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another, found at the same time and place, and perhaps the most valuable of the three. It is the upper part of a central pier, having a slightlyprojecting buttress, and supporting ogee arches, of which one half, with the spandrel, remains on each side. Within one spandrel is sculptured an eagle, with expanded wings, holding a scroll in his beak. The other contains a winged monster, with human head and hands and lion's legs, having a bird like a hawk or eagle perched on the right fist. All the three stones are of the same material and workmanship, and there can be no doubt, I think, that they have formed part of a monumental shrine of considerable magnitude, and of exquisite and elaborate design and execution. Mr. Stothard considers them to be of about the time of Edward the Second. The general character appears to me very similar to that of the gorgeous Percy shrine in Beverley minster.

The circumstances attending the discovery of these interesting remains are these. Frederick Swineard, Esq., in whose possession they now are, resides in a part of the Cathedral Close of York called Precentor's Court, in which, as the name indicates, the precentor, and other dignitaries of the Church, formerly lived. In the year 1835 a carved stone being accidentally turned up by the workmen employed in digging a drain near Mr. Swineard's house, he was induced to extend the excavation, and a number of beautiful remains were found a few feet below the ground floor of the house, which is not cellared. The stones were lying one upon another, the worked face being placed upwards, but carefully protected from injury by a covering of fine sand, indicating that they had been deposited there for concealment and preserva. tion. These, which are supposed to be portions either of the sedilia or of the screen-work of the high altar of the minster, were liberally presented by Mr. Swineard to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, and are now placed in their museum of antiquities. A short time after this discovery Mr. Swineard made an excavation in the garden adjoining his house, and found, a little below the surface, the three stones above described; and it is by

no means improbable that more would appear if the search were pursued. This, however, would be attended with expense which he may not choose to incur. He preserves these relics with great care in his own house at present, but I suspect that the museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society is their ultimate destination.

Yours, &c. R. D.

Druidical Temple near Shap.
MR. URBAN,

NOTWITHSTANDING the alleged increase of good taste at the present day, I find it is the intention of the projectors of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway to carry their line through, and destroy, a most interesting remnant of antiquity, the remains of a Druidical Temple situated in a field the property of the Earl of Lonsdale, on the road from Kendal to Shap, and about 2 miles from the latter place. I am surprised that the noble Earl should permit such barbarity, with such influence as he possesses over the Company.

The accompanying sketch (Plate II.) of this curious monument, which will probably be in a very short time no longer in existence, may be interesting to your readers. It consists of 13 stones of Shap granite, the largest of which is 7 or 8 feet high, placed in a circle about forty feet in diameter. Yours, &c.

DRUID.

MR. URBAN, Oxford, Sept. 10. ALLOW me to suggest to your learned readers the following question of law and heraldry. What is the effect of the words of the letters patent of James I. granting the arms of Ulster as an addition to their paternal coat to Baronets and their descendants? those words convey that privilege only to the descendants being Baronets, i. e. the heirs in tail of the grantees, or do they extend to all the descendants of the grantees bearing the paternal arms of such grantees ?

Do

A gift by the Crown of lands to A. B. and his descendants would be clearly void for want of the words heirs, and of his body. Without the word heirs the grant would not be of an estate of

inheritance, and without the addition of the words of his body it would not create an estate tail. It would, therefore, be void as against the crown, though it would pass an estate for life if the conveyance were by a subject. But how is it with respect to grants of arms? Coke in commenting on sec. 31 of Littleton, in which the latter lays down the law, requiring the words of procreation to make an estate tail, says "this rule extendeth but to lands or tenements, and not to the inheritance which noblemen and gentlemen have in their armories or arms.' He then proceeds to shew, and assign as a reason of that position, that the fee simple which a man has in his arms is of the nature of gavelkind, but far exceeding the nature of gavelkind, in which all the sons inherit equally, for arms descend to females (in a qualified manner) and males together, and to heirs lineal and collateral altogether, subject to certain differences. He then continues: "if the King by his letters patent give lands or tenements to a man and to his heirs male the grant is void, for that the King is deceived in his grant, inasmuch as there can be no such inheritance of lands or tenements as the King intended to grant." But, if the King, for reward of service, granteth arms or armories to a man and his heirs male, without saying of the body, this is good, and, as hath been said, they shall descend accordingly."

