APRIL 20. 1850.] 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
403 
‘* To send me to heaven goo rynge the holye belle, 
And synge for my sowle a masse of Scalu Celi, 
That I may clyme up aloft with Enoch and Heli.” 
(p. 82.) 
There are bulls of indulgence in Scala Ceeli in 
Rymer’s Federa, xii. 565. 591. 672., xiii. 102. ; 
but I can now only give the reference, as I have 
not that work at hand. C. H. Cooper. 
Cambridge, April 6. 1850. 
WATCHING THE SEPULCHRE. 
“TW.” (No. 20. p.218.) will find no end of | 
“Ttems” for watching the sepulchre, in the “ Church- 
wardens’ Accounts” before the Reformation, and 
during the reign of Queen Mary. At Easter it was 
the custom to erect a sepulchre on the north side of | 
the chancel, to represent that of our Saviour. This 
was generally a temporary structure of wood; 
though in some churches there still remain elabo- 
rately ornamented ones of stone. Sometimes the 
founder's tomb was used for the purpose. In this 
sepulchre was placed on Good Friday the crucifix, 
a person was employed to watch it till the morning 
of Easter Day, when it was taken out with great 
ceremony, in imitation of Our Lord’s resurrection. 
It was the payment for this watching that occurs 
continually in the Churchwardens’ Accounts, and of 
which, it appears, Puller could not understand the 
meaning. A paper on the subject of Easter sepul- 
chres, by Mr. Venables, was read at the meeting of 
the Cambridge Camden Society in March, 1843, but 
Jam not aware whether it has been printed. Some 
very curious “Items” on this subject are given in | 
Britton’s Redcliffe Church, which are quoted in 
the Oxford Glossary of Architecture. ‘They are 
so illustrative, that 1 subjoin them, to give you an 
opportunity, if you please, of serving them up to 
your readers : — 
* Item, That Maister Canynge hath deliver’d, this 4th 
day of July, in the year of Our Lord 1470, to Maister 
Nicholas Petters, Vicar of St. Mary Redcliffe, Moses 
Conterin, Philip Barthelmew, Procurators of St. Mary 
Redcliffe aforesaid, a new sepulchre, well gilt with 
golde, and a civer thereto. 
“Item, An image of God Almighty rising out of 
the same sepulchre, with al] the ordinance that ‘longeth 
thereto; that is to say, a lathe made of timber and the 
iron-work thereto, 
“Item, Thereto ‘longeth Heaven, made of timber 
and stained clothes. 
“Item, Hell, made of timber, and the iron-work 
thereto, with Divels to the number of 13. 
“Item, 4 knights, armed, keeping the sepulchre, 
with their weapons in their hands; that is to say, 2 
axes and 2 spears, with 2 pavés. 
“Item, 4 payr of angels’ wings for 4 angels, made of 
timber and well painted. 
“Item, The Fadre, the crowne and visage, the ball 
with a cross upon it, well gilt with fine gould. 
and occasionally the host, with other emblems ; and | goneh fred hanes ksleodonh+ Patylhabaeiyame 
“Ttem, The Holy Ghost coming out of Heaven into 
the sepulchre. 
“Item, ’Longeth to the 4 angels 4 chevelers.” 
Ducange (vol. vi. p. 195. new edit.) gives a 
detailed account of the service performed at the 
Easter sepulchres on the Continent. 
E. Vee. 
Cambridge, March 27. 
“ Watching the Sepulchre” (No. 20. p. 318.).— 
At the present day, in most Roman Catholic coun- 
tries, it is the custom to exhibit in the principal 
churches at this period, and at Christmas, a kind 
of tableau of the entombment and of the birth of 
the Saviour. The figures are sometimes small, 
and at other times the size of life: generally co- 
loured, and formed of wax, wood, stone, or other 
materials: and when artistically arranged, and ju- 
diciously lighted, form sometimes beautiful objects. 
I have no doubt the entry in the Churchwardens’ 
Accounts of Waltham Abbey refers to a custom of 
the same kind, prevailing in the country before 
the Reformation. If the date of their entry were 
be found to have been about Easter. The sepulchre 
itself was often, I believe, a permanent erection of 
stone, and some of them probably now remain in 
the churches of England on the north side of the 
chancel, where they may sometimes be taken for 
the tombs of individuals there interred. 
W.C. TREVELYAN. 
Watching the Sepulchre.—In reply to “'T. W.’s” 
Query in No. 20., I have witnessed at Florence 
the custom of dressing the sepulchre on the Thurs- 
day before Good Friday with the most beautiful 
flowers which can be procured in that city of 
flowers, many of which are reared especially for 
the purpose. The devout attend at the sepulchre, 
and make their prayers there throughout the day, 
the most profound silence being observed. The 
convents rival each other in the beauty of their 
decorations. 
Do you think that the Churchwardens’ entries 
in Fuller can refer to a similar custom ? 
The loveliness of the flowers, and their delight- 
ful perfume, which pervades the church, present a 
most soothing and agreeable type of death and the 
grave, under their Christian phase. I was always 
at a loss to understand why this was done on 
Thursday, instead of on Saturday ; the latter being 
the day on which Our Lord rested in the sepulchre. 
A.M 
QUERIES ANSWERED, NO. 7. 
A new blunder of Mr. Malone.—I love the 
memory of Edmond Malone, albeit he sometimes 
committed blunders. He committed a pitiable 
blunder when he broke his bow in shooting at the 
worthless Samuel Ireland; and he committed an 
