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LONDON, JANUARY 15, 1921.

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for sixty years.
But, in the early spring o'

1917, the Rev. Walter Slater, Minor Canon,

Sacrist, and formerly Precentor of Win-

chester Cathedral, kindly went carefully

through the whole of the music contained in

these boxes, and subsequently gave а

lecture on the subject, to the members of

the Gild of St. Cuthberga.

But how came this music to be at Wim-

borne The Minster, which stands on the
site of an old Roman church, or temple, the
remains of which still exist beneath the
floor of the nave, dates back to the year 705.
It was first founded by St. Cuthberga,
sister of Ina, as a Benedictine nunnery; but
was destroyed by the Danes in the early

slab which covered the remains of Ethelred,

part of the eleventh century; although the

the elder brother of Alfred the Great, who,

as the A. S. Chronicle records, was buried

there, still remains. The Minster was re-

founded as a secular foundation, with a

Dean and Canons, by Edward the Confessor.

It became a Royal Free Chapel, and so

continued until the reign of Edward VI.,

when the College was dissolved. By letters

patent of Queen Elizabeth it was refounded

in 1563, and three priests and three clerks

were to be provided to perform Divine service

From that time, now

in the church, &c.

more than four hundred years ago (what-
ever may have been the case previous to the
dissolution of the College in 1547), there
appear to have been a surpliced choir and a
choral service at the Minster. The earliest
existing Minute Book of the Governors
dates back to 1579. On Nov. 30 of that
year there is a minute recording that orders
were issued by the Governors to the effect

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'reading-clerks ') are not to come into the
choir without their surplices; but to go
into the vestry and put them on and to
come into the choir together." On the same
day it was ordered that surplices were to be
made for four " 'querister boys." And, a
month later, it was enacted that Thomas
Toogood, one of the secondaries," should
have 20s., in addition to the 41. which he
already received as wages, for teaching the
chorister boys and pricking the books
needful for the choir." By a later charter,
of Charles I., 1639, it was provided that there
should be "four choristers, two singers and
one organist, in addition to the three priests
and three clerks, whom they were to assist
in the services of the church." Although
there had been choristers before, they were
now placed legally on the foundation.

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The Organ Books, numbered 5, 6, 7" contain, in addition to services which are printed and easily accessible, works by former organists of the church, e.g., George Day, 1695-1713; John Fyler, 1713-43, and George Combes, 1743-56. The latter was afterwards Organist of Bristol Cathedral. An anthem of Day's, 'Haste Thee, O Lord,' seems to have escaped the notice of Mr. Myles Foster, in his Anthem and Anthem Composers.'

There are also some interesting books containing the separate voice parts in different volumes, including Weelkes's (b. 1758), 'Verse Evening Service G minor.' He was Organist of Winchester College, and afterwards of Chichester Cathedral.

in

Amongst other composers, whose works are in the Minster collection, are Thomas John Mudd (b. 1580, Organist of Peterborough Cathedral), Thomas Carter (b. 1735), Samuel Howard, and Hawkins.

In the Churchwardens' Account Books there are records of payments made in 1494-5 for repairs to the organ in the chapel of St. Mary and to another organ in the roodloft, and in 1496 mention is made of a payment to "Richard Gilbert, keeper of the From that time onwards there organs. are constant records of payments for repairs, for organ blowing, and to the organ players. Enough has been said to show why it is not to be wondered at that some old Church music should be found at Wimborne. The collection contains an Organ Book in which are some Toccatas, or Voluntaries, by Girolamo Fescobaldi (born 1601), and two other organ pieces, viz., a Verse for ye Double Organ' (apparently a two manual instrument), by Mr. Richard Portman (b. about 1610, a pupil of Gibbons, and Organist of Westminster Abbey in 1633); and a Verse for ye Single Organ' (or onemanual instrument), by Dr. Orlando Gibbons (b. 1583, and also Organist of Westminster Abbey). The Organ Book contains, too, many services and anthems by composers, some number of whom lived before the Civil War, when so much of the Church Music was destroyed. The Minster possesses what appears to be an unique setting of the Benedicite by Richard Farrant. It seems to have no connexion with the Alto part of a Benedicite, for men's voices by R. Farrant, which is in the British Museum, nor with his organ part which is in the Library at Christ Church, Oxford. There are half-a-dozen anthems by Michael Wise, who was Organist at Salisbury Cathedral, 1668-87; in particular two very beautiful ones, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,' and 'The ways of Sion do mourn.' There is also one for LETTERS OF 1720 FROM THE LOW Christmas, 'Behold I bring you good tidings,' which seems not to be extant elsewhere. It is not given in Myles Foster's book, nor is it in the British Museum Catalogue of MSS. sacred vocal music. This Minster Book has six lined staves, and on the cover is the date 1670.

