So much, then, for the Yorkshire fishing match; and good luck to the jolly fishers at their next meeting!

The following miscellaneous lots were among the prizes given A handsome silver cup, value 71., a china breakfast service, a fishing-rod and basket, an electro-plated silver cup, a coffee-pot, a loaf of sugar, a coffee-kettle, a fishing-rod, a large basket and flask, half a dozen knives and forks, a landing-net with folding ring, a looking-glass, a prime cheese, a brass pan, hair-brush and comb, a pair of ladies’ boots, a bible, a fishing-book, a leg of mutton, one pound of tobacco, one pound of tea, a meat-saw, a waistcoat-piece, a carving-knife and fork, a pair of wool shears, a bait-can, a metal inkstand, a packet of fishing-tackle, a photographic album, a tin tea-kettle, a basket, a wood reel, a brass reel, a pocket-knife, a tobacco-jar, a fancy basket; for the smallest taJce of fish, a line and fly-tweezer; for largest fish (21b. 8oz.), a handsome wood reel.

COLLECTION OF CURIOSITIES AND

ANTIQUITIES.

I have always been a great advocate for the formation of local museums in country and market towns, and this because there is hardly any town in England which has not some local antiquities and curiosities, which, if exhibited at stated times and occasions, could not fail

to cause a general interest for the folks about the place, and would tend to heighten the standard of intelligence among the rising population, and be of the greatest interest to strangers. I was very much pleased, therefore, to find that an exhibition of this kind was opened in the Town-hall, Knaresborough, when I happened to be there. The Clergy, the neighbouring gentry, and the townsfolk had sent to this exhibition such relics, antiquities, pictures, and objects of natural history as they happened to have; and the result was, an exhibition of the works of science and art far above the standard of what one would expect to find. Knaresborough is a very ancient place, and some antiquities of the highest interest and value were

exhibited. First, then, I saw a very remarkable stone image (about the size of a small sugar-loaf), which was one of the household gods of the “ Brigantes,” the tribe of ancient Britons who were found in Yorkshire and its neighbourhood by Julius Cassar, and who had their capital at Aldborough, near Knaresborough. This god is simply a rude figure of a human being, carved in hard stone, and is certainly very curious.

Close to this image was a case containing the registers of the parish. One volume is in excellent preservation, and contains, written in old English characters, a list of births, deaths, and marriages in the third year of Queen Elizabeth, 1561. Then we find the parish registry for 1640, which was the year Knaresborough Castle was besieged by Lilburn, one of Oliver Cromwell’s generals, and knocked into the ruins it now presents, Dec. 20, 1844. In this register we find the names of several of the soldiers who were killed in the siege of : “ Onethe castle, and buried in the churchyard—thus souldier under Captain Washington; item, one other souldier, under Captain Atkins.” Some of the writing is

theirexceedingly beautiful—I wonder how they made ink in those days, for in this book it is as black as japan varnish—and is evidently the penmanship of one Abraham Rhodes, vicar of Knaresborough. It extends over several pages. The last entry being May 25, 1642 it is evident that Mr. Rhodes died about that time,

for a fresh and very inferior handwriting appears, and the third entry it gives is “ Buried Abraham Rhodes, vicar of Knaresborough, June 17, 1642.”

This same book gives us evidence of Cromwell’s interference with the Church, for one Roger Atey is instituted and inducted July 5, 1642; and the 23rd of June, 1645, Matthew Booth is substituted the meaning of this is that Booth was a Puritan. Atey had been examined by the “ Committee of Tryers,” and, being found wanting, had been displaced for the Puritan

Booth. In the same case was a fine copy of the “ Sealed Prayer Book,” dated 1662, and it contains the “ Healing Ser- “ touchedvice ”— that is, the service used when the King for the evil.” The lesson is Mark xvi. 14, and at the words, “ They shall lay hands on the sick and recover,” the instructions in the margin are, “Here the infirm persons are presented to the king upon their knees, and the king layeth his hands upon them.” Then follows the 1st chapter of St. John. At the words, “Bear witness of the light,” the note is, “ Here they are again presented unto the king, and the king putteth gold about their necks.” Prayer-books containing this “ Healing Service” are very rare. The last monarch who “ touched for the evil ” was, as Mr. Ramskill informs me, her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Anne.

SER. III. F

There was yet another most curious book, exhibited by T. Collins, Esq., M.P. It is “ The Book of Fools. 1570,” showing the folly of all states, &c. (qui Omnium Mortalium narrat stultitiam). The frontispiece is a number of fools in a boat, and is a wonderful bit of

ancient engraving. One of the greatest local curiosities was a shirt. It is the very shirt that was worn by Sir Henry Slingsby at the moment of his execution on the scaffold, Oliver Cromwell having caused this brave and great man to be beheaded on the 6th of June, 1658. It is made of exceedingly fine linen, and there is a cut in the collar of the shirt which was made by the executioner’s axe; there are also brown spots of blood about the sleeves and body. Sir Henry is buried in the parish church, and the black stone which forms his tomb was once the altar-stone of St. Eobert’s Chapel, now in ruins: it is called the stone of St. Eobert. This relic of his ancestor was kindly lent by Sir Charles Slingsby, who lives at Scriven Hall, close to Knaresborough. There was also another curious shirt in the exhibition, but his was a modern specimen; it is woven throughout in one piece} and is perfectly seamless. It was made by one of the townfolks, W. Hempshall, a weaver; Knaresborough being famous for its weaving trade. It is certainly a most ingenious bit of work.

