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[The Accompts of Johannis Meriden and Johannis Witney, custodians of the ornaments of the parish of Ste. Margarete Westm. from the 15th day of Maie in the 38th yeare of Henry VI. "King by facte and not by right," &c. &c.]

1464 Item, rec' de persona Convict' die sepult
1465 Item, rec' die obit' Johis. Gray militis
Item, rec' die sepult' cujus d' pauperis apud Chayring

1466 Item, rec' pro sepult' ejusdem Agnetis in Capell â
beatæ Mariæ Virginis infra Ecclesiam prædict'
Item, rec' die obit' Richard Salkeld, gen.

vjs. viijd.

Item, rec' die sepult' Heremitæ apud Charyng

Item, pro sepult' ejusdem in Capella Sancti Georgii
infra Eccles' prædict'

Item, rec' de D Abbatte West' die sepult' Willi
Payn servientis sui

Item, rec' de Dña Graa die trigintal' Reginaldi patris
sui

Item, rec' die sepult Dai Johan. Germyn Anchorit'
Westm'

Item, rec' de Jacobo Pemberton, armigero, pro sep

sua infra ecclesiam

Item, rec' die sepult' Clerici Stapulæ

1467 Item, rec' die sepult' Magestri Johis. Preston, nuper

vicarii de Wakefield

Item, rec' die sepult' pueri unius comorantis in Sellyes
Ally

Item, rec' de Willo Whitney pro sepult' uxoris suæ
infra Capella Sanctæ Trin' in ecclesia prædict
Item, rec de Thomâ More, die obit Dni Edwardi
Kyrton nuper Abbatis Westm'

Item, rec' de Cust' Convictor' die sep' Johis. Hede
prisonar'

Item, rec' de Robto' Thorp, die sep' Dionisiæ
Swandlond, generosa, pro sep' suâ infra ecclesiam
paroch' prædict'

Imprimis, in expens' ad tabernam intra parochianos in
die comptacois prædecess' cust' prædict'; videlt
in pane,

Item, in v mut. pyes ad idem temp.
Item, in vino rubeo, etc.

...

...

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Item at the burying of a man of my Lord Duresse

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vd. iijd.

iijs.

[The transition from Latin to English will be observed to have taken place

in this year.]

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1475 Item, at the day of burying of my Lady Grace

Item, at the day of burying of Sir Thomas Grey,
Knight, for iiij tapers

Item, at the burying of Sir John Galter

Item, for a reward for a boke and chales to Sir
Richard Widevyle

...

...

Item for ij great books, called Antiphoners

Item, received of the keeper or master of the New
Works

Item, of the monastre of Seint Peter of Westminster
1476 Also paid to Roger Fylpott, learned in the law, for his

counsel-giving to the said late masters in saying of
evidence of David Selly, iijs. viijd., with ivd. for his
dinner

Brethren and Sistern in Arrears.

xxij li.

Of Edmond Downe, late pryor of Hurley; of Sir Henry Ward, Knight; of Dame Agnes Hasely; of Robert Shordycke, Squier; of my Lady Graa; of Raynold Colyer, pryor of S. Bartholomew's; of the Duchess of Bed'; William Bartram, Esq.; Richard Ruston, pryor of Hurley; my Lady Willoughby; my Lady Ankerasse; Sir John Mannear, of Batressey; John Rokes, Esq.; Sir Thomas Knolie, vicar of Dachet; John Fogge, Knight; my Lady Harecourt; Sir Roger Ree, Knight.

1478 Item, the day of burying of William Caxton, for

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is. viijd.

ij torces and iiij tapers at a low mass [This is accepted, as the result of an investigation made in connection with the Caxton celebration held at South Kensington in 1878, as relating to Caxton's father, to whom the prince of printers appears to have returned from Bruges in 1476-7. The accounts for 1464 contain an item of eightpence received for four tapers at the burial of Oliver Caxton; John Caxton paid 6s. 8d. in 1475-8 on his admission to the Guild; in 1490-2, 3s. 2d. was received "at the bureyng of Mawde Caxston for torches and tapres"; in 1494-6 2d. is received at the burial of Richard Caxton, besides the entry in 1491-2 relating to the printer. These prove the settlement of the family in the parish; but Mr. Blades, in his preparations for the Fourth Centenary Memorial, was unable to identify with certainty the relationship of the several members.]

A curious item in this year's postings is xijd. for “cotyn candyll for the lantern for alle hallowen tyde (All Hallows Even) to Candyllmas (31st October to 2nd February)," from which it is clear that the seasons named, if not all the ceremonies associated with them, were observed. These are referred to, as to Candlemas, by Herrick in his "Hesperides," and as to All Hallows, by Burns in his "Halloween." The superstitions connected with both seasons are collected in Brand's Popular Antiquities.

