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literary existence. Mr. Singer's History of Play- any persons who met together to subscribe a petiing Cards, and many carefully superintended and tion to be preferred to that House" (Commons' well annotated editions of our older poets, had Journals, Dec. 13, 1641). "After this," says long before established his reputation as a scholar Clarendon, "all obstacles of the law were removed, and an antiquary. But a glance at the titles of and the people taught a way to assemble together some thirty or forty various articles contributed by in how tumultuous a manner soever" (History, Mr. Singer to the first and second volumes-ed. Oxford, 1807, vol. ii. p. 525). The extent to including, as they do, papers on curious points which this was carried is well illustrated in the of Anglo-Saxon and early Teutonic literature, on Memoirs of Nehemiah Wallington, particularly Spanish literature, on Ulrich von Hutten and the in the chapter "Of Petitions and the Manner of Epistola Obscurorum Virorum, on Early English their Coming." The Parliament, however, afterwriters, popular antiquities, and passages in Shak-wards discouraged the practice, for the fifth head speare-shows that the writer's learning was as of the "Declaration of the Army," sent from St. accurate as it was varied, and proves how important Albans in June, 1647, begins, "We desire that an addition he was to the list of contributors. I the right and freedom of the People to represent had met him originally at Mr. Douce's, but since to the Parliament, by way of humble petition, the death of my old friend, whose fortune Mr. their Grievances, may be cleared and vindicated"; Singer inherited, I had never seen him, and it was and in the New Chains Discovered (1648) of Col. a very agreeable surprise to me when I found I Lilburne, it is alleged that the House had given had been the means of securing to the public some “private orders for seizing upon citizens and solof the results of his long and well-directed studies. diers at their meetings," which he resents as "the I am inclined to believe that had it not been for bitter fruit of the vilest and basest bondage that "N. & Q." the lovers of Shakspeare would never ever English men groan'd under." It is worth have seen Mr. Singer's most valuable edition of notice that there is no allusion to the right of their favourite poet. WILLIAM J. THOMS. meeting in the proposed Republican constitution, entitled the "Petition of Advice," from which I infer that at this period the right was no longer a matter of dispute.

(To be continued.)

THE FIRST PUBLIC MEETING.

In Buckle's History of Civilization (vol. i. p. 394) | I find it asserted that "in 1769 there was held the first public meeting ever assembled in England, the first in which it was attempted to enlighten Englishmen respecting their political rights." It is no doubt true that this form of political agitation became very common during the unpopular Grafton administration; but the assertion that public meetings date their origin from this period is surely altogether wrong, and an example of that intense hostility to the laudator temporis acti which on more than one occasion has led the accomplished author astray. I am inclined to think that a little research would afford proof that at no period of English history were political meetings absolutely unknown. But the public meeting in its modern form is unquestionably the birth of that memorable period of civil dudgeon which ushered in the civil wars. Every reader of the literature of that time will be familiar with the meetings for addressing the king or petitioning Parliament, held throughout the country in 1641-2, which appear to have differed but little from those of the present day, except that it was customary for every person present to sign the petition or resolutions. And these assemblies were declared legal. Clarendon expressly mentions that, owing to the attempted suppression of a meeting in Southwark (1641) by the Under Sheriff of Surrey, the House ordered that no proceedings were to be taken "upon any inquisition that might concern

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One of the first acts passed after the Restoration (13 Car. II. cap. v.) was directed against "tumultuous and disorderly preparing petitions," and the preamble somewhat naively refers to them as 'having been a great means of the late unhappy confusions and calamities of this nation." By this Act it was made necessary to obtain the consent of three justices of the peace for any petition to which it was proposed to obtain upwards of twenty signatures. A glance, however, at a file of newspapers of the first half of the last century, will show that this law did not prevent the holding of meetings to petition Parliament upon any subject which greatly agitated the public mind-notably the Excise Bill, and the laws relating to the woollen trade.

from

With these precedents at hand, not dug up musty archives, but lying, as it were, upon the surface, it is difficult to account for Mr. Buckle's statement.

There are other assertions in the same chapter which also require revision. In the summary view of the state of literature, it is said that reviews were unknown before the accession of George II., the fact being that at least three journals of this description were published during the reign of William III. C. ELLIOT BROWNE.

