" In another part of the floor appears a finely-engraved brass of the fifteenth century, representing a priest, bareheaded, and in the attitude of prayer. He wears the dress of a Magister Sacræ Theologiæ," distinguished by its velvet collar and shoulders. The inscription has been torn away. This figure is three feet long; and the last brass remaining to be described is nearly as long. It is the portraiture of a priest, wearing the cope, alb, and maniple, all elegantly embroidered, including the initials of his name, I. B. The inscription is lost. On a scroll issuing from his mouth The reader has not arrived at the last paragraph without having formed a tolerably correct idea of the disgraceful state of ruin in which the chancel and adjoining chapel and their valuable contents have, during a long course of years, appeared. The examination of so many interesting objects has afforded the writer the highest gratification; but this feeling was not unmixed with pain on beholding the condition to which they have been reduced, at a period when we might have hoped they would have escaped neglect and the violence of profane hands, after having, with their five altars, survived almost uninjured the frantic excesses of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The walls are damp and discoloured; the windows mostly without glass, and clustered with ivy, which creeps over the internal walls and hangs in luxuriant masses from the beautiful tracery; the roof is new, and so economically constructed as to admit the rain in many places; and the floor, never having been repaired, is uneven and danger ous. Until lately the chancel was a scene of greater ruin than at present; no part of it was free from rubbish or curious fragments, and it was made the receptacle of benches, planks, and ladders, and whatever implements should not have found a place within Miserere mei, Deus, et salva me quia consecrated walls; but the broom has speravi in te. The Fitz-Alan Chapel contains only one tomb, standing in the middle before the altar. It has been divested of all its most interesting ornaments, excepting the crest or badge, a horse courant before an oak, enamelled on a small plate of brass. There never was a figure either in stone or metal, but only a coat of arms in the centre, surmounted by a coronet, and at each corner a repetition of the crest, with an inscription on the edge. The arms were also exhibited on shields within elegantly-formed panels on the sides of the tomb. This is generally supposed to be the memorial of John Fitz-Alan Baron Maltravers, who died A.D. 1421. In the wall immediately over the altar is a canopied niche, which may be noticed as the only carved embellishment of the internal fabric. been introduced, and swept off many a well-wrought block of stone and wood. Since this change, such as it is, (and no more commendable one is likely soon to take place), admission to the chancel and chapel was denied to visitors; and well indeed might the owner of Arundel Castle-the descendant of the Howards, and the successor of the noble race of Fitz-Alan-men who had gratitude enough to build costly tombs to their predecessors— deny the public admittance to the interior of a sacred edifice so shamefully neglected; to an examination of monuments which had been erected at so much cost, lying in heedless ruins, and encumbered with loose fragments of timber, stone, and iron, which once contributed to the beauty of the stalls or roof, the perfection of a screen, enrichment of a monument, or-with their brasses-the interest and ornament of the pavement. A few hun the This date is misprinted 1459 in dreds were denied to the tombs and Dallaway's History. effigies of the Fitz-Alans, while many Ormerod, in his History of Cheshire, vol. iii. pp. 114, 115, says, "About the time of King John or Henry III. Warin de Clive, said to be a younger son of Lidulph de Twemlow, assumed his local appellation," &c. "Warin de Clive, son of Lidulph de Twemlow and de Croxton, Sheriff of Cheshire time of Rich. I. and John, and living time of Hen. III." Ri chard de Croxton, son of Richard son of the above Lidulph, stated to be father of Stephen de Clive." And again, in vol. ii. p. 112, Lidulph de Twemlow (said to be father of Warin de Clive), Lord of Twemlow, Croxton, &c. Sheriff of Cheshire time of Rich. I. and John," &c. As yours are the only pages wherein I can record the reason of my opinions for considering this an error, with any prospect of their meeting the eye of any future genealogist, I beg leave briefly to do so. I presume written pedigrees were seldom found in families at a period when the heads of such families could not write, and I further presume that most of the existing ancient pedigrees were drawn from family deeds and such like evidences, by the Heralds at their first visitations. This was the case with the Clyve pedigree in the College of Arms, drawn in 1564 by Richard Lee, Richmond Herald, and corrected under the inspection of Sir George Clyve, about A.D. 1580, from such evidences as he could refer to; but many charters and other authentic evidences have turned up since those times amongst the records of his own and other families, which may serve to correct errors in the early parts of pedigrees; of such is the following, in MS. Harl. 2007, fol. 51 a, beginning "P. Cl'icus* d'ni Cestr' un'sis cl'icis et laiacis ta' p'nt' q'm futur' ad quos p'sens script' p'v't; sciat' me ded' et concess'," &c. &c. &c. and ending" Hiis test' Lidulfo vic', Ric'o fil' suo, Ric'o Lokeharme, Ric'o de Clive, Henr. de Wever, Jo. de Occleston, Step. filio Huigulfo fil. Mathild' Hug' fab. Ric'o Cl'ico, et multis aliis, sans date, with a fayre scale." (No. 3287.) By this charter, which was made in the time of Richard I. or John, when Lidulph was Sheriff, and Richard de Clive his contemporary, it is apparent that neither Lidulph's younger son, nor Richard his grandson, could be father of the first Clive, and that first be Stephen, as in the pedigrees. The Lordships of Clive and Croxton lay close together, and from documents in my possession, I have reason to believe there were various intermarriages amongst the families; which may have led to the mistake I mention. There were like connections with the family of Wever, owners of the lordship of Wever also adjoining. The