One of the MSS. books, written in score, contains the Creed, Sanctus, and Gloria in Excelsis, by Ebdon in C. It is remarkable because it omits the Kyrie, and because it seems to be the indication of Choral Celebration of the Holy Communion between the Restoration and modern times. It contains, also, in addition to known anthems, one by John Goldwin, 1670-1719, 'Come ye children, hearken unto me,' which is not in any other library.

The Minster MSS. ought to be useful for collating with other MSS., e.g., The Nicene Creed by Tallis, in one of the part-books at Wimborne, shows variations from his Creed in Boyce's (printed) Cathedral Music (Warren's Edition).

Enough has been said to show the interest of the old church music at Wimborne Minster, and why it is to be found there. I must add that I am indebted for what I have written about the music itself to the notes which were given to me by the Rev. Walter Slater, after his inspection referred to above. JAS. M. J. FLETCHER.

COUNTRIES AND HANOVER.

THE four letters which follow (recently acquired from Mr. P. M. Barnard of Tunbridge Wells) were written during a lengthy tour of the Low Countries and Germany (lasting from 1720 to 1723) by one Robert Whatley to a recipient whose name does not indeed appear in the text of any of them; but who is evidently Sir Peter King, later Lord Chancellor and at this time Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. This attribution is arrived at primarily by reason of the fact that the cover of letter II has been preserved and is addressed in Whatley's hand to King, while the four letters obviously form a series. If further proof were needed, we might observe that the writer is

known to have been a protégé of the Chan-
cellor, under whose auspices he was admitted
to the Inner Temple (cf. his A Short History
of a Ten Years Negotiation....,' 1737,
p. 1), and by whose favour he was called to
the bar in 1714 (op. cit., ibidem). Further
evidence on this point will be found in
King's letter to Newcastle of Apr. 3, 1724,
recommending Whatley for employment
(British Museum, Additional MSS. 32,687,
folio 19), and to the relation between patron
and client the whole tenor of these letters
bears witness. The attention devoted by
Whatley to ecclesiastical matters and, above
all, the long discussion on the differences
between Roman Catholicism and Protes-
tantism that occupies part of the third letter
point the same way, fcr King had already
come forward as a theologian and, pace
Lord Percival in 1730, was known to spend
his leisure hours in divinity, in which
science he was "very learned ('Diary of
Viscount Percival,' Historical MSS. Com-
mission, 1920, vol. i., p. 112), while, finally,
two short endorsements, June 28. 1720.
Mr Whatley" and "Mr Whatley July. 22.
1720", on the first and on the cover of the
second letter respectively, are in a hand
that is almost certainly identical with other
recorded specimens of King's writing.

Whatley's subsequent career was undistinguished. Taking Holy Orders, he was presented in 1729 by the Crown to the Rectory of Toft in Lincolnshire, Just previously to which he had been made Prebendary of Bilton in York. In 1750 he exchanged this latter stall for the more lucrative one of Fridaythorpe in the same Cathedral, in the enjoyment of which post he died in June, 1767. The middle years of his life were embittered by a claim for promotion to be effected by Walpole, as the result of an alleged promise to King, and this accounts for five of the several publications (pamphlets and sermons) with which he is credited in the catalogues of Bodley and of the British Museum.

The letters show us a normal itinerary of the tourist of those days who was visiting Belgium-a country which Whatley seems to have found a pleasant contrast with ungenial, Protestant Holland-and reminds us that the passion of “doing "the battlefields is no new. thing, while forgotten Huy and the half-forgotten brother of George I. also pass before our eyes. It is perhaps also not unworthy of note that the writer visits the towns of French Flanders without so much as troubling to mention

the fact that he had crossed from one State into another. To this day they are not greatly dissimilar from those of Belgium, while at the time in question they had been French for less than two generations. Nor, in the last place, is it likely that many accounts of the Jubilee of 1720 exist.