NIAM-NIAM FOLK-LORE. The enclosed leaves from a note-book may be acceptable at this Christmastide :

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THE "BORRU," AN AFRICAN PLANCHETTE.- proper bearing of "even" has been recognized. "From the wood of the Sarcocephalus Russegeri, which That any one's labours should be refreshed by they call damma,' a little four-legged stool is made, sweet thoughts of his mistress, is a fact to be like the benches used by the women. The upper surface generally assumed. But to understand "even" of this is rendered perfectly smooth. A block of wood as bearing upon refresh" would be somewhat of the same kind is then cut, of which one end is also made quite smooth. After having wetted the top of the contrary to such assumption. The word evidently stool with a drop or two of water, they grasp the block, points to "most busy" as qualifying "labours," and rub its smooth part backwards and forwards over the meaning being, "But these sweet thoughts do the level surface with the same motion as if they were refresh even my most busy labours." I would using a plane. If the wood should glide easily along, therefore remove the comma after "labours" and the conclusion is drawn that the undertaking in question will assuredly prosper; but if, on the other hand, the put it after "busy." That would make it necesmotion obstructed, and the surfaces adhere together-sary to connect "lest," in some way, with "when if, according to the Niam-niam expression, a score of I do it." The verb "do" is a pro-verb, repremen could not give free movement to the block-the senting the verb "think" implied in "thoughts warning is unmistakable that the adventure will prove and the clause "when I do it" is a loose way of a failure."-Schweinfurth's Heart of Africa, vol. ii. p. 32. saying "when I think, or indulge in, sweet thoughts "KARRA," THE MAGIC TUBER.of my mistress." Now the mode in which his most busy labours are refreshed by sweet thoughts of his mistress is indicated by "I forget," that is, he is rendered oblivious to them.

"I also found a very peculiar creeper, with a double horny or finger-shaped tuber attached to the axils of the leaves, like the edible helmia, to which genus of plants it doubtless belongs. It is transplanted by the natives from the woods, and trained in the neighbourhood of the huts, and is known under the name of Karra.' Among the Niam-niam these tubers are looked upon as a sort of charm, and it is believed that a good show of them upon the leaves is an infallible prediction of a prolific hunting season. It was, moreover, affirmed that if a huntsman wants to render his bow unerring in its capabilities, he has only to hold it in his hand while he 'slaughters' one of the tubers over it, that is, takes a knife and cuts off the end and cuts it in pieces."Ibid., vol. ii. p. 400.

AUGURIES FROM COCKS AND HENS."There are other auguries common to the Niam-niam with various negro nations, and which are considered as of equal or still greater importance. An oily fluid, concocted from a red wood called 'bengye,' is administered to a hen. If the bird dies, there will be misfortune in war; if the bird survives, there will be victory. Another mode of trying their fortune consists in seizing a cock, and ducking its head repeatedly under water until the creature is stiff and senseless. They then leave it to itself. If it should rally, they draw an omen that is favourable to their design; whilst if it should succumb, they look for an adverse issue."—Ibid., vol. ii. p. 33. CHARM TO DETECT A THIEF.-

"The turf-like Chlorophytum, with its variegated leaves of mingled white and green, is employed among the Niam-niam as a charm to detect a thief, much in the same way as the Canavalia ensiformis, known as the 'overlook' or horse-bean, is employed in Jamaica and Haiti, where it is sown in the negro plantations for that purpose."-Ibid., p. 119.

Oak Village, N.W.

THO. SATCHELL.

SHAKSPEARIANA.

NOTE ON THE CRUX OF THE TEMPEST."

"I forget: But these sweet thoughts, doe euen refresh my labours, Most busie lest, when I doe it."

Act iii. sc. 1, 11. 13, 14. In the various solutions that have been proposed of this famous crux, it does not appear that the

If the interpretation thus far is correct, there must be an idea veiled in "lest," which reflects or points to "I forget," as a consequence of "when I do it." That idea is revealed by the change of The word should be "lost," one letter, e for o. in the sense of being completely absorbed in anything, and oblivious to all other things. Lady Macbeth says to her husband, "Be not lost so poorly in your thoughts."

The passage might be paraphrased thus: "But these sweet thoughts do refresh even my most busy labours, lost, as I am, to myself and to those labours, when I indulge in them."