Coke evidently means that a grant of arms to a man and his heirs male, gives him a fee simple of that particular species which is peculiar to arms and armories, and which he has previously described, that is to say, to him and his heirs male equally and altogether, and to his female descendants in a qualified manner, i. e. for life, to bear the armories in a lozenge, and impaled with their husband's arms, or quartered if they be heiresses, in which last case their descendants inherit such maternal arms.

But, even supposing that a grant of arms to A. B. and his heirs male would create an estate tail,-it is clear that a grant of arms to A. B. and his descendants would not,-because the word descendants is general and unqualified, and cannot possibly be re

stricted so as to apply only to the heir in tail. The grant to A. B. and his descendants cannot be void, because it is in conformity with the species of inheritance peculiar to armories set forth in Coke's Comm. on Sections 31 and 210 of Littleton. It is such an inheritance as the law allows in armories. It follows that the grant of the arms of Ulster to the baronets and their descendants, by the letters patent of James I. is not void, and cannot be restricted to their heirs in tail, and therefore cannot be made to follow the dignity of Baronet (which is entailed) to the exclusion of their other descendants. Consequently that bearing of the arms of Ulster is descendible according to and governed by that particular species of gavelkind which, by the law of England, governs the inheritance that noblemen and gentlemen have in their arms and armories.

I presume that no one will be sufficiently ignorant to say that custom has restricted the effect of King James' letters patent.

We must conclude, that the following persons are entitled under those letters patent to bear the arms of Ulster in a canton or escutcheon, as an addition to their paternal arms, that is to say:

1. Baronets.

2. Baronets' sons and daughters. 3. Descendants of Baronets into male lines, that is to say, entirely through males.

4. Descendants of a Baronet, who are entitled to quarter his arms through females.

The persons in the fourth class ought, however, to use the Ulster addition only with the quartering as an appurtenance of which they inherit that addition.

I think this point of heraldic law is new and interesting, and I shall be glad if you deem it worth submitting to your readers, especially our brethren of the Society of Antiquaries.

Yours, &c. D. C. L.

MR. URBAN,

DURING my recent visit to Canter. bury I amused myself by taking a very careful copy of the Epitaph of the

Black Prince, which is beautifully engraved on brass plates in raised letters round the verge of his tomb, and though the characters cannot be very closely imitated in modern types, I will request you to insert it in your pages, as a literal copy may be acceptable to some of your readers; particularly as (not to speak of mere capitals or other trifling variations,) there are errors in all the printed copies, - the last, in Blore's Monumental Remains, con. taining four incorrect words in the prose part alone, and at least three errors of

importance, besides many minor inaccuracies, in the verses. I will first remark that the letter s is generally written f, unless it is final; that there are two forms of r, answering to those still used in printing and in writing, employed indifferently; that the letter y is always surmounted by a (), but the letter i as frequently written without a point as with. I trust the English translation I affix will be pardoned, as an attempt as close to the original as rhyme will allow.

Cy gist le noble Prince mons' Edward aisne3 fil du tresnoble Roy Edward tiers iadis Prince daquitanie de Gales duc de Cornewaille et Counte de Cestre qi morust en la feste de la Trinite qestoit le .viij. iour de Juyn Lan de grace Miltroiscen; septante sissme lalme de qi dieu eit mercy.

Tu qi passez oue bouche close:
Par la ou ce corps repose:
Entent ce qe te dirai :
Sicome te dire le say:

5 Tiel come tu es ie au tiel fu:
Tu serras tiel come ie su:
De la mort ne pensai ie mye:
Tantcome iauoi la vie :
En t're auoi gand richesse:
10 Dont ie y fis gand noblesse :
Terre mesons & gand tresor :
Draps chiuaux argent & or:
Mes ore su ieo poures & cheitifs :
Per fond en la t're gis:

15 Ma gand beaute est tout alee:
Ma char est tout gastee:
Moult est estroit ma meson:
en moy na si verite non :
Et si ore me veissez :

20 Je ne quide pas qe vous deissez :
Qe ie eusse onqes homme este:
Si su ie ore de tant changee:
Pur dieu priez au celestien Roy.
qe mercy ait de larme de moy:
25 Touz ceulx qe pur moy prieront:
ou a dieu macorderont:
Dieu les mette en son paray'.
ou nul ne poet estre cheitifs.

amen.

