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XXIV. Letter from Thomas Amyot, Esq. F.R.S. Treasurer, to the Earl of Aberdeen, K.T. President, accompanying a transcript of two Rolls, containing an Inventory of Effects formerly belonging to Sir John Fastolfe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2012

Thomas Amyot Esq.
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By the kindness of the present, possessor, Andrew Fountaine, Esq. of Narford, I am enabled to lay before the Society of Antiquaries a domestick Record, which will probably be considered as having a legitimate claim to their attention. It is an Inventory of the Effects of Sir John Fastolfe, who stands enrolled among the heroes of Agincourt, and obtained still further renown as a brave and successful commander in the French wars of Henry the Sixth. His name, however, is now perhaps better remembered by its near resemblance to the fictitious one which Shakspeare bestowed on the wittiest and most delightful character of the comic Stage. This resemblance indeed, which, whether accidental or otherwise, has given rise to much fruitless controversy, begins and ends with the name, for the gravity of Sir John Fastolfe appears to have been as remarkable as his courage, prudence, piety, and hospitality.

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Archaeologia , Volume 21 , 1827 , pp. 232 - 280
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Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1827

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References

page 233 note a Since the above was written, Dr. Bliss, after an obliging search made at my request, among Blomefield's papers in the Gough Collection, has assured me that the original Rolls in question are not to be found among them.

page 233 note b In Strutt's Horda (vol. iii. p. 63 et seq.) some Inventories of the time of Henry the Eighth, are described and quoted, but they will be found much inferior in interest to that under consideration. The Inventory of Effects at Skipton Castle, printed in Whitaker's Craven, was taken in 1572, more than a century after Fastolfe's, and that given by Mr. Gage, in his elegant History of Hengrave, bears the date of 1603.

page 234 note c The Royal Licence for this purpose is preserved in Rymer's Fcedera, vol. xi. p. 44. The object is described “pro expeditione operationum suarum ædificationis & stuffura hospitii sui,” and the vessels which Fastolfe was allowed to employ, are oddly designated “duas naves vocatas Playtes, quandam navem vocatam a Cogship, unam aliam navem vocatam a Farecoft, necnon duas Balingeras.”

page 236 note d Sports and Pastimes, p. 207, edit. 1810.

page 236 note e Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 433.

page 237 note f Or Obituary. See Mr. Gage's explanation in a note on this article.

page 237 note g Paston Letters, vol. i. p. 173.

page 237 note h Ibid. vol. iv. p. 79.

page 238 note i The disputes and difficulties which arose in the execution of Fastolfe's will, form the subject of many of the letters in the Paston Collection. A copy of the will, in the original Latin, has been obligingly placed in my hands by Mr. Fountaine. It is, however obviously incorrect and imperfect. An English translation of it was printed by Mr. Gough in his notes on Oldys's Life of Fastolfe, in the Biographia Britannica.—ED.

page 238 note k Sc. of Holme in Norfolk, where Sir John lies buried.—Blomefield

page 239 note l Where his country-house was.—Blomefield.

page 239 note m At his city-house.—Ibid. It is remarkable that no notice is taken in this Inventory of the furniture and effects in Sir John Fastolfe's house at Norwich, of which some curious felics were preserved till the present century.—Ed.

page 239 note n Probably a flasket or small flagon.—Ed.

page 239 note o Spikes to hold candles, in oppositon to sockets. Mr. Douce refers me to the following article in Promptuarium Parvulorum. “Pryket of a candell weyke, Faga.” He adds that Faga is not found in any Latin glossary that he has yet examined. Mr. Palgrave, on the authority of a passage in “Spectacle de la Nature,” observes, that some candles were formerly made with hollow bottoms, in order to be fixed on spikes. And Mr. Gage remarks, that in the Stafford Household Book, 23 Hen. VII. the liveries from the Chandlery consist of sises, quariars, and prikets, whence he infers that the name became applied both of this species of candle, and to the staff or spiked stand on which it was placed.—Ed.

page 240 note p Bulging, as Mr. Douce observes, i. e. raised, or embossed.—Ed.

page 240 note q A cover or lid.

page 240 note r It is not easy to guess at the construction of the roasting or toasting-iron here mentioned; but such an instrument of silver, weighing 73 ounces, must have been a culinary utensil of rather a splendid description.—Ed.

