| By Author | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Title | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Language |
|
Download this book: [ ASCII | HTML | PDF ] Look for this book on Amazon Tweet |
Title: The Gate of Remembrance - The Story of the Psychological Experiment which Resulted - in the Discovery of the Edgar Chapel at Glastonbury
Author: Bond, Frederick Bligh
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Gate of Remembrance - The Story of the Psychological Experiment which Resulted - in the Discovery of the Edgar Chapel at Glastonbury" ***
THE GATE OF REMEMBRANCE
[Illustration: PLATE I.
GLASTONBURY ABBEY.
View from the site of the north transept, looking towards the Quire.
_Frontispiece to Part I._]
THE GATE OF
REMEMBRANCE
THE STORY OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT
WHICH RESULTED IN THE DISCOVERY OF
THE EDGAR CHAPEL AT GLASTONBURY
BY
FREDERICK BLIGH BOND, F.R.I.B.A.
DIRECTOR OF EXCAVATIONS AT GLASTONBURY ABBEY
AUTHOR OF "THE ARCHITECTURAL HANDBOOK OF GLASTONBURY ABBEY"
THIRD EDITION
WITH A RECORD OF THE FINDING OF THE
LORETTO CHAPEL IN 1919
BOSTON
MARSHALL JONES COMPANY
1920
_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_
ARCHITECTURAL HANDBOOK OF
GLASTONBURY ABBEY. (_Reprinting._)
THE GLASTONBURY PRESS: GLASTONBURY. 4s. Net
THE HILL OF VISION.
A Forecast of the Great War, with
subsequent events, gathered from automatic
writings.
CONSTABLE & CO., 7s. 6d. net, and of all Booksellers.
ROODSCREENS AND ROODLOFTS.
With numerous illustrations of ancient
ecclesiastical woodwork in English
churches.
Two volumes, 4to., 32s. 6d. net.
SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, AMEN CORNER, E.C.
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION
Two problems in the script have engaged the serious attention of
critics. The first and simpler of the two is that which is involved
in the language and literary form of the messages. This is a curious
patchwork of Low Latin, Middle English of mixed periods, and Modern
English of varied style and diction. It is a mosaic of multi-coloured
fragments cemented together in a strangely random fashion. This
anomaly is the more remarkable from the contrast it presents to the
sustained and consistent burden of the script itself, which, as though
in obedience to some preordained intention and settled plan, seems
to proceed to the presentment, line by line, of a completed whole,
with absolute patience and indifference to interruptions. Lapse of
time seems of no account. After a break of several hours, the thread
is resumed at the point where it had been dropped. The unfinished
communications about the Loretto Chapel in 1911 are picked up and
spontaneously completed five years later. Nevertheless, the queer
patchwork of language is again evident.
For this fact, the following explanation is offered. It will easily
be conceded that whatever the source or inspiring influence of these
messages, the language in which they are conveyed is the _mechanical
side_ of the matter, the most assuredly conventional element in the
process of transmission. But the obvious instruments are the brains
of F.B.B. and J.A. The reasoning and reflective faculties are at the
time in abeyance or are otherwise engaged,[1] their attention being
entirely diverted: but the storehouse of memories and subconscious
impressions latent within are being used, and quite independently
used, though concurrently in point of time with the normal use of the
thinking faculties on a wholly different subject.
[1] In the latest series of sittings, the rule has been for F.B.B.
to read aloud to J.A. during the whole course of the writing, from a
novel or other entertaining or amusing book, calculated to retain his
attention, and the script resulting has proved to have nothing at all
in common with the subject-matter of the book, but forms a related
series of essays bearing upon the conquest of matter by spirit.
Consider for a moment the human brain as the repository of all
impressions made on the mind from childhood upwards. Thus viewed,
it becomes, as it were, an encyclopedia of all knowledge which the
conscious mind has stored, each item recording an idea of a certain
quality, in such language as circumstances may at the time have
dictated. Suppose then--and it is not difficult to do so--that each
of these records is responsive to the impulse of an Idea which is
seeking expression, and whose instrument of expression is some sort of
sympathetic vibration attuned to the original thought which recorded
the particular memory or subject. The sympathetic vibration lays hold
of the denser or physical particles of the record, causing them to
respond and to emit their own proper voice.
In other words, the language of the script would be simply the product
of the reaction of our brain-records to the sympathetic vibration of
Idea, from whatever source arising.
Not that such conditions are always necessary or possible. There are,
for example, many quite well-authenticated cases of automatic writing
in which not only the idea conveyed is outside the consciousness of
the writer, but the language itself is entirely unknown to him, or to
her, as the case may be. Take, for example, the many recorded cases of
automatic writing in languages unknown to the medium, and sometimes
requiring special scholarship to appreciate.
The explanation seems in this case to be that the mind of the medium is
plastic to a more direct spiritual influence which can therefore mould
its particles and create a new record for itself. This must have been
so in the Gift of Tongues at the Pentecost, and later in the history of
the Primitive Church.
The second problem noted by critics is a more difficult one. It
concerns the intelligent source of the messages. As to this, I
have propounded the view of a Greater Memory transcending, and
interpenetrating our own. This theory is suggestive rather than
explanatory. It does not, and cannot, explain many things which in our
present state of knowledge are inexplicable. Neither does it pretend to
cover the whole ground. It is, as I say, merely suggestive. Its virtue
is that it excludes no other possible agencies, hence leaving room not
only for the exercise of transcendental faculty, such as clairvoyance,
but for any variety of _primary_ impulse, and for any number or degree
of directive agencies capable of employing it.
For as we are obliged by our own experience to acknowledge that our
own latent memory is revived and brought out in these scripts by some
intelligence working apart from our conscious minds; and to admit
that telepathy between two is involved: so we are also bound to allow
the possible presence of a further range of telepathic action working
through our minds in the production of these messages. And if we are
prepared to agree on the one hand that whereas the physical brain
dissolves at death and its action ceases, yet, on the other hand, that
a more inward and less material brain, the organ and vehicle of the
subconscious or intuitive self, still persists and survives entirely
the death of the physical body, and if we consider this more inward
brain as composed of finer particles, responsive to the far more rapid
movements of intuitive thought, then we shall have to allow that the
memory-record of any defunct personality, if capable of response _to
the same stimulus of spiritual Will and Idea which can actuate our
own_, can be drawn upon in like manner by the energising Intelligence,
and again, as in our own case, _without evoking the conscious "spirit"
or personality proper to it_. This is surely the meaning of Johannes
when he says (p. 95):
"Why cling I to that which is not? It is I, and it is not I, butt
part of me which dwelleth in the past, and is bound to that which my
carnal soul loved and called 'home' these many years. Yet I, Johannes,
amm of many partes, and ye better part doeth other things--Laus, laus
Deo!--only that part which remembreth clingeth like memory to what it
seeth yet."
Thus it seems to me the problem of personality, in the sense of the
conscious personal presence of individuals deceased, need not arise
at all in connection with these writings. All that it seems vital to
assume is the union of the deeper strata of our own latent mind or
dream-consciousness with others of a kindred nature and tone, by virtue
of their sympathetic and accordant motion in the presence of a greater
and all-inclusive spiritual essence, Idea, or Will, omnipresent and
all-permeating, waking into activity all dormant memory-records, and
directing them into any channel of mind which by previous preparation
on the conscious plane has become receptive and retentive of them.
Still small Voices from a distant Time!--thrilling through the void and
stirring faint resonances within the deeps of our own being--the great
Telepathy, the true Communion of Mind, the gate of the Knowledge, the
Gnosis of the apostle, whose key is Mental Sympathy, the key that the
lawyers took away, neither entering themselves, nor suffering others to
enter.
No discord can mar this communion, since love and understanding are
its law. Death cannot touch it: rather is he Keeper of the Gate.
Time, as we know it, here counts for naught, for to the deeper
dream-consciousness, a day may be as a thousand years, and a period of
trance or sleeping as one tick of the clock.
BRISTOL,
_May, 1918_.
NOTE
BY SIR WILLIAM BARRETT, F.R.S.
As some readers of this remarkable book have thought it too incredible
to be a record of fact, but rather deemed it a work of imagination, it
may be useful to add my testimony to that given in the book as to the
genuineness of the whole narrative.
The author has, I am sure, with scrupulous fidelity and care, presented
an accurate record of the scripts obtained through the automatic
writing of his friend, together with all the archæological knowledge
of the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey that was accessible before the
excavations were begun. In order to remove any doubt on this point,
before further excavations were made, Mr. Bligh Bond has wisely asked
representatives of certain societies to examine the later scripts which
refer to the Loretto Chapel, note their contents, and see how far the
further excavations may or may not verify any of the statements made in
the later scripts.
From any point of view the present book is of great interest. To the
student of psychology, who ignores any supernormal acquisition of
knowledge and yet accepts the good faith of the author, the problem
presents many difficulties. Chance coincidence may be suggested,
but this does not carry us far. The question therefore arises,
where did the veridical or truth-telling information given in some
of these scripts come from? As is so often the case in automatic
writing a dramatic form is taken, and messages purport to come from
different deceased people. The subconscious or subliminal self of the
automatist, doubtless, is the source of much contained in the scripts,
and may possibly be responsible for all the insight shown. But in
that case we must confer upon the subconsciousness of the automatist
faculties hitherto unrecognised by official science. The author has
pointed out, on p. 156, some of the powers the subconscious mind must
be assumed to possess; to these we may add a possible telepathic
transfer of information between the author and the automatist, and
also occasionally the faculty of _clairvoyance_, or a transcendental
perceptive power; for, according to the investigations of the author,
some of the statements made in the script were unknown to any
living person, and not found in historical records, prior to their
verification in subsequent excavation. We must, however, be on our
guard against the too facile use of words such as "telepathy" and
"subliminal consciousness" as a cloak to our ignorance. The history
of physical science shows how progress has often been retarded by
the use of phrases to account for obscure phenomena--words such as
"Phlogiston," "Catalysis," etc., which explained nothing, and now
are ridiculed, but which were once used by scientific authorities as
unquestionable axioms. It is wiser to acknowledge our ignorance and
convey our thanks to the author and his friend for the patient and
laborious care with which they have furnished valuable material for
future psychological explanation. Nor must we omit to recognise the
courage shown by Mr. Bligh Bond in the publication of a work which
might possibly jeopardise the high reputation he enjoys.
_GLASTONBURY_
_Grey among the meadows, solitary, bare:
Thy walls dismantled, and thy rafters low,
Naked to every wind and chilly air
That steeps the neighbouring marsh, yet standest thou,
Great cloistral monument of other days!
Though marked by all the storms that beat thee through,
A radiant Parable of heavenly ways
That scarce thy lordly builders guess'd or knew!
Vanishing image of great service done,
Smiling to God under the open sky:
Even in thy translation, stone by stone,
Keeping thy spirit-grace and symmetry,
Through ruined clerestory and broken rood
Our chastened souls with tears ascend to God._
A. M. BUCKTON: from _Songs of Joy_.
"_Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek
that ye may excel to the edifying of the church._
"_Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he
may interpret._
"_For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my
understanding is unfruitful._
"_What is it then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with
the understanding also._"
I COR. xiv. 12-15.
CONTENTS
PART PAGE
I. THE LOST CHAPEL 1
(_a_) INTRODUCTORY 3
(_b_) DOCUMENTARY 6
(_c_) PSYCHOLOGICAL METHODS APPLIED TO RESEARCH 17
(_d_) ON AUTOMATISM 22
(_e_) NOTES ON THE AUTOMATIC SCRIPT 26
(_f_) NARRATIVE OF THE WRITINGS 32
(_g_) TABLE OF VERIDICAL PASSAGES 70
(_h_) TESTIMONIES 79
II. THE CHILD OF NATURE 83
(_a_) JOHANNES GOES A-FISHING 86
(_b_) THE VAT OF GOOD ALE 89
(_c_) MEMORIES OF HIS HOUSE 93
(_d_) THE BURDEN OF THE FLESH 96
(_e_) THE GARGOYLE 98
(_f_) STORY OF EAWULF 105
III. THE LORETTO CHAPEL 109
(_a_) DOCUMENTARY 111
(_b_) STORY OF BERE'S VOW (1911 SCRIPT) 119
(_c_) CAMILLUS THESIGER SPEAKS (1916 SCRIPT) 125
(_d_) ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS DESCRIPTIVE OF THE
ITALIAN CHAPEL 128
(_e_) REVIEW 142
(_f_) THE 1917 SCRIPT 144
(_g_) RECONSTRUCTIONS 151
(_h_) CONCLUSION 155
(_i_) APPENDIX: TABLE OF DATA AND CONSTRUCTIVE
ARGUMENT 160
IV. INDEX AND SYNOPSIS 169
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE PAGE
I. RUINS OF GLASTONBURY ABBEY VIEWED FROM NORTH
TRANSEPT, LOOKING TOWARDS THE BROKEN ARCH
OF QUIRE. (F.B.B.) _frontispiece_
II. FOUNDATIONS OF THE EDGAR CHAPEL, AS RESTORED
(FROM WEST) _to face_ 56
III. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE INTERIOR OF BERE'S TIME
(EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY) FROM THE SAME
POINT AS PLATE I. (F.B.B.) (_frontispiece to
Part II._) _to face_ 84
IV. CONEY'S VIEW OF THE ABBEY (1817)
(_frontispiece to Part III._) _to face_ 111
V. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE NORTH TRANSEPT WITH
LORETTO CHAPEL AND CLAUSTRUM (FROM A PENCIL
DRAWING BY F.B.B.) _to face_ 154
FIG.
1. PHELPS'S PLAN 5
2. WILLIS'S PLAN 9
3. ARCHÆOLOGICAL INSTITUTE'S PLAN OF RETRO-QUIRE 15
4. PLAN OF GULIELMUS 34
5. SECOND PLAN, SHOWING EDGAR CHAPEL 36
6. PLAN OF APSIDAL CHAPEL, PUBLISHED BEFORE
DISCOVERY 61
7. PLAN OF APSIDAL CHAPEL AFTER EXCAVATION WAS
COMPLETED 64
8. SKETCH ELEVATION OF NORTH SIDE OF EDGAR
CHAPEL AND MONINGTON'S QUIRE 81
9. ABBOT'S HEAD (A GARGOYLE IN PROFILE) 99
10. STUKELEY'S PANORAMA OF THE RUINS IN 1723 115
11. HOLLAR'S VIEW, _c. 1655_ (ENLARGED) 116
12. CANNON'S SKETCH OF THE RUINS, _c. 1746_ 117
PLANS A TO I: NINE SHEETS OF DETAILS OF THE
LORETTO CHAPEL, BEING FACSIMILES OF THOSE
APPEARING IN THE AUTOMATIC SCRIPT _pages_ 129-142
13. GENERAL PLAN OF THE ABBEY LAID OUT ON SQUARES
OF 74 FEET (1912) 148_a_
14. GEOMETRIC PLAN OF ST. MARY'S CHAPEL 150
15. TENTATIVE PLAN OF THE LORETTO CHAPEL, ETC. 152
16. COMPLETE PLAN OF ALL CHIEF FEATURES MENTIONED
IN THE WORK 153
PART I
THE LOST CHAPEL
Since the last issue of this work, the foundations of the Chapel
of the Loretto at Glastonbury have been partly excavated, and are
found to accord, so far, with the statements received in automatic
writing. This discovery sets the seal upon the veridical nature of the
writings, and emphasizes the importance of the method employed by the
author for the recovery of latent knowledge.
THE GATE OF REMEMBRANCE
THE LOST CHAPEL
The green isle of Glaston, severed as it was from the outer world by
its girdle of marsh and mere, was from old time a haunt of peace.
Its history as a religious foundation goes back into the mists of
antiquity, and is lost in legend and fable. To this quiet retreat, this
secluded stronghold of a more ancient faith, the footsteps of the first
Christian missioners were guided, and the company of Eastern pilgrims
found rest in its green recesses and a well-guarded focus for the great
work of evangelising the isle of Britain.
Successive waves of pagan immigration flooded the land, yet never was
the lamp of truth extinguished here; and, stranger still, those who
came, though of alien race and custom, cherished the older landmarks
and sought not to destroy; for the heritage of Glaston was not the
heritage of any individual race, but of all--a trust for Christendom.
Within the sacred precincts the dust of many holy men was preserved,
and the church enshrined their relics. She grew great through the
pious benefactions of kings and nobles whose memory she kept green.
Among these the gifts of the great Saxon King, Edgar, "yclept The
Peaceable,"[2] were always gratefully remembered. In the great Abbey
Church there was a chapel to his honour, well endowed, and, we doubt
not, sumptuously furnished. But it was not esteemed sufficient, and
in the day of Richard Bere, the last great building Abbot, it was
decided that a new and more glorious monument should be erected to
his memory. So we learn from Leland, who saw the chapel as it stood,
a completed work, but a few years before the dissolution and ruin of
the monastery. Then came, in 1539, the forced surrender, the barbarous
execution of the last Abbot, Whiting, the violation of the shrines, and
the dispersal of all the treasures of art and learning stored within
the Abbey walls. But of the Edgar Chapel nothing more is heard, save
that we can infer from a document we quote that it was standing in
the days of Elizabeth. Yet it is doubtful whether it can have lasted
through half her reign. And perhaps it was one of the first of the
buildings to be utterly destroyed, since even its memory had perished
and its form and grandeur were alike forgotten. Those who have seen the
delicate and beautiful work at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle,
or that masterpiece of stonecraft, the Chapel of King Henry VII. at
Westminster, may form some idea of the general character of this Chapel
of Edgar in its finished state.
[2] Vide Capgrave's _Chronicle_. Local memory and tradition generally
preserve some traces, however dim or distorted, of an architectural
work of great magnitude and beauty, but it is a strange fact that
this one had utterly faded out of knowledge save for some scattered
and obscure notes in the pages of the old county antiquaries, which
contained no hint of its identity.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--PLAN FROM PHELPS'S "SOMERSET," REPRODUCED IN
WARNER'S "GLASTONBURY."
Shewing in dotted lines the reminiscence of an eastward Lady's, or
Retro-Chapel, thought to have been built by Abbot Adam de Sodbury in
the early part of the fourteenth century.
Two different states are shewn, both lettered 'F' by these authors,
and here numbered 1 and 2. No. 1 shews by scale a projection from
the retro-choir of 30 feet; whilst No. 2 gives a total length of 95
feet. This is called by Warner, "the chapel according to its original
proportions." The two measurements are approximately harmonised by
Leland's record of the lengthening of the choir by Abbot Monington to
the extent of two bays, and the throwing out of his new retro-choir to
the east, which would absorb about two-thirds of the length of this
chapel.]
DISCOVERY OF THE EDGAR CHAPEL, GLASTONBURY ABBEY:
AN ACCOUNT OF A PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT
The following is the story of the discovery which, in 1908, caused a
good deal of public interest, and provided the archæological world with
an object of attention.
Although known to a small circle of friends of the writer and his
colleague in the research, and to the Secretary of the Society for
Psychical Research, who was intimately acquainted with both, and in
touch with them at the time, no publication of the circumstances has
yet been made, and this was withheld largely for reasons more or less
personal to the writer, though the intention had always been to make
known the facts whenever the time should seem ripe for the disclosure.
The entire record has been preserved, and the testimony of both the
writer and his friend being available, as well as the contemporary
evidence of the Secretary of the S.P.R., it will be seen that the
matter stands on a fairly good basis in respect of documentary witness.
For reasons of convenience, initials will be used in the ensuing
account. F.B.B. will denote the writer, and J.A. his friend, John
Alleyne.
In anticipation of an appointment to the position of Director
of Excavations at Glastonbury Abbey on behalf of the Somerset
Archæological Society, of which he was a member, F.B.B. had, during
1907, devoted considerable time to the study of the ruins and their
history, and to that of the older religious foundations, and in this
J.A. assisted him. Most of the surviving accounts of the Abbey were
gone through, both the works of the mediæval writers and those of the
seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, with the fragments
collected by them from older sources. Among the first, the works of
William of Malmesbury, Adam de Domerham, William Wyrcestre, and John
of Glaston, were examined, whilst Leland was not overlooked, and the
later antiquaries, Hearne, Dugdale, Hollar, and Stukeley, had their
share of attention. Following these, Browne-Willis, Britton, Carter,
Collinson, Phelps, Kerrich, and Warner, were consulted, and finally
some careful attention was bestowed on the modern antiquaries, Parker,
Freeman, and last, but not least in importance, Professor Willis, whose
_Architectural History_ was the standard book of reference on the
subject during the latter half of the nineteenth century, and still
remains of the greatest usefulness to students.
Glastonbury Abbey having passed out of private hands into the custody
of a body of Trustees, acting on behalf of the National Church,
it was hoped that a greatly increased opportunity for research and
excavation would ensue. All published plans of the Great Church had
been necessarily very incomplete, in the absence of visible remains
and the lack of trustworthy evidence from documents. In particular the
following features were in doubt:
1. The form of the retro-quire, and eastward termination of the Abbey
Church.
2. The question of a north porch to the nave, and its probable
position, if it existed.
RETRO-QUIRE AND CHAPELS.
In 1866 Professor R. Willis published his invaluable _Architectural
History_, being the substance of a communication he had made to the
Archæological Institute in the year previous. He devotes two pages
(40, 41) to a discussion of the number and arrangement of the chapels
east of the processional path in the retro-quire, and arrives at the
conclusion that they were five in number. And in his plan (Fig. 2),
which appears as a frontispiece to his work, he shows these five, the
central one projecting about 12 feet. On p. 43 he says:
"As Bere is also said to have built Edgar's Chapel at the east end
of the church, it is probable that this chapel was one of those that
we are considering, and that Bere fitted it up and completed it. The
complete eradication of the east wall of the church in the centre
may be accounted for by supposing that the central chapel projected
eastward, as I have shown in the plan, and that this chapel was
Edgar's; for if it had been only one of the ordinary chapels it would
not have been worth mentioning as a distinct building."[3]
[3] _Cf._ Leland's _Itinerary_. "Abbate Beere buildid Edgares Chapel at
the Est End of the Chirch, but Abbate Whiting performed sum part of it."
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--PROFESSOR WILLIS'S PLAN.]
Professor Willis's conjecture represents the largest or most liberal
interpretation yet placed by any antiquary upon the passage from
Leland--which, it may be said, is the only known contemporary evidence
of this work of the last two Abbots.
Parker,[4] who reviewed the whole subject of the plan in his work
for the Somerset Archæological Society (see his article in their
_Proceedings_ for 1880), does not support Willis's conclusions,
inclining rather to the view that the Edgar Chapel was in the south
transept, to the east of the _nave_, but it is within the writer's
knowledge that Professor Freeman believed that the original quire,
which, before Monington's addition of a fifth and sixth bay, must
have been shorter by some 39 feet, was furnished with a large eastern
chapel, probably a Lady-chapel, and that this may have been of quite
considerable dimensions and even co-extensive in total length with the
plan as given by Willis. But this view does not appear to have gone
farther than a mere expression of opinion verbally given at a meeting
in the Abbey, and the writer only heard it quoted as a reminiscence
some time after the discovery of the Edgar Chapel.
[4] See paper by James Parker, M.A., in 1880 volume of _Som. Arch.
Proc._, p. 101, where he says, speaking of the Edgar Chapel: "The
question is, What did Leland mean by the 'est end of the chirch'? Does
he mean the choir? Of course, I cannot say that he does not. But there
are two considerations. The first is the view preserved by Stukely,
taken by his friend Mr. Strachey before the Abbot's House was pulled
down, and, as I understand it, some few years before 1723. In this a
larger portion of the second chapel in the south transept remains than
now, and it is lettered 'Edgar Chapel.' He seems to have obtained his
name from hearsay, and possibly no importance ought to be attached
to the tradition by itself. The other consideration seems to me more
worthy of attention, and may perhaps support the tradition, where it
is said in the next paragraph which Leland gives in reference to Abbot
Bere, that he 'arched' on both sides, the east part of the church."
Parker proceeds to argue that this arching probably refers to the east
end _of the nave_, not of the choir, and that if so, then Edgar's
Chapel belongs to the same work, and would thus be connected with the
transept also. "And there," says Parker, "it is placed in the only
engraving which gives the name." "On the whole," he concludes, "I think
it must be left an open question as to what Abbot Bere built; at least,
that the evidence is not sufficient to justify putting Edgar's Chapel
_at the east end of the choir_."
It appears to have been put forward as an explanation of the curious
diagram given in Phelps's _Somerset_, where a plan of the church is
published, showing in dotted lines a short projection at the point
where Willis shows his chapel, and this is given a semicircular or
apsidal end.[5] Phelps calls this the "Lady's Chapel." And in the
corner of the same sheet this author gives another long rectangular
diagram, again with a semicircular end, which Warner, who reproduces
the plan, calls the "Chapel according to its original dimensions." The
apse being the constant feature, these additional dimensions would be
to the west, and would answer to the difference in the former and the
latter dimensions of the quire which Monington lengthened in 1344-5.
And it will be clear that some such reasoning may have guided Parker or
Freeman to the tentative conclusion mentioned, and have assisted Willis
to form his definite theory of a slight prominence in the central
chapel of the later retro-quire.
[5] See Fig. 1, p. 5.
Among the documents which have been recovered whose period is that of
the immediate post-Reformation, is one which would have been readily
accessible to Willis and others, and which is preserved by Phelps and
copied by Warner in his _Glastonbury_, published in the twenties of the
last century. This is a transcript of a report made to Queen Elizabeth
by a Commissioner, who was sent to make an inventory of the Abbey
buildings, and he gives a series of measurements of the principal parts
of the monastery, including the Abbey Church, as to which he says:
"The great church in the Aby was in length 594 as followeth:
The Chapter House, in length, 90 foot.
The Quier, in length, 159 foot; in breadth, 75 foot.
The bodie of the Church, in length, 228 foot.
The Joseph's chapell, in length, 117 foot."
In the seventeenth century we have the bare statements of Hollar and of
Hearne, that the total length of the Abbey Church was 580 feet.
All the measures given by the Elizabethan Commissioner are very
excessive, and perhaps for that reason, as well as for the confusion
of idea suggested by the association of the Chapter-House measure with
those of the Church, they have been rejected, or not regarded, by
modern antiquaries. In like manner the bare statement of Hollar and
Hearne, being without any description of what buildings were to be
included in their measure, has not been taken into account.
Professor Willis's review of the probabilities of the plan of the
east end seemed conclusive as regards the existence of five chapels
in a row on the east wall of the retro-quire, for the construction
he places upon William Wyrcestre's description must be admitted to
be most reasonable, fortified as it is by the record of Wild's plan
(1813), in which the bases of two piers with fragments of wall attached
and running eastward are shown in precisely the position required as
partitions for the forming of the three central chapels of the five.
These piers had evidently been recently discovered, and are figured in
Britton's _Architectural Antiquaries_, vol. iv., p. 195. But all trace
of them has been cleared away, and, as Willis himself says (_op. cit._,
p. 42):
"Unfortunately, the practice in respect to these ruins until the
beginning of this century and later was always to remove not merely
the wrought stones, but also to eradicate the foundations. And
although the remains have been for many years protected from this kind
of destruction, THERE IS NO HOPE LEFT OF RECOVERING ANY DETAILS OF
PLAN BY EXCAVATIONS." (_Capitals mine.--F.B.B._)
So the matter remained until, in 1903-4, the Archæological Institute
decided to make Glastonbury the scene of its labours, and Mr. (now Sir
William) St. John Hope was deputed to prepare a paper for their annual
meeting.
Mr. Hope, having in mind such plans as Abbey Dore, where four chapels
appear against the east wall of the retro-quire, reviews William
Wyrcestre's statement in this light, and places on his words an
alternative construction such as would be correct if that writer had
been habitually precise in his descriptions. But he is not precise,
and a general inspection of his writings will sufficiently show that
he has a peculiar method of representing facts where number, series,
locality, or dimension are involved. In the present instance he says:
"IN ORIENTALI PARTE ALTARIS GLASTONIE.
"Spacium de le reredes ex parte orientali magne altaris sunt 5
columpnæ seriatim et inter quamlibet columpnam est capella cum altare."
Mr. Hope thought that Wyrcestre counted each respond as a whole column,
which would mean three whole columns and two responds or piers engaged
with the walls north and south, suggesting, of course, four chapels
only. He caused trenches to be cut east and west along the site of his
supposed central dividing wall, and one north and south immediately
outside the east wall of the retro-quire and across the gap where the
central chapel of Willis ought to have been. But nothing turned up
which to his mind was indicative of an extension of building beyond the
line of the two remaining fragments of walling marking the eastward
end of the retro-quire, and his conclusion is definite--that there was
not, and could never have been, any such extension of a central chapel.
And he claimed to have found support for his view of a mid-partition
giving a total of four, and not five, chapels, through the confirmatory
results of his excavation. Such was the position in 1907 when the
writer commenced his studies, and it will readily be seen that no
prospect of success could reasonably be expected to attend further
research by excavation beyond this point.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
All the evidence was sifted and discussed by F.B.B. and J.A. F.B.B.
attached perhaps as little weight to the conflicting records of a
longer measure as had those who went before him. But he distinctly
preferred Willis's solution to others, as there was no gainsaying the
significance of Wild's plan with its two intermediate column-bases.
And instinctively he felt, as his friend also felt, that the question
was not solved, the last word not said. More than once, the feeling
returned that a chapel which was thought worthy of special mention
by Leland, and which, according to his account, was the work of two
Abbots, must have been a work of some importance.