MY LORD,

1.

Rotterdam, June. 28. O.S. 1720.7

hand You will undoubtedly have heard of the
Before this Letter will come to your Lordships
Return of the Yatchts*; and as You have not seen
Me to return You my Thanks for their bringing
Me over You may very well conclude that I am
I found it im-
still on this side of the Water.
possible to satisfye my appetite for seing these
Countrys, during the Interval of the Yatchts
Stay. Besides having once passd the Rubicon,
I cou'd on no account entertain Thoughts of
retreating before I had advanc'd further. Brabant,
& Flandres, those Scenes of the greatest Actions
for some of the last Centuries, lye too near
Me, not to effectualy excite my Curiosity to
visit them before I can think of returning. And
the impatient Desire I have for forreign Conver-
sation, and to see something more of the Manners
of the Germans, will make Me spend the Residue
of my Time at Hanover. So Your Lordship may
see that I have cut my self out work enough
for this Summer. I depend on it that I shall
Spend it very much to my Satisfaction and I hope
to my Improvement.

The obliging Reception my Friend has given Me Here, has engaged Me to make this City my principal Abode till this Evening When I intend for Antwerp in order for Brussels. Tho' I have not advanc'd so far as ye Hague, unless it was with my Eyes last Sunday from Delft Steeple, yet I have not confin'd my Self altogether within these Walls. One Day I have spent at Dort; another at Scheidam and the parts adjacent ; and two more at at [sic] the Brille and Helvoetslys, from whence I pass'd over the Maes to Maesland Sluys,† and so round to Rotterdam by Delft. The Inclination I have of seing the Country in all its Lights, induc'd Me to make this Tour, out of the way of the great Towns. I thought indeed to have gone as this Day to yo Hague for a week and to Amsterdam for another & so to have return'd by Naerden, Utrecht & Tergous to this Place. But I find I must give Brussels the preference and pay Brabant & Flanders the first Visit. This has been occasion'd by their Celebrating in this latter City a famous Jubilee which is to commence next Sunday. This being celebrated once in 50 years, has occasion'd my going thither at this Time. What it is or on what account it is celebrated I know not; but as I am inform'd it will be very curious, and as I understood the greatest Preparations are making, to celebrate it with the utmost magnificence, I thought it proper to be

*The King" with all the Yachts" had reached Helvoetsluys on the 16th ("London Gazette,"No. 5860, p. 2) and Whatley had been allowed to travel.

with the cortège.

† Maasluys. ‡ Naarden.

Gouda.

Of the Sacrement de Miracle of 1370.

present thereat. Whatever it is I hope I shall prove my Self no incurious observer. When I have in some measure satisfyed my Curiosity in that Country, I shall return to Holland, to do the same, in order to proceed on my Journey to Hanover. Here Your Lordship may perhaps be 'for asking Me, with respect to ye Court there what Mr Feilding did with respect to my desiring to go aboard my Lady Dutchesses Yatcht, Whether I have any Views of being troublesome to any Body there, on account of my own Interest? to which I can safely say, No. I shall go thither to spend the residue of ye Summer Season, as I wou'd to Bath, or Tunbridge, meerly for my own Entertainment; which from ye Company that will be there may not be ye least improving. What extraordinary Expence I shall be at, will I don't doubt be abundantly made up in the pleasure and Advantage, I shall reap from my Travells. I am pretty sure of meeting one good friend there, & that is Dr Stagendahl the Kings Physician; who came over aboard our Yatcht, with whom I had a great deal of Conversation; & who shew'd Me particular Civilityes; And told Me that what ever Services he could do Me at Hanover, should I come so far, he wou'd very readily perform. This I shall extend to no particular Favours from the King, but onely in y way of Conversation & Enjoyment of my Self while There. I shall be very glad, & I am sure I shall receive great Pleasure from it, if Your Lordship will honour Me with a Letter to my Lord Carteret or any other of your Friends that are there. The abovementiond Lord will I reckon be there near about ye Time I propose to be there my Self. And I shall count my Self particularly happy in ye Honour of his Acquaint

ance.