page 240 note s A small tower.—Dr. Meyrick.

page 240 note t Mr. Gage remarks that the antelope here noticed, and the columbine flower described in the next page, are badges of the house of Lancaster and of Margaret of Anjou.—Ed.

page 241 note u Mr. Douce thinks this should be galon. See below.—Ed.

page 241 note x Cover, still pronounced kever, or kiver, in the provincial dialect of Norfolk.—Ed.

page 241 note y Sir Robert Harling, of East Harling, in Norfolk, was Fastolfe's companion inarms during the English wars in France, and was killed at Paris in 1435.—Ed.

page 242 note z Circular shield.—Dr. Meyrick

page 242 note a [Ita.]—Blomefield.

page 242 note b Meaning, as Mr. Douce remarks, punched, i. e. hollowed.—Ed.

page 243 note c This large salt-cellar, and that before described to be like a “bastell,” were probably used on the table as barriers between guests of superior and inferior rank, according to the well-known custom of our ancestors.—Ed.

page 243 note d “Pain à. chanter,” i. e. the host or unleavened bread, consecrated by the priest singing. In the very curious Chapter “Of the negligences happening in the mass, and the Remedies,” which is preserved only in His Majesty's copy of Caxton's “Doctrinal of Sapyence,” I find a direction to the priest, “that if in the host be any form of flesh, or other form than bread, he ought not to use that host, but ought to sing again.” Mr. Douce refers me to Queen Elizabeth's injunctions, (Wilkins's Concilia, vol. iv. p. 188.) where it is ordered, that the sacramental bread shall be “of the same fineness and fashion, though somewhat bigger in compass and thickness, as the usual bread and water heretofore named singingcakes, which served for the use of the private mass.” It was made into small round cakes, impressed with the cross. The iron instruments used for that purpose will be noticed hereafter, among the tools in the bake-house.—Ed.

page 244 note e The low, flat coal barges in use between Yarmouth and Norwich, are provincially called keels. As the preceding article represented a ship, this may have been in the form of one of the coal vessels here described.—Ed.

page 244 note f Chaufer, Chaferne, or Chafron, a kettle or cauldron.

page 246 note g N. B. All the foregoing was in his own capital mansion-house at Caister by Yarmouth; the following were reposited in St. Bennet's Abbey at Holme in Norfolk.—Blomefield.

page 246 note h This was probably intended to hold a torch.—Ed.

page 248 note i Pottles, holding two quarts. In Henry IV. part i. Justice Shallow says to Bardolph and Davy, “By the mass you'll crack a quart together,” to which Bardolph waggishly replies “Yes, Sir, in a pottle-pot;” meaning they would thus each have a quart.—Ed.

page 248 note k N.B. The following were at his grand mansion-house of Caister by Yarmouth, as was all those aforesaid, except what is specified before to be in St. Bennet's Abbey.–—Blomefield.

page 248 note l The bell rung in processions, and on other solemn occasions.

page 249 note m The box or case for the consecrated water; properly, as Mr. Douce observes, pix-bread.—Ed.

page 249 note n Sir John had a house of retirement at Bermondsey.—Ibid.

page 249 note o Peson, Fr. An instrument in the form of a staff, with balls or crockets, used for weighing before scales were employed for that purpose. It was also called Romaine. Romana, trutina species. Supplement to Du Cange.—Ed.

page 249 note p Not uniform.—Ed.

page 251 note q A knob or handle for the cover.

page 251 note r According to Bishop Fleetwood (Chrohicon Preciosum, p. 81), a flagon at this period held four quarts. It appears, however, that the pair of old flagons described in the next article, contained but three pints each. It was probably therefore a vessel of variable capacity.—Ed.

page 252 note r Or velvet.—Blomefield.

page 252 note s From the French pourfiler, to work on the edge. Tyrwhitt's notes on Chaucer.—Ed.

page 252 note t Meaning, perhaps, Ralph Lord Cromwell, a friend of Fastolfe's, who died in 1455. See Dugdale's Baronage, vol. ii. p. 44.—Ed.

page 252 note u The Chammer, or Shamew, is described in Strutt's Dress and Habits of the People of England, vol. ii. p. 359. as being in effect a gown cut in the middle.—Ed.

page 252 note x The Hucca, Hucque, or Heuke, was a mantle, with the peculiarities of which Strutt does not seem to have been acquainted. See Dress and Habits, vol. ii. p. 363.—Ed.

page 253 note y Camlets, the manufacture of which was introduced at Norwich by the Flemings in the preceding century.—En.

