WATCHING THE SEPULCHRE.
"T.W." (No. 20. p. 218.) will find no end of "Items" for watching the sepulchre, in the "Churchwardens' Accounts" before the Reformation, and during the reign of Queen Mary. At Easter it was the custom to erect a sepulchre on the north side of the chancel, to represent that of our Saviour. This was generally a temporary structure of wood; though in some churches there still remain elaborately ornamented ones of stone. Sometimes the founder's tomb was used for the purpose. In this sepulchre was placed on Good Friday the crucifix, and occasionally the host, with other emblems; and a person was employed to watch it till the morning of Easter Day, when it was taken out with great ceremony, in imitation of our Lord's resurrection. It was the payment for this watching that occurs continually in the Churchwardens' Accounts, and of which, it appears, Fuller could not understand the meaning. A paper on the subject of Easter sepulchres, by Mr. Venables, was read at the meeting of the Cambridge Camden Society in March, 1843, but I am not aware whether it has been printed. Some very curious "Items" on this subject are given in Britton's Redcliffe Church, which are quoted in the Oxford Glossary of Architecture. They are so illustrative, that I subjoin them, to give you an opportunity, if you please, of serving them up to your readers:—
"Item, That Maister Canynge hath deliver'd, this 4th day of July, in the year of Our Lord 1470, to Maister Nicholas Petters, Vicar of St. Mary Redcliffe, Moses Conterin, Philip Barthelmew, Procurators of St. Mary Redcliffe aforesaid, a new sepulchre, well gilt with gold, and a civer thereto.
"Item, An image of God Almighty rising out of the same sepulchre, with all the ordinance that 'longeth thereto; that is to say, a lathe made of timber and the iron work thereto.
"Item, Thereto 'longeth Heaven, made of timber and stained clothes.
"Item, Hell, made of timber, and the iron-work thereto, with Divels to the number of 13.
"Item, 4 knights, armed, keeping the sepulchre, with their weapons in their hands; that is to say, 2 axes and 2 spears, with 2 pavés.
"Item, 4 payr of angels' wings for 4 angels, made of timber and well painted.
"Item, The Fadre, the crown and visage, the ball with a cross upon it, well gilt with fine gould.
"Item, The Holy Ghost coming out of Heaven into the sepulchre.
"Item, 'Longeth to the 4 angels 4 chevelers."
Ducange (vol. vi. p. 195. new edit.) gives a detailed account of the service performed at the Easter sepulchres on the continent.
E. VEE.
Cambridge, March 27.
"Watching the Sepulchre" (No. 20. p. 318.).—At the present day, in most Roman Catholic countries it is the custom to exhibit in the principal churches at this period, and at Christmas, a kind of tableau of the entombment and of the birth of the Saviour. The figures are sometimes small, and at other times the size of life: generally coloured, and formed of wax, wood, stone, or other materials; and when artistically arranged, and judiciously lighted, form sometimes beautiful objects. I have no doubt the entry in the Churchwardens' Accounts of Waltham Abbey refers to a custom of the same kind, prevailing in the country before the Reformation. If the date of their entry were sought for, I have little doubt but that it would be found to have been about Easter. The sepulchre itself was often, I believe, a permanent erection of stone, and some of them probably now remain in the churches of England on the north side of the chancel, where they may sometimes be taken for the tombs of individuals there interred.
W.C. TREVELYAN.
Watching the Sepulchre.—In reply to "T.W.'s" Query in No. 20., I have witnessed at Florence the custom of dressing the sepulchre on the Thursday before Good Friday with the most beautiful flowers, many of which are reared especially for the purpose. The devout attend at the sepulchre, and make their prayers there throughout the day, the most profound silence being observed. The convents rival each other in the beauty of their decorations.
Do you think that the Churchwardens' entries in Fuller can refer to a similar custom?
The loveliness of the flowers, and their delightful perfume, which pervades the church, present a most soothing and agreeable type of death and the grave, under their Christian phase. I was always at a loss to understand why this was done on Thursday, instead of on Saturday; the latter being the day on which Our Lord rested in the sepulchre.