Still, nothing came uppermost in the mind which would tend to modify
the writer's respect for Willis's view, nor, indeed, to challenge its
probability. It was rather with the object of defending this view,
as against the contradictory one more recently put forward, that the
intention was formed to examine, as soon as circumstances might permit,
the site of Wild's twin piers, and to dig deep around the spot in the
hope of finding yet some trace of footings characteristic of a crypt;
for Wild noted these as being "probably part of the crypt," and it did
not appear that anyone had taken the trouble to investigate this matter.
Wild's plan, incorporated in Britton's "Antiquities," may be regarded
as a standard work. In this respect it claims greater weight than
others such as Phelps's or Stukeley's, which are vague and inaccurate.
Warner copies Phelps, and claims a fourteenth-century Lady-Chapel at
the east, but neither Britton nor Stukeley, whose plan is two hundred
years old, supports his view. Warner's note is quoted by Professor
Willis (ref. to p. 31 of his _Architectural History_).
PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF PSYCHOLOGY APPLIED TO ARCHÆOLOGICAL RESEARCH
It has been said that the great distinction between East and West
in the matter of learning has been that whilst Western science
deals with phenomena and builds upon deductions from observation of
external things, Eastern wisdom looks always inwardly, seeking to find
the answer to all enigmas of creation in the mind of man. The one
develops the logical faculty, often, perhaps, at the sacrifice of the
imaginative functions; whilst the other follows the intuitive powers,
not regarding logical rules. But, as a matter of fact, neither method
can be employed to the exclusion of the other, and any great discovery
of Western science will be found the outcome of interaction between the
two principles. It had always been clear, however, to the writer that
the part played by the intuitive or, as Myers would say, subliminal
powers of the mind is habitually set aside by the orthodox naturalist,
who is apt to see little beyond his specimens and what can logically
be inferred from them. And archæological research has been in such a
manner hidebound, and, it must be admitted, with some reason; for, as a
comparatively young science, it has had to protect itself against many
a foolish fantasy launched by a half-instructed or over-enthusiastic
devotee. To describe these as "vain imaginations" would be correct, as
the word "vain" is a sufficient qualification, but the writer at all
times deprecates the use of the noble word "imagination" in the debased
sense of a mere fantasy. Imagination is a great gift, a Divine power
of the mind, and may be trained and educated to receive and to create
only that which is true. And this, maybe, is the secret of much of the
spiritual understanding and wisdom of the East.
But we Western folks think it unpractical to cultivate this gift.
We have no system for training it, and our bourgeois habit of mind
despises it. In our slipshod way, we say of anything not founded on
fact, "It is all imagination," and similarly we are wont to misuse the
term "illusion" by employing it to characterise positive delusion.
The training of the imaginative faculty upon scientific lines and its
application to archæological research had long been a favourite notion
of the writer's, and he and J.A. had many a talk on the subject; but
the difficulty was as to the method most likely to secure the results
at which they aimed.
What was clear enough, however, was the need of somehow switching off
the mere logical machinery of the brain which is for ever at work
combining the more superficial and obvious things written on the
pages of memory, and by its dominant activity excluding that which a
more contemplative element in the mind would seek to revive from the
half-obliterated traces below.
And it occurred to F.B.B. that in the faculty of automatism which
his friend was believed to possess, but which he had never used
deliberately (it had operated once or twice in his life spontaneously),
there might be found the key to success in this direction. F.B.B. was
a member of the Society for Psychical Research. Both he and J.A. were
intimate with Mr. Everard Feilding, Secretary of the Society, who had
been greatly interested in J.A.'s account of certain phenomena of
automatism which he had experienced. And E.F. had been present at one
or two experiments in the calling of these powers into play.
Before entering upon the actual narrative of the discovery in
connection with Glastonbury, it must be further premised that neither
F.B.B. nor J.A. favoured the ordinary spiritualistic hypothesis which
would see in these phenomena _the action of discarnate intelligences
from the outside upon the physical or nervous organisation of the
sitters_. They would regard such a view as something like a reversal or
turning inside-out of the truth. But that the embodied consciousness
of every individual is but a part, and a fragmentary part, of a
transcendent whole, and that within the mind of each there is a door
through which Reality may enter as Idea--Idea presupposing a greater,
even a cosmic Memory, conscious or unconscious, active or latent, and
embracing not only all individual experience and revivifying forgotten
pages of life, but also Idea involving yet wider fields, transcending
the ordinary limits of time, space, and personality--this would be a
better description of the mental attitude of the two friends.
The following may be quoted as indicating F.B.B's temper of mind and
feeling at a time closely following the date of the experiments he made
with J.A. It may be found as a passage in the Illuminated Address which
he prepared for, and which was accepted by, the Queen on her visit as
Princess of Wales to the Abbey in 1909, and was conceived as a part
of the "lovynge Greetinge of y^e monkes of Glaston to theyre Prince
and Princesse. xxii Jun: A^o Mcmix." This extract runs as follows.
It was not automatic, but was doubtless influenced to some extent by
a strong feeling in more than one quarter that Glastonbury would be
renewed as a centre of spiritual realisation and reconciliation between
the various racial elements in these islands and their distinctive
religious expressions, not yet co-ordinated (see the writer's article
on "Glastonbury" in the Christmas number of the _Treasury_ for 1908,
also an address by Canon Masterman given in London in the same year).
Glastonbury, as is well known, was a centre of pilgrimage from all
parts of the world. In most ancient times it was compared with Rome and
Jerusalem:
"For y^e past dyeth not but slepeth, nay ffor perchaunce hit wakyth
and hit ys they of y^e present who doe slepe and dreme. Hit ys euen as
a ffar countrie ffrom y^e which they heare tydynges: Yet men will fare
vnto londes ffarr distant and y^e weelth hath bene theyr guerdon euen
soe wayteth euer ffor man y^e treasure of y^e wisdom of past tymes and
yeeldeth her vnto y^e loue whych seekyth and ys ne wearyed; soe schal
y^e memorie of oldetyme thinges be reuealyd and of Glaston hit ys sayd
y^t when y^e tymes ben ripe y^e glorye schal return: May hit bee euen
soe Gracious Prince and Princess yn youre tyme."
Then y^e grasse schal bee as glasse
And y^e schal see y^e mysterie
Deepe downe hit lyes ffrom pryinge eies
And safelie slepes, while vigil kepes
Y^e company.
(Howe doe) y^e dry bonys stir and shake
And eche to eche hys fellowe seekes
Soone comes agayne what once hath bene
And Glastonys glory shal be seene.
These verses were evolved one day in automatic writing. What their
origin neither F.B.B. nor J.A. know--neither can recall having read
them. Owing to their beauty and suggestiveness, they were incorporated
in the Address in a form slightly modified from the original.
ON AUTOMATISM
The essential objection to the methods and practices of the
spiritualists, and the ground of that instinctive repugnance which is
normally felt towards these methods, is undoubtedly that they imply a
surrender of the will and powers of self-control to activities which,
for good or evil, are outside the personal sphere of the medium.
The higher spiritual gifts are those in which the recipient acts as
a conscious participator in the act of transmission. Between these
two extremes is a class intermediate in nature, which is apparently
recognised by St. Paul in the first Epistle to the Corinthians,[6]
the typical instance quoted being that of the "gift of tongues" whose
exercise, whilst not discouraged by him, was nevertheless noted as
of inferior value, since it did not tend always to the edification
of the Church. But it was one phase of a form of inspiration then
known, probably as a common phenomenon, and there can be little or
no doubt that it was accompanied by others of a similar sort, and
that inspirational writing was possibly one of the most ordinary of
these. The one necessarily follows from the other. There is even a
possible element of the kind to be weighed in any satisfying theory of
Biblical inspiration, and the prophetic utterances connected therewith,
and it will have to be considered fairly and apart from theological
preconceptions.
[6] See flyleaf.
It is clear from the chapter in Corinthians (1 Cor. xiv.) that in the
exercise of the gift of tongues the speaker generally knew little
or nothing of the meaning of what he was saying, though it is not
necessary to assume that the utterance was beyond his control. But it
implies the action of what, in modern language, has been spoken of
as a supraliminal part of the mind, when, to quote the Apostle, "the
understanding is unfruitful."
The exercise of automatism--a controlled automatism--in the production
of writing seems to the author a reasonable parallel, and, where the
result is capable of ready interpretation, there, according to the
Apostolic dictum, is the hope of "edification" by its means. And for
those prepared and ready for its exercise the gift of prophecy in those
days awaited manifestation through them. And it is not necessary to
suppose that the gifts then bestowed were unique, in the sense that
they were afterwards to be withdrawn for all time. On the contrary, it
is quite clear from Scripture itself that a great revival of them was
to be expected in later days, as Peter says in Acts ii. 17, quoting the
prophet Joel:
"_And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour
out My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall
dream dreams._"
Are we not led to believe that there is no limitation to the "liberal
gifts" of the spirit nor to the variety in the nature of the spiritual
gifts which may be exercised? They may be concerned with any possible
branch of mental activity, and all new ideas, whether in art, science,
philosophy, politics, religion, or what not, must be held to be
included. Nor need the manner or method of such inspiration concern us
as of primary importance, however unusual such may chance to appear.
The one test is the quality of its message, whether it be truthful
or otherwise, edifying or lacking in helpful qualities. If a message
of this nature be found true, it cannot be dictated by a spirit of
falsehood; if sane, then not by insanity; if wholesome and moral, then
not by a vicious or depraved intelligence. Men do not gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles.
The germination of new and profitable ideas in the mind may in this
respect be brought about, firstly, by a suitable system of mental
exercise and culture; secondly, by a willingness to hold back all
mental preferences and preconceptions, and to restrain also the
surface activities of the brain, so that the channel of pure "idea"
which resides in the subconscious mind may be maintained, and the
finer activities allowed to percolate. Then surely may be hoped for
the reaction of those energies sent forth by previous effort of the
mind and will, and ideas will flow back, not singly and alone, but
accompanied by a spiritual reinforcement which may include elements new
and of great value, from sources beyond the ken of the individual mind.
These new elements may be of all conceivable kinds, moving instinct,
intuition, imagination, affection, or will. They may be vague and
abstract, or tinged, as in dreams, with a vivid sense of personality;
dispassionate or pulsing with new enthusiasms; lighting the
intelligence, or moving in the dark region of the subliminal mind--in
this case perhaps incapable of being evoked save by automatism or the
telepathy of other minds. From some inward and mysterious fount they
come, borne in upon us by dynamic impulse carrying with it the fruition
of memories and experiences long dormant and inaccessible to us, though
within the range of the spiritual intelligence which is the Directive
power. Man is a very complex being, and although, spiritually speaking,
he lives and acts in relation with his fellow-men in, and by virtue
of, his memories, personal and ancestral--for what are character and
conscience but the fruition of all those memories and experiences which
are his own or those of every pre-natal element in him?--yet, may it
not be that when released from physical conditions, as at death, there
will take place some dissociation of the strata of his personality, the
mere brain-record, the husk, the mechanism of his memories of common
things, being scattered as the chaff, or shaken off as a discarded
coat, whilst their fruit is garnered as new spiritual power and
knowledge in the soul's æonial treasury?
SOME NOTES ON THE SCRIPT AND ITS PUBLICATION
The decision to publish these writings was formed after much careful
weighing of all reasons for and against, and their issue at the present
juncture was largely influenced by the feeling that public interest in
such matters had greatly ripened since the war, and that the fruits of
the author's experiment should not be withheld, since they might serve
to direct that interest into a new and perhaps profitable channel.
The script produced during the fairly long period of time (from the
end of 1907 to 1911, and again in 1912 and more recently) was obtained
under varying conditions, and was of very varied quality. A large
proportion had reference to Glastonbury and to monastic affairs and
history, and of this only a part would claim to possess any sort of
evidential value. Some was of private interest only, and would be
useless for publication. Occasionally the attempted communication
was a failure. In a few cases there were noted some very obvious
misstatements. The most serious of these was in the measures first
given for the Edgar Chapel, "Et Capella extensit 30 virgas ad orientem
et viginti virgas in latitudine(m)." A "virga" is a yard. The script
was very obscure, and the measure was asked for again, with the result
that "quinquaginta virgas" was written. A third time the confirmation
was sought, and this time the "30 virgas" was repeated. "Quinquaginta"
(50) was obviously a mistake, but the repetition of the 30 virgas,
though indicating a length vastly in excess of anything we had ever
thought possible for this chapel, made one less inclined to dismiss
it without further attention. The "viginti virgas" given once for
the width seemed quite out of the question. And as the event proved,
no measure approaching 20 yards for the extreme width of the chapel
could then be shown to have existed. It appeared absurd, and was then
and there ruled out, together with the inconsistent and excessive
"quinquaginta virgas" of length.[7] This occurred at the close of the
first sitting, which had been a long one. The writing was becoming less
clear; the power was failing, and the sitters beginning to feel weary.
[7] At a later date the excavations revealed a small chantry adjoining
the south side, as at Gloucester Cathedral (Lady Chapel). This extends
the width to 48 or 49 feet. If a similar chantry were appended to the
north side (again following Gloucester) the extreme width might be
close on 60 feet ("viginti virgas"). But of this nothing is known.
Colonel Long's MS. plan, found in 1910, gives the 49 feet width.
No further attempt was therefore made at the time to elucidate the
measures, but it was resolved to try again on a subsequent occasion.
There was a very cold spell in the early winter of 1907-8, and the
attempts during this period were mostly failures. On the 13th December
the sitting was abandoned for this reason. Another on the 21st produced
nothing satisfactory. Again, on the 3rd January, 1908, when the cold
was at its height, only a few cramped and uncertain words could be
obtained, in which these were traced:
"Frigidus sum ... memoria oportet nullum ... nescio quid aut quo[8]
fecimus scriptum...."
[8] For "quomodo."
Another and much more important cause of failure must now be noted.
About the beginning of 1908 certain circumstances of a rather anxious
and trying nature were affecting one of the sitters. This produced
a preoccupation of mind unfavourable to the production of automatic
writing; and it seems a well-established rule that the sitters' minds
must be placid and their mood quiescent to obtain the best results. On
the 30th January, 1908, a further attempt was made to obtain writing,
but with entire lack of success from this cause, and all that was worth
recording was a few words, ending with the following: "Eschew self.
Something clogs the tones. Search yourselves straitly."
It was not until the 19th of February that any further really
satisfactory results were attained, and at this sitting the unspoken
desire of the sitters was met and a detailed description of the Edgar
Chapel given, including its outside measure of width--namely, 34 feet.
But it was not until Sitting XXXII. on the 16th June that the final
confirmation came. This was in answer to a question, and it was given
as follows:
"The width ye shall find is twenty and seven, and outside, thirty and
four, so we remember.--BEERE ABBAS."
At the date of this sitting, the west wall of the chapel had been
located, but its length not yet ascertained, so that there was nothing
to guide opinion as to this save what could be inferred from the
position of the small section opened, which showed it to be probably
about 20 feet in the clear of the footings, if placed centrally with
the quire. Then, in response to the further question, What was the
clear internal length of the chapel? came the reply,
"Wee laid downe seventy and two, but they builded longer."
And the veridical nature of these figures was shown by later knowledge.
(See Table, p. 76.)
But to return to the subject of errors. At Sitting XXXVI., on the 19th
September, 1908, there was given the story of a Saxon Earl, one Eawulf,
or Eanwulf, who was slain by a certain Radulphus, Norman knight of the
time of Turstin, first Norman Abbot. The story is quite a good one and
contains what appears to be veridical matter, but it is marred by a
peculiarity. Halfway through the script a strange mistake is noted.
The name of Turstin is substituted for Radulphus, and the script says,
"Eawulf and _Turstinus_ did fight, and the Norman did slay the Saxon."
Now such an error is tiresome, as it spoils the clearness of the
story. Yet, in another way, it is interesting, for the light that it
throws on the mechanical action of the brain as the probable source of
error in automatic writing or speaking.
It is a fact well known to those who are called upon to speak in
public, or who are engaged in literary work, that unless the attention
be fixed and concentrated on the subject in hand, the brain will
act mechanically, causing repetition of any word recently impressed
on the mental tympanum, and such word may easily be substituted for
another. Where there is fatigue, this may happen very easily. In the
case of automatic writing, the mind is relaxed, and there is probably
a predisposition to such errors. The example given seems a proof of
it. It seems, indeed, a matter for surprise that such mistakes are not
more numerous in the script obtained by us. On the contrary, another
phenomenon has been frequently observed in connection with it. This
is, that at the commencement of a sitting the thread of a former
communication, broken by the termination of a previous séance, would be
resumed almost as though no interval of time had elapsed.
It had been intended in the present work that only the veridical matter
concerning the Edgar Chapel should appear in print; but the scope
was enlarged by the inclusion of Johannes, whose personality seemed
attractive. Later, it was decided to allow the remarkable reminiscence
of the "Loretto" Chapel also to see the light of day, in anticipation
of further knowledge. But readers will understand that nothing like a
wholesale reproduction of the script in the author's possession would
be possible. At the same time it may be clearly stated that in what
is reserved there is nothing which contradicts or negatives the value
of what is given, and of this the fact that the author has been able
with success to follow out the indications given may be held sufficient
warrant.
No apology seems needed for the quality of the "Latin" in the script,
which is very much what one might imagine to be the colloquial jargon
of illiterate members of the community, whose knowledge of the tongue
would be chiefly confined to the service-books, or what they understood
of them.
The author would here record his indebtedness to his friend J.A., not
only for that cordial interest and co-operation without which the new
line of research could not have been undertaken, nor this work have
seen the light of day; but also for the verses he has written on the
subject of Plate III., and on the final Envoi. His thanks are also due
to Miss A. M. Buckton for her sonnet (Plate I.) and for many valued
suggestions; to Mr. T. H. Felton for his permission to use material
from the Cannon MS.; to the Council of the Somerset Archæological
Society for loan of several blocks (including Plate II.); and to Mr.
Edward Everard for the loan of Coney's and Stukeley's plates; also to
Mr. Everard Feilding for his constant interest in the work and many
helpful suggestions.
NARRATIVE OF THE WRITINGS
It was on the 7th of November that F.B.B. and J.A. had their first
sitting for the purpose of furthering the Glastonbury research. This
took place at 4.30 p.m. in F.B.B.'s office. J.A. held a pencil, F.B.B.
provided foolscap paper, which he steadied with his left hand, whilst
placing his right lightly on the back of J.A.'s, so that his fingers
lay evenly across its surface.
F.B.B. started by asking the question, as though addressed to some
other person:
"_Can you tell us anything about Glastonbury?_"
J.A.'s fingers began to move, and one or two lines of small irregular
writing were traced on the paper. He did not see what was written, nor
did F.B.B. decipher it until complete. The agreed method was to remain
passive, avoid concentration of the mind on the subject of the writing,
and to talk casually of other and indifferent matters, and this was
done. The writing turned out to be a sort of abstract dictum--viz.:
"All knowledge is eternal and is available to mental sympathy."
Then followed:
"I was not in sympathy with monks--I cannot find a monk yet."
F.B.B. suggested that one of their living monk-friends might be a
sympathetic link, and the writing was resumed. After a short interval
J.A.'s hand moved and began to trace a line, ultimately making a
drawing which on inspection looked like a recumbent cross, but which
when examined proved to be a fairly correct outline of the main
features of the Abbey Church traced by a single continuous line, but at
the east was a long rectangular addition, nearly as long again as the
quire, and this was given in a double line as though to emphasise it.
Down the middle of the plan were written the words--
"=Gulielmus Monachus.=" (See Fig. 4.)
Next followed what appeared to be an elaborate plan of the great
enclosure of the Abbey Church, with a sketch of a central tower, with
square pinnacled top, a west front or gabled façade, with two peaked
turrets and a large arched light between. Across the middle of the
surrounding enclosure a line was drawn, and at one point something like
an ornamental turret with two curved diverging lines below appeared,
and the words, "linea bifurcata"[9] were written. Then something
looking like a gabled building was sketched, from which a line was
traced to two rows of arches, perhaps representing a cloister, and
thence another straight line to a drawing recognised as being intended
for St. Mary's Chapel, and approaching it from the south. The plan of
the chapel showed a large square projection (? turret) on the south,
and two doors on the north side.
[9] The ancient "Book of Melchin" (now lost), quoted by John of
Glaston, says of Joseph of Arimathea: "Amongst them Joseph of Marmore,
named of Arimathea, receives perpetual sleep; and he lies in _linea
bifurcata_ near the south corner of the Oratory which is built of
hurdles." "Linea," according to Ducange, means "an under-garment,"
and "bifurcata" would denote one slit at the sides like a shirt or
dalmatic. But our script seems to suggest rather "a fork in the paths"
as the place where Joseph lay.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--THE PLAN OF THE ABBEY CHURCH WITH THE EDGAR
CHAPEL TO THE EAST (LEFT HAND).
NOTE.--The drawing has all the marks of a blindfold tracing. The
line is continuous, commencing at A, and the north transept is first
drawn, very small. Next the line runs east, and the north-east angle
of the retro-quire is traced, and, following this, the Edgar Chapel,
extending east for about half the length of the quire. Here the line
is drawn three times over, as though to emphasise the feature, and
it then returns over the old ground, the north transept being again
drawn, but larger and further removed, and the whole outline of the
church is completed, to the junction south-west of the Edgar Chapel,
ending with the signature GULIELMUS MONACHUS (William the Monk).]
_Q._ (_by F.B.B._). "_What does this drawing represent?_"
_A._ "Guest Hall ... St. Maria Capella ... Rolf monachus."
The first drawing was now examined, and both F.B.B. and J.A. expressed
a view unfavourable to the possibility of so large a chapel at the east
of the church. It was resolved to try again.
F.B.B. "_Please give us a more careful drawing of the chapel sketched
just now at the east end of the great church._"
In reply, a new sketch of the rectangular chapel was given (see Fig.
5), with an attempt to indicate the position of two smaller chapels on
the north. Again the line was drawn double, and below was written the
following, in cramped characters not easy to decipher:
"Capella St. Edgar. Abbas Beere fecit hanc capellam Beati Edgari ...
martyri et hic edificavit vel fecit voltam ... fecit voltam petriam
quod vocatur quadripartus sed Abbas Whitting ... destruxit ... et
restoravit eam cum nov ... multipart ... nescimus eam quod vocatur.
"Portus[10] introitus post reredos post altarium quinque passuum
et capella extensit 30 virgas ad orientem et (? viginti)[11] in
latitudine cum fen (?) ... (?)."
[10] For mediæval use of the masculine form "portus" for "porta" see
Lobinell, _Hist. Brit._, ii. 872. "Ante suum introitum fecit idem
novus dux primum juramentum in introitu variere portus illius urbis
vocati vulgariter Portus de Morzellos." Also in O.E. (Anglo-Saxon
Psalter) "on portum" = "in porta."
[11] A doubtful measure (see pp. 27 and 63). The writing was very weak
and unsatisfactory, as though the force were waning.
F.B.B. "_Please repeat; we cannot read this._"
(_Repeated._) "Quinquaginta[12] virgas et fenestrae transomatae."
[12] "Quinquaginta" is sheer nonsense, and moreover inconsistent with
the measure already given. The writing was getting weaker and the
difficulty increasing, and it seemed that the sitting had probably been
unduly lengthened, to the physical exhaustion of the sitters.
[Illustration:
FIG. 5.--SECOND PLAN OF THE EDGAR CHAPEL AS BUILT BY BEERE, SHOWING
ITS RELATIVE GREATNESS AS COMPARED WITH THE LITTLE CHAPELS OF THE
RETRO-QUIRE.
The line starts at the east, and again it is repeated for emphasis.
The chapel is shown at first, clear of the east wall, but there is a
subsequent loss of position which brings the little chapels beyond
their prescribed limit and makes the plan appear confused. Below is
written "Capella St. Edgar, Abbas Beere fecit hanc capellam" (Chapel
of Saint Edgar, Abbot Beere built this chapel).]
F.B.B. "_Please give length again._"
_A._ "30 virgas ... et fenestrae (cum) lapide horizontali quod vocatur
transome et vitrea azurea; et fecit altarium ornat(um) cum auro et
argento et ... et tumba ante altarium gloriosa aedificavit ad memoriam
Sanct ... Edgar...."
F.B.B. "_Which Abbot did this?_"
_A._ "Ricar(d)us Whitting.... Ego Johannes Bryant monachus et
lapidator."
This concluded the sitting.
SITTING II. 11th November, 1907, 1 p.m.
"The material influences were at fault when last ... I think active
influences were overpowering my will. Those monks were anxious to
communicate.... They want you to know about the Abbey. They say the
times are now ripe for the glory to return and the curse is departing.
I do not know about these things. They have been wishing to influence
you for a long time, and they have been (endeavouring to?) reproduce
things in your minds."
Here the influence changes.
"Benedicite. Go unto Glaston soon. Gloria reddenda antiqua. Laus Deo
in saecula seculorum. Nubes evaserunt ... memoria rerum manet et
red ... Ecclesia catholica extensit et comprehensit latera (_sic,?
latentia_) vera et res occultas sapientibus.
"JOHANNES."
SITTING III. 13th November, 1907.
Writing commenced without any direction by sitters.
"I think I am wrong in some things. Other influences cross my
own.... Those monks are trying to make themselves felt by you both.
Why do they want to talk Latin?... Why can't they talk English?...
Benedicite. Johannes.... It is difficult to talk in Latin tongue
(_repeated, being illegible_). Seems just as difficult to talk in
Latin language."
"Ye names of builded things are very hard in Latin tongue--transome,
fanne tracery, and the like. My son, thou canst not understande.
Wee wold speak in the Englyshe tongue. Wee saide that ye volte was
multipartite yt was fannes olde style in ye este ende of ye choire and
ye newe volt in Edgares chappel.... Glosterfannes (_repeated_). Fannes
... (_again_) yclept fanne ... Johannes lap ... mason."
_Q._ "_What is meant by 'lap mason'?_"
_A._ "Lapidator ... stonemason."
Having this signature "Johannes" now again repeated, F.B.B. felt
curious to know how far this dramatisation or memory of a personality
might be developed.
_Q. by F.F.B._ "_Tell us more about yourself._"
_A._ "I ... died in 1533." (_Repeated because almost illegible._) "Yn
1533 obitus ... curator capellae et laborans in mea ecclesia pro amore
ecclesiae Dei ... sculptans et supervisor ... yn Henricum septem[13]
... anno 1497 et defunctus anno 1533."
[13] _I.e._, in the reign of Henry VII.
NOTE ON THE FIRST THREE SITTINGS.
We observe in these communications an individual tone, as of a
directing influence, at first manifesting without intermediate
links, but almost immediately yielding place to the monkish elements
introducing themselves as "Gulielmus Monachus," "Rolf Monachus," and
"Johannes Bryant." There appears something like a clash of intention,
a strain which reacts on the physical condition of the sitters, and
which seems to account for the rapid exhaustion of power towards the
end of the first sitting, and the consequent lack of clearness and
consistency in the results.
In the second sitting the directive agency speaks of the monks as
"active influences"--an expression to be noted. And it is explained
that "the material influences were at fault." Then in the third sitting
we get, "I think I am wrong in some things. Other influences cross my
own."
It seems very much like a man trying to make a trunk call on a
telephone, who is worried because the local office will either persist
in switching him off at critical moments, or else because the wires
are out of order and imperfectly isolated, so that fragments of other
conversation are interjected.
When we come to consider the matter of the monkish communications,
under the name Johannes, we are at once confronted by the question, "Is
this a piece of actual experience transmitted by a real personality,
or are we in contact with a larger field of memory, a cosmic record
latent, yet living (the "eternal knowledge" of the first writing we
record), and able to find expression in human terms related to the
subject before us, by the aid of something furnished by the culture of
our own minds, and by the aid of a certain power of mental sympathy
which allows such records to be sensed and articulated?
As to this, it is too early to dogmatise, but in either case room
must be left for the presence of a Directive Power accessible to man,
capable of stimulating and energising dormant consciousness, and
directing it into such channels as man has developed for its reception
and expression.
SITTING IV. 19th November, 1907.
The result was interesting, but contained nothing important as regards
the Abbey.
SITTING V. 22nd November, 1907.
A further plan was produced of the general range of Abbey buildings,
signed "Johannes." This was followed by a short script as here given:
"When you dig, excavate the pillars of the crypt, six feet below the
grass--they will give you a clue. The direction of the walls ...
eastwards (_this word might almost as easily have been 'westwards,'
or even 'outwards,' and it was so ill written that nothing could be
decided from it_) ... was at an angle ... clothyards twenty seven
long, nineteen wide."
It would have been just as easy to read the last as "thirteen." The
pencilled original of the plan is preserved, but not the script, as it
was not regarded as of value at the time, but the mention of the "walls
at an angle," referring, as it would appear, to some part of the chapel
whose dimensions are in the context, is an interesting point.
The mention of the crypt seemed simply the mentality of the sitters--a
reflex of their study of Wild's plan. It is again referred to, however,
in later writings.
SITTING VI. 26th November, 1907.
F.B.B. "_Perhaps Johannes will tell us something more?_"
_A._ "Johannes Bryant is striving for the glory of Glaston. There
is much under the grass deep down and unrifled. The east of St.
Mary's has a vault under the stairs and under the nave there are
vaults[14]--the destroyers feared, and the ruin of the walls hid the
entrance in. Under the tower the volt is perfect, and many names of
those buried therein very deep down."
[14] It is most improbable that any are remaining at this day. The
eighteenth century probably saw the last of them, but this may not be
in the sphere of cognisance which we are here touching.
_Q._ "_Where should we commence to dig?_"
_A._ "The east end. Seek for the pillars, and the wall(s) at an angle.
The foundations are deep."
SITTING IX. 30th December, 1907.
Commencement of writing quite illegible.
