obtained, in endeavouring to fix the precise day of the month on which the various expenses of the household arose. They are entered on the days of the week, and occasionally the saint's day is given, so the actual time of expenditure may be ascertained. I have not, however,

considered it necessary to give the items with this particularity, as their nature is of the higher importance. In a roll that is little short of fifty feet in length, the lines, too, very closely together, written in a minute and, occasionally, faded hand, it would involve a great amount of labour; therefore, as the facts are only curious in themselves, the precise day on which they are narrated is of small import

ance.

It will, for instance, signify very little to know on which day of the month the Countess of Pembroke left one place for another. The names alone, therefore, of those she visited, with the order in which they are given will be all the information that is requisite. She was at Totenham when the accounts open. From hence she travelled to Cestrehunte (Cheshunt) in a "longa quadriga," a light fourhorse carriage, which is familiar to us by numerous representations in illuminated manuscripts. From Cestrehunt she went on to Hertford; hence to Bampton, and onwards to Braiburn. Whilst here, on Friday, the vigil of Dunstan, archbishop and confessor, that is, on May the 19th, occurs this singular entry: "Recessit recessit corpus domini de Braiburn versus Londinum ubi deberet sepellire domina apud Braburn!" This passage involves some difficulty in its explanation. It is doubtful whether my own will be satisfactory, and, therefore, I can only throw out a few remarks which may serve to assist those who feel sufficient interest in this question to free it from obscurity. The repetition of the word recessit must be considered a clerical error. Viewing it as such, the entry will mean, "the body of the Lord of Braiburn departed towards London, where it ought to be buried, the lady remaining at Braiburn."

Now the Lord of Braiburn was no other than William de Valence, husband of Joanna Countess of Pembroke. He is certified, in the hundred rolls, as holding the possession in the second year of Edward I. She was returned as

The inscription already quoted says that he died in this month. The monument is engraved in Stothard's Monumental Effigies.

holding the manor at the time of her death. Dugdale says that he, de Valence, departed this life on the ides of June, that is, on the 13th of the month, having been slain by the French at Bayonne, and that he was buried in St. Edmund's Chapel, within the Abbey Church at Westminster, upon the calends. Now the calends of June falling on the 1st, and the ides on the 13th of this latter month, his statement is clearly erroneous in one or both of the dates. On looking into Matthew of Westminster, the difficulty is, in some measure, lessened, though by no means removed. He states that on the ides of June, the Lord William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, who was son of Hugh le Brun, by his wife Isabella, formerly Queen of England, and relict of King John, died and was buried at Westminster.

This statement can only be taken as applying to his burial, for we have his death alluded to as having taken place on the vigil of Dunstan, which was a day about which there would be comparatively a small chance of error. Looking again at the entry on the expense roll, and the passage of the monkish historian, the only way in which they can be reconciled, is by supposing the one relates to his death, and the other to his burial.

This may be a sufficient attempt to reconcile the statement of the monkish historian with the more credible entry on the expense roll of the precise period. For there can be no doubt that this part of this trustworthy document relates to the journey of the Countess from Hertfordshire, to meet the dead body of her husband on its arrival at Dover. It may be also inferred from an entry on the dorse, which states as much in these words, "expensæ dominæ ante mortem domini non solutæ £169:39. Thus we have the cause of her journey to St. Radegonde, or Bradsole Abbey, a foundation of Premonstratensian Canons, where the Countess and Adamar lay for two entire days. From St. Radegonde, the body of William de Valence was taken to Braiburn; moved from thence on a Friday towards London. On Monday she left Braiburn for Charing; from Charing she went to Sutton Valence. On the feast of St. Germanus, Adamar left her for London, no doubt to attend his father's funeral. The Countess continued at Sutton Valence for a short time; from hence she went to Berling, to Horncherche, to Cestrehunt, and so on to her castle at Hertingfordby,

where she remained twenty-six days. It was during this mournful sojourn, that Isabella de Hastings and her son Adamar remained with her the whole time. The loss they had so recently sustained will at once explain the immediate cause of, and the length of, the visit. As usually occurs, during his visit to his mother, the daily expenses are nearly double. After their departure, she left for Edelmeton; again returned to Hertfordingby, where she stayed nine days. Here she again received a visit from her son, during the period of her sojourn, as we learn from this entry: "Hac die recessit Adamar de Hertefordingebi versus London."

On the feast of St. Cyriac (Aug. 8th) she left Hertingefordbi and lay at Treinge: then at St. Alban's where she lunched; then at Cherdisk for two days, where Adamar again returns to her. We find her next at Woodeton, then at Bampton. Here, on the feast of the Assumption (Aug. 15th) Adamar, accompanied by his constant companion, John de Inkepenne, who was perhaps his secretary, and by Thomas Lord Berkely, who is mentioned as the Earl's executor, again visited his mother. About the feast of St. James the Apostle (Oct. 23rd), he takes a filial leave of her and departs for Scotland: "Recessit Adamar versus Scotiam." After his departure, the Countess of Pembroke passed to Stowe, and thence to Inceburgh, where she continued a long time.