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I would punctuate as follows:"But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours Most busy,-lost, when I do it."

The Cornell University.

HIRAM CORSON.

"KING LEAR," Act iv. sc. 2, 11. 50-60 :-
"With plumed helm thy slayer begins threats.

See thyself, devil."

Who is this "slayer"? Not France, for he is
spoken of in the preceding line; not Cornwall, for
why should he be called Albany's slayer? He is
his confederate against France, notwithstanding
the secret designs which may be planned on both
sides against the brother-in-law; and, finally, why
should Albany, after these words of Goneril, be
driven to the superlative and rather furious ex-
pression, "See thyself, devil"? There must have
been said something horrid, something extraordi-
narily unnatural, that drives this mild character to
such an outburst of feeling; and we cannot sup-
pose that the other received reading, “thy state,”
should answer those questions.

But let us look back to Act iii. sc. 7, ll. 14-20:
"Cornwall.
Where is the king?
Oswald. My Lord of Gloster hath conveyed him hence:
Some five or six and thirty of his knights,

Hot questrists after him, met him at gate;
Who, with some other of the lords dependants,
Are gone with him towards Dover; where they boast
To have well armed friends."

Goneril hears this, and, exaggerating and dressing it up, relates to her husband what she has heard, namely, that even her father begins threats; but a certain uncourteous feeling prevents her from calling him "My father"-she says in a rather spiteful and contemptuous tone, "This Lear."

Perhaps you will concede that an inarticulate and swift pronunciation of the words, "this Lear," might easily be exposed to a misunderstanding for thy slayer." And after Goneril has spoken so disdainfully of her father, it is not more than natural that Albany calls her a devil.

Finally, let us not forget that "thy slayer" is not elsewhere to be found in Shakspeare.

Berlin.

F. A. LEO.

"Do WITHAL" (5th S. vi. 405.)—The undersigned ventures to suggest that those words ought to be printed thus: "I could not do with all." So many honourable ladies sought his love that he could not pay court, or attention, to them all. He denying that attention which they required, they fell sick and died. Maybe it is intended that the verb "do" should carry a meaning which may not appear on the pages of "N. & Q." Perhaps the above suggestion has been made by others; if so, it is wholly unknown to, and, indeed, cannot now be found out by, R. &

Much as I am pleased to accept the explanation of the phrase, "I could not help it," it has sometimes occurred to me that in the passage F. J. V. quotes from The Merchant of Venice the meaning is "I could not do with all," i.e. Portia, she and Nerissa, "accoutred like young men," finding "How honourable ladies sought her love, which she denying, they fell sick and died," meant to assign as the reason that she could not "do with all"; in other words, could not marry all.

DAVID WOTHERSPOON.

BIOGRAPHIA DRAMATICA.

The following is a list of some of the works which may be advantageously consulted on the subject (see 5th S. vi. 449):

French.

(Clément et l'Abbé de la Porte.) Anecdotes dramatiques. Paris, 1775, 3 vols. sm. 8vo.

Annales dramatiques, ou Dictionnaire abrégé des Théâtres, par une Société de Gens de Lettres. Paris, 1809-12, 9 vols. 8vo.

Beauchamps (de). Recherches sur les Théâtres de France, depuis 1161. Paris, 1735, 4to.

Bamassier (Jules). Les Auteurs dramatiques et la Comédie-Française à Paris aux XVII et XVIIIe siècles. Paris, 1874, 12mo.

(De la Porte et Chamfort.) Dictionnaire dramatique. Paris, 1776, 3 vols. 8vo.

(De Léris.) Dictionnaire portatif des Théâtres. Paris, 1763, sm. 8vo.

Escudier (Marie et Léon). Les Cantatrices célebres. Paris, Dentu, 18mo.

Etienne et Martainville. Histoire du Théâtre Français, Réunion générale. Paris, 1802, 4 vols. 12mo. depuis le Commencement de la Révolution jusqu'à la

Fournel (V.). Les Contemporains de Molière. Paris, Didot, 3 vols. 8vo.

Gautier (Th.). Histoire de l'Art dramatique en France depuis vingt-cinq ans. Paris, Hetzel, 1859, 6 vols. 18mo. Hallays-Dabot. Histoire de la Censure théâtrale. Paris, Dentu, 18mo.