"... (the) end of the time approaches. The year is big with issues and
Glastonbury will engage much of your attention....
"JOHANNES, MONACHUS."
"Wait, and the course will open in the spring. You will learn as you
proceed. We have much to do this season...."
"... The chapel of Our Lady of Glaston--type of spiritual things
which are not manifest to you. The changes need not alarm you. The
reconstructions will be more perfect. Let the State fall in ruins and
the outward garments of Faith perish--fear not!"
"... For greater things will rise into being--great nations and great
ideals. We work for it. Be willing, and strive not against the tide.
Up on the crest and prosper. All will work for the best.... The spark
will live thro' the rains and re-light dead fires, fire which is still
fire but with purer flame. We cannot hasten the time, but it is sure
and is not delayed. You are between two influences. Earth and spirit
mingle not. Losing earthly grasp leaves you without earthly support.
Hold fast to earth's duties. Work as men for man's meat. Keep open
ears for spiritual help and whisperings. Assimilate and combine both
forces. Stand in the market-place and cry your wares, but listen for
the still small voice in the silence of your chamber. Work in the sun.
Listen in the starlight...."
Both F.B.B. and J.A. expressed a good deal of surprise at the nature
of the first part of this communication, as any idea of impending
revolution in Church or State had been utterly remote from our minds
and not in any way the subject of conversation. The passage was an
intrusion and a puzzle. But we did not regard it as of any special
interest; more as a curiosity for which a psychological explanation was
lacking.
Later there occurred more such intrusions, pointing with increasing
definiteness to the nature of that which we were warned to anticipate,
but they belong to another story and have no connection with the
discovery of the Edgar Chapel. Hence the record of many sittings
will be omitted, and we pass to the nineteenth, held 19th February,
1908, after a visit to the Abbey. F.B.B. had not yet received his
appointment, but was steadily preparing, and at the moment was engaged
in working out the probable appearance of the approaches to the central
chapel of the retro-quire, and the work of Bere's time had been
discussed.
N.B.--All the 1907 sittings were at Bristol. The next to be recorded
(Sitting XIX.) was held at Glastonbury.
SITTING XIX. 19th February, 1908. At Glaston
"The arche is flatte--three ells from side to side--ten feet high--all
panellae. All ye midst of ye est ende was panellae and the grete
chappell was[15] ...
[15] At this point the sitting was interrupted, and was not resumed
until eight hours later, when the broken thread was immediately taken
up.
"... we have told you long tyme sins--panellae everywhere ... thin
walls and poore foundations in the new work.
"Two capellae north and south and between them a greate space with
a tall doore in the midst, of four centres, all panelled under ye
fann-tracery over ye lintel. And there were two altares on either
side and much carven woode very blacke which was took away for the
panellae. And the holes in ye walls were covered with the panellae so
that they shewed not, and yt was all of stone very white and faire
and in ye doore was a greate stairway with two windowes on either
hand that did rise one above the other of equal height above ye
stairway.... And ye stairway was divided in ye midst by a grete rail
of stone so that they who went upp might not meet with they who came
down ye said stair.
"And beyond rose a Capella of Edgar ye sainte, faire and high with
grete windowes with transomes and between ye windowes were pillars
as panellae the whych did holde ye roofe of stone vaultid very faire
in panellae which were fanwise very fine much like carven yvorie and
carvings ypainted in ye bosses and in ye spandrels and there was a
grete windowe in ye est parte of eight lights all ye arches and ye
roofe being flatte as of the period and the chamber was yflagged
with tiles of many colours and in ye midst was a tumbe of silver and
precious stones and pictures in the panellae over against ye est
window. And ye chamber was in length seventy feet in four bayes and in
width it was thirty and foure[16] ... and the walls were thin and all
of faire squared stone and newe carven soe that they who did destroy
this ... first, even before the great church.
[16] _I.e._, the exterior width.
"And soe hyt was not. There were faire steppes of marble and ye fannes
over ye doore did hold a lyttel galerie the whych did open close
on ye stairway looking down on them that passed there and a lytell
windowe was above for to lyte ye chapell in ye church at back of ye
two altares for hyt was darke.
"Forty and two feete was the hight of ye newe chapelle and yt was
ybuttressed with faire buttresses and walls slantwise at ye cornere."
There appears throughout this communication a tendency to older forms
of spelling never quite achieved, and constantly slipping back into the
normal. The phrasing seems more consistently old-fashioned.
Note the further reference to "walls slantwise at ye cornere,"
recalling the "walls at an angle" mentioned in an earlier script.
SITTING XXIV. 5th March, 1908.
"... Wold I could tell you of the great Est window in the gabell. It
is hard to say its many parts but ye shall see it a noon. (_This is of
the quire._--F.B.B.)
"The buildings on the south side of the east end were two. One was a
chapell, the other for the priest to robe in.
"Saint Edgar was buried in the window where ye see the cross.
Afterwards Beer moved him to the new chapell that he builded. Chapell
was like unto Wells but more faire."
This obviously alludes to Bishop Stillington's Chapel, a fan-vaulted
structure of rich sixteenth-century work, now destroyed.
SITTING XXV. 10th March, 1908.
F.B.B. obtained the appointment as representative of the Somerset
Archæological Society, with licence to excavate, in the month of May,
1908.
SITTING XXVII. 17th March, 1908. At Bristol.
"The time is ripe for the stones to be studied. Go ye soone."
"The corbel-stones are full large." (_This refers to a sketch
reconstruction of the transept wall by F.B.B._) "Put ye ten between
each buttress."
_Q._ "_Is the parapet right?_"
_A._ "The parapet is right."
_Q._ "_What about the quire vaulting shown?_"
_A._ "Ye volte is welnigh righte for what ye see, but over Arthur's
tombe to the Est window it was fayrer and much ygilt soe that the
lightes of the Altar shold shine thereon and make a glory."
"Looke for ye ribs of the choir, plain ones and carven, and ye bosses.
Some be at the East End. Enow has been left from the destroyer, just
enow and no more: it was so ordained lest they should destroy for
ever. Make ye yourselves a scheme--enow left everywhere."
"Why destroyed they not the walls that came to hande? They cared not,
but indeed they left it and digged deepe for stones.
"They could not an they would."
"Why left they the altar stones when they might have digged up? say,
why?"
_Q._ "_You say, 'Saxon, Norman, and Native, all strive together for
the glory of Glaston.' Can you put us in touch with any of these early
influences?_"
_A._ "What wold they tell ye? Their works were rude, and have
departed. The Abbey is not of them--nothing save certain books--and we
wold that the books were againe, only the Church as it was wont to be.
We who speke are of its different orders: Gulielmus of old tyme, and
Johannes later, and he who builded last--our Abbot Beere. What more
is needed? Wee point the way; to you it is to follow, and all that is
needed is given you. Worke wyth brain and handes, and all is there.
So it is ordained, for what ye desire, that is good that ye shall
strive for. Wee worked in our day: ye must work in yours. Ne work, ne
wages,--ne what you call honour."
_Q._ "_It is St. Patrick's Day to-day. Can you tell us anything of his
time and of his work, and St. Brigit's? No doubt there was much in the
great Library of the Abbey._"
_A._ "Olde legends, meet for the people--but what value? They were,
and didde, much among the heathen. We know not more, save that their
workes were old and very dry to rede." (_This passage is signed with a
cross in a circle, and a capital letter, not clearly identified._)
_Q._ "_Please write your name._"
_A._ "Reginaldus, qui obiit 1214--one thousand, two hundred and 14."
The identity of this Reginald is not clear. Bishop Reginald of Wells,
who consecrated the Chapel of St. Mary at Glastonbury, died in 1191
according to the chronicles. The Chapel is said to have been completed
in 1216.
The script has been retraced, as it was done in soft pencil and could
not be preserved.
SITTING XXIX. 20th April, 1908.
"Gloria in excelsis tibi Deo. Pax vobiscum, filii.
"The time is near. Dig well and those things which ye seek shall be
given you but serche carefully lest ye eradicate those things that be
left for your guidance....
"... the est end will be the first, and then ye shall find proof of ye
goodly towers at ye west end.[17] Serche the ruins for the way they
were finished. There is much left to guide you...."
[17] These were proved later.--F.B.B.
"... Influence man, and that which was before decreed shall aid you
and they who are around you shall feel your influence and ours.
"In very truth it was a goodly church and it is said that ye of your
time shall know what works we did pro gloria Dei.
"We were mistaken in some things--all men are--but the thought that
made the great church of Glaston was not bounded by ye mind and that
thought must live and prevail.
"Move, work, and unceasingly persist, and in time there will be a
place for what once was and ye shall know its buildings yet again as
they were wont to be. The lesser works first: and then cometh one who
will build the great church--a son of Glaston from beyond the sea.
Even now he waits and watches. We wait and watch and hope with the
knowledge that comes to men on the other side. The church is always
the church, and in the great schema of the world we come soon and our
instrument Glaston shall find a mighty place.... Thus Johannes saith."
At this point the sequence of the writing is broken by the story of
Johannes going a-fishing, and lingering in the lanes. This we give in
Part II.
_Q._ "_We should like to know something of the nature of the old
foundations which were found under the Quire in the 1904 excavations,
also whether any light can be thrown upon the subterranean piers,
their date and purpose?_"
"... The window was straight as we knew it, but[18] was somewhat
changed by Abbot Beere when he made the chapell. Ye are right about
ye end walls. Johannes saw to the building thereof for they were five
years before they builded the last part because there was nothing in
the coffers--so the church was perfect without the new parts.
[18] The sitting was interrupted here, and resumed later with a
repetition of the words "as we saw it, but."
"What was it Beere performed? We will remember. The olde church had a
chapell going east like to Edgar's and the corners were cut off most
like. The foundations ye mean remain. We know but that which we heard
and that which they who followed after did, we know not, save only we
can enquire.
"Beere, Abbot, is not with us now. He has a work to perform. There
are others who build in your England and he hath to lead them as they
should be led. They who builded in our day and were masters, lead ye
now.
"ROBERT. ANNO 1334. GLASTON."
NOTE ON SITTING XXIX.
The blending of influences is again very marked, but the dominant
thought is that of one of the inmates of the great abbatial House. The
signature "Robert" (anno 1334) does not help us. This was the year
that witnessed the election of John de Breynton as Abbot, vice Adam de
Sodbury, and it was an era of great building activities. But Robert
speaks, or is made to speak, for those of an era two hundred years
later, or nearly, and it is strange to find a voice from the fourteenth
century recalling the "window" as it then was, and going on to describe
alterations made at the beginning of the sixteenth.
And the allusion to Abbot Beere's living influence is of peculiar
interest. Among the best modern exponents of the Gothic English styles,
the call of the past, and the influence of the past, is vital as an
element in their work, and it is precisely in the measure in which
they are able to translate the spirit of the past, that they can
claim inspiration in what they strive to produce.[19] Occasionally
a sincere student will obtain some mental pictures of a bygone time
of singular clearness and fidelity, whence, he knows not; only that
they are spontaneously apparent to him _when in a state of mental
passivity after intellectual exertion in the particular direction
needed_. It may be of interest here to quote an experience once
related to the writer by an old friend, W., now retired from practice,
but who in the 80's of the last century was responsible for a good
deal of scholarly restoration work in the west country. W. was very
partial to the Early English forms, and if he had a fault, it was
the fault of his day, when restorers were a little ruthless, as we
should think nowadays, in substituting Early English detail for the
fifteenth century "vernacular" of the district. On one occasion he was
called upon to undertake "restoration"--which, in this case, meant a
partial rebuilding--of a decayed church in the very decayed town of
I. The south wall of the nave, a work of the ordinary "Perpendicular"
sort, had to be rebuilt, and he had to construct a new arcade for
the aisle adjoining. Somehow he felt disinclined to do this in the
fifteenth-century style, but was prompted to design afresh, in the
manner of the thirteenth. And for his pillars he imagined a form of
capital having rather a complex moulding. There was nothing visible
to guide him, but it appealed to him as suitable. Nor was it a local
type--at least, this would be the writer's recollection of the
impression he derived from the drawing which W. showed him.
[19] The work of the mere copyist is not inspired.
The capitals were provided of this pattern, the old wall was pulled
down, and hidden within it and built into its substance was found
_a pier-capital of a moulding identical in detail_. I myself was
satisfied that he had never seen any particle of this early work, and
he allows me to retell the story here. As to the story of Johannes, the
truant monk and nature-lover, it takes the form of an interpretation of
his memory-record by another. Whether we are dealing with a singularly
vivid imaginative picture or with the personality of a man no one can
really decide. But later examples will elucidate the part he plays in
the scheme, and it is one of much interest from the psychological point
of view.
SITTING XXIX.--_Continued._ 20th April, 1908.
"Ye crypt was mere a chamber under the stairs and it was at the west
end of the chapel. It was not for sepulture and it is gone long syne
by reason of the fall of the floor of ye chapel.
"Yt wasne underground and was low--a man might hardly walk sans
stooping."
The work of excavation commenced shortly after the receipt of this
communication.
SITTING XXXII. 16th June, 1908 (after excavation No. 4).
"All is well. We direct your course and will continue. There is some
difficulty and ye must use your own intelligence. There are two
chapels and ye must try and judge old and new. The scheme of Abbot
Monington gave one, and under the church are remains yet older. The
pillar of many shafts[20] was in the midst between the buttress and
the chapel wall, and the great window needed the buttress to hold hym
up. Seek out the choir wall, where the arches were behind the altar,
and it will be plaine. Digge for the vestries on the south choir
wall--there is somewhat left here, and there is alsoe a chantry under
the window by the crosse.[21]
[20] There is a sketch of this pillar given in the 1908 volume of
the _Proc. of the Somerset Arch. Soc._. It was found by F.B.B. in
Kerrich's papers in the British Museum. Its position would fairly
obviously correspond to that which the script suggests, and there is
therefore nothing very remarkable about this.
[21] The wall of the vestry was subsequently dug for and found outside
the bay of the south quire wall third from the west, where there were
indications of such an appendage in the grooving of the masonry for
the flashings of a lead roof, and the plinth mould had been shorn off
to get rid of an inconvenient projection. The trench showed a thin
wall giving a vestry about 9 feet wide.
"Judge not the wall by the foundations thereof. They are mighty
but--wee have told you--thin walls were over them.[22]
[22] The great breadth of the footings of the rectangular part
of Edgar's Chapel--about 6 feet 6 inches on the north and south
walls--might easily have inspired a wrong opinion as to the substance
of the walls themselves. But students of the work of this date are
familiar with the fact that the flat and heavy fan-vaulted stone roofs
of the Tudor period require, in addition to their external buttresses,
a certain amount of interior support, which is given by building the
walls as a series of hollow bays, the windows occupying the recesses,
and the intermediate masses being brought out inwards, as piers or
counterforts, the same being architecturally treated, so that the
description elsewhere given of "piers as panellæ" is quite probably
accurate, as a description of such features.--F.B.B.
"Search far for the est end of Edgar's Chapel. It is but little
damaged. S. Mary and S. Andrew's Chapels, over the ends of ye choir
aisles."
The only reminiscence of a retro-chapel is to be found in the plan of
the Abbey embodied in Phelps's _Somerset_, reproduced by Warner. Phelps
shows a dotted-line extension of the east wall of the retro-quire
of nearly the same projection as Willis's plan, but in this case
it ends with a semicircle--a feature impossible for anything but a
Norman chapel, which here would be out of the question. In a corner of
Phelps's plan appears a similar diagram, but with the rectangular part
much lengthened. Both are lettered "F," and the reference table gives
"F" = Lady's Chapel. Warner copies this plan, calling this latter one
"the Chapel according to its original dimensions." Neither F.B.B. nor
J.A. had at that time seen Warner's copy of Phelps's plan, because the
copy of Warner accessible to them in the Bristol Public Library had
lost this sheet. But owing to the general haziness of the plan, and
its numerous inaccuracies, and the entirely impossible suggestion of a
semicircular apse (in a dotted-line figure), as well as owing to the
suggestion "Lady's Chapel," these records had proved the reverse of
illuminating, save as inspiring a guess that the original and shorter
quire might very likely have been furnished with a Lady Chapel, for
use in the remote days, before the western chapel of St. Mary had been
opened up and thrown into the general series by the inclusion of the
"Galilee"--a work of the fourteenth century, and that this Lady Chapel
had been ultimately shorn of the greater part of its length by its
absorption into the new retro-quire, what time Abbot Monington caused
the quire to be lengthened by two bays (about 40 feet) _temp._ 1344 or
thereabouts. Such an hypothesis would entail the deduction that after
the lengthening of the retro-quire in the fourteenth century, there
would remain at the east end a relatively short projection--say, of 12
feet or so--and some such reasoning may well have inspired Willis's
scheme (see his plan in the _Architectural History of Glastonbury
Abbey_), though he rightly rejected the semicircle as an eastern
finish.
_Q._ "_Was there any crypt under Edgar's Chapel? What were the clear
dimensions of the chapel itself?_"
_A._ "The cript is fallen in, but the clay is not the old clay. Clear
out the midst thereof, and many fragments be there. The width ye shall
find is twenty and seven, and outside, thirty and four, so we remember.
"BEERE, _Abbas_."
_Q._ "_What was the clear internal length of the chapel?_"
A. "Wee laid down seventy and two, but they builded longer, and he who
followed made new schemes for a certaine roofe in golde and crimson,
very cunning. Ye must use your talents, lest they weaken. Piece by
piece ye shall rebuild it and there is enow, I wot, for ye.
"Digge east beyond the beds of feathered grasses. There was a
passage to the east doore in ye walle to the streete. In the midst
it remaineth. There was a lodging where now is the great howse, and
wee loved passages. They were safe, and the priesthood loveth secret
places. There is somewhat in us that loveth mystical things, so we
tell not all, but leave it to the love which seeketh and is not
wearied."[23]
[23] The local gardeners and workmen had a story of a large covered
passage which was said to run from the house or from a point close
to it, and towards the Abbey, and one workman, Thyer, now dead, told
F.B.B. that he had assisted the late owner, Mr. Austin sen., to fill up
a part of this and to remove the flat stone coverings which he needed
for his building work.
At the time of this writing, only the west end of the chapel had been
excavated, so that the length was still a matter of complete doubt. A
massive wall running north and south had been found just about in the
position of that shown as a projection in Willis's plan--namely, about
12 feet east of the walls of the retro-quire, and on the farther side
of this the foundations commenced at a much higher level, indicative
of a later extension by Bere from this point onwards. And the whole
of this cross-wall must have been Bere's work, for it ran north and
south for some 32 feet, and beyond that came the projection of its
buttresses. When the continuation walls of the chapel to the east were
further revealed, the clear width between their footings was about 18
feet, and as they were each about 6 feet 6 inches in width, the whole
was not quite 32. So the suggestion in the script of a clear internal
width to this chapel of 27 feet is by no means improbable if measured
into the window recesses. As to the length given (72 feet), a total
of 90 had already been spoken of, so that the 72 must represent the
rectangular portion of the chapel, _plus_ either the antechapel or the
eastward extension only, either of which give this approximate total.
As afterwards revealed (see plan in _Som. Arch. Soc. Proc._ for 1908),
the correspondence proved to be faithful, as the scale shows. Measure
from the interior of the east wall of the retro-quire, which will
include all the space within the antechapel of Bere's work, eastwards
to the end of his rectangular walls, and the whole is close on 72
feet--viz., 12 + 5 + 50 + 5 in approximate measures.
There were several clumps of pampas grass on the high bank, but farther
east than our advance at the moment. Another fragment of script,
unfortunately now lost, again referred to one of the clumps on the
south side, as being just west of a large mass of masonry. This was
correct. The large mass in question is that which stands up high above
the rest at the south-east angle of the rectangular chapel. Again,
we have the curious and unusual suggestion of an east door to the
chapel (compare the "Portus introitus post reredos," etc.). When, long
subsequently, the two inclined walls of the apse were revealed, the
gap in the middle was remarked. The footing on the north side of the
eastern gap was cut squarely off, and evidently by intention, and was
thus strongly suggestive of a doorway or archway here.
In "the walle to the streete" we may perhaps discern an explanation of
the continuation of the angular wall on the south, which runs on for a
distance not yet ascertained in the direction of the upper part of the
town, and would have passed near the building which formerly occupied
the site of the present Abbey House.
"Use your talents. Wee guide. It is meet. Noe worke, noe wage. All
workes well. This wee tell you. Ledde was on the roofe--ne stones, the
wych cometh from meaner buildings elsewhere. The stone tiles were high
roofes but ye chappell was flatte or thereabouts.
"As how think ye the est ende would have looked to them who came from
the green pathe in the wall?
"... and ye can see right well. Dig deeper: it needeth. Fear not.
It will be clear to you ere another night fall. Even yet there is
somewhat east and south to finde. Ye are skilled to find the stones
which we put there. All are of the chapelle that ye have noted.
"Benedicite.
"WHYTTINGE, _nuper Abbas_."
It was not until several months later that the whole of Bere's
rectangular chapel was disclosed. The bank increased in height as we
proceeded east. But the farther we went, the more stone we found on the
south side, until at last, at the south-east corner, a block of solid
masonry was uncovered which rose several feet above the general level.
And to the south of the last two buttresses on this side there came to
light the trench or matrix of a small additional building, a chantry or
a sacristy. These trenches were cleared and filled with solid concrete
to preserve the record of the lost walls, which must otherwise have
perished through the falling-in of the loose and crumbling earth.
SITTING XXXVI. 9th October, 1908.
"Ye must see owre old manor of Sharpham. There is somewhat for you
there. Search it diligently, and the walls around.
"Ye church ye have found is ye one which Ina builded and it was
yjoined to the olde churche by a timber passage-way and many steppys.
Yt had no towre, but as it were the short arms of a crosse and ye
pillars were greate and rounde as ye see. (_This alludes to an
excavation in the nave._)
"Ye roofe was woode and it was rough and rude, ne like unto our church
of St. Mary.
"Would ye could digge around ye altare,[24] for there ye will find
much black marble of the style ye call 'decorated.'
[24] _I.e._, the high altar of the later church.
"We wold make ye see it--square, and as it were square buttresses with
canopies and imagery, full forty feet in height, somewhat level in ye
toppe, like a screene, and in ye midst a faire canopy of gilded stone
in width four feet and full of fifteen feet in height; and in front an
image of Our Lady in gold and scarlet robes holding in her hands the
Christ and a sceptre of power. On either side two doors with steppys
leading down to the path for processions behind ye altare. Can ye not
see it? Black stone and images, and guilding in the hollow places
under the ornaments. On ye south side, as we deem it, ye will find
most of ye pieces and even ye tombes of Arthur and of ye two saints
Edgar[25] (_sic_) all black stone with much guilding and ye effigies
of ye Kinge and ye Queene with ye Lyons in blacke stone--nay, rather,
ye Lyons were in light stone like ye bases of ye tombes.
[25] Should be "Edmund."
[Illustration: PLATE II. THE EDGAR CHAPEL.
View of the completed excavations, showing Bere's rectangular chapel of
four bays, and the eastern annexe with the "walls at an angle."
_To face page 56._]
"And ye grete east window in pannels like unto ye sides of ye choir,
and very faire, with a balcony. Ye balcony was underneath ye window
and from yt did lead the way to ye altare back where was an ymage of
Saint Mary, of great value and very olde, which was saved from the
fire long synce.
"Ego sum JOHANNES qui ex memoria rei dico--meminisco--dixi annorum
1492." (I am Johannes, who speak from memory of the matter. The time
of which I spoke would be 1492, as I remember.)
SITTING XXXVII. 30th November, 1908.
"The ending of the chappel was at an angle, the sides makyng as it
were a baye in the east wall there. The last bay to the east hayde
an arche like unto a chancel arche and with a feather ornament, as
hadde all the other arches; and the space beyond into the baye was
as it were three fannes with thin pillars running up the angles and
spreading toward the arche. In the three faces of the east wall were
three windowes, and all this was faire made by Abbot Whitting, who
lengthened Edgar's Chappel somewhat, to the extent of half a bay....
The fannes are flat which Whitting builded, and ye will see them how
they fitted together.
"The lytell chantry was roofed in pannels by ... Beere, and ye have
found the pieces, deep cut and faire--quatrefoil with lozenges,
cuspings on either side, and ye roofe as was called 'barrel'
shaped--ne fannes in ye chantry."
This script was obtained before the angular walls of the apse had been
found. The description generally is quite a plausible one, and there
is good reason for thinking that the apse would have been finished
by the last Abbot (Whiting). Some stones of the fan-work were found
at the end of the year. The "little chantry" would seem to refer to
the projecting footings found between the last two buttresses on the
south side. It compares again with Gloucester Lady Chapel, where such
additions are found north and south of the fourth bay from the west.
_Q._ "_Whence came the vaulting-rib, which we have found?_"
_A._ "He went in the passage-way to Edgar's Chappel and the volting of
like molding went with it--east of the arches behind the altare.
"Monington was used to what ye call 'decorated' and the choir roof
wasne of the newe style--ye 'perpendicular,' but the other style done
after Gloster fashion."
SITTING XXXVIII. 2nd December, 1908.
"Gulielmus monachus qui in area chori requiescet[26] ... Reginaldus.
Hee wots not what they didde but saith the olde procession path went
round three corners and they builded the new window after hys tyme
straight. Ye have found the old wall before Monington. I guess but doe
not know.
[26] William the monk who reposes in the quire.
"Gulielmus monk of Saint Benedict wold speke but he hath been long ded
and cannot as he wold. He of Monington Abbas qui ... he did make the
est end full square, that know I he didd, and in hym three arches and
a grete screene ... soe it was in my day, that he who followed after
did enlong the window and it was full weake and they rebuilded it....
He did build strong walls over ye lytell chapel of Our Ladye that then
was and in them a new window and on either side he placed a walle
which did continue the walls of the choire and did put in an arche
and under hym a tombe on either side with the altar in the midst, and
above the arche as it was two grete high windows, very narrow which
did make on to the grete east window and wyth hym made a grete faire
window which did light up all the choir and did fill it with glassen
cleare and bright of many colours." #/
SITTING XXXIX. 5th December, 1908.
"Johannes wold speke. There is (somewhat) gone from us. The olde
foundations were left and they did add to them. The walls at an angle
were put in by Abbot Beere when he builded the chappell and enlarged
the windows. We have told ye of the high windowes and the arche under
wych the tombe(s) of Edgar (_sic_) one on either side--the Elder and
the Younger. The arch was ycarven very faire and panellae did rise to
ye roofe, and ye volte over the Est window was ydonne in fanne worke:
likewise the eastern part of ye choire was in fannes wyth a great arch
as soe it was donne with panellae between."
During the summer and autumn of 1908 the work of excavation had
been steadily continued. By December practically the whole of the
rectangular portion of Beere's chapel had been laid bare, and proved
to be of four bays, in accordance with the script. The excavation of
the antechapel entirely confirmed Willis's view of the divisions of the
retro-quire, and, strange to say, justified his plan in regard to the
length of the central projection, for it was abundantly clear from the
appearance of the two flanking walls (or, rather, their foundations)
that there had been an original projection here of the same extent
as he showed, and that Beere had merely taken on at this point and
started his new work with a massive cross-wall at a different level.
The footings of the north and south walls of Beere's chapel were about
6 feet 6 inches broad and a little over 18 feet apart in the clear.
The thin Perpendicular work above would normally stand rather over
the outer margin of the footings to allow of the projecting piers
supporting the fans of the roof, and this would entirely justify a
computation of width approaching 27 feet clear into the recesses of
windows. But the total internal length on the foundations between
east and west footings measured 49 feet, a dimension in itself
insufficient to justify the 70 feet claimed in the script, even if it
were considered that part of the breadth on the west footing, and an
even larger part on the east footing must be included in the interior
area of the chapel. Possibly a further 6 feet or so might be allowed
for these margins, making a total internal length for the rectangular
chapel of 55 feet, to which another 15 feet must be added if the
measurement of 70 feet given in the script were to be justified.
But the rectangular chapel ended off with a proper finish to the east,
and the two return buttresses were well marked. At this point the
digging had been very deep, as the level of the bank rises steadily
from west to east, and we were now about 10 feet under the grass level.
The rectangular end was cleared, and before us rose a sheer face of
clay without trace of any continuance. Nothing had yet been seen of
"walls at an angle," and the writer scanned the face of the clay many
times, trying to detect any signs of disturbance or of a further
junction of building, and so matters remained till the end of December.
In the meantime a report had been prepared for the annual volume of
_Proceedings of the Somerset Arch. Soc._, and as by this time F.B.B.
was fully persuaded that Hearne and Hollar are giving us fact when
they state that the total length of the Abbey was 580 feet, he boldly
drew a plan of the excavated chapel with an addition in dotted lines,
making out the requisite dimension and _showing a polygonal annexe or
apse_, and this he caused to be published in the 1908 _Proceedings_.[27]
[27] A facsimile of this plan was published in the _Treasury_ for
Christmas, 1908.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
During the Christmas holidays F.B.B. again visited the site, and on
a bright sunny day looked at the clay bank, and for the first time
detected a small squarish patch of pale brown discoloration in the
clay at a level much higher than the footings of the chapel. He caused
the face to be cut into at this point, which was nearly opposite the
southern return buttress, and at a point about 2 feet within the clay
face the stump of a wall appeared. This was traced and proved to run
north-east at an angle of 67 degrees from the north and south axis of
the chapel.
