The Somersetshire Archæological and Natural History Society have held two of their annual meetings at Glastonbury; one in the year 1859, the other in the year 1880; the last being held under the presidency of Dr. Freeman, the historian. Moreover, the legend of King Arthur's burial at Glastonbury being dealt with very impartially by him in his introductory address, your readers may therefore fairly assume that the Arthurian legend as connected with that spot has been subjected to a close and searching investigation. At the annual meeting at Glastonbury, in 1859, the Rev. W. A. Jones, M.A., F.G.S., (now deceased) a gentleman not only well versed in Celtic literature and archæology, but in various other scholarly accomplishments generally, read a most able and exhaustive paper "On the Reputed Discovery of King Arthur's Remains at Glastonbury." The legend represents the hero of Celtic romance as being conveyed, after having received that which ultimately proved a fatal wound at the battle of Camlan in Cornwall, by sea in a bark "piloted by Barinthus skilled in the navigation of the seas and in the knowledge of all the stars of heaven," to "the blessed Island of Apple Groves" (Avalon), in order that he might have the benefit of the medical treatment of nine sisters residing there, who were skilled in the healing art.

66

Here the founder of true chivalry was suitably received in manner befitting his exalted rank by one of the nine sisters who excelled all the rest "and whose fame had spread far and wide," Morgen or Morganis— the Morgana of romance and magic, which name Mr. Jones stated in his paper was the Celtic for " beside the sea." She laid the king upon her couch covered with embroidered gold. With her own hand she uncovered the wound and examined it long. At length, she declared that health might return if his stay with her be prolonged, and if he were willing to submit to her healing art." With this assurance the bark and its crew set sail for the Cornish coast, leaving the ruler of the table round" in charge of the nine sisters in the enchanted Island of Avalon, "where the rain never fell;" not without the hope, however, of returning at some future time to carry him away completely restored to health, that he might again wield Excalibur with the might of a conqueror. The exact spot where Arthur was buried, remained, it appears, a profound secret until the reign of

Henry II., when a Welsh bard having sung before that monarch at Milford Haven, previously to his departure for Ireland, in praise of King Arthur, his exploits, his death at Glastonbury, and finally, his burial between two pyramids there, the king ordered a search to be made. Gerald Barry, or Geraldus Cambrensis, as he is usually called, a Welshman residing at the court of Henry, and who saw the bones at Glastonbury fourteen years after their discovery, referring to the fact in two of his works, viz., his Liber Distinctionum and his Institutio Principis, says in chap. viii. of the first-named work:

"In their own times, while the 2nd Henry reigned, the long-celebrated tomb of Arthur the British king, was dug up in the consecrated cemetery of St. Dunstan, at Glastonbury, between two lofty obelisks, on which were inscriptions, to the memory of Arthur, and which had been erected with great labour, the search being undertaken by command of the foresaid king, and under the supervision of Henry the Abbot, who was afterwards translated to the bishopric of Winchester. The body had become reduced

to dust and bones."

This discovery is alleged to have taken place in the year 1170, during the abbotship of Henry de Blois, nephew of William I., and brother of King Stephen, who likewise held the office of Pope's legate in England. John de Soliaco, was the abbot at the time Geraldus visited Glastonbury. He informs us, that when the search was being made, at the depth of 7 feet a broad flat stone was found, on the lower surface of which was fastened a leaden cross, with this inscription-"Hic jacet sepultus inclitus Rex Arthurus in Insula Avælonia cum Wenneveréia uxore sua secunda." (The words in italics are not given by Camden), and Geraldus goes on further to say:

"Thus were found the remains of Arthur: not in a marble tomb, as became a distinguished king, not in one of stone nor Parian, but even in a wooden sepulchre-an oak trunk, hollowed out for the purpose-and moreover, sunk sixteen feet or more underground, a mode of interment for so great a prince, indicating haste rather than honour, according to the exigencies of those troubled times."

The remains were, he states, found nine feet below the slab. Geraldus says further on:"that his (Arthur's) leg-bone being placed alongside the leg of a very tall man, reached three fingers' breadth above the knee, as the Abbot showed us. His skull was also very large and thick, being a hand's breadth wide between the eyes and the eyebrows.'