I forbear to mention S Rob. Corberts Misfortune as supposing Your Lordship has heard it related already in England. I wish his Native Country may restore the poor distempered Gentleman to Himself. I forbear mentioning any thing concerning ye Office of Insurance &c. lately set up in this Town, because I have this day seen a just account of it in our English Papers.

Before this comes to your hand I hope Y Lordsh' will have receiv'd a small Present I have venturd to send You from bence. The Pickle Herrings are just now come in ; & being inform'd that on their first Coming They are made Presents of, to Persons of ye First Quality in Europe, This Reason & my Liking them so much my Self, made Me willing to complement Yr Lordship with a few Choice Ones. They eat them, when they are skin'd with Bread & Butter, & if You please, You may pick the flesh off their Bones & mincing it small You may mix it with a 3d part Chalott & Cucumbers with Oyl & Vinegar. I wish they may please Your Taste, & those who You shall be pleasd to regale with them. I onely beg the favour of You to pardon the Freedom in sending them. And beleive, that I am & ever will be, My Lord.

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I can't allow My Self to come so near Your Lordship, as I am when at this Place, without paying my Duty to You by the Visit of this Letter. I acquainted Your Lordship in my last with the Reason of my seing these Countrys, before I had made my Tour of Holland and indeed I have receiv'd so much satisfaction from the Magnificence with which this Jubilee was celebrated at Brussels, that I should never have pardon'd My Self, if having an Opportunity, I had neglected to gratify my Curiosity on so curious an Occasion. The new Scenes I have met with since I came into these Roman-Catholick Countrys has given Me incredible Delight, and tho' there was an extraordinary Magnificence exhibited both in the Great Church, and streets of Brussels, beyond what I ever saw, or had even an Idea of before, yet it has not drowned the Pleasure I have had in being Eye-witness to the Delightfulness of the Country, Beauty of the Towns, and Civility of the Inhabitants. But notwithstanding I have had very great Satisfaction in gratifying my Sight with the Variety and Newness of the Objects which have presented themselves to Me on all hands, Yet my most particular satisfaction has been in the Conversation I have had in every Place I have pass'd through, and even on y Road in Travelling with the Ecclesiasticks of all Orders. It is impossible to mention with what Civility they receive a Stranger in their Houses, & how ready they are to satisfy one in every Particular that one wou'd desire. I hope I shall live to have the Honour to relate to Your Lordship some part of the Conversation I have had with Them; & design further to have before I leave the Country. It would be too tedious to make any mention of it in a Letter ; & I shall content my Self at this Time with making a Remark or two on the Procession we have had on occasion of this famous Jubile. I shall refer Your Lordship to the public accounts You will undoubtedly have at large of the occasion, and august manner in which it has been celebrated. In order to Honour it, the fronts of the Houses in those Streets through which it pass'd were adorn'd with Greens from the Bottom to the Top, & embellish'd with the finest Tapistrys and Pictures each inhabitant either had by them or could procure: Besides vast a number of Triumphal Arches set forth after the most beautiful Manner with Paintings, Mottôs, and other Decorations. I saw the Procession from our Residents (Mr Leathes) House; near it was a most magnificent Triumphal arch, the Inscriptions of which were peculiariy calculated for the Neighbourhood. The Jesuits had the Direction of every Thing, and most of their Mottos on all the Arches tended either to establish the Truth of their Hoc est Corpus Doctrine, or to set forth

Yr Lordships most obliged, & most obedient the greatness of the Miracle for the Commemora

humble Servant,

ROB. WHATLEY.

P.S.-If Y Lordship shall you chafe [sic] to honour Me with a Line from You, Be pleasd to use ye following Address, To Me at Mr George Kemble's Merchant in Rotterdam.

tion of which this Jubilé was instituted. The forementiond Arch had on each side the Quotations out of all the Gospels by which they ordinarily prove their Transubstantiation, and in the middle was the following Inscription,

Eucharistiæ Veritas Hæreticis demonstratur.

