9 th & It AUG. 13, '
NOTES AND QUERIES.
133
OLDEST PARISH REGISTER (8 th 8. xi. 108.
215; 9 th S. ii. 35). I should like to know upon
what authority C. H. C. states that the
register of Alfriston dates from 1512. Ha*
he seen it ? The Parish Register Return gives
the date of its commencement as 1538, which
is much more likely. One is constantly being
told of the existence of registers of an earlier
date than 1538, but so far as my experience
goes the story breaks down on proper inquiry
being made, and with the exception of the
three known to begin in 1528 I decline to
believe in the existence of any of earlier date
till I have personally inspected them. Of the
three which begin in 1528 I can speak from
personal knowledge : they are Elsworth in
Cambridgeshire, and Perlethorpe and Car-
burton, chapelries in the parish of Edwin-
stowe, in Nottinghamshire. The last two,
having been printed, require no remark. The
Elsworth register, which, with the exception
of the heading, appears to be a contemporary
document, has not been printed, so I give its
commencement :
Elsworth booke of Baptzinge mariages & buirialls according to the law made at the parla- ment a 1597.* Baptizatoru' catalog" f Elena Holmes filia Patricij A 1528 -! Holmes baptizata 6 die octob.
U d'ni 1528.
There are only three entries of baptisms for this year ; then comes
Con'ubioru' catalog 8 1529. The burial entries do not begin till 1539.
With regard to Alfriston, a reference to British Museum Add. MS. 5697, 302, may possibly throw some light on its commence- ment. I am writing away from London, so cannot refer to it myself.
GEORGE W. MARSHALL, Rouge Croix and Librarian of Registers in the College of Arms.
"ANOTHER STORY" (9 th S. i. 349, 417). At the last reference you ask if this is to be found in Lucian. I nave not access to Lucian in the original. In Dr. Francklin's translation, vol. i. p. 30 (London, Cadell, 1781), I find :
" If at any time I seem to fail, yon are to suppose the thing itself much better, and that, when the poet made it, it was quite another affair ; if you should hiss me, I assure you I shall not be angry."
Perhaps this may be the passage you are in quest of. R. M. SPENCE, D.D.
Manse of Arbuthnott, N.B.
- This heading must be of later date, as it refers
to the Constitution of 39 Elizabeth.
"SABLE SHROUD" (9 th S. i. 445). As has
been pointed out in the note, this expression
was borrowed from Milton, and Mallet did
not trouble himself to ascertain whether
people were buried in sable shroitds or not.
The reference to woollen shrouds calls to
mind Pope's lines :
" Odious ! in woollen ! 'twould a saint provoke," Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke.
In 'Much Ado about Nothing' Beatrice says : "I could not endure a husband with a beard on his face ; I had rather lie in the woollen." Thereupon Steevens weakly re- marks : " I suppose she means between blankets, without sheets." But the above lines of Pope show her meaning. She means that she would rather be dead, corpses being wrapped in woollen. E. YARDLEY.
In ' Curious Church Customs ' (W. Andrews, 1895) is an article on 'Burial Customs,' by England Hewlett, F.S.A. Thence I cull the following paragraph :
' Burial in armour was not at all uncommon in the Middle Ages, and was considered a most honour- able form of burial. Sir Walter Scott, in ' The Lay of the Last Minstrel,' thus refers to it :
Seem'd all on fire that chapelproud,
Where Roslin's chiefs uncomn'd lie, Each baron, for a sable shroud, Sheathed in his iron panoply."
JOHN T. PAGE. West Haddon, Northamptonshire.
There is a modern instance in the Ghost's song in the second act of 'Ruddigore,' by W. S. Gilbert :
And inky clouds, Like funeral shrouds,
Sail over the midnight sky. Thou sable cloth and cover of my joys, I lift thee up and thus I meet with death.
Beaumont and Fletcher. ' Knight of the Burning Pestle, IV. iv.
JOHN HEBB. Canonbury, N.
Perhaps the following stanza from 'The Lay of the Last Minstrel' (canto vi.) may 36 an illustration :
Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud,
Where Roslin's chiefs uncomn'd lie, Each baron, for a sable shroud, Sheathed in his iron panoply.
JOHN PICKFORD, M.A. Newbourne Rectory, Woodbridge. This term need not be taken literally as ' black," but figuratively, as " sad, dismal, mournful." See dictionaries with meanings.
A. H.
LEXICON TO THE SEPTUAGINT (9 th S. ii. 68). " Novus Thesaurus Philologico - Criticus, sive Lexicon in LXX. et reliquos Interpretes
