Is Antiphonar. A book for the service of the choir. It contains the responses or antiphons, hymns, verses, and singing of the canonical hours. 19 Graduals. The gradual takes its name from the prayer chaunted gradatim, after the epistle. It is the choir book used for singing mass. 20 The legend. It contains the lessons to be read in the Matin Office, taken from the Old or New Testament, or the Homilies, Sermons, and Saints' Lives. 21 Missals, containing every thing belonging to the mass. Hymn books. 23 Books of the order and service for the ecclesiastical processions. 24 Manual, the ritual containing all things belonging to the sacraments, sacramentals, and benedictions. 25 Psalters, containing the Psalms of David. 26 A service-book, so called, as supposed, from the different colours of the text and rubric.-Johnson. 27 Music books, pricked or scored. 28 The canopy cloth was borne over the Eucharist on solemn processions, as on the feast of Corpus Christi, and in visitations to the sick. John Richards was instituted to this Rectory, on the 6th of January, 1556-7, and died in 1558. 29 Covered in panes or compartments, 30 Ornamented. 31 Tissue. 32 The cover for the Sacrament, was the veil used at mass over the chalice and paten containing the sacred elements, and the cloth for the sacrament of silk and gold with four tassels was probably for the same purpose, or it might have been the scarf which the priest uses when he carries the sacrament in procession, or at benedictions. It was not the cloth called the corporal on which the Eucharist is laid at the altar; that cloth was always of fine linen, and is considered so sacred that it must not be touched by lay hands, and it is never even washed, but when old or dirty is burned. 33 Towels. The altar linen for various purposes. 34 Apparelled and unapparelled. The priests', deacons', and sub-deacons' albs, were sometimes plain and sometimes ornamented on the lower part of the garment. 35 The amice is an oblong piece of fine linen, which the priest wears at mass, upon his shoulders, over the cassock and under the alb. It' a lyttylle crowes of yarne. It' a rowllare of wode. It' ij corporys cassys.14 It' a rede stolie of sylke and goled. It' ij hally brede basckatts. It' iiij stavys for the canapy. It' a cheste in the vestry wt barrys of yarne, and a boltte of yarne wij grette hangyng lokes. It' iiij other chests belonging to the chyrche. It' the lesse of Horseydowne, 21 w It' ij bassyns of tyne, gyvene by dyvars othar wryttyngs lyyng in the Rob'te Johnsone. It' ij sensars 10 of lattyne. It' a schepe" of lattyne. It' a lampe of lattyne. It' a fyar showlle.12 It' a crysematorry13 of tyne. aforesayed chests. It' a banar clothe of grene scylke for the crosse wt the trenyte ytte. upon It' ij flags of sylke we the Queenys armys in them.23 1 It was usual on the death of persons of any note to erect in the church a herse or stage, decorated with palls or herse cloths, tapers, &c. 2 Belonging to the fraternity, or priests of St. Clement. 3 The copper cross was probably a processional cross. 4 Candlesticks of latten, an alloy of copper and zinc. 5 Standards of latten, seem to mean candelabra which stood on the floor. 6 A little bell which is rung to give notice of the approach of the Host when carried in procession, and also in other offices of the Roman Catholic Church. 7 Bars of iron, probably to fasten the sepulchre in which the consecrated Host was deposited on Good Friday, until Easter Day. A small iron crow, probably to perform the ceremony of opening the sepulchre on Easter Day. 9 Basins for washing the hands of the priest at mass. 10 Censers. Vessels to burn frankincense in. 11 A small vessel in shape of a ship or boat to hold the frankincense. 12 A fire shovel. 13 A chrismatory, or vessel for the holy oil. 14 Pockets for the corporals. 15 A narrow scarf or band thrown over the priest's neck, and descending to his feet. 16 The holy-water stock, for sprinkling holy water from the vessel called the stoup. 17 Veil for the altar, used from Passion Sunday till Easter Day. 18 A cloth to cover the holy rood, from Passion Sunday till Good Friday. 19 Staves to support the canopy when carried over the Host in processions. 20 Staves with lanthorns in the form of castles, to be used in visiting the sick at night. 21 Horseydown, now Horslydown, was then a large Down or Grasing Field, containing 16 acres belonging to the parish of St. Olave, in which the parishioners turned out their horses and cattle to graze. See Gentleman's Magazine, N. S. vol. V, p. 15. 22 Banners of green were used in procession, on vigils and fasts, and often had depicted on them, either the personified representation of the Trinity, or more frequently the heraldic emblem or diagram, drawn in a triangular form, and reading Pater est Deus, &c. &c. 23 Processional banners. It' vj bannars of scylke. gyvyne by Mastres Blanke, and sette It' a stremare of bokerame w' Sent apone the best awttar clothe. George apone yt.' It' ix banar polys. It' a crussyfyxe of whyte sylke, It' ij grette kusschynes kov'ed and stufte w' fethars. MAID MARIAN.