Whoe'er thou art, with lips comprest,
That passest where this corpse doth rest,
To that I tell thee list, o man!

So far as I to tell thee can,
Such as thou art I was but now,
And as I am so shalt be thou.
Death little did my thoughts employ
So long as I did life enjoy ;

On earth great riches were my fate,
With which I kept a noble state,
Great lands, great houses, treasure great,
Hangings and horses, gold and plate.
But now I am but poor and base,
Deep in the earth is now my place,
My flesh is wasted all away,
Reduced my splendour to decay;
My house is very strait and short,
Forsooth in me is utter naught,
Nay, such a change has past o'er me,
That, could you now my features see,
I scarcely think you aught could scan
To show that I was once a man.
For God's sake pray the heavenly King
That he my soul to mercy bring!
All who for me their prayers shall spend,
Or me to God shall recommend,
God make his paradise their home,
Wherein no wicked soul may come.
[J. G. NICHOLS.]

Notes. In the prose portion, the word daquitanie is so engraved, incorrectly, for d'aquitaine; and the word de is omitted before l'alme.

The six first verses form one line on the south side of the tomb and the rest follow in long lines according to the width of the sides of the tomb.

In line 21 the word homme is expressed with a contraction, which passes through the first letter, h'ome.

In the last line but four larme is incorrectly engraved instead of l'alme. The shields of arms round the tomb (when complete) were alternately, 1. France and England quarterly, and 2. Three ostrich feathers each piercing a scroll inscribed Ich diene. The same motto on a label of brass surmounted each of the shields of feathers; and the motto Houmout each of the shields

of France and England. The latter is printed HOUMONT in Blore's Monumental Remains, and if I rightly recollect that is the usual reading. I beg to say it is incorrect, and to request an explanation of Houmout.

I might repeat the same request for Ich diene, without forgetting how often

it has been stated that it was derived, with the Black Prince's "crest," from the King of Bohemia, slain at Crecy : for, as I fully believe there is no foundation for the idea that the Ostrich feather had any relation to the King of Bohemia, so also it is probable that Ich diene will admit of explanation which it has not yet received.*

Before I conclude I may mention that, during the occupation of the Cathedral of Canterbury by the British Archæological Association, an examination of the actual surcoat and crest of the Black Prince, still suspended over his monument, was made by Mr. Hartshorne.

The Surcoat was found to be of onepiled velvet, embroidered with the heraldic bearings. It was gamboised with cotton, and lined or quilted with linen. What was particularly interesting is, that it resembled precisely the surcoat represented in the Effigy, the number of fleurs de lis and their position (the coat of France, it will be recollected, is semée de fleurs de lis) being identical: thus showing that ancient sculptors probably copied the very dresses of the deceased, as well as their features.

The Crest of a Lion (which was unfortunately separated from its cap of maintenance, which still adheres to the helmet, during a visit which the Duchess of Kent paid to the Cathedral some years since,) is very light; being hollow, formed of pasteboard, lined with linen, and covered with some kind of composition, afterwards gilt, each lock of the lion's hide being apparently stamped by one lozenge

I am happy to hear from Sir Harris Nicolas that he has obtained some definite information on the origin of the Royal Badge of the Ostrich Feather, which he will shortly communicate to the public. I had myself the satisfaction to show, in the XXIXth volume of the Archæologia, that the King of Bohemia's crest was not a plume of ostrich feathers, but a vulture's wing. To call the plume a crest" at all is a vulgar error; the Prince of Wales's crest still being, as in the days of the Black Prince, a lion passant. The Ostrich feathers seem to have been first combined into the plume of three when King Edward the Sixth was Prince of Wales.

66

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Morum comitate, salibus Atticis,
Splendore ingenii celeberrimi,
Qui in horis maxime procellosis reipublicæ
Longe lateque versatus,
Fidissimum infaustis tutamen,
Nullum sibi inimicum fecit,
Nullo patriæ inimico
Pepercit.

