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were converted to christianity by the Greeks, certainly must have received at the same time a large catalogue of saints, which made an essential part of the Greek worship, and there can be no reason to imagine that St. George was omitted.

In a villa of prince Dolgorucki, near Moscow, is an old basso-relievo of St. George and the dragon, found in a ruined church at Intermen, in the Crimea; it had a Greek inscription almost erased, but the words AIOO TEOPгOO, or St. George, and the date 1330, were still legible. As it appears from this bassorelievo that he was worshipped in the. Crimea so near the court of Russia when the great dukes resided at Kiof, his intro. duction into that country is easily accounted for.

Still, it is very likely that the Russians received from the Tartars the image of a horseman spearing a serpent, as represented upon their most ancient coins, and which formed a part of the great duke's arms, towards the beginning of the sixteenth century. The Russians had one before they were conquered by the Tartars; and soon after they were brought under the Tartar yoke, they struck money. The first Russian coins bear a Tartar inscription, afterwards, with Tartar letters on one side, and Russian characters on the other; and there is still preserved in the cabinet of St. Petersburgh, a piece of money, exhibiting a horseman piercing a dragon, with the name of the great duke in Russian, and on the reverse a Tartar inscription.

The story of a saint or a deity spearing a dragon, was known all over the east; among the Mahometans, a person called Gergis or George, under a similar figure, was much revered as a prophet; and similar emblems have been discovered among many barbarous nations of the east. Whether these nations took it from the Greeks, or the latter from them, cannot be ascertained; for of the real existence of such a person as St. George, no positive proofs have ever been advanced.

But whether the Russians derived St. George from the Greeks or the Tartars, it is certain that his figure was adopted as the arms of the grand dukes, and that the emblem of the saint and the dragon, has been uniformly represented on the reverse of the Russian coins.

With respect to the arms, Herberstein, in his account of his embassy to Moscow in 1518, under Vassili Ivanovitch, has

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April 24.

ST. MARK'S EVE. To the Editor of the Every-Day Book. JOE BROWN-THE CHURCH WATCH. Sir,-As you solicit communications of local usages or customs, I send you some account of the "Watching the church" on St. Mark's E'en, in Yorkshire. Accord-. ing to the superstitions of some other counties, the eve of St. John's day is the privileged night for unquiet spirits to revisit the upper world, and flit over the scenes of their mortal existence. But, in Yorkshire, it was believed by the superstious and the peasantry within these twenty years, and is so still perhaps, that if a person have the hardihood to place himself within the porch of the church, or in a position which commands the church door, on the ghostly e'en of St. Mark, (it must be St. Mark, O. S.,) he will see the souls of those whose bodies are to be buried at that church the following year, approach the church in the dead waste and middle of the night. The doors are flung open by some invisible hand just at twelve o'clock, and the spirits

enter in the rotation their mortal bodies are to die in. This hour is an epitome of the year; those who are to die soon, enter the first-and those who will almost survive the year, do not approach until nearly one o'clock, at which time the doors are carefully closed and secured as they were in the day. Another remarkable feature in the shadowy pageant is this; those that come to an untimely en 1, are represented by their ghostly proxies, in the very article of dissolution. If a person is to be hanged, or to hang himself, as Burns says in his "Tam O'Shanter,"

"Wi' his last gasp his gab will gape." If the person is to be drowned, his representative will come as if struggling and splashing in water, and so on in other cases of premature death. I must like wise mention, that the "church-watcher" pretends he is fixed in a state of impotence to his seat, during the ghostly hour, and only receives the use of his powers of locomotion when the clock strikes one. Another peculiarity attends this nocturnal scene: the souls of those who are to be seriously indisposed, likewise join the procession; they peep into the church, face about, and return to their wonted residences in their slumbering mortal habitations. But the souls of the condemned enter the church, and are not observed to return.

