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venerable bede]. The usual designation of Bede appears to have been, like many other titles, simply an adjective in the first instance. It would be familiar to the clergy in the headings of homilies from Bede in the Lectionaries, and afterwards in the Breviaries, thus, Homilia venerabilis Beda Presbyteri. See D'Achery and Mabillon, in Acta SS. Ord. Ben., Maij 26, anno 735, p. 517. The learned Benedictines do not even refer to the legends that professed to account for the title, and Trithemius, who wrote in 1494, says of them "deliramenta hæc facillime confutarem."--De Scr. Eccl., p. 66, in Fabricii Biblioth. Eccl., Hamb., 1718. In the Legenda Aurea, Nuremb. 1496, Leg. clxxvi, §, followed by the Nova Legenda Angliæ, Lond., 1516, xxxvv., xxxvi, Oxf. ed. (1901), I, 111, two reasons are given for the title :-(1) Once when Bede had become blind and was passing through a valley full of stones, he was told, in derision, that a large congregation was waiting to hear him preach. Then he preached fervently, and when he concluded with "per omnia sæcula sæculorum" the stones cried out 66 Amen, venerabilis pater"; (2) A certain clerk, wishing to write an epitaph on him, began with the words, "Hac sunt in fossa," but could think of nothing but "Bedæ sancti ossa to finish the verse with. Coming to the tomb, after a sleepless night spent in trying to think of words that would scan better, he found that Angel hands had inscribed "Bedæ venerabilis ossa.' There is a third story to the effect that the title was decreed to him in Rome, which city he certainly never visited, for his acuteness in assigning a new interpretation to the initial letters over an iron gate, S.P.Q.R., "Stultus Populus Quærit Romam," with reference to the Goths swarming to Rome, and that on his return he died and was buried at Genoa.-Baring Gould, Lives of the Saints, May 27. It is stated in the Legenda Aurea

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that the bones of Bede were honoured with due devotion at Genoa (ianua). This statement is quoted in the Legenda Angliæ, but in order to be corrected by a verius tamen creditur, that they were with St. Cuthbert's body in his shrine.

poscente Richardo, etc.].

and p. 597.

lapide sub marmoreo].

Concerning this Richard, see Rolls, Intr., lviii,

There is a blue marble grave-slab, much scaled, but showing traces of brasses, still lying at the west end of the present tomb of Bede.

the discription, etc.]. The writer is probably referring to Symeon's Hist. of Ch. of Durham, lib. III, cap. vii (Rud's ed., p. 158), where we are told how Elfred the presbyter brought the bones of Bede from Jarrow to Durham, secretly, as would appear. But when asked by his intimate friends where Bede's bones were, he would say "Nemo me certius novit," and that they were in the same chest with the body of St. Cuthbert. Symeon goes on to refer to the old English poem on Durham and the relics there, in which, after mentioning Cuthbert's and other famous relics, the writer says, "Is derinne mid heom & Æðelwold biscop | & breoma bocera Beda & Boisil abbot | -Symeon, Surtees ed., I, 153. Lastly he mentions their having been found in a linen bag with the uncorrupt body, but separate from other relics, not long before his time (c. 1060-c. 1130).

in a golden Coffin, H. 45]. "the coffin," i.e. St. Cuthbert's, is the right reading. The Hunter MS. refers to Bishop Pudsey's "Fereter " mentioned above. That shrine, as we learn from the inscription just above, was removed from "nigh St. Cuthbert shryne" into the Galilee in 1370.

ye alter of St. Beede].

At the recess corresponding to that where the Altar of Our Lady of Pity stood, there is a place for a good-sized locker. Billings, Pl. xxxvi.

was soon

ye same place where his shrine was before exalted]. The spot is marked by the large plain tomb made when the shrine was defaced in 1542. In 1830 the tomb was examined down to the pavement level. In 1831, on St. Bede's day (May 27), a more thorough examination was made, and many of the bones of a human skeleton were found, three feet below the floor, arranged in their places, so far as they went, in a coffin of full size, traces of which remained. The legendary inscription, "Hac sunt in fossa Bedæ venerabilis ossa,' afterwards cut upon the upper slab.-Raine, Br. Acc., 79; St. Cuthb., 178. The present tomb may be regarded as the tribute of the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries to the memory of Bede as a man of letters. Writing about "The reverend Bede," Camden says, “And that I may incidently note that which I have heard: Not many yeeres since a French Bishop returning out of Scotland, comming to the Church of Durham, and brought to the shrine of Saint Cuthbert, kneeled downe, and after his devotions, offered a Baubie, saying: 'Sancte Cuthberte, si sanctus sis, ora pro me': But afterward, beeing brought vnto the Tombe of Beda, saying likewise his Orisons, offered there a French crowne, with this alteration, 'Sancte Beda, quia sanctus es, ora pro me'."-Remaines, 1614, p. 249. an elegant Epitaph]. The epitaph written on vellum has long disappeared, but the inscription is printed in Smith's Bede (1722), p. 823, where the last line is given as "Hæc sunt in fossa Bedæ Venerabilis Ossa." a faire Iron pulpitt]. There are now no traces either of this pulpit or of the steps.

a founte for baptising of children].