-ROBIN HOOD BALLADS. Mr. URBAN, SOME circumstances connected with the Robin Hood ballads ought to be duly weighed; and I communicate them accordingly. Whether they were not originally mere French imitations, shall therefore be submitted to consideration. MAID MARIAN. This was (according to Steevens) a name originally assumed by Matilda, daughter of Lord Fitzwalter, while Robin Hood remained in outlawry; afterwards poisoned by King John, at Dunmow Priory, when his attempts failed upon her chastity. In her degraded state, when she was represented by a strumpet or a clown, she was the lady of a Morris dance, or "Whitsun Ale." This is factitious, and derived from the ancient custom of endowing every saint with miracles, and every hero with marvels. The following extracts from Cotgrave will show, that Robin and Marian are only French denominations of a rogue and a w—— :— "Marion, f. Marian, a proper name for a woman. "Robin a trouvé Marion, Jack hath met with Gill, a filthy knave with a fulsome queane.-V. Marion." Again, "Robin a trouvé Marion. Prov. A notorious knave hath found a notable queane." V. Robin. Of Robin Hood, Cowel (v. Robersmen or Roberdsmen) says that they were a sort of great thieves, mentioned 5 Ed. III. 14, and 7 R. II. cap. 5, and then quotes Lord Coke (3 Inst. fol. 197) as saying, "Robin Hood lived in Richard the First's time, on the borders of England and Scotland, by robbery and spoil, and these Roberdsmen took their names from him." Warton (Poetry; Emend. to vol. i. p. 298) gives the same origin. a According to this etymon, Robin Hood ought to have been Robert-hood; but Cotgrave defines Robert by name," Robin by a proper name;" and it is plain, from the previous extracts, that the latter was a French slang word for a thief. Robert is the term, almost without exception, if not wholly so, used as a Christian name by the Chroniclers. And if this opinion be correct, Robin was a French term, applied (at first at least) exclusively to a knave; and therefore any allusion to Robert Earl of Huntingdon (or claimant of the Earldom, as Stukeley), is out of the question. But when Robin was so used by us, it was in an hilarious sense, for Robin Goodfellow is defined by Cotgrave (v. Lutin) as a merrie devil. The postfix of Hood is of more difficult explanation, unless we consider it to be a mere corruption of wood. And if so, "Robin's wood," means no more than "a robber's wood," one from which a thief was likely to issue, or make for his home; an appellation, too, very suitable to our ancient history. But whence came the origin of the ROBIN-HOOD BALLADS. Cotgrave has again "Chanson de Robin. A merry and extemporall song, or fashion of singing, whereto one is ever adding somewhat, or may at pleasure adde what he list." This definition explains the humourous incidents added to, or rather forming the substance of these ballads in the main, legitimate inventions or embellishments of a Chanson de Robin. It should be stated, however, that Chanson de Robin could not be applied to 1 This is the second time we meet with Saint George in this inventory, but I do not find that he had any particular connection with the church. 2 Thomas Blancke was Sheriff of London in 1574, and Lord Mayor, as Sir Thomas, in 1582. 3 Cushions for the priest to kneel upon at the altar. G. R. C. the bird, for that is not a French name of it. Le petit Jean [de Santre], a well known tale, seems to indicate a slang French term, assimilating our Little John, Robin's friend. Who were the authors of these ballads? That question Percy, Warton, and numerous writers upon Minstrelsy and Music, must answer; but nothing, generally speaking, can be more void of artificial merit, than our ballads. Nor was there any desire of such merit in these compositions, as appears from those in Shakespere; but they have often an affecting simplicity, far beyond study and refinement. The authors, according to some accounts, we should find in Grub-street; but not at least in later times, for they went by the name of "Holborn Rhymes.' "Poor Holborn Ballads," says Otway, in his Prologue to the Atheist; and in his Address to Creech upon his Lucretius, he has these lines : AS I have observed in your excellent Magazine,† that a few years ago the publie had taken a deep interest in the restoration of Sir Thomas More's monument in the Church of Chelsea, the place which was destined by that excellent and amiable man for the interment of his body, but which is in fact an empty cenotaph, I trust that less will not be felt by many of your readers for the spot where his head was placed; which was obtained (after its exposure on London Bridge) by his beloved daughter Margaret, and brought to her residence in St. Dunstan's, Canterbury, and deposited, by her request, in the same vault with her after her decease. Your readers are aware that she was married to one of the Roper family, who had a mansion in this parish, the gate of which-a curious piece of brick work-is still standing, and is the entrance to a brewery; but no vestige of the house is left. In the chancel of the church is a vault belonging to that family, which, in newly paving of the chancel, in the summer of 1835, was accidentally opened; and, wishing to ascertain whether Sir T. More's scull was really there, I went down into the vault, and found it still remaining in the place where it was seen many years *The communication of our respected Correspondent requires a few remarks. When we say, "birds of a feather flock together," we mean generally that people of the same character or station frequent each other's society; in other words, that you may know a man by the company he keeps: but it by no means follows, that birds mean bad people. So the French proverb, Robin a trouvé Marion, which, like the English one just mentioned, is taken generally in a bad sense, may be explained by "a notorious knave hath found a notable queane," without by any means requiring as a