towards Richard Evelyn, and for that in which several gentlemen of birth and estate testified their respect and affection for Humphrey Chetham. Nicholas Assheton also appears to have the support of this royal precedent in so far as relates to his accepting and wearing the livery of a friend and neighbour; and the custom of his day evidently lends its sanction to his forming, upon a state occasion, one of the body of menial servants in attendance upon Sir Richard Houghton, when he went to meet the king.

Another passage in the Rolls of Parliament seems to afford a respectable civic precedent for the services performed by Nicholas Assheton and other liveried gentlemen, when they waited at the lords' table at Houghton Tower:

"11th Edward III. A.D. 1337

"A nre Seigneur le Roy et a son conseil monstre Richard de Bettoyne de Loundres, qe come au Coronement nre Seigneur le Roy q ore est il adonge Meire de Loundres fesoit l'office de Botiller ove CCC e LX vadletz vestutz d'une sute chescun portant en sa mayn un coupe blanche d'argent come autres Meirs de Loundres ountz faitz as Coronementz des

genitours nostre Seigneur le Roy dont memoire ne court pars et le fee q appendoit a cel jorne c'est asavoir un coupe d'or ove la covercle et un ewer d'or enamaille lui fust livere

assent du Counte de Lancastre et d'autres Grantz qu'adonges y furent du Conseil nostre Seigneur le Roy

la mayn Sire Roƀt de Wodehouse et ore vient en estreite as Viscountes de Londres hors del Chekker de faire lever des Biens et Chateux du dit Richard xx/iiii ixli. xiis. vid. pur le fee avant dit dont il prie qe remedie lui soit ordeyne.

"Et le Meire et Citoyens d'Oxenford ount

point de chartre q'ils vendront a Londres l'Encorronement d'eyder le Meire de Loundres pur servir a la fest et toutz jours l'ount usee. Et si i plest a nre Seigneur le Roy et a son Conseil nous payerons volonters la fee issent qe nous soyons descharges de la service."—Rolls of Parliament, vol. ii. p. 96.

"To our lord the King and to his Council sheweth Richard de Bettoyne of London, that whereas at the coronation of our lord the King that now is, he their mayor of London performed the office of butler with three hundred and sixty valets clothed of one suit each, bearing in his hand a white cup of silver, as other mayors of London have done at the coronations of the progenitors of our lord the King, whereof memory runneth not, and the fee which appertained to this day's work, that is to wit, a cup of gold with the cover, and a ewer of gold enamelled, were delivered to him by assent of the Earl of Lancaster, and of the other grandees who then there were of the council of our lord the King, by the hand of Sire Robert de Wodehouse, and now comes in estreat to the viscounts of London out of the Checquer, to cause to take the goods and chattels of the said Richard, eighty-nine pounds twelve shillings and sixpence, for the fee aforesaid, whereof he prays that remedy be ordained to him.

"And the mayor and citizens of Oxford have, by point of charter, that they shall come to London to the coronation, to help the mayor of London to serve at the feast, and always have so done. And if it please our lord the King and his Council, we will pay willingly the fee, provided that we be discharged of the service."

There can be little doubt that the citizens of Oxford bore their own travelling expenses; and it seems probable that the citizens of London and Oxford bore the cost of the three hundred and sixty suits of clothes and three hundred and sixty silver cups; but this is scarcely sufficient to account for their willingness to pay a sum of money equivalent to about fifteen hundred pounds in the present day, in order to be relieved from the honourable service of waiting clothed in uniform, each with a silver cup in his hand, helping the Mayor of London to perform the office of butler at coronation feasts. However this may be, it is still somewhat remarkable that, in the seventeenth century, Nicholas Assheton of Downham, Esq., and other gentlemen of Lancashire, upon a less important occasion than a coronation feast, dressed in the livery of Sir Richard Houghton and voluntarily attended, day after day, at the lords' table at Houghton Tower, and served the lords with biscuit, wine, and Jelly.

J. Lewelyn Curtis.

FEMALE PARISH CLERKS

(Vol. viii., p. 338.)

The cases of Rex v. Stubbs and Olive v. Ingram, mentioned in the following extracts from Prideaux's Guide to Churchwardens, p. 4., may be of service:

"Generally speaking, all persons inhabitants of the parish are liable to serve the office of churchwarden, and from the cases of Rex v. Stubbs (2 T. R. 395.; 1 Bott. 10.), in which it was held that a woman is not exempt from serving the office of overseer of the poor, and Olive v. Ingram (2 Str. 1114.), in which it was held that she may be a parish sexton, there may, perhaps, be some ground for contending a woman is not exempt from this duty."

Russell Gole.

A few years ago (she may still be so) there was a gentlewoman the parish clerk of some church in London; perhaps some of your readers may be able to say where: a deputy officiated, excepting occasionally. But many such instances have occurred.

In a note in Prideaux's Directions to Churchwardens (late edition), the following references are given as to the power of women to fill parochial and other such offices: Rex v. Stubbs, 2 T. R. 359.; Olive v. Ingram, 2 Strange, 1114.

H. T. Ellacombe.

Rectory, Clyst St. George.

I beg to inform Y. S. M. that when I went to reside near Lincoln in 1828, a woman was clerk to the parish of Sudbrooke, and died in that capacity a very few years after. I do not remember her name at this moment, but I could get all particulars if required on my return to Sudbrooke Holme.

Rich. Ellison.

Balmoral Hotel, Broadstairs, Kent.

I am able to mention another instance of a woman acting as parish clerk at Ickburgh, in the county of Norfolk. It is the parish to Buckenham Hall, the seat of the Honourable Francis Baring, near Thetford. A woman there has long officiated as parish clerk, and still continues acting in that capacity.

F. R.

I beg to refer Y. S. M. to the following passage Madame d'Arblay's Diary, vol. v. p. 246.:

"There was at Collumpton only a poor wretched ragged woman, a female clerk, to show us this church: she pays a man for doing the duty, while she receives the salary in right of her deceased husband!"

M. L. G.

At Misterton, near Crewkerne, in Somersetshire, Mary Mounford was clerk for more than thirty years. She gave up the office about the year 1832, and is now in Beaminster Union, just eighty-nine years old.

Herbert L. Allen.

POETICAL EPITHETS OF THE NIGHTINGALE

(Vol. vii., p. 397.; Vol. viii., p. 112.)

To the one hundred and ten epithets poetically applied to the nightingale and its song, collected by Mr. Bede, permit me to add sixty-five more.

Azure-crested. Cowper.

Bewailing. Drummond.

Chaunting. Skelton.

Chaste poet. Grainger.

Dappled. Anon.2

Darling. Carey.

Daulian minstrel. Herrick.

Delightful. Shelley.