MONUMENTAL EFFIGIES horizontal baudric, the new sword-belt, which was introduced in or about 1335, and lasted in purity until the end of the century, being from that time gradually superseded until about 1420, when it had quite vanished. It should be noticed that with the baudric the misericorde was generally first introduced, and it disappears and reappears during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It must be that when the cingulum and other subsidiary belts of the surcote and cyclas periods, which supported the transverse sword-belts passed away, the baudric was sewn to the jupon to prevent it from slipping over the hips. It is apparent that the gussets of the arms, at the elbows and shoulders, are the visible parts of the hauberk, the jupon furnishing no more protection than did the surcote ; indeed St. Remy says that the French at Agincourt even wore hauberks under their plate armour — ' Premierement estoient arm6s de cottes d'acier, longues, passants les genoux, et moult pesantes ; et par-dessous harnois de jambe ; et par-dessus blancs harnois ; et de plus, bachinets de camail.' The thighs are pro- tected by cuissarts, and the knees by genou- illeres ridged and studded, and with single inverted lower articulations. The head reposes upon two pillows, tasselled, for the first time, and supported by angels. The lower portion of this fine effigy is greatly mutilated, the heel and part of the left (in two senses) foot, shod with a rowel spur, rests against a lion. The hands and wrists are gone. Round the verge of the slab, which is portraiture which now, under such a wholesale alabaster system, could have been produced ; and when we see the ' marble ' countenances them- selves the conclusion is verified at once. For countless alabaster effigies throughout the country follow the same bascinet-and-camail model. From the last quarter of the fourteenth century a furor to be thus represented in effigy seems to have set in both with regard to alabaster and brass. There was not, nor could there be, portraiture, but there was perfect accuracy in arming details, for the sculptors were well acquainted with the glittering suits of steel, and with the heraldry on the jupons and the tabards. We find these alabaster representations from Derbyshire throughout the west of England, in the mid-lands, in East Anglia and in the northern and southern counties, from Cumberland to the Isle of Wight. And though there arose a reaction in favour of brass memorials as against alabaster, sup- ported by importations from the Low Countries from about 141 8, the fashion again reverted to the use of the delicate and easily-worked stone, and its employment never died out again until after the middle of the seventeenth century, and then, apparently, only because the quarries ceased embattled and ornamented with ball-flowers, is the following inscription, divided at inter- vals and alternately by scutcheons and roses : •ii:moDnCr-:®:3oi): o:an:®:tie:fjcr: o: teC®f)ull:o:le®tt:o:5C5:®:l)2:o:cu:o: t)i:©:Ca:D:a:®:me: D:tit:®:mt. o:rci: ©:oain®eon:; the letters being much broken and defaced towards the end. Sir John SwiNFORD. Died 1371. Spratton. This effigy lies upon a low embattled altar- tomb of alabaster, under an arch between the chancel and the north chancel aisle, and en- closed on the south side by coeval iron rail- ings, with the main standards formed into pricket candlesticks, herse-fashion. It is a massive and striking figure, cut out of a block of spotless alabaster, 7 feet long, 2 feet 4 inches wide, and i foot 9 inches deep, and although there is no departure from the general mode of representing the deceased at this time, there is an unusual amount of repose and dignity about the figure which is very impressive. All the details are carefully ren- dered, and the whole has been elaborately painted and gilded. On the head is shown the bascinet, with the camail fastened by laces running through staples or vervelles in the usual way. Over the camail is worn a collar of SS, the letters strung on two ribbons, and set in a metal or cuir-bouilli band of which the ends are fastened together by a single cord, the slack end expended in a knot similar to the slip in what is called a hang- man's knot. The shoulders are protected by to yield sufficiently good material. The best alabaster had, in fact, already begun to succumb to the heavy demands made upon it before the end of the fifteenth century, and it rapidly de- teriorated in quality from that time. The use of alabaster brought about retrogression in monumental art. It rapidly did away with the employment of gesso on effigies, and put an end to the delicate painted decorations on such monuments of which Stothard, with infinite zeal and pains, and only just in time, rescued the evidences from obliteration and oblivion. Under these conditions it will be at once antici- pated that the number of alabaster effigies in North- amptonshire is very considerable. As a matter of fact, they form the large proportion of 50 of the 1 1 8 effigies in the county, ranging between the years 1371-1629. The earliest example is that of Sir John de Hertcshull, who died at least thirty years after alabaster had come into use. As has been already noticed, the alabaster employed for effigies up to about the end of the fifteenth centur)' was of a pure white kind. It was free from the red streaks and imperfections of the inferior stone which was subsequently used, and finally abandoned on account of its impurity. 407
