crown, for Edward VI., in the year 1546, granted | his garment of camel's hair, was depicted on the Priory the priory and site aforesaid, to Dudley, Earl of Seal, as delineated in the subjoined wood-cut. Warwick, who immediately alienated them to Richard Taverner. After several intermediate ownerships, the Kilburn estate, about the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, became the property (by purchase) of Arthur Atye, esq. who had been secretary to the favourite Earl of Leicester, and was afterwards engaged in the imprudent schemes of the equally favoured, yet more unfortunate, Earl of Essex. Through this participation he was compelled, in the year 1600, to withdraw from the kingdom; but after his return, he was knighted by James I., on the 11th of May, 1603. He died, probably at Kilburn Priory, on the 2nd of December, 1604, leaving the wardship of his son to the Earl of Devonshire. By the Inquisition post mortem he was found to have been seized of 66 one moiety of the manor of Hamsted, alias Shuttep-hill, (which he appears to have purchased in 1595,) held of the king in capite, by a fourth part of a knight's fee, and valued at £4. 2s.; and the site of the dissolved Monastery of Kilburn, with the demesne lands, held of the king in capite, by knight's service, and valued at forty shillings. From that time, both the Shuttup Hill and Kilburn estates were held in joint proprietorship, by the families of Atye, Roberts, Nelthorpe, Liddell, and Middleton, until the year 1773, when Richard Middleton, esq. of Chirk Castle, in Denbighshire, made a separation of the property; conveying the Shuttup Hill estate, together with about forty acres of land at Kilburn, to John Powell, esq. of Fulham; and the remainder of the land at Kilburn, called the Abbey Farm, to Richard Marsh, gent., whose family were seated at Hendon in the reign of Edward IV. The Abbey Farm, at Kilburn, which consists of about forty-six acres, and includes the site of the Priory, still belongs to the Marsh family, and is regarded as copyhold of the manor of Hampstead; for this property a quit rent of £1. 4s. is paid to the crown. The conventual buildings have long been destroyed, and no view of them is known to be extant except an indifferent etching, executed in the year 1722, from which the wood-cut attached to this article has been copied. The immediate precinct of the Priory is now used as a brick field, and excavations have been made around the foundations. Until within the last twenty-five or thirty years, there was a barn standing upon its ruinous walls, and the spot was afterwards distinguished by an irregular bank. The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St. John Baptist; the latter of whom, in APT DEJE VEBVRⱭ This cut is taken from an engraving of the seal introduced in the late Mr. Park's "Topography and Natural History of Hampstead," to which work we are indebted for most of the preceding particulars of the Priory. The original Seal is affixed to a Release, from Emma de Sancto Omero, Prioress of Kilburn, to John Graunt of Everdone, and John Heywode of Daventre, of a Messuage called the Bell on the Hoop, and four shops adjoining in the parishes of St. Mary de la Stronde and St. Clement Dacons, or Danes. The Legend of Kilburn. We have been favoured by a Correspondent with the following traditionary relation, as connected with Kilburn Priory; but have not been able to trace the story to any authentic source; nor is the name of Mertoun included among the benefactors to this foundation. The Legend states, that at a place called Saint John's Wood, near Kilburn, there was a stone of a dark red colour, which was the stain of the blood of Sir Gervase de Mertoun, which flowed upon it a few centuries ago. Stephen de Mertoun, being enamoured of his brother's wife, frequently insulted her by the avowal of his passion, which she, at length, threatened to make known to Sir Gervase, to prevent which Stephen resolved to waylay his brother and slay him. This he effected by seizing him in a narrow lane, and stabbing him in the back, whereupon he fell upon a projecting rock which became dyed with his blood. In his expiring moments Sir Gervase recognizing his brother, upbraided him with his cruelty, adding, "This stone shall be thy death-bed." Stephen returned to Kilburn and his brother's lady still refusing to listen to his criminal proposals, he confined her in a dungeon, and strove to forget his many crimes by a dissolute enjoyment of his wealth and power. Oppressed, however, by his troubled conscience, he determined upon submitting to religious pen ON THE MYRRHENE VASES OF THE ANCIENTS. discovered, that Myrrhene Vases still continue to be manufactured in the East, although they are not so highly prized, nor held in so great request as they were sixteen or eighteen centuries ago. The present Vase is from the cabinet of that distinguished Antiquary Mr. Francis Douce. Its form, though not uncommon, being nearly that