and S. NO 115., Mak. 13. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



201 



LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 13. 1858. 



PRESERVATION OP MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS. — 

 A HINT TO COUNTY ARCH^OLOGISTS. 



[We have, in the earlier volumes of " N. & Q.," called 

 the attention of our readers to the importance of pre- 

 serving authentic copies of all monumental inscriptions, 

 and thrown out various suggestions as to the mode in 

 ■which this might best be accomplished. We wish the 

 writer of the following article had subscribed his name to 

 it: for there is certainly no one in this country better 

 entitled to be heard upon the subject, whether we look at 

 his intimate acquaintance with it in all its bearings, or 

 the important position which he occupies. 



We may take this opportunity of congratulating those 

 who have shared our anxiety with respect to the shame- 

 ful condition of too many of our Parochial, Registers, on 

 the fact that the subject is under the consideration of the 

 Government, and that a Bill for their more effectual pre- 

 servation may probably be submitted to Parliament dur- 

 ing the present Session.] 



Through the pages of "IST. & Q." the public 

 attention has been called to the state of parish 

 registers in England, in reference to the frequent 

 instances of neglect and carelessness in regard to 

 their preservation : of their high importance and 

 value in point of evidence of descent, both as 

 respects the inheritance of lands and dignities, no 

 question arises. There is another species of evi- 

 dence of great importance to the true descent of 

 lands and dignities, to which I would invite public 

 attention through the same channel, and offer a 

 suggestion to the consideration of the numerous 

 Archaeological Societies occupying very promi- 

 nent ground in various counties. I mean the evi- 

 dence supplied by monumental inscriptions to the 

 memory of the dead of all grades in the different 

 churches and churchyards throughout the various 

 counties of England and Wales. The genealogical 

 materials supplied by these inscriptions afford ge- 

 nerally more information than the mere entries of 

 baptisms and burials. In visiting of late various 

 country churches, I have been struck with the 

 number of tablets and gravestones, both within the 

 churches and churchyards, where the Inscriptions 

 are in very many cases scarcely legible, especially 

 on those stones which form the pavement of the 

 aisles and naves. In the churchyard the constant 

 exposure to the weather and damp atmosphere 

 renders the decay of the inscriptions inevitable, 

 particularly when the stone itself is of a very 

 fragile nature. 



The genealogist, the biographer, and the topo- 

 graphical historian are all so sensible of the value 

 of the evidence afforded by these memorials of the 

 dead, and their use In historical Illustrations, that 

 they will, I am sure, unite In urging the preser- 

 vation of the inscriptions In all histories of coun- 

 ties or parishes when In the course of publication ; 

 but, as many counties and parishes are without 

 any chronicles of their annals or the broad acres 



of their respective squires and the owners of 

 land, it would be very desirable to form a mass 

 of materials of this class to which gentlemen who 

 undertake county histories might have access ; for 

 it is not to be expected that they can visit every 

 church and churchyard for the purpose of tran- 

 scribing such inscriptions, a work in itself of 

 great labour and extent in many large and distant 

 parishes. Those persons who have had occasion 

 to Investigate the descent of Gloucestershire fami- 

 lies must be well aware of the value of Bigland's 

 collection of inscriptions from the churches and 

 churchyards throughout the county, and fevr but 

 must have regretted the non-completion of that 

 work. It strikes me that the secretaries of the 

 Archosological Societies would be rendering essen- 

 tial service by devoting a few pages in their quar- 

 terly or annual publications to the preservation 

 of .such monumental memorials as are in a state of 

 decay, and perishing in the churches and church- 

 yards of their respective counties. 



The Sussex Society would find ample materials 

 in that county ; and there are amongst that body 

 many members capable of appreciating the value 

 of such a collection. F. S. A. 



SHAKSPEABIANA. 



Oh a Passage in " Troilus and Cressida^ — 

 Having been sometimes fortunate in unravel- 

 ling the perplexities of some of the more glaring 

 misprints in the text of Shakspeare, I have re- 

 ceived from time to time various Queries from 

 correspondents, of which the following is a recent 

 specimen : — 



"I stumble at the speech of Ulysses in Troilris 

 and Cressida, Act III. Sc. 3. It stands thus in 

 the folio : — 



" ' Time hath (my Lord) a wallet at his backe, 

 Wherein he puts almes for obliuion : 

 A great siz'd monster of ingratitudes : 

 Those scraps are good deedes past, 

 Which are deuour'd as fast as they are made, 

 Forgot as soon as done.' &c. 



" ' T^e great sizd monster'' is pleonastic; and 

 when we have got him, what are we to do with 

 him ? The monster should be the alms, yet the 

 next line calls these scraps, and keeps to the 

 plural number. Therefore, I want some other 

 word of the nature of ' great siz'd ' accumulation 

 — or bundle of ingratitude. 



" Or, perhaps, sized as well as monster is corrupt ? 

 And then we have to supply — 



" ' A great of ingratitudes,' 



with some equivalent of wallet or alms : — 



" • A great portmanteau of ingratitudes ' ( ?) 

 But I am all In the dark, and shall be most thank- 

 ful if you will turn on the light. 



" P.S. — ' A monster of ingratitudes ' is a usual 