The ground was opened in the corresponding position on the north
side, and here a trench was found well and truly cut in the clay, and
filled with debris of sixteenth-century freestone, tile, and glass
fragments, chiefly of painted work, and largely of azure blue.[28] The
footing-trench was inclined at a similar angle, but instead of meeting
a cross wall at east, it stopped short at the point where such a return
wall should be, and this indicated that in all probability the annexe
had a door in the east wall,[29] behind the reredos, suggestive of
the use of this part as a feretory or relic-chamber, and this recalls
almost exactly the plan of the church (collegiate) of Westbury-on-Trym,
which is also furnished with a semi-hexagonal apse.
[28] _Cf._ p. 37, line 3.
[29] _Cf._ p. 35, last line, "Portus introitus post reredos," etc.
Calculating that the inner faces of the three walls of this annexe
would have been designed to be more or less equal in breadth, for sake
of symmetry, a line was struck across the apse at the required point,
a stake put in, and a very careful chain-measure made from end to end
of the whole range of Abbey buildings--_i.e._, from the internal face
of the Lady Chapel or Church of St. Mary at the west, to this point,
and the measure was then found to be _precisely 580 feet, as given by
Hearne and Hollar_. The true plan of the chapel was published in the
1909 volume of _Proceedings_, and makes an interesting comparison with
the conjectural plan (see Fig. 7, p. 64).
Two years later, in the collection of Colonel Wm. Long, J.P., of
Clevedon, an eighteenth-century manuscript plan of the ruins, hitherto
quite unknown, came to light, and was found to show the two inclined
wall-sections of the apse of the Edgar Chapel. A note attached to this
plan gives the extreme dimensions of the chapel as 87 feet by 49 feet.
The latter would only be correct if it included the little chantry
projecting on the south side. It would not represent the true outside
measure of the chapel proper, which is elsewhere stated as 34 feet, and
must have approximated to that width.
Eighty-seven feet is of course fairly correct as an internal measure of
length, and thus substantiates the record.
SITTING XXXIX.--_Continued._
"AWFWOLD ye Saxon hath tried, but hee knows not ye tongue. He hath
somewhat of olden tyme that ye have found in ye este. He sayth hee
hadde a house or housen in wattlework and a churche within the forte,
ye which wee did enter when wee made Edgar hys newe chappell. Soe he
sayth. And that wych is beyond the chappell, is not there a chambre,
the wyche ye shall see when ye have digged full deepe. And from hym
did go a passage way to the Lodge over the gate that leadeth to
Chalice. Hyt is gonne full syne, wee wot. Wyth hym--the chambre--ye
church was six hundred and twenty-eight feete in length inside and
sixteene more outside walls, soe wee remember."
[Illustration:]
The blackened wattlework was found at a great depth in the clay
near the south-east corner of the Edgar Chapel. It was examined
together with other remains, and reported on by Mr. St. George Gray
in the _Proceedings of the Somerset Archæological Society_ for 1909.
No attempt has been made to explore the site beyond the eastward
limit of the Chapel. The ground is very deep, and there are other
difficulties. As the proved internal length of the Abbey with the
Chapel is 580 feet, this measure of 628 feet would imply another
large addition, and in the absence of any sort of evidence of its
probability, it is impossible to attach the least weight to it.
"The tombe of Arthur in shining blacke stone was in front of ye
altare. Ye can see hys size even now, an ye wis, in ye claye, and
certain fragmentes that yet are for hym to seeke. Blacke and scarlet
and golde was ye choire, save where they didde paint ye leaves in
greene, and somme tyme browne where ye clausteres were. Ye windowe was
much clere glasse wyth colours in ye midst under golden canopyes in
ye heades of the pannels. There was under ye alare (_sic_) a chambre
ye wyche ye did enter from the rear, but hee was low and smalle, and
there were many buried in hym. The pathe for processions wasne needed,
and soe they went not behind ye altare where ye chappells were nor
behind ye greate screene under ye este windowe. The churche he was soe
grete there was room enow in ye aisles and soe across ye altare in
front of hym by Arthur's tombe."
_Q._ "_As to traces of an interment behind the reredos wall. Can you
tell us anything of this?_"
_A._ "Yee martyr was hee. They made a martyr's grave. He was not
coffined, for they were but bones got by ye faithful from Bathe and
Tauntone, and brought in secret. He was yplaced under ye altare, and
they who pulled yt downe when Elizabeth was Queene drew hym out. They
knew not who hee was, our Abbot. Ye knowe.... Hee who swam in ayre
when hee wold not. Whytynge. They knew not. Wee deemed the altare wold
stande for alle tyme."
_Q._ "_Who desecrated the Abbey?_"
_A._ "My Lord Somersete. Hee cared but for golde--ne faith, ne
good--Hee a Protestant, a traitor hee. A heretic was hee."
_Q._ "_Is there any foundation for the legends of secret passages in
and about the Abbey?_"
_A._ "Covered ways to the corner of the cloyster by ye Prior's House.
Hee is fallen in, we wot, and likewise hym that goeth to King's Gate,
but somme is left. Some of ye passage at the east end ye shall finde.
(_Here follows a plan._) The Kingswaye seeke ye neare ye Gatehouse--ye
cellars that wee used. Ye shall find ye passage. Ye shold seek the
grete draine. Many things are therein. Ye should seeke for it.
"JOHANNES et alii.
"Permultae memoriae."
SITTING, 1st September, 1910.
The script begins in a cramped hand, very disjointed and confused. It
is mostly in Latin words, and we trace the name of one John of Aller,
in the rural district of Somerset ("in agros Somersetiae"), formerly a
husbandman, but later a watchman at the Abbey. But he cannot tell us
what he would, and the power which should recall his memories fails.
"Nescio quid sum," it ends, "aut inde veni."
Then the writing commences afresh, thus:
"Ambrosius the Cellarius wold speke to ye. And hee isne a scholar. Ye
binnes in ye cellar ye wot they were full of good wine, but ye cellars
of ye Guesten Hall lye deeper downe.
"Ye roofe of ym[30] is but even with ye floor of hym. But I wot they
have left ye little enow.
[30] 'Them,'--_i.e._, the cellars.
"Ye Abbot's lyttell kitchen he lay in between ye two halles, and ye
cooke hadde enow to feed them on the one syde and alsoe ye guesten
folk on ye other. Therefore ybuilded ye Abbot ye grete Kitchen afore
ye Howse, for to make feast on grete feast-dayes. Ye olde kitchens
and ye minte-garden wasne used much after that. Ye newe howse of ye
Abbot hadde kitchens enow, and soe.... Know ye ye lytell cloystere
ahint ye Prior's Lodging and ye Halle convent over against the Stabels
of ye horses? They were near ye Guest Halle on ye syde of our Lord
Abbat's Howse, and ye menne lay over them. There were foure horses,
and rooms for ye guesten horses in ye same stable."
The script here deals with an area still unexcavated, as to which we
have but little documentary evidence. The position of the Guest Hall
may be reasonably inferred to be on the site suggested, due west from
the Refectory. The statement about the kitchens seems reasonable. At
this point the communication under the name Ambrosius ceases and an
entirely different handwriting is noted. The script continues:
"Ricardus de Tanton, who did make ye drawings for my Abbot Bere, wold
tell you that which Ambrosius can not."
We gather that the level of the ground was lowered and four cellars
made for storing wine for the Guest Hall above. Next we read:
"The grete Halle was ybuilded not long syne, and ye must goe where
the kitchens did joyne him to the Refectorium. Aufwold says that the
convent of Arimathia was at hys south-west corner, builded long tyme
since, and there was as it were a little cloystere between the Hall
and the chapel where Beere did saye masse. The stabel was over aganst
the Abbat's new howse which Beere builded, and which was in front of
the Guest Hall but away from hym. The crypt under the new Hall was
deeper downe. His roofe was near level to the floore of the vault of
the Refectorium....
"Goe you through the grete door at ye corner of ye Cloyster on ye est
syde downe XII steppes and on through ye passage-waye. Then shall
ye rise uppe ye steppes IX on ye south syde, and soe acrosse ye mint
garden to the Newe Halle where was a doore, and through hym cometh a
passage to the further syde and soe to the lyttel cloyster, and beyond
hym the lyttel convent and ye lyttel chapel builded long time syns.
And there was a grete wall to the est of all these places high and
stronge, and over hym was the dormer, and beyond, the parlour beneath
and the scriptorium above hym: and soe unto ye wall of ye lyttle
cloystere, and after a space, a yarde and the schola with its chappel
and buildings around yt ... for ye boyes, alsoe ye changing room for
ye choire who sang in ye minster.
"Ye boyes were ofttimes joyous and did playe and make a shouting, and
ye Abbat sayde: 'Chide not youth in its playe, but may ye keepe them
afar from ye claustre places lest they weary my devowte,'--and so ye
schola was far from ye (same)."
_Q._ "_Which was the Chapel of St. Dunstan?_"
_A._ "Hym on ye North syde of ye Crete Church, at ye ende, near to ye
newe chappel which Bere (built)."
_Q._ "_What was the exact length of the Church as completed?_"
_A._ "CCCXI[31] in passibus. CCCXI et capella nova. CCCXI in tota
longitudine."
[31] The length of the mediæval "pace" was unknown to us, and would
have been inferred to be the natural length of a walking "step" (in
F.B.B.'s case 22 inches).
But to reduce paces to feet, or _vice versa_, is not easy by mental
arithmetic, and the calculation was not made. Hence this CCCXI conveyed
nothing definite.
But publication necessitated scrutiny of this statement, and, to assess
the true length, reference was made to William Wyrcestre's _Itinerary_,
wherein, speaking of Glastonbury Abbey (p. 292), he says:
"Longitudo navis ecclesiae monasterii continet 54 virgas vel 100
gressus"--making 54 yards = 100 steps.
If 100 steps= 54 yards, one step = 1·62 feet. So we have our material
for calculation, as follows:
I. Length of church 311 × 1·62 = 503·82 feet
"et capella nova" (_i.e._, and the new chapel) (add) 90·00 "
------
593·82 "
--an amazing result! Elizabeth's commissioner, quoted on p. 12,
says:
"The great Church in the Aby was ... 594 feet." And our
own plan (Fig. 12), based on careful measurement, yields the total
592 feet! (The 580 feet measure discussed on p. 62 is an _internal_
measure.)
_Q._ "_Please state it in feet._"
_A._ "Pedes DCCXXXIII[32] circa."
[32] DCCXXXIII pedes _circa_ (_about_ 733 feet)--at first sight
a hopelessly discordant measure, being 140 feet in excess of the
first--yields on analysis an even more astonishing result. For 733 feet
circa _is_ 311 paces; but Romano-British paces--not mediæval! 311 paces
of 2 feet 4-1/4 inches is 733 feet. The true Roman pace (single) is 2
feet 5 inches--occasionally less in Britain--so we see it in this case
slightly shortened. And the qualification "circa" gives us the slight
latitude which the computation requires.
It is as though our question, addressed to the previous informant,
had been answered by another in a literal sense, according to his
own knowledge of the measure, and without reference to the monkish
standards. (See note in synopsis at end of vol., _sub._ "Ell" and
"Passus.")
_Q._ "_Was there anything east of the Edgar Chapel?_"
_A._ "Yes, but not Ecclesia major. On the wall was a
capella for them who came from over the hill called Chalice--a
little capella, but he was not of the grete church. You
have hym all.
"We sayd he (the church.--F.B.B.) was somewhat
over three hundred passuum on the path which passeth
on the north syde of hym. This I knowe. The chappell
was ninety-one[33] of feet, for I did draw hym.
[33] This being a foot in excess of the measure first given and found
correct, we have preferred the latter in the calculation given on the
last page.
"RICARDUS T^a."
TABLE OF THE VERIDICAL PASSAGES IN THE AUTOMATIC SCRIPT, SIXTEEN IN
NUMBER, REFERRING TO THE EDGAR CHAPEL AND EAST END OF QUIRE
I. AS TO A LARGE RECTANGULAR CHAPEL EAST OF THE RETRO-QUIRE.
SCRIPT.
November 7, 1907. Plan of Abbey, showing oblong chapel at east end,
of very large dimensions, and exterior to retro-quire, the width
overlapping three of the five chapels of same.
The sketch would indicate a width between 20 and 30 feet, and a length
probably exceeding 70 feet.
EXISTING DATA.
Professor Willis's _Architectural History_ shows nearest parallel,
but his plan is only an eastward extension of the central one of five
little chapels, and its total length would only exceed the rest by
about 12 feet, and width would be a little over 11 feet.
RESULT.
PROVED BY EXCAVATION AS SUBSTANTIALLY CORRECT FOR THE EARLIER OR
RECTILINEAR PORTION OF THE CHAPEL.
The dimensions are shown in the plan published in the _Proc. Som. Arch.
Soc._ for 1908, and again in 1909.
II. AS TO THE DEDICATION OF THE CHAPEL.
SCRIPT
November 7, 1907. "Capella St. Edgar. Abbas Beere fecit hanc capellam
Beat(i) Edgar(i).
"... et capella extensit 80 virgas ... et fecit altarium ... et tumbam
ante altarium gloriosam aedificavit ad memoriam Sanct(i) Edgar(i)."
_Q._ "_Which Abbot did this?_"
_A._ "Ricardus Whitting."
EXISTING DATA
Leland says: "Abbat Beere builded Edgares Chapel at the east end of the
Church. But Abbat Whitting performed sum part of it."
Willis thought that the Edgar Chapel might have been at this
point--_i.e._, where he shows his projecting central chapel.
RESULT
PROVED LATER TO HAVE BEEN THE EDGAR CHAPEL BY A PLAN DISCOVERED IN 1910
IN A PRIVATE COLLECTION. (See _Som. Arch. Soc. Proc._, 1916-17.)
THE 30-YARD LENGTH IS THE RESULT OF AN ADDITION TO THE ORIGINAL PLAN.
III. AS TO A DOOR IN THE EXTREME EAST.
SCRIPT
November 7, 1907. "Portus introitus post reredos, post altarium quinque
passuum" (An entrance door five paces behind the reredos).
June 16, 1908. "There was a passage to the east doore in ye walle to
the streete."
EXISTING DATA
No record of such a feature, and no warrant for supposing it. Eastern
doorways are very unusual.
Nothing known of door or wall to the street from this part.
RESULT
PROVED BY THE GAP FOUND IN THE FOOTINGS AT THE EASTERN EXTREMITY, WHERE
THE TWO FOUNDATIONS OF THE ANGULAR APSE WALLS DO NOT JOIN. THE DEPTH OF
THE APSE IS ABOUT FIVE PACES.
The use of the word "portus," meaning "door," is confirmed in this
sense by the allusion to the "east door." The angular south wall of the
apse continues on, and was perhaps a fence-wall to a pathway, but it
has not been possible to pursue this. The ditch or moat is believed to
have run on the south side of same. On the north, the footing of the
angular wall stops short, leaving a gap in the foundations at the east
end, as though for a doorway.
IV. AS TO THE TOTAL LENGTH OF THE CHAPEL.
SCRIPT
November 7, 1907. "Et capella extensit 30 virgas ad orientem" (And the
chapel extended 80 yards to the east).
EXISTING DATA
The Elizabethan Inventory, in a list of measures of the Church, says:
"_Chapter House, 90 feet._"
RESULT
PROVED BY MEASURE. THE INTERNAL MEASURE IS 87 FEET, AND THIS, ALLOWING
3 FEET MORE FOR THICKNESS OF END WALL AND PLINTH GIVES THE 30 YARDS FOR
THE TOTAL LENGTH OF THE EDGAR CHAPEL.
V. AS TO THE AZURE GLASS IN THE WINDOWS OF THE CHAPEL.
SCRIPT.
November, 7 1907. "Et vitrea azurea" (And window-glass of azure).
EXISTING DATA.
Azure blue does not predominate in glass of the sixteenth century.
The dominant tones are white and gold, the field often being almost
entirely white. The subjects are in glass of various colours. The blues
tend to a steely grey.
RESULT.
PROVED BY THE DISCOVERY OF FRAGMENTS, RELATIVELY NUMEROUS, OF BLUE
GLASS IN THE TRENCHES. THIS GLASS WAS PROBABLY REFITTED FROM THE
WINDOWS OF THE EARLIER WORK ALTERED OR REMOVED BY SUCCESSIVE ABBOTS,
AND APPEARS TO BE OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.
VI. AS TO THE VAULTING OF "FANS."
SCRIPT
November 7, 1907. "Abbas Beere ... fecit voltam petriam quod vocatur
quadripartus, sed Abbas Whitting ... destruxit ... et restoravit eam
cum nov ... multipart ... nescimus eam quod vocatur.
November 13, 1907. "Wee saide that ye volte was multipartite, yt was
fannes old-style in ye este ende of ye choire, and ye newe volt in
Edgare's chappel ... Glost'er fannes."
EXISTING DATA
It is a fair inference that a chapel of this nature and period (Henry
VII. to Henry VIII.) would be vaulted in "fans," and we should have
thought Abbot Bere's original scheme would have provided for this.
"Fannes old style" would apply to those built on a half-hexagonal
section. The real Tudor fan has a circular sweep.
RESULT
THE EDGAR CHAPEL HAD THE LATER (MULTIPARTITE) FORM OF FAN, AS IS PROVED
BY THE NATURE OF THE FRAGMENTS FOUND. ONE OF THE MAIN BOSSES IS EXTANT,
AND ON ITS BACK HAS THE DIRECTION (IN SCORED LINES) FOR THE CORRECT
SETTING OF THE BLOCK, AND THIS SHOWS TWELVE RIBS, IMPLYING A WHEEL OF
TRACERY BETWEEN FANS.
VII. AS TO THE POLYGONAL EAST END.
SCRIPT
November 19, 1907. "The direction of the walls ... was at an angle."
November 19, 1907. "Forty and two feete was the hight of ye newe
chapelle, and yt was ybuttressed with faire buttresses, and walls
slantwise at ye cornere."
November 26, 1907. "The east end. Seek for the pillars, and the walls
at an angle."
November 30, 1908. "The ending of the chappel was at an angle, the
sides makyng as it were a baye in the east wall there."
EXISTING DATA
No existing data from which such might be inferred. The nearest example
of a polygonal east end seems to be at Westbury-on-Trym, near Bristol,
unless we regard the Lady Chapel at Wells as a parallel instance. This
chapel, however, is in reality an elongated octagon, with a domical
roof. It was erected A.D. 1326.
RESULT
PROVED BY DISCOVERY IN JANUARY, 1909, AFTER THE TENTATIVE PLAN OF AN
ANGULAR APSE HAD BEEN IN THE PRESS FOR PUBLICATION BY THE SOMERSET
ARCHÆOLOGICAL SOCIETY; AND AFTER ACTUAL PUBLICATION IN THE CHRISTMAS
NUMBER OF THE _Treasury_ FOR 1908.
VIII. AS TO THE DIFFERENCE IN THE FOUNDATIONS.
February 19, 1908. "Thin walls and poore foundations in the new work."
Nothing known.
PROVED BY EXCAVATION. THE FOOTING WALLS OF THE APSE WERE THIN AND
POOR, IN MARKED CONTRAST TO THOSE OF THE RECTANGULAR PART OF THE
CHAPEL, WHICH WERE EXCEEDINGLY BROAD.
IX. AS TO AN OLDER LADY CHAPEL BEFORE MONINGTON'S TIME WITH A POLYGONAL
APSE. SCRIPT.
SCRIPT
April 20, 1908. "The olde church had a chapell going east like to
Edgar's, and the corners were cut off most like. The foundations ye
mean remain."
June 16, 1908. "There are two chapels, and ye must try to judge old and
new. The scheme of Abbot Monington gave one, and under the church are
remains yet older."
EXISTING DATA.
Nothing known, but there is a possible inference as regards a Lady
Chapel beyond the original Quire before the Western Lady Chapel was
incorporated.
Phelps has preserved a reminiscence of this chapel, and he suggests a
semicircular end, which might mean a polygon. The projection beyond the
retro-quire would be about 12 feet, according to his diagram.
Compare the Lady Chapel at Wells.
Nothing known at the time.
Phelps's plan of a Lady Chapel, copied by Warner, suggests two
different states of this building, the original extending under the
quire, and afterwards absorbed in Monington's new work.
RESULT.
IN JUNE, 1908, TRACES OF A SLANT WALL (FOOTING TRENCH) WERE FOUND
CLOSE INSIDE THE EAST WALL OF THE RETRO-QUIRE AND A LITTLE SOUTH OF
THE CENTRE (_recorded in a report from Rev. H. Barnwell, late Vicar
of Glastonbury_ _written to F.B.B. shortly after the commencement of
excavation_.)
About 12 feet beyond the retro-quire, the levels of the ground and
foundations rise considerably. At this point comes the west wall of the
Edgar Chapel; and the same point probably marks the extreme eastward
limit of the older Lady Chapel.
THE EXISTENCE OF OLDER FOOTINGS UNDER THE QUIRE FLOOR WAS PROVED LATER.
THEY WERE TOO MUCH PULLED ABOUT AND ALTERED TO ESTABLISH THEIR ORIGINAL
FORM.
X. AS TO THE LITTLE CRYPT UNDER THE STAIRS.
SCRIPT
April 20, 1908. "=Ye crypt was mere a chamber under the stairs, and it
was at the west end of the chapel.="
June 16, 1908. "=The cript is fallen in, but the clay is not the old
clay. Clear out the midst thereof.="
EXISTING DATA
Nothing known at this date of chapel, crypt, or stair. The rise of
ground at east might suggest a raised floor for the chapel exterior to
retro-quire. Britton's plan of Abbey suggests that the two piers found
_circa_ 1813 on the site of the middle chapel of the retro-quire were
"probably part of a crypt," but there was nothing known to warrant such
a suggestion, and facts were against it.
RESULT
THE NECESSITY OF A STAIRCASE TO BERE'S CHAPEL IS PROVED BY THE
SUBSEQUENT DISCOVERY OF ITS SUPERIOR LEVEL--PROBABLY SOME SEVEN FEET
ABOVE THE RETRO-QUIRE. AS THE GROUND RISES IMMEDIATELY EAST OF THE WEST
WALL OF THE CHAPEL, IT ALMOST INEVITABLY FOLLOWS THAT A CRYPT WOULD
BE CONFINED TO A SMALL SPACE BENEATH THE ANTECHAPEL OR STAIRWAY OF
APPROACH.
XI. AS TO THE DOUBLE HAND-RAIL.
SCRIPT
"And ye stairway was divided in ye midst by a grete rail of stone," etc.
EXISTING DATA
Nothing known at the time.
RESULT
A DOUBLE-HANDED STONE RAIL WAS DETECTED LATER AMONG THE DÉBRIS LYING
ABOUT THE ABBEY QUIRE WALLS NOT FAR FROM THE SITE OF THE CHAPEL.
XII. AS TO THE WIDTH OF BERE'S BUILDING.
SCRIPT.
June 16, 1908. "The width ye shall find is twenty and seven, and
outside thirty and four, so we remember.--BEERE, Abbas."
EXISTING DATA. Nothing known.
RESULT. THE WEST WALL OF THE CHAPEL MEASURES ABOUT 31 FEET 6 INCHES. 27
FEET IS A PROBABLE MEASURE FOR THE INTERIOR WIDTH OF THE CHAPEL, WHOSE
WALLS, DEEPLY RECESSED FOR THE WINDOWS, WOULD STAND WELL UPON THE OUTER
PART OF THE FOOTINGS. THESE ARE 6 FEET 6 INCHES WIDE ON THE NORTH AND
SOUTH. THE OUTER, OR 32 FEET MEASURE DOES NOT INCLUDE THE BUTTRESSES.
XIII. AS TO THE LENGTH OF BERE'S BUILDING.
SCRIPT
June 16, 1908. "Wee laid down seventy and two, but they builded longer."
EXISTING DATA
Nothing known or recorded. No inference possible.
RESULT
PROVED AS A MEASURE SUBSTANTIALLY CORRECT FOR THE SUPERSTRUCTURE, AS
INFERRED FROM THE FOOTINGS. (See plans in _Som. Arch. Soc. Proc._ for
1908-9.)
ft. in.
Antechapel (approx.) 12 0
Bere's Rectangular Chapel
(5 + 50 + 5) 60 0
------
72 0
XIV. AS TO A CEILING IN GOLD AND CRIMSON.
SCRIPT
June 16, 1908. "And he who followed made new schemes for a certaine
roofe in golde and crimson."
EXISTING DATA
Nothing known or recorded.
RESULT
PROVED BY THE SUBSEQUENT DISCOVERY OF ARCH-MOULDINGS WITH MEMBERS
PAINTED IN RED AND BLACK, AND RETAINING TRACES OF GOLD.
XV. AS TO A CHAPEL OF FOUR BAYS.
SCRIPT
February 19, 1908. "And the chamber was in length 70 feet, in four
bays."
EXISTING DATA
Nothing known and no inference possible.
RESULT
THE RECTANGULAR CHAPEL PROVED TO BE OF FOUR BAYS. THE 70 FEET INCLUDES
THE ANTECHAPEL, BUT IS A ROUND-FIGURE ESTIMATE, THE TRUE LENGTH BEING
ABOUT 72. (See XIII. above.)
XVI. AS TO THE ALTAR SCREEN AND TRIPLE ARCADE.
SCRIPT
December 2, 1908. "The procession path went round three corners, and
they builded the new window after hys time straight. Ye have found the
old wall before Monington, I guess, but do not know.... Hee (Monington)
did make the Est end full square, that I know he didd, and in hym three
arches and a grete screene."
EXISTING DATA
Nothing known at the time.
At Wells there are three arches between quire and retro-quire, behind
the reredos, and a similar arrangement at Glastonbury would easily be
inferred.
RESULT
THE EXCAVATION PROVED THAT THERE WERE FORMERLY THREE ARCHES BEHIND THE
ALTAR, AND THERE WERE INDICATIONS OF A SCREEN WALL BETWEEN.
ADDENDUM TO THE TABLE OF THE VERIDICAL PASSAGES.
SCRIPT.
December 2, 1908. "Soe it was in my day, that he who followed after did
enlong the window, and it was full weake and they rebuilded it. He did
build strong walls over ye lytell chapel of Our Ladye that then was,
and in them a new window, and on either side he placed a walle which
did continue the walls of the choire, and did put in an arche and under
hym a tombe on either side with the altar in the midst, and above the
arche as it was two grete high windows very narrow, which did make on
to the grete east window, and wyth hym made a grete faire window which
did light up all the choir," etc.
EXISTING DATA.
The suggestion is that one of the Abbots coming after Monington
substituted for his square east and a bayed end with a principal window
flanked by two narrow ones set anglewise. The great east window of
Glo'ster is slightly bayed and has buttressings for support to the
east. It is recorded that in Bere's day the great east window was
"casting out" and had to be given further support.
RESULT.
NOTHING CAN BE PROVED AS REGARDS ANY LATER ALTERATION OF THE EAST
WINDOW, AS ALL ABOVE GROUND IS CLEARED AWAY.
EXTRACT FROM LETTER OF HON. EVERARD FEILDING, SECRETARY OF THE SOCIETY
FOR PSYCHIC RESEARCH, TO THE AUTHOR, DATED 15TH MARCH, 1917.
"MY DEAR BOND,
"... As to your record of the script, it would be most interesting if
you were to publish it. There is no question but that the writing about
the Edgar Chapel preceded the discovery of it by many months. I was
present, if you remember, at what I believe was the beginning of the
recrudescence of---- 's automatism, ... and that was before you ever
started your work at Glastonbury, and before you were even appointed
to the work. I remember your telling me when you were appointed,
how interesting it was, as you were then able to test some of the
statements made.
"No, there is no doubt whatever in my mind on that point; you will
remember that the only doubt I have ever expressed was on the question
as to how far something in one of the books on Glastonbury which you
showed me afterwards, and which might have suggested the possibility
of the actual position of the Edgar Chapel, might conceivably have
influenced---- 's mind subconsciously; I forget what book it was, but I
remember it was not the book which was taken at that time as the most
authoritative."
SIGNED STATEMENT OF J.A.
"I, the undersigned J---- A----, hereby certify that I am the J.A.
referred to in Mr. Bligh Bond's account of the automatic writings
concerning Glastonbury Abbey and other matters, and that the transcript
which he has made of the series of about fifty communications dating
from 7th November, 1907, to 30th November, 1911, and also some
supplementary writings produced in 1912 and later, appears to me
correct so far as the same could be deciphered by us. I furthermore
affirm that the writings were produced through my hand, but without
knowledge of their nature or purport, and contain conclusions which
I could not have arrived at normally, and which in many cases--as,
_e.g._, in the case of the Edgar Chapel--were such as appeared to me
most improbable, and were deemed fanciful until further research had
elucidated points then obscure. My knowledge and reading were confined
to documents which have been accessible to all students of the Abbey,
and I had no unique source of information. The writings were produced
often whilst my normal attention was devoted to other matters, and
promiscuous conversation at these times was our rule. I held the
pencil and Mr. Bond laid his fingers on the back of my hand or lightly
grasped it. He did not direct it. There was nothing in my knowledge or
experience that I know of to suggest the names of Bryant and others
which are appended to the writings. Even the possible meaning of such a
name as Manumetaxyl was unknown to me.[34]
[34] This refers to a portion of the script not yet published.
[Illustration:
FIG. 8.--CONJECTURAL APPEARANCE OF THE EAST END OF THE ABBEY IN
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY, SHOWING THE EDGAR CHAPEL ON LEFT HAND, THE
RETRO-QUIRE AND MONINGTON'S ADDITION OF TWO BAYS TO THE QUIRE, ALL AS
VIEWED FROM THE NORTH SIDE.
The arrow indicates the position of a conjectural north chantry (see
text).]