in which glass drinking goblets are now manufactured, is beautifully simple; its texture and general appearance, semi-translucent; its colours, those of milk: the foot is a perfect chalcedony, which is gradually blended both in form and colour, into a bowl which is partially dappled like the medullary substance of the brain, and faintly and partially striped with those other tints which I shall presently quote from Pliny ;---but the reader should bear in mind, as he reads the passage, that the purple of antiquity, was not the colour which we term purple, but the rich red of a ruddy vine-leaf. Pliny, Scaliger, Raspe, and recently, Mr. Aiken, have treated of the Myrrhene Vases, of whom Scaliger and Raspe, appear never to have seen them. The latter was an excellent antiquary, and more particularly conversant in the sculpture and substances of antique gems; his non-inspection is therefore to be regretted. He says, "The celebrated Vasa Murrhina were first seen at Rome in the triumphal entry of Pompey, after his successful campaigns against Mithridates; and for which, afterwards, such extravagant prices were paid by the Romans, that it Al-passes almost the conception of the warmest virtuosi, and the belief of the most credulous antiquarians, Three hundred talents!-no less than thirty thousand pounds sterling!-which Petronius paid for one single bowl of that kind, and which he broke to prevent Nero from seizing it, is really a price of such enormity, that antiquarians have been as it were bribed by it, as a premium to find out what these Vasa Murrhina possibly might have been made of. Pliny, who gives the most circumstantial account of them, seems to hint that they were looked upon as moist bodies hardened by heat under ground, and that they never were thicker than a common goblet.' THE above Wood-cut is a representation of one of those MYRRHIENE VASES which were so highly valued in ancient Rome, and concerning which the modern antiquaries have so widely differed in opinion. though it may be feared that the transitions of colour, the apparent myrr-stains and medullary markings, are so peculiar, and so delicate, that such Graphic Illustrations as the wood-engravers' art supplies, will scarcely enable our mineralogical readers to decide scientifically as to the substance of which these curious Vases consisted, yet curiosity may nevertheless be, in part, gratified, and some light be elicited from bringing together the sentiments and descriptions of the learned respecting them. I have above written "consisted,"---I might have added, and consist, for the late Sir Joseph Banks ance; and ordering his brother's remains to be removed to Kilburn, he gave direction for their re-interment in a handsome mausoleum erected with stone brought from the quarry where the murder was committed. The identical stone on which his murdered brother had expired formed a part of the tomb, and the eye of the murderer resting upon it, the Legend adds, blood was seen to issue from it! Struck with horror, the murderer hastened to the Bishop of London, and making confession of his guilt, devised his property to the Priory of Kilburn. Having thus acted in atonement for his misdeeds, grief and remorse quickly consigned him to the grave. 6 by land and sea, was of old standing? and how can that opinion be reconciled with the characteristic description of Pliny, that they were held in high estimation on account of their various colour, their spots winding round into purple and milk-white; and a third bright, burning, reddish colour, arising from the different shades of their mixture?" We quite agree with our antiquary, that to assert of Pliny that this is his account of the porcelain of the Chinese, is tantamount to saying that the Roman naturalist was as unobservant as a barbarian or a brute. "That Pliny and those he copied, were but very imperfectly informed of the country from which the Myrrha, Murrha, or Myrrhene Vases came, and that they were equally ignorant of the means by which art or nature produced their particular commendation of bright colours, appears upon the very face of his account. All that he, or they, learned from the merchants who brought these curiosities from the East, purely with the intention to levy contributions upon the fanciers of them, was only to keep that profitable trade to themselves, and in the dark, as long as possible. They might mislead his judgment with regard to all these points; but what he saw himself with his own eyes, and what every body at Rome might see when he pleased, we must allow him to have described, not as an idiot, not as an imposter, but as a sensible and honest man." If these Vases were of variegated agate, or sardonyx, consisting of stripes, or strata, of milk-white Onyx, Chalcedony, saturated Amethist, or purple, bright red, and the different shades thence arising; and cut into the size and thinness which Pliny mentions, then they were indeed wonders of nature and art which extravagant epicures might fancy and buy at exorbitant prices. They would in our days be looked upon as very great curiosities; for great and extensive as our knowledge is of the wonders and productions of the mineral kingdom, where does nature produce Agates and Sardonyxes of that kind, sound and unblemished, big enough for bowls of the size which Pliny describes ?