Figured or branched satin. By an act passed in the 3rd year of Edward IV. satern fugery or fugerie, was forbidden to be worn by any person under the rank of a knight.—Ed.

page 253 note a This petticoat, or petite cote, appears to have been a half coat, worn by males. See Strutt's Dress and Habits, vol. ii. p. 354.—Ed.

page 254 note b Buckle and pendant with 4 bars.—Dr. Meyrick.

page 254 note c This perhaps means an unstarched or unplaited pocket. Mr. Douce, however, thinks it may have been a “poking stick,” for starching ruffs, without a handle. See Steevens's note on Autolycus's song, and Mr. Douce's additions to it, in the Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 358.—Ed.

page 255 note d N.B. he was Knt. of ye Garter.—Blomefield.

page 255 note e Chasubles or Chesibles, the priests ordinary outer garment used at mass, which is now, as Mr. Gage remarks, always called the vestment. Mr. Douce supposes the words to have been separated in the transcript, and that cheseblis may have been in the original Roll. But in a copy of the “Illustrations of the manners and expences of antient times in England,” 4to, 1797, with MS. notes, obligingly lent to me by Mr. Bowyer Nichols, I find the word cheseplies, in a manuscript extract from the accounts of the Churchwardens of St. Martin's Church at Dover.—Ed.

page 255 note f The altar-pockets, to hold the linen cloth called the corporale, on which the sacred elements are laid. The term “corporal oath,” is derived, as Mr. Markland observes, from the ancient custom of touching the corporale while in the act of swearing. See Paley's Moral Philosophy, Book iii. part 1, chap. 16.—Ed.

page 255 note g Sutly appears to mean suitable or suitly, i. e. to match the trappings.—Ed.

page 255 note h Probably a corruption of escutcheon.—Ed.

page 255 note i Penonsels, i e. narrow flags.—Dr. Meyeick.

page 256 note k Probably, as Mr. Douce suggests, a mistranscription for brauden, i. e. braided or interwoven with the family motto. It seems to be the same as embraudit, which occurs frequently.—Ed.

page 256 note l A dark or brownish red colour.—Ed.

page 256 note m Silver twisted round the haft or hilt.—Dr. Meyrick.

page 256 note n The schape or chape was the ferule of the scabbard.—Ibid.

page 256 note o For the game of chess.—Ib. more probably, Mr. Douce thinks, for backgammon.—Ed.

page 257 note p Pourpointé, i. e. stitched.—Dr. Meyrick.

page 257 note q Describing, as Mr. Douce observes, the adoration of the shepherds.—Ed.

page 257 note r Mr. Douce, as well as Mr. Gage, supposes this to be a covering for a bench. It occurs also in the Promptuariutn Parvulorum.—Ed.

page 257 note s The nine worthies, as Mr. Douce remarks.—Ed.

page 258 note t That part of the hall in which the floor was elevated for the high table.—Dr. Meteick.

page 258 note u A wild man.—Ed.

page 258 note x The town of Falaise surrendered to Henry V. in December 1417, but the castle held out till the following February. Walsingham, p. 447. A long and particular account of the siege will be found in Thomas of Elmham's Life of Henry V. p. 126, et seq. Sir John Fastolfe was a commander in the king's army, and appears to have caused the siege to be commemorated by the tapestry here described.—Ed.

page 258 note y Mr. Douce informs me that an incident was here described from the Romance of Tristan de Leonnois, a favourite volume in the middle ages.—Ed.

page 259 note z Mr. Gage concurs with me in conjecturing that, as a banker meant the covering for a bench, a hailing may have been a hanging used for the hall. But this explanation is very-doubtful, though the length and breadth of these articles would seem to countenance it.—Ed.

page 259 note a Biers, i. e. bedsteads.—Ed.

page 259 note b Mr. Douce conjectures these to have been crossbars.—Ed.