"I am disposed to concur with Mr. Bond in the view that the
subconscious part of the mind may in its operation traverse the
limitations of individual knowledge, either acting telepathically
through contact with some larger field of memory, or as itself part
of a larger unit of a more pervasive kind as regards time and space,
conditions which would imply that the individual may have powers of
self-expression far greater than those which are normally available
through the brain-mechanism controlled by the will and logical
faculties.
"GLOUCESTER,
"_July 24th, 1917_."
PART II
THE CHILD OF NATURE
LINES ON A PICTURE OF RESTORED GLASTONBURY.
Short-sighted Reason pondered long alone;
Experience and Deduction lent their aid;
They measured well and carefully each stone,
And calculated where each groin was laid;
But still th' elusive vision of the Past
Evaded each attempt to hold it fast!
Then came Imagination, Maid Divine,
And forthwith, wakened from its resting-place,
The Past arose, till pictured line on line
The Abbey stood in all its ancient grace.
Awestruck, they gazed upon that House of Prayer,
Then silently went in, and worshipped there.
Thus, in the places waste and desolate,
Where saintly spirits struggled through the night,
In ages past, you still may find the Gate
Of Heaven open, letting down the light;
Still find on Yniswitrin's altars, pale,
The gleaming vision of the Holy Grail.
JOHN ALLEYNE.
1917.
[Illustration: PLATE III. GLASTONBURY ABBEY.
Conjectural reconstruction of interior (drawn in 1908) as seen from
the north transept, looking towards the Quire. N.B.--The arch in the
foreground, communicating with a supposed western aisle, is an artistic
license. _Frontispiece to Part II._]
THE CHILD OF NATURE
Johannes--who is he? The child of our dreams? Or a name inscribed in
the great roll of those who were, and now are not?
No previous knowledge of surname or circumstance, either in history
or fiction, can be traced as a source of the idea underlying this
dramatisation of a personality in many respects so sympathetic and so
true to nature.
Yet again and again he speaks, or is spoken for, in the writings,
and his simplicity of character is maintained. And he became to
us more than a name, one vested with reality, even as it is said
of a well-known author, that his characterisations dwelt in his
consciousness as living folk. And we never knew when his advent might
be expected, nor what sort of message he would have for us. Frequently
it happened that in sitting down to writing some expectation or desire
would be expressed for information on certain lines, but the script
would negative this expectation, and either give us something new and
quite unexpected, or else, as often happened, take up the thread of a
previous communication broken off several days, or even months before.
"... He ever loved the woods and the pleasant places which lie without
our house. It was good, for he learnt in the temple of nature much
that he would never hear in choro. His herte was of the country and
he heard it calling without the walls and the Abbot winked at it for
he knew full well that it was good for him. He went a-fishing, did
Johannes, and tarried oft in lanes to listen to the birds and to watch
the shadows lengthening over all the woods of Mere.
"He loved them well, and many times no fish had he, for that he had
forgot them ... but we cared not, for he came with talk and pleasant
converse, as nutbrown ale, and it was well.
"And because he was of nature his soul was pure and he is of the
Company that doth watch and wait for the glories to be renewed."
It was in the fourth sitting that Johannes, instead of being the
spokesman, was spoken for.
"Gulielmus de Glaston shall speke ... hath spoken of his tyme, and
Johannes wold speke of hys time. The older tyme wasne known to hym. My
punishment is past, but Johannes is yet in pain."
SITTING XI. 4th January, 1908.
At this sitting Johannes speaks for another, as follows:
"... wold say, 'Seek ye goal and ensue it. Ne walke in circles as
somme doe. Many objects distract ye minde. Seeke one goal and wynne
all.
"JOHANNES DE GLASTON."
In response to a question about two friends:
"Dreme. To them is to dreme, not labour. Seek visions. Be constant in
mind.
"That wych cometh, doe. Wee may not say more. To you is to choose.
Opus spiriti, non opus terrae est. Ye are rich, but not in goodes.
Work at that which comes."
SITTING XVIII. 18th February, 1908.
"Stande ye, and be as waxe in oure hands. Listen, and ye shall heare.
I, Johannes, say soe. Be patient and yielding. Listen for our voices
in choro mid. Ye shall heare them, and much more, but persevere: great
things shall come to pass ere ye join the Company. Goe ye and prosper
for us and you. Wee waite where wee wold bee.
"JOHANNES."
SITTING XXVI. 12th March, 1908.
This communication bears the names of others besides Johannes, but is
included owing to its interesting nature.
"The horloge as ye face the wall lieth on the right, six elles or more
above the floor. The stair in the right towret led from ye cloister to
it, to wind hym every day at matins.
"I, Galfrith, knew in my day. They who came spake in Latin, and not
all knew the wisdom hid in the british tongue, nor eke the saxon. Some
were wrote again, but the fathers were more sought than the Bards and
much was hearsay.
"What do ye long after, my son? The memory of man is but as the
grass that fadeth, and they who would fain translate the word of the
barbarian oft inserted what they desired but would not an they could
(_? translate truly_). The hidden meaning they knew not which looked
for the husk which covered it and soe much was lost for all tyme. The
merlins spoke in what ye call an allegory, but the parable was what
these fathers read, not the mystery.
"Those who would tell you of the glory of our howse all strive
together, Saxon, Norman, and native, so which wold ye have--Norman
base or later Abbey?
"Ye see the howse in its first condition, and like a falling lace,
the dremes of later men obscure it. The first dreme improved--it was
complete, and the grete church as it stood when Jocelyn came is what
ye wish.
"Then, when they were building at Welles, we were jealous of our
howse, and certain masons coming on holiday across the causeway which
led straight across the marsh, did tell us we were lacking. They sedde
our howse was over smalle for our community, and the choir thereof was
not long enow for our processions and for the brethren to sitte at
the service of the church--for we were three hundred and forty-seven
in number. And moreover the towre was too lowe for beauty. And Wells
being new and faire with carven stone, our Abbot was moved to beautify
our howse. Soe he that was at enmity with Jocelyn, made friends that
day, and the Bishop with a fair company came on a white palfrey and
did dine with us. And so was our choir enlonged and afterwards the
towre was beautifyed with certain panelling, and this although our
coffers were much in need because the body of the church was newly
yfinished by very faire art.
"Ye belle Towre that was burnt and new builded was pulled downe
because it was falling (on) ye cloister, for it was sunken in the
foote."
The above being far from clearly written, a repetition of the last
sentences was asked for.
"Nay, my sonne. Have I not told? And ye would know of ye belle-towre.
It was not. I have sedde it was pulled downe and ne heard of. The
gabell was yfinished like unto Welles, and the clock and certain
belles did hang there.
"ONE OF THE COMPANY.
"_My name_ JOHANNES GLASTON.
"_Ego Frater_ PETRUS LIGHTFOTE
(_qui horologium deditet dedicavit_)."
SITTING XXXVII. 23rd September, 1908.
"We have sat in the grate gallery under the west window and watched
the pylgrims when the sun went downe. It was in truth a brave sight,
and one to move the soul of one there. The orgayne that did stande in
the gallery did answer hym that spake on the great screene, and men
were amazed not knowing which did answer which. Then did ye bellows
blowe and ye ... man who beat with his hands upon the manual did
strike yet harder, and all did shout Te Deums, so that all ye town
heard the noise of the shouting, and ye little orgaynes in ye chapels
did join in the triumph. Then ye belles did ring and we thought hyt
must have gone to ye gates of Heaven. But we know not now, for there
were sinnes, and the frailties and pomps of men are not meet for the
ear of Hym that dwelleth in the heavens."
(Here follows a reference to a certain Radulphus, whose story had been
previously given.)
"More we will serche in the great army of past things--they are soe
hard to find."
SITTING XL. 15th October, 1909 (shortly after the excavation of the
corner of the vault beneath the refectory).
"... He fell full sore and lay as one dead, and the King was right
merrie. 'See,' he said, 'how heavy lies the good ale on this poor
roysterer.'
"And my Abbot did make penances full sore and many, so that Johannes
had need of drink and good cheere to help his weakness. '(O) for the
full bowle,' quoth he, '... for one good drink; there is so much
amiss.'
"And ye have found the place wherein I lay, and even now the scent of
good ale hangs round the floores. I go, who have told ye. Peccavi!'
"'Well,' saith Father Abbot, 'ye have disgraced us before ye Kinge,
and he will not remember us in the day of our adversity.'
"'Nay,' saith Johannes, 'but the Kinge, who was of an evil choler,
was afterwards right merrie because of poor Johannes and the vat of
good ale. Alas! That soe much of good ale was squandered for a King's
pastime!' Whereat there went more Paternosters and much penance in
claustro. Ye have it. What more wold ye?"
The foregoing was very difficult to decipher, and its substance
so entirely different from anything we might have expected, that
practically nothing could at the time be made of it. It was therefore
asked for again.
"I have told ye. Why ask me more? They who brought the vat of ale
pulled hym uppe with a rope, for ye King called for more brown ale
such as we in ye Abbey were wont to brew. Ye rope broke, and ye King
was merrie, and this I say, gainsay who may, it was not Johannes and
ye ale which destroyed our faire Abbey, but ye lust of ye King and ye
haste which (he had for the possession) of our house.
"Why did they say that I who soe loved my Abbey, had compassed its
ruin? I didde paternosters for that which wasne my sinne. Ye rope it
broke. Hee was the misdoer.
"Ye Guesten Hall was over against the Monks' Hall, and there were, as
you say, great screenen between the two tables, and ye Abbate hadde
his high table, and likewise ye Kinge had his, but they had an screne.
The Kinge's party did royster in their cuppes.
"What of ye Hall? Faire tapestry and carven oake, and six high
windowes in the syde of him, and one faire windowe in ye gables,
and under hym a gallery where were singing men to please the King's
majestie, and cunning minstrelsie. Ye pulpitte was silent--not
homilies, but the brethren did list to songs of prowess and pleasure
instead of paternosters. But in that pollution was death to our howse,
for the Kinge did lust after our meats and wines and (cared) not to
save us from (the coming doom); and he whom we trusted, the great
Cardinal, was falling, although we knew it not. 'Wait,' said our
Abbot, 'he is our friend who made me Abbot. Ask hym to our house.'"
This passage was again very difficult to decipher, and before anything
had been made of it I asked for it again. J.A. was without any idea of
its contents.
"I did say there were windowes six in ye grete Halle, and a grete one
at the gables, wherein were singing mennes. I didde sayye that the
Kinge lusted after our Howse and (was covetous) of our good cheere,
fit for a Kinge's majestie. This proved the ruin of our howse, for hee
who made our Abbot was himself falling from greatness, and could give
us no help--hee, the Cardinal of Ipswich.
"But ne'er was it Johannes and ye ale!"
SITTING XLII. 18th April, 1911.
The foundations of the chapel of St. Dunstan at the west end of the
Lady Chapel had been brought to light, and were evidently of mixed
date--the original probably very early.
_Q. by F.B.B. "Who built St. Dunstan's Chapel?"_
"Edgarus ybuilded long syne. Radulphus hoc opus restoravit. After hym
ye fyre yburned yt. Then he was a capella in muro.[35]
[35] The remains lie on the line of the wall (now removed) which
divided the Inner from the Outer Bailey.
"They say we hadde not hys bonen, but they lie, for we hadde the
leg-bones of hym, and certain smalle bones which they took to
Canterbury, and Johannes knoweth it of old tyme long syne. They did
open the tombe and tooke them backe. What mean they who said we
hadde them not? They all knew it, and the pilgrimmes did come from
Canterbury by ye old horse-way to venerate them.
"Roof yfallen! Hee of the gatehouse dwelt therein, and it wasne
Capella--vae mihi! Went! Ye King commanded! Because we all who should
obey were meek. And soe it was not.
"JOHANNES DE GLASTON."
SITTING XLIX. 29th July, 1911.
This little fragment came quite spontaneously and without anything to
lead up to it.
"At night the sound of many waters refreshed ye parched soil. From
tower and from the high roofes the sound came like the sound of
waterfloods, and the gargoyles shouted each to each, and the cloisters
whispered comfort and refreshment as we lay under the dormer roofe in
parched and sultry nights.
"I who speak mind me of the glory of sound even now, and I ever loved
the waters and the mere, and the voices that whispered around me.
Therefore went I a-fishing on the mere, and the glories of nature were
yet more glorious than the Te Deums in choro. Therefore loved I the
rain on our hundred roofs, and the myriad voices that came from the
waterspouts.
"I didde sleepe on the south side, hard by the great gabell, and soe
heard I the sound whilst others slept. Vai mihi, that it is departed!
and the voices are heard no more."
SITTING L. 30th July, 1911.
Although neither of us was aware of the fact, this sitting was destined
to be the last of the series. Except for a few occasions in 1912, it
proved impossible to continue these experiments. But Sitting XLIX. ends
with a message of farewell, and so, it will be seen, does the last of
the series. And in some respects the substance of the writing is a sort
of review of the part played by Johannes, and offers an explanation of
the related influences which is full of interesting suggestion.
"Simple he was, but as a dog loveth his master, so loved he his Howse
with a greater love than any of them that planned and builded it.
They were of the earth--planners and builders for their great glory,
nor ever, though honest men, for the glory of God. But Johannes,
mystified and bewildered by its beauty, gave it his heart, as one
gives his heart to a beloved mistress; and so, being earthbound by
that love, his spirit clings in dreams to the vanished vision which
his spirit-eyes even still see.
"Even as of old he wandered by the mere and saw the sunset shining
on her far-off towers, and now in dreams the earth-love part of him
strives to picture the vanished glories, and led by the masonry of
love, he knows that ye also love what he has loved, and so he strives
to give you glimpses of his dreams.
"Simple child of Nature--loving her, he knew not why; but loving her
yet more deeply because he knew not why he loved. He was not meant to
be a priest of the choire, and it harassed him sometimes overmuch.
Child of Nature! He loved freedom, and was happier in the orchard, and
by the mere, than performing the rituals of the choir.
"Men loved him for his love, but ofttimes his Prior comprehended not,
and mistaking the outward show in which he failed, for lack of that
inner worship which they could not feel, they made him do penances
for which their backs were more fitted. Then ye should know who would
understand him aright, and read his inner meaning.
"He would tell you what he saw, but how can he describe it? It was
beautiful, and his soul rejoiced as he would have you also rejoice,
but he could not tell you why. It was good. It was pleasing to the
eye, and through the eye his soul was uplifted, in an age when souls
were grovelling.
"It was lovely, and he knew it, but when ye ask, 'What was it like
unto?' he cannot tell you. It was heavenly--so was the sunset--and the
shadows on the mere--but he could not paint these nor reproduce them
for you.
"Those others, the great add simple, are passed and gone to other
fields, and they remember not save when the love of Johannes compels
their mind to some memory before forgotten.
"Then through his soul do they dimly speak, and Johannes, who
understands not, is the link that binds you to them.
"Learn and understand.
"WE WHO ARE THE WATCHERS.
"Farewell."
SITTING LI. (First of new series.) 26th January, 1912.
No previous questions asked.
"HÆREWITH the Dane hath learned the greater wisdom. Many gods there
be, but though many names, the principles are but two--Good and Evil,
Love and Hate. Therefore, when he slew the Saxons, he knew not that he
followed Evil, but repenting long since, he hath embraced Love, which
is Good, and his task is easy. Therefore is he of the brotherhood,
working with a glad heart to expiate for ever the evil he once did,
and therefore in constant labour there in the joy of Heaven.
"'Purgatorio' would some of the brethren say, but the Purgatorio
is Paradise, if the intent be perfect and the suffering has no
half-heartedness. For awhile there is joy in sins, but only till the
day cometh. Run the race with a whole heart, not as the lukewarm ones.
Happiness is in the extremes, but the only joy which lasts for ever
and grows for ever is the joy of striving for the Good.
"Thus was it of the beneficial influence of Glastonbury."
"Hærewith the Dane hath spoken--once warrior, now striving ever for
the good. Be not faint-hearted; strive your utmost--therein lies
happiness. Labour, and even suffering, make Paradise, not Purgatorio.
Thus have I spoken."
(_Influence changes._)
"Up cometh Johannes, weake by reason of long syne. What wold ye? Ye
have founden our Church, and ye holy places where my unworthy feet
have trod, and the Hall where some did talk of Glaston and some did
eat that they might be strong for God's ordinances. And ye have found
ye lytell chapple where our most holy ones did lie. Enow, what think
ye?
"Ye walle with the postern, and ye courtyard over against the
graveyard and the antechamber cometh, and beyond hym the Grete Chambre
wherein the folk did gather upon the feasts. Then cometh the grete
Kitchen and over agaynst (hym) the well-chamber in the courtyard is
ygone, but ye well is there, but yfilled. Certain rude men did go
down hym to find ye Treasure, but found yt not, tho' they drew off
the water nigh twenty cubits. Then cast they in the walls and filled
him up because Johannes Parsons the cowherd fell in and was slayn,
whereat they said, 'The spirit of our Abbot is abroad and hath ytaken
vengeance.'
"Then ycometh the grete Kyng's Gate into ye inner courtyarde wherein
were no trees but only a grete passage-way of paving.
"And he was high of roofe, nigh forty feet, yvaulted, and over hym
a chamber, and ye door in ye side dydde leade to apartments for the
laity. And soe to the Kitchen court, but ye almoner John Bryan dydde
live over the grete gate and a porter did dwell at his call on ye
south side. There too was a turret and a grete bell the which was
ringed for the meals in the King's Chambre. But he is all gone long
syne--heu mihi!"
* * * * *
"I dydde it not, God wot, not I! Why cling I to that which is not? It
is I, and it is not I, butt parte of me which dwelleth in the past and
is bound to that whych my carnal soul loved and called 'home' these
many years. Yet I, Johannes, amm of many partes, and ye better parte
doeth other things--Laus, Laus Deo!--only that part which remembreth
clingeth like memory to what it seeth yet."
SITTING LIV. 17th August, 1912.
"Johannes now very far away: far, in that the force is weake: even
soe may be within you and yet farre away, for the strength is as the
distance; the one changeth as the other. Wee wold saye much, but the
weakness here is strength gathered for other duties. All, he cannot
do. What wold ye?... The stones written in his memory as he knew them?
What are real, and what are in his dreme, he knows not[36].... It
cease(th) ... and yet it remayneth in him ever the same. What wold he
tell you?--cannot read your wishes."
[36] A possible source of error in the communications, which may
describe occasionally as still existing, things which have perhaps been
rooted out by vandals of modern date.
"Digged ye--what dig ye for by the towre of the stairway to the
lodgings of the laymen where of late they put those who were sick?
From ye passage and stayre that leadeth from ye Cloyster to the old
Kirkeyarde open to hym, and there was a doore in ye passage way and
a staire four-square. Yt opened to the lay-housen. On the floor the
lay-chamber for foregathering and above hym the dormitory and lytell
chambere above, with doores from ye stayre to each and on ye south
side a doore down to the Refectorium misericorde, and one into the
gallery under ye window that looketh west, and the courtyarde of
flagged stone and the Guesten Hall. So yt was. And the passage way of
our Lord Abbot opened from ye wall to ye yarde from ye Abbot's covered
walk yvaulted in stone."
SITTING LXI. 9th December, 1912.
In answer to a question:
"This have I told ye. I slept beneath the roof where lay those (who)
were fleshy and weighty. So it was ordained that we should doe.
"Soe I remember those stayres for my fatness. But it availed me not,
tho' my father Prior recommended it oft. Alas! I waxed more fat.
"Not that my belly was my god. I wot not! But I was cheery and
troubled not, save for services in ecclesia, for better loved I the
lanes and the woods where walked I much--with weariness because of my
weight.
"So said I, 'It is the Lord's will. Somme be made fat, and somme be
lean'; and this I said to they that jibed, that the gates of Heaven
are made full wide for all sorts, so that none created should stick
within the portall. This I said, for they vexed me with their quips.
"I would remind me of many things. Half do I remember--yet the lytell
things only. The greate ones (stick) even as I myself stuck in the
portal by reason of their trick, and Johannes, as once before, cannot
rayse themme and lies beneath their weight. I wold explain but must
gaine strength....
"I was ever soe: of a merry heart, when like to melte in tears. So
was I made. It was not my fault. Light of thought, save the thoughts
I could not speak; and the light jests comme again to me. Glad soule!
Had I but turned my soul to the things that were greate, I should not
be now a child among the toys. But I was never meant to be a monk.
They placed me here in choro, when I would have drawn the sword...."
EXTRACT FROM SCRIPT OBTAINED 15TH SEPTEMBER, 1912.
"But one waiteth, even Johannes, whose body, scattered to the winds
of Heaven, once lay in the cemetery of the monks, hard by the east
side of the Chapel of St. Michael in the midst of the graveyard. What
matter? He lives yet in the universal Memory, and speaks and acts
through every channel in which the Universal Life flows.
"Yet when he is himself, he speaks well, as he was wont in the rude
times that are as yesterday."
In these brief yet pregnant passages the author's philosophy is brought
to a focus. Humbling the arrogance of the individual mind, because it
denies that the mere mechanism of the human brain can ever _originate_
idea, it yet raises the little limited self to the consciousness of a
possibility, awful and beautiful, of a contact with something greater
than itself, and yet akin; and to the dignity of a mystical fellowship
in which isolation ends, and Past and Present are seen as parts of a
living whole; points in the circumference of a circle whose radius
is Life beyond these limitations. Our little mechanism we may attune
to respond to the needs, the pleasures, and the interests of our own
fragmentary span; or, disdaining these, we may harmonise it to the
thought which is pictured on the great outward sweep of the circle
of Memory, recorded there by the lives of those of far distant times.
Then will these records live again for us and through the gates of
our soul will pour, from the living source of Idea, their ordered
recollections. Not by our own power, but through the unseen Gate of the
subconscious mind, will these memories link themselves with ours--not
through the evocation of the "spirit" of Johannes, but by the power of
the Universal Spirit, whose life permeates all the regions of Time, and
in Whom we and Johannes, and all who are in mental kinship with his
thought, are as one.
THE GARGOYLE.
In mid-June, 1908, whilst the work of excavation was still in its
preliminary stage, J.A. and F.B.B. were both at Glastonbury. At the
western end of the little town, at a fork in the road, stands the
lesser of the two surviving mediæval churches, that which is locally
known as St. Benedict's, but which is in reality dedicated to Benignus,
a companion of St. Patrick when he came to Glastonbury in the fifth
century. This church was erected on the site of a much older chapel,
by Abbot Richard Bere, whose arms and initials appear over the north
porch. It has a fine western tower of the regular Somerset type, and
on the cornice of the belfry are several carved gargoyles, the most
prominent position, in the centre of the west side, being occupied by
a piece of carving which, when seen from the west, as one approaches
the town, has the appearance of a well-executed head of an Abbot,
with a tall jewelled mitre and lappets. The face is bold, and full of
character, rather long, with level brows and austere expression.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.]
From the narrowness of the road, on nearer approach, a side view of
the carving can only be obtained by turning the head up at a somewhat
uncomfortable angle; and probably for this reason the extraordinary
fact had apparently quite escaped attention that this was in reality
no human head at all, but a peculiar grotesque animal, with extended
neck, crouching against the wall in a manner peculiar to gargoyles, and
with a high arched back like a fighting cat, garnished with knobbly
vertebræ. It was J.A. who first noticed this, and called F.B.B.'s
attention to it. Both were naturally much interested, though, of
course, it was the excavation work at the Abbey which was the chief
object of attention at the time, and this was quite a side-issue.
Shortly afterwards a sitting was held, and the following is the record:
SITTING XXXII. 16th June, 1908.
_Q. by F.B.B._ "_With reference to the sculptured boss on Saint
Benedict's tower, which from different points of view appears as an
Abbot's head and as a grotesque animal: was this intended for a joke?_"
_A._ "Wee know not the quips of they who worked for us and did
sometimes bee rude to them in powers. We builded Benedicts. Wee know
not what they wrought soe only the church was faire and sound for ye
people. The greate workmen and ye masons of repute played noe such
pranks in our Abbey church, we wot.
[Illustration: "REBUS[37] MEA."]
[37] _I.e._, the Abbot's "rebus" (F.B.B.). A _rebus_ is the enigmatic
equivalent of a name. Many of these are known to have been adopted
by Bishops and other ecclesiastics of note. In the case of Bere, the
significance is obvious. Where a name ended in "ton," as Morton,
Pereton, etc., a "tun," or barrel, has been used to complete the
rebus.
SITTING XXXIII. 17th June, 1908.
"I, Johannes Lory, Master mason of ye Guild of St. Andrew, carving of
ye gargoyle of St. Benedick, came downe from my laddere and walked,
for it was colde and in Octobere. Then turning backe I saw my worke
was like unto our Abbot, and soe I carved anew and made it proper. Of
a truth it was our Abbot, and soe sayd they who looked. It was not my
intent, but soe it was, and methinks our goode master ye Abbot knew
not. Of a veritie it was most like, and soe wee left it.
"Seek it of a morning when the sun shines not; ye shal see the more
truthfully. I meant no despyte, God wot."
SCRIPT OBTAINED AT OXFORD. F.B.B. AND J.A. (Present, B. Blackwell and
Miss D. Sayers.) 25th August, 1917.
No previous questions. After a short passage in Latin, which cannot be
deciphered:
"Wolsey the Cardinal housing me with the King, and did appoint me
Abbot, olde man that I was.
"Here was the Hall that he builded in this town in Chancellorium.
"I have said I came to Oxford, and Wolsey the Cardinal did make me
Lord Abbot in ye Hall that he had builded. I was old and infirm, and
came not on my palfrey, but they carried me on my litter, and soe I,
the old man, did become Abbot in mine old age. Would God I had not
been so; then had my death been otherwise.
"Know ye the Hall which he ybuilded? It was where ye now lie.
"I came not on ye palfrey. At ye Abbey of Westminster I lay a long
tyme, for I was sick. And with ye Cardinal came I to Oxford, and he
made me Abbot, I not willing. I sleeped at Westminster. There saw
I the King and would know why he desired me for a friend, I being
Treasurer of mine Abbey. And soe yt was to be."
The day before this sitting (Friday, 24th August) I was in the Bodleian
during the morning, and looked at Dugdale's _Monasticon_, from which
I made the following extract: "On Beere's death, 47 monks devolved
the election of their Abbot to Cardinal Wolsey, who declared Richard
Whiting, then Chancellor of the House, their Abbot." I had not shown
this to J.A., nor had there been any reference to Whiting in our
conversation. The reference to this episode in the script obtained on
the following day would therefore seem to involve an element of pure
mental telepathy, of an entirely subconscious nature since the matter
was not in my thoughts at the time of the sitting.--F.B.B.
SITTING XVA. 1st February, 1908
This record has not been included in the general series, as the
subject-matter proved to be quite foreign to anything hitherto
appearing, or having reference to Glastonbury. It is given as a
specimen of the "intrusions" which from time to time broke the
continuity of the main subject of the writings.
First, a spiral coil was drawn, followed by some letters or characters
not possible to decipher. Next a lozenge or rectangle; then a larger
oblong surmounted by a semicircle, as if to indicate a domed building,
a ramped line running at an angle therefrom; and finally, a cross. Then
the following:
"IBERICUS, who wandered hither bringing strange gifts and treasure.
Watch ye, for out of the wish it is created, and out of the myth will
come the solid truth. Mystery of Faith and of Matter! Out of a thought
all things were created, and out of a thought will old-time things
renew their being.
"ONE OF THE CONTROLLERS
OF THINGS THAT ARE.
A THOUGHT IN BEING."
Next followed more vague pencillings, and several lines of quite
undecipherable script, the only two words legible being CONSTANTINUS
and JUSTINIAN. The writing clears up towards the end of the page, and
proceeds thus:
"... who followed the Phoenician keels to far-off Isles of the Sea
whose treasure was great; whom Phaedrus took in his ship to seek for
safety and merchandise in one. Phaedrus gained much tin, and left
him on these shores, a Prince among them, marrying Yseuguilt their
Princess, and they the forebears of a royal line. (Of) the countries
of the Iberi and Kymri they sat upon the thrones, and gave the world
the Name that lives in all the nations.
"Who am I? One that sojourned with them from Capernaum through the
Isles of Greece and past the straits which Pharos lighted to stormy
seas and black rocks where the metals be.
"North, the settlement Tintagella; south, the river mouths, and inland
to the forest-lands and the marshes where the rising of the sun. There
builded he a Temple such as was of old in Judah, and there he reigned.
Thus was I, O man! my name Phocis the Mariner."
In tracing on a map of Cornwall the course indicated in the script,
east from the coast between Tintagel and Padstow, my finger lighted on
a village on the fringe of Bodmin moor, marked "Temple." Neither I nor
J.A. were conscious of the existence of this place-name, nor could we
recall our attention having been at any time directed to it.
As to the identity of the royal traveller, the script does not yield a
definite statement. If the name is there, it is to be feared that it is
irrecoverable owing to the hopelessly obscure nature of the writing in
the undeciphered portion. He came from Capernaum, and he came--or was
it Phædrus?--seeking for safety and merchandise in one. Can we identify
his Princess? Yseuguilt, or Yseult, is one perhaps of many, but it
may be that some record is yet extant of a Cornish Yseult who married
an Eastern prince or merchant. And what have the antiquaries to say
of Temple? Whence did this little place derive its interesting name?
Was it merely from a house of the fraternity of the Templars, or from
some far older and now half-mythical tradition, lost in the mists of
antiquity?
In a script dated 24 April, 1918, the following passage occurs:
"The flow of spiritual forces is westward, following and impelling
the forces of material things. By a law of revolution reinforced from
all points in the spiritual universe, this movement is universal.
