was, that both the garments of the knight, and the trappings of the horse, came out of the sea covered with scallop-shells. «The knight, astonished at such an unexpected adventure, and seeing the disciples of the Apostle, who with equal astonishment were looking at him from the ship, asked them what it was that had brought him where he found himself. To which the disciples, being inspired by heaven, replied, that certes Christ, through the merit of a certain servant of his, whose body they were transporting in that ship, had chosen to manifest his power upon him, for his good, by means of this miracle. The knight then humbly requested them to tell him who Christ was, and who was that Servant of his of whom they spake, and what was the good which he was to derive. The disciples then briefly catechised him; and the knight, having thus been instructed, said to them, 'Friends and Sirs, you, who have served Christ and his holy Apostle, which I as yet have not done, ask of him to show you for what purpose he has put these scallop-shells upon me, because so strange a marvel cannot have been wrought without some great mystery.' With that the disciples made their prayer accordingly, and, when they had prayed, they heard a voice from Heaven, which said thus unto the kuight, Our Lord Christ has thought good to show by this act all persons present and to come, who may chuse to love and serve this his servant, and who shall go to visit him where he shall be interred, that they take with them from thence other such scallop-shells as these with which thou art covered, as a seal of privilege, confirming that they are his, and will be so from that time forward: and he promises that afterwards, in the Day of the Last Judgment, they shall be recognised of God for his; and that, because of the honours which they have done to this his servant and friend, in going to visit him and to venerate him, he will receive them into his glory and his Paradise.' « When the knight heard these words, immediately he made the disciples baptize him; and while they were so doing, he noticed, with devotion and attention, the ceremonies of the sacred ministry; and when it was done, he took his leave of them, commending himself to their grace, and intreating of them that they would commend him in their prayers to Christ and his Apostle Santiago. At that instant the wind, which till then had been still, struck the sails, and the ship began to cleave the wide sea. The knight then directed his course toward the shore, riding upon the water, in sight of the great multitude, which from the shore was watching him; and when he reached the shore, and was surrounded by them, he related to them what had happened. The natives, astonished at the sight of such stupendous miracles, were converted, and the knight, with his own hand, baptized his bride.» The facts are thus related, to the letter, in the Sanctoral Portugues, from whence the Breviaries of Alcobaça and St Cucufate copied it, and that of Oviedo in the Hymn for the Apostle's Day,-from which authorities the moderns have taken it. The Genealogists say that the Vieyras of Portugal are descended from this knight, because the scallop is called by that name in their tongue, and that family bear it in their arms. The Pimenteles make the same pretensions, and also bear four scallops in their shield. The Ribadaneyras also advance a similar claim, and they bear a cross with five scallops. This is the origin of the shells with which the pilgrims, who come to visit the body of our glorious Patron, adorn themselves, the custom having, without doubt, been preThe circumstances served by tradition from that time. are confirmed by pictures representing it, which from ancient times have been preserved in various cities. In the Church of St Maria de Aracoli at Rome, on the Gospel side, there is a spacious chapel, dedicated to our glorious Patron; it was painted in the year 1441, and in one compartment this adventure is represented: there is the ship, having the body of the Apostle on the poop, and the seven Disciples on board: close to the ship, upon the sea, is a Knight upon a black horse, with a red saddle and trappings, both covered with scallop-shells. The same story is painted in the parish church of Santiago at Madrid and it is related in a very ancient manuscript, which is preserved in the library of the Monastery of St Juan de los Reyes, at Toledo. In the Ancient Breviary of the Holy Church of Oviedo, mention is made of this prodigy in these verses, upon the vesper of the glorious Saint. Cunctis mare cernentibus, Sed a profundo ducitar, Natus Regis submergitur Totus plenas conchylibus. Finally, the fact is authenticated by their Holinesses Alexander III, Gregory IX, and Clement V, who in their Bulls grant a faculty to the Archbishop of Compostella, that they may excommunicate those who sell these shells to pilgrims anywhere except in the city of Santiago, and they assign this reason, because the shells are the badge of the Apostle Santiago. And thus in the Church of St Clement at Rome, which is enriched with the body of St Clement, Pope and Martyr, is a picture of the Apostle Santiago, apparently more than five hundred years old, which is adorned with scallop-shells on the garment and hat, as his proper badge,»— Añales de Galicia, vol. i, pp. 95, 96. Gwillim, in his account of this bearing, says nothing of its origin. But he says the Escallop (according to Dioscorides) is engendered of the Dew and Air, and hath no blood at all in itself, notwithstanding in man's body of any other food it turneth soonest into blood. The eating of this fish raw is said to cure a surfeit. Such (he adds) is the beautiful shape that nature hath bestowed upon this shell, as that the Collar of the Order of St Michel in France, in the first institution thereof, was richly garnished with certain pieces of gold artificially wrought, as near as the artificer could by imitation express the stamp of nature.