When a boy at home, I recollect a man who was said to watch the church; his name was "Joe Brown." This man used to inspire my youthful fancy with great awe. I was not the only one who regarded him with fear he contrived by a certain mysterious behaviour, to impress weak and youthful minds with feelings which bordered upon terror. His person is vividly imprinted on my memory; his face was broad, his features coarse, and he had what is called a hare-lip, which caused him to speak through the nose, or to snaffle, as they term it in Yorkshire. He never would directly acknowledge that he watched the church; but a mysterious shrug or nod tended to convey the assertion. Two circumstances which took place in my remembrance, served to stamp his fame as a ghost-seer. At the fair-tide, he quarreled with a young man, who put him out of the room in which they were drinking; he told his antagonist that he would be under the sod before that day twelve months, which happened to be the case. The other circumstance

was this; he reported a young man would be drowned, who lived in the same street in which my father's house was situated. I well recollect the report being current early in the year. On Easter Sunday, a fine young man, a bricklayer's apprentice went to bathe in the river Ouse, (which runs by C- -d, my native town,) and was drowned; this fulfilled his prediction, and made him be regarded with wonder. Whether excited by the celebrity such casual forebodings acquired him, or whether a knavish propensity lurked at the bottom of his affected visionary abstractedness, this last of the "church-watchers" turned out an arrant rogue; the latter years of his execrable existence were marked with rapine and murder. For a time he assumed the mask of religion, but the discipline of the sect he joined was too strict to suit his dishonest views. He was expelled the society for mal-practices, quickly joined himself to another, and afterwards associated with a loose young man, who, if alive, is in New South Wales, whither he was transported for life. They commenced a system of petty plunder, which soon increased to more daring acts of robbery and burglary. They withdrew to a distance from C——d for a time; a warrant was out against them for a burglary, of which they were the suspected perpetrators. They went to a small town where they were not known, and assumed the disguise of fortune-tellers. "Old Joe" was the "wise man," and affected to be dumb, whilst his younger confederate, like a flamen of old, interpreted his mystic signs. They lodged at a house kept by two aged sisters, spinsters. They found that these females were possessed of a little money, and kept it in a box. One night they gave their hostesses sweetened ale, in which they had infused a quantity of lau danum. One of the poor women never woke again, but the other lived. These men were taken up and examined, hut liberated for want of proof. They afterwards were suspected of having shot the Leeds and Selby carrier in the night; at length they were taken for stealing some hams, and in consequence of their bad character, sentenced to transportation for life. The termination of Joe's life was remarkable; Sampson like, he drew destruction on his own head. When about to be embarked for Botany Bay, Joe, either touched by conscience, or through reluctance to leave England, made

He and a confession of his crimes. his companion were removed from the Isle of Wight to York castle. Joe alone was put on his trial, and, though not convicted on his own confession,corroborating circumstances of his guilt were produced, and the sister of the poisoned female appeared against him. He was found guilty of the murder, and executed at York, at the Lent assizes of 1809. Sir Simon Le Blanc was the judge.

I have dwelt longer, perhaps, on the vile actions of this last of the "churchwatchers" than will be amusing to the reader; but he seemed completely identified with the local superstitions of the county. In some degree he made them subservient to further his roguish designs, by assuming the goblin appearance of the "Barguest," and, with his auxiliary, turned it to no bad account. This preternatural appearance alarmed the superstitious, who fled, pursued by the supposed demon. In their panic haste they would leave their doors or gates open, and the rogues never failed to turn these oversights to good account, plundering the house or robbing the premises. This statement is strictly true; they robbed several people in this novel and ingenious manner. By the by, it may be observed, that the "Barguest" is an out-of-door goblin, believed by the vulgar to haunt the streets and lanes of Its alcountry towns and villages. leged appearance indicates death, or some great calamity. I am, Sir, &c.

J. P.

On Monday, April 24, 1825, the late Henry Fuseli, Esq., R. A. was buried in St. Paul's cathedral, and a circumstance occurred at his funeral which ought to be known. A gentleman, whose intimacy with Mr. Fuseli seems to have been overlooked by the managers of the funeral, was desirous of paying the last sad tribute of respect to the remains of his friend. He waited the arrival of the body at the cathedral gate, and, after the authorized mourners had alighted, joined with others in following the procession. At the instant that the train from the mourning coaches had entered the great west doors, they were slammed to from within against all who bore not the undertaker's habiliments of woe, and it was announced that the rest were to go round to the north door. At that door admittance was re

"two

fused to all who would not pay
pence a piece." Those who "paid two-
pence" were thus permitted to hasten and
The corpse on being
rejoin the train.
borne down the stairs of the vault was
then followed as before. Here the door
of the vault was suddenly thrust against
all who were not mourners, ex officio, and
a shilling demanded from each of the
sympathizing attendants who had not on
the funeral garments. Compliance with
this further exaction qualified them to see
the “funeral performed." This was per-
sonally communicated to the editor by
the gentleman referred to.

