66 



NOTES AND QUERIES. [2«* s. vn34., jdly 24. '58. 



Freemasons' Magazine of July 7, where it occurs 

 in an account of laying the foundation stone of 

 the new Masonic Hall in Edinburgh : — 



" As many inquiries have been made regarding the 

 banner called 'The Blue Blanket,' which was displayed 

 in the late Masonic procession in Edinburgh by the Lodge 

 of Journeymen of that city, we give the following parti- 

 culars, chiefly gleaned from the history of this famous 

 relic wrftten in 1722 by Alexander Pennicuick, Burgess 

 and Guild Brother. According to the statements of that 

 worthy Brother of the incorporated Fraternitj', a number 

 of Scotch mechanics followed Allan, Lord Steward of 

 Scotland, to the holy wars in Palestine, and took with 

 them a banner on which were inscribed the following words 

 from the 51st Psalm, viz. : ' In bond voluntate Tua edifi- 

 centur muri HierosoIynuB.' Fighting under this banner 

 these valiant Scotsmen were present at the capture of 

 Jerusalem and other towns in the Holj' Land; and on 

 their return to their own country they deposited the ban- 

 ner, which they styled ' The Banner of the Holy Ghost,' 

 at the altar of St. Eloi — the patron saint of the Edin- 

 burgh tradesmen — in the church of St. Giles. It was 

 occasionally unfurled, or worn as a mantle, by the repre- 

 sentatives of the trades in the courtly and religious pa- 

 geants that in former times were of frequent occurrence 

 in the Scottish capital. In 1482, James III., in conse- 

 quence of the assistance which he had received from the 

 craftsmen of Edinburgh, in delivering him from the castle 

 in which he was kept a prisoner, and paying a debt of 

 6000 merks which he had contracted in making prepara- 

 tion for the marriage of his son, the Duke of Rothsay, to 

 Cecil, daughter of Edward IV. of England, conferred on 

 the good town several valuable privileges, and renewed 

 to the craftsmen their favourite banner of ' The Blue Blan- 

 ket.' James's Queen, Margaret of Denmark, to show her 

 gratitude and respect to the crafts, painted on the banner, 

 with her own hands, a St. Andrew's cross, a crown, a 

 thistle, and a hammer, with the following inscription : 

 ' Fear God and honour the liing, grant him a long life 

 and a prosperous reign, and we shall ever pray to be 

 faithful for the defence of his sacred Majesty's royal per- 

 son till death.' 



" The King decreed that in all time coming this flag 

 should be the standard of the crafts within burgh, and 

 that it should be unfurled in defence of their own rights, 

 and in protection of their sovereign. The incorporated 

 crafts were, therefore, ever ready to hoist their banner 

 when any of their privileges were assailed ; and hence 

 James VI., in his Basilicnn Doron, which he addressed to 

 his son Henry, Prince of Wales, saj's : ' The craftsmen 

 think we should be content with their work, how bad 

 soever it should be; and if in anything they be con- 

 troulled, up goes ' the Blue Blanket.' Tlie crafts, never- 

 theless, showed no less alertness in bringing it forth to 

 uphold the honour and independence of their country, and 

 to protect the life and liberty of their sovereigns. It is 

 said to have flaunted amidst a thousand streamers of all 

 shapes, devices, and hues on the Borough Muir, when the 

 craftsmen rallied under the Earl of Angus, the Lord Pro- 

 vost, to accompanj' James IV. to the disastrous field of 

 Flodden. It was displayed to assemble the incorporated 

 trades to protect Queen Mary when she was insulted, and 

 her life placed in jeopardy, by the incensed populace, 

 after her surrender to the confederated nobles at Cf.rbery 

 Hill ; and it went up to rescue James VI. himself from a 

 rabble that assailed him in the Old Tolbooth, for refusing 

 to listen to a petition presented by the Presbyterian minis- 

 ters, complaining of his undue leaning in favour of the 

 Popish part}'. The last time it was publicly exhibited 

 was on the visit of George IV. to Scotland, in 1822. 



" The privilege of displaying it at the Masonic proces- 



sion was granted to the Journejonen in consequence of 

 their original connexion with the Masons of Mary's 

 Chapel, one of the fourteen Incorporated Trades of the 

 City. It was delivered to the assembled Journeymen, on 

 the morning of the procession, by Convener Tibbetts, who 

 is the custodier of it during his terra of office, in pre- 

 sence of several of the deacons of the trades, and a large 

 concourse of the citizens. In performing this ceremony 

 the Convener referred to the historical character of the 

 banner, and the important occasions on which it had 

 floated above the heads of the citizens ; and he expressed 

 a hope that while it was in the hands of the Journey- 

 men it would be protected with scrupulous care. Bro. 

 William Hunter, Master of the Journeymen, in reply, 

 said that the whole Journeymen felt honoured in being 

 entrusted with so precious a relic on this auspicious occa- 

 sion ; that it would be guarded by two of the brethren 

 armed with ponderous Lochaber axes, and that every 

 Journeyman would feel his honour at stake in returning 

 it safe and sound to the keeping of the Convener. 'The 

 Blue Blanket ' was long in a very tattered condition ; but 

 some years ago it was repaired by lining it with blue silk, 

 so that it can now he exposed without subjecting it to 

 much injurj'. It was inspected by the Duke of AthoU, 

 Lord Panmure, and other notables taking part in the pro- 

 cession, who expressed their gratification at seeing a relic 

 so famous in the annals of the cit}'." 



M. C. 



THE GRECIAN TEAR OF HERODOTUS. 



Mr. Rawlinson calls attention to the error by 

 which Herodotus makes the year equal to 375 days 

 (i. 32.) This statement occurs in the report of a 

 speech of Solon to Croesus ; and Herodotus may 

 have so received it with that manifest error (not 

 so manifest to Solon as to himself perhaps) with- 

 out deeming it needful to point it out and ex- 

 plain it ; for the subject of the whole speech was 

 moral and political, not arithmetical or astro- 

 nomical. He states — 

 That in 70 years of 360 days each = 25,200 

 there were intercalated 35 months 

 of 30 days - - = 1,050 



making in 70 years - - 26,250 days, 



which give 375 days to the year. This settles 

 the pretensions of Solon, as a reformer of the 

 calendar, by a side wind, unless it is treated as 

 an erroneous report. He should have stated that 

 in 70 years there were - 25,200 days, 



and that every third year a 

 month of 30 days should 

 be intercalated, 23 X 30 = 690 

 less the omission of one 

 month every eighth year *, 

 8 X 30 - - =240 

 say, 15 X 30 = 450 



making in 70 years - - 25,650 days, 



or 366 per annum, near enough for a rough ap- 

 proximation, t 



* Censorinus, Die Natal. 18. 



t If we take a period of 72 instead of 70 years, this 