Mr. Jones stated in his paper that the Abbey records, viz., the Parvus Liber and the Magna Tabula Glastoniensis, according to Usher's Primordia gave substantially the same account as

Geraldus. These books, the Abbey Records, are said to have been taken to Naworth Castle, the ancient seat of the Howards. There is one interesting book still in existence relating to the Abbey Lands, recently published in the possession of the Marquess of Bath at Longleat, who has, I believe, a great many, if not the principal part of the manuscripts relating to Glastonbury Abbey. It is the Inquisitions of the Manors of Glastonbury, compiled by Henry de Soliaco, great-grandson of William I., Abbot of Glaston in the year 1189. It is a most interesting record, containing as it does, not only a list of the manors, but likewise the names of their tenants at that time. As the late Mr. Pulman, of Crewkerne, has pointed out in his Local Nomenclature, page 157, that the various names of Glastonbury show the state of that locality at different periods, and the moorlands generally in chronological order, viz.:-(1) Ynys-Avallon, the Island of Apple Trees; (2) Ynys Vitrin, the Island in the midst of Bogs and Marshes; (3) Aber-Glaston, "the Mouth of the river Brue, flowing with blue waves into the mere or lake, a swampy ground;" and (4) the Glasting-abyrig of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The following illustrious personages are stated to have found their last resting-place within the precincts of the Abbey of Glaston:---King Arthur and Queen Guinever; Edmund I.; Edgar and Edmund Ironsides; the Dukes Alpher, Athelstan, and Elwin; Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Devon; Bishops Hedda of Winchester, Brithwold of Wilton, Brithwyn of Wells, and Seffride of Chichester; Abbots:-Amesbury, Pederton, Taunton, Kent, Fromond, Walter de Taunton, Sodbury, Breinton, Mornington, Chinnock, Frome, More, Selwood, and Bere; in the Lady Chapel) Sir John Byconel (Bicknell) and Sir William Seymour, K.B.; (South Transept) Sir Thomas Stawell, Knight, and Hugh Mornington, S.T.P.

but the Heralds have not mentioned the name or parentage of his wife. It may therefore be of some interest to record a few notes concerning this lady. In the will of John Glanville of Tavistock, "the elder"-to distinguish him. from his son Judge Glanville-which was proved in London, the 1st February, 1580, the first clue to the identification of this lady is found; for, amongst other names mentioned is that of "Thomazine" his wife, to whom he bequeaths certain property. Her surname is not alluded to, and it is highly probable that her name and family would still have remained buried in oblivion had not a bundle of old deeds, in the possession of a collateral descendant, been fortunately unearthed. Amongst these deeds was a conveyance of a parcel of land in the Parish of Tavistock from John, the son of William Browne, to his son-in-law, John Glanville of Tavistock, the husband of his daughter Thomazine. This is dated in the year 1548. The said parcel of land appears by another deed to have passed to Nicholas, the eldest son of John and Thomazine Glanville, and brother to Judge Glanville.

The Brownes were a family of consideration and repute. Sir Thomas Browne-son of Sir Stephen Browne, Lord Mayor of London in 1439 was treasurer of the Household to Henry VI., and also Sheriff of Kent in 1440 and 1460. He married Eleanor Fitz-Alan, daughter and heiress of Thomas Fitz-Alan and Joan his wife (P.M. 21 Henry 6th) which said Thomas Fitz-Alan was brother to John 14th Earl of Arundel. Sir Thomas and Lady Eleanor Browne had several children born to them, amongst whom were Sir Anthony Browne, Constable of Calais, ancestor to the Lords Montague; Sir George Browne of Bleechwood Castle, Surrey, beheaded in 1483; and William Browne whose son finally settled at Tavistock (Sir B. Burke's, L.G.) The name of this son as it appeared by Har. MSS. and Rawlinson's MSS. 6164. 287, and also by another MS. in Queen's Coll. Oxon., was John Browne of Tavistock, who had William and Thomazine, and probably another daughter who married William (?) Grylls of Tavistock. Thomazine was, as before stated, the wife of John Glanville of Tavistock, and mother of Sir John Glanville, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, whose fine monument is still to be seen in Tavistock Church.