There are also two entries showing that an organ or organs had been placed in the church at this early date :

For a dore in the rode lofte to save and keep the people fro the

orgaynes

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To Mathew Metynghm for playing at the orgons when we had

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xijd.

viijd.

Although instruments of a more or less rude description had reached England earlier-they are known to have been used in church music in Rome in the eighth century-it was not until the fifteenth century that they began to approach, even at a distance, the noble instruments of the present day, and the latter of these two items indicate that the instrument here was of such pretensions as to require the engagement of a skilled organist.

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1478 Item, for a pulpytte in the church-yard against the
preaching of Dr. Penkey

...

...

ijs. viijd.

In this year the receipts include a gift by the wife of John Taillour of a towell of diaper, eight yards in length.*

1479 Item, paid to Blandford for paving before St. Erasmus
Auter and for lyme and sand

1480

...

Item, the day of burying a man that was slayne in
St. James's field, ij tapers

...

1482 Item, the day of burying of Thomas, of the Convicte
house

Paid for the amending of the cloaths before St.
Margaret and St. Kateryn, and for cord

1483 Item, the day of Sir Thomas Cawey, for iiij tapers...
Item, the day of burying of Sir William Hopton,
treasurer of the King's house, for his pytte in the
church
1485 Item at the burying of Mr. Harcourt, for his pytte
Item, at the burying of John Barnard, gent., for iiij
torches

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Item at the burying of John, the Queen's foole
Item, at the burying of Mr. Edmund Reynford,
iiij torches at his dirige

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vjs. viijd. vjs. viijd. ...xiijs. ivd.

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A short series of entries show that the 'churchyard cross,' as well as that within the church, was to be found at St. Margaret's; it had existed so long, in fact, as to require restoration :

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Paid for a grate brode ffrise stone to mende the fote of the
crosse in the churche yerd
Paide for Asshelar Stones for the same crosse, and for laying
and werkmanshipp
Paid for making a cross of tre to sett upon the said crosse of
stone, and for the spere sponge and nails for the same

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Paid to John Rede for peynting of the same cross of tre, sponge,
spere and nailes

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The steeple cross was also renewed at the same time.

Forty acres of the parish land at Kensington are shown to have produced a yearly rental of 13s. 8d.

1488

Item, at the burying of Daniel Richard Alyn, parson of
Fulham, for iiij tapers

Item, for the burying of Master Taysdale, for the bell

is.

vjd.

*This entry suggests that the "houselling cloth," which was commonly used at the administration of the Holy Communion after the Reformation, might also have been used at mass before that time. It was customary in many churches in London, as well as in the country, for the communicants to kneel at long low tables covered with white linen, at the step of the chancel. In some few places, before the tables were brought into use, a long strip of linen was held before the communicants by two deacons; elsewhere the communion rails were covered with white hangings, while another variation of the custom was the use of a clean white napkin laid before each communicant. An item in these accounts for the year 1599, "Paid for a long diaper cloth to make two towels for the communicants, xijs. viijd.," points to some such usage at St. Margaret's, and, read in connection with that of 1478-80, suggests the possibility of its having been observed from that time onwards for upwards of a century. Mr. Vaux, quoting from Mr. Cousins' Exeter, Fifty Years since (Ed. 1878) inclines to the view that "the clean white pocket handkerchief, which old-fashioned people used to carry round their prayer books (the writer well remembers seeing instances in his boyhood at the Old Church, Chelsea) may well have been a survival of the old Housel Cloth." The inventories of church goods, jewels, &c., contain repeated references to "diaper cloths for towels for the communion," eg, the short extract given on p. 49. That for the year 1572, printed hereafter, schedules 33 "clothes of dyaper for the Comunyon Table," classifying them as "greate," "playne," "shorte" and "longe." They did not escape the eye of the observant Herrick (1630-1660), who thus refers to them in his Noble Numbers :To a Love Feast we both invited are: The figur'd Damask, or pure Diaper, The sacred Towell, and the holy Eure Are ready by, to make the Guests all pure.

vjd.

1489 Item, at the burying of my Lady Ancresse, for the bell
Item, at the burying of John Randolfe, for iiij torches vjs. viijd.
Item, for my Lady Jakis, for her grave, in the
feretre isle*

...

vijs. ivd.

vjs. viijd.

Item, at the burying of the parson of Arondell, for
torches, tapers, etc

...

Among the admittances to the fraternity this year, was "Wynkyn Worde," fellow worker with and successor to Caxton.

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1491 Item, at the burying of William Caxton, for iiij torches vjs. viijd.
Item, received of a box that was set before St. Gregory
Pytey in Lent last past

XS.