Houssaye (Arsène). Princesses de Comédie et Déesses d'Opéra. Paris, Furne et Jouvet, 8vo., plates.

Lemazurier (P. D.). Galerie historique des Acteurs du Théâtre François, depuis 1600 jusqu'à nos Jours. Paris, 1810, 2 vols. 8vo.

Loire (L.). Anecdotes Théâtrales. Paris, Dentu, 18mo. Parfait (Frères). Histoire du Théâtre François, depuis son Origine jusqu'en 1721. Paris, 1745-49, 15 vols. 12mo. Ricord aîné. Les Fastes de la Comédie Française, et portraits des plus célèbres acteurs. Paris, 1821, 2 vols. 8vo.

Royer (A.). 'Histoire universelle du Théâtre, depuis les Origines jusqu'à la fin du XVIIIe Siècle. Paris, 1869-70, 4 vols. 8vo.

Italian.

Allaci (Leone). Drammaturgia continuata sino all' anno 1755. Venezia, 1755, 4to. Arteaga (Stef.). Le Revoluzioni del Teatro musicale italiano, della sua Origine fino al presente. Bologna, 1785, 3 vols. 8vo.

of the Lives and Works of the valuable Authors of Italy. Baretti (Gius.). Italian Library, containing an Account London, 1757, 8vo.

Haym (N. Fr.). Biblioteca italiana. Milano, 1771, 2 vols. 4to.

Hillebrand (K.). De la Comédie italienne, in Etudes historiques et littéraires. Tome I. Etudes italiennes. Paris, 1868, 18mo.

Mazzuchelli (G. M.). Gli Scrittori d'Italia. Brescia, 1753-63, 6 vols. fol.

Walker. Historical Memoir on the Italian Tragedy. London, 1799, 4to.

German.

Clodius (H. Jonath.). Primæ lineæ bibliothecæ lusoriæ. Lipsia, 1761, 4to.

Klein (J. L.). Geschichte des Dramas. Leipzig, 1865-70, 8 vols. 8vo.

Lessing (G. E.). Hamburgische Dramaturgie. Leipzig, 1856, 12mo.

Schlegel (A. W.). Vorlesungen über dramatischer Kunst und Literatur. Heidelberg, 1846, 2 vols. 12mo. Literatur. Biographisch-Kritisches Lexicon deutscher Wolff (O. L. B.). Encyclopädie der deutschen National Autoren, nebst Proben aus ihren Werken. Leipzig, 1835,

8 vols. 4to.

Ayr Academy.

HENRI GAUSSERON.

SPECIALISTS UPON BOOKS.

It appears to me that an instructive book might be compiled with some such title as the above, the object being to collect from all quarters the opinions and critical dicta of men, distinguished in any line of study, upon other great authors in general literature, who have treated more or less fully upon the subjects to which the said specialists

WESLEY IN THE DUNCIAD."-It is well known that in the first and, so called, surreptitious edition of The Dunciad, printed in 1728, in part i. line 115, occurs the passage

"A Gothic Vatican of Greece and Rome,

Well purg'd and worthy W-y, W-8, and Bl—.” And that there might be no doubt who was meant, it was stated in The Key to the Dunciad, printed the same year,—

have devoted the study of a life. One is glad to hear that a noted metallurgist has passed a high encomium on the scientific value of Swedenborg's remarks on metals. I should like to know what a man of the calibre of John Hunter would have to say upon the medical value of Bishop Berkeley's views on tar-water, as set forth in his Siris. Dr. Bucknill, or some medical writer, has called Coleridge "the poet's poet." The remark was made before in reference to Spenser; but it is interesting to get the record of a medical mind under the excitation of a poet's work expressing its critical appreciation of value in poetry. One is pleased to have Prof. Martyn's botanical commentary on the Georgics, &c., of Virgil, and Lord Bacon's comments on his profundity as a politician. I was glad to find in Frank Buckland's clever W-s, who were persons eminent for good life: the one "It was printed in the surreptitious editions W-ly, book, Curiosities of Natural History, when treat-[Sam. Wesley senior] writ the life of Christ in verse; the ing of frogs as barometers, that he quotes the line, other [J. Watts] some valuable pieces in the lyrick kind on pious subjects. The line is here restor'd according to its original."