page 259 note c Cut.—Edit.

page 259 note d Sealed.—Ed.

page 260 note e Probably from Zealand in Holland.—Ed.

page 261 note f These great brass pots, as Mr. Douce remarks, may have resembled the ancient hunting-pot described and engraved in the 14th volume of Archæologia, page 278, having a French rhyming couplet for one of its inscriptions. Mr. Markland adds that great brass pots of this description seem to have been regarded as articles of some value at a late period. In the will of a gentleman of family and fortune in the North of England, dated 1718, after bequeathing to his son and heir many articles, he states, “the great brass pot in the kitchen is an heir loom.”

page 261 note g Sewes, i. e. broth; according to Mr. Douce, Gower, in the Confessio Amantis, describing Progne's inhuman banquet, says,

“The fleshe, when it was so to hewe,

She taketh, and maketh thereof a sewe.

I cannot help remarking, that Mr. Tyrwhitt, in his note on a line in the Squire's Tale, appears to have mistaken this word, which he supposes to mean a dish.—Ed.

page 261 note h This article of luxury, Mr. Markland observes, was used on state occasions by Pepys, as we learn from his amusing Diary, vol. ii. p. 208. Latayne or Latten was a compound metal; but there appear to have been some doubts entertained whether it was brass or plate-tin. See notes on latten bilbo, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act i. Scene i. That it was, however, of a bright gold colour is evident from the following passage, which I find in Chaucer's Frankelein's Tale, v. 11557:

“Phebus waxe old, and hewed like laton

That in his hote declination

Shone as the burned gold.

Dr. Meyrick calls it copper gilt. Mr. Douce says the word is always used for brass.—Ed.

page 262 note i Baskets.—Ed.

page 262 note k With swan's feathers.—Dr. Meyrick.

page 262 note l Seloure, or seler, is probably the head of a bed. Celura is rendered by Du Cange “lecti supremum tegmen. Lat. Cælum. Gall. Ciel de lit.” In Kelham's Norman Dictionary, celure is incorrectly called a coverlet. Mr. Douce, however, thinks it may here mean a covering for a seat or stool, selle, Fr.—Ed.

page 263 note m Nicholas Booking was, in 1448, one of Fastolfe's attorneys to deliver seisin to certain feoffees of his very large landed property.—Ed.

page 263 note n Stephen Scrope was the son-in-law of Sir John Fastolfe, who married the widow of Sir Stephen Scrope. In the Paston Collection, (vol. iii. p. 42.) there is a letter from Fastolfe to Stephen Scrope, in which he calls him his “worschepeful and right wel beloved sone.” Stephen, it appears, was an author. Mr. N. H. Nicolas has obligingly pointed out to me a MS. translation of the Dictes of the Philosophers (Harl. 2266.) made from the French by Scrope, for the “contemplation and solas” of his father-in-law, Fastolfe.—Ed.

page 263 note o Quere, of boar's skin? a leather pillow appears in a subsequent page. Mr. Douce, however, supposes it to be cloth of Ypres in Flanders, famous for its woollen manufacture.—Ed.

page 263 note p This may have been a representation of persons playing at shovel board, a very popular game at that period. But Mr. Douce thinks it may be the name of some place in Flanders, where tapestry was made.—Ed.

page 264 note q Cushions.

page 264 note r A moveable bed.

page 264 note s Mr. Douce conjectures this to have been made at Popering in Flanders, celebrated for its cloth. But in a preceding page we find two cloths “portrayed full of popelers.” I should therefore guess it to be a representation of poplar trees.—Ed.

page 264 note t Mr Douce considers this to mean tapestry. Chaucer uses tapite, to cover with tapestry. Tapetum is often used for a carpet. Mr. Gage observes that Kelham explains tapets to be blankets or coverlets.—Ed.

page 265 note u Probably either Henry or Robert Inglose, the sons of Sir Henry Inglose, whose death, in 1451, is noticed in the Paston Letters, vol. iii. p. 126.—Ed.

page 265 note x The fur of the weasel or squirrel, or perhaps of any other small animals, so called from the French menne vair, or the Latin minutus varius, in opposition to the furs of large animals. See Strutt's Dress and Habits, vol. ii. p. 139. Also Archd. Nares's Glossary.—Ed.

