270 



bell in the turret of the chapel, another elevates a processional cross, a third 

 bearing a tharifer, and a fourth asperges the church with holy water. Thus 

 the first Christian building among the Malvern hiUs was reared under heavenly 

 direction. 



But this was not enough. The Catholic Church had always tried to 

 obtain the aid of the secular arm, and fortify itself with regal sanction. So in 

 the third compartment a small figure is seen kneeling before a tall regally 

 vested personage, above whose crowned head, encircled with a corona, is 

 inscribed " S. Edwardus rex;" thus intimating Edward the Confessor, who 

 holds a charter in his right hand with a seal bearing the sign of the cross. 

 The hermit, it would seem, desired the sanction of the crown for his proceed- 

 ings, and so employed a friend at Court to obtain a charter and grant of land 

 from King Edward ; and though the monks were known to be fond of " pious 

 frauds," and could occasionally forge charters, it does appear that the Priory 

 of Malvern held certain lands which were said to have been originally bestowed 

 by Edward— giiam Edwardus rex dedit. The supplicant for the charter is 

 represented of much smiUer proportion than the sovereign, in accordance 

 with a conventional principle of design in old times, by which persons of 

 inferior station were often represented of diminutive size in comparison with 

 their more powerful neighbours. This usage has passed into a proverb, and persons 

 are said to "sing small " when their assertions are shown to be not sustainable. 

 Edward the Confessor reigned from 1042 to 104(5, but probably "Werstan's 

 sanctity had obtained some note before his efforts were rewarded by the regal 

 grant and sanction. 



The last subject of the series in this remarkable window as to St. 

 "Werstan, appears to represent his martyrdom, and in the very oratory he had 

 built. Behind in the pictured glass are shown the steep sides of the Malvern 

 Hills, while at one of the windows of the oratory the saint puts forth his head 

 bleeding and bruised, whilst on either side stands a cruel murderer, prepared 

 with sword upraised to strike the unoffending recluse. These miscreants are 

 clad in gowns which are girt round their waists, and reach somewhat below 

 their knees ; the scabbards of their swords aie appended to their girdles, and 

 on their heads are close fitting leather coifs or caps. 



Supposing the alleged martyrdom of St. Werstan to be an actual fact, 

 a question arises as to who were the miscreants who killed the pious missionary 

 hermit. Mr. "Way suggested, generally, the wild heathen population around 

 as not pleased with St. Werstan's ministrations ; but Mr. Munn has thrown 

 a stigma upon Herefordshire, by declaring it probable that " these miscreants 

 came from the other side of the hills (Herefordshire), and that it was likely they 

 resented the intrusion of the hermit into these solitudes, thinking that he 

 might be the precursor of a more numerous following, and that this would 

 interfere with their right, or rather with their practice oi free warren." 

 Now, such a reflection is uncalled for and without the least foundation, 

 Herefordshire, in the days of Edward the Confessor, could scarcely be more 