Another great local curiosity remains to be men-

BONES OF EUGENE ARAM.

tioned. Underneath a glass case were exhibited two of the leg-bones of Eugene Aram, who was tried at York in 1759, for the murder of Daniel Clark. He was convicted, and hung in chains near the town. Eugene Aram, whose story is well known through the writings of Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, was no common murderer; he was not found out till upwards of fourteen years after the murder. He was tried by Judge Noel, who remarked that “his defence was one of the most ingenious pieces of reasoning he had ever known.” Parts of the brief used on the trial are placed by his bones.

Besides the above principal local curiosities, there was a large collection of articles from the Summer Palace of Pekin, lent by the Rev. J. Fawcett; antiquities, objects of natural history, and valuable paintings, which space will not allow me to mention. The natural history collection—particularly the birds, the property of Mr. Garth and Messrs. Walton—was especially good, and, at the request of the committee, I gave, as my contribution to the exhibition, lectures on the birds, reptiles, and other examples of natural history which were placed in the cabinet.

Too much praise cannot be accorded to the Rev. E. J. Ramskill, now Rector of Trinity Church Knaresborough, for the way in which he got together and

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arranged this exhibition; and, as the proceeds went towards the funds of the new church, I was pleased to hear that the efforts of the Rev. J. Fawcett, the Vicar, Mr. Ramskill, and the worthy folks who had the management of it, were well rewarded.

KNARESBOROUGH CHURCH BELLS.

A few days after my Lecture on Fish Hatching at the Town Hall, Knaresborough, I was requested to give a second on the curiosities which had come under my notice during my stay at this pretty Yorkshire town. I endeavoured to find something that might possibly be new to my audience, a difficult task, as most of them were natives of the place. I believe I partially succeeded in my object, for having heard the beautiful peal of bells of the parish church so often echo and re-echo along the romantic cliffs which overhang the river Nidd, I bethought me that there ought to be some inscriptions on these bells, the nature of which might not be generally known. Accordingly my friend, the Rev. J. E. Ramskill, and myself, formed ourselves into a committee of inquiry, and clambered up into the belfry to look for inscriptions; nor were we disappointed, for after a somewhat perilous exploration among the bell-wheels and ropes, the oak rafters, the dust and dirt, the bats and owls, we obtained the following inscriptions, which I now have the pleasure of subjoining:

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On the first bell Our voices shall in consort ring,

To honour both of God and King. On the second bell Whilst thus we join in cheerful sound,

May love and loyalty abound. On the third bell Peace and good neighbourhood. On the fourth bell Ye ringers all, that prize your health and happiness,

Be sober, merry, wise, and you’ll the same possess. On the fifth bell:. In wedlock bands all ye who join; with hands your hearts unite; So shall our tuneful tongues combine to laud the nuptial rite. On the sixth bell Such wondrous power to music’s given,

It elevates the soul to heaven. On the seventh (little) bell

If you have a judicious ear,

You’ll own my voice is sweet and clear. On the eighth (big) bell John Inman, Joseph Young. The Kev. T. Collins, M.A., Yicar, 1774. “ Procul este profani.”

These inscriptions are all part and parcel of the casting of the individual bells, and are found round their upper part, and not at the edge, as is the case with many bells. On each bell was the name of the makers, “ Peake and Chapman, London, 1774.” Mr. Kamskill informed me that four of these bells were recast at this date, from the bells which came out of the Trinitarian

Priory, of Knaresborough, founded in 1218 by Richard Plantagenet, brother to Henry III. When the Priory was destroyed (the ruins still remain, and they are well worthy of excavation), in the reign of King Henry VIII., there were twelve bells in the abbey. They were thus distributed: Four to Kirby Malzead, four to Spoiforth, and four to Knaresborough. Four new bells were added in 1774, to form the charming peal which must delight the ears of every visitor to this ancient and interesting

place.

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A ZOOLOGICAL AUCTION.

Sales of large animals, such as are generally kept in menageries, are not very common in England; but I was once lucky enough to be present at what may, in the strictest sense of the words, be called a zoological auction. I have been present at auctions of many kinds; I have seen a single gold coin,* the size of a five-shilling piece, sold for two hundred and sixty-five pounds at Sotheby and Wilkinson’s; I have seen a fossil sprat sold for as many sovereigns as it had ribs

I wrote to my friend W. S. Vaux, Esq., of the British Museum, to know what this coin really was that I saw sold, and why it fetched such a high price. He kindly sent me the following answer:—“ The coin you allude to is what is called * the Petition Crown/ It was made as a pattern for the coinage of Charles H. by Simon, a.d. 1663, when he had been dismissed from his office of coiner, and a Dutch artist, Poettier, had been employed in his place. These ‘ Petition Crowns ’ are usually considered the gems of the English coinage, and as there are but very few extant (I believe about fourteen or fifteen) they always fetch a very high price when sold. We have ' Thein the Museum two specimens in silver, and one in lead. latter is nearly if not quite unique. If you want to know more about them, you will find a good account of them in Virtue’s works of Simon, Plate xxxv., Pig. 7, and Evelyn’s ‘ Discourse on Medals,’ page 239.”

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