See Scr. Tres, 147. The privilege

extended to the administration of all the Sacraments.

when ye realme was interdicted]. The writer is mistaken in this matter, for there had been no interdict since 1208-13. The words of W. de Chambre in Scr. Tres are, "Hic (sc. Tho. Langley) "etiam libertates quasdam a Papa procuravit pro lavacro, quod collocavit in Galilæa in ecclesia Dunelmensi cui virtute prædictæ concessionis omnes excommunicati ad filios baptizandos, cum nullibi per totum filios baptizare liceret, et ad reliquorum omnium sacramentorum administrationem accederent."

foure faire coulored . . . wyndowes]. There are five windows in all. Perhaps the one at the west end of the north aisle was blocked up, or did not contain coloured glass when the account was written. There is now no coloured glass in any of the Galilee windows except in the tracery-lights of the three windows inserted by Langley in the middle of the west side. These will be noticed in their places.

et patrie]. I.e. of the Bishopric or land of the Haliwerfolk or folk of the holy man. in his blewe habitt apparell]. Blue glass commonly stood for black in representations of monastic habits, as in the St. Cuthbert window at York. Sometimes purple glass was used in the same way.

six litie glasned lightes]. These are now all filled with patchwork of old fragments in which no parts of the original subjects can be recognized. In the extreme tops of three of the lights are large stars of many rays, which may be original.

cuius anima]. This curious expression, referring to St. Oswald's head, is perhaps unique in this sense. On the skull, see Archæologia, LVII,

24.

holie Kinge Henry]. Henry VI, who was canonized in popular estimation, and was within a little of being so officially. For his pilgrimage to Durham in 1448, see Appendix II, p. 122.

Historie of ye monasticall Church]. The reference may be to Scriptores Tres, p. 146; hardly, perhaps, to this present work, p. 44.

six litle glasened towre wyndowes]. The usual term in the " Description," Appendix I, for the upper lights in Perpendicular windows is turret lights. A good deal of the glazing in these six lights has the appearance of being original. In the third from the south is Our Lady, riding on an ass, in a long white robe partly over her head like a veil, and partly wrapped round the child, whose head is covered by a cloth showing the face. She has a plain nimbus and the child a cruciferous one. There is part of the figure of Joseph with a staff, but it is displaced. The background is gone, and the original glazing of the next light also, else we might have the idols falling and the trees bending, according to the legend. In the fifth light from the south is Our Lady standing, with long flowing hair, holding up the child towards a group of about ten nimbed figures of persons gazing on the child. On the ground is something like an empty cradle. In the sixth light are several more persons of both sexes, some nimbed and others not, gazing on the child in the fifth light. In the second light are eight nimbed and white-robed figures walking and eight seated on the ground, and in the first are nine similar figures, with their hands crossed over their breasts; all are gazing in the direction of the Virgin and Child on the ass. There is nothing now to be seen in the least like Herod pursuing. There seems to be nothing in the Golden Legend to account for the gazing figures in four of these six lights, or to the showing of the child to a multitude of persons. Alured, Gudred, & Elfride]. See notes on ch. XXI. The three kings here meant are, probably, Alfred the Great and Guthred, King of Northumbria, who gave to St. Cuthbert all the land between Tyne and Tees, A.D. 894, and Alchfrith, King of Northumbria, who settled the Celtic monks, about A.D. 660, at Ripon, where St. Cuthbert entertained the Angel. Bæda, Vit. S. Cuthb., vii; Hist. Eccl., lib. III, cap. 25. St. Cuthbert appeared in visions to the two former. St Bede doth make mention]. This can apply only to the donation of Alchfrith, for Bede's history ends A.D. 731.

six litle towre wyndowes]. All now filled with patchwork; in the light most to the north is part of a figure of Christ crucified, with some one at the foot of the Cross; this seems to have belonged to the original glazing.

ye fermery]. See ch. XLVI.

ye priors chaplaine].

XXIII, pp. 51-52.