page 266 note y Rabbit skins, French connin.—Ed.

page 266 note z A fire-shovel is to this day called in Norfolk, a fire-pan.—Ed.

page 266 note a Joint stool.

page 267 note b A meat-safe, as it is rendered by Mr. Nichols in the “Illustrations of ancient Manners and Expences,” and as the name would indicate, yet it seems oddly placed in a bedchamber. In the Hengrave Inventory, however, it appears that some of the bedrooms had coverings for “little bords,” and for “coobards.” Gardeviande might, as Mr. Douce observes, have been eventually used for a cupboard of any kind, in like manner as buffet originally meant a place to keep drinking vessels in, but was afterwards called gardemanger.—Ed.

page 267 note c This was probably John Bocking, who appears to have managed Fastolfe's law business. See Paston Letters, vol. i. p. 133.—Ed.

page 268 note d Mr. Douce informs me that donge means a mattress or featherbed. Culestra, Prompt Parvulorum.—Ed.

page 268 note e A featherflock, Mr. Douce supposes to be a bed stuffed with feathers and wool. Mr. Gage conjectures it to be a staff to beat the featherbed; which interpretation, as Mr. Douce observes, would be confirmed, if the word in the original roll had been fedderstok, which may have been the case. A stock is a staff. A staff to beat the beds with occurs, as Mr. Gage informs me, in one of the MS. Hengrave Inventories.—Ed.

page 268 note f A pallet.

page 269 note g Milicent, second daughter and co-heiress of Robert Tibetot, was first married to Sir Stephen Scroope, and afterwards in Ireland to Sir John Fastolfe, in whose life-time she died without issue.—Ed.

page 269 note h Andirons, or cob-irons. See Strutt's Horda, vol. iii. p. 68, where a highly ornamented pair of andirons is described.—Ed.

page 269 note i It appears, from the comparatively scanty furniture of this chamber, that William of Worcester was notsuroptuously lodged, nor had he even the whole of the room to himself. His humble station in the castle is humourously described in a letter in the Paston Collection, vol. III. p. 318, in which he requests his correspondent not to call him “Master” Worcester.—Ed.

page 270 note k Dr. Meyrick informs me that Jacks of black linen were used by the Scotch as late as the time of Charles I. as they are mentioned in an ordinance for their equipment in Rush-worth's Historical Collections. The practice of lining them with mail was borrowed from the Asiatics, and is the fashion of some of the modern armour in India.

page 270 note l Dr. Meyrick says he is not aware of another instance in which this kind is mentioned. Small pieces of linen were sewed within the jacket by one edge, so as while overlapping each other to be quite flexible. This material had the advantage of strength and lightness combined.

page 270 note m These caps, Dr. M. observes, belonged to the before-mentioned jacks respectively. Their form did not differ from that of the human head. The same remark may be made of the gloves which form the next article of the Inventory.

page 270 note n The Cross-bows were of the kind which had been used by the Genoese in the time of our Henry V. and beginning of Henry VI; being furnished at the end with a stirrup, in which the foot was inserted to keep them steady, when being wound up. They were bent by means of the “grete dowble wyndas” or moulinet and pulleys with two handels, which apparatus was removed when they were about to be used Dr. Meyrick.

page 270 note o The great Quarrels (so called because their heads were carrés,) were the arrows used for the above bow, the small ones for the then lately invented smaller arbalests, which are afterwards mentioned in this inventory. Quarrels were feathered with leather, wood, and, as it here appears, brass, as well as with ordinary feathers.—Dr. Meyrick.

page 271 note p Brigandirons, or Brigandines, were jackets with pieces of iron quilted in them, and were generally used by archers.—Ib.

page 271 note q Haubergeons de l'acier Milayne. Milan and Naples were famous for the manufacture of coats of mail of steel.—Ib.

page 271 note r The Ventaylette was the diminutive of ventayle or aventaile, which was a covering for the face, at first occasionally put on the cylindrical helmet, but, on the invention of the basinet, used in the same manner with it. The basinet was a conical skull-cap reaching to the temples in front, and to the neck behind, and the ventayle, or ventaylette, was attached to it by means of hinges, on withdrawing the pins of which, it was removed. For the tournament the heaume was put over it, the ventayle having been previously taken away.—Ib.

