Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 9.djvu/147

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9- s. ix. FEB. 15, 1902.] NOTES AND QUERIES.


139


St. Catherine, or St. George. For these we must have recourse to a kindred work the famous ' Legenda Aurea ' of Jacobus de Voragine. John of Tynemouth was a monk of St. Albans in the early part of the fourteenth century, and it is one of Dr. Horstman's discoveries that the mediaeval chronicle which was published by Hearne under the name of Walter Hemingford is only a part of the * Historia Aurea,' written by him when annalist of that re- nowned foundation. The good monk was, indeed, nothing more than a compiler, but a very faithful and conscientious one, of what he found ready to his hand in the archives of the abbeys and monas- teries which he visited for the purpose, making excerpts as he went, with all the bibliographical zeal of a Dibdin. To the lives proper he appends what he calls a " narratio," i.e., a brief story or amusing anecdote, with often but little bearing on the foregoing life, but useful to enliven the flagging attention of the brotherhood or gain the ear of the ignorant folk. What makes this col- lection particularly valuable, as the editor notes, is the fact that the original MSS. upon which John of Tynemouth drew for his material have in many instances perished, with the result that this re- mains the only authority for certain Anglo-Saxon and Celtic saints. Like most mediaeval chroniclers, he has an unbounded appetite for prodigies and visions. He delights in retailing those curious stories of the apparitions of demons and visits to the Inferno which were so rife in the Middle Ages. Among the more remarkable of these are the descent of the Roman knight Owen into St. Patrick's Purga- tory and the strange experiences of Tundal (vol. ii. p. 303). In his introduction, which displays a really marvellous knowledge of the contemporary sources of information, Dr. Horstman deals with the per- sonality and milieu of his author. We wish that he could have found time to supply out of his trea- sures a commentary or illustrative notes on the subject-matter of his text. The latter is very accu- rately printed, but we notice "Cloufert" (vol. i. p. 153, note), a misprint for Clonfert.

The Use of Sarum. Edited by the Rev. W. H.

Frere, M.A. (Cambridge, University Press.) OSMUND, Bishop of Salisbury, one of the Conqueror's prelates, arranged and systematized the services and ritual of his cathedral with such judgment and learning that his service-book became the recog- nized standard of liturgical propriety, so that in ecclesiastical matters " according to the use of Sarum " was a phrase almost tantamount to "according to Cocker" in business affairs at a later day. How predominating was its influence may be in- ferred from the fact that it was adopted so far north as Elgin in 1242, when it was decreed that " in the divine offices, in psalm-singing, reading, chanting, and other things pertaining to divine service, the order be observed which is known to have been adopted in the church of Salisbury." In 1542 the Convocation of Canterbury ordered all the clergy of the province to follow this use in their churches. Mr. Frere has sedulously devoted himself to the editing of this important document of the Anglican Church, which he evidently finds a congenial task. In a previous volume he gave us the 'Consue- tudinary' and 'Customary,' which dealt with the Sarum ceremonies and ceremoniarii. In the pre- sent issue he edits the * Ordinal ' and ' Tonal,' the former of which regulated the order and conduct of the various offices, and was held to be so essential


an adjunct for the correct rendering of divine ser- vice that every parish church was required to pos- sess a copy of it. The ' Tonal ' was a directory for the musical part of the services, to ensure a sys- tematic classification of the antiphons and of the tones and endings to which they were to be sung. A number of these latter are printed in score in an appendix extending to eighty pages. Mr. Frere is inclined to believe that this part of the ' Use ' may be ascribed to Bishop Richard Poore, and thus date from the beginning of the thirteenth century. The actual text, however, seems hardly earlier than about 1270. Just a century later we find Wiclif raising a loud protest against the amount of time and attention that was given and, as he main- tained, misspent by the clergy in conning the elaborate rules of this mediaeval manual when they might be better occupied. "A Lord," he cries, "gif alle the studie & traueile that men ban now

abowte Salisbury uss weren turned in- to makynge

of biblis & in studiynge & techynge ther-of, hou moche schulde goddis Tawe be forthered & knowen & kept" ('Unprinted Eng. Works,' E.E.T.S., 194). We are reminded of the later outcry against the crabbed and complex "Rules called the Pie," which were felt to be a sore burden from their " number and hardness." The volume, as might be anticipated, abounds in minute technicalities which appeal only to the liturgical antiquary, but to him it will be invaluable.

Renderings of Church Hymns. By the Rev. R. M.

Moorsom. (Clay & Sons.)

IN a preface, in which emphasis is weakened by reiteration, Mr. Moorsom strongly urges the Church's need of a book of common praise, which is to embrace the best hymns of every branch of the Church Catholic, and in especial those of the Greek, Syrian, and other Oriental Churches. As a contribution to this desirable object he offers this little volume the solace of his hours of blindness of translations or free renderings of hymns from foreign sources Italian, Celtic, German, as well as Eastern. We cannot say that we are much impressed with the freshness or originality of these specimen versions. The fact is, that the language and ideas of praise, thanksgiving, and petition are common to all Churches and everywhere very similar ; when reduced to English they do not differ greatly from our native efforts in this kind. We are surprised to find that Mr. Moorsom includes in his selection one hymn which he admits is unortho- dox from an Anglican standpoint, and two at least which are sacred poems, and in no sense hymns. He also labours under the erroneous impression that there was a time when " Ye Euglishe Chyrche " was good vernacular. Tunes to twenty of the hymns have been composed by the Rev. G. W. Griffith, and one by Mr. W. S. de Winton, which are here given.

Time Table of Modern History, A. p. 400-1870. Compiled and arranged by M. Morison. (Con- stable & Co.)

THIS is a work which serious students of modern history ought to have at hand. The labour of com- piling it must have been great, for, so far as we have been able to test it, the ordeal has been gone through very fairly. Of course it would have been possible to make corrections, and it must be borne in mind that there are some dates which cannot be fixed with precision. Contemporary authorities, even,