LO 



The Skull of the Poet Crabbe. 



him warmly for the part he had played in the matter, and saying : — 



" I think you have managed a rather disagreeable business most admirably, 

 and I need not say how much Mr. Crabbe's descendants feel indebted to you, as 

 indeed must the whole town of Trowbridge, for the delicate and liberal way in 

 which you have acted." 



Notes crnd Queries is such a wonderful garner of out-of-the-way 

 information, that one might have expected to have found some 

 account in it of the discovery in 1876. Yet, I believe, the only 

 mention of it is contained in small type at the end of the issue for 

 November 25th, 1876 (5th Series, vol. vi., p. 440), amongst the 

 paragraphs headed " miscellaneous," as follows : — 



" Crabbe's Skull. A few weeks ago a Trowbridge paper stated that the 

 skull of the Poet Crabbe, which was stolen during the restoration of the Church 

 in 1847, has been restored to the rector. Ch. El., M.A." 



Rather a belated notice, but still, the note, when found, was made. 



I first heard this story relating to Crabbe from Mr. Mackay, when 

 staying with him at Holt Manor in 1887 for an ordination which 

 was held in Trowbridge Parish Church on Sunday, March 6th, 1887. 

 It impressed me at the time as very interesting and curious, but it 

 was not until after I had seen the little volume of notes with regard 

 to it, which he had preserved, and had found that there was no 

 record at all of it in the Magazine, that I thought of writing this 

 paper. 



Mr. Mackay came to Trowbridge in 1861, and from 1873 until 

 his death on September 30th, 1895, he served the office of church- 

 warden of the Parish Church. The part he took in this little 

 incident in 1876 is but an illustration of his frequently-displayed 

 thoughtful generosity to the Church, the town, the county, and the 

 diocese of his adoption. As such an illustration I wish to link it 

 with his name in the pages of this Magazine, reviving, as it did, the 

 fame and the interest in one of the English poets whose association 

 with the County of Wilts must always be prized. 



