Jan. 14. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



33 



MARRIAGE CEREMONY IN THE FOURTEENTH 



CENTURY. 



Will some one of your correspondents (learned 

 In such matters) refer me to a work treating of 

 the marriage ceremony as performed in this 

 country during the fourteenth century, in order 

 to the explanation of the following passages, which 

 refer to an event in English history — the mar- 

 riage of Edward I.'s daughter with the Count of 

 Holland ? The king's writ to the Bishop of Lon- 

 don speaks of the marriage as about to be cele- 

 brated on the day after the Epiphany, upon which 

 day (as shown by the Wardrobe Account) the ring 

 was put on; but it was on the next day (the 8th) 

 that the princess " despons fuit," as shown by the 

 6ame account. 



In Rymer's Fcedera, vol. i. p. 850., will be found 

 a writ directed to the Bishop of London (and 

 others) as follows : 



" Quia inter Comitem Holandiae et Elizabetham, 

 filiam nostram carissimam, matrimonium hac proxima 

 die Luna;, in crastino Epiphania:, apud Gyppesivicum 

 solempnizari proponimus, Domino concedente," &c. 



In the Household Book of King Edward I. for 

 the same year (Add. MS. 7965.) will be found 

 the following entries, p. 6. : 



" Oblat p'ticipat. — Terco die Januar in ol>lat pti- 

 cipatis ad Missarn celebratam ad magnu altare ecclia 

 priorat' bi Pet in Gippewico die Nupciar Alienore de 

 Burgo vij. 



"Pro Comitessa Holland. — Eodem die (vij Januar) 

 in denaf tarn positis sup libru. qui jactatis iter homines 

 circumstantes ad hostium in introitu ecclle Magne Pri- 

 eratus predci ubi comes Hollandie sub .... vit Dliam 

 Elizabetham filiam Regis cu anulo auri lx». 



" Fratribus predicatoribus de Gippewico p . . . . sua 

 unius diei vidsltz viij diei Januar quo die Dim Eliza- 

 hethfilia R. despons fuit, p M. de Cauford, xiijs. iiijd." 



B.C. 



MANUSCRIPT CATENA. 



About four years ago I purchased, at the sale 

 of the museum of Mr. George Bell of Whitehaven, 

 a, folio vellum MS. in Latin, written apparently 

 In the fourteenth century : containing a Catena, 

 or a series of notes on the Epistles to the Romans 

 and Corinthians, selected from the Fathers of the 

 Church, viz. Origines, Ambrosius, Gregorius, Je- 

 ronimus, Augustinus, Cassianus, Beda, Lambertus, 

 Lanfrancus, Anselmus, and Ivo Carnotensis. As 

 many of those authors were English, I infer that 

 the volume was compiled in England for some 

 English monastery. 



The beginning of each chapter is noted on the 

 margin, but there is no division into verses. The 

 sentences, or short paragraphs of the text, are 

 written in vermillion, and the comments upon them 



in black : those comments are generally taken from 

 one, but often from two or three authors; the names 

 of each being stated. There are large handsome 

 capitals at the beginning of each book, and the 

 initials to the paragraphs arc distinguished by a 

 spot of red, but there are no illuminations. Two 

 leaves have been cut out at the beginning of the 

 volume; a few at two or three places throughout 

 the volume, and at the end, by some former pos- 

 sessor. As the style of binding is very uncom- 

 mon, I will describe it. It was bound in oak 

 boards of half an inch thick ; the sheets were 

 sewed on thongs of white leather, similar to what 

 cart harness is stitched with. Instead of the 

 thongs being brought over the back edges of the 

 boards (as in modern binding), they are inserted 

 into mortices in the edges of the boards, and then 

 laced through holes, and secured with glue and 

 wedges. The boards were covered first with al- 

 lumed leather, and over that seal-skin with the hair 

 on. The board at the beginning of the book had 

 four feet, placed near the corners, of nearly an 

 inch in height, half an inch in diameter at the 

 base, and about a quarter of an inch at the point. 

 Each was cast in one piece, with a circular base of 

 about an inch and a quarter in diameter, and rising 

 towards the centre ; and they were each fastened 

 on by three pins or nails. The board at the end 

 of the book was ornamented with four circular 

 brass plates about the size of a halfpenny, placed 

 near the corners ; having in the centre of each a 

 stud, the head of which represented a prominent 

 close flower of four petals. And in the centre of 

 the board, there had been a stud or button, on 

 which to fasten the strap from the other board to 

 keep the book shut. Only one stud and one foot 

 remained ; but the places where the others had 

 been were easily seen. I presume that the volume 

 was meant to lie on a lectern or reading-desk, 

 resting on its feet; and when opened out, the 

 other board rested on its studs, as both were worn 

 smooth with use. 



The binding being loose, and the cover torn to 

 shreds (part of which was held on by the stud), 

 I got the book rebound as nearly as possible in 

 the same manner as the first, only substituting 

 Russia leather for the unsightly seal-skin ; and the 

 remaining stud and foot afforded patterns, from 

 which others were cast to supply the places of 

 those deficient. 



Nothing is known of the history of this volume, 

 except that it was purchased by Mr. Bell from 

 Alexander Campbell, a bookseller in Carlisle. I 

 am inclined to think, that it had belonged to some 

 monastery in Cumberland ; and the seal-shin cover 

 would seem to indicate Calder Abbey (which is 

 near the coast, where seals might be caught) as its 

 original owner. 



Can any of your correspondents inform me, from 

 the marks which I have given, whether this is a 



