ymaginem Crucifixi, Marie, et Johannis in pede amelat', et in patena ymaginem Sancte Trinitatis, et sculpt'-benedicamus patrem,etc."—et in dorso patene-JHS-ponderans xxiiij. unc.-Item, j. calix de argento deaurato, cum ymagine Beate Marie cum filio, sculpt' in pede-JHUXPE fili Dei vivi,-et in patena script'-d'ns protector vite mee,-ponderans xix. unc.-Item, j. calix cum patena, de argento deaurato, cum pede rotundo cum crucifixo, amelat', Ws. (sic) White, cum ymagine Dei sedentis super iridem Blew, ponderans xxvj. unc.-Item, j. calix cum patena deaurat' cum rotundo pede, habens script'-JHS. XPS.,-et in patena script'-benedicamus patrem et filium,-ponderans xviij. unc. Summa Argenti, MMMDCCC iiij.xxxij. uncie. Summa Auri, iiij.xx xj. unc. iij. quart. et di. The foregoing inventories are full of curious information to those who may investigate the fashions and enrichments of ancient plate-a subject of research upon which so valuable a light has been thrown by Mr. Morgan, in his Memoir and Tables, given in the Journal. The earliest of the inventories still in existence is of the time of Henry IV., A.D. 1404. The one here printed is not dated; but it is of the reign of Henry VIII. The writing is of that period; and the time is further shown by the mention of John Bedill, who was Mayor of Winchester in 1520, and died 1524, as appears by his brass in the College Chapel. In perusing these evidences of ancient treasures bestowed upon Winchester College by numerous benefactors, we view with surprise the amount and intrinsic value of the plate once possessed by such institutions; whilst we more fully comprehend the strong temptation, which led, so shortly after this list was compiled, to that spoliation which was not limited to the monastic foundations, then doomed to extinction. No portion of the ancient college plate now exists. An effort appears to have been made to rescue it from the commissioners appointed by Edward VI. to survey and make sale of church goods; and a copy of a letter to them from the Privy Council is found amongst the college records. It is dated May 29, 1553, and conveys the royal pleasure that the college should retain their plate and ornaments," so as they convert the same from monuments of supersticion to necessarye and godlye uses for the better maintenaunce of the colledge." The privilege was obtained too late apparently to hinder the sale. A" Byll," in the writing of John White, then Warden, acknowledges, on June 11, 1553, the receipt of monies "for certayn chyrche stuff," sold by the commissioners, and paid to the Warden according to a letter of warrant from the Council. The amount is not stated. An inventory of 1st Philip and Mary, 1554, exists, showing how short an allowance of plate had been spared for the use of the college and chapel. In the latter, the slender catalogue includes one little chalice of silver and parcel gilt, "of Mistresse Shelleis gifte," on the condition that the Nunnery of St. Mary's should have it, if it were restored and came up again in her time. She was Abbess of the last religious house in Winchester that was dissolved, having been permitted to exist, perhaps through Gardiner's influence, two years after the rest had been wholly abolished. 9 The enamelled paten at Cliff church, Kent, precisely resembles that here described. In the centre there is a representation of the Supreme Being holding the crucifix, and around the margin, Benedicamus patrem et filium cum Spiritu NOTE AS TO THE HENRY LORD HERBERT NAMED IN THE WILL OF THE PRINCESS KATHERINE, COUNTESS OF DEVON, OF WHICH A COPY WAS GIVEN, p. 53. married after her decease. The "Henry, Lord Herberd," mentioned in the Princess Katherine's Will, p. 56, as having been the husband of her deceased daughter Margaret, was, in all probability, Henry, eldest son of Charles Somerset, Earl of Worcester, by his first wife Elizabeth, daughter and heir of William Herbert, Earl of Huntingdon, and Baron Herbert, of Herbert; which barony was created by writ in 1461. The Earl, her husband, was twice In 1526 he died, and was succeeded by his son Henry, who, consequently, was Earl of Worcester at the date of the Princess's will. Still it was as Henry, Lord Herbert, that he would have been the husband of Margaret, and best known to the Princess. No mention, however, of his marriage with Margaret Courtenay has been found elsewhere; but, if, as should seem to have been the fact, the union were of short duration and issueless, that is not extraordinary. It is evident a marriage between her and some Henry, Lord Herbert, had taken place; and no other person of that name and dignity, who was her contemporary, has been discovered. Henry, the eldest son of the above-mentioned Earl of Worcester, was Lord Herbert as heir of his mother, or he may have been designated by the second title of his father, which was also Lord Herbert, but of Chepstow, in like manner as was his own son in his lifetime a few years later, viz., in 1542. (See Test. Vetusta, pp. 708-9.) Holinshed, indeed (p. 879), mentions "the Lord Herbert, son to the Earl of Worcester," among those who attended the Duke of Suffolk into France in 15th Henry VIII.; but as this does not appear to be the language of a contemporary writer, it is not alone conclusive that he was called Lord Herbert while his father was living. He died in 1549, and is stated by Sandford to have been about 53 years of age. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Anthony Browne, and had issue by her. When that marriage took place, has not been ascertained, but the eldest son is said to have been 22 years old at his father's death; so that he was born about 1527. Margaret Courtenay was living and unmarried in 1509 (see Test. Vetusta, p. 495) and, indeed, according to Cleaveland, (p. 247), in the 3rd Henry VIII., when she is said to have been above 13 years old, and her mother intended to purvey for her a convenient marriage. A letter from the Privy Council to Wolsey in 1520 (Nicolas' Proceedings of the Privy Council, vol. vii., p. 339), mentions "the Lady Margaret wif to the Lord Herbert" (no doubt this very Margaret), and also the Countess of Worcester, among the ladies at the court of the Princess Mary, then an infant, at Richmond. Now, between 1520 and 1527, there was ample time for Margaret to have died, and her husband to have married again, and have had a son by his second wife. Until the discovery of the Princess Katherine's Will, the fact of Margaret having been married had been overlooked; and she is commonly stated to have died young, having been choked by a fishbone; and "Chokebone aisle " in Colyton Church, Devon, where she is said to have been buried, and her monument is supposed to remain, is alleged to have acquired its name from the cause of her death. ERRATUM. P. 53, note 2, for Worcester read Exeter. W. S. W. Proceedings at the Meetings of the Archaeological Institute. MAY 6, 1853. The HON. RICHARD C. NEVILLE, F.S.A., Vice-President, in the Chair. MR. A. H. RHIND, F.S.A. Scot., communicated a Memoir on his recent exploration of a "Picts'-house," at Wick, Caithness; accompanied by the exhibition of numerous objects and animal remains discovered. (Printed in this volume, p. 212.) Mr. NESBITT gave the following account of a bronze arm and hand, of Irish work, in the possession of Mr. Fountaine, of Narford Hall, Norfolk, and exhibited on this occasion by his obliging permission. This remarkable object is believed to have been brought from Ireland by Sir Andrew Fountaine, about one hundred and fifty years ago; it is well engraved in the "Vetusta Monumenta," published by the Society of Antiquaries, (vol. vi., plate 19), and a lengthened description is therefore unnecessary. It may be sufficient to say that it measures 15 inches in length, and represents an arm as far as the elbow, with the hand partly clenched. The covering of bronze is fixed upon a solid piece of yew wood, and is elaborately ornamented by inlaying with silver and niello, insertion of gold and silver filagree work and of small round pieces of blue glass imitative of gems, plating with thin gold, gilding and engraving. The greater part of the surface is covered with intricately entwined patterns, some made up of the animals so characteristic of Irish art, the others merely knot-work. These patterns are formed by a narrow line of thin silver, damascened on the surface, and bordered on each side by a line of niello; the surface of the bronze was probably gilt. A large plate of silver, which covers the palm of the hand, retains much gilding on its surface. Narrow bands, running longitudinally, separate the patterns; on these are engraved inscriptions in the Irish language, now partly obliterated. They have been read (so far as any traces of the letters remain) by Mr. Eugene Curry,' as follows :— Or do Maelrechnaill u cellachaj do ardrig ua (nechach mum;aji) do rigni in cumtachro. A prayer for Maelsechnaill O'Callaghan, chief king of Ua (Echach Mumain) who made this reliquary. Or do chormac mc mesc carthaigi do rig dana muman dorat ...c ... 1 The reading of these inscriptions, and a part of the comments upon them, are borrowed from a short paper by Dr. Todd read before the Royal Irish Academy on the 13th June, 1853. A prayer for Cormac, son of Mac Carthy Righdamhna (or next heir) of Munster who gave. ... Or do tady me mejc carthaigi do rig A prayer for Tadhg (or Thadeus) son of Mac Carthy Righ (or King). . . Or do diarmait me meic denisc do comarba l .. A prayer for Diarmait son of Mac Denise comharb (or successor) of L. . . According to the annals of the Four Masters, Maelsechnaill O'Callaghan died in 1121. In the Annals of Innisfallen his death is placed in 1104. Cormac McCarthy was the builder of the remarkable stone-roofed church on the rock of Cashel (Petrie's "Round Towers," &c.), and was murdered in the year 1138, by Toirdhealbhach, or Turlough, son of Dermot O'Brien. According to the Annals of Innisfallen, he succeeded his brother Thadeus as King of Desmond in 1106 or 1107. If in the third inscription the word RIG was not modified by any adjunct, it would seem probable that this reliquary was made during the life of Thadeus, as he appears to be styled King, and Cormac, only King-successor or heir. The letter which follows the word Comarba in the fourth inscription appears to be L, probably the initial of Lachtin (pronounced Lachteen), Abbot or Bishop of Achad-ur, now called Freshford in the Co. Kilkenny. He was a native of the co. Cork, and died in 622. Smith, in his History of Cork (vol. i. p. 84), mentions a reliquary called the Arm of St. Lachteen, which was preserved at Donoughmore, co. Cork, and used by the people to swear upon. The hand of the reliquary now in question is much worn, as it would be in consequence of having been put to this use. Mr. Curry