-Display of Heraldry, p. 171 (first edit.). One of the three manners in which Santiago is commonly represented, is in the costume of a Compostellan pilgrim, with a scallop-shell in his hat. All three are described in a book, as rare of occurrence as curious in its subject, thus entitled, PICTOR CHRISTIANUS ERUDITUS: ■ Sive, De Erroribus, qui passim admittuntur circa pingendas atque effingendas Sacras Imagines. Libri Octo cum Appendice. Opus Sacræ Scripturæ, atque Ecclesiastice Historiæ studiosis non inutile. Authore R. P. M. Fr. Joanne Interian de Ayala, Sacri, Regii ac Militaris Ordinis Beata Maria de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum, Salmanticensis Academiæ Doctore Theologo, atque ibidem Sanctæ Theologiæ cum sacrarum Linguarum interpretatione Professore jam pridem emerito. Anno D. 1730, MATRITI: Ex Typographia Conventus serves, signified a beast of burden, and the Bourdon præfati Ordinis. fol.» was a staff of support. But the various meanings of the word, as given by Cotgrave, make out its history satisfactorily. Bourdon, a drone, or dorre-bee (Richelet says or buzzing of bees; also the drone of a bagpipe; also a pilgrim's staff; also a walking-staff, having a sword, etc. within it. « It was doubtless applied to the use of pitching the note, or accompanying the songs with which pilgrims used to recreate themselves on their journeys, and supposed by Menestrier to be hymns and canticles.— FOSBROOKE, p. 422. In Germany, walking-sticks that serve as tubes for pipes, with a compressing pump at one end to make a fire, and a machine at the other for impaling insects without destroying their beauty, are common.» (HONGSKIN'S Travels, vol. ii, p. 135.) I have seen a telescope and a barometer in a walking-stick, if that name may be applied to a staff of copper. One of the Censors of this book says, Prodit in lucem Pictor Christianus eruditissimi pectoris eruditissimus fœtus, obstetricante N. RR. P. M. Fr. Josepho Campa-grosse mouche, ennemie des abeilles), also the humming zano de la Vega. The work was published by the Master's direction at the cost of the Order; the Master dedicated it to N. Señora de las Mercedes as elaboratum excultumque quantum potuit, by her assistance; and there is a censura prefixed by Ferreras the Historian, speaking forcibly of the importance of the undertaking, and of the great ability with which it is executed. Instead of perceiving that Santiago is represented in the costume of his own pilgrims, this author supposed that the Saint is so attired because he had travelled over Spain! The whole passage is curious for its grave and cool credulity. « Sanctus Jacobus Zebedei filius, Hispaniæ primarius (quidquid alii commenti sint) Patronus atque Apostolus, bifariam sæpius a Pictoribus describitur. Pingitur enim peregrini habitu, oblongo innixus baculo, ex quo etiam bursa pendeat, et circa humeros amiculo, quod Hispani Esclavinam vocant; insuper et cum galero satis amplo, quem tamen ornant conchæ, quæ circa littus maris passim se offerunt: Totum id ex There is another story of a bird among the miracles eo arbitror proficisci, quod Hispaniam celerrimè, et ut of Santiago; the poor subject of the miracle was not so decebat Tonitru filium, peragraverat: ubi postmodum fortunate as the Cock and Hen of the Alcayde: but the It occurred in Italy; and the Spanish corpus ejus è Hierosolymis translatum condigno honore story is true. colitur. Sed ab aliis etiam cum gladio pingitur, cumque fable is not more characteristic of the fraudulent praclibro aperto. Quæ pictura (inquit frequens nobis auctor) tices carried on in the Romish Church, than the Italian etsi rarior sit, priori tamen est præferenda, quòd ex Sa-story is of the pitiable superstition which such frauds erâ Scriptura desumpta sit, et martyrium ejus explicet. fostered, and which was, and is to this day, encouraged Quod ita habetur, Occidit autem Jacobum fratrem Joan- by the dignitaries of that church. nis gladio. Sæpè etiam pingitur equo insistens, armaAt the request of St Atto, Bishop of Pistoja, the Pistusque gladio, acies Maurorum impigrè perrumpens, tojans say that some relics, taken from Santiago's most eosque ad internecionem usque cædens. Quod non exi-precious head, were given to their church by the Archguà cum Hispani nominis glorià rectè fit; cùm sæpè visus sit pro Hispanis in aëre pugnans; de cujus rei fide dubium esse non potest iis qui interfuerunt ejus Ecclesiastico officio, ubi illud metricè habetur, Tu bello cùm nos cingerent, Es visus ipso in prælio, Mauros furentes sternere. Atque idem alibi solutâ oratione describitur illis verbis: p. 320, 321. Note 11, page 753, col. 1. The Staff was bored and drill'd for those Who on a flute could play. Note 12, page 754, col. 2. The twice-born Cock and Hen. bishop of Compostella, Diego Gelmirez, a person well known in Spanish history. Nullus umquam mortalium hoc donum impetrare posset,» he affirmed when he made the gift: and the historian of the translator adds, quod verè a Domino factum credimus et non dubitamus, sicut manifestis et apertis indiciis manifeste et apertè miracula declarabunt. » There is a good collection of these miracles, but this of the Bird is the most remarkable. . In those days, says the writer, another miracle, the which he who worthily perpends it will perceive, as pious as it is glorious, was wrought by the Lord, in what may pertain to the edification of all those who visit the shrine of Santiago, and of all faithful Christians. About three weeks after the consecration of Santiago's altar, a certain girl of the country near Pistoja was plucking hemp in a garden, when she observed a pigeon Sir John Hawkins says, that the pilgrims to flying through the air, which came near her, and St James of Compostella excavated a staff, or walking alighted: upon which she put up a prayer to the Lord stick, into a musical instrument for recreation on their Santiago, saying, 'O Lord Santiago, if the things which journey.