-Even if such precious masses should be found, who would dare to scoop them out so thin as Pliny mentions?" as follows. "Joseph Scaliger was appointed professor at the University of Leyden, in 1593, a date probably not long subsequent to the introduction of porcelain from China by the Portuguese. Indeed, in the very year of his appointment, a rich Portuguese prize from India was brought into London, containing a large quantity of porcelain, which Anderson in his History of Commerce, considers to be the earliest mention of the importation of that commodity. The beauty of this newly-introduced ware appears not only to have turned the heads of the ladies, but to have stimulated the fancy even of grave critics; and Scaliger, finding that Propertius describes the Murrine cups as having been baked in Parthian furnaces, and that Martial talks of sipping hot wine out of them, concludes, that they were unquestionably China porcelain,"-apparently overlooking the fact recorded by Pliny, that unwrought specimens of Murrha, as well as cups of the same, had been dedicated in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. Mr. Aikin's own account of the Murrha, is as follows." The description of the varying iridescent hues of this substance (to say nothing of unwrought specimens of it) is totally inapplicable to the intricate enamelled patterns of porcelain; and the murra [myrrha] was in all probability, either the gem called cats-eye; or perhaps, more likely, one of the iridescent varieties of Adularia, known among jewellers by the name of moon-stone and sun-stone, and which come chiefly from Persia, Arabia, and Ceylon.”* With regard to the prevailing colours of this occult substance ;-namely that of milk, and a fiery-tinged purple; the latter is precisely that which the partial stains of myrrh would leave behind, on a thin semitransparent, or translucent body; from which close resemblance it was doubtless originally denominated. Concerning the substance itself, and its mineralogical designation,-it is not cats-eye; and since Adularia, Chalcedony, Agate, and Sardonyx, are found to be so variously mingled and modified, in different parts of the earth, and occasionally bear such near chemical and even ocular resemblance to each other; and since they are all of the felspar genus, we run small hazard in inferring that the Myrrha belongs to this class;-and notwithstanding the doubt or denial ex Among those who were persuaded that Pliny and Propertius must have meant to describe the porcelain of China,―extraordinary as it may seem, was the dili-pressed by Raspe, that nature ever produces her more gent, profound, and accurate Scaliger: and what may seem no less remarkable, Salmasius has adopted this opinion, and so has the late Dr. Vincent in commenting on the Periplus of Arrian! precious substances, of such large dimensions as the dish or bowl of Petronius; criticism requires us to state, that Pliny has not mentioned its size. Yet large it must certainly have been, because a goblet Mr. Aiken accounts for the formation of Scaliger's opinion—perhaps I should rather write, aberration— ▪ Transactions of the Society of Arts, &c. Vol. xlviii. p. 575 capable of containing three sextari (which is half a gallon and half a pint), was sold about the same time for seventy talents. Slabs, however, from which dishes might have been turned more than twelve inches in diameter, have within these few years, been brought from Siberia; and the enormous value set upon this superb ornament of the side-board of the elegant Petronius, shews that it must have been regarded as unique and wonderful in its dimensions. THE SOMERSETSHIRE MAN'S COMPLAINT.* GODS boddikins, 'chill worke no more, Dost thinke 'chill labor to be poore, No, no, ich have a doe: (done). If this be now the world and trade That I must breake and rogues be made,~~ Ich will a plundring too. 