remembers to have met with a person in that country whose habit it was to swear by the arm of St. Lachteen, though he was unable to tell what the arm was. Though many of the pins by which the bronze covering is fixed to the wood within are not original some seem to be so; as the wood fills almost all the space within the bronze, it is clear that any relic which it may have contained (if it ever contained any) must have been a mere fragment. Mr. WESTWOOD observed that the design on the silver plate in the palm of the hand appeared dissimilar to any ornament of Irish workmanship, with which he was acquainted. The remainder of this highly curious object he considered to be of the eleventh or twelfth century. The style of ornament bears resemblance to that of the sculptured stone monuments of the north of Europe, and is not conformable to the designs in the MSS. of the Irish-Saxon school of the period. It has been questioned whether this arm had been a reliquary, or intended to be used as an emblem of authority. Examples, however, of reliquaries of this form are not wanting ; the celebrated arm of Charlemagne, encased in its rich covering, still exists at Aix-la-Chapelle; and there was formerly a reliquary of the like description at St. Denis, containing, as it was said, a bone of the saint, carried by St. Louis in his expedition. The Rev. JAMES GRAVES communicated notices of certain sepulchral effigies, in the cross-legged attitude, existing in Ireland. (Printed in this volume, page 124.) 2 In Dr. O'Connor's Rerum Hib. Scriptores Veteres. The later and fuller text of the Annals of Innisfallen, is not consi dered to be an original authority, but a compilation made at a comparatively recent period. Mr. OCTAVIUS MORGAN called the attention of the meeting to a remarkable example of ancient plate, which he had been permitted to bring before the Institute by the favour of the Archdeacon of Hereford, and of the Rector and Churchwardens of Leominster. It is the beautiful chalice and paten, preserved in the parish church of that town, and it is supposed to have belonged to the ancient Priory of Leominster, a tradition which appears not improbable. The chalice, apparently a work of the earlier part of the fifteenth century, or even possibly of rather more ancient date, measures about 8 inches in height; it is of silver gilt, the bowl is hemispherical, measuring 5 inches in diameter, gilt within and without. Round the exterior is engraved in church-text character the following inscriptionCalice Salutis accipia et nomē D'ni invocabo. The stem is ornamented with gilded open tracery-work, consisting of miniature angle-buttresses, with egee-arched panelling and tracery between them: the knop gilded, and ornamented with pierced tracery and eight lozenge-shaped projections, which were once enriched with roses in enamel, of the kind termed "translucid in relief." That kind of enamel was in vogue during the fourteenth century, though it continued much later. The foot is hexagonal, of silver gilt, the sides of the hexagon indented, and ornamented with an elegant band of small quatrefoils. The sloping sides of the foot are engraved with the monograms-IHC., and XPC., alternately. One side, however, has been cut out rather clumsily, and another plate of silver gilt of more recent and inferior work substituted in its place. This was doubtless the side on which a crucifix was engraved, according to the customary usage, that side being always held by the priest turned towards him, during the celebration of the mass. In the year 1552, a commission was issued by Edward VI., to visit all churches, chapels, &c., and to examine their plate, jewels, and other furniture, leaving to each church one or more chalices, according to the number of the people, and to deliver all the rest to the king's treasurer. It seems probable that, according to these instructions, this fine chalice was left in the church of Leominster, being of large and convenient size for the administration of the sacrament in a populous parish; but the crucifix on the foot being regarded as superstitious, that portion of the foot was cut away, and replaced by the plate with the sacred monogram, as we now see it. The gothic tracery is of Decorated character, but some of the details appear of later work, and Mr. Morgan is disposed to consider 1400 as about the date of the chalice. The paten, upon which appears the vernicle, is of much ruder workmanship, and does not appear originally belonged to the chalice, although they may have been used together for a long time past. There is no Hall-mark on either; it is indeed not uncommon to find early church-plate without any mark. It is doubtful whether they are of English or foreign workmanship. By information subsequently obtained through the kindness of the Rev. Joseph Hunter, the probability that this chalice and paten had actually formed part of the original plate of Leominster Priory Church appears to be confirmed. The inventories of the articles left behind when the Commissioners, in the 7th Edward VI., again visited the parishes, for the purpose of separating the things thought by them unnecessary from those which they deemed proper to be left for the use of the congregation, show that at Leominster there were left five bells, a chalice with a paten of silver gilt, weighing 19 oz., and another chalice with a paten of silver parcel-gilt, weighing 14oz. |