page 271 note s The Garde-de-bras. The name was sometimes given to the rere-brace or part of the armour which protected the arm between the pauldron and the elbow-piece, and sometimes to a kind of small shield which was screwed on the elbow-piece.—Ib.

page 271 note t This evidently means the pauldron, and, if correctly copied, must be a contraction of epauleson, the armour for the shoulders.—Ib.

page 271 note u Armour for the legs.—Ib.

page 271 note x Cuish-chewes, Cuisses, armour for the thighs.—Ib.

page 271 note y Edged with red velvet.—Ib.

page 271 note z The Salette, or Salade, was a kind of skull-cap, the distinguishing characteristic of which, was the rim projecting greatly behind. It was generally worn at this period with the knight's cap and crest upon it, and so appears on the seals of the time. Allowing freer motion for the head and more convenience for breathing, the salade and gorget a la mentonière were preferred to the helmet. Some salades worn by the infantry were without any visors; others for the cavalry had either moveable vizors or the ocularium cut in them.—Ib.

page 271 note a The Avant-bras or vambrace was the armour for the arm between the elbow-piece and wrist.—Ib.

page 272 note b The Ferule at the end of the scabbard is still so called.—Dr. Meyrick.

page 272 note c A riding-hat.—Ib.

page 272 note d Guns or cannons were in imitation of the tubes for the Greek fire, called by the names of monsters, reptiles, or birds of prey.—Ib.

page 272 note e Draw-bridge. Bridge is still corruptly pronounced brigby the peasantry of Norfolk. Ed.

page 272 note f The great hall, according to William of Worcester, was 59 feet in length and 28 in breadth. Itin. ed. Nasmith, p. 332.—Ed.

page 272 note g The Arbalastes here enumerated were of much less size than those before-mentioned, and were wound up with one hand by means of an iron windlas. Some had their bows of steel, others of wood. Specimens of all these and the other kind of cross-bow are in Mr. Llewelyn Meyrick's collection.—Dr. Meyrick.

page 272 note h Probably swords of wood for practice. In Queen Elizabeth's time those who taught the soldiers their exercise were called “wyfflers.”—Ib. This I may add, that persons called Whifflers, carrying wooden swords, still attend the Mayor of Norwich in his annual procession to the Cathedral on the day of his being sworn into office.—Ed.

page 272 note i This red Pavoise was a great shield, the height of a man, which was held before the cross-bow-man, generally the son of a knight, by one of his father's retainers. Dr.Mkybrick.

page 272 note k Grose observes that many commentators declare their inability to explain this weapon, which he absurdly derives from aigüe, sharp or pointed, without considering that all lances are sharp and pointed. Launcegay is a corruption of Lance-zagaye, a weapon borrowed from the javelin of the Moors of Spain, called zagaye, arzegaye, assagay, ot hassegay.—Dr. Meyrick.

page 273 note l Moorish or Morrice dance.—Blomef. See a remark in the introductory letter.—Ed.

page 273 note m i. e. half-dozen small.—Blomefield.

page 273 note n Lost.—Ibid.

page 273 note o Ivory.—Ibid.

page 274 note p Napery, i. e. table linen—Ed.

page 274 note q Lost.—Blomefield. In this and the former instance he means that the indenture was lost.

page 274 note r Quere, at the bottoms?

page 274 note s Handling.

page 274 note t Sir John's Motto.—Blomefield.

page 275 note u The heads or tops of the spoons, probably from the Saxon Cnæp.—Ed.

page 275 note x Towels.—ED.

page 275 note y In this article, I suspect some mistake in the transcription. It should perhaps be pocler, a corruption of pocalis, a wine measure (see Du Cange). Or it may have been a cloth or towel for cleaning the cups, it being found among articles of linen.—Ed.

page 275 note z In'the Northumberland Household Book the pantry has its towels, purpaines or port-paines, and coverpaines. Mr. Gage supposes this to have been a table cloth, but Mr. Douce calls it a covering or counterpane,- and conjectures it to have been manufactured at Rennes.—Ed.

page 275 note a Antiphoners or Antiphonaries, anthem-or choral service books, so called from the alternate repetitions and responses. Lindw. 251.—Ed.