'Chill zell my cart and eake (also) my plow, And get a 'zwird, (sword) if I know how, For I meane to be right; 'Chill learne to drinke, to sweare, to roare, To be a gallant, drob, and whore No matter tho nere fight. But first a warrant that is witt (fitt) 'Twill make a sore a-doo; And beate the owner too. God blesse us what a worlde is heere, Voke (folk) cannot be able to zow: I'ze had zixe oxen tother day, I had six horses left me whole, Gods zores, they are both agreed. Ffase, (faith) just my labor for my paines, The garrizons have all the gaines, And thither all is vett (fetched). J. L. These Verses were copied from the Common-place, or Memorandum Book of one Thomas Davies, written,' as appears from the dates scattered through it, between the years 1614 and 1648. It is a small oblong volume, in 18mo, preserved in the Lansdowne Library, in the British Museum. + Beasts; cattle for the plough. There goes my corne, my beanes, and pease, And No, no, goe burne the note; Then straight a warrant came therefore, Or I must plunderd be; And when 'chave shuffled by one pay And as this were not griefe enow, Oh that's a vengeance waster! And every rogue our master. There is abundant evidence in the history of our Civil War, to prove that the evils complained of by the writer of these lines were by no means imaginary; and that the soldiers on both sides plundered the country people, whether friends or foes, indiscriminately. "There are few," says a modern writer, "who reap the supposed advantages of war, but millions feel the evils of its ravages !" ANCIENT ROMAN REMAINS FOUND THE antique remains, of which representations are here inserted, were discovered in a field adjoining to the town of Shefford (in Bedfordshire,) where labourers were digging gravel, in the year 1826.* They accidentally struck upon the deposit, which was eventually found to consist of Roman pottery, certain vessels of glass and of bronze, a few coins, and the remains of two implements of iron. The vases of pottery, or terra-cotta, (baked earth, or clay) were much mutilated and shattered in the disinterment, with the exception of a single beautiful specimen, which, by the ignorant workmen, was thrown aside upon a heap of gravel,-and even this was damaged by a spade being carelessly cast upon it, * Within the last fortnight, some new and important discoveries have been made near Shefford,-of which we hope, shortly, to be enabled to give a full account, A brief account of this discovery was inserted in the "Times" Newspaper, which excited some antiquarian notice; and, Mr. Inskip, a resident at Shefford, constantly visited the spot during all further excavations. The next discovery consisted of a small Roman urn, a jug, and an iron lamp, surrounded by eleven dishes; nearly the whole of which were disinterred without the slightest injury, and are still in a state of excellent preservation. A considerable quantity of broken glass was also found. Some weeks afterward, the spot was again excavated, and a fresh deposit of terra-cotta cups, or vases, was brought to light, these, had their makers' names, "Calvinus," "Maccius," &c. impressed across the inner surfaces of their bottoms, from engraved stamps, such as were some years ago exhibited and discoursed of by Mr. Landseer, at the Royal Institution; several of which may be seen in the British Museum. A considerable quantity of the remains of glass urns, so much broken as not to be susceptible of restoration, was also found here: of one of them the bottom is exceedingly thick, and is wrought in circles. It is seven and a half inches in diameter; and the neck one and a half; of a greenish colour, and one of the ears, or handles, is exquisitely wrought with the device of a fish's tail. The remains of this vase imply that it was used for a funeral purpose, and that its form and size were not dissimilar to those of the celebrated Portland vase. This was a most important spot; and a very uncommon, if not unique, Roman vessel ----a sort of pan,---of brass, would here have been extricated whole, but for the eager cupidity of one of the workmen, who upon turning round and seeing his companions busily engaged in cutting and digging away, with due care, the surrounding earth with their knives, rudely snatched at the handle, and with a violent wrench broke it into pieces. " *We have deemed it proper to extract the passage from Mr. Landseer's published volume of "Lectures," which is now out of print: Had the modern art of making paper been known to the ancients, we had probably never heard the names of Faust and Finiguirra, for with the same kind of stamps which the Roman tradesmen used for their pottery and packages, books might also have been printed; and the same engraving which adorned the shields, and pateræ of the more remote ages, with the addition of paper, might have spread the rays of Greek and Etrurian intelligence over the world of antiquity. Of the truth of this assertion, I have the satisfaction to lay before you the most decided proofs, by exhibiting engraved Latin inscriptions, both in cameo and in intaglio, It has, however, been put together, and is delineated in the annexed cut. and a half inches in diameter, and what I shall here The circular part is eight term the proboscis, about five and a half in length. On one side is a grotesque, but not ill-drawn, lion's from the collection of Mr. Douce, with impressions taken from them but yesterday. One of them is an intaglio stamp, engraved on stone, with which an ancient Roman oculist was used to mark his medicines; the other, which is of metal, and in cameo, is simply the proper name of the Roman tradesman, by whom it has probably been used, "Titus Valagini Mauri." |