ON THE CHARTERS OF CLEEVE ABBEY. 57 
the present instrument. In witness whereof we have to 
this our present writing set our seal of our Conventual 
place aforesaid. Given at Clive aforesaid, in our Chapter 
House, the twentieth day of May, in the year of the reign 
of King Henry the Eighth twenty-seventh.” 
Down to the period of the Society’s present meeting, 
no seal either of the Abbey or of any one of the Abbots has 
been published. I am in consequence extremely gratified 
in being able to present the archzological world with en- 
gravings of two very beautiful specimens of these hitherto 
inedited and most interesting memorials.. The first is no 
less an acquisition than the Common Seal of the Abbey, 
an impression of which, believed to be unique, is appended 
to the instrument last recited.* It is of red wax, and, as 
will be perceived from the engraving, all but perfect. Itre- 
presents, within a vesica, the Virgin and Holy Child under 
a canopy, with a diapered background ;.and below, under an 
arch, an Abbot on his knees. The whole is surrounded by 
the legend SIGILLIM COMMVNE [A]BBATHIE 
DE CLYVE. If Imight hazard a conjecture respecting 
its age, I should say that it was executed from about the 
end of the thirteenth to the termination of the first half 
of the fourteenth century, —hetween 1290 and 1350. The 
second seal is that of Abbot David Juyner. He oceurs 
* I have scarcely need to congratulate the Society on this most inter- 
esting result of the Dunster Meeting. The fact itself speaks volumes for 
the excellence and advantage of such gatherings. All antiquaries are hereby 
put in possession of a treasure not hitherto known to exist, regarded on the 
spot with an interest unequal to its rightful claims, and at any time liable to 
be lost for ever. Had the Society done nothing else but furnish the oppor- 
tunity of making such a discovery, its existence would not have been in 
vain. I must not forget to add that the representations which I am enabled 
to give of both the seals are of the first excellence for scrupulous fidelity, 
and that, as usual, the work of my friend Mr. Cleghorn leaves nothing to be 
desired. 
VOL. vI., 1855, PART II. H 