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Et veterem in limo ranæ cecinere querelam," from the Georgics, and adds his competent and valuable testimony to the high reputation of Virgil as "a good observer of nature." In another place (p. 273), in treating of the barbel, which he calls a regular fresh-water pig," he compliments Hood for so aptly recording this grubbing propensity of the fish, styling him "that most observant of poets, Hood." It would be charming to know what Cuvier thought of Goldsmith's Animated Nature; what Boyle thought of Paracelsus. One likes to see Pascal tackle Montaigne, criticizing his Raimonde de Sebonde. Or, if you could get Spinoza's notions on the Talmud; or what Palestrina thought of the song of birds, or of the music of the rhythm of Dante; what Avicenna thought of Hindoo medicine, or of the pharmaceutics of Homer; what Philo-Judæus would have said to the cosmogony of Hesiod; what Columbus judged of the astronomy and navigation of the ancients, which he so profoundly studied. It would be finer than turtle to an alderman to have a sharp cracksman's commentary on Hotten's last Slang Dictionary. It would be pleasant to get a timbermerchant's notions about the forestry of Spenser; or Mr. Hancock the jeweller's views upon The Stones of Theophrastus, as commented by Sir J. Hill.

I think enough is said already to show what a book might be made, and what splendid results and discovery might follow on, from bringing all the clear diamond light of now-hidden intellect in contact with the stores of precious" treasure already gathered in the mine of knowledge, but which remain in darkness because there is not enough of pure brain-light invited to make its objects stand out in colour and perspective as a landscape at noontide. Very much could be done very easily, and it is worth an effort. If there were many Frank Bucklands, it could be done quickly. C. A. WARD.

"Page 7, line 116, Mr. Westly, Mr. Wats, Mr. Blome, Poets." In the first authentic edition, 4to., 1729, this line was altered into

"Well purg'd and worthy Withers, Quarles, and Blome," and the note is subjoined

It is, however, to be observed that this correction
was not made first in Pope's authorized edition; it
was made, I believe, in the second surreptitious
edition of 1728, certainly in the third edition of
that year. If the correction was made by Pope,
then it follows that he was a party to these so
called surreptitious editions. That this was so is
rendered still more probable by the fact that the
line even as altered did not please Pope, for in
later issues he altered it again înto—
"Well purg'd and worthy Settle, Banks, and Broome."
On the assumption that the surreptitious editions
were issued without the author's knowledge, it is
hardly probable that the printer or publisher
would have changed Wesley and Watts into
"Withers" and "Quarles." EDWARD SOLLY.
Sutton, Surrey.

"PANTACLE.”—In Damon and Pythias, by Richard Edwards (Ancient British Drama, i. 87), the two pages, Jacke and Wyll, quarrel, and Jacke says:

"If you play Jacknapes in mocking my master and de-
spising my face,

Even here with a pantacle I will you disgrace;
And, though you have a far better face than I,
Yet who is better man of us these two fists shall try."

Subsequently he says:—

"Take this at the beginning,"

:

to which Wyll replies
Prayse well your winning: my pantacle is as readie as
yours."

The editor supposes that by "pantacle" Jacke means pantofle, a slipper, and Nares writes to the same effect; but this explanation can hardly be admitted. I would suggest that pantacle stands for pentacle, which properly is a magical figure having five angles, and is here jocularly used for the hand with its five fingers; cp. the German,

was not at Clapham Common, as has been stated in some of the papers, but was recently built at his house in Grafton Street; and it is not easy to describe the excessive foppery with which his books were ornamented. The present is the age for illustrating books, by fitting in all manner of prints and drawings analogous to the sub

einen Fünf-thaler-schein auf das Gesicht schreiben. The change of e into a before a liquid is common enough. I will cite only two instances: Nares gives franzie for phrensy, from Taylor, the Waterpoet; again, the title of one of Heywood's plays is The Fair Maide of the Exchange, with the Pleasant|ject. Mr. Thornton bestowed this embellishment in a Humours of the Cripple of Fanchurch Street.

