תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

Mr.

great value, though known by the misnomer of the Bullring. Gould impressed upon those he was addressing the great desirability of the circle being preserved from threatened destruction.

Notwithstanding the heavy rain and the mist which enveloped the hills, the ladies and gentlemen of the party then proceeded to view the ancient British fortification on Coomb Moss. The ascent of Coomb Moss, which is 1670 ft. above sea level, was fairly well made, considering the weather conditions; but in some places, towards the summit, the approach is rather treacherous. The length of the fosse and ramparts is 547 ft. It was suggested by Mr. Gould that this curious work was of the Celtic period, and that the Celts threw a double rampart across the one weak side, nature having provided a precipice on all other approaches. On the weaker side there were two great ramparts of earth, thrown across with fosses. The original entrance appeared to have been at a precipitous corner at the east side. The difficulty of deciding upon a date for this work was increased by the fact that, at some subsequent period, a trench had been cut straight through both ramparts, and might have been the work of the Romans, or of recent users of the summit for purposes of drainage. The features of interest were pointed out, as well as could be, to the party, under distinctly unfavourable weather conditions; and then the return journey was undertaken.

The concluding meeting was held in the Town Hall at 3 p.m., when the usual votes of thanks were unanimously passed to all the officials and others, to whose cordial co-operation the success of the Congress was due: special mention being made of Mr. W. R. Bryden, F.R.I.B.A., the indefatigable local secretary, by whose untiring efforts and genial bonhomie the pleasure of a most delightful gathering had been greatly enhanced; and the members dispersed with mutual congratulations upon a most pleasant and successful Congress.

Proceedings of the Association.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 16TH, 1900.

DR. W. DE GRAY BIRCH, LL.D., F.S.A., IN THE Chair.

The following Member was duly elected :

:

Joseph Fox Sharpe, Esq., The Park, Hull.

The thanks of the Council were ordered to be returned to the donors of the following presents for the library :

To the Cambrian Archæological Association, for "Archæologia Cambrensis," April, 1900.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

Society of Antiquaries, London, for "Proceedings," vol. xvii,
No. 2, 2nd Ser. ; and "Archæologia," vol. lvi, Part II.
Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-on-Tyne, for "Archæo-
logia Aeliana," Part LIV.

[ocr errors]

Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, for "Journal,"
March, 1900.

Stockholm Society of Antiquaries and Artists, for "Journal,”
Part I, 1899.

Société des Antiquaires de la Morinie, for "Les Chartes de
Saint-Bertin," vol. iv, 1899.

Mr. Patrick, Hon. Secretary, announced that the Congress would be held at Leicester, under the Presidency of the Marquis of Granby, commencing on July 30th and concluding on August 4th.

Mrs. Day exhibited some old engravings, mostly relating to Gloucestershire, and some photographs of Coxford Priory, illustrative of the Paper by the Rev. H. J. D. Astley, on "Two Norfolk Villages," read by him at a previous meeting.

Mr. Andrew Oliver exhibited a miscellaneous collection of antiquities, recently found by him in an old bag.

Mr. Bamford brought, to illustrate the Paper of the evening, some very charming pen-and-ink drawings of Barking and the neighbourhood. The Rev. W. S. Lach-Szyrma then read his Paper upon "The Site of London beyond the Border a Thousand years Ago."

An interesting discussion followed the Paper, which will be pub lished. Archdeacon Stevens, Dr. Winstone, Mr. Gould, and others took part. Referring to the well-known lines of Chaucer, quoted in the Paper

"And Frensch sche spak ful faire and fetysly After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe, For French of Parys was to hire unknowe"the Chairman said there was probably a colony of French from Paris settled at Stratford, engaged in some handicraft, like the Spitalfields weavers, who would speak the French of Paris, which would contrast either favourably or otherwise with the French as spoken by the prioress; but the Rev. H. D. Astley thought the poet was rather

[graphic][merged small]

referring to the Norman-French spoken by the prioress, which by that time was already degenerating into a mere patois, like the modern. Jersey-French; and it was at this that Chaucer and some of his contemporaries sneered. The author of Piers Plowman speaks of "Frensch of Norfolk."

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6TH, 1900.

THOS. BLASHILL, ESQ., V.-P., IN THE CHAIR.

The following member was duly elected :

Rev. Cæsar Caine, Garrigill Parsonage, Carlisle.

