♦ KNO^VLEDGE 



[Sei 



lakke.t 

 •esponds to this too closely to 



angel appears and convinces him of liei 

 purity : — 



She has consayaed the Holy Cos , 



And she shalle bare Codes son* 



The rapprochement between the two, when Mary for- 

 gives the repenting Joseph for doubting her, is repre- 

 sented with mucli tfudcrnt'SS : — 



Wiste 1 thou wolde me here. 

 Mar. Forgiftnessc, sir ! late be ! for si 

 Slike (such) wordis suld all gud 



The Towueley play 

 need quotation ; but in the Coventry there is a pretty 

 touch when, in response to Joseph's desire to kiss Mary's 

 " swete fete," she says : — 



«• Nay, lett be my fete, not tho (those) ye take, 



Cf My mouthe ye may kys i-wys, 



A distinctive pageant of this series, based on the Trial 

 of Joseph and Mary,X is ushered in by an amusing 

 address citing the persons named to appear before the 

 Buschop :— 



Bothe John Jurdon, and Geffrey Gyle, 

 Malkyn Mylkedoke, and fayr Mabyle, 

 Stevyn Sturdy, and Jak at the Style, 

 And Sawdyr Sadelere. 



Thorn Tynkere and Betrys Belle, 

 Peyrs Potter and Whatt at the Welle, 

 Symme Smalfeyth and Kate Kelle, 



And Bertylmew the Bochere. 

 Kytt Cakelere and Colett Crane, 

 Gylle Fetyse and fayr Jane, 

 Powle Pewterere and Pernel Pranc, 

 And]Phelypp the good Flecchere. 



Cok Crane and Davy Drydust, 

 Lnce Lyere and Letyce Lytyltrust, 

 Miles the Myllere and Colle Crakecrust, 



Bothe Bette the Bakere, and Robyn P.ede. 



And, adds the officer, showing that money was collected 



at the performances : — 



And loke ye ryngewele in your purs, 

 Ffor ellys your cawse may spede the wurs, 

 Thow that ye slynge Goddys curs 



Evyn at myn hede, ffast com away. 



Bothe Boutyng the Browstere, and Sybyly Slynge, 

 Blegge Merywedyr and Sabyn Sprynge," 

 Tyftany Twynkelere, ffayle ffor nothynge. 

 The court* xal be this day.§ 



* IVZ- .Vv.sV,r;«. ,111. no. Ill :— ' 



Gnlirii I. '['..' ' Kil ,. t ,:r ^1 11 lie borne of her, 

 ^ 'Mho haly gast, 



A - than sail be aftir, 



Aii.i t" :i! iiiin' \ ihIc nowe althir mast (all that is best). 



For slike happe sail hym fall 



AJs thou sail se in haste. 



His pepull safE he sail 



Of euyUis and angris all 



That thei at nowe enbraste. 

 Coventry/ Mysteries, p. 121 : — 

 Avgehis. Sche is a ful clone may. 



I telle the, God wyl of here be bom, 



And sche clene mayd as she was befom, 



To save mankynd that is forlorn. 

 Go chore "hyre therfore, I say. 

 t Yvrli Mysteries, -p. \U. 

 % ne Gospel of PscmJo-Matthen; ch. xii (Cowper's ed.), pp. 



§ Coventr), Mysteries, pp. 131, 132. 



The charge . T i n 1: . ii \ : jninst Joseph, and more espe- 

 cially again>l M ! ught by two slanderers in 

 language of i;.. ,::.. !. 1 jiluinness, when the Bishop 

 interrupts tlicm iuul .-ciul.-, fur the accused, who deny the 

 charge, and are then severally bidden to submit their 

 innocence or guilt to the test of ordeal by drinking the 

 "hotel of God's vengeannes,"* which would prove them 

 guilty by producing " sum maculacion plejoi on the face." 

 Joseph drinks, walks round the altar seven times, and 

 establishes his innocence ; then when Mary offers to do 

 the like. Primus detractor says jeeringly : — 



In ffeyth I m 



Withow-tyii a 



And a flake i 



■.jf tl 



,-Ide in hy 



lie that it dede snowe, 

 ; mouthe crepte, 



wombe doth growcf 



•, followir 





e reclyne.'' 



Maiy passes through the ordeal without "maculacion," 

 and when the Bishop declares her "clene mayde, both 

 modyr and wj'if," Primus detractor charges him with 

 having changed the draught, whereupon the slanderer is 

 compelled to swallow what is left of it, and his sickness 

 thereat is assuaged only through the Virgin's prayer. 



RAMBLES WITH A HAMMER. 



By W. Jerome Harrison, F.G.S. 

 HUNSTAXTOX AND THE BED CHALK. 



OUR rambles have hitherto been confined to Wales 

 and to the Midlands. It is now time to give the 

 East coast a tui-n. The strata which form our little 

 isle slant or " dip " to the east, the older beds passing 

 under the newer in that direction. The result of this 

 arrangement is that the oldest rocks form the surface of 

 Wales, while the newest, latest-formed beds, occupy the 

 shore-line round tlie mouth of the Thames. 



In considering the rocks of any district we must 

 always bear in mind the difference between its solid and 

 its superficial geology. On an ordinary geological map 

 only the former is shown, the stripes of colour indicating 

 the various rocks which there form distinct beds or strata, 

 such as can be followed in layers deep down into the 

 earth. But these, so-called, solid rocks are frequently 

 covered over and concealed by "superficial" beds of 

 clay, sand, &.C., often of great thickness, left by the melt- 

 ing of the glaciers or icebergs which invaded England 

 during the last glacial period, perhaps some quarter of 

 a million years ago. In the Eastern counties it is espe- 

 cially necessary to bear this distinction between, the 

 "solid" and " superficial" strata in mind, for nowhere 

 else are the latter so well ilc\'e]'>iied. An incipient 

 geologist — say a farmer who is \v\ iii;_; in li^iii something 

 about the soil of his farm- may \\t U i>e astoni.shed 

 when his geological map shows him tlie surface of Nor- 

 folk as a nearly uniform mass of white chalk ; while his 

 experience in digging, well-sinking, kc, tells him of 

 thick beds of claj- and sand occupying the same area ! 



* Cf. Numbers, V. 10-31. The Bitt. i \v,,t. : v..^ ,.i,.- of several 

 ordeals in use among the Hebrews, i' lah.i;}- to the 



poison ordeals of Africa and the 1. . - (laniloned by 



K. Johanan ben Saccai about the i\m>- ><', tin ' I li-ii.ni era. 



t Coventry Mysteries, p. 140. Die sioiy ul a .-uow-child was 



