In the course of my official duties, I have lately been examining the Chancery bills of the fifteenth century. The number of these documents preserved in the Public Record Office is very great. Masses of them have never been seen by the public since they were presented. Now they are being cleaned and arranged, so as to make them accessible to students, and catalogues of them are being printed.

In the words of a well-known German archæologist, the work of the ancient fuller ivas twofold, to make ready for use the cloth fresh from the loom and to cleanse garments that had been worn.

How the handicraft here briefly described may have been carried on in Britain during the Roman period it will be the endeavour of the following notes to show. In order to render clearer the purpose to which the various remains were put, which will be examined presently, it will be necessary by way of illustration to refer shortly to such examples of Roman workshops as are still existing, of whose uses as fulleries there can be no doubt. These examples can best be seen in the ruins of Pompeii, and the principal establishment of the kind in that city, with its tanks and paintings, will illustrate in a fairly complete manner the subject in hand.

The famous jewel known as the Crystal of Lothair, now in the British Museum, was preserved from the first half of the tenth century down to the French Revolution in the Abbey of Waulsort or Vasor, on the Meuse, seven kilomètres from Dinant. Its truly remarkable history has already been briefly related for English readers by Mr. W. H. James Weale, while its importance to art and archæology is discussed in French and Belgian publications by M. Ernest Babelon, of the Cabinet des Médailles, Paris, and by M. Alfred Bequet of Namur. But it has never been described in English at any length, nor has it been hitherto reproduced by a photographic process on a scale worthy of its exceptional interest. The late Sir A. Wollaston Franks, P.S.A., went so far as to have a negative taken, and intended to publish it in Archaeologia a good many years ago; but unfortunately the pressure of other work prevented him from carrying out his purpose. It is from this negative that the photogravure illustrating the present paper (Plate I.) has been produced.

Gold plate is of such rare occurrence that I have thought it would be agreeable to the Society to see the very handsome example that the Duke of Portland has been good enough to send up at my request from Welbeck for exhibition. (Plate LXIV.) The metal is evidently of high quality, and the form is by no means inelegant for the period at which it was made. The bowl is beaten into a shell-like form, with elaborate projecting scroll-work enamelled and set with jewels, and having at the back a figure of Pan with Cupid seated astride of his neck all modelled in the round; the stem is formed of a pair of lovers embracing, and the foot is of a lozenge form made up of a number of enamelled scrolls alternating with jewelled bands. The whole of the work is of the most minute finish, not only as regards the chasing and engraving of the gold, but the figures that form so important a feature of the design are modelled with unusual vigour and artistic perfection, and there can be no reasonable doubt that they are the work of a master. I have not, however, been able to trace the artist during the short time the cup has been in my custody. The enamelled work is of interest in the history of the craft, for it well illustrates the transition from the method that characterised the jewellery of the sixteenth century to that prevalent in the seventeenth. The former is commonly found during the last three quarters of the sixteenth century, and consists in cutting away the ground of the design down to a certain depth, and the engraved portions are then filled in with enamel, leaving the design itself in the metal. This style of work required great dexterity on the part of the engraver, for the dividing lines of gold were often of great thinness, and the slightest deviation of the graver would instantly catch the eye and destroy the quality of the work. This class of enamelled decoration for jewellery was succeeded in the seventeenth century by another of a similar effect, but not requiring anything like the same care.

That the incident of the Betrayal of Christ for Thirty Pieces of Silver should have had an attraction for the mediaeval maker of legends, and that pieces professing to be the original coins received by Judas should have been treasured as relics, are hardly matters for surprise. There is no lack of literature on the legend which was woven round the story of the Thirty Pieces, and of late years two or three writers have devoted some attention to the supposed relics of the Betrayal. A comparison and analysis of the various forms of the legend have, however, not been instituted, so far as I have been able to discover. As to the relics, the material for study is only to be found in foreign periodicals and works not generally accessible. It seems worth while therefore to make some attempt to trace the development of the legend, and to collect the descriptions of the coins which were or are preserved in various sanctuaries.