A rare collection of miniatures of historical interest was exhibited by Mr. B. Nathan, who gave particulars of many of them, including a superb miniature of the unfortunate Marie Antoinette, by V. Costa

1900

19

The portrait is encircled by a ring of old rose diamonds. Of this we are enabled, by the kindness of Mr. Nathan, to give an illustration. Another of Lady William Russell, wife of Lord William Russell, who was murdered by Courvoisier, and one of Lady Mary Duff, both by Engelhart; a portrait of the fourth Earl Powerscourt, by Horace Hone, 1793; and a very fine enamel of a lady with blue drapery, and with jewels and pearls in her hair, by Petitot, attracted much attention. There were examples of the art of Samuel Cooper, Andrew Plymer, W. Wood, 1770; Guiche, 1769; H. Bone, A.R. A., 1804; and others, amongst the collection. Mr. Nathan also submitted for inspection some richly-chased gold and enamelled presentation snuff and other boxes, including one given to Lord Howe, commemorating the naval victory off Brest in 1794; and a tortoise-shell silver-mounted box, with painting in the lid by Jan van Goyen, 1656.

Mr. Essington Hughes exhibited some fine miniatures of family interest, representing Admiral Sir Wm. Essington, K.C.B., who commanded the Triumph at the battle of Camperdown, in 1797; Lieut. W. R. Hughes, R. N., who was with Capt. Ayscough when he destroyed two of the enemy's gunboats and thirty-four troop vessels off the coast of Naples, in 1811; and T. J. Hughes, who was drowned in early life in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in 1805.

Mr. A. Oliver brought for exhibition a Book of Hours, French, of the fifteenth century, richly embellished with illuminations and miniatures.

Mr. C. Lynam, Hon. Treasurer, gave a short address on the island of Iona, and illustrated it with drawing by Mrs. Lynam, and plans and sketches by himself; also by numerous photographs taken by Mr. A. Meigh. He briefly described the origin of the universal fame of this little western island of Scotland- a Christian mission station of the sixth century, founded and worked by St. Columba, with results still abiding throughout Christendom. The fact that no vestige of the early buildings now remain was noted; but the suggestion that possibly the great earthworks to the west of the present cathedral were part of St. Columba's work, was thrown out. The fact that the present remains are entirely distinct from those of the early establishment was emphasised, and a description was given in detail of what now exists the cathedral, St. Oran's Chapel, the nunnery, and the two upright crosses of I. Maclean and St. Martin; all of which were fully illustrated.

Antiquarian Intelligence.

Prehistoric Times. By the Right Honble. LORD AVEBURY (London : Williams and Norgate, 188.).-We have received from the publishers a copy of the "sixth edition, revised," of this well-known work by Lord Avebury (who will always be better known as Sir John Lubbock), of which the first edition was issued in the year 1865. During the course of these thirty-five years, not only has the learned author changed his title, but vast changes, or rather a giant stride in the cosmic process of evolution, has taken place in the realms of science. For example, the science of anthropology, then in its infancy, is now an accredited branch of knowledge. The study of folk-lore, then hardly commenced, and only carried on by a few "faddists," is now recognised as of the greatest value, not only in the study of the present ideas of primitive peoples, but also as a means of arriving at some notion of the habits of life and manner of thinking of the early races of mankind; while the study of comparative craniology, then unknown, has thrown a flood of light upon the questions of race.

On all these subjects Sir John Lubbock was a pioneer, and the recognised results at present attained are due, in large measure, to his researches. Criticism of such a work as "Prehistoric Times" in its up-to-date dress, would be superfluous, but it must be gratifying to the author to realise how few of his earlier conclusions have had to be modified in the light of further observation. The process has been, in fact, an advance along a line already marked out, rather than one with any abrupt turns or backward steps. For example, Sir John Lubbock, following in the wake of the Swedish archæologists, who had already devised the terms and marked out the boundaries of the three great stages in man's progression from savagery to civilisation, viz., the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, was the first to suggest the use of the terms "palæolithic" and "neolithic" to designate the two great divisions of the Stone Age, and these were universally accepted, and are now everywhere employed.

To anyone who wishes to obtain a succinct conspectus in a popular form of the present state of knowledge on the subject of early man, we recommend the perusal of this comprehensive volume. He will find in it a complete picture of the gradual emergence of mankind from

« הקודםהמשך »