This being so, the material things first appear, working on a motive
very often in itself most mundane and from your point of view most
unspiritual. Thus they whose habitation was in Crete, revisiting the
memories and traditions of others of the same race and civilisation
which long before had been impelled westward beyond the great
continents of America to the shores of Asia, and thence onwards
through the desolate tracts of Asia to the great Mediterranean basin,
still continued the interminable route ever westward beyond the gates
of Hercules to the islands where the fire-drawn metals be: so, as
mundane influences impelled them, great immigration was induced by
the want of metals for the embellishment of temples, the hardening
of bronze for warlike purposes and, in short, for the many needs
of man's development in civilisation and knowledge. But soon the
spiritual forces which developed and sustained this immigration had
deeper objects in view. They followed and transformed it by removing
mundane influences, and a great spiritual development arose in the
places in which their instruments had prepared the soil, Phocis of
the race of Crete trading with Poseidon and seeking Tyrian purple,
was thus brought in contact with them who worshipped the One God in
contradistinction to the many.... This paved the way for the building
of a Temple in his settlement of Tintagella.... Thus first arose
that measurement and design which were afterwards as accurately
reproduced by that further advance which culminated in the temple of
Glastonbury....
"And Tintagella was the ancient place of the shrine of the High God.
So the Temple, a reproduction, accurate in every measurement was
reproduced at Glaston on this foundation....
"Phocis was Phocis--a centre and nucleus, a focus rightly named but in
himself but a merchant prince of Poseidon and Eubeia."[38]
[38] This seems written in defence of the feminine form "Phocis"
used in the original. This is the right Greek form for the country,
whereas "Phocas" would be the proper form in which to designate a man
of Phocis. A correspondent had raised this point in a letter to F.B.B.,
but J.A. was totally unaware of it.
THE STORY OF EAWULF
_Note_.--During excavation alongside the south aisle footing of the
nave, in continuation of the work on the south-west tower footings, an
interment of a curious nature was encountered. The skeleton lay in the
clay just outside the wall, and the head was protected by a "dropstone"
having a cylindrical hollow, open at the neck, in which lay the skull.
Between the legs of the skeleton was a second skull, but broken. At the
foot was a flat stone laid across, and against it on the further side a
number of leg-bones, etc. The following was written shortly after the
discovery:
SITTING XXXIV. 19th September, 1908.
"Radulphus Cancellarius, who slew Eawulf in fair fight, did
nevertheless suffer by his foeman's seaxe, which broke his bones
asunder.[39] He, dying after many years, desired that they who loved
him should bury him without the church where he was wont to feed the
birds in his chair. The sunne did shine there, as he loved it, for his
blood was cold." "It is strange, yet wee know it is true. The head of
Eawulf was (there). As they digged around his body they knew not that
the head of Eawulf fell, and so lay betwixt his feet. And thus have ye
found it.
[39] The right forearm was afterwards found to be fractured.
"I, Gulielmus, I knew the old church that Radulphus did pull downe,
and much lieth beneath the floor of ye newe church. Search estward of
where ye now digge and ye shall find much, and of the old work made
they the vaults, and some are deeper. Be not deceived by appearances.
Under where ye now think is the end of all, there will be seen very
deep walls of the older church. None knew of them, and they were not
destroyed. Seek also north of the said cutting: there is somewhat
there ye might not know of."
_Q. "Why was the head of Radulphus protected by a dropstone, when the
body was not enclosed?"_
_A._ "Soe he wished it. Let the worms of the earth devour my poor body
with all its sinnes, saith he. Mine head did ever fight against the
body. It is the best part of me. See ye, saith he, that ye protect it!
That foul body--let hym go, saith hee."
_Q. "How did Eawulf come to be buried there, and who was he?"_
_A._ "Know ye not Eawulf, the Yarl of Edgarley, of royal blood, who
harried the Norman, and would have slain Turstinus?[40] A doughty
Saxon he, and one who said that Glaston was builded by the Saxon, and
Saxon it should remain. So he was buried in Glaston, and not in his
own chapel at Edgarley.[41] The holy men of Glaston, they who were of
Saxon blood, suffered much through his violence in their behalf, and,
God wot, through no rebellion of their own; and they had their reward,
for a Saxon[42] again was Abbot for a time."
[40] Radulphus Cancellarius. This we supposed, at first, to refer to
the great Radulphus or Ralph (FitzStephen), who was responsible for the
rebuilding of the Abbey Church after the great fire of 1184; but this
would be eighty-three years after the time of Turstin, first Norman
Abbot (1082-1101). Malmesbury tells us of the trouble that ensued from
the tyrannical methods of Turstin, and the slaughter of the monks by
hired soldiers. But the story of Eawulf is new.
[41] Eawulf, Yarl of Edgarley. The name was quite unknown to us.
Edgarley is about a mile out of Glastonbury on the south-east. There
is an ancient chapelry there, dedicated to St. Dunstan. Subsequent
reference to the old English Chronicles brought to light the following
entry under date A.D. 885:
"Eanwulf, Earl of _Somerton_, buried in Glastonbury Abbey." Somerton is
about six miles from Glastonbury on the same side as Edgarley--_i.e._,
south. This is interesting, as suggesting a family name perpetuated for
some six generations, or about 200 years, in the district.
[42] Turstin, whose violence caused his dismissal by the King, and
exile for a time to Normandy, was succeeded by Herlewin, whose Saxon
name receives interesting corroboration by the script.
SITTING XXXVII. 23rd September, 1908.
_Q. "How is the great difference in date between Radulphus and Eawulf
to be explained? We cannot reconcile this."_
_A._ "Wee know not your dates, nor the tymes gone by; but this we
know--Eawulf and Radulphus[43] did fight, and the Norman did slay the
Saxon. This is fact, as we know it. Be sure of your own tymes and look
at Domesday for light.
[43] Written "Turstinus."
"We remember (Radulphus) was an hundred years and three when he went
to hys fathers:--hale and of a good visage even then--but hys bones
did grieve him (by reason of) ye payne in them. Soe did he seek ye
sunne. More we will serche in the great army of past things. They are
soe hard to find!
"That wych is hidden will be found out and all ye Abbaye is at your
hands; but serche. Alle three churches are open to ye, and one whych
was of old time in the midst of the nave of ye newe--not much, for
Turstinus did remove ... them when he builded anewe the Norman
churche" (_i.e._, built the new Norman church.--F.B.B.).
_Q. "Did Eawulf lead the assault in the fight? How did it come about?"_
_A._ "Old men have strong anger, but youth should have spared him.
More we know not,--we wil serche."
The script here breaks off into the description (already given) of the
pilgrims' procession at sunset, with the music of organs and bells.
SITTING XLII. 18th April, 1911.
The problem of the dates was left for further consideration, and
remained in abeyance for two and a half years. At this sitting other
matters of early history had been touched upon, and it occurred to
F.B.B. to ask a question as to Radulphus and Eawulf.
_Q. "Please explain the apparent discrepancy of dates in the story of
Radulphus and his fight with Eawulf."_
_A._ "Ne Radulphus of Henry the King" (_i.e._, FitzStephen,
1184.--F.B.B.). "Radulphus the Treasurer was Norman of the time of
Turstinus--annos One Thousand and Eighty-seven. Ralph was hee. Eorwulf
of Edgarley, old in years, was wroth because the soldiers of Turstinus
did slay the Saxon monks. Ralph the Norman knight and Treasurer of
Turstinus, slew him. Who was hee? Radulphus FitzHamon--as wee wot, an
evil man."
_Q. "Where was Ralph FitzStephen--of Henry II.--buried?"_
_A._ "Ralph, ye cousin of ye King, dyed as we deem, at
Wincastre--there yburied. Chancellor of Angleland was he."
_Note._--The two foregoing answers were now read, but unfortunately
the first was incorrectly interpreted, as the writing was a little
difficult. F.B.B. made the mistake of thinking that it implied that
Ralph of Turstinus was FitzStephen (though the sense is clear enough on
further inspection), and consequently asked as follows:
_Q. "Why do you say that Ralph, treasurer of Turstinus, was Ralph of
King Henry?"_
(Here the influence changes and a masterful "personality" of whom we
have had previous experience, controls the utterance.)
_A._ "Rede. I said it not. I said not 'Ralph of the King Henricus,'
but 'Ralph ye Norman.' Taedet damnosum. Lege!--IMPERATOR.
"Audi me, barbari stultissimi! Ego Imperator, qui feci
interpretationes pro anima insularium.--CAESAR."[44]
[44] Which may be freely translated as: "Listen to me, you very dull
barbarians!--to me, the Emperor, who have been trying to make these
things clear to the minds of you islanders."
PART III
THE LORETTO CHAPEL
The interest of this section is greatly enhanced by the fact that the
foundations of the Loretto Chapel were discovered last summer in the
place indicated by the script. The work of excavation will not be
completed until next season, but already more than half of the plan of
the chapel has been laid bare, and a full report with illustrations
has been contributed by the author to the Somerset Archæological
Society, and will appear in their Proceedings for 1919, now being
published early in 1920. The report will be accessible to all
archæological students at the principal libraries. The footings of the
chapel show that it was 20 feet wide, as the script indicates, but the
author's interpretation was at fault in assuming this width to be an
internal one, whereas it is the external dimension. The length may be
found to follow suit. The chapel lies about 5 feet within the bank as
stated, and the west wall-footing is the best preserved, thus bearing
out the accuracy of the writings.
[Illustration: PLATE IV. CONEY'S VIEW OF THE ABBEY (1817).
Frontispiece to Part III.]
THE LORETTO CHAPEL
Among the lost features of Glastonbury Abbey recorded by Leland[45] is
a chapel built by Abbot Bere on the north side of the nave. Leland says
of this:
[45] _Itinerary_, vol. iii., p. 103.
"Bere cumming from his Embassadrie out of Italie[46] made a Chapelle
of our Lady de Loretta, joining to the north side of the body of the
Church."
[46] Undertaken in 1503, on the election of Pius III.
But apart from his record, which has preserved the bare memory of
the work and its approximate location, we have no surviving facts,
either historical or descriptive, to guide us in the search for its
vestiges, save one or two trifles which the orthodox archæologist would
probably despise, but on which the imagination might build an airy
and tenuous fabric, a mere gossamer which the rude touch of practical
argument would dispel, and which would find its place more fittingly
in the pages of romance than in the chronicles of the labours of
serious-minded antiquaries.
Here, then, was a chance for the subliminal mind to exercise its
powers, just the opportunity most desirable for an experiment in the
psychology of inductive and deductive processes, and a test of the
possibility of drawing by the thread of slenderest and most imperfect
knowledge, some kindred knowledge from the great reservoir of the
memory of nature. This experiment was made, and the result of it I am
going to give my readers without any sort of reticence or reserve,
making no claim, but asking that they will regard it with an open mind,
and accepting it for analysis as an illustration of the working of the
latent powers of the mind under the same conditions that we in the
onset laid down for our work.
The material from which our sublimated essence was distilled was as
follows:
1. Leland's note, as above.
2. A fragment of walling shown in Coney's view of the Abbey, 1817. This
appears in the sketch just on the spot where the wall of the north
aisle of the nave would have joined that of the transept at its eastern
extremity, but it is diminutive in height--only about a third of the
height proper to the nave wall, as is clearly evident by comparison
with the surrounding features. It is like a little screen-wall, and
such as might have filled at one time an archway at this point opening
from the last or most eastward division of the north aisle wall towards
a chapel just without, in the angle between the aisle and the north
transept. But in Coney's sketch it does not look like a Gothic work,
but is more like a building of the modern times, since it has four
little dumpy windows with round heads and the projecting cills which we
associate with our everyday experience of domestic building. No one
but Coney, so far as I am aware, has indicated any sort of remnant of
building at this point, and there are several older views of the Abbey,
which would be expected to show it if anything had been there. Look,
for example, at Stukeley's panoramic view of the ruins, published in
1723. (See Fig. 10, p. 115.) Nothing visible there--the whole of the
north side of the nave an open field, as it had been for at least half
a century previous (_vide_ Hollar's view).
3. In the Cannon MS., a diary referring to Glastonbury about the time
of George II., is a sketch plan of the Abbey, very crude, in which the
writer shows a mound of rubbish and rough stones with suggestions of a
broken wall on the ground at or near this point, and he makes a note to
the effect that it is the remains of "The Chapter House."
But, of course, the Chapter House was on the south side of the Choir,
and could not have been elsewhere in the case of Glastonbury, as
its site was never in doubt, and it has now been recovered and its
dimensions tested and proved.
4. Marsh, the old gardener at the Abbey for over forty years, used to
say to me that in the grass bank which runs along the north side of the
nave area, under the trees, there was a fine bit of freestone walling,
some of which Mr. Austin, his earlier employer, used up for building. I
dug in, but could find nothing of this at the point he indicated.
Now, at the risk of being a little tedious, I propose to quote a short
paragraph from my _Architectural Handbook_, because it shows what I was
thinking about this matter in 1910, and such evidence is needed for any
useful analysis of the psychology of the whole subsequent matter.
I would add that, so far as I can remember, my friend J.A. had formed
no theory as to the nature of the chapel or its real position other
than my own, and what I here quote represents the utmost that could at
the time be said (_Architectural Handbook of Glastonbury Abbey_, second
edition, pp. 32, 33, 1910):
"Some fragments of building on the north side of the nave were
surviving as recently as 1817, when Coney's drawings were published.
In one of these we see a wall with a row of windows having a rather
unusual detail in their heads (Fig. 10). This would be near the site
of the Loretto Chapel, built by Abbot Bere. Carter, writing some few
years later, tells us that the Loretto Chapel was then standing, and
if he be correct, it must have been a substantial piece of masonry
exterior to the church, and not a light internal structure within it,
as has been conjectured. But he may have been referring to the Chapel
of Saint Thomas the Martyr in the north transept, which has sometimes
been miscalled the 'Loretto Chapel.'
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--VIEW OF THE RUINS IN 1723. (From Stukeley's
Itinerary.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 11.--GLASTONBURY ABBEY IN 1655 _circa_: ENLARGEMENT
OF HOLLAR'S VIEW.]
[Illustration: Fig. 12.--MS. PLAN OF JOHN CANNON, 1740 _circa_.
_A_, Chaple; _B_, quire; _C_, the great arch; _D_, the nave or body;
_E_, the chapter house; _F_, gate to ye kitchen; _G_, St. Joseph's
Chaple.]
"A sketch plan in the Cannon MS. shows a group of ruins in an
apparently similar position, and he records the tradition of a very
magnificent building at this point, which he terms the 'Chapter House.'
However erroneous this designation, we may at least accept his record
as corroborative of the existence of a richly ornamented building of
some special nature (as distinct from the body of the Church at the
junction of the Nave aisle and North Transept)."
It seems, then, that we had formed the impression of a fine building
just outside the nave wall and in the angle of aisle and transept; but
to be strictly accurate, I do not think that Coney's sketch had much
weight as regards the character of the work it might have contained,
and so far as one's normal impressions were concerned, it was dismissed
as "modern."
RECORD OF EXCAVATION IN 1911.
In the early part of June, 1911, the footing trench of the north aisle
wall of the nave was opened up at its eastward end, and the junction
of the same with the west wall of the north transept was found. The
area just outside the angle of the two walls was cleared with the
object of discovering traces of a chapel at this point, but beyond a
few very beautiful sections of window mullions of the style of the
late fifteenth or early sixteenth century--good Tudor work--nothing
material came to light in the way of detail. But about 13 feet west of
the transept wall, and running parallel to it, meeting the line of the
aisle wall at right angles and going north from it, was found another
broad foundation, and this we assumed at the time to be the footing
of the west wall of the Loretto Chapel. The inference was clear that
there must at least have been some building of a permanent nature,
and rather substantial, attached to the west face of the transept
wall just outside its junction with the aisle, and perhaps it was not
unreasonable at the time to suppose that this was the Loretto Chapel.
The architectural detail discovered pointed to a Gothic chapel, and was
entirely inconsistent with such a building as Coney showed. Neither was
it of like character with the work in the Nave. Such was the position
when, on 13th June, 1911, we obtained the following automatic script:
SITTING XLVII. 13th June, 1911.
"I made that building. All that I didde anywhere is fannes. Ne barrel
vault. And under them, three faire windowes of foure lights with
transomes and littel castel-work on the ramps thereof. And if ye digge
in the wall of the navis, there is much fell in. Serche the great
pier of the nave opposite the cutte: yt is full ... but they threw
therein the fragments of my capella, a canopy at the west, and all
the central ones--faire canopy work, and in the midst a littel one
for Our Ladye, sylver guilt and very faire. Somewhat remaineth of ye
outer walls and ye walle by ye crossinge, but they have taken hym
mostly away long syne. Very deepe fannes ... and each fanne had twelve
ribs, and they were ycoloured red and gold, like my chapel of Edgar.
There yet remaineth somewhat of Our Ladye. Yt lieth in front of the
west walle three feet or thereabouts. Seek ye well out the bank to the
Est: something remaineth of ye transept (?) wall whereon we placed the
tabernacles, but most is ygone. Ye doore unto hym is at the west,[47]
nigh unto the pillar of the navis, one doore only, on nave.
[47] This must be a mistake. The south is the Nave side.--F.B.B.
"R. B. scripsit, pro instructionem tuam. Ye roundels of ye volte were
golden, and also ye bosses, and ye hollows were bright redde; likewise
ye tabernacle of Oure Ladye in the est wall golde and redde; and ye
windowes were of glasse yellow in canopies with redde and blewe in ye
little lights thereof. Ye floore was of tileis red, with shields, and
ornaments in yellow likewise, and it was very faire and magnifical,
like unto my chappel of Edgar, but more faire, for I builded hym
later, for I hadde a vowe of mine owne which I performed."
_Q. "What was your vow?"_
_A._ "Know ye not that wee were borne downe by rude men in foreign
parts and the mule which bore me fell, for I was a grete and heavy
man. And being like to fall down a steepe place or be trampled by
ye mule, I called on Oure Lady and shee heard me, soe that my cloke
catching on a thorne I was prevented, and then said I: 'Lo! When I
returne I will build a chapel to Our Lady of the Loretto, and soe
instant was I inn (my vowe) that the brethren were grieved, for yt
was arranged in Chapitre that wee shold build a Chapel to oure Edgare
before I wennt in ye shyppe. Therefore builded I hym first, for it was
a public vowe: but mine owne vowe I fulfilled afterer, and soe all was
well--Yt is given."
_Q. "What was the occasion of your journey?"_
_A._ "Know ye not of my Ambassadrie, when ye Kinge wold know what the
Bis^P of Roume would doe? Even soe journeying fromm Padua whither came
the shippes, we felle among evil menne who would hold us to ransome.
Here fell ye mule, and ye reste ye knowe."
NOTES ON BEERE'S EMBASSY.
Abbot Richard Bere was deputed by Henry VII. to visit Rome in 1503,
in order, it is said, to congratulate the new Pope, Pius III., on
his election. Whether there was any political object intended to be
served by his embassy does not appear, but it is strongly suggested by
subsequent events. The new Pope did not live to establish his policy.
He survived his election only twenty-six days, and was succeeded during
the same year by Julius II., a "political" Pope, who formed the "League
of Cambrai," which was followed by the "Holy League" of powers against
Louis XII. of France, including England, Spain, and Venice in the bond,
which Henry VIII. afterwards joined, until the peace with France in
1514 ended it. As to the story of the journey, the mention of Padua as
his port of call seemed odd, and a little hard to understand. The usual
route to Rome for English travellers of that period was via Antwerp,
Augsbourg, and Venice. From Venice he might have taken boat to the
wharves of Padua, and would thence proceed southward along the Adriatic
side, till near Ancona, and here he would strike Loreto, which would be
the start of an overland journey, the Apennines being crossed possibly
on mule-back.
_Q. "What were the dimensions of the work about which you have been
telling us?"_
_A._ "Yn feete twenty and two, and foure paces in width thereof, and
ye walle of ye nave was strengthened thereby, for ye towre hadde
pressed ye walls through the volt of the navis, and hee was crackt all
ye way to the bottom thereof. Therefore my chapel was high, in height
twenty and three feet, and very strong in the volt, soe that it tied
the wall of ye nave and ye wall of ye crossing where it was weake.
They who builded ye towre should have made arches in ye walle to help
ye higher windowes, carrying them along ye crossing in ye walle to
helpe ye towre at ye angle, but they did not. Therefore helped I yt by
my chappell and by an arche I builded from ye toppe of ye aisle to
the roofe of ye chappell to bond ye whole at ye angle. Also builded I
ye grete arches in ye towre. It wasne ye volte that did caste out, but
ye towre gave inne as against ye volte by reason of its weight,[48]
and soe it even gave away from[49] the crossing in its lowre part and
gave out in its upper.--R. B."
[48] This seems perfectly true. The great piers buckled under the
weight of the tower, and bowed inwards, probably pushing the vault,
and cracking it by compression.--F.B.B.
[49] _Gave in towards_ the crossing would be more expressive of the
fact.--F.B.B.
_Q. "Can you give us an idea of the state of opinion in the religious
establishments of your day--of the views and ideals current?"_
_A._ "Ne helde I wyth superstitions. Ever I was for ye people and ye
better understanding of ye mysteries. It was meet that it be soe, and
notte kept in the hearts of the religious only. More wold ye? What
more I didde as seemed best, for the old tymes were changing and menne
loved the glory of our ceremonial. They were angered at the deceits
which hadde kept their fathers humble and meek. Through the eye the
glory of our services might make them wish for noble things, but I
knew, and hee my friend knew[50] they were no longer to be fooled with
trickery. All was changing in my day and the wars made for greater
knowledge. The Englyshe were (a)sleepe no more, ne ever to be. Dixi."
[50] Bere was the friend of Erasmus.
The dimensions given for this little chapel could be applied to the
foundations discovered only if the longer measure (22 feet) were taken
north and south, and the shorter (four paces) east and west. This would
make the building cover one bay of the transept, and extend to the
outer footing wall exposed by the excavation. But this footing did not
stop at 22 feet, but ran on north, and was found to be co-extensive
with the northerly projection of the transept, so that the chapel
described would only have occupied one-half of the length, and it
looked as if there had been an aisle to the transept such as F.B.B.
showed in his drawing of the reconstructed interior. The description
of the strongly built little chapel in the angle, buttressing up the
weak tower and transept wall, was a plausible one, but the description,
and especially the dimensions, would not throw any light on Coney's
sketch, and left the wall in the bank, spoken of by the gardener, still
unexplained. The dimensions were small--unsatisfying for a special
work of this nature, and one which had merited individual mention by
Leland. And the proportion was so unusual, in that the east and west
measurement was the lesser and would be insufficient for its purpose,
one would think, unless the altar were placed at the north end, which
would not be an English custom. Was this little building, after
all, the real Chapel of the Loretto, or was it only an antechamber,
through which access would be had from the nave to a more important
work farther out? The long aisle-like footing looked like an adit or
approach. It could hardly have been part of the transept because of the
sharp difference in level between the two floors, that of the transept
being 4 feet or so above the nave. But only further digging could bring
light, and this was at the time impossible, so there the matter was
bound to remain until a more favourable opportunity should occur for
further research. So it rested for five years.
In December, 1916, F.B.B. and J.A. found themselves near neighbours,
and it had been mutually agreed, in view of the greatly revived
interest in the subject of spiritual phenomena, that the experiments
in writing should be resumed, but no definite day had been fixed.
Some days before F.B.B. had given J.A. some MS. notes to transcribe,
being extracts he had made some years before from the Cannon MS.
It had been proposed to publish these in the _Proceedings of the
Somerset Archæological Society_, and with them was the sketch of the
ruins already referred to, at which both had casually glanced; but
this had not been the subject of attention. and J.A.'s transcript had
not arrived at that point when the first sitting was held. This was
on 4th December. Glastonbury matters were not to the fore in recent
conversation, which had been given to the subject of the Greek Cabala
and the geometry connected with it. J.A. says his mind was still full
of this on 4th December, to the exclusion of Glastonbury, and that the
reference in the Cannon MS. had not been in his thoughts. F.B.B.'s
experience was similar. He had been busy with letters until the moment
of J.A.'s arrival, and his last envelope having been sealed, he, on
the spur of the moment, proposed a sitting, to which J.A. agreed.
F.B.B. had an idea that if any writing were obtained it might be on the
subject of the war and current events; and J.A. anticipated something
on geometrical symbolism. No suggestion was made as to the subject of
the proposed communication. The following is the record:
SITTING. 4th December, 1916.
The first page of writing is cramped and well-nigh illegible. The
following can be made out:
"Cosmic facts are everywhere, but not easily attained....
"... by assembling yourselves together and obtaining the inspiration
ye seek consciously or unconsciously. The result obtained is the same,
but the word endures....
"... The material world is the screen between--the complex fabric of
the simple weaving. The essential facts are eternal which (? move)
in a circle, and to them that know the circle, somewhat will pass
into all times, only ye see but little at a time. The centre is the
point on which all revolves, and ye, revolving, are conscious of the
influence, but cannot know the radius...."
"Obliviscor. So long we have slept near Capella Loretta under the bank
full thirty paces from the Navis. Ye did not go farre enow beyond the
(bank) they cast up there. It was full five feet in, and buried in
the place where he didd drawe the Chapitre Howse.[51] and the end of
the pilgrimmes (way) is ... through ye porche, thro ye wicket gate in
ye corner, and by ye steppes over against ye lower graveyard. There
shewed wee the relics and ye pilgrimmes passed by this way to the
Chapell of St. Mary, by ye steppes, and to Navis majoure."
[51] This appears to be in allusion to the note in the Cannon MS. which
J.A. says he had not then noticed.
Then in a different hand:
"Abbot Bere ybuilded ye Loretto Chapel faire and large to the north
(side of the) navis. We said that itt ... was not ye Chapitre Howse....
"... The syde of it was distant from ye navis thirty-one feet and a
half, and from ye aisle of ye transept he was fulle tenn feet with
a covered way unto, and four steppes up unto ye aisle aforesaid. Yt
... was ybuilded by Bere most faire and wonderfull in ye newe style
brought from Ytaly when he didd goe there upon ambassadrie.
"Ye have heard of yt. Ye Chapell was full forty feet, and width
between twenty and ... twenty-one feet, and hee had an entrance unto
(hym) from the roade which ledde from St. John his gait unto ye navis,
and thus might ye B^p and the Kinges majestic (enter).
"Bere used to approach by entering into the Claustre, and soe he didde
close it oftentimes."
The foregoing script at first sight seemed impossible to decipher,
and a repetition was asked for. This was clearly written, and by its
aid the sense of the foregoing was mastered, and word by word picked
out, but there are yet some seemingly hopeless blanks. These, however,
may not be material, and will probably refer to the ruinous state
of the Chapter House and its repair, as re-stated in the following
communication:
"We have said he was of the Ytalian style new and very faire, and Bere
ybuilded coming from embassadrie in Ytaly. Hee was not ye Chapitre,
but Bere did use hym so because ye Chaptre House was dammp and ruinous
and was being repaired. We have said so. Hee met ye King and ye B^p
who sojourned (with him). The same was forty feet (long) by twenty
(or) thereabouts and his grylled doore was to the west and a pavement
joyned him to the Road from St. John's gate to ye churche.
"He wasne like anything else (but was of the) newe style. There were
four steppes--nay, six--to the aisle of ye transeppt, and a covered
way vaulted in a rounde vaulte to ye Chappell....--THESIGER."
Q. "By 'steps' do you mean ascending steps, or paces?"
A. "Ten feet, and four or six steppes up to hym."
The signature "THESIGER" is of peculiar interest. At the beginning of
this communication will be seen the words "Obliviscor." "So long we
have slept near Capella Loretta," etc. Only once before, at Sitting
XLII., on the 7th September, 1910, has the same signature been
observed. This was at the close of a communication dealing with the
shrine of St. Dunstan, and was given as follows:
"Sub marmore dormio, quod taedet me--obliviscor.--CAMILLUS THESIGER."
The identity of this person was at the time a matter of speculation,
but F.B.B. concluded that it must be meant for Camel, the Purse-bearer
to Abbot Bere, whose marble tomb with coffered panels is a feature in
St. John's Church. Camel had a house in the upper part of the town, in
the High Street, on the south side, some little way above St. John's
Gate, and to the east.
The architectural details which we here reproduce were then given, some
explanatory notes appended.
THE LORETTO CHAPEL
ARCHITECTURAL PLANS
DESCRIPTION OF PLAN A.
I. _a_, Drawing of a gable with "stepped" coping, probably meant for
the west gable.
I. _b_, Plan of the Chapel, showing four bays in length, with
buttresses having a pointed profile, labelled "Cappella Loretta."
I. _c_, Elevation of a circular-headed recess, with ornament in head,
labelled "Cava."
I. _d_, Plan (enlarged) of the Chapel, showing an entrance ("portus")
apparently in the south-west bay.
DESCRIPTION OF PLAN B.
I. _e_, Plan of the east end of Chapel, showing the convex "Cava
Virginis," and the door ("portus") leading to the church.
I. _f_, Another and clearer plan of the Chapel, confirming the
four-bay division.
I. _g_, Elevation of the east wall of Chapel, as seen internally, the
"Cava Virginis," or semicircular recess, being in the centre and the
door to the transept on the right or south side.
[Illustration: PLAN A.]
[Illustration: PLAN B.]
DESCRIPTION OF PLAN C.
I. _h_, This appears to be another effort to show the east wall, but
the "Cava" is so small that the alternative suggests itself of an
elevation of the west wall, with a central doorway.
I. _j_, _k_, Head of the "Cava," with attempt to represent a shell
ornament filling the hollow of same.
II. _a_, Elevation, probably of exterior of west wall, with
round-headed door, and "Virgo" over--_i.e._, a statue of the Virgin
here. There is a suggestion of undulating parapets, with a sitting
lion at the corner.
