it is possibly, however, here written for situla, the holy-water vat or stoup, not unfrequently made of precious metal, in wealthy establishments.
In accounts of the years 1278 and 1279, the following items occur.
In patella ferrea, xiiij.d. In zonis puerorum, ij.d. Item, consutrici, pro octo albis, novis vexillis, puerorum vestimentis, et aliis necessariis, vij.s. ix.d. ob. Item, in ij. paribus corporalium, xij.d. Item, in xij. ulnis panni linei, iiij.s. iiij.d. precium ulne, iiij.d. Item, in xliiij. ulnis panni lynei, xij.s. x.d. precium ulne iiij.d. ob. Item, in dealbacione ejusdem panni, ix.d. Item, in x. ulnis de karde, iij.s. v.d. Item, in kanevaz ad sustendas ij. tapetas, et ad emendendas paruras vestimentorum, v.s. iij.d. In custu et filo tapete, ij.s. iij.d. Item, in renovacione vexillorum majorum, xxi.s. x.d. Item, in emendatione vexillorum minorum, ij.s. iijd. Item, in lanceis, j.d. iij.qa. Item, in capa noviter de serico contexta, et in orfreis freseis, et in stipendio consutricis, lxj.s. vij.d.
Item, in brachinellis die Pentecostes, xxv.d. Item, in mundacione ecclesie contra Pentecostem x.
Item, in scopis per annum, ij.d. qa. Item, Dominica balmarum, vj.d. Item, in hokis, j.d. ob. Item, in j. howe. iij d. Item, in tribus ulnis de kanevaz ad vexillum in dedicacione ecclesie, et in pictura ejusdem vexilli, xx.d. ob. Item, in j. ferro ad hostiam faciendam, iij.s. Item, in ligaturis tankard, j.d.
In processions, especially on the rogation days, when parochial perambulations took place, various banners were used, of which the tradition was in recent times preserved, in some places, by carrying garlands suspended to poles, during the perambulation of boundaries. The service-book, called a processional, supplies full information in relation to the use of banners, and one of the earliest printed editions exhibits, by means of woodcuts, the proper arrangement of these decorations[1]. In wealthier churches the banners were not only ornamented with sacred subjects, but they exhibited armorial bearings, as shewn in the list of the "vexilla pro rogationibus," belonging to Christ Church, Canterbury, printed by Dart from Cott. MS. Galba, E. IV. The banner of the lion, and that termed the dragon, were commonly displayed, and are enumerated in a MS. inventory of the church of Sarum, A.D. 1214. By Archbishop Winchelsey's constitutions the provision of "vexilla" was required from the parishioners, and the injunction was repeated by Archbishop Peccham. Amongst the earliest instances of their use in England, the gifts of Bishop Leofric to Exeter cathedral may be cited, amongst which are mentioned "ij. guthfana," war-vanes, or standards.
Amongst various other extracts from the curious archives of St. Paul's, kindly communicated by the Archdeacon, there are accounts of sums received in the pixis, truncus, or money-box, entitled "Recepta de pixide crucis borialis," dated A.D. 1343, 44. These monies appear to have been taken out monthly, the amount received each month varying from 12l. to 20l. The account frequently mentions broken money, "argentum fractum, ferlingos fractos," not estimated; the deficiency of small currency had occasioned the subdivision of coin into fractional parts. We hope to be enabled, by Archdeacon Hale's obliging assistance, to resume the consideration of the evidences supplied by these curious records.
- ↑ See Processionale ad usum Sarum, 1528.
