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Page 24
I am sorry that Johnson was so unfortunate as to propose _carious_ as an
emendation; but even in doing this, he had, according to my notion of the
lines, the right sense in view, viz., that of _letting through_ or
_swallowing up_, like a rotten tub or a quicksand.
I hope that MR. SINGER will take these remarks in good part, as being
offered, not from a wish to oppose his opinion, but from a conviction that
the interpretation now given is right, and from a desire that to every word
in Shakspeare should be assigned its true signification.
J.S.W.
Stockwell.
* * * * *
SWORD OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.
(Vol. iii., p. 24.)
There can be little doubt that the sword respecting which P. inquires is in
the armoury at Goodrich Court. It was presented by Lord Viscount Gage to
the late Sir Samuel Meyrick, and exhibited by Dr. Meyrick to the Society of
Antiquaries, Nov. 23. 1826. The Doctor's letter is to be found in the
Appendix to the _Arch�ologia_ of that date, with an engraving of the sword.
He states that the arms on the pommel are those of Battle Abbey, that its
date is about A.D. 1430, and that it was the symbol of the criminal
jurisdiction of the abbot. At the dissolution of the abbey it fell into the
hands of Sir John Gage, who was one of the commissioners for taking the
surrender of religious houses.
Its entire length is 3 feet 5 inches, and the breadth of the blade at the
guard 2 inches. The Doctor considers it to be "the oldest perfect sword in
England." The arms are a cross, with a crown in the first and last
quarters, and a sword in the second and third. There are also the letters
T.L., the initials of the Abbot, Thomas de Lodelow, who held that office
from 1417 to 1437. This fixes its date in the reign of Henry V., though the
fact of the first William having been the founder of Battle Abbey has given
colour to the tradition of its having been his property.
W.J. BERNHARD SMITH.
Temple.
I much doubt the fact of the Conqueror's sword ever having been in the
possession of the monks of Battle. Nor am I aware of any writer
contemporary with the dissolution of that famous abbey who asserts it.
William's royal robe, adorned with precious gems, and a feretory in the
form of an altar, inclosing 300 relics of the saints, were bequeathed by
him to the monastery; and Rufus transmitted them to Battle, where they were
duly received on the 8th of the calends of November, 1088. This information
is furnished by the _Chronicle of Battel Abbey_, which I have just
translated for the press; but not one word is said of the sword.
Though I have always lived within a few miles of Firle Place, the seat of
the Gages, and though I am tolerably well acquainted with the history and
traditions of that noble family, I never heard of the sword mentioned by P.
Had that relic really been preserved at Battle till the time of Henry
VIII., it is not improbable that it might have come into Sir John Gage's
hands with the manor of Aleiston, of which he was grantee, while his
son-in-law, Sir Anthony Browne, became possessor of the abbey itself.
Will P. have the goodness to mention the source from which he obtained his
statement?
MARK ANTONY LOWER.
Lewes.
In reply to the Query respecting the sword of William the Conqueror (Vol.
iii., p. 24.), I am enabled to inform you that the sword, and also the
coronation robes, of William the Conqueror, were, together with the
original "Roll of Battel," kept in the church or chapel of Battel Abbey
until it was dismantled at the Reformation; when they were transferred to
the part of the abbey which remained, and which became the possession and
habitation of Sir Anthony Browne, Master of the Horse to Henry VIII. These
precious relics continued in the possession of his descendants, who were
created Lords Mountacute; and when Battel Abbey was sold by them to the
ancestor of the present owner, they conveyed them to Cowdray Park, Sussex,
where they remained until they were destroyed in the lamentable fire which
burned down that mansion; and which, by a singular coincidence, took place
on the same day that its owner, the last male representative of the Brownes
Lords Mountacute, was drowned in a rash attempt to descend the falls of
Schaffhausen in a boat.
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