Richard Poore, 1217—1229. 253 



Matthew Paris, who was his cotemporary, speaks of him as a 

 man of " eminent sanctity, and profound knowledge/^ ' It is for the 

 former that we chiefly cherish his memory ; well worthy is he to be 

 enrolled among the saintly Bishops of the Church, with not a few 

 of whom we have been blessed in this our favoured diocese of Sarum. 



Leland, when he visited our cathedral in the year 1540, saw 

 a tablet in the Lady Chapel with the following inscription : — ^ 



"Ex Tabella in Sacello S. Maei^. 



" Orate pro anima RICARDI POURE quondam Sarum 

 Episcopi qui Ecclesiam hanc inchoari fecit in quodam fundo 

 ubi nunc fundata est ex antiquo nomine miryfelde in 

 honorem B. Virg. Mari^ 3 cal Maii^ in festo S. Vitalis 

 Martyris An" D. 1219 regnante tunc Rege Ricardo post 

 conquestum primo. Fuitque Ecclesia h^c in ^dificando per 

 spatium xl. annorum temporibus trium regum, videlicet anti- 



DICTI RiCARDI, JOANNIS, ET HenRICI 3. ET CONSUMMATA 



8 Cal. April. An" Dni 1260. Iste Ricardus Episcopus 



FUNDAVIT MISSAM BeaT^ MaRI^ ViRGINIS SOLEMNITER IN HAG 

 CAPELLA QUOTIDIE CELEBRANDAM, ET APPROPEIAVIT RECT0RIA5I DE 

 LaVERSTOKE ad SUSTENTATIONEM EJUSDEM MISS^. Qui QUIDEM 



Ricardus Episcopus postea translatus fuit ad episcopatum 



DUNELMENSEM ; FUNDAVITQUE MONASTERIUM APUD TeRRAUNT IN 



Comit: Dorset: ubi natus, nomine Ricardus Poure; ibique cor 



EJUS, corpus VERO APUD DuREHAM, HUMATUM EST. Et OBIIT 15 



DIE April : — An° Dni. mccxxxvii. xxi H 3." 



It will be observed that the statement on the tablet is very explicit 

 as to Bishop Richard Poore's body having been interred at Durham, 

 whilst his heart was buried at Tarrant. It is natural enough for us 

 at Sarum to wish that we also had a memorial of the good Bishop, 

 and so, despite of evidence to the contrary, to bring ourselves into 



* " Vir eximiae sanctitatis et profundse scientise." Chronica Majora, iii., 391. 

 " Leland, Itinerary, iii., p. 92. 

 VOL. XVIII. — NO. LIU. T 