ON A SHRINE

IN THE POSSESSION OF THE LORD BISHOP OF ELY.

BY II. SYER CUMING, ESQ., HON. SEC.

THE wish to procure and preserve some memento of the departed is inherent in our nature. The heathen temples, like churches of a more recent date, displayed portions of the body and effects of the renowned dead, luring to their portals crowds of eager spectators. Thus Pliny (xxviii, 4) tells us that the deformed scapulæ of Pelops were shewn at Elis; and Pausanias relates that he saw the brazen knife of Memnon at Nicomedia, and the brazen-bladed spear of Achilles in the Temple of Minerva at Phaselis. The pagan looked with little else than wonder on such antique relics; but with far different feelings did the early Christian gather up the mangled body of the martyr, seek out the simple raiment and possessions, and bear them with pious reverence for safety to the church. The veneration paid to holy relics led to a desire to enrich the cases wherein they were deposited. The receptacles, at first plain and unostentatious, grew by degrees to be amongst the costliest garniture of religious worship,-paint and carving, gold and jewel, chasing and enamel, being lavished on them; and the skill of the most expert craftsman invoked in their production.

The shrines or reliquaries varied much in form, size, and material; in confirmation of which we may briefly refer to the few examples which have appeared in the pages of our Journal. Taking them in chronological order, the first to notice is certainly not later than the eleventh century, and may be as early as the ninth century. It is a disc, two inches and three-quarters diameter, of wood overlaid with plates of silver, set with crystals, and graven with legends, by which we learn that it once contained the relics of sixteen saints, that it received repairs in the years 1247 and 1558; and that at the first named date it bore the title of rota, on account of its wheel-shape; and at the latter, osculum, from its employment in the administration of the "kiss of peace" in the ceremony of the Mass.

A cruciformed reliquary of the twelfth century, of morse ivory, beautifully perforated with florid scroll-work, kneeling

1 See Journal, vol. iii, p. 16 et seq., by Mr. J. G. Waller.

"It has been described and figured in vol. x, p. 185, and plate 22.

1862

20

figure with bow and arrow, the holy lamb, evangelistic symbols, etc., is in the possession of N. Gould, Esq., F.S.A., V.P.2

The feretrum, or feretory, made by order of Geoffrey de Gorham, sixteenth abbot of St. Albans (1119-1146), for the remains of the protomartyr of that name, has been described by the Rev. Dr. Nicholson. It seems to be a chest with an arcade at the side, sloping roof with crested edge, and a volute at either end.1

A reliquary of the twelfth or thirteenth century, made of latten, once decorated with enamel and crystal, and representing the sleeve of a sacerdotal vest, is in the possession of our associate, Mr. Sim.2 This doubtlessly held a portion of the hand or arm of some holy prelate.

A gorgeous feretrum, of the close of the fourteenth century, representing a rich Gothic building with arcades of statues, and crested roof surmounted by a spire, is given in our Journal, in the notice of Mr. Pugin's Glossary of Ecclesiastical Ornament;3 and a coffer-shaped feretrum, referrible to the same century, of latten graven with devices, and three lines of inscription, has also received attention.*

To the shrines here enumerated we can now, by the kindness of the Lord Bishop of Ely, add another of altogether different design. It is a tabernacle of gilt brass, measuring six inches and three-quarters in height, and three and a half wide at the base. (Plate 10,fig. 1.) The crocketed pinnacle is surmounted by a cruciformed finial perforated with quatrefoils and set with a pyrope. On either side is a slender pilaster with projecting bracket, on which stands a mitred bishop with clasped hands on the dexter capital is placed the eagle of St. John, and on the sinister the lion of St. Mark. On these pilasters are hinged folding doors of richly perforated work, decorated with black enamel, set with turquoise and pyropes, and having doves, cherubim, and a figure of Faith with cross and anchor in relief. These doors are secured by a turn-buckle, and when thrown open expose a recess adorned with chasing, scrolls in relief, black enamel, and gems, having lateral pointed niches with angels in the act of adoration; and at the back is inserted an oval medallion of St. George and the dragon in bold and well executed repoussé. (Fig. 2.)

1 It is represented in our Journal, vol. xiii, p. 168. 2 See Journal, xvii, 208, and plate 19.

3 Vol. i, p. 171. For other reliquaries

4 See Journal, vol. xiii, pp. 230-233, and plate 34. see Journal, iv, 395; x, 89, 113; xii, 265; xv, 350; xvii, 324.