For his duties on these occasions, see Martene, Mon. Rit., V, viii, "De ordine ad visitandos infirmos de vita periclitantes atque ad mortem tendentes," and cap. ix, "De modo adjuvandi infirmi ad mortem." The Offices for the Visitation, Communion, and Extreme Unction of the sick were, as opportunity allowed, supplemented by litanies, prayers, and readings from the Psalms and the Gospels of the Passion. Other duties of the Prior's Chaplain are referred to in the Rolls; see the Index under Prior, chaplain of.

ye barber was sent for]. The washing of the body, which, probably, was always done, is not here mentioned, but it seems to have been a part of the barber's office. In some monastic rules it was done by some one of the same rank and standing as the deceased, e.g., in the Statutes of Lanfranc, cap. 24, we read, "portetur corpus ad lavandum ab his de quorum ordine fuit; id est Sacerdos a Sacerdotibus, Diaconus a Diaconis, et sic in reliquis ordinibus, Conversus a Conversis; infans tamen non ab infantibus, sed a Conversis. Hi vero sunt qui lavare non debent corpus defuncti : Sacerdos Hebdomadarius, et reliqui ministri qui circa altare serviunt, et vasa sacrata contrectant, Hebdomadarii coquinæ, Cellerarii, Refectorarii." Further minute directions follow, concerning the washing and dressing of the body. For other customs, see Martene, ubi cit., cap. x, also Eccl. Rit., III, xi-xv; and Lanfranc, in Reyner, App., part 3, p. 249; Wilkins, I, 358.

sockes and bowtes]. This was always done. The writer of the account of the translation of St. Cuthbert in 1104 says he was found "vestimenta sacerdotalia indutus, in obviam Christi calceamentis suis præparatis."-Acta SS. Boll., Mar. 20, p. 123, sect. 13. Although a Christian significance was given to the calceamenta, they are probably derived from the pre-Christian custom "to bind hell-shoon on men, on which they may walk to Valhalla." Cf. Gisla Saga, Orig. Isl., ii, 208, and Dasent, Gisli the Outlaw, pp. xxiv, 44, 45, cited in Plummer's Bede, II, 271.

ye Dead manes chamber]. A room in the Infirmary, as stated. The addition in H. 45 is a mistake which has arisen from a confusion between the chamber in the Infirmary and the "Parler" mentioned below. It is not repeated in the printed editions.

St Andrewes chappell]. No trace of this chapel is now to be seen.

It may

have projected eastward from the Infirmary, but no foundations were
found when its supposed site was excavated some years ago. For
several notices of it, see Rolls, Index under Infirmary, chapel of, 259
and later pages.
The references before p. 259 belong to the

Infirmary without the gates,

kneys]. The local pronunciation, riming with " weighs."

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chyldren of thaumerey]. See ch. XLVIII, and Rolls, Index under Almery. spalter]. So H. 45, but "Psalter in other MSS. and in the editions. ye chapter house]. This was probably the finest Norman Chapter-house in England, 781⁄2 feet long and 35 feet wide, vaulted throughout, with an apsidal east end, and a fine arcade over the wall-bench for the monks. In the centre of the apse, standing on a dais of two steps, was the Bishop's stone chair (ch. xxvi, p. 56). See Greenwell, 40–43 ; Billings, Pl. lii (in which the three east windows are conjecturally put in); Carter, Plan, and his drawings, reproduced in Durh, and Northumb. Arch. Trans., V, plates ii, iii, pp. 31-33; Raine, Br. Acc., 103-108, with view of exterior. The greater part of this fine building was pulled down in 1796, but rebuilt, mainly on the old lines, in 1895. Grancolas, writing on the subject of the Chapter Office, says "Locus ille Capitulum appellabatur, quia Capitulum Regulæ ibi perlegebatur."-In Brev. Rom., cap. xxxvi. See also Dict. Chr. Antiq., I, 288, and N. E. D. under CHAPTER 4. The application of the term would naturally be extended so as to include the corresponding places connected with churches of secular canons. Dergie]. The Dirige or Matins of the Dead, so called from its first antiphon "Dirige Domine Deus meus in conspectu tuo viam meam,” whence "Dirge" in its later senses.

and devotion]. Perhaps the Prior and Convent remained some time in private devotion after they had said their Dirge.

ye parler]. The passage between the Chapter-house and the end of the transept, leading from the cloister to the cemetery, and very commonly found in monastic plans; at Thornton it is closed eastward and seated all round, as if only for watching the dead. The utter or outer Parlour, Locutorium, or Spekehouse, was usually on the western side of the cloister, which could not well have been arranged at Durham owing to the peculiarity of the site, so the above-named passage was thus used, and was doubtless entered by the countryfolk and merchants from the east end, while the monks who spoke with them entered from the cloister. The Norman doorway of the Dorter, now the Library, was perhaps the Parlour door before the Galilee was built. There was always an inner parlour for more strictly monastic conversation. We do not know where this was in Durham. Possibly they used the passage leading from the Usher door. a challice of wax]. As all clerks from bishops downward were buried in the habits and with the ornamenta of their orders, so it was usual to place on the breast of a priest a chalice of pewter, earthenware, or This was probably a survival of the strange practice of burying the consecrated elements with the dead, on which see Martene, Eccl. Rit., lib. III, cap. xii, sect. x, xi.

wax.

his blew bedd houlden over his grave.] Possibly a survival of the practice of laying over the uncoffined body, in place of a stone or wooden covering, a woollen or linen sheet, before casting in the earth,— Martene, Mon. Rit., V, x, sect. 108,

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