consequence, that Robin means a knave, or Marion a bad woman. In fact, they mean nothing of the sort; they are familiar names which, throughout all old French poetry, from the time of the beautiful early pastoral drama of Robin et Marion, were used to designate a shepherd and a shepherdess: the proverb means literally a shepherd has found a shepherdess, a bird has found a bird of its own feather;' and figuratively-for all proverbs are more or less figurative-a rogue has found another of his own stamp. A chanson de Robin could not signify anything which resembled a Robin-Hood ballad; it must have signified a mere see-saw song, such as a shepherd might sing after his sheep, and which had no plot or particular meaning. So that it was of little consequence if something were added to or taken from it. There exists nothing in French, and does not appear ever to have existed, anything resembling our Robin Hood ballads, or any popular character representing Robin Hood. In England, Robin, as a popular term of familiarity, was applied equally to Robin Hood, the popular hero; Robin Goodfellow, the familiar hobgoblin; Robin Red-breast, the familiar bird.-EDIT. + See Gent. Mag. for Dec. 1833, p. 485. His body was interred in the chapel of the Tower of London. ago, in a niche in the wall, in a leaden box, something of the shape of a bee-hive, open in the front and with an iron grating before it. In this vault were five coffins, some of them belonging to the Henshaw family,* one much decayed, no inscription to be traced on it. The wall in the vault, which is on the south side, and in which the scull was found, seems to have been built much later than the time of Sir T. More's decapitation, and appears to be a separation between the Roper chancel and the part under the Communion Table. In the same chancel are two venerable altar tombs, of Betherden marble, one of them, partly within an arch in the wall, which was probably that of the founder of the chancel, and from both of which, brasses have evidently been removed; and over them is a surcoat with a helmet surmounted by the crest of the eagle and child. There were, when I first knew the church, three small banners waving over them, which were so completely in rags and decayed, that they not many years ago fell to pieces. Opposite to these tombs is a beautiful monument, erected by a grandson of Sir T. More sacred (as he calls it) "PIETATI ET PARENTIBUS:" it has been lately cleansed from the dust and cobwebs of ages, and stands forth now in all its former chaste and simple beauty. This venerable church consists of two aisles and two chancels at the east end, and a small chapel at the north end, which is used as a vestry. There is a plain octagonal font, now placed under the belfry tower, of a very early date, with a canopy, or top, of oak, beautifully carved and highly ornamented with crockets. In musing over these relics of days gone by, and connected as they are both above and below ground-with that simple-minded and pious martyr, I could not but feel that I was treading * Inscriptions on three of the coffins. Cha. Henshaw, Esq. Married Elizth. only Dr. of Edw. Roper, Esq. of Welhall, in the county of Kent. Died July 1st, 1726, aged 63. Elizth, Henshaw, of Welhall, Eltham. Catharine Strickland, of same place, died 1741. on religious classic ground, and hope that a similar good feeling might induce some, who venerate the great and the good of other times, to manifest the same laudable wish to save from ruin the sacred walls which contain the head, as they have done in restoring the empty monument of that excellent man. I enter con amore into restorations of this sort, I have been planning how it might be done with best effect; and it has struck me that the eastern window of the chancel might be ornamented with a copy of that beautiful bust of Sir T. More by Holbein, and in the side lights might be placed the coats of arms of the different branches of the family; that the ceiling, divided into different compartments by handsome small oaken beams, might be restored, and shields placed at the intersections of the angles; and a Gothic open screen of the same wood might surround the chancel. As a finish to the whole, I would have a handsome small vase of Bethersden Marble, standing on a plain circular pillar, erected under the window; in which I would place, if it was not thought improper, the scull itself, with a suitable inscription. But the difficulty is, How is all this to be accomplished? I see no other possible way, than some of the descendants of Sir Thomas paying this sacred debt (may I call it ?) to the memory of their great and good ancestor, or by others not connected with the family, but who take a deep interest in matters of this sort; doing, in short, as your Magazine records they have lately been doing at Chelsea, and paying the same mark of respect to the head in St. Dunstan's church, as they have there done to his empty tomb. I have known this church for nearly forty years, and feel a strong wish to see it put into complete order. There is a great capability about it for making it one of the best churches in Canterbury; and I cannot but hope and trust that such may be effected at no distant period; for evidently there seems to be a wish in the parish to improve this sacred edifice; but, alas! their means are inadequate. I am glad, however, to observe, that lately they have put in a beautiful painted window over the altar screen, consisting of three lights, the figure of the Redeemer in the cen |