370 



Old Church Plate in Wilts. 



size, and perfectly plain, of the usual seventeenth century type. 

 The hall-marks are : the small Italian letter m, indicating 1 the year 

 1629 ; lion passant; leopard's head crowned ; and the maker's mark, 

 a fleur-de-lys surmounted by the letters R.A., all within a shield. 

 The form of the chalice corresponds with this date, being heavier 

 and coarser than the Elizabethan type. The chalice bears the fol- 

 lowing inscription : " Bonum Dei et Deo reditum Capellce de Burcombe 

 p. Jo. Bowles/ 3 with his coat of arms, The sun in splendour it chief 

 argent, in base a crescent or. The paten does not form a cover 

 that fits, it is larger and has a more prominent foot than those of 

 Elizabeth's time. There is no record of this member of the Bowles 

 family in the parish registers, the earliest entry being 1682. 1 



Codford St. Mary. The Chalice now in use has some remains 

 of a fine pre -Reformation vessel. The old parts, in silver-gilt, 

 consist of a portion of the stem, with some open work, and the knop 

 ornamented with projecting lions' heads. A portion of the original 

 hexagonal base also remains. This contains a representation of the 

 Crucifixion. In its original state it was probably similar to the one 

 still preserved in the adjoining parish of Wylye ; the later additions 

 to the old work are of a very incongruous character. 



1 A curious circumstance connected with the name and arms of the Bowles's of 

 Burcombe, in the seventeenth century, came under the notice of the writer not 

 long ago, and may be a necessary warning for collectors to use extreme caution 

 in buying old family plate — or indeed old plate of any kind. A descendant of 

 the family, living in Gloucestershire, was an earnest collector of any stray relics 

 or objects belonging to his ancestors. Amongst other family waifs sold after 

 his death were six curious spoons of old Dutch make, inscribed : " Sir Eowland 

 Bowles de Burcombe Wilts, 1623 " with his proper arms of the sun in splendour 

 and a crescent. They were sent by a dealer to Salisbury, as the most likely 

 neighbourhood to be appreciated, and where some of the family still exist. There 

 was not wanting an element of interest and even a spice of romance in the 

 matter, for this Rowland Bowles, as a young man, had served gallantly under 

 Sir Thomas Arundell at the siege of Gran, in Hungary, against the Turks, for 

 which services the Lords Arundell of Wardour still hold the title of Counts of the 

 Holy Roman Empire. He was afterwards sent on a mission to Holland. In 

 fact the whole story dovetailed so well together that it seems almost a pity to 

 demolish it, but on putting the hall-marks to the crucial test of Mr. Cripps' list, 

 it was found that one of these inscribed spoons of 1623 bore the Amsterdam year- 

 mark of 1819, thus proving the whole thing to have been a forgery. 