"This facete and witty' poem, 'The Excursion of a luxuriant Fancy on the most ancient Town and burrough of Lydford, lying in Dartmoor,' has been often printed, but never, so far as I can discover, in a complete form. It is cited by Prince in the Worthies of Devon, and included, upon that authority, in Davies' edition of Browne's poems (three volumes, 12 mo, 1772). Prince and the editors who follow him give sixteen verses. In Mr. W. C. Hazlitt's version there are seventeen (The Whole Works of William Browne, two volumes, quarto, 1868-9).* This is from the MS. in the Lansdowne Collection, and was first printed by Sir Egerton Brydges (Original Poems never before Published; Lee Priory, 1815). The additional stanza of Hazlitt's edition comes next after that upon the "strange strayede cow," which seems, among other things, to have moved the mirth of the visitors. It runs thus:

'Sure I believe it there did rayne

A cow or two from Charles his Wayne;
For none alive did see

Such kynde of creatures there before,
Nor shall from hence for evermore,

Save pris'ners, geese, and we.'

"Mr. Hazlitt seems not to have been aware of a version of the poem in Thomas Westcote's View of Devonshire in 1630, edited by the Rev. George Oliver and Pitman Jones, and published at Exeter in 1845. Here we find as many as nineteen verses. In the same form, copied thence, it appears in Samuel Rowe's Perambulation of the Forest of Dartmoor, second edition, 1856. Collating this version with that of the Lansdowne MS. we get twenty verses. The three which I desire to see included in an

* In the Roxburghe Library.

edition of Browne's poems relate to the very interesting tribe of Gubbins, or Gubbings, made immortal by Fuller and familiar by Kingsley. No stranger to Lydford wrote

these lines:

The town's enclosed with desert moors,
But where no bear or lion roars,

And nought can live but hogs;
For, all o'erturned by Noah's flood,
Of four score miles scarce one foot's good,
And hills are wholly bogs.

'And near hereto's the Gubbins cave;
A people that no knowledge have
Of law, or God, or men;
Whom Caesar never yet subdued;
Who lawless live; of manners rude;
All savage in their den.

By whom-if any pass that way,
He dares not the least time to stay,
For presently they howl;

Upon which signal they do muster
Their naked forces in a cluster

Led forth by Roger Rowle.'

"Compared with the rushlights of other historians, the illumination shed by the author of these lines upon the great subject of the Gubbinses may well be considered blinding. Fuller speaks of them as a sort of 'Scythians.' Kingsley relates vaguely how Salvation Yeo slew the king of the Gubbings;' but their king, according to Kingsley, was a second-rate sheep-stealer. If Roger Rowle had mustered his naked forces,' I suspect that escapade would have had but a sombre conclusion.

The

"Of Westcote's View of Devonshire many MS. copies existed. There is mention of six in Moore's History of Devonshire, ii. 256. editors of the Exeter edition do not tell us from what MS. their work was printed. If only its authenticity were established, then at least we should know that these three extra verses were interpolated in the poet's lifetime. But there seems no good reason to doubt that they are genuine. Their character agrees admirably with that of the rest of the poem; and most likely no reason but ignorance of their existence has prevented their inclusion in an edition of Browne's poems. All the existing versions of this poem differ in minor details. Probably it would be a hard matter thus late in the day to come at the original form."

At this time when the waters of our rivers and streams are being industriously flogged by happy anglers, I will take the opportunity to note that our poet has been claimed as a brother of the angle by Messrs. Westwood &

Satchell, in their magnum opus, the "Bibliotheca Piscatoria," (which, by the way, has been happily described in the Edinburgh Review as a "hagiography for the enthusiastic followers of Walton."

