2 nd S. IX. Mar. 24. '60.1 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



233 



" Bregis," etc. (2 nd S. ix. 81.) -- Allow me to 

 offer the following solutions of the obscure terms 

 in the inventory of church goods at Bodmin, 

 1539: — 



" It. Too coopes of white Satyn of bregis. 



"It. Too coopes of red satyn of bregis." 



By bregis is here intended Bruges in West 

 Flanders, which was at this time the great mart of 

 textile fabrics, and especially of silken stuffs, which 

 had been introduced from Italy. The manufac- 

 ture of silk was not introduced into England 

 until the beginning of the seventeenth century, 

 although worn by the English clergy long be- 

 fore. 



" It. A pere of vestments called molybere. 

 "It. A iront of molyber." 



A vestment and " frontal " of a dark purple or 

 mulberry colour. 



"It. 3 vant clothes. 



" It. A boxe of every with a lake of silver." 



Other hangings for the altar, with a " pyx " or 

 " reliquary " of ivory with a silver lock. 



" It. One Jesus cotte of purple sarcenett. 

 " It. 4 tormeteris cotes." 



These last items were part of the furniture for 

 representing the mystery of the passion of Christ, 

 the four "cotes" being for the tormentors of our 

 Lord. Steevens, on the subject of these mys- 

 teries (Shaftsp. vii. 170.), mentions the tormentor 

 of the devil, called Vice; and describes his dress, 

 which consisted of a long jerkin, a cap with ass's 

 ears, and a dagger made of thin lath, and worn at 

 the back, with which dagger he was to make sport 

 and belabour the devil. The tormentor seems to 

 have been the buffoon in these blasphemous orgies, 

 and was the original of Harlequin in our modern 

 pantomimes. G. W. W. Minns. 



In an inventory of " all such goods as apper- 

 tain to Saint Benet, Gracechurch, written out the 

 16th day of February, 1560" (printed in Hierur- 

 gia Anglieana, p. 147.), is mentioned amongst 

 other tilings 



" A vestment of blue satin of Bruges." 

 This will explain the meaning of Bregis; molybere 

 is doubtless mulberry, or murrey-coloured ; and 

 tormeteris is tormeteris or tormentors, characters 

 who took a prominent part in the Easter pageants. 

 Fan/-clothcs are font-clothes. In the inventory 

 above referred to is mentioned 



" A thurching-chth fringed, white damask. 



"A boxe of every with a lake of silver." 



Meaning a box of ivory with a lock of silver. 



J. Eastwood. 

 May I suggest that "satyn of bregis" is satin 

 of Bruges, and that "a box of every with a lake of 

 silver," may be a box of ivury with a lock of sil- 

 ver P Is it possible that "molybere" and " moly- 

 ber " represent mulberry f Selrach. 



Motto tor a Village School (2 nd S. ix. 143.) — 



"Wisdom is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon 

 her."— Prov. iii. 18. 



"There is nothing so much worth as a mind well in- 

 structed." — Eccles. xxvi. 14. 



T. J. BUCKTON. 



I beg to offer to a Country Rector a few 

 mottoes, which appear to me appropriate. The 

 following is an original version of the well-known 

 Radix doctrines amaru, etc. : — 



" Bitter is learning's root, 

 But sweet is learning's fruit." 



Another, from Dryden's Juvenal : — 



" Children, like tender oziers, take the bow, 

 And, as they first are fashioned, always grow." 



Or, a similar distich, well known : — 



" 'Tis education forms the youthful mind ; 

 Just as the twig is bent, the tree 's inclined." 



Another : — 



" Delightful task, to rear the tender thought, 

 To teach the young idea how to shoot." 



F. C. H. 

 "Learning is labour, call it what you will; 

 Upon the youthful mind a heavy load, 

 Nor must we hope to find the royal road. 

 Some will their easy steps to science show, 

 And some to heaven itself their by-way know ; 

 Ah ! trust them not, — who fame or bliss would share. 

 Must learn by labour, and must live by care." 



Ithuriel. 



The Country Rector has set us a bard task. 



I have found it so. Accept the following : — 



" Knock and it shall be opened." 



".Enter and find pasture." 



" For Heaven and Earth I " 



[A net] " For love and not for spoil ! " — Keble. 



" Let him that is athirst — come." 



" Seed time now — Harvest hereafter." 



" This is the way, walk ye in it." 



" They that seek me early shall find me." 



" Laying up in store a good foundation." 



" It is good to be here." 



Nix. 



Neck Verse (2 nd S. ix. 83.) — I apprehend 

 that there was no particular verse appointed for 

 this use, and that it lay with the ordinary, or pre- 

 siding judge, to fix the verse which was to save a 

 criminal's neck from stretching in a hempen rope. 

 I collect this from a curious passage in the report 

 of probably the last trial at which this ordeal was 

 applied in these realms, at least in Ireland, being 

 " Proceedings of the Array of Wicklow in Ire- 

 land, March, 168f." " Witnesses came in against 

 'three fellows:' ' Cavenagh,' 'Poor,' and 'Bo- 

 land.' " After a trial marked by many curious 

 particulars, "the jury retiring, and returning 

 §oon again, brought in Poor and Boland guilty ; 

 Cavenagh not guilty." " The ordinary being called 



