2«<i S. VI. 153., Dec. 4. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



453 



y* book of Thomas Trilecke bisliop of Rochester, 

 who died 47 Ed. S^." — he met with Mr. Wright's 

 book, was struck with the story of the Earl of 

 Clare, which he had not seen, as the Burton Con- 

 stable MS. does not reach that chapter of Bene- 

 dict, and that he interpolated the storj into the 

 note. 



I should like very much to insert a Query here 

 on the roadside confirmations, of which Benedict 

 says: "Xon enim erat ei, ut plerisque, immo ut 

 fere omnibus, episcopis moris est, ministerium con- 

 firmationis equo insidendo peragere:" but I con- 

 tent myself with one more extract from " the 

 p'face of y'^ translatoure," which is curious in itself, 

 and suggests more queries than one : — 



" Aboute y yeare of o'' Lorde 15 — , ther was a notable 

 miracle shewed at S' Winifrides Welle he''"' iu Englande 

 npo a certen j)son that wouled neede enter ther into in 

 contempt & derlsio of other mens devotio : and psently 

 was striken w* sache a nunes in all his Lymes that be 

 was nether able to come fortbe or to move his hande fro 

 y^ liafte of his dagger wbereupO it was fixed : at bis en- 

 tring tberunto : w'''' jjty after he had so remayned a 

 LoDge tyme was upo his repentanc by eutraunce into y" 

 same agaiiie restored to bis former state : And conceru- 

 inge y miracles w'^ it hath pleased gode of Late to showe 

 at Sycbim Ine Brabant Lypsius hath wrighten at Large, 

 whose reporte therof beinge fortefied w' y° testemony of 

 a thousand credible psou yet living, if it be true, then 

 weare they playnly evangelicall miracles : if not, why is 

 not y^ falshode la^'ed open, being so easy to be discovered .' 

 finally, for y" satisfaction of all such as (w' y" interlo- 

 cutor in S"" thomas Moore his dialoges will not beleve y*= 

 testemony of any man iu a matf contrary to naturall 

 reson) I will jjduce y" same 2 witnesses that S'' Thomas 

 More did in y Like case, to witt, his owne eyes ; if he 

 will go into Italye, ther shall he see S' Clares body Liing 

 in hir religious habite unputritied, & 3 miraculouse balles 

 w"''' weare founde w'in y" same, being (in resemblance of 

 y^ trynitie) in weight every on equall to y" other : aud all 

 thre together equall to any one: if he will not take so far 

 a Jorney, Lett hj'm but crosse y'' see into fraunce, and 

 ther shall he se devels cast oat of y possesseds by Ca- 

 tholicke priests, so as he shall beforsed to sale w' y'= blas- 

 phemous Jewes, he casteth forth devils by y power of 

 Belzebub : or els w' those that beleved, if these me weare 

 not of gode, they cold not have done these things : if he 

 will not traveile out of England, Lett hym go unto a cer- 

 teyne place in Yorkshire cauled Whytby straude, and 

 ther shall he understand by y'= generall reporte of all y^ 

 inhabitants that it was not knowne (w'in y"= memory of 

 ma) that ever any wilde gose w^'' did Light upo y= same 

 ground (being a Large circuite) had y= power to Ilye 

 from thens, and that being ther taken and caried out of 

 y said circuite of grounde, they do use ther winges as 

 they did before : y'^ traditio is that it came so to passe bj- 

 y" praiers of S' Ide, y'^ mines of whos chappell & place of 

 buriall is yet to be seene; I might also ad herunto y" 

 hawthorntre at y Abbey of Glostenbury : and an other 

 lik unto it nere unto Havering parke in Essex, f'" w^'' 

 parke ther was neV any nightigall sene by any ma, liv- 

 ing*, notw'standing that they do sitt singlnge about it on 

 every syde in great abundanc, w' divers other lik in- 

 stances W^ I may not stand upO," &c. 



^ St. Ide must be St. Hilda, Abbess of Whitby. 

 TliC St. Clare here mentioned is B. Clare of Mon- 



[• See " N. & Q ," 2"i 8. iv. 145. 215.— Iuj. ] 



tefalco, a village near Foligno, where her body is 

 still to be seen, as well as the " 3 miraculouse 

 balles;" but all the other "lik instances" here 

 given are quite new to me. J. Ms. 



Bishop's House, Northampton. 



NOTES ON HYMN-BOOKS AND HYMN WBITEKS. 

 NO. II. 



(^Continued from 2'"' S. vi. 129.) 



English hymnology commenced with the esta- 

 blishment of Protestantism. Before that event 

 the people had ievr sacred songs in the vulgar 

 tongue. Their religious poems consisted chiefly 

 of Christmas carols, and scraps from the miracle- 

 plays. Some of these were addresses to the 

 Virgin Mother, others prayers and invocations to 

 the saints. Many united the religious element 

 with the satirical, and showed out the grievances 

 of government, and the shortcomings of the 

 clergy. Few contained what we should consider 

 the elements of devotion ; none render any sup- 

 plies to the modern compiler. If they are to be 

 taken as indications of the depth of popular reli- 

 gion, popular religion must have sunk to its 

 lowest ebb. But probably they cannot be so 

 taken. 



The translation of the Church Service into 

 English brought Bible scenes continually before 

 the minds of the people. The Scriptures, too, 

 upon the revival of learning, were much read and 

 studied in their originals ; hence it became a 

 fashion to versify the poetical parts, not only 

 amongst scholars and poets, but also amongst 

 courtiers and ladies. One of the first to engage 

 in this service was Robert Crowley, vicar of S. 

 Giles, Cripplegate. In 1349 he published The. 

 Psalter of David newly translated into English 

 Metre. The same year Sir Thomas Wyatt versi- 

 fied the seven penitential psalms. In 1557 Arch- 

 bishop Parker produced a metrical version of the 

 entire book. Some time before this Thomas 

 Sternhold, groom of the robes to Henry VIII., 

 had engaged in a like service. His compositions 

 are almost entirely in the old ballad measure, and 

 no doubt were often sung to the popular ballad 

 tunes. Once or twice he employed the ibrm 

 called Poulterer's verse, consisting of one Alex- 

 andririC line, and one line of seven iambic feet, 

 better known as our short metre. The only 

 variation from these measures is in the cxx. psalm, 

 — an arrangement that seems to have fallen into 

 disuse : — 



"In trouble and in thrall 



Unto the Lord I call, 



And he doth me comfort: 



Deliver me, I pray, 



I'Voui lying lips alway, 



And tongues of false report." 



The only really beautiful rendering he has left 