Fori senatusque eloquio
Inter principes princeps,
Ad summa juris erectus
Crescente fama,
Animo magis magisque lucescente,
Labente tantum corpore,
Sexages. sept. jam agens annum,
Heu

Immature mortuus est.
Orbi natus

Orbi memoriam relinquens.

Filia

superbiam inter et lachrymas H. M. Dicavit.

Nat. in Hibernia, A. D. 1751.

Ob. Londini, A.D. 1818.

REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Texas and the Gulf of Mexico; or, Yachting in the New World. By Mrs. Houston. 2 vols.

THESE volumes are written with all the spirit and intelligence that we expected to find in them. They convey a good deal of instruction in a lively, amusing form: a dramatic interest is preserved by the form in which the narrative is conveyed; and a mixture of acute observation and personal adventure is ever varying the scene that passes before the reader's eyes. The voyage was performed in Mr. Houston's yacht "The Dolphin," the chief object being the new empire of Texas, of which a very interesting account is given. A residence of some time at New Orleans enables Mrs. Houston to give us some interesting particulars of that place; and on the return voyage we were pleased with the account of Havannah and Bermuda, which Mrs. Houston, not having the fear of Mr. Hunter before her eyes, in all the pristine simplicity of

her heart believes to have been the residence of Prospero and Miranda. She did not know that every word she describes herself as so poetically_pronouncing on its shores from the "Tempest was carried far away by the envious winds to the distant rocks of Lampedusa. When we add that there are some short poetical pieces scattered in these pages that may truly be called beautiful, and that there is at times much comic humour in the descriptions of personal character and manycoloured life which the author encountered in her changing scene, we think we have said enough to show our opinion of the work, and, we trust, to awaken the curiosity and propitiate the favour of its readers.

Instead of making one or two long extracts from the work, we prefer catching various glimpses of passing things, and holding short conferences with the author, as the humour takes; and let us begin with ladies' maids.

Vol. i. p. 9.-"My maid was a wretched prey to the distressing malady of sickness. I believe there never yet existed a lady's GENT. MAG. VOL. XXII.

maid who was not: though I have never yet been able, either from physical or natural causes, to decide satisfactorily why it should be so."

P. 19.-" I have been often surprised at the fondness for dancing which prevails in hot climates. The inhabitants seem to enjoy this exercise the more the higher the thermometer ranges. I was told that that in Funchal, during the hottest months, balls were carried on with unabated spirit till a late hour in the morning; and that country dances and Scotch reels were executed with a spirit of enterprise and perseverance unknown in our northern latitudes."

P. 23.-"The vineyards (in Madeira) are very pretty. The vines are trained over wooden pillars, supporting a latticework of bamboo. The grapes are dried in the shade, which is said to give them a peculiar richness of flavour. The vine was first introduced into Madeira in the year 1420, and was brought from the island of Crete.... The grapes from which the largest quantity of wine is made are small, and extremely sweet. We have taken a large quantity of them on board, besides bananas and other fruits. The grapes from which the Malmsey wine is made grow upon racks, over which they are ripe. trained: they are not gathered till overVines are found growing at a great height-some say 3,000 feet above the level of the sea; but, though they bear fruit, no wine can be made from it."

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P. 28.-"The sugar-cane grows in great quantities, and it was formerly the staple commodity of the island; but, not proving very productive as an article of commerce, its culture was abandoned for that of the vine. The coffee trees are very large, and grow to a larger size than even in the West Indies or Cuba."

P. 29. Here, for the first time, I tasted that most indispensable article of Negro food-the sweet potato. I cannot say that I approved of it as an adjunct to meat; but, roasted like a chestnut, and eaten hot, it is very tolerable."

P. 43..-"We saw flying-fish in great and were found in the morning on deck, numbers. They flew on board at night, light. I ate them for breakfast, and found and in the chains, being attracted by the them delicious: like a herring in flavour and consistency, but more delicate."

P. 57.-" Barbadoes was one of the first, if not the very first, of the Carrib3 D

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