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St. Mark's day was anciently kept a fast through all the country, and no Ĥesh eaten upon it. Also upon this, and the three first days of Cross, or the Rogation week, there were processions by the prior and monks of Durham to one of the parish churches, and a sermon preached at each. Upon Holy Thursday was a procession with two crosses, borne before the monks, and each in rich copes; the prior in one of cloth of gold, so massy that his train was supported. Shrines and relics were also carried. Of the two litanies performed twice in the year, the greater and the less, the first, on St. Mark's day, was instituted by Gregory on account of a pestilence, called also the black cross, from the black clothes worn from weeping and penance; or "peraventure, because they covered the crosse and auters with blessed hayres." The smaller litany was sung three days before the Ascension, and was called the rogations, processions, &c., because then a general procession was made, the cross borne, and bells rung. In the procession of some churches there was a dragon with a great tail filled full of chaff, which was emptied on the third day, to show that the devil after prevailing the first and second day, before and under the law, was on "the thyrde day of grace, by the passion of Jhesu criste, put out of his reame."+

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COLONEL BEAUFOY'S ACCOUNT

of a Remarkable Storm. On Sunday, the 26th of April, 1818, about half-past twelve o'clock, the neighbourhood of Stanmore was visited by a tremendous storm of hail, rain, and wind, accompanied by some unusual phenomena. The elevated situation of Bushey heath afforded me peculiar facilities for viewing its progress and effects, which occupied in space about five miles in a direct line, and in time about twenty minutes. The morning had been close and sultry, the heavens sufficiently clear to enable me to observe the transit of the sun over the meridian, the wind variable, the barometer 29,000 inches, the thermometer 61°, the hygrometer 52°, and the variation of the needle 24° 41' 46" west. I shortly observed the heavens in the south-east quarter much overcast, and some dense black clouds forming in that direction, which immediately discharged rain in torrents, followed by tremendous. hail, lightning, and thunder. In about half an hour the fury of the storm had somewhat abated, when my attention was attracted to the south-east by an amazing commotion among the clouds, which appeared to roll over and into each other with considerable rapidity. Beneath these dark clouds there appeared a small white one, moving with surprising velocity towards the north-west; at the same time whirling round in a horizontal direction with prodigious quickness, accompanied with a horrid noise, which I can only compare to a stunning and most discordant whistle. The form of this white cloud was, in the first instance, that of a very obtuse cone with its apex downwards, which, during its rotary motion, occasionally approached and retired from the earth; the tail of the cone elongating continually as it receded, but on approaching the surface of the ground expanding like the lower part of an hour-glass; when it appeared to collect all the surrounding air into its

immediate vortex, as it rebounded with
such violence as to root up trees, unroof
houses and hayricks, throw down walls,
and in short every thing that impeded its
progress. The effects were, however, ex-
ceedingly partial and irregular, depend-
ing apparently on the distance of the
mouth of the funnel from such objects as
chanced to come in the course of direc-
tion; as also on the area included within
the vortex, at the times it exerted its
powers of destruction. This whirlwind
appears to have commenced near Mrs.
Dickson's farm, situated about one mile
to the west of the village of Kenton, in
Middlesex; and from thence proceeded
in a north by west direction, by compass,
over Bellemont, through the orchard ad-
joining the widow Woodbridge's cottage,
over Mr. Roberts's field, Mr. Riddock's
nursery, Mr. Martin's pleasure-grounds,
Mr. Utterson's plantations, and the mar-
quis of Abercorn's to Mr. Blackwell's
premises, where it changed its direction
from north by west, to north by east, pass-
ing over Bushey village, through Mr.
Bellas's farm and orchard, and finally ex-
hausting its fury about a mile and a half
further. At Mr. Dickson's farm it re-
moved some ridge tiles, and part of the
thatch of outhouses and hayricks; and
on reaching widow Woodbridge's orchard
it had obtained much greater force, as it
levelled the fruit trees and tore away a
greater part of the tiling of the cottage,
against which it carried a wooden build-
ing several feet with great violence. In
passing through Mr. Roberts's field it
blew down eleven large elms, the breadth
of the tornado at this place not exceeding
one hundred yards, as was evident from
the trifling injury sustained by the other
trees to the right and left.
road leading to Stanmore, it entered Mr.
Riddock's nursery, where it did consider-
able injury to the young trees, and almost
entirely stripped one side of the house,
carrying away the thatch of the hayricks,
and unroofing some of the outhouses. A
large may-bush that stood in front of the
greenhouse of Mr. Martin was rooted up,
but neither the building nor glass received
the smallest injury; while a shed at the
back of the house, and likewise the cow-
house which almost adjoined, had many
tiles carried away. It next entered
Mr. Utterson's plantations, and destroyed
fifty trees, appearing to have selected par-
ticular ones to wreak its fury; for while
one was torn up by the roots, those around

