178 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nds. N0 61., Feb. 28.'57. 



Pauyer Alley before that of the carved comme- 

 morative tablet, which bears the date, I think, 

 Aug. 27, 1688. IIbnrv W. S. Taylob. 



Southampton. 



Dedications of the Isle of Wight Churches (2"'^ S. 

 iii. 123.) — I find the following dedications in 

 Worsley's History of the Isle of Wight : they fill 

 up all the gaps in R. J. Jones's list of the ancient 

 churches of the island, except those of Kingston, 

 Shalfleet, Whippingham, and Yaverland : 



Arreton. St. George. 

 Brixton. St. Marj'. 

 Calborn. All Saints. 

 Gatcombe. St. Olave, 

 Godshill. All Saints. 

 Mottiston. St. Peter and St. Paul. 

 Newchurch. All Sa'nts. 

 Newport. St. Thomas Becket. 

 Northwood. St. John Baptist. 

 - Shorwell. St. Peter, not St. Paul. 

 St. Helens. St. Helena. 

 'I'liorley. St. Swithin. 

 Wootton. St. Edmund. 

 Yarmouth. St. James. 



"Worsley's History was published in 1781. 



W. T. 



" 2'Ae Vicar and Moses'' (2°'^ S. iii. 112.) — 

 Where the old and probably original impression 

 of this remarkable song is to be found for sale I 

 cannot tell ; but I possess a copy. Your corre- 

 spondent's memory has a little failed him, as will 

 appear by the following account of the copy now 

 lying before me. It is on a folio leaf, and en- 

 graved throughout. At the top is a large circular 

 plate, representing the Vicar and Moses, not per- 

 forming a funeral, but on their way to the church 

 from the public-house, the sign of the Horse, 

 ■whence the clerk has been to fetch his master. The 

 inn is seen behind on the left hand, and the church 

 appears on the right, at a formidable distance. 

 The vicar looks very jolly, is dressed in his canoni- 

 cals, and still holds his pipe in his left hand. Mo- 

 ses is a lank figure, wearing a cocked hat and a 

 clerical band, and carries a lantern, with a bit of 

 candle ready to fall out of the socket. Below is 

 the song, the first verse of which is set to musical 

 notes, but the tune is not exactly the usual one 

 sung. The song begins as described in " N. & Q." : 



" At the sign of the horse," &c. — 

 and contains sixteen verses. 



I also possess a copy, but not printed, of the 

 second form of the song, but mine has only thir- 

 teen verses. It is generally superior to the former, 

 and has some very clever and witty verses. Hav- 

 ing been called upon for some years to sing this 

 song in a company of friends, and wanting a 

 variety, I composed an entirely new song on the 

 same subject, but with more circumstance and 

 adventure, and ray composition contains twenty- 

 two verses. F. C. H. 



Queries on Church Matters : Separation of 

 Sexes (2°'^ S. iii. 108.)— It was the custom of 

 the Primitive Church for the men and women to 

 be separately seated in the church. This appears 

 from the direction in the Apostolical Constitutions, 

 B. ii. ch. 57. : " Janitores stent ad introitus viro- 

 rum, diaconissffi vero ad mulierum, custodiendi 

 causa." St. John Chrysostom also, Hom. Ixxiv., 

 refers to the wooden partitions between the men 

 and women in the church. This is still observed 

 in many Catholic churches and chapels. F. C. H. 



Pews (2°'' S. iii. 108.) — The letting of pews 

 formed a regular entry in the churchwardens' 

 accounts of St. Margaret's previous to the Re- 

 formation and the date of Bishop Bale's work. I 

 quote one, a.d. 1497 : 



« Rec' of Wynkyns wife for her part of a pew - 8d." 



Pews were then no more than benches, seats on 

 which were allotted to various worshippers. Be- 

 tween 1649 and 1660 was the period of the erec- 

 tion of the hideous pens that deform our City 

 churches. Sir Christopher "Wren strongly opposed 

 their introduction. Pepys calls Lady Fox's box 

 at the theatre my lady's pew. To call one a 

 " pewfellow " was tantamount to dubbing a man 

 a boon companion. See Andre wes' Serm., ii. 91., 

 V. 33. Fulke and Jewel and other writers use 

 the expression for a companion, &c. 



The word appears in the rubric of the Commi- 

 nation Service for the first time as the " Reading- 

 pue." 



2. The probable reason of the Reformers re- 

 quiring the altar to be moveable was, to assimilate 

 it the more to its name of the " Lord's table ;" as 

 the word "altar" was omitted and "table" sub- 

 stituted. 



3. " The north side " was the change adopted 

 by the compilers of the 2nd Book of Edward VI., 

 for " afore the altar." Bishop Beveridge has shown 

 the expressions are identical, SwoStKof, ii. 76. 

 § 15. Mackenzie "Walcott, M.A. 



A correspondent asks if an earlier allusion lo 

 pews can be pointed out than that contained in 

 Bale's Image of Both Churches. Is he sure that the 

 "pewes" there spoken of were anything more than 

 benches ? The original meaning of the word seems 

 to have been a fixed seat or bench in a church, 

 with or without doors, set aside for some parti- 

 cular person or family. I do not think the mean- 

 ing became restricted to its present use until the 

 period of the great civil war. The author of the 

 Glossai'y of Architecture quotes three instances of 

 the word " pewe," all earlier than the publication 

 of Bale's Image, Sfc, The earliest quotation is 

 from an extract in Gough's Sepulchral Monuments, 

 vol. ii. p. 171., which, as it shows that in this case 

 the pew was but a seat, is worth transcribing : 



" 1453. W. Wintringham wills his body to be buried 



