Mar. 18. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



257 



this, I think, is a mistake, for the Mount is men- 

 tioned in a printed broadside which, if I remember 

 rightly, bears an earlier date. I cannot furnish 

 its title, but it will be found in the British Mu- 

 seum, with the press-mark 669. f. ^. A plan of 

 the city and suburbs, as fortified by order of the 

 parliament in 1642 and 1643, was engraved by 

 George Vertue, 1738 ; and a small plan of the 

 same works appeared in the Gentleman's Maga- 

 zine a few years afterwards (1749 ?). 



W. P. Stoker. 

 Olney, Bucks. 



Standing while the Lord's Prayer is read (Vol. ix., 

 p. 127.). — A custom noted to prevail at Bristol: 

 in connexion with it, it would be interesting to 

 ascertain in what churches there still remain any 

 usages of by-gone days, but which have generally 

 got into desuetude. It is probable that in some 

 one or other church there may still exist a usage 

 handed down by tradition, which is not generally 

 recognised nor authorised in the present day. 

 Perhaps by means of our widely spread "N. & Q.," 

 and the notes of its able contributors, this may be 

 ascertained. By way of example, and as a be- 

 ginning, I would mention the following : — 



At St. Sampson's, Cricklade (it was so before 

 1820), the people say, "Thanks be to Thee, O 

 God ! " after the reading of the Gospel ; a usage 

 said to be as old as St. Chrysostom. 



At Talaton, Devon, where the congregation 

 turn towards the singing gallery at the west end, 

 during the singing of the " Magnificat" and other 

 psalms, at the "Gloria" they all turn round to 

 the east. 



At Bitton, Gloucestershire, two parishioners, 

 natives of Lincolnshire, always gave me notice be- 

 fore they came to Holy Communion, as it was their 

 custom always to do. 



When a boy, I remember an old gentleman, 

 who came from one of the Midland Counties, al- 

 ways stood up at the " Glory" in the Litany. In 

 many country churches, the old women make a 

 courtesy. 



In many country churches, the old men bow 

 and smooth down their hair when they enter the 

 church ; and women make a courtesy. 



H. T. Ellacombe. 



Rectory, Clyst St. George. 



In a late Number of your miscellany, you 

 say it is a general practice for congregations in 

 churches to stand during the reading of the Lord's 

 Prayer, when it occurs in the order of Morning 

 Lessons. In my experience, I do not remember 

 any such custom prevalent in this part of the 

 country ; but may mention, as a curious and (as 

 far as I know, or ever heard of) singular ex- 

 ample of kneeling at the reading of St. Matt. vi. 

 and St. Luke xi., that at Forniby, a retired vil- 



lage on the Lancashire coast, my first cure, the 

 people observed this usage. The children in the 

 schools were instructed to kneel whenever they 

 read the section of these chapters which contains 

 the Lord's Prayer. And at the "Burial of the 

 Dead," as soon as the minister came to that por- 

 tion of the ceremony where the use of the Lord's 

 Prayer is enjoined, all the assembled mourners 

 (old and young, and however cold or damp the 

 day) would devoutly kneel down in the chapel 

 yard, and remain in this posture of reverence until 

 the conclusion of the service. I observed that 

 their Roman Catholic neighbours, who often at- 

 tended at funerals, when they happened to be 

 present, did the same. So that it seemed to be 

 " a tradition derived from their fathers," and 

 handed down " from one generation to another." 



K. L. 

 Great Lever, Bolton. 



This custom is observed in the Cathedral at 

 Norwich, but not (I believe) in the other churches 

 in that city. I remember seeing it noticed in a 

 very old number of the Gentleman's Magazine, 

 and should be glad if any of your correspondents 

 could tell me which number it is. I have looked 

 through the Index in vain. The writer denounced 

 it as a Popish custom ! W. 



A dead Sultan, with his Shirt for an Ensign 

 (Vol. ix., p. 76.). — Mr. Warden will find a long 

 and interesting description of Saladin in Knolles' 

 Turkish History, pp. 33. 57., published in London 

 by Adam Islip in 1603. I take from this learned 

 work the following curious anecdote : 



" About this time (but the exact period is not stated) 

 died the great Sultan Saladin, the greatest terrour of 

 the Christians ; who, mindfull of man's fragilitie, and 

 the vanitie of worldly honours, commanded at the time 

 of his death no solemnitie to be vsed at his buriall, but 

 only his shirt in manner of an ensigne, made fast vnto 

 the point of a lance, to be carried before his dead bodie 

 as an ensigne. A plaine priest going before and cry- 

 ing aloud vnto the people in this sort : ' Saladin Con- 

 querour of the East, of all the greatnesse and riches hee 

 had in this life, carrieth not with him after his death any- 

 thing more than his shirt.'" — " A sight (says Knolles) 

 woorthie so great a king, as wanted nothing to his 

 eternall commendation, more than the true knowledge 

 of his salvation in Christ Jesu." 



w. w. 



Malta. 



" Hovd maet of laet" (Vol. ix., p. 148.). — One 

 of your correspondents desires an explanation of 

 this phrase, which he found in the corner of an 

 old Dutch picture. It is a Flemish proverb; I 

 translate it thus : 



" Keep within bounds, though 'tis late." 



It may either be the motto which the artist 

 adopted to identify his work while he concealed 



