214 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
[24 §. No11., Mar, 15. 56. 
in a clear, audible voice the rhythms of the psalm verses, so 
that all the congregation might agree together in sound 
and rhythm. Hence, responding upon the monotone or 
clerk-tone was called in our cathedrals the parochial use, 
in contradistinction to the cathedral or choral use. The 
clerks of the present day have, for the most part, lost 
their clerk-tone, and no one dreams of attending to their 
rhythmical arrangements. Those celebrants who desire 
to gain a clear, bold, and consentaneous delivery of the 
psalm verses should precent every verse of the Psalms, 
and thus act as the chorostates, choragus, or rather 
rhythmopeist to their congregations. On all festival days, 
when any Psalm began with the prefix or intonation, the 
choragus or precentor commenced every Psalmy The 
prefix announced the gamut the music was to run in, and 
the particular rhythm of the chant, a rhythm which was 
regulated by the voice and wand, the melody and action 
of the precentor. On ferial days the custom varied: with 
some choirs they sang straight through, as the music was 
well known, and the rhythms thoroughly familiar. There 
is now no uniform custom, and certainly no law. The 
celebrant may commence every Psalm, if he should desire 
to do so, or take his turn for beginning, such as the odd 
or even chances of the Psalms may give him, A few 
years ago some clergymen were very desirous of abolish- 
ing the clerk and his ‘office: such who did this found 
themselves in a great difficulty, for to maintain a chorus 
(not a singing, but responding chorus) without a chora- 
gus is an impossibility. ] 
Who was Bishop of Worcester in 1467 ?— In 
an old deed of arbitration I was examining a 
short time since, mention is made of “John, by 
Divine permission, Bishop of Worcester.” The 
deed is dated “the 20th day of October, in the 
year of our Lord 1467, and of our consecration 
the 24th.” I shall be glad to learn the surname 
of this bishop, as well as any particulars of his 
history that are known. Aurrep T. Ler. 
Tetbury, Gloucestershire. ; 
[Dr. John Carpenter was Bishop of Worcester in 
1467, formerly Fellow, and afterwards Provost, of Oriel 
College, Oxford, and in 1437-8 Chancellor of the uni- 
versity. He was installed in his cathedral Dec. 24, 1444, 
and built a gate to the episcopal palace at Hartlebury, 
which was demolished in the Civil Wars; and in 1461 
erected a library in the charnel-house belonging to his 
cathedral. He died at his palace at Northwyke, in 1476. 
Upon his tomb in Westbury Church is carved the skeleton 
of a man. See Dugdale’s Monasticon, and Godwin, De 
Presulibus Anglie, by Richardson. ] 
Heelball.—Can any of your readers inform me 
of any method of preparing the common “ heel- 
ball” used for rubbing brasses, so as to lessen the 
labour, and obtain a blacker rubbing than can be 
well got by the ordinary process? I have reason 
to think that there is some method, and should 
much like to know it. dale hal fA 
[ Heelball is sold of three qualities, hard, middling, and 
soft; the hard for summer and fine work, middling for 
general use, and soft for winter and large surfaces. But 
as our correspondent seems desirous to save time as well 
as labour, perhaps the more expeditious method adopted 
by Messrs. Waller may be serviceable to him. It is thus 
noticed in a valuable paper on Sepulchral Brasses by 
Albert Way (Archeological Journal, 1845, vol.i.): “ Rub-~ 
bers of wash-leather stiffened with paper are prepared, a 
triangular shape having been found to be most convenient, 
and primed with a thin paste formed of very fine black- 
lead in powder, mixed with the best linseed oil, or if that 
kind is not at hand, with sweet oil. Tissue paper, of 
somewhat stronger quality than is commonly used, 
answers best for making rubbings by this method, and it 
is manufactured in large sheets. The rubbings thus pro- 
duced with great expedition are perfectly distinct, and 
this process answers admirably, if the chief object be to 
obtain the means of supplying an accurate reduction of 
the design for the use of the engraver; but those persons 
who are desirous of forming an illustrative collection, will 
prefer the rubbings produced with heelball, as more 
sightly and more durable, the paper employed being of 
stronger quality, although the operation requires much 
longer time and greater pains than are expended when 
the method just described is adopted.” ] 
Sutton Court.— Challoner Chute, Esq., speaker 
in Richard Cromwell’s parliament, according to 
family tradition, died at Chiswick. ‘The Lennard 
MSS., penes Sir Thomas Barrett Lennard, Bart., 
state his death to have occurred at “Sutton 
Court,” the occasional residence of his widow for 
twenty years or more. Is Sutton Court in Chis- 
wick ? G. SreINnMAN STEINMAN. 
[Sutton Court is in the parish of Chiswick, and during 
the Civil Wars the manor was sequestered to the Lord 
Mayor and Aldermen of London. In 1676 the lease came 
into the hands of Thomas, Earl of Fauconberg, who mar- 
ried, in 1657, Maria, the third daughter of Oliver Crom- 
well. The house and gardens are thus described by 
Mackey (Journey through England, vol. i. p. 86., 1732): 
“From Brentford I passed by the pleasant village of 
Chiswick, and in an hour got to Sutton Court, that cele- 
brated seat of the Earl of Fauconberg; and I must own 
that the house, furniture, pictures, and gardening, are 
well worth the curiosity of a stranger. Sutton is, indeed, 
un bijou, it has three parterres from three fronts of the 
house, each finely adorned with statues. The gardens 
are irregular, but every walk affords variety, the nedges, 
grottos, statues, mounts, and canals, are so many sur- 
prising beauties. In the house are several very good 
Italian pictures, and a very neat library.” ] 
The Game of Chequers. —Can any of your 
readers describe the game of checquers, a board 
for which we so frequently see as the sign for a 
village inn? The board is divided into sixteen 
squares ; and it is usually placed lozengewise, 7. e. 
with a corner at the top and bottom. ‘The game 
is mentioned in one of Dibdin’s songs, as being 
played at by the seamen: 
“ Dear Mary, adieu! Can that love go to wreck, 
When every plank bears your sweet name on the deck ? 
Yea, many true knots on the yards have I made, 
While guileless at checquers my messmates have 
played.” 
I can find no one acquainted with the game, or 
who can tell me how it was played. A.C. M. 
[The chequers is the old game of tables, or draughts, 
and better known in later times as backgammon. Both 
these games, as well as chess, were played upon a che~ 
quered board. Consult Hoyle’s Games, by Jones, edit. 
1800, and Strutt’s Sports and Pastimes, edit. 1845, p. 321., 
for a description of these games. ] , 