page 275 note b The Legend contained the Lessons from the Holy Scripture, the Lives of the Saints, and extracts from the works of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church. Lindw. 251.—Ed.

page 276 note c Psalter.—Ed.

page 276 note d Martyrology.—Blomefield. Mr. Douce thinks this was probably the “Martiloge, after the use of Salisbury,” afterwards printed by Wynkin de Worde. Mr. Gage, however, informs me that Mortellege means an obituary. See Du Cange, voc. Martyrologium and also Martilegium immediately following. He remembers to have seen the Mortellege belonging to the convent of the Sion Nuns, and commencing, he believes, in the reign of Henry V. Mr. Gage adds, that an Obituary or Register of this description is commonly found in the chapels of Catholic families.—Ed.

page 276 note e Lids.—Ed.

page 276 note f Altar.—Ed.

page 276 note g A veil or hanging in the front of the altar, now called the Antipendium.—Ed.

page 276 note h To which this chapel was dedicated; and erected into a free chapel after Sir John's death according to his order, endowed and continued to the dissolution.—Blomefield.

page 276 note i The tunic is described as the Sub-de, acon's garment, used by him in serving the minister at the mass. Lindw. 252.

page 276 note k Albe.—[Ibid.]i. e. a surplice or white linen vestment. See Du Cange, voce Alba.—Ed.

page 276 note l The word is properly Fanon, as Mr. Douce observesd, and is a covering worn by the priest at mass. See Macri Hierolexicon and Du Cange.—Ed.

page 277 note m From France.—Blomefield.

page 277 note n Parcel or partly gilt. Dame Quickly, it will be remembered, in her passionate reproaches to Falstaff, says, “Thou didst swear to me on a parcel-gilt goblet.” Henry IV-part 2.—Ed.

page 277 note o Quere, broken?

page 277 note p Probably used for impressing on the Host or consecrated bread the sign of the cross.—Ed.

page 277 note q Leads.—Ed.

page 277 note r The mashing-tub.—Ed.

page 277 note s Ale-fat.—Blom. Vat is commonly pronounced fat in Norfolk.—Ed.

page 277 note t Coolers; small tubs used for cooling beer, are still called in Norfolk keelers, from the Saxon Celan, to be cold. This is one of the numerous instances of Saxon words preserved in the East Anglian districts. The late Rev. R. Forby, of Finchatn, informed me, that he had made considerable progress towards a Glossary of the Norfolk dialect, which would prove how much it retained of the pure Saxon. It is to be hoped, that by his sudden and lamented death, the public will not be deprived of the fruits of his learned industry.—Ed.

page 278 note u Pans for dressing pike, a fish caught in great abundance in Norfolk, and of large dimensions.—Ed.

page 278 note z Quere, from the Saxon dittan, to shut?—Ed.

page 278 note y A brass sieve or cullender.

page 278 note z A wooden sieve.

page 278 note a Lings.

page 278 note b Greenfish or Haddock, according to Spelman's Glossary, voce Mulvellus. The mulvel is noticed in an ancient statute for buying and selling poultry and fish, quoted in Stow's London, by Strype, by which it was directed that a better mulvel should be sold for 3d. a middling one for 1d. and a less for Id. The haddock, however, is described in the same statute as a fish of less value. I suppose the mulvel therefore to have been a larger kind of cod-fish. Mr. Douce refers me to Fleta, (lib. ii. c. 12.) where it is said, “Certena autem mulvellorum et durorum piscium constitit ex octies viginti piscibus.”—Ed.

page 278 note c White herrings, which are brought in great quantities to the neighbouring port of Yarmouth.—Ed.

page 278 note d The eel is also a favourite and abundant fish in Norfolk.—Ed.

page 279 note e The date of the year is imperfect, but it must have been 1459, the year of Fastolfe's death. The Inventory was prepared by the advice of William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester, one of Fastolfe's executors, as appears by his Letter, printed in the Paston Collection, vol. iii. p. 358. The disputes which afterwards arose among the executors, in the execution of the Will, are fully detailed in that work, and are also noticed in Chandler's Life of Waynflete. One of the consequences of those disputes was the siege of Caister Castle by the Duke of Norfolk, the history of which presents a curious picture of the state of society in that age.”—Ed.