This claim is made on the strength of the following passage from the "Pastorals," and the modus operandi therein set forth would indicate the conclusion being a correct one:"Now as an angler melancholy standing,

Upon a greene banke yeelding roome for landing,
A wriggling yellow worme thrust on his hooke,
Now in the midst he throws, then in a nooke,
Here puls his line, there throwes it in againe
Mendeth his Cork and Bait, but all in vaine,
He long stands viewing of the curled streame;
At last a hungry Pike, or well grown Breame,
Snatches the worme, and hasting fast away,
He, knowing it a fish of stubborne sway,
Puls up his rod, but soft (as having skill),
Wherewith the hooke fast holds the Fishes gill,
Then all his line he freely yieldeth him.
Whilst furiously all up and downe doth swim
Th' ensnared Fish, here on the top doth scud,
There underneath the banks, then in the mud;
And with his franticke fits so scares the shole,
That each one takes his hyde, or starting hole:
By this the Pike, cleane wearied underneathe
A willow lyes, and pants (if Fishes breathe)
Wherewith the Angler gently puls him to him,
And least his haste might happen to vndoe him,
Layes down his rod, then takes the line in hand,
And by degrees, getting the Fish to land;
Walkes to another poole: at length is winner
Of such a dish as serues him for his dinner."

Having incidentally alluded to angling, I. am sure those readers of the W. A. who are naturalists, fishers, or interested in the literary side of the gentle craft, will thank me to draw their attention to a little monthly journal now on the eve of publication,* viz.:-The Angler's Note-book and Naturalist's Record. Its object is to preserve in permanent form "the thousand and one little odds and ends of tattle which angling collectors care to store up and gossip over." Scraps of this kind have hitherto been buried in the Field and other huge sporting papers. It will thus supply a distinct want, will be a light, handy size (sm. 4to.), and quite inexpensive (6d. monthly). The following papers will appear in early numbers: "A Fishing Sketch," by R. D. Blackmore (author of "Lorna Doone"); papers by the poetangler, T. Westwood, on "Izaak Walton," "On Angling Books and their Bindings, with a Glimpse of Ch. Lamb," and "The Scholarly

* No. 1 appeared on the 15th May, 1884.

A BOOK BOUND IN A MURDERER'S SKIN. --The following communication appears in the "The Antiquarian Magazine and Bibliographer" for June, 1884, which we venture to reproduce in the pages of the Western Antiquary, as a curious contribution of local interest :

"Sir,-A newspaper-cutting in one of my scrap-books states that there is to be seen in Exeter Museum, a book bearing the following remarkable inscription. It is also stated that 'the murderer's skin, which is of a somewhat tawny colour, has been nicely chased in gold by the bookbinder':

'This book is bound with a part of the skin of George Cudmore, who, with Sarah Dunn, was committed to the Devon County Gaol on the 30th of October, 1829, by Francis Kingdon, Esq., coroner, for murdering and poisoning Grace Cudmore, his wife, in the parish of Roborough. George Cudmore was tried at the Lent Assizes, March, 1830, and was executed. Sarah Dunn was acquitted.'

Assuming that a book with the above inscription is preserved in the museum at Exeter, there are some questions connected therewith which I should like to see answered. Is it really possible that the human skin could, in any circumstances, be used for such a purpose as the binding of a book? If the book in question be, without doubt, partly bound in human skin, what was the name of the inhuman bookbinder? Lastly, what is the title of the book?" P. J. MULLIN.

Bonnington Road, Leith, N. B.

In reply to the above, the Curator of the Exeter Albert Memorial Museum (Mr. D'Urban), with whom we communicated, thus replies:

"It is quite true that we have a book here as described. The title of the book is 'The Poetical Works of John Milton,' London: William Tegg & Co., 85, Queen Street, Cheapside, MDCCCLII. It was 'sold by W. Clifford, Bookseller, Exeter,' as the trade label shows. I do not know who the 'inhuman bookbinder' may have been. Human skin is just like pig skin, and makes very good leather. It is said that during the 'Reign of Terror' in France, ladies' white kid gloves were made from the skins of the victims of the Guillotine. The book is interesting as showing the change of public feeling in half a century. The inscription is not quite correctly copied and is not complete. After 'in the parish of Roborough,' read 'on the 14th day of October, 1829.'

'Geo. Cudmore was executed March 25th, 1830. Sarah Dunn acquitted.'