Crossing the

it were untouched, and some were broken in two places as though they had been twice subjected to the action of the vortex. On approaching Mr. Utterson's cottage the storm divided into two parts, one proceeded to the right, the other to the left, as was shown by the thatch remaining undisturbed, while trees standing both in front and behind the house were thrown down. At the extremity of the house the storm seems to have again united, as it tore away some wooden paiing though completely sheltered by the building, stripping the tiles of lower outhouses, and throwing down a considerable part of the garden wall. At the marquis of Abercorn's it passed close by an elm, one of whose branches it carried away, the remainder being untouched; and it then threw down about seventy-five yards of garden wall, and leaving an interval of the same extent uninjured, destroyed thirty more; this seems to imply that the storm had here a second time divided. Near this spot one of the marquis's workmen was thrown down by the violence of the wind, and after being rolled over repeatedly, was at length compelled to hold by the grass to prevent his being carried further. In passing over the dovehouse the pigeons were whirled to the ground, and a quantity of paling was torn up and blown to a great distance. The current of wind now proceeded across the road to Mr. Blackwell's brick-kiln, tearing from its hinges and tumbling into a ditch a fieldgate; levelling sixty-five feet of the garden wall in one direction, and also the upper part of another wall running in right angles, in the opposite. The outhouses at this place were much damaged, but the dwelling-house was not touched. After leaving the garden it assailed a large beech, which measured at the base eighteen feet in circumference. My eye happened to be fixed on this tree at the moment; the wind commenced by giving its large head a considerable twist, and in an instant tore it up by the roots. After passing over the gravel pits at Harrow Weald, and a part of the village of Bushey, where it nearly unroofed a house, it continued its course without doing any further mischief until it reached Mr. Bellas's farm. At this place its effects were very destructive among the fruittrees and large elms, besides tearing away the tiles and thatch of the house, buildings, and ricks; for here the storm appears to have contracted to a width of sixty

yards, and its impetuosity to have increased in proportion as its breadth diminished. After passing in a north by east direction about a mile and a half further than Mr. Bellas's farm, its fury most probably subsided, as the only further mischief I have been able to trace was the destruction of two small elms in a hedgerow, and whose support had been weakened by digging away the earth from their roots. I observed when the clouds or vapour from which all this storm proceeded, enveloped the upper part of the cone in which Mr. Blackwell burns his bricks, the cone appeared to be surrounded with a thick mist, and most violently agitated. I also observed that in its passage over the gravel pits, it tore up the earth and gravel, not in a uniform manner, but, as it were, by jumps, leaving intervals between the various points of contact of sometimes one hundred yards and upwards; and the dreadful whistling noise continued unabated until the cessation of the storm. This phenomena was at one time within less than a quarter of a mile of my house; but the trees in the garden were not much affected by it, though I have reason to believe, from the testimony of several persons, on whose veracity I can rely, that the violence of the storm was such as to force them to lay hold of hedges to prevent their being thrown down. Mr. Blackwell, in particular, mentioned that in returning from church with one of his children, in order to secure himself and boy from being carried away, he was obliged to hold by a stake. It is further stated on the most respectable authority, that cattle were seen lifted, or rather driven, from one end of the field to the other. There is reason to believe that one or more meteoric stones fell du ring the storm; for one of the late mar quis of Abercorn's gardeners told me he had observed "a large stone about the size of his fist, descend in nearly a perpendicular direction, after a very dazzling flash of lightning, not followed by thunder." At my request he readily showed the spot on which it apparently fell; but the place being full of holes the search was unsuccessful; or it might have fallen into a pond situated near the place. I, as well as others, after a flash of lightning, heard a noise similar to the firing of a large rocket, or resembling a number of hard substances shot out of a cart.

• Thomson's Annals.

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