following from Harl. MSS. 2149, fol. 101, proves that, as early as Lidulph's son, various members of the Clive family had vested interests in the domain of Clive, too long established to be newly sprung from Stephen. Rob'to Grossvenator + tot' p'tin' molend' "17 Hen. 3. Stephan's de Clive dedi de Clive, etc. Ric'o de Sanbach, Ric'o de Wibenbury, Vic' Cest, Ric'o de Newton, War. de Croxton, Jo. de Acliston, Hen' fil' W'mi de Wever, Hen. fil. Hen. de Wever, Rad. de Wetenell, Ric'o de Oulton, Rand. de Ruston, Hugh de Bostock." "Tho. fil' Ric'i de Clive, dedi Rob'to Grossvenat' totu' p'tin' v'ien' molend' de Clive, cum sede, etc. test' same as ante." "Ádam de Clive confirms the same, with same witnesses as ante." also his part, witnesses same as ante." "Tho. fil. Madoc de Clive, gives him (No. 2958.) * This P. the Earl's clerk, is said by historians to have been the son of David, who had half the barony of Malpas in Cheshire. + The present Marquess of Westminster is descended from this family. Ex-Sheriff. of Cheshire, 50 Hen. III. He was succeeded by his son Hugh, whose grandson by some pedigrees, but I think son, Robert de Huxley, was father of Agnes, who became wife of Henry, son of Stephen de Clive, which Stephen is placed at the head of the established pedigrees. I will now place the descents of the three families collaterally (the Clives as I find them in charters), the others mostly from the Cheshire pedigrees. The numbers given are those of charters and documents in my possession, for more easy reference, in case any one hereafter should think it worth the while to make enquiry. Lidulph de Croxton, by pedigrees. Henry de Clive, by charters Clive, Richard de Clive, time of. Stephen de Clive, 17 Hen. Henry de Clive, living A. D. Ellen, da. Warin de Clive,living Stephen de Clive and de Crox- Agnes de Huxley, ul-Henry de Clive, Lord of Clive, Henry de Clive, living in A.D. Thomas de Clive, living A.D. There is evidently a confusion in Ormerod's and the published accounts. My charters prove that about the year 1278, there was a Warin who was Lord of both Clive and Croxton. He was the first Warin who was Lord of Lidulph de Twemlow and de Croxton, Sheriff of Cheshire time of Rich. I. or John, by pedigree and charter No. 3287. Richard de Croxton, living in the time of Philip Orreby, Justice of Chester, between A.D. 1211 and 1228, by charter No. 2968. Warin de Croxton, Lord of Croxton, a younger son and heir by survivorship, by pedigree and chart. 2905; also Lord of Clive by the same charter. Richard de Croxton, living 16 Edward I. A.D. 1287, by pedigree and charters 2905 and 2974. Robert de Croxton, living 2 Edw. II. A.D. 1308, and 4 Edw. III. A.D. 1330, by pedigree. Richard de Croxton, 4 Edw. III. A.D. 1330, by pedigree and charter 2914. Warin de Croxton, 1 Rich. II. A.D. 1377, by pedigree and charter 2914. Croxton, and that by survivorship as younger son, which might almost be equal in time to two generations; he might also be Lord of Clive by marriage inheritance. Warin de Clive's father was Richard (by No. 2984), and The first of the other subjects is a specimen of the carving on some of the pews. The second is a grotesque figure on the capital of one of the columns between the nave and aile. It may be, perhaps, a victim bound for the sacrifice, as a heifer or calf is sculptured on the other side of the capital. The third subject is a specimen of the panelling of the font. There are some pieces of painted glass in the windows. Yours, &c. Mr. URBAN, Shrewsbury, with the exception of Coventry, the only one of the kind in the kingdom, originated in the Popish feast of Corpus Christi, which splendid festival of the church of Rome was, from remote times, celebrated in Shrewsbury by the Masters and Wardens of the different Trading Companies, the members of the Corporation, the Parochial Clergy, and other religious fraternities of the town, with much pomp and solemnity, by following the Holy Sacrament to the Collegiate Church of St. Chad, where each company had its particular place in the choir. Several of the Guilds were obliged to provide the necessary means to support the Procession; which is evident from their "Compositions," or Bye-Laws containing regulations to that effect. That of the Weavers, anno 1444, provides, that certain fines shall be applied to the "sustentacon and encreece of the lyght of the seyd crafte of Wev's. and her successors at the feast of Corp' Xp'i daye." The composition of Mercers, Ironmongers, and Goldsmiths, directs that they shall provide "300 mede of wax yearly to be burnt in the p'cession of the feaste of Corpus Xp'i." That of the Fletchers, 27 Henry VI., states the procession to have been "tyme owt of mynde." This procession, originally on the Thursday, was followed by three days of "disport" or recreation in the ensuing week. After the Reformation, the religious part of the ceremony was W. BARNES. abolished, and, as a substitute, the second Monday after Trinity Sunday was set apart as a day of feasting at Kingsland, where each company had a small enclosure, within which is a building called an "Arbour," surrounded by trees, where refreshment is liberally provided by the respective trades. Only seven of the arbours now remain, each of which has the arms of the company over the entrance. July 4. IN your vol. xcvi. ii. 21, is a description of the Pageant of Lady Godiva, commonly called the Coventry Show. A somewhat similar festival being annually observed in the town of Shrewsbury, a brief notice thereof may be acceptable to your readers, and afford some memorial to posterity in illustration of a custom fast approaching, it is to be feared, to the eve of its dissolution. This pageant, which is, perhaps, The anniversary is always anticipated by Salopians with feelings of delight, as affording an annual treat of no ordinary recreation and hospitality. In fact, whoever has witnessed the Kingsland, or Chingsland as it is written in an early Norman grant, is a piece of land belonging to the Burgesses of Shrewsbury, and is delightfully situated on an eminence near the town, from whence is a fine panoramic view of the fertile plain of Shropshire, richly diversified with hills and mountains, whilst the venerable spires of the Shrewsbury churches, rising above the trees, combine to form a most pleasing landscape. |