F. J. V. CURIOUS EPITAPH.-In Crayford churchyard I found the following rather singular inscription on a head-stone set up by the parishioners in remembrance of Peter Isnell. As I do not remember to have met with it in type, it may be worth preservation in "N. & Q." :

"Here lieth the body of Peter Isnell (30 years clerk of this parish). He lived respected as a pious and a mirthful man, and died on his way to church to assist at a wedding, on the 31st day of March, 1811, aged 70 years. The inhabitants of Crayford have raised this stone to his cheerful memory, and as a tribute to his long and faithful services.

The life of this clerk was just threescore and ten,
Nearly half of which time he had sung out Amen.
In his youth he was married, like other young men ;
But his wife died one day, so he chaunted Amen.
A second he took; she departed, what then?
He married and buried a third, with Amen.
Thus his joys and his sorrows were treble, but then
His voice was deep bass as he sung out Amen.
On the horn he could blow as well as most men,
So his horn was exalted in blowing Amen.
But he lost all his wind after threescore and ten;
And here, with three wives, he waits till agen
The trumpet shall rouse him to sing out Amen."
ENILORAC.

me

THE DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE.-I have before "The Passage of the Mountain Saint Gothard, a Poem, by Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire," a finely printed quarto of 48 pages, 1802, with an accompanying French translation by M. l'Abbé de Lille, and an inserted portrait represented to me to be that of the authoress, but cut close, and therefore without the inscription it no doubt bore. It is an oval, seven by five and a half inches, representing a lady seated before a pillar; small, thin side face looking to the left, in morning wrapper, her right hand resting on a book; hair brushed back and tied with a ribbon, and a lock falling on each shoulder.

I can trace no resemblance between the portrait and that of the abducted charmer lately bewitching the town. Perhaps some one having an intact copy will say if this is really Georgiana, the authoress, and if she is, notwithstanding, identical with the beauty, but drawn probably by a less masterly hand than that of Gainsborough.

J. O.

MR. ROBERT THORNTON.-The following account of a library of some splendour may not be uninteresting to your readers:

"The splendid library of Mr. Robert Thornton, who lately failed in his gambling speculations in the funds,

way the most expensive. His Suetonius, for example, he illustrated by having miniature portraits, in oil, by the best masters, of the Twelve Cæsars, framed and glazed, inlaid in one cover, while twelve of the principal Roman ladies, painted to match, were in the other, both guarded with crimson velvet. His bindings were all in their devices. His Johnston's History of Highwaymen, the most sumptuous style, and many of them curious by for instance, was ornamented by the Count de Chaumont (an emigrant, who did not disdain to employ his talent, creditably for himself, in bookbinding during the exile of the noblesse) with emblems of the fate that robbers ought to come to, viz. the gallows, on the four corners !" cxxxi. -Edinburgh Annual Register, 1814, "Chronicle," p.

WILLIAM GEORGE BLACK.

THE ISLAND OF BARATARIA.-Every one knows that the island, to the governorship of which Sancho Panza was advanced by the favour of the duke, was called Barataria; but it is not so well known that there is a place, I believe an island, on the coast of North America, State of Louisiana, of this name. The question arises, Was one of these places called after the other, and was the real Barataria so called in honour of the fictitious one? Cervantes says, in the translation I have :

"Sancho then, with all his attendants, arrived at a town containing about a thousand inhabitants, which was one of the largest and best the duke had. They gave him to understand that it was called the Island of of the place, or because he obtained the government of it Barataria, either because Barataria was really the name at so cheap a rate";

and a translator's note says, "Barato is the adjective opposed in Spanish to caro, dear, and is October 10, 1814, Commodore Daniel Patterson expressed by our word cheap." I see that on addresses a letter from New Orleans to the Secretary of the U.S. Navy, acquainting him of the Barataria and the destruction of their establishsuccess of his expedition against the pirates of ment at the islands of Grandterre, Grand Isle, and Cheniere. Perhaps some American contributor can say how this place got its name.

Belfast.

W. H. PATTERSON.

RIGHT OF WAY.--There had always been a path through the churchyard of Walpole St. Peter, near Lynn Regis, and when the new church was built, in the time of Henry VI., the edifice extended almost to the verge of the churchyard, thus obstructing the path. The parishioners being unwilling to give up their path, a vaulted way was constructed under the chancel, which caused the altar to be approached by ten steps. RIVUS.

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