'Judge-Sir John B. Bosanquet. Sheriff-J. B. Swete, Esq. Under-Sheriff-H. M. Ellicombe, Esq. County Clerk-II. M. Ford, Esq.'

"Though the skin must have been obtained in 1830, the book could not have been bound until after 1852, the date at which it was published."

"The Saltash fishermen, with two nets, catch'd eighty five salmons over against Warren Point: forty-five in one net, forty in the other. They may not have such another draught for the whole summer. To Cornelius, to pay for 300 weight of salt from the Liverpole coaster now come in, and for a new gardening pot :--Salt 8s. 3d. per 100; for two of the salmons at 2d. per pound, one for the servants as being cheaper than meat, 4s. 9d. ; paid for the 300 lb. of salt as on the other side £15s.; for a water-pot of Forest 5s."

I was in Plymouth market a few weeks ago, and on enquiring the price of salmon, was told, 2s. a lb., while salt is now bought for 2s. 4d. the 100 lb. There is a good deal of comment to be made on this, but the pages of the Western Antiquary are not the place for it. Bodmin.

DEVONSHIRE PROVERB. Letter 14,(1710-11,) he says :—' Devonshire people have:

Walk fast in snow,
In frost walk slow

T.Q.C.

In Swift's Journal to Stella, "It is a good proverb the

And still as you go,

Tread on your toe :

When frost and snow are both together, Sit by the fire and spare shoe leather."

M.W.

London.

JOHN KING, Portrait and Historical Painter.-In his account of "Lyte's Cary Manor House, Somerset," Mr. W. George describes a half-length portrait of the Rev. H. F. Lyte, incumbent of Lower Brixham, Devon, in which, says the writer, "he is represented full-faced, in a black gown, standing in the pulpit, on the cushion, being an open Bible. It is a mezzo-tint engraving by G. H. Phillips, after a painting by John King, of Bristol. portrait is full of expression. As you contemplate the handsome, spiritual face, marked with thought and suffering, you feel as if you were holding communion with the man himself." ("Lyte's Cary," 1879, p. 11. Notes.)

The

The only John King that Redgrave mentions ("Dictionary of Artists," 1878, pp. 250-51) was a native of Dartmouth, where he died July 12th, 1847. The highlyfinished altar-piece in the Mayor's Chapel, Bristol, is described in the Guide Books as being "by John King, Esq., of Clifton." There are, or were, two other altarpieces by him, in Bristol churches. A gentleman who knew "John King, of Bristol," informs me that he was a Devonshire man, and that he died "somewhere in his native county." Was the John King "of Clifton," "of Bristol," and "of Dartmouth," one and the same person? SOMERSET.

[Our esteemed correspondent, Mr. George Pycroft, in his "Art in Devonshire," has the following brief reference to this artist:-"King, John, history and portrait painter, born at Dartmouth in 1788. He studied at the Academy, and first exhibited in 1817. He painted historical subjects for several years, but obtained scant encouragement. Latterly he tried portrait painting. He continued to exhibit till 1845, and died at his native town on the 12th July, 1847. EDITOR W.A.]

VINEYARDS. In a marginal note, found in a copy of a work entitled "Hartlib his Legacie," and written about the year 1700, the writer says:-"Mr. Meredith, at Manckersfield in Gloucestershire, has a vineyard joyning to his house out of which (his lady has told me) they have often made as much wine as they have sold for 30 or 40. They sold the wine to Bristol merchants, I suppose to mix with rich wines." Are there any records or traditions of vineyards in Devon and Cornwall? Our English climate would not at the present day allow of the growth of vineyards producing wine to the amount indicated by the above "Note." J. B. CURGENVEN. London.

NON-JURORS' CHURCHES. In connection with R. L. B.'s paper on "A Non-Juror's Church" in your issue of April 19th, may I be permitted, through your pages, to invite any present incumbents of benefices, which were held by Non-Jurors, to give such particulars of interest connected with their Non-Juring predecessors, as they may be able to gather from the church, the parish registers, or parish traditions? Particulars of the position and practices of the Non-Jurors, clerical and lay, form an interesting feature, of which too little is generally known, in the history of the Church of God in this country. I. I. C. Dulverton.