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[The dragon here referred to was probably a representation of that mentioned in the legend of St. Margaret.-See Walcott's Memorials of Westminster, Ed. 1849, p. 114.]

Item, paid for a sleyne cloth of St. Gregory's Pety... 1494 Item, paid for wyne for Mr. Harry Abington at divers

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Item for amending the best suit of vestments for prest,
dekyn and sub-dekyn, and for ribband for the same xvis.
1496 Item, aid to Mrs. Tebbys, for iij potels of tyre sent
in a botelle to Mrs. More

Item, ij tapers for the man that died in Tothill Street
going to St. Armilles Ward

...

Item, Henry Abyngdon, for the bell
1497 Item, Richard Castell, for his pitte in the Church
Item of Mr. Baugh, for licence of the ground for St.
Erasmus

...

Legend, of the bequest of

...

Item, in books called
William Caxton

1498 Item, for licence of St. Cornelius torches
1500 Item, for the knell of Julian de Wordet with the great
bell

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...

ivd.

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Item, for licence for iiij torches of St. John
Item, for licence for iiij torches of Seynt Anne
Item, received of the gift of my Lord Edmund, the
King's son, to the behove of the church-works ... vjs. viijd.
Item, received of my Lady Morland for a stone to lay
upon her husband
First received of a sanctuary-man for a quarter's rent of
the first tenement that he holdeth, for Midsummer
quarter, etc.
Item, paid for fetching ij tonne of stone over the
water from Fauks Hall unto the Kynges Brydge...
Item, paid for a daye journey, for mendyne a flouer,
and a windowe in the same rents

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A feretory was an ornamental bier or shrine.
Probably a relative of Wynkyn de Worde, Caxton's partner. See the note against the year 1489.

1501 Item, for the knell of Sir James Morland with the bell
Item, for the knell of Owen Tudor with the bell
1503 Item, received of the Southeseyer for iv tapers
1504 To fader Yanne for the keeping of the whype for
betyng the dogges oute of the chyrche

vjd.

vjd.

xvjd.

[The dog-whipper was in many parishes, in former years, a regularly appointed servant of the church; and Mr. Vaux adduces instances in which such an officer was regularly on duty down to the middle of the present century. Bequests were made for the endowment of the office in numerous parishes in England and Wales. A statement was made in Notes and Queries, 2nd September, 1854, to the effect that the appointment of such functionaries had followed the establishment of the church as far away as Shrewsbury, Maryland, U.S.A.] 1506 Also, for a certain quit-rent out of a little tenement in the Wolstaple, to the maire of the staple, at xxd. by yere

...

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1506 For the rent of a tenement, called Wyllys, lying in
Totehill Street, in the hands of Sir William Stoner,
Knight, at lxvis. viiid. by yere

Item, iiij printed books, ij of them the Lyfe of St.
Kateryn, and other ij of the birth of our Lady, of the
gift of the executors of Caxton

...

1508 First spent at the perusing and overlooking of the
account of the last wardens accomptes, at the
curate's house, for bread and drink

1510 Atte burying of Robert the Hermyt, iv torches
Atte burying of the costerdmonger for iv tapers

ivd.

ivd.

ivd.

[This is an early instance of the use of the word, which was originally applied to vendors of costard apples, though its limitation had extended within a few years: see the entry against 1519. Johnson gives Burton, the author of The Anatomy of Melancholy, who was born in 1576, as his authority; but this entry was ninety years before Burton wrote.]

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Also spent at communicacion had with Mr. Hall and other
of my Lord Cardinal's counsell, for the right of the
green before my Lord's place

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Item of Johan of the Boyling Alley, for ij tapers
1516 Item received of the gift of Mrs. Morley by reason of
ij silver cups weying xxvj ounces, and being sold by
the said accountants at iijs. ivd. the ounce, with xvid. of
overpluss, amounting to ivl. xis. ivd., whereof repaid
to the same Mrs. Morley, at her desire, il. vis. viijd.,
and so remains of her plate gift

1519 Item, to the Keper of the Scala Celi in the Abby
1518 Item, given by the children of the May-game

ijd.

iijl. ijs. viijd.

ivd.

viiid.

This simple line transports the mind to some of the charming descriptions of May-day customs given in poetry and prose from Chaucer's time to the present day. It tells of Westminster surrounded by fields-St. James' fields, Tothill fields, and the fields on the west, afterwards called the Five fields-in which the groups of children would gather their flowers in the hedgerows to carry to the houses of the well-to-do, there to sing their May-day carols and salutations, to dance round their little flower-bedecked "Lady of the May," to appeal to the charity of those who witnessed

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