The comparatively few Englishmen who are well acquainted with the ancient churches of Spain know that this most fascinating country possesses a series of ecclesiastical buildings architecturally equal in most respects to the finest examples in France, and infinitely superior to those of Italy; while no others in Europe are so rich in woodwork, ironwork, decorative furniture, and other works of art, often of the most magnificent description, and which, in very many cases, remain in their original state to this day. Spanish art is, moreover, a native art, and is largely independent of, though certainly influenced by, the workmen of more northerly countries.

The thing that struck me most when I began to handle documents of this period at Winchester College was the number of instruments that go to complete a sale of land. Nowadays, one multipartite deed suffices for the conveyance of any quantity of land. At the time that I am speaking of deeds were, generally speaking, unipartite, and perhaps half a dozen feoffments, letters of attorney, releases, and deeds of confirmation were required to produce the same result. In the fourteenth century, and for many years on either side of it, the transfer of freehold property was effected by “livery of seisin,” that is, by delivery of the feudal possession, preceded by a writing on parchment, called a feoffment, which transferred to the purchaser the right to the feudal possession. The feoffor set his seal in the presence of witnesses to a writing, averring that he had given and confirmed the property to the feoffee and his heirs, and that the feoffor and his heirs would warrant, acquit, and for ever defend the feoffee and his heirs against all comers. This warranty of title gave the feoffee a right of action against the feoffor in case of disturbance, and was superseded in due course by covenants for title.

The subject I now bring before you is by no means a new one; so it is not my intention to go too much over ground already occupied. But the numerous conventional forms by which chain mail has been represented have led to many errors of interpretation, and especially in the articles by Sir Samuel Meyrick in Archaeologia, which are still quoted as authorities, so that I have long felt it was required for that accuracy which is now looked for in all antiquarian studies, that the subject should be revived and discussed. I have had the matter before me for half a century, so cannot therefore be accused of too much hurry in inflicting upon you that which might be thought unnecessary. I should have hesitated in my early days to oppose myself to so high an authority as Meyrick, whose learning and research had done so much to place the history of armour on a firmer basis than it ever had been before, but it was not until I had studied monumental effigies, brasses, and medieval manuscripts that I felt there was considerable doubt as to many of his conclusions. Yet it must here be noted that he himself frequently expresses the same doubts. I think it due to him to mention this, especially as having been personally acquainted with him and enjoyed his hospitality, when I am now about to assail his arguments in the articles referred to, even to removing the terms given from the history of armour.

So much has already been published about the ancient trade with Britain for tin, and the accounts given by Diodorus Siculus and Cæsar have so often been discussed, that it would appear as if no further evidence were obtainable. It has seemed also as if there were unfortunate contradictions between the classical authorities, which made their statements untrustworthy, or at any rate too vague and too little exact to be of value.

The village of Durrington is situate on the right bank of the river Avon, about three miles north of Amesbury; the village of Bulford, where the military camp is, being on the other side of the river.

There are two manors in the parish, which contains only 2,702 acres, the east end manor and the west end manor. It is to the east end manor that I am about to refer. In the thirteenth century it belonged to a family of the name of Nevill. I exhibit the counterpart of a grant of the manor by Hervey de Nevill to the nuns of Amesbury for the term of three years in consideration of forty marks down and twenty more in expectancy.

The cup exhibited by Lord Yarborough, and figured in the annexed plates, is a fine example of the silversmith's work of the time, and is of very special interest as having belonged to one of the most striking characters in modern history. The description of it is as follows.

The excavations of 1904, with which the present report deals, were in some respects the most difficult which the Committee has had to conduct at Caerwent. In the first place, the large house which appeared rather unexpectedly on the west side of the road leading to the newly discovered south gate had been reconstructed several times in its different parts, the periods not beiitg always clearly distinguishable, and in the second place, owing to the considerable depth at which a great part of the house lay, the excavations were so protracted that both time and money began to fail, the latter owing to a most disappointing falling off in the number of our subscribers, so that, had it not been for the timely help of two Fellows of the Society, Lord Tredegar and Lord Llangattock, it would have been necessary to begin the filling in before many important problems had been solved; and even as it is, we are not able to say that the exploration has been, in certain points of detail, as complete as we could have wished.

