326 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 61. 



Cuthbert, in the reign of Henry VIII. The body 

 was found " lying whole, uncorrupl, with his face 

 bare, and his beard as of a fortnight's growth, with 

 all the vestments about him as he accustomed to 

 say mass withal." The vestments are described 

 as being " fresh, safe, and not consumed." The 

 visitors " commanded him to be carried into the 

 Revestry, till the king's pleasure concerning him 

 was further known ; and upon the receipt thereof 

 the prior and monks buried him in the ground 

 under the place where his shrine was e.xalted." 

 Now, there is a tradition of the Benedictines (of 

 whose monastery the cathedral was part) that on 

 the accession of Elizabeth the monks, who were 

 apprehensive of farther violence, removed the 

 body in the night-time from the place where it 

 had been buried to some other part of the build- 

 ing. This spot is known only to three persons, 

 brothers of the order ; and it is said that there are 

 three persons who have this knowledge now, as 

 communicated from previous generations. 



But a discovery was made in 1827 of the remains 

 of a body in the centre of the spot where the shrine 

 etood, with various relics of a very early period, 

 and it was asserted to be the body of St. Cuthbert. 

 This, however, has not been universally assented 

 to, and Mr. Akerman, in his Archceological Index, 

 has — 



" The object commonly called St. Cuthbert's Cross" 

 (though the designation has heen questioned), "found 

 with human remains and other relics of the Anglo- 

 Saxon period, in the Cathedral of Durham in 1827." — 

 p. 144. 



There does seem considerable discrepancy in the 

 statements of the remains found in 1827 and the 

 body deposited 1541. 



I will conclude with asking. Is there any evi- 

 dence to confii-m the tradition of the Benedictines? 



J. R. N. 



Yavasmir of Haslewood. — Bells in Churches. — 

 It is currently reported in Yorkshire that three 

 curious privileges belong to the chief of the 

 ancient lloman Catholic family of Vavasour of 

 Haslewood : 



1 . That he may ride on horseback into York 

 Minster. 



2. That he may specially call his house a 

 castle. 



3. That he may toll a bell in his chapel, not- 

 withstanding any law prohibiting the use of bells 

 in places of worship not in union with the Church 

 of England. 



Is there any foundation for this report; and 

 what is the real story ? Is there still a law against 

 the use of bells as a summons to divine services 

 except in churches ? A. G. 



Alteration of Title-pages. — Among the advertise- 

 ments in the last Quarterly and Edinburgh Re- 



views, is one which replies to certain criticisms on 

 a work. One of these criticisms was a stricture 

 upon its title. The author states that the re- 

 viewer had a presentation copy, and ought to have 

 inquired into the title under which the book was 

 sold to the public before he animaverted upon the 

 connexion between the title and the work. It 

 seems then that, in this instance, the author 

 furnished the Reviews with a title-page differing 

 from that of the body of his impression, and 

 thinks he has a right to demand that the reviewers 

 should suppose such a circumstance probable 

 enough to make it imperative upon them to in- 

 quire what the real title was. Query, Is such a 

 practice common ? Can any of your readers pro- 

 duce another instance ? M. 



Weight s for Weighing Coins. — A correspondent 

 wishes to know at what period weights were intro- 

 duced for weighing coins. 



He has met with two notices on the subject in 

 passages of Cottonian manuscripts, and would be 

 glad of further information. 



In a MS. Chronicle, Cotton. Otho B. xiv. — 



"141S. NovjB bilances instituuntur ad ponderanda 

 aurea Numismata." 



In another Cottonian MS., Vitell. A. i., we 

 read — 



"1419. Here bigan gold balancis." 



H.E. 



Shunamitis Poema. — Who was the author of a 

 curious small 8vo. volume of 179 pages of Latin 

 and English poems, commencing with "Shuna- 

 mitis Poema Stephani Duck Latine redditum?" 



The last verse of some commendatory verses 

 prefixed point out the author as the son of some 

 well-known character: 



" And sure that is the most distinguish'd fame, 

 AVhich rises from your own, not father's name. 

 London, 21 April, 1738." 



My copy has no title-page : a transcript of it 

 would oblige E. D. 



Lachrymatories. — In many ancient places of 

 sepulture we find long narrow phials which are 

 called lachrymatories, and are supposed to have 

 been receptacles for tears : can you inform me on 

 what authority this supposition rests? J. H. C. 



Egg-cups used by the Romans. — That the Ro- 

 mans used egg-cups, and of a shape very similar 

 to our own, the ruins at Pompeii and other places 

 afford ocular demonstration. Can you tell me 

 by what name they called them ? J. H. C. 



Sir Oliver Chamberlcnne. — In Miss Lefanu's 

 Memoirs of Mrs. Frances Sheridan, the celebrated 

 authoress of Sidney Biddulph, Nourjahad, and 

 The Discovery, and mother of Richard Brinsley 

 Sheridan, it is stated that "her grandfather, Sir 



