486 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[Dec. 22. 1855. 



Ffor the Tirtder-box Man. 

 For 3 tinder-boxes w*'' steelea to them 

 A leather girdle - . . 



Ffor the Cloche Keeper. 

 A bunch of keej'es - - . 



A bell .... 



A sunne diall .... 

 A girdle .... 



Ffor the Scribe.* 

 A penne and inkehorne 

 A paire of spectacles - 

 A paper booke 

 A girdle . - - 



A paire of sheeres 

 A taylor's yard 



Ffor the Prophett. 



To two porters fbr ^goeinga of busines between 

 Westm' and Bl' ffriers 



Somma - - - - 



Paid to Taylor. 

 For a curld white haire and a longe beard 

 For lynuige to the hose 

 For makeinge the cop 

 For silke, rybbon, and makeinge y" hose 

 For makeinge the scarfes 



NOBrOLK LEGEND IN STONE. 



In the chancel of Wickharapton Church, Nor- 

 folk, are the canopied tombs of Sir W. Gerbrygge, 

 or Gerbridge, and his wife. The inscription now 



No. 321.] 



" Prophett " was first written. 



is gone, and though still beautiful, the tombs are 

 sadly mutilated ; some of the stones, it is said, 

 have been taken to decorate a neighbouring 

 church ! The recumbent effigies of the knight 

 and his lady have the hands placed in the attitude 

 of prayer ; and in them, till very recently, were 

 small heart-shaped, or, if I recollect aright, oral 

 pieces of stone. When a child, having had an in- 

 fantine quarrel with my brother, we were taken 

 by our nurse to see these figures ; and were in- 

 formed that they were two brothers named Hamp- 

 ton, who had quarrelled, and fought, and toi-n 

 each other's hearts out. After this Kilkenny-cat 

 proceeding. Divine vengeance turned their bodies 

 to stone ; and, with the hearts in their hands, they 

 were placed in the church as a monument of their 

 wickedness. The parish too, which had been the 

 scene of the unnatural conflict, had its name 

 changed ; and, from that time, bore the name of 

 Wicked- Hampton, since contracted into Wick- 

 harapton. The shields of arms over the tombs 

 were those with which the brothers fought ; and 

 the actual locality of the combat is marked by a 

 piece of flint masonry, let into the side of a ditch. 

 This, I have since ascertained, is the boundary of 

 Halvergate and Wickhampton. I need hardly 

 say, that the legend, combined with the due re- 

 cital of — 



" Let dogs delight 

 To bark and bite," &c., 



produced a very salutary effect upon us, and fully 

 convinced us that — 



" Our little hands were never made 

 To tear each other's eyes," 



or hearts out. But I always gave the nurse the 

 credit of having invented the story, until, a few 

 years ago, I happened to be in the church, in- 

 specting it, when a nurse-maid took the oppor- 

 tunity of the doors being open to enter with her 

 charge, and recounted the tale, to the no small 

 horror of a little girl and boy who accompanied 

 her, and, by the evidence of their countenances, 

 gave implicit credence to it. Upon inquiry, I 

 found that all the elderly people of the parish 

 were acquainted with the legend, and added, that 

 the subject of dispute was the boundary of the 

 parishes, which respectively belonged to the 

 brothers. And as the one was punished for not 

 interfering, by having the name of Wicked- 

 Hampton given it, so the other, which had been 

 by far the worst in the dispute, had the name of 

 Hell-fire-gate, since corrupted (shall I say ?), 

 or changed, into Halvergate, attached to it. The 

 inhabitants of the former parish, naturally wish- 

 ing to get rid, as far as possible, of their disgrace- 

 ful name, call it Wickenton or Wickington. 



To any ecclesiologist visiting Lowestoft or 

 Yarmouth, I would recommend a visit to this 

 church, which is barely two miles from the Reed- 



