204 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. VIII. Sept. 10. '59, 



and requires the use of a horse. He reminds 

 Ogilvie of the pleasure he sometimes had derived 

 from Erasmus ; and he makes many inquiries 

 about their mutual acquaintances, and in parti- 

 cular sends his love to Master Hector Boece. To 

 those interested in the worthies of Aberdeenshire, 

 from the cast of names, the letter must be singu- 

 larly interesting. J. M. 



Minav fiattS. 



History of Pews. — A very curious addition to 

 this interesting subject is in Hasted's Kent, vol. 

 viii. p. 43. : — 



" William Philpot of Godmersham by will, anno 1475, 

 ordered that the making of the new seats called lepewis 

 in this church [St. James Stowting] should be done at 

 his expense, from the place where St. Christopher was 

 painted to the corner of the stone wall on the north side 

 of the church." 



We gather from this extract that pews were 

 then (temp. Edward IV. and seventy years before 

 the Council of Trent) a novelty ; but there is 

 something more curious, — they are called le pewis, 

 as if of French origin. The general notion has 

 been that pews are a post-reformation invention ; 

 and Richardson derives the word from the Dutch 

 puyde. The former idea is clearly wrong ; in 

 fact, they are mentioned in Piers Ploughman, and 

 the latter is based only on conjecture. If the 

 word be of French derivation, is it possible that 

 pewis is a corruption of pervis — the parvise or 

 enclosure of our old writers? See "N. & Q." P' 

 S. i. 215., &c. 



Bale (Image of both Churches, b, b. viii. note) 

 mentions " all shrynes, images, churchstoles, and 

 pewes that are well payed for." This is very cu- 

 rious, as paying for pews is generally thought to 

 be quite a modern innovation. A. A. 



Poets' Corner. 



Fate of three men of letters. — To the self-named 

 reformers of the Royal literary fund, and to the 

 real friends of the institution, the subjoined ex- 

 tract affords matter for serious reflection : — 



" Neceologie. Trois hommes de lettres a I'hopital. 



" La quinzaine qui vient de s'&ouler a ete fatale k la 

 litterature. La mort.qui ne s'arrete jamais dans son 

 ceuvre de destruction a frapp^ successivement, et a quel- 

 ques jours d'intervalle : 



" M. Alexandre Privat d'Anglemont, le spirituel au- 

 teur des Industries inconnues — La Childebert — Les oiseaux 

 de nuit — La villa des chiffonniers. M. Privat avait et^ 

 longtemps I'un des r(^dacteurs du journal Le siecle ; 



" M. Gustave d'Avaigny, auteur dramatique et ancien 

 feuilletoniste du journal L'assemhlee nationale; 



" M. J. Bordas-Demoulin, I'auteur du Cartesianisme, 

 ouvrage couronnepar I'lnstitut, des Lettres sur Veclectisme 

 et le doetrinarisme. M. Bordas-Demoulin avait aussi ^crit 

 la notice sur Bl. Pascal, inseree en tete de I'edition in-I2 

 des Provinciales, publiee par MM. Firmin Didot frferes. 



" Plus heureux que Gerard de Nerval, son compagnon et 

 son ami, M. Privat d'Anglemont est mort h la Maison 



municipale de sante du faubourg Saint-Denis. MM. 

 d'Avrigny et Bordas-Demoulin sont morts h. I'hopital de 

 la Riboisifere." 



The above is from the Bulletin du bouquiniste, 

 No. 64., 15 August, '59. Bolton Corney. 



Fontainebleau. 



The last of the '' Shannon:' —In The Times of 

 Friday the 2nd inst. I read that as* soon as the 

 breaking-up of the " Tartar " frigate is completed 

 in Chatham dockyard, the " St. Lawrence," one 

 of the old 46-gun frigates, " will be taken into the 

 same dock and broken up." This "St. Lawrence" 

 is, I believe, no other than that famous old "Shan- 

 non " which fought and captured the " Chesa- 

 peake" in the American war. Her name, having 

 taken an imperishable place in history, was trans-* 

 ferred some few years since to the large screw 

 frigate which now bears it (and which has herself 

 been made memorable by the late gallant Sir 

 William Peel). The renowned old hull has since 

 been lost sight of under the name of the " St. 

 Lawrence." If I am not mistaken respecting 

 these facts — and I can hardly be — many will 

 doubtless be glad to learn that a last look may 

 yet be taken of this famous old vessel. R. 



A modern Giant. — 



"Last week, near the new church at Rotherliithe, a 

 Stone Coffin of a prodigious Size was taken out of the 

 Ground, and in it the Skeleton of a man ten Foot long." 

 —The Weekly Packet, Dec. 21-28, 1717. 



W. P. 



Somersetshire Poets. — I think I am not wrong 

 in stating as a curious fact that Somersetshire has 

 produced no poet of eminence. Fuller, indeed, 

 places Daniel in his list of the worthies of the 

 county ; but if the poet's own epitaph is to be 

 trusted, "he was borne at Wilmington in Wilt- 

 shire, nere y^ plaine of Salisbury," and Somer- 

 setshire can only claim the honour of being his 

 burial-place. C. J. Robinson. 



^xxtxiti. 



SUFER-ALTABS IN CATHEDRALS. 



What is the origin, use, or symbolism of the 

 raised ledge or step in the altar, known to ritual- 

 ists as the super-altar, and which appears to be 

 peculiar to cathedral churches ? 



A reference to the elaborate article on the 

 Communion Table in Dr. Pinnock's Laws and 

 Usages of the Church, volume C, and the autho- 

 rities there quoted, as well as to other works on 

 the Anglican ritual, has failed to supply the de- 

 sired information. 



I have recently had an opportunity of visiting 

 very many of the English cathedrals, and in two 

 only did I notice the absence of the super- altar, 

 namely, at Bristol and Ripon. 