II. _b_, _c_, Divisions of the copings, with lions at intervals.
[Illustration: PLAN C.]
DESCRIPTION OF PLAN D.
II. _d_, Another drawing of the east end of the plan, with the
position of the east door, written "portus ad ecclesiam et voltus
quadripartus." Note "portus" for "porta," and "voltus" for" volta,"
always occurring in these writings.
II. _e_, _f_, Repetition of the undulating contours of the parapet,
labelled "parapetus." The lions at intervals as before.
[Illustration: PLAN D.]
DESCRIPTION OF PLAN E.
II. _g_, Undulating outline of a parapet, with foliage ornament
applied, and the word "leo."
II. _h_, Sketch of a small pier or baluster form. This is labelled
"patella and pillar." The word "patella" has the same intention as
the word "patera," well known as an architectural term and implying
a plate or panel, often of rectangular form. This may be let into
the surface of a pilaster. The plan clearly indicates a flat pier or
pilaster; or it may imply an abacus for the support of the lion.
[Illustration: PLAN E.]
DESCRIPTION OF PLAN F.
III. _a_, Two sketches of the lions. They are sitting lions, holding
shields, as we see them in many Tudor buildings, but the ornament is
more customary in domestic work than in ecclesiastical.
III. _b_, More parapets, this time partly of a Florentine pattern.
Whether these are meant for a more detailed study of the undulations
previously shown, or are some in a special position, does not yet
appear. The little "angels" seem to be connected with them.
III. _c_, Probably meant for one of the heads of the side-windows in
the Chapel. There is clearly a semicircle at head, and there appears
some sort of filling like open scroll-work. No English precedent of
this date is known to the writer.
[Illustration: PLAN F.]
DESCRIPTION OF PLAN G.
III. _d_, Another sketch of the "Cava," with the description of the
treatment of its recess: "Golden stars on azure, at the back of the
Virgin's Hollow"; and it proceeds: "Ad orientem, in cava Virginis
Mari(a)e Lorettae quod ... ad ecclesiam ... via claustra ad eccl^m
... ad orientem ... ad ecclesiam" (To the east, a covered way, or
cloister, leading to the church).
III. _e_, Again a plan of the east end of the Chapel, with the door
marked "portus," and a line going east.
III. _f_, The "via claustra" shown from the Chapel to the "ecclesia."
[Illustration: PLAN G.]
DESCRIPTION OF PLAN H.
IV. _a_, "Chapel is forty (in) feet by twenty." Then follows an
elevation of one side showing the round heads of the windows connected
by a string-course, and the writing "forty feet, four parts."
IV. _b_, Sketch of a rounded vault, its groin carved along the whole
length. Described thus: "Volt of fruit and flowers painted very
cunningly. Ye ribs of volts ycarven so."
IV. _c_, Small sketch of one of the sitting lions at the angle of the
Chapel, with one crenelle of the parapet adjoining. Described thus:
"Ye Leones cornerwise, and thre(e) between. The partitions were 10
feet, forty in length and twenty wide," with round vaults: ribs carven
with fruit and many colours.
[Illustration: PLAN H.]
[Illustration: PLAN I.
IV. _d_, Another sketch of a sitting lion.]
REVIEW.
It was with a sense of astonishment that, after so great a lapse of
time, this interesting communication, so voluminous in detail, and,
so apparently explanatory of doubts and difficulties in connection
with the obscure problem of the Loretto Chapel, should have presented
itself unsought, unexpected, and inclusive of strange new elements
which suggested the existence at Glastonbury in Bere's day of an
architectural model which would be unique for the period in these
islands, and probably without parallel in Northern Europe.
Several questions arise in the mind. Could the little windows in
Coney's sketch have stimulated a subconscious dream of an Italian
chapel? But where are we to look for the original model of these
undulating parapets, Lions sejeant with shields, patellæ, fruit and
flower enrichment, the conchoidal "Cava Virginis," and the precision
of the general proportions? Was there, in the subconscious memory of
either of the sitters, some forgotten impression of a building in
Padua or elsewhere in Northern Italy, which in its main features, or
subsidiary detail, might tally with what was here given? That we cannot
say, for nothing of the sort could or can be recalled by the conscious
mind.
Should the day come when the bank of rubble on the north side of the
nave of Glastonbury Abbey can be thoroughly explored, it may be that
beyond some traces of the freestone wall spoken of by the old gardener
there may be found _nothing_; but if, on the other hand, it should
appear that by the same obscure mental process which has already, in
the case of the Edgar Chapel, predicated the existence, with practical
truth in form and detail, of a building whose very memory was lost
(and the evidence for which had been ignored, nay even scouted, by
the most competent antiquaries), another architectural treasure, long
buried and forgotten, might once again be brought to light, and its
wealth of Italian detail verified; then, indeed, would come into sight
new vistas, new possibilities of exploration and research into the
secrets of old time, and we should stand at the threshold of the Gate
of Remembrance.
SITTING. 16th August, 1917 (at Gloucester).
_Note._--The objects sought in this communication were formulated by
F.B.B. in advance. They chiefly concerned the discrepancies between the
two descriptions of Bere's buildings given at previous sittings, 13th
June, 1911, and 4th December, 1916, the first of which referred to some
work unidentified. F.B.B. suggested that the discovery of the footings
of the transept "aisle" immediately before the former of these two
sittings had created a mental bias in favour of a "chapel" there, and
thus confused the script.
"Maestro ... Francesco de Padua qui me instruxit et capella(m)
cognoscit in Italia. Ille etiam scripsit cum me et ille ... (struebat)
in modo Italiano, et mecum in nave navigavit ad Brit(tanniam). Ille
aedificavit et ornavit."
"Deepe, by ye Bank, is ye walle where ye fathers didde sit in their
old age; and they had not the use[52] of the younger brethren, but
were free--and who wished to spend hys dayes in ease and luxury? But
capella wasne in muro in Boreali parte. I have told ye. It was soe,
and in the banke deepe down ye shall find hym full perfect as I do
think. There was a deepe place where they destroyed and they covered
him and made a banke full six feet high, and soe saved the wall at the
west end for all tyme.
[52] _I.e._, did not keep the canonical hours, etc.--F.B.B.
"Ask ye, what was the chapel under the Tower beyond the Porche? He was
for the reliquaries, and ye did enter hym from the garth on the syde
of St. Mary's and uppe four steppes to him, and soe through to the
upper garth and ye road to the John's Gate."
* * * * *
"Wysdom--it was best soe. The Land was ycovered with the houses of
God, and the grass he could not grow, and it was in the providence of
God that the houses were destroyed, for they held no life. Men desired
fuller life in ye world, and to travel far; and the old faith[53] was
no longer needed, for the minds of men were no longer as ye beasts
that perish, but each man was a light unto himself and did need no
father to control him--so it was best, though much loveliness was
destroyed in the undoing. The Spirit liveth still, and what we lived
for, in new guise we give to you. Grow in the Spirit. We are a symbol
of great truths, and ye read the symbol aright. That which we did
dream lives on, and in the Spirit we pass it on to you, from symbol to
symbol--ever higher, ever wider.
[53] _I.e._, the old system.
"As great books were we, and our work was in stone--a language handed
down for you to read, which we had forgotten, and so fell.
"What wold ye?"
At this point there was a pause in the writing. Neither F.B.B. nor J.A.
were aware of anything that had been written. The sheets were replaced
and laid aside as they were filled, and nothing was suggested during
the writing by either sitter. There was a little conversation on other
subjects. At this point it occurred to F.B.B. (though in ignorance of
the question "What wold ye?") to ask the following, and he wrote it
down on the paper.
_Q._ "_Do you confirm all that was told us of the Italian design of
the chapel of the Loretto? Please say what building in Italy was the
model chosen by Abbot Richard Bere for this work._"
_A._ "Francesco de Padua aedificavit. Two would speak of it--he who
made it and I who moved for my fannes and English. We both made
hym--I, and he, my friend."
"Capella di Marco[54] at Padua--hym by the Key.[55]
[54] Not mentioned in Cesare Foligno's _Story of Padua_, but there
is a chapel of St. Mark figured in a mediæval map of the town. The
mention of this saint tends to explain the lions mentioned in the 1916
script, which had hitherto seemed an incongruous feature, if not quite
out of place on a chapel of Our Lady.--F.B.B.
[55] The Chapel of St. Mark occupies, in the map, a place not far from
the river, and near the mediæval bridge of St. Mathio. As the River
Bacchiglione was navigable, it seems quite probable that there would
be quays along its banks within the city.
"Dominic di Vallera Castiglione[56] aedificavit anno 1497--via St.
Ursula."
[56] This name is quite unknown to either of us.--F.B.B.
At this point the sitting was broken off and resumed on the evening
following--17th August, 1917.
_Q. by F.B.B._ "_Please tell us plainly, what was the building 22
feet long and 4 paces wide spoken of on 13th June, 1911? What was
its use and what was its dedication? This is the building with the
fan-vaulting. Tell us exactly where it stood._"
"Vincula ecclesiae disrupta sunt. Claustra aperta sunt.
"Claustra quae vocantur, vento Boreali aperta est (_sic_)[57] in
vestibulo sub turre--English volts--and Capella Lorettae (in) Ytaliano
modo.
[57] Evidently a play upon words, the first "Claustra" apparently
signifying that the barred gates are opened; and the second, "that
which we should describe as 'cloisters' were open at this point to the
North Wind."
"Capella Loretta was on ye lower level, with four or six steppys up to
the pavement. One steppe to hym from the way from John's Gate to the
North Porche.
"Seek my chapple as I told ye in ye Banck. He was entered from ye
West, and had a door into the littel cloister by ye transept of ye
grete Church, and four stepps up to the pavement.
"Ye door was in ye transept wall at ye end thereof.
"Wold ye have many things? The Vineyard was by the Ponds behind the
Priests' Houses that I ybuilded, over against the (road?), and beyond
ye gallery at the Maudlin Gate by the water. On ye side of ye grete
Courte was ye brick yarde--beyond ye fishponds. Seek ye foundations at
ye east of ye great Court where ye pryor's chapel was, and I ybuilded
in front of hym. Digge also near by the Kitchens, which were near
together.
"That which the brethren of old handed down to us, we followed, ever
building on their plann. As we have said, our Abbey was a message
in ye stones. In ye foundations and ye distances be a mystery--the
mystery of our Faith, which ye have forgotten and we also in ye latter
days.
"All ye measures were marked plaine on ye slabbes in Mary's
Chappel,[58] and ye have destroyed them. So it was recorded, as they
who builded and they who came after knew aforehand where they should
build. But these things are overpast and of no value now. The spirit
was lost and with the loss of the spirit the body decayed and was of
no further use to (us).
[58] William of Malmesbury's _Glastonbury_, quoted below.
"There was the Body of Christ, and round him would have been the Four
Ways. Two were ybuilded and no more. In ye floor of ye Mary Chappel
was ye Zodiac, that all might see and understand the mystery. In ye
midst of ye Chapel he was laid; and the Cross of Hym who was our
Example and Exemplar.
"Braineton, he didde much, for he was Geomancer to ye Abbey of old
tyme."
These curious statements appear to have a bearing on certain facts
recorded of the Lady Chapel and upon others which have come to light
as a result of the study of the whole plan of the Abbey Church and
Monastic buildings. The latter were found to be laid out on a series of
commensurate squares of 37 × 2 (or 74) feet, and it has been observed
that there is no divergence from the symmetry of these squares in the
works of the successive centuries right up to the time of the last
Abbot, for the Edgar Chapel falls into line with the rest. Thus the
outer measure of the total length of the Great Church with St. Mary's
Chapel is 592 feet, or eight commensurate and consecutive squares of
74 feet each, and the width of the Nave and Quire are each one such
square. The plan has been already most useful in locating the position
of walls destroyed and lost. There is much yet to be done in order to
complete the plan, but it is, in the main, recovered, and has been
published in the _Proceedings of the Somerset Archæological Society_,
from which it is here reproduced (Fig. 12).
As to the engraved geometric lines on the floor of St. Mary's Chapel,
it may be well to quote William of Malmesbury, whose record of this
dates from the twelfth century. This old chronicler says, speaking of
this chapel, which was on the site of the oldest Christian church:
"This church, then, is certainly the oldest I know in England, and
from this circumstance derives its name (_vetusta ecclesia_)....
In the pavement may be seen on every side stones designedly inlaid
in triangles and squares, and figured with lead, under which, if I
believe some sacred enigma to be contained, I do no injustice to
religion."
[Illustration: FIG. 13.
NOTE.--This plan shows the state of knowledge in 1912. A western aisle
to the north transept is shown on the site of the foundations which had
been discovered. _To fold between pp. 148, 149._]
The plan of the Chapel is itself a perfect instance of the Vesica
Piscis, the proportions of the double equilateral triangle and the most
sacred and cherished mystery of the Christian temple builders (see
_Proceedings of the Somerset Archæological Society_, vol. lxii., 1916,
pp. xxxviii-xl). For the "Four Ways" see such early instances of the
Rood as the example at Lucca Cathedral, where the arms of the Cross are
held in a circle, suggestive of the zodiac, and point to the position
of the four fixed signs Aquarius, Leo, Taurus, and Aquila or Scorpio,
corresponding to SS. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, figured in the
Christian symbology by the Angel, the Lion, the Bull, and the Eagle
respectively. What is implied in the foregoing communication, when it
is stated that of the four ways, they only builded two, is not known to
the writer.
* * * * *
F.B.B., not being yet quite satisfied on the subject of the script of
13th June, 1911, repeated a part of his former question, as follows:
_Q._ "_But where was that building 22 feet long and 4 paces wide, with
three four-light windows and fans. I cannot see how the measure of 22
feet is obtained. Was this an east-and-west measure, or to be taken
north-and-south?_"
_A._ "Ye door into ye transept in ye north, which I, Camel, used; he
was in ye west porche and under the three high windowes.
"What wold ye? The newe Chappell, he was in ye Bank far oute, in
line with ye Transept as I remember yt. He wasne finished or ever.
Chappells a many! Everywhere! Why cumbered they the ground when faith
was dead, and there was no longer any need for hym? The purse[59] was
full, it must be spent, and so, when nor barn nor byre nor pent called
for it, it was yspent. Why should roysterers and evil men have it to
spend? So we builded much.
[59] John Camel was "Purse-bearer" to Abbot Bere.
"Chapels everywhere--ne need of them.
"Small chance it is preserved (_passage doubtful_), but it was well
ycovered, I wot, for them who would pull downe.
[Illustration:
FIG. 14.--GLASTONBURY ABBEY: PLAN OF THE CHAPEL OF OUR LADY, BUILT
A.D. 1184, ON THE SITE OF THE CHURCH OF JOSEPH OF ARIMATHÆA.
The plan lies in a hexagon. Its measures are based upon the standard
British foot of 12 inches. The breadth between the faces of the
central buttresses is 37 feet, in harmony with the general scheme of
measures found in the Abbey. The length of the vesica is approximately
64 feet, and its points touch the outer faces of the end walls.
External to this is another vesica embracing the plinth-course (see
plan). The interior shows a third, marking three-quarters of its
length. Each vesica contains a rhombus of two equilateral triangles.
Their measures are symbolic and explanatory of the sacred geometry of
which the "Gematria" of the Greek scriptures is illustrative. Thus,
the solid rectangular area of this building is 37 by 64, or 2,368
square feet, by Gematria the equivalent of ΙΗΣΟΥΣ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ (Jesus
Christ) or Ὁ ἉΓΙΟΣ ΤΩΝ ἉΓΙΩΝ (The Holy One of Holy Ones). The rhombus
contained has the area 1,184 square feet, very possibly designed to
record the date (A.D. 1184) of the erection of the Chapel. It will
be noted that William of Malmesbury alludes to the "sacred enigma"
believed to be concealed in the triangular and other figures on
the floor of the Chapel.]
"Stones carven and yguilded--ne spirit, I wot. How could these things
stand in the day of wrath? Pride! Ostentation! Much glory and much
tinsel; but ne worship, ne humbleness, ne object for us to continue
more.... So passe old tymes away."
_Q._ "_But how was that 22 feet length arrived at?_"
_A._ "A cloyster from ye Nave to ye Lobby, and four steppes unto ye
Transept floor, and from ye lobby, on ye west, ye Chappell.
"Ne Chappell but ye Cloyster in ye corner of ye grete Church. Claustrum
to ye Chappel along ye aisle--then ye lobby and ye Chappel west of hym."
This statement is now sufficiently explicit. It is possible to form a
plan (see Figs. 15 and 16). The little cloister alongside the wall of
the transept forms a western aisle to the same, covering one bay, whose
width is known to have been 22 feet nearly. At this point it merges
into a lobby or vestibule, at or near the foot of a fair-sized turret
which stands at the north-west angle of the transept. This lobby has
doors on all sides--(1) south, from the cloister communicating with the
nave; (2) north, to the upper garth, and the path used by Camel the
Purser, who lived in High Street; (3) east, and up the steps through
the transept wall, into the transept itself; and (4) west, into the
short corridor of 10 feet leading to the Loretto Chapel.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.--THE NORTH TRANSEPT, SHOWING THE "CLAUSTRA"
ALONG THE AISLE, THEN THE LOBBY, WITH ITS FOUR DOORS, AND THE LORETTO
CHAPEL TO THE WEST.]
[Illustration: FIG. 16.--GLASTONBURY ABBEY: COMPLETE PLAN, SHOWING ALL
THE PRINCIPAL FEATURES MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPT.]
A final question was asked, and the result is interesting, as
the question was a mental one, asked by F.B.B., not written nor
communicated to J.A. by any ostensible means. F.B.B. formulated
the question in his mind thus: "What was the surname of the Paduan
architect Francesco?" Answer: "_Vecchi._--_Francesco di Vecchi._"[60]
[60] A name unknown to us in this connection.--F.B.B. A letter received
by F.B.B. from an Englishman living in Venice (dated April 19) gives
the following extract from the "Curiosita Veneziane" (Giuseppe Tassini,
Venezia, 1887):
"_Vecchia_ ... Stefano della Vecchia. Il cui padre Venturino era stato
approvato cittadino originario il 29 Octobre 1629 apparteneva alla
famiglia Della Vecchia, la quali venne dal territorio di Bergamo, ed
era detto da principio, Cornovi.
"... Un Antonio di questa famiglia il cui figlio Zaccaria fu _Vescovo
di Torcello_, comperi in 1565 un nobile palazzo sulla Fundamenta della
Madonna dell'Orto."
This not being quite as clear as was wished, the question was repeated,
and the reply came as follows: "VECCHI _di Torcello in Italia_."
[Illustration: PLATE V.
CONJECTURAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE NORTH TRANSEPT, WITH THE "CLAUSTRUM"
ATTACHED
On the left, under the turret, is the open vestibule, leading to the
Chapel of the Loretto (on extreme left). _To face page 154._]
CONCLUSION
So ends the "Loretto Chapel" script, with a series of precise and
categorical statements, offering no means of escape from the final
alternative of truth or falsehood, fact or fiction. This situation will
be clear to the reader, as it is to the writer of this narrative, who,
for the reasons now about to be given, entertains no misgivings as to
the course he has taken in publishing it.
His motto here would be, "Prove all things, and hold fast that which
is good." These writings, whose value is at present unproven, and in
respect of the detailed statement of names, dates, and places, highly
problematical, are put forward as an illustration of the working of his
method.
They are not to be accepted with credulity, but are subjects for
critical analysis, and must be weighed and examined, with all the
rest, in the light of reason, assisted by every useful means of normal
research and exploration.
If we are resolved to accept nothing which is not first fully endorsed
by reason and common sense, and afterwards fortified by deductions
fairly made from data, however slender, we stand but little risk of
being deceived. Let us, therefore, apply to this case the same rule
which the writer has already successfully applied in the case of the
Edgar Chapel.
Intuition has played her part. From the depths of the subconscious
mind her power has evoked these images. Now let Reason and Logic take
the reins and drive the argument. Let us analyse the facts, such as
they are, which bear upon the case, and in the light of the intuitive
results see whether an argument may be built up which will be capable
of supporting weight.
In this lies the true utility of the method we have chosen. It
claims a double value--(1) in its ability to remember and to review
subconsciously an infinitude of minor things, slightly or casually
impressed upon the mind and unnoticed or unremembered by the working
brain; and (2) the faculty of balancing, assessing, and combining
these in such manner as the brain itself is rarely if ever able to
do, and hence to evolve from slenderest data a scheme in which all
probabilities which can lawfully be inferred from these minutiæ are
welded into a complete whole.
For a moment, let us go farther and assume that some of the statements
made in the script are not merely incapable of proof, but are found
actually inconsistent with facts. Where then do we stand with our
theory?
As I have said, until the statements are accepted, no one is deceived
unless by his own rashness. All that has happened is that two people
having a perfectly honest purpose have attempted to record by
automatic process knowledge arrived at by the trained exercise of the
subconscious mind, and have obtained--let us say--fiction or romance
instead of the fact they sought.
The logical inference from this failure will obviously be that the
particular method employed, whilst it may have the value claimed for it
of supplementing the ordinary reasoning powers, has proved unreliable
where applied for the purpose of procuring statements whose truth does
not (as in the case of the Edgar Chapel) depend upon the deductive or
inductive probabilities, but upon isolated facts unrelated to others,
such as the names of places and people unknown; and that therefore,
as a general conclusion, the method is unsuited for the purpose of
obtaining such information, and we have used it for an end for which it
is not adapted.
Thus may the legitimate bounds of the automatic method be prescribed;
Intuition must bring all her results to the bar of Reason for
provisional acceptance, and when this test is passed then the matter
becomes ripe for further research.
Above all, let us not be superstitious. There is no need to invoke
the action of supernatural agencies of a malevolent sort to explain
the outcome of our own fallibility. If a man or woman sits down and
produces automatically a story which turns out to be fiction, why, I
ask, should that fiction be regarded as anything inherently worse in
origin than the mass of fiction, good, bad, and indifferent, which
writers produce consciously?
Where is the essential difference? The only answer I can find to this
question is that the difference lies in the folly of the credulous, who
are at all times willing to attach greater importance and credit to a
statement made from an unknown source than to one which has a definite
human and personal origin. "Omne ignotum pro magnifico."
For the imaginative function, whether working consciously or
unconsciously, is the same in either case. Give it truth to feed upon
and it will evolve truth. And through the door of truth may enter that
which will guide us to a wider knowledge.
APPENDIX
THE LORETTO CHAPEL
SYNTHETIC OR CONSTRUCTIVE ARGUMENT
BASED ON CONCLUSIONS OFFERED BY THE AUTOMATIC SCRIPT, AND THE WEIGHING
OF ALL AVAILABLE DATA IN THE LIGHT OF SAME.
A.--AS TO THE POSITION OF THE LORETTO CHAPEL.
SCRIPT.
August 16, 1917. "=Deepe, by ye Bank, is ye walle," etc. "But capella
wasne in muro in Boreali parte ... and in ye Banke deepe downe ye shall
find him," etc. There was a deep place where they destroyed, and they
covered him, and made a banke full six feet high, and soe saved the
wall at the west end for all tyme.="
December 4, 1916. "=Abbot Bere ybuilded ye Loretto Chapel faire and
large to the north side of the Navis. Itt was not ye Chapitre House....
Bere's Chapel was distant from ye Navis thirty-one feet and a half, and
from ye aisle of ye transept he was fulle tenn feet.... The same was
forty feet by twenty or thereabouts, and his chief doore was to the
west, and a pavement joyned him to the road from St John's Gate to ye
Churche.="
August 17, 1917. "=Capella Loretta was on ye lower level, with four or
six steppys up to the pavement.="
"=Seek my chapple, as I told ye, in ye Banck.="
"=He was entered from ye west, and had a door into the littel cloister
by ye transept of ye grete Church, and four stepps up to the pavement.="
"=All ye measures were marked plaine on ye slabbes of St. Mary's
Chappel ... so it was recorded, as they who builded and they who came
after knew aforehand where they should build.="
"=The newe chappell he was in ye bank far oute in line with ye transept
as I remember it.="
September 1, 1910. "=On ye north syde of ye grete church, at ye ende,
near to ye newe chappel which Bere (builded).="
EXISTING DATA.
_The Deep Place._--The mention of a "deep place" calls attention for
the first time to a number of facts which group themselves in a manner
suggestive of such a probability. They are as follows:
(_a_) Stukeley's view (1723) (see Fig. 9) seems to indicate a drop on
the north side of the nave and transept, to a lower level.
Coney's view (see Plate IV.) certainly shows the small building on the
north side of the nave with a break in the ground just in front of it,
marking a lower level for the wall.
(_b_) The configuration of the ground is in favour of this. Above and
eastward of the Abbey enclosure is a narrow valley running west, and
filled up in its lower part, over which lies the northern section of
the Abbey enclosure. The High Street runs down the north side of this
valley, and parallel to it, and closely adjoining the Abbey wall is
Silver Street, a name said by some antiquaries to indicate a ford.
(_c_) The drainage of the Abbey church is down the north side, as would
appear by the direction of the drainage channel in the foundations of
the Edgar Chapel, and the larger water-channel whose course was traced
diagonally beneath the floor of the quire.
(_d_) In excavating the north porch, a very deep pit was found right
against the north-west angle of the footings. It went down nearly 10
feet below the floor-level of the church. This may have extended east
and west, and the north porch may in that case be supposed to have been
approached by a paved way over a bridge.
_The Bank._--The foot of the bank, as nearly as may be estimated, lies
about 27 feet north of the position of the nave wall (outer face). This
would bring the 31 and a half feet distance indicated by the script for
the wall of the chapel, about 4 and a half feet within the bank, and
this would seem to accord with the old gardener's recollection.
The bank runs westwards as far as the north porch, or about 108 feet
west of the transept, so that the west end of the chapel as described
would be well covered, being some 40 feet east of the termination of
the bank.
The extreme projection of the transept, beyond the line of the inner
face of the nave wall, would be about 60 feet, and not less than 54.
The thirty-one and a half feet measure from the outside of the nave
wall, if added to the probable thickness of the latter, will give a
total of 39 or 40 feet, and if this measure is assumed to be to the
inner face of the chapel wall (south) the position of its outer face
would accord with the 37 feet general line, following the symmetric
scheme on which the whole abbey is found to be built (see Fig. 12), and
the north side of the chapel will then come very nearly into line with
the transept.
WORKING HYPOTHESIS.
_That the ground on the north side of the Church sloped down formerly
to the bed of the brook coming from the hill behind the town. This
would make a depression about 10 feet deep alongside the Church, at
a distance, roughly, of about 40 feet north of the outer face of the
nave aisle wall, and immediately north of the projection of the north
transept and porch. The bed would have been partly filled when the
Abbey was standing, and there would be a system of drains beneath
the soil, which would have been levelled to form a garth or garden a
few feet below the nave floor, terminated on the west by a path or
pavement from the porch to St. John's Gate (running due north), and
beyond this, again to the west, would be another garth at a still lower
level, to the north of St. Mary's Chapel and the Galilee, following the
general trend of the grounds, which slope to the westward. This part
was the cemetery of the laity._
_It is inferred that Bere's Chapel of the Loretto may have stood on
the upper garth, its floor a few feet below the nave, and at about the
distance mentioned in the script._
_That the present aspect of the ground, which shows a uniform rise to
the north of the Abbey, is thus totally misleading, and the bank and
the higher level beyond on the town side must be altogether artificial,
and nothing but a huge accumulation of débris from the destruction of
the Abbey. The bulk of the ancient work now destroyed was so enormous
that there is no difficulty at all in supposing this, notwithstanding
the fact that a great quantity of the masonry went, as is known, to
make a foundation for the new road to Wells._
_The further inference is made that under this bank will most likely
be hidden a great deal of fragmentary work, and that its removal will
bring to light many things of archæological interest._
_That the Loretto Chapel, if its position be correctly given in the
script as 31 feet 6 inches from nave, would appear nearly in line with
the transept (north end), when viewed from the north, but, if anything,
rather further out_ (see Fig. 14).
B.--AS TO THE WESTERN AISLE TO THE TRANSEPT, AND THE SUGGESTION OF A
CLOISTER OR PASSAGE IN SAME, AND THE CHARACTER OF THE BUILDING.
SCRIPT
June 13, 1911.... "=Somewhat remaineth of ye outer walls, and ye walle
by ye crossinge.... Ye doore unto hym is at the west (see note), nigh
unto the pillar of the Navis; one doore only, on Nave.=
="Yn feete twenty and two, and foure paces in the width thereof, and ye
walle of ye Nave was strengthened thereby," etc.=
December 4, 1916. "=Bere's Chapel was distant from ye Navis thirty-one
feet and a half, and from= _ye aisle of ye transept_ =he was fulle tenn
feet with a covered way unto, and four steppes up unto= _ye aisle_
=aforesaid=.
"=There were four steppes--nay, six--to the= _aisle of ye transeppt_,
=and a covered way vaulted in a round vault to ye chappel=."
August 17, 1917. "=Claustra quae vocantur, vento Boreale aperta est--in
vestibule sub turre--English volts=."
"=Seek my chapple as I told ye in ye Banck. He was entered from ye
west, and had a door into the= _littel cloister by ye transept_ =of ye
grete church, and four stepps up to the pavement. Ye door was in ye
transept wall at ye end thereof.="
"=Ye door into ye transept in ye north, which I, Camel, used, he was in
ye west porche and under the three high windows.=
"_A Cloyster from ye Nave to ye Lobby_, =and four steppes unto ye
Transept floor, and from ye Lobby, on ye west, ye Chappell=.
