2"d S. VII. June 18. '59.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



495 



without any exact ground for the assertion — that he was 

 for a little while organist of St. Mary Redcliff. This is 

 not at all probable ; for Handel's celebrity was too great at 

 any time during his residence in this kingdom to allow 

 him to accept the post of organist in a parish church. 

 We suspect he visited Bristol on his way to Ireland, or 

 perhaps returning from it, as we know he first produced 

 the Messiah in Dublin, having determined to give the 

 Irish metropolis the benefit of that genius, which was not 

 at first so promptly recognised in the English capital. 

 The importance of our city, and the society at the Hot- 

 wells may have tempted him to prolong his stay for a 

 few months — during which time it was only natural he 

 might have tried most of the organs here, as in that day 

 there were some very fine instruments in the Bristol 

 churches. But, however this may'be, Bristol can claim 

 the honour of at least having had him as a visitor ; and 

 this fact on Wednesday last furnished grounds quite suf- 

 ficient for at once paying a tribute to his genius, and 

 making the occasion subservient to a good and appro- 

 priate purpose, viz providing funds for restoring a 



portion of that glorious old parish church, St. Mary Red- 

 clifl', which presents so rich and varied and harmonious a 

 whole. Indeed, the idea of turning the Handel centenary 

 to so interesting an account, entitles those who originated 

 it to much credit, and merited a more successful pecu- 

 niary result than from the state of the concert-room in 

 the morning we can venture to hope for. The evening 

 oratorio, however, was well attended, a large and fashion- 

 able audience having nearly filled the saloon of the Vic- 

 toria Rooms." 



J. M. G. 



^Mtviti, 



CROMWELL S HEAD. 



The following story is extracted from the Paris 

 correspondence of the New York Express: — 



" Before leaving England I had an opportunity of see- 

 ing a great curiosity, a relic of antiquity, which few Eng- 

 lishmen have seen.' You will be surprised, and perhaps 

 incredulous, when 1 say 1 have seen the head of Oliver 

 Cromwell — not the mere skull, but the head entire, and 

 in a remarkable state of preservation. Its historj' is au- 

 thentic, and there is verbal and historical evidence to 

 place the thing beyond cavil. Cromwell died at Hamp- 

 ton Court in 1658, giving the strongest evidence of his 

 earnest religious convictions, and of his sincerity as a 

 Christian. After an imposing funeral pageant, the body 

 having been embalmed, he was buried in Westminster 

 Abbey. On the restoration of the Stuarts, he was taken 

 up and hung in Tyburn. Afterward his head was cut off", 

 a pike driven up through the neck and skull and exposed 

 on Westminster Hall. It remained there a long while, 

 until, by some violence, the pike was broken and the head 

 thrown down. It was picked up by a soldier and con- 

 cealed, and afterward conveyed to some friend, who kept 

 it carefully for years. Through a succession of families, 

 which can easily be traced, it has come into the posses- 

 sion of the daughter of Hon. Mr. Wilkinson, ex-member 

 of Parliament from Buckingham and Bromley. It was at 

 the residence of this gentleman that I saw the head, and 

 his daughter, a lady of fine manners and great culture, 

 exhibited it to Rev" Mr. Verrill, the Pastor of the Brom- 

 ley Dissenting Chapel, and myself. 



'" This head of Cromwell is almost entire. The flesh is 

 black and sunken, but the features are nearly perfect, the 

 hair still remaining, and even the large wart over one of 

 the eyes — such beii>g a distinctive mark on his face — 



is yet perfectly visible. The pike which was thrust 

 through the neck still remains, the upper part of iron, 

 nearly rusted off, and the lower wooden portion in splin- 

 ters, showing that it was broken by some act of violence. 

 It is known historically that Cromwell was embalmed, 

 and no person thus cared for was ever publicly gibbeted, 

 except this illustrious man. In addition to the most au- 

 thentic records concerning the head possessed by the family, 

 and which I have found sustained by historical works 

 and even an old manuscript in the British Museum, Mr. 

 Flaxman, the distinguished sculptor, once gave it as his 

 opinion that this was none other than the head of Oliver 

 Cromwell. Yet its existence seems almost unknown in' 

 England, and only a few years ago a discussion in some 

 of the puhlic journals, which I have seen, alternately 

 denied and advocated it. Such a rumour was in circula- 

 tion, and as no one had then seen the head, it having been 

 kept concealed, none could speak by authority. Re- 

 cently the motive for concealment has passed awa}', and 

 permission to see it was carefully granted. It is a curious 

 keepsake for a lady, but it is carefully preserved under 

 lock and key in a box of great antiquity, wrapped in a 

 number of costly envelopes ; and when it is raised from 

 its hiding-place, and held in one's hand, what a world of 

 thought is suggested I " 



I would like to know whether there is any 

 foundation for the story.* Mbtacom. 



Koxbury. U. S. 



Patrick Sannay. — I shall be glad of any in- 

 formation respecting the life and writings of Pa- 

 trick Hannay, M.A., author of A Happy Husband, 

 whose Poems, with a curious portrait, were pub- 

 lished in 1622, and are now rare and costly. Of 

 course, I am familiar with what is said of him or 

 his connexions, iri Chalmers's Caledonia (vol. iii. 

 389.) ; Nisbet's Heraldry ; Murray's Literary His- 

 tory of Galloway ; The Statistical Account of Scot- 

 land, art. WiGTOWNSHiBK ; Sir Bernard Burke's 

 Gentry and Seats ; Ellis's Specimens ; Beloe's 

 Anecdotes of Literature; and Lowndes. I have 

 also seen a copy of his Poems (which are not to be 

 found in the British Museum) in the possession of 

 Major Rainsford Hannay, of Kirkdale, in Kirk- 

 cudbrightshire, jST. B. James Hannat. 



Canonbury, London. 



Alan, Son of Henry, Count of Brittany , — I wish 

 to find out who Alan, son of Henry above named, 

 was ? He was the founder, in 1202, of the alien 

 priory of Praemonstratensian Canons at West 

 Ravendale. P. R. 



Murks on Pewter. — Will some one oblige me 

 by explaining the marks on pewter ? Nearly all 

 the old vessels of that material, that I have seen, 



[* This article appears to be founded in a great mea- 

 sure on what has been written upon the subject in " N. 

 & Q.," 1»' S. V. xi. and xii. Can any of our readers refer 

 us to the curious history of the skull said to be Crom- 

 well's, which appeared in The Athenceum a few years 

 since? —Ed, "N. &Q."] 