-History of Music, vol. iv, p. 139, quoted in are related of thee at Pistoja be true, and thou workest FOSBROOKE'S British Monachism, p. 469. Mr Fosbrooke miracles as the Pistojans affirm, give me this pigeon, thinks that « this ascription of the invention of the that it my hands!' Forthwith the piBourdon to these pilgrims in particular is very question-geon rose from the spot where it had alighted, and, as able. Sir John probably supposed with Richelet that if it were a tame bird, came to her, and she took it in the Bourdon was peculiar to these pilgrims, and there- her hands, and held it there as if it had been lifeless. fore that they had invented it. What then did the girl do? She carried it home. showed it to her father, and to him and the rest of the family related in what manner it had come to her hands. Some of them said, 'let us kill it and eat it: others said, 'do not hurt it, but let it go. So the girl opened her Mr Fosbrooke more than doubts the Etymon from a musical use. 1 Molan. lib. iii, c. 26. 2 In festo Translat, ejusdem. 30 Dec. may come into hand, to see what it would do. The pigeon, finding itself at liberty, flew to the ground, and joined the poultry which were then picking up their food, nor did it afterwards go from the house, but remained in their company as if it belonged to them. All therefore regarding, with no common wonder, the remarkable tameness of this pigeon, which indeed was not a tame bird but a wild one, they went to a priest in the adjacent city, and acquainted him with the circumstances. The priest, giving good counsel to the girl and her father, as he was bound to do, said, we on Sunday, and wil! go together to our Lord the Bishop act as he may think proper to direct us in this matter.' Accordingly on the Sunday they went to Pistoja, and presented the pigeon to the Bishop, who with his Canons was then devoutly celebrating mass in honour of Santiago, upon the holy altar which had been consecrated to his honour. The Prelate, when he had listened to their story, took the bird, and placed it upon the wall of the chancel, which is round about the altar of Santiago, and there it remained three weeks, never departing from thence, excepting that sometimes, and that very seldom, it flew about the church, but always returned without delay to its own station, and there mildly, gently, harmlessly, and tamely continued; and rarely did it take food. But people from Lucca, and other strangers, plucked feathers from its neck, that they might carry them away for devotion, and moreover, that they might exhibit them to those who had not seen the bird itself. From such injuries it never attempted to defend itself, though its neck was skinned by this plucking, and this the unthinking people continued to do, till at length the And it was no wonder pigeon paid the debt of nature. that it died; for how could any creature live that scarcely ever ate or slept? People came thither night and day from all parts, and one after another disturbed it; and every night vigils were kept there, the clergy and the people with loud voices singing praises to the Lord, and many lights were continually burning there: how, therefore, could it live, when it was never allowed to be at rest? The clergy and people grieving at its death, as 763 indeed it was a thing to be lamented, took counsel, and hung up the skin and feathers to be seen there by all comers. . In such and so great a matter what could be more gratifying, what more convenient than this wonderful sign which the Almighty was pleased to give us? There is no need to relate anything more concerning the aforesaid pigeon; it was seen there openly and publicly by all comers, so that not only the laity and clergy of that city, but many religious people from other parts, abbots, friars, clergy, and laity, are able to attest the truth. And I also add this my testimony as a true and faithful witness, for I saw the pigeon myself for a whole week, and actually touched it with my own hands. There is a postscript to this story, as melancholy as the The sick, and the crippled, and the lame, tale itself. had been brought to this church, in expectation of obtaining a miraculous cure by virtue of the new relics which had arrived. Among these was a poor woman in the last stage of disease, who had been brought upon her pallet into the church, and was laid in a corner, and left there; nor was it observed that this was in articulo mortis, till the pigeon flew to the place, and alighted upon her, and so drew the attention of the people in the church to the dying woman, quam quidem, prout credimus, nisi columba monstrasset, nemo morientem vidisset. They removed her out of the church just before she breathed her last,—and in consequence of this miracle, as it was deemed, they gave her an bonourable funeral.-Acta Sanctorum, Jul. t. vi, p. 64. Note 13, page 755, col. 1. poor creature What became of the halter I know not, Antiguedad sagrada, el que se arriedra So Christoval de Mesa observes when he proceeds to re- THE END. |