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John Prophete, D.D., Rector of Ringwood, Hants. 



By G. Brownen, Esq., F.C.S. 



[Read before the Archceological and Historical Section 

 on lotA Dec, 1908). 



Mankind in almost every age — prehistoric or modern — have 

 shown some respect for their dead, and tumulus, cromlech and 

 monolith, with or without inscription, may be found all over the 

 inhabited earth. In our own country, here and there, the monolith 

 with its edge runes may still be found. After these came the Celtic 

 and other crosses, later still in the Norman age the simple incised 

 stones acting oftentimes as coffin lids. To these in a still later age 

 were added inscriptions and figures. The decorative art of the 

 inlayer and enameller also contributed metal and mosaic work rich 

 in colour and gems. 



In other lands and more ancient times the memorial works of 

 Egyptian, Hittite, Assyrian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman empires 

 consisted in sculptured representations of the deceased, but about 

 these peoples for present purposes we have nothing to say, except 

 this, that although the Roman funeral bust in stone may here and 

 there remain in England, attempts in any other way to figure the 

 departed rarely exist amongst us until the brasses of the 13th century. 

 Our oldest brasses in this country are at Stoke d'Aubernon, in 

 Surrey, dated 1277 and 1327 respectively. There is sufficient 

 evidence to prove the existence of earlier brasses, but in the 

 revolutions of the 16th and 17th centuries they were either mutilated 

 or lost. As regards the brass of Ethelred I. at Wimborne, although 

 dated A.D. 872, the year of the death of this Saxon monarch, from 

 its style or lettering it would appear to be not earlier than the 15th 

 century and a£ its best only represents an earlier memorial. The 

 subject of our present sketch was a notable man in his age, for 

 John Prophete was the last Rector of Ringwood, and his brass, 

 which is preserved from an earlier church and now lies in the south 

 side of the present choir of Ringwood church, is a good specimen of 

 15th century art. The figure is dressed in processional or choral 

 vestments, and indicates correctly temporal rather than spiritual 

 dignity as we shall presently see. Turning from his brass on the 

 church floor to the story of his life, we may note that the Prophete 

 family were 14th century London goldsmiths, who a little later 

 intermarried with the Lynes, a Wessex family seated at Ringwood 

 and elsewhere. 