I shall further lay before Your Lordship 2 Couplets
which I met with in the Church, among many
Other of less Note, that relates to the particular
occasion of the Jubile. It was writ under a
Passage of St John in the last Chapter of his
Gospel, where He Speaks of the vast number of
Miracles more, that were done by Christ, than
what he had related. It was in these words,
viz,

Tot sacra fortasse stupes vi pignoris acta
Prodigia, haud uno dinumeranda Die;
Sed mage, qud Species (mirum super' omnia)

sacræ

Post medium maneant, et tria Saecla, stupes. NB. It was 350 years ago the miracle happened of ye Hosts bleeding which very host yet remains. I leave Your Lordship to make your Reflection on it; and shall intrench on your precious Time no longer than whilst I acquaint You that I came from Rotterdam through Antwerp and Mechlin to Brussels: That after I spent a week in this latter place, I came through Ghent and Bruges, to this Place; whither I came this Day at Noon, and shall proceed to morrow for Newport (whither the Curiosity of visiting a Monastery of English Carthusians onely draws Me) to Dunkirk, St Omer, Ipre, Menin, Lisle, Tournay & Mons & so to Brussels. Whether I shall go from thence to Namur & so down ye Maes to Utrecht or directly thro' Louvain to Holland I have not

yet Determin'd.

He witnessed the will of one Henry Walker in Snitterfield, who died, apparently, a on Aug. 31, 1558, tenant of a leasehold-farm widower, leaving twelve children in the care or his eldest son John. The farm was well stocked with 29 beasts (oxen, kine, calves and horses), 5 great hogs and 6 store hogs, 4 geese, 6 hens and a cock, 2 pullets, 6 stalls of bees. There was corn in the barn and in the field, malt and hay, and 3 flitches of bacon in the roof. But if there was enough to eat the sleeping accommodation was limited, and the four bedsteads (some of them with "painted cloths about them ")must have been put-to-it to contain the family, which included moreover a boyboarder entrusted to the father's care by Master Bushell of Cleve at the rate of 17d. a week. Among the testator's assets was a debt from Richard Shakespeare for 6s. 8d.

Thomas Palmer belonged to a family much respected in Snitterfield and nextdoor neighbours of Richard Shakespeare. His father and his uncle had been decennari (tithing men) under the lord of the manor, But the Inclination I have to be at Hanover and in performance of their duty had as soon as possible will I beleive determine Me reported Richard Shakespeare for non suit for the Latter. Just on my Departure from Rotterdam I had the Good Fortune to fall into of Court or neglect of his hedges. Such the Company of Admiral Norris's Son who with presentments made little difference in friendhis Tutour was coming into these Countrys, with ship, and when Thomas Palmer died leaving the very same Intent as my Self; as y latter has travelled here before, and is a very learned Gentle-swallowed up more than a third of his small young children and debts which man I reap great advantages by it.

My Lord, Wherever I am, it is a sensible Pleasure to Me to think I have Your Lordship for my Friend; and tnat You are pleas'd in any Manner to Interest Your Self in my Welfare. I have no greater Passion than to recommend My Self to Your Esteem: and I shall be ever ambitious of shewing My Self in what Degree I am

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seven

property, Richard Shakespeare made the inventory, on Jan. 3, 1560, pricing his four oxen, two cows, four calves, one steer, two mares and a weaning-colt, corn and hay in the barn, brass and pewter and linen.

John Sambridge made his will on Sept. 18, 1558, and Richard Shakespeare praised He was a humble person with little to be his goods and cattle on May 7 following. 'praised. He left a widow and a son by a former wife. There were difficulties to face between the son and his step-mother. This memorandum appears in the will:

"That Thomas Sambridge, the son of John Sambridge,of Snitterfield, hath granted to his motherin-law, Eleanor Sambridge, to have twelve years in the house that he hath right to have after the death of his father, John Sambridge; the said Eleanor permitting him to have two lands within the fields of Snitterfield yearly, and the said and Eleanor to wash the suits of Thomas during Thomas to find cider at his own cost and charges,

the said time."

The goods which Richard Shakespeare inventoried included 12 pewter platters and dishes and saucers, 4 brass pots and 2 pans,

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