for the benefit of the soul of the departed. 166 Throughout the latter period-thirty days-the grave of the deceased was in this manner daily visited here by the surviving brethren :-After morning mass the officiating priest stood before the crucifix in the vestiary, attended by the deacon bearing holy-water, the convent standing round. Then-while every one knelt before the altar "with consummate devotion"-suitable prayers were offered thrice; after which they all proceeded to the grave, chaunting. Here the priest aspersed the grave with holy-water, and after giving the absolution, repeating the prayer for all the faithful deceased and other forms, they all returned to the church. On the last of these thirty days, the prior, accompanied by the convent, entered the choir after chapter, and there he, in amice, stole and robe, with cross, tapers, censer, and holy-water, began with the brethren the Miserere :167-and thus the last link of connection may be said to have been broken between the living members of the convent and the deceased.

Of the common seal employed by the abbot and convent of Evesham in the capacity of an ecclesiastical corporation, perfect impressions have been extremely rare; especially of the obverse side. This may perhaps account for the variations that occur in different engravings of the latter, as likewise for the varied interpretations which different decipherers have deduced from its erroneously copied inscription. But the matrix of this side, which was of copper, having at a later period been discovered among metal destined for the melting-pot at Worcester, our observations will be directed by that. A cast taken from it by Mr. C. W. Osborne of Evesham, having been kindly presented to the writer by him. From this we have completed the engraving upon the opposite page, which is of the exact size of the original; and this we have reason to regard as the most correct graphical representation that has as yet appeared.

Here, within a label embowed as a horse-lock, Eoves is represented in the midst of a forest surrounded by his swine; the label being charged with this inscription- COVESshe. ventiE. HIT WASSWJJJ CORVMEN: CLEPET VISCOVISHOM.

166 "Ad annale pro abbate, et tricennale pro monacho."-Cott. MS. Augustus II. 167 Offices of the Evesham Church.-Barlow MS. vii. in Bodleian Library.

Various and contradictory have been all attempts satisfactorily to explain this legend. We shall, therefore, only say that it appears to convey the information that, in consequence of the vision seen here by Eoves, the place was thenceforth called Eovesham. Above the label is a rude representation of a church; to the left of which, beneath trefoil canopies, stand the Virgin and two attendants; the

168

former of whom thus addresses the mitred and genuflected Ecgwin on the right-ECCE, LOC. QUE. ELEGI. In the space behind the last figure, the bishop is represented as communicating his vision to Ethelred and this circumscription completes the obverseSIGILLVM. SANCTE. MARIE. ET. SANCTI. ECGWINI. EPI. EOVESHAMENSIS.

MONASTERII. 169 The reverse has, in the upper part, upon the left,

168 Behold the place which I have chosen.

169 The seal of the Monastery of the holy Mary and of Ecgwin saint and bishop, at Evesham.

the Virgin and Child seated, beneath a cinquefoil pediment, while before them kneels St. Ecgwin, presenting a model of his church. Beneath this, a line of pediments extends across the seal, forming canopies to the figures beneath: here Ecgwin attended by a monk receives a grant from Ethelred, behind whom are placed Offa and Cenred, one bearing a sceptre, the other sustaining a falcon. The grant itself is inscribed DAMVS REGIE LIBERTATI, 170 and appended to it is an oval seal charged with the three lions of England; a proof that the seal itself was not constructed before the reign of Richard I. who first bore the three lions passant. This inscription completes the reverse— -DICTIS ECGWINI DANT REGES MVNERA TRINI OMNIBVS VNDE PIE NITET AULA SACRA MARIE. 171 The circular form of this seal tends to corroborate a remark cited by the late Mr. Fosbroke, that "seals of a round form generally denoted something of royalty in the possessor, or a more than ordinary extent of temporal jurisdiction; thus monasteries of royal foundation had commonly round seals."172 Three fine impressions of this seal in the ancient wax are at present in the possession of Edward Rudge, esq. One of these is singularly perfect, is attached to a lease of Tatylstrop manor, made by abbot Hawford in the thirtieth of Henry VIII. and presents both sides of the seal entire.

A seal of abbot Lichfield's is engraved in the Monasticon,173 from an impression in wax preserved in the chapter-room at Westminster. This is evidently one of those appropriated to each abbot individually, the matrix of which was destroyed at his decease, and is in the ecclesiastically-oval form. In the centre stand the Virgin and Child within a tabernacled recess, and upon each side, within a smaller niche, is placed a figure episcopally vested. Beneath the central niche is a smaller figure, similarly attired, between two shields, respectively charged with the arms of England and of the abbey. The inscription round the edge is-S. CLEMENTIS DEI GRATIA ABBATIS EVESHAME. The same size, form, and

170 We give with royal munificence.

171 At Ecgwin's request three kings bestow gifts, from all which the Convent of St. Mary prospers.

172 British Monachism, edition 1843, chapter 38.

173 Seals of Monasteries of the Benedictine Order, plate ix. New Monasticon, vol. ii.

device, appear in a similar seal of abbot Roger's, in the reign of Richard II. of which Mr. Rudge possesses a very distinct impression.

Ancient seals belonging to individuals have occasionally been found near the site of the abbey. Among them is one, presumed to be that of a monk of the fourteenth century, inscribed RINALDO NATU LVCY FAC VGO PLAC; explained as "Rinaldo natum Lucy fac Virgo placatum :" O Virgin make thy Son propitious to Rinald Lucy.174 Another is inscribed S'I DE THROKEMERTON, the Seal of John De Throckmorton,-doubtless an ancestor of the Throckmortons of Coughton, some of whom held offices connected with this monastery. A third seal was inscribed "HEMERIT VA'DER MANDERT," of which no interpretation has been given. These, with the exception of the last, are in the possession of Edward Rudge, esq.

A hawk's ring was some years back dug up among the foundations in the cemetery, inscribed BENEIT SEIT RIMEPORT, Blessed be Rimeport; 175 which is also preserved in Mr. Rudge's cabinet. The same gentleman likewise possesses a bloodstone, about the size of a pigeon's egg, upon which is cut in high relief the figure of an angel clad in plate armour. This was discovered near the foundations of the abbey church, and appears to us to have been the jewel once set in the back of an abbatial glove; as its size and shape correspond with that decoration, as seen in ancient effigies.

174 Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lv, page 452.

175 Short Account of the History and Antiquities of Evesham, page 133.

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