At a short distance from the Saltus Castulonensis, one of the northernmost points of the Sierra Morena, in the Province of Jaen (Spain), the mountains become blended, to the east, with a seines of ranges running with a southerly trend towards the Sierra Nevada. This, in its turn, is merged into other ranges that stretch their arms to the coast of the Mediterranean on the south; while their main body continues to the west towards the mouth of the River Baetis, and terminates in a series of elevations, which include those known to the Romans as the Ilipula Mountains, the Alpujarras of modern times. From, my point of departure, and to turn again to the north, the Sierra Morena, which the Romans knew as the Montes Mariani, stretches away in a south-westerly direction, broken here and there by valleys and gorges, but still forming a continuous range, until it dips into the sea on the eastern side of the River Anas, the Guadiana of modern geography. These mountain ranges, or rather groups of ranges, form the eastern and western watersheds of the River Baetis. Indeed, they may be said to form the casket which encloses the jewel of the Spanish peninsula, the rich, the fertile, the beautiful Baetica of the Romans, the Andalucia of to-day.

The excavations upon this portion of the site have been in progress since 1901, but it was not till 1903 that they were carried so far as to enable the Committee to submit a report upon them.

The land which has been under examination there is the property of Lord Tredegar, F.S.A., and the greater part of the cost of the work has been defrayed by him. The Committee desire to take this opportunity of expressing their gratitude, and their appreciation of the great help which he has given towards the exploration of Caerwent. There is no doubt that much of the support which they have received is due to the example which he has set.

The following report of the most recent operations carried out by the Executive Committee of the Silchester Excavation Fund actually includes the reports for the two years 1903 and 1904, which were the fourteenth and fifteenth in succession of the systematic exploration of the Roman town.

In the early autumn of the year 1903 it became known that during the demolition of Newgate Prison, and while the soil was being excavated for fresh foundations, important remains of the Eoman wall of London had gradually come to light.

On the 7th of October, when I first visited the scene, a piece about 20 feet long was visible, the soil to the south of it being completely dug out at the end and on each side to a depth of some feet below the level of the foundations. The beautiful yellow sand and gravel beneath were exposed to sight, and there was a fine opportunity of studying the structure, which, being more or less isolated and standing up to a considerable height, formed a picturesque object. (See Plate XV.) What made this view of the wall exceptionally interesting was that here one could see not only a transverse section, but the inner and the outer face of the wall, the former in excellent condition.

In July, 1902, one of the images on the upper part of the north tower at Wells suddenly fell to the ground and was broken into many pieces. There had not been any reason for supposing that this or any other of the many images that adorn the west front was in a dangerous condition, but the Dean and Chapter at once took the wise and prudent course of ordering an inspection of the images, so far as this could be done without scaffolding. The report of the Surveyor to the Chapter, Mr. Edmund Buckle, was far from reassuring, and he recommended the substitution of proper bronze holdfasts for the decaying iron cramps by which most of the images were then secured. As a consequence of this report the Dean and Chapter ordered a section of the work to be taken in hand, beginning with the north tower, and when this was finished the scaffolding was moved to another section, and so eventually across the whole of the front and to the gable of the nave. All the images have thus as far as possible been made safe, and a deep debt of gratitude is due to the Dean and Chapter for thus helping to prolong the lives of these priceless sculptures, many of which were found to be in a very precarious state.

The wall paintings in Friskney church, upon which this is a concluding paper, have already formed the subject of former communications to the Society in 1881, 1883, 1884, 1886, and 1891, which have been duly printed in Archaeologia. The subjects of the paintings have now all been ascertained, and appear to be as follows:

North clerestory (from west to east):

1. King David and the Prophets;

2. The Annunciation;

3. The Nativity;

4. The Resurrection;

5. The Ascension;

6. The Assumption.

South clerestory (from west to east):

1. The Pope and the Doctors of the Church;

2. The Gathering of the Manna;

3. The Last Supper;

4. The King doing homage to the Host;

5. The Irreverent Woman;

6. The Jews stabbing the Host.

Recent researches have brought to light various matters of interest concerning this priory; some relate to the dates to which certain portions of the building may be assigned, others to the topography of the priory close soon after the suppression of the monastery, whilst the acquisition of three bays of the eastern alley of the cloister by the Restoration Committee has brought to light work of the twelfth and fifteenth centuries hitherto concealed.