a suite of red-purple vestments, and in recording this gift the wardens note in their account-book, "for the which you shall all specially pray for the souls of William Wright and Elizabeth his wife," the father and mother of the donor, "and other relations, as well them as be alive as them that be departed to the mercy of God, for whose lives and souls " these vestments are given "for the honour of God, His most Blessed Mother, our Lady St. Mary, and all His saints in heaven, and the blessed matron St. Helen, his patron, to be used at such principal feasts and times as it shall please the curates so long as they shall last."

In this way the names of benefactors and the memory of their good deeds were ever kept alive in the minds of those who benefited by their gifts. The parish treasury was not looked on as so much stock, the accumulation of years, of haphazard donations without definite history or purpose; but every article, vestment, banner, hanging, chalice, etc., called up some affectionate memory both of the living and the dead. On high day and feast day, when all that was best and richest in the parochial treasury was brought forth to deck the walls and statues and altars, the display of parish ornaments recalled to the minds of the people assembled within its walls to worship God the memory of good deeds done by generations of neighbours for the decoration of their sanctuary.

"The immense treasures in the churches," writes Dr. Jessopp, 66 were the joy and boast of every man and woman and child in England, who, day by day and week by week, assembled to worship in the old houses of God which they and their fathers had built, and whose every vestment and chalice, and candlestick and banner,

organ and bells, and pictures and images, and altar and shrine, they look upon as their own, and part of their birthright."

It might reasonably be supposed that this was true only of the greater churches; but this is not so. What strikes one

so much in these parish accounts of bygone days is the richness of even small, out-of-the-way village churches. Where we would naturally be inclined to look for poverty and meanness, there is evidence to the contrary. To take an example or two. Morebath is a small, uplandish, remote parish of little importance on the borders of Exmoor ; the population, for the most part, have spent their energies in daily labour to secure the bare necessaries of life, and riches, at any rate, could never have been abundant. Morebath may consequently be taken as a fair sample of an obscure and poor village. For this hamlet we possess full accounts from the year 1530, and we find that at this time, and in this very poor, out-of-the-way place, there were no less than eight separate accounts kept of money intended for the support of different altars of devotions. For example, we have the "Stores" of the Chapels of our Lady and St. George, etc., and the Gilds of the young men and maidens of the parish. All these were kept and managed by the lay-elected officials of the societies-confraternities, I suppose, we should call them-and to their credit are entered numerous gifts of money and specific gifts of value of kind, such as cows, and swarms of bees, etc. Most of them had their little capital funds invested in cattle and sheep, the rent of which proved a considerable part of their revenues. In a word, these accounts furnish abundant and unmistakeable evidence of the active and intelligent interest

in the duty of supporting and adorning their church on the part of these simple country folk at large. What is true of this is true of every other similar account to a greater or less degree, and all these accounts show unmistakeably that the entire management of these parish funds was in the hands of the people.

Voluntary rates to clear off obligations contracted for the benefit of the community-such as the purchase of bells, the repair of the fabric, and even for the making of roads and bridges were raised by the wardens. Collections for Peter's pence, for the support of the parish clerk, and for every variety of church and local purpose, are recorded, and the spirit of self-help manifested, on every page of these accounts. To return to Morebath. In 1528 a complete set of black vestments was purchased at a cost-considerable in those days-of £6 5s., and to help in the common work the vicar gave up certain tithes in wool that he had been in the habit of receiving. These vestments, by the way, were only finished and paid for in 1547, just before the changes under Edward VI. rendered them useless. In 1538 the parish made a voluntary rate to purchase a new cope, and the general collections for this purpose produced some £3 6s. 8d. In 1534 the silver chalice was stolen, and at once, we are told, "ye yong men and maydens of ye parysshe dru themselves together, and at ther gyfts and provysyon they bought in another chalice without any charge of the parish." Sums of money, big and small; specific gifts in kind; the stuff or ornaments needed for vestments, were apparently always forthcoming when needed. Thus at one time a new cope is suggested, and Anne Tymwell, of Hayne,

gave the churchwardens her "gown and her ring"; Joan Tymwell, a cloak and a girdle; and Richard Norman, "seven sheep and 3 shillings and 4 pence in money," towards the

cost.

These examples could be multiplied to any extent, but the above will be sufficient to show the popular working of mediæval parishioners in support of their church. The same story of local government, popular interest, and ready selfhelp, as well as an unmistakeable spirit of affection for the parish church as theirs-their very own-is manifested by the people in every account we possess. Every adult of both sexes had a voice in the system, and the parson was little more in this regard than chairman of the village meetings, and, as I have more than once seen him described, "chief parishioner." In the management of the fabric, the service, and all things necessary for the due performance of these, the people were not merely called upon to pay, but it is clear the diocesan authorities evidently left to the parish a wise discretion. No doubt the higher ecclesiastical officials could interfere in theory, but in practice interference was obviously and wisely rare. It will be necessary in a subsequent chapter to describe the various methods employed to replenish the parochial exchequer. There was apparently seldom much difficulty in finding the necessary money, and it will be of interest to see how it was expended by some further examples.

CHAPTER III

THE PARISH CHURCH (continued)

IN the previous chapter the attention of the reader was

IN

directed mainly to the relations of priest and people to

their parish church. The division of obligation for the upkeep of chancel and nave by general law and custom between the parson and his parishioners has been stated and explained, and the devotion of the people to the work of maintaining and beautifying God's house has been illustrated by various examples. In this chapter it is proposed to speak of the various parts of the church itself; and first of the chancel, which was that portion of the sacred edifice between the altar and the nave, so called because it was separated from the rest of the church by railings (cancelli). Frequently in England there was at this point a screen supporting a figure of our Lord upon the cross, with images of Mary and John on either side, and from this called the "Rood Screen." The size of the chancel naturally varied according to the importance of the church, but it may be said to have generally included some stalls or seats for the assistant clergy and the parish clerks. When, as in cathedral and conventual churches, this portion was made larger, it was known as the choir (chorus), from the band