"_Ne Chappel but ye Cloyster_ =in ye corner of ye grete church=.
_Claustrum to ye Chappel along ye aisle, then ye lobby_ =and ye Chappel
west of hym=."
(Italics mine.--F.B.B.)
EXISTING DATA
(_a_) The wall-footing discovered in 1911 shows a possible breadth of
12 feet or so for this aisle. The thickness of the footing is evidence
of a strong construction. There were some marks of a cross-foundation
at a point over 20 feet out north, and near the face of the bank.
(_b_) The indications were in favour of a lower level for this work.
The drop from the transept level to that of the nave is about 4 feet,
and this aisle or passage would appear to be on the nave level.
(_c_) Benedictine houses did not usually have western aisles to the
transepts, as is the case with cathedral churches. But Glastonbury
followed Wells in some things, and at Wells there are western aisles
to the transepts, and that on the north side has screens on two sides,
within arches to nave and to transept.
(_d_) The detail found on this site was of very fine late perpendicular
window-tracery, showing the existence of windows with heavy central
mullions, and most likely of four lights.
(_e_) Camel's house was in the High Street at a point which would be
readily approached by a path towards this part of the Abbey Church.
WORKING HYPOTHESIS.
_That the foundation discovered in 1911 is not that of a chapel, nor
yet of an aisle to the transept, properly so called, although it might
be thus described since it would have that appearance from without._
_The inference is that this adjunct would have been on the nave level,
and its use connected with the nave. It would have been primarily a
passage-way from the nave to a court or to buildings on the north side,
and it would be properly described as a cloister alley._
_In this position it would, if substantially built, most readily serve
the useful purpose of contributing support to the central tower and
to the walls near the crossing, adding stability to the transept if
affected by the weakness of the tower, and furnishing support for
flying buttresses to the north-west angle of the crossing and tower
itself._
_There would be little object in carrying it out further north than
would be requisite to cover one bay of the transept wall. This would
make it a possible 22 feet in internal measure. There would be normally
a double square on plan, and if fan-vaulted this would give two bays,
and two windows to the west and one to the north--three in all._
C.--AS TO THE ITALIAN STYLE OF THE CHAPEL.
SCRIPT
December 4, 1916. "=Abbot Bere ybuilded ye Loretto Chapel faire
and large, to the north (side of the) Navis.... Yt was ybuilded by Bere
most faire and wonderful in ye newe style brought from Ytaly when he
didd go there....="
"=We have said, he was of the Ytalian style, new and very faire, and
Bere ybuilded coming from embassadrie in Ytaly.... He wasne like
anything else, (but was of the) newe style.="
_Here followed the detailed sketches showing--_
1. =A rectangular chapel of four bays, with a small apse to the east,
as a "Cava Virginis."=
2. =Parapets of undulating outline, and others suggestive of the
fleur-de-lys, with indications of fruit and flower enrichment.=
3. =Sitting lions, bearing shields, over each division of the bays,
mounted on small pillars with "patellae" or plaques, dividing the
parapets.=
4. =Heads of angels or cherubs, probably in the cornices.=
5. =Round-headed windows, and vaults with bands of carved fruit and
flowers on the groin-ribs.=
August 16, 1917. "=Maestro Francesco de Padua qui me instruxit et
capellam cognoscit in Italia ... struebat in modo Italiano.=
"=Francesco de Padua aedificavit. Two would speak of it--he who made
it, and I who moved for my fannes and English. We both made him.="
(_Name of the model for this work_)--
"=Capella di Marco at Padua--hym by the Key.="
"=Domenic di Vallera Castiglione aedificavit anno 1497--via St Ursula.="
(_Name of Bere's architect_)--
"=Vecchi--Francesco De Vecchi.="
"=VECCHI di Torcello in Italia.="
EXISTING DATA
(_a_) The Chapel was built just after Bere's embassage to Italy. He
was a cultivated and learned man with a knowledge of architecture, as
is evident from the quality of his building works. He must have been
supported by capable, if not eminent, master-builders and craftsmen.
(_b_) Bere was impregnated with the new ideas, and was the friend of
Erasmus. A letter of his to Erasmus is extant. His sympathy with new
and more liberal views would be reflected in a wider culture, and the
influence of the Italian Renaissance, already affecting English art in
minor ways, may well have moved him to become a pioneer in introducing
the style which, a half-century later, usurped the place of our native
"Tudor" forms. These he used as a master, and had developed them to
their highest pitch.
(_c_) The duration of his visit to Italy is at present unknown to us,
but the circumstance of the death of Pius III.--if he overstayed that
event--would make for delay and give him time to devote to the study of
Italian architectural models.
(_d_) The circumstances of his vow are also, so far as we know, not a
matter of history; but the vow itself or the intention which clearly
implies it is our reading of Leland's note.
The Chapel is undoubtedly a thank-offering. It is built to the honour
of Our Lady in the particular aspect of an "Italian" saint of local
repute, possessed of the attribute of protection to life and health.
The choice of a style and character for the monument designed by Bere
would very naturally be consonant with that prevailing locally--_i.e._,
Italian.
(_e_) A few fragments of plain moulded work, of Italian character,
have been noted amongst the débris of the Abbey. These were hitherto
supposed to have belonged to some Elizabethan building, now destroyed,
whose remains had somehow found their way into the general mass of
Abbey fragments.
WORKING HYPOTHESIS.
_That a Chapel dedicated to an "Italian" Madonna, erected by an
Abbot of liberal views, impressed by the newer learning and culture,
immediately on his return from a visit to Italy, at a time when the
forms of Italian Renaissance were in process of adaptation to Gothic
buildings, might well have been influenced in its design by Italian
ideas, even to a wholesale extent, and that if an Italian master were
employed, as appears by no means an unreasonable idea, an entirely
Italian model may have been followed._
_That the type that would evoke most readily the Abbot's artistic
sympathies would be a North Italian type, not too far removed from
the principles of architectural form to which he had been habituated.
An entirely Roman model, on purely classic lines, is for this reason
less likely. But the selection of an Italian master for the purpose of
carrying out Bere's scheme almost necessarily follows if the intention
to employ an Italian style be conceded. Bere could not do this unaided,
as an Abbot would not be his own architect._
D.--AS TO THE STYLE OF THE BUILDING AT THE ANGLE OF THE TRANSEPT AND
NORTH AISLE OF NAVE.
SCRIPT
Script, June 13, 1911. "=I made that building. All that I didde
anywhere is fannes. Ne barrel vault. And under them, three faire
windowes of foure lights, with transomes and littel castel-work on
the ramps thereof ... and each fanne had twelve ribs, and they were
ycoloured red and gold, like my chapel of Edgar....=
"=... Ye roundels of ye volte were golden, and also ye bosses, and ye
hollows were bright redde, likewise ye tabernacle of Oure Ladye in the
est wall golde and redde; and ye windowes were of glasse yellow in
canopies with redde and blewe in ye little lights thereof. Ye floore
was of tileis red, with shields and ornaments in yellow likewise."...=
EXISTING DATA
(_a_) As an integral part of the Church the probabilities lie in the
direction of the use of Bere's own master-masons for this work, and the
choice of the customary English style seems to follow. This would be
all the more consistent with probabilities if the work were involved
with the strengthening of the older masonry at the crossing of the
Church--a work known to have been necessary, since Leland records the
fact that Bere strengthened the central tower by the addition of the
"St. Andrew's" arches beneath it (see Plate III).
(_b_) The fragments of window-tracery already referred to as having
been found on the site are English in character.
WORKING HYPOTHESIS.
_That the building in the angle of the nave and transept was formed
with the double object of a support to the weak walls of the crossing,
and as a covered approach to the Chapel of the Loretto, erected by
Abbot Bere on a site adjoining the north side of the nave, but not
attached directly to same, and that this cloister was built in the
later English style in which his own masons were expert._
ENVOI
THE LAMPLIGHTER
One by one, along the crowded street
The footsteps falter, and the stillness grows
Oppressive as the sudden hush that falls
In shaded chambers whence a life has flown.
One by one, the ruddy windows fade
To utter darkness, while behind closed doors
The voices cease, and all the shadowy night
Broods o'er a city of the seeming dead;
Save only that amid the shadows gleam
Dim lights that trace the form of street and square
And guide the wanderer in his mazy quest
Through ways all unfamiliar. He that lit
The starry welcome now is seen no more.
His light extinguished and his duty done,
He peaceful sleeps within his silent home.
We see him not; and yet perchance he hears
In dreams our echoing voices as we pass
Athwart his shuttered windows--hears us bless
The light he lighted, gleaming through the night
A welcome to the lost and weary; wakes perchance
To murmur, "All is well," then sleeps again.
So may he sleep in peace until the Sun
From which his flame was borrowed wakes the East
To crimson glory, and his glimmering lights
Merge in the splendour of the breaking Day.
JOHN ALLEYNE.
INDEX AND SYNOPSIS
A
Abbey Church, plans, Figs. 1, 3, 12, 15
its total length, 12, 62, 65, 68, 69
Abbots (see Bere, Breynton, Whiting, etc.)
House, 10 ref. and Fig. 9
head (carved), 99 (Fig. 8)
Aisle to north transept (a cloister-alley), 125, 126
Ale, Johannes and the vat of, 89
Aller, John de, 66
Almoner, J. Bryan (lived over the King's Gate), 95
Altar, the High, 45, 56
screen, etc., 51, 56, 58, 77;
its back, with ancient image of B. V. M., 57
sepulchre under, 65
Altars, side, 43
Ambrosius the Cellarer, 66
Andrew, St., Chapel of, 51
Guild of, 100
arches (under tower), 122, 167, and Plate III.
Apse, semicircular, on Phelps' and Warner's plans, 11, 51, 52, 74
polygonal, 57, 61, 73, 74; Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 12; also Plate II.
Arch to Edgar Chapel (antechapel), 43
to end of Quire, 59
relieving, to the north-west angle of central tower, 121
Arches, like St. Andrew's Cross, under tower, 122, 167; Plate III.
Architect of Edgar Chapel (Richard de Tantonia), 67
of Loretto Chapel (Francesco Vecchi), 144, 145, 154
of St. Mark's, Padua (Domenico di Vallera Castiglione), 146
Arimathea, Joseph of, 33 ref.
Convent of (near Guest Hall), 68
Arthur, King: tomb of, 45, 56, 65
Automatism, discussion of, 22
Awfwold the Saxon, 63, 68
Azure glass (vitrea azurea): in script, 37, 72
discovered, 62, 72
B
Bailey, the Inner and Outer, 91 ref.
Bank, on site of the Loretto Chapel, north side of nave, 113, 144,
146, 160, 161, 162
Bards, writings, 87
Barrel vault, in south chantry, 57
Bell-tower, over north-east angle of cloister, burnt, repaired, and
pulled down owing to bad foundation, 88
Benedict (for Benignus), St.: Church of, 98, 100;
gargoyle of, 99 (Fig. 8)
Bere or Beere, Abbot Richard, 4, 35, 44, 45, 47, 54, 59, etc.
arms of, 98;
carved head of, 99 (Fig. 8)
embassy, 111;
notes on, 120
built St. Benignus' Church, 100
Edgar Chapel, 53
Loretto Chapel, 111, 120, 125, 126, 145, 146
claustrum in angle of transept, leading to Loretto, 119, 121
his signature in script, 53
his influence on those coming after, 47-48
Body of Christ (in symbolic lines on floor of St. Mary's), 147
Bones, the stirring of the dry, 21
of Abbot Whiting (collected and buried), 65
of St. Dunstan (held by Glastonbury), 91
Braineton, or Breynton, John of, Abbot, 48
geomancer to the Abbey, 147
Bryan, John, Almoner, 95
Bryant, Johannes, monk, curator of Edgar Chapel, sculptor, mason,
37, 38, 40, 41, 45, 47, 57, 59, 66
child of Nature, 85-97 _passim_
C
Camel, or Camillus, Thesiger--_i.e._, treasurer to Abbot Bere, 125,
127, 149, 151, 166
house of, 164
path used by, 154
tomb in St. John's, 127
Cancellarius (see Chancellor)
Cannon, MS. of John, 113, 114, 117 (Fig. 11), 124
Cannon, sketch of ruins by, 117
Canterbury, pilgrims from, to shrine of St. Dunstan, 91
Capella St. Edgar (see Chapel)
St. Maria (see Chapel)
Cardinal Wolsey: friend of the Abbey, 91
made Whiting Abbot at Oxford, 101
Castiglione, Domenico, 146
Cava Virginis (the apse of the Loretto Chapel), 129, _c_, _e_, _g_;
130, _h_, _j_, _k_; 139, _d_; text, 143
Cellarer: Ambrosius, 66
Cellars of Refectory, 66
of Guest Hall, 67
Chalice Hill, 69
chapel on path to, 69
Chamber, the Great, 94
over King's Gate, 95
to the east of Edgar Chapel, 63
Chancellorium, _in_ (as a Chancery: the purpose of Christ Church Hall,
as built by Wolsey), 101
Changing-room for the choristers, 68
Chantry (south of Quire), 51
south side of Edgar Chapel, 27 ref.
57 (script), 63;
plan, 64 (Fig. 6)
Chapel of Dunstan, St.: in the west (built by Edgar, and rebuilt by
Radulphus), 91
plans, Figs. 12 and 15
in the north (the corner chapel in Fig. 14), 68
Chapel of Edgar, 35, 43, 44, 47, 51, 53, 55, 63, 70-77 (table), 119, 120
plans of, 34, 36, 64 (Fig. 6), 148_a_ (Fig. 12), 153 (Fig. 15);
Plate II. (p. 56_a_)
elevation of, 81
length determined, 63
Chapel of Our Lady of Loretto (site lost): built by Bere,
111;
described in script as being in Italian style, its _locus_ indicated,
and details given, 125, 126, 129-142, 146;
plans, 152, 153 (Figs. 14 and 15); Plate V. (154_a_)
used as a Chapter House by Bere, during repairs, 126
Chapel of St. Mary, 35, 41, 47, 58, 125 (see Retro-Chapel,
Lady Chapel, etc.)
the older Lady Chapel, 47, 50, 78
minor, in retro-quire, 43, 51
present, on site of the primitive church, at west end: plans,
148_a_ (Fig. 12), 150, 153 (Figs. 13, 15)
sketches of, Figs. 9, 10, 11
sacred geometry on floor of chapel, 147, 148
geometric principles of the plan, 150, 151, Fig. 13 and ref.
Chapel of St. Michael in the graveyard (burial-place of Johannes), 97
Chapel of St. Thomas of Canterbury, 114, and Fig. 14 (this is the
inner chapel shown in Fig. 14, the outer being St. Dunstan)
Chapter House: Edgar Chapel so called in Elizabethan record, 12
Loretto Chapel, so called in Cannon MS., 114, 125, 126
Loretto Chapel used as, by Bere, during repair of, 126
Christ Church Hall, a Chancellorium, 101
Church, Saxon (on site of Edgar Chapel within a fort), 63
Church of Ina, 56
of Turstin, 107
the Great (_temp._ Jocelyn), 87,88
Clock (horloge) of Peter Lightfoot, 87
Cloister, the Great, 68, 96
Little, 67, 68
to north transept, 126 and Plate V.
of the North Wind, 146, 151; Plate V.
Community of 347 monks (thirteenth century), 88
Company, the, 21, 87, 88 (brotherhood, 94)
Coney, drawing by, Plate IV.; ref. to, 112, 114, 123
Convent of Arimathea (the little convent), 68
Court, the Great, 147
by the graveyard, 94
Covered walk (Abbot's), 96
ways (see Passages)
Cross in the Zodiac, 147
Crypt under stairs of Edgar Chapel, 40, 50, 53
under New Hall, 68
under nave, 41
Curator capellae (J. Bryant), 38
D
Deep Place, the, 144, 166
Distances, Mystery of the, 147
Di Vallera: Domenico, 146
Door (in east wall), 53 (see Portus)
Drain, the Great, 66
Drawings of Edgar Chapel, 67
of Loretto Chapel, 128-142
geometrical, on floor of St. Mary's Chapel, 147
Ducange, dict. of mediæval and low Latin quoted, 33 ref.
Dunstan, St.: bones of, 91
chapel in the west, 91;
chapel in the north, 68;
chapel at Edgarley, 106 ref.
E
Eawulf, or Eanwulf, Saxon Earl of Somerton (Yarl of Edgarley) 29,
105, 108
Edgar, King (Saint), 4, 44
Chapel of, 4, 8, 9, 28, etc., Plate II. (see Chapel)
for "Edmund," 56, 59
Edgarley, 106
Elizabeth, Queen, 4, 12, 66
Enigmas, Sacred, on floor of chapel, 148
Erasmus (friend of Bere), 122
Ell (measure), 43 (In the script still unpublished occurs an
authoritative statement that the builder's ell used by the monks was
just over 2 feet 4 inches. This makes it identical with the "pace" as
indicated in the statement of length on p. 68, where 733 feet = 311
"passus.")
Excavation of Bere's chapel, 53, 54;
completed, 55, 59
of apse, 62
plan, 64
F
Fannes (fan-vaulting) in Edgar Chapel, 38, 43, 57
in claustrum of the Loretto, 119, 145
in Quire, 59
Glo'ster, 38, 58
Fishponds, the Abbey, 147
Flat fan-vault in apse, 57
Fort or enclosure (Saxon), 63
Foundations of apse, 43, Fig. 6
of Bere's Chapel, 51, 59;
also Fig. 6 and Plate II.
mystery in the, 147
Four Ways, the, 147
Francesco de Padua (Vecchi), 145, 154
Freeman, Professor, quoted, 11
G
Galfrith, Frater, 87
Gallery over entrance to Edgar Chapel, 43
Gallery under great west window, 88
under the great east window of Quire, 57
under west window of Refectory, 96
Gargoyle, the, 99
Garth, upper and lower on north side of church, 144
Gate, to Chalice Hill, 63
King's, 95
Maudlin, 146-147
of Remembrance, 144
St. John's, 127-144
Water, 147
Gatehouse keeper's lodging (in dismantled Chapel of Dunstan), 91
Gematria of the Holy Name in the Greek, 151 ref.
Geometry, sacred, 147, 148, 150
Gifts, spiritual, 22-25 and flyleaf
Glastonbury as a centre of spiritual life, 20
Abbey (see Abbey)
Gloucester Cathedral cited, 27 ref.
Glo'ster fannes, in Edgar Chapel, 38
Gold and crimson roof in Edgar Chapel, 53, 77
Grave, a martyr's, 65
Graveyard, monks', 94, 96, 97
chapel in the, 97
Groin (see Vaulting)
Guest Hall, 35, 67, 90, 96
Gulielmus, Monachus, 33 (signature), 34, 38, 45, 58, 86
H
Hærewith the Dane, 94
Hall, the Great, 90, 91, 94, 96
built by Wolsey in Oxford, 101
Handrail, double, 43, 75
Hearne, Thomas (eighteenth-century antiquary), quoted, 12, 62
Herlewin, Abbot, 107 ref.
Hollar (ditto) quoted, 12, 62
View of ruins in 1655,
enlarged, 116 (Fig. 10)
I
Ibericus, journey of, 102
Imperator (Cæsar), 108
Ina (King), Church built by, 56
J
Jocelyn (Trotman), Bishop of Wells, thirteenth century, 67, 88
Johannes (see Bryant)
Joseph of Arimathea (or of Marmore), 33 ref.
K
King's Gate and Way, 66
Kirkyard, 96, 97
Kitchen, Abbot's (the "grete" kitchen), 67, 94
little (between the Refectory and Guest Hall), 67
Kitchen Court, 95
L
Lady Chapel at east end (older), 11
with angular end, 47
Monington's, 50, 51 (see Phelps and Warner)
Lady of Loretto, 119
Lapidator (= stonemason) (J. Bryant), 38
Lay-brothers' House, 96
Lay-Chamber, 96
Lead roof on Edgar Chapel, 55
Leland's _Itinerary_ quoted, 4, 9, 111, 123
Life, Universal (mention in script), 97
Lightfoot, Peter (maker of the clock), 88
Linea bifurcata (Joseph of Arimathea's sepulture), 33 ref.
Lions of Arthur's Tomb, 57
of Loretto Chapel, 131, II. _b_; 133, II. _g_; 137, III. _a_;
141, IV. _c_; 142; text, 143, 146 ref. 1
Lobby to Loretto Chapel (with round vaults), 151
Lobinell Hist. quoted, 35 ref.
Lodge over the Chalice Gate, 63
Loretto, Chapel of, 111, 125
documents, 111-118
script, _re_, 119 _seq._
dimensions (40 × 21 feet), 125
excavation of cloister footings (1911), 118
Lory, John (carver of gargoyle), 100
M
Malmesbury, William of, on sacred symbols, 148
Mark, Chapel of St. (in Padua), 146 ref.
Marmore, Joseph of, 33 ref.
Martyr's grave (Whiting's), 65
Martyri, 35. (Not known to whom this refers, unless to one of the two
Edmunds, both of whom were assassinated. King Edgar died a natural
death.)
Maudlin Gate, 146-147
Measures (sacred), 147, 148, 150, 151 ref.
Melchin, Book of, 33 ref.
Memory, cosmic, 20
universal (in script), 97
Merlins, the British, 87
Michael, Chapel of St. (since discovered), 97
Monington, Abbot: lengthened Quire about 1334, 58
modified retro-quire and chapel, 50
Multipartite vaulting (Whiting's work), 35, 38
N
New Hall, 68
North porch, 125, 146
passage through, 125
O
Organs on screen and in chapels, 88, 89
P
Padstow (Cornwall), 103
Padua, Bere's journey to, 120, 121, 143
Francesco de, 145, 154, 166
Chapel of St. Mark in, 146, 166
Panellae (panels), 43
in east window, 57
in Quire, 59
Parapets of Loretto Chapel, 133, II. _e_, _f_; 135, II. _g_; 137, _b_
Parker, James, quoted, 10
Parlour, Monks', 68
Passages, secret, 53, 63, 66
Passage, timber, to Saxon Church, 56
paved, in inner court, 95
Passus (paces), 68, 69
(_a_) Mediæval, of 1 foot 7·44 inches (or 1·62 feet)
(_b_) Romano-British, of 2 feet 4-1/4 inches _circa_
NOTE.--The Greek and Roman foot, on which the last is founded,
appears in these islands in early monuments such as Stonehenge, as
well as in mediæval work. It varies from about 11·52 to 11·74
inches (see Flinders Petrie's _Inductive Metrology_, p. 109 for
English mediæval units; p. 118, Stonehenge (11·54 inches); p. 138,
Rome and Mediæval England (11·52 to 11·74 inches); also synoptic
table, p. 142_a_; England 11·6, England, Italy, and Roman Colonies,
11·525 to 11·68 inches).
Patellae (plaques), in Loretto Chapel, 135, II. _h_
Phædrus (Phocis), voyage of, 103
Pilgrims' processions, 88, 91 Way, 125
Pillars over buttresses (Loretto Chapel), 135, _h_
Polygonal apse, plan published before discovery, 61
foundations discovered, 62, 64 (Fig. 6)
Ponds of abbey, 146
Portus introitus (door in east wall of Edgar Chapel), 35, 53
(door to Loretto Chapel), 126 (west door); 129, I. _e_, _g_;
133, II. _d_; 139, III. _e_, _f_
Priests' houses, 146
Prior's Chapel, 147
Lodgings, 66, 67
Processional path and doors, 56, 58, 65
R
Radulphus (Ralph), FitzStephen, chancellor, and builder of the Abbey
Church, 91, 106, 108
FitzHamon (Norman knight, _temp._ Turstin, 1089 _circa_), 108
Rebus of Abbot Bere, 100
Refectorium, 67, 68
cellars of, 66
misericorde, 96
Reginaldus (_ob._ 1214), 46, 58
Bishop of Wells (twelfth century), 46
Relics, where kept, 144
Ribs of vault to Loretto, carved with fruit and flowers, 141, _b_; 142
Richard de Tantonia (architect of Edgar Chapel), 67
Robert (_anno_ 1334), 48
Rolf, Monachus, 35, 38
S
Saint Andrew, Chapel of, 51
guild of, 100
Bridget, 46
Benedict (or Benignus), 98
Church of, 100
Edgar (King), 35, 44
John's Gate, 127, 144
Mary, Chapel of (see Chapel), 41, 51, 56, etc.
Michael in the graveyard (burial place of Johannes), 97
Patrick, 46
Thomas of Canterbury (site of his Chapel), 114
Schola, the (the Abbey School), 68
Screen, the great (on which was the Quire Organ), 89
behind altar and reredos, 65
Screens in Guest Hall, 90, 91
Script, notes on, 26
errors in, 26-30, 68, 69
"Latin" in, 31
Scriptorium of Abbey, 68
Somerset, Lord, 66
Somerton, Eanwulf, Earl of, 106
Squares (symbolic) in sacred geometry on floor of Lady Chapel, 148, 150
general system of in plan of monastery, 148_a_ (Fig. 12)
Stables of Abbey (near Guest Hall), 67
Stairway to Edgar Chapel, 43
Steps in marble to Edgar Chapel, 43
four or six from Loretto to the transept aisle, 126
four from St. Mary's Garth to the Relics Chapel, 144
four from aisle up to transept, 146, 151
from "vetusta ecclesia" to Ina's Church, 56
Steps from great cloister in south-east corner, XII. down, and IX. up,
to back parts of monastery, 68
Stillington's Chapel at Wells, 44
Stukeley's panorama of ruins, 115 (Fig. 9), 160
T
Taunton, Abbot's bones secretly brought from, 65
Richard de (architect), 67, 69
Thesiger, Camillus, 126, 127
Tintagella settlement, 103
Towers, western, 46
Tower, central, 41, 87
bell, 87, 88
Triangles (symbolic) in floor of Lady Chapel, 148
double, in plan of Lady Chapel, 148
Turstin, Abbot, 106, 108
church built by, 105, 107
V
Vallera di, Domenico, 146
Vault, sepulchral, under High Altar, 65
under halls, 66, 67, 68
under central tower and nave, 41
under stairs of St. Mary's (Galilee), 41
Vaulting (volt), quadripartite, 35
multipartite, 35, 38
fans (old style) at east end of Quire, 38
panelled, in Edgar Chapel (fans), 43, 57
fans in claustrum north side of nave, 119
with gilt roundels, 120
barrel section (to chantry chapel), 57
cracked, under central tower, 121, 122
Italian pattern, to Loretto Chapel, 126, 141, 146
Vecchi, Francesco (di Torcello), 154
Vesica Piscis (sacred symbol, containing the double equilateral
triangle, found in plan of St. Mary's Chapel), 150 (Fig. 13), 151 ref.
Vestibule (Italian), to Loretto Chapel (the cloister open to the north
wind), 146, 151
Vineyards, the Abbey, 146
Virga (a yard), 36, 37
Virgin, ancient statue of (at back of altar-screen), 57
and Child in canopied niche over High Altar, 65
Virginis, Cava (apse, or recess of circular form in the east wall of
the Loretto Chapel, as indicated by script), 128-140, 143
W
Walls at an angle, 40, 41, 44, 51, 59, 64 (Figs. 5, 6, and Plate II.)
Warner quoted, 7, 11, 74
plan of older Lady Chapel, 51, 52
Watchers, the, 93
Watergate, 146-147
Wattlework (Saxon), 63, 65
Ways, the Four, 147
Well of Abbey, filled, 95
chamber in court, 94
Wells, Bishop of, 46, 87
chapel at, 44
Cathedral cited, 44, 88
Wells Lady Chapel, 73
Whiting (Whyttinge), Abbot, 4, 35, 37, 55 (signature), 57, 65, 70,
72, 101
Wild, plan by, 13, 16, 40
Willis, Professor, quoted, 7-12, 15, 16
plan by, 9 (Fig. 1)
of retro-chapel, 51, 53
Window, great east; 57;
originally straight, 47;
with balcony under, 65;
lengthened and rebuilt, 58
great west, with gallery under, 88
Window, transomed, in Edgar Chapel, 37
six, in Great Hall, 90, 91
Window, marked with cross (old shrine of Edgar), 44
Windows, three, in apse of Edgar Chapel, 57
three, in claustrum chapel, north side nave
Wolsey, Cardinal, 91, 101
Wyrcestre, William, quoted, 14, 69
reviewed, 13, 14
Y
Yseuguilt (Yseult), Princess, 103
Z
Zodiac (in the floor of St. Mary's Chapel), 147
BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD, ENGLAND
THE GATE OF REMEMBRANCE
A series of Seven Musical Impressions for
the Pianoforte, by the English composer
CARLYON DE LYLE,
based upon episodes in the life of Johannes,
the monk of Glastonbury, as given in the
well-known book of the same name, being
"MAGNUS ALBUM," No. 37
Published by SWAN & CO., 312, REGENT STREET,
LONDON, W.
_May be had of all Music-sellers_
Price 2s. net
_First edition, February, 1918_
_Second edition, July, 1918_
_Third edition, March, 1920_
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes.
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
Hyphenation has been standardised, but other variations in spelling,
punctuation and accents remain as in the original
For the sake of clarity, the advert for The (musical) Gate of
Remembrance has been has been moved from the beginning to the end.
The "Table of Veridical Passages" and "Table of Data and Constructive
Argument" are three column double page spreads in the original, linking
Script, Existing Data and Working Hypothesis. These sections are now
sequential to conform with width restrictions.
Footnote 6 refers to a non-existent flyleaf.
Italics are represented thus _italics_ and bold thus =bold=.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Gate of Remembrance - The Story of the Psychological Experiment which Resulted - in the Discovery of the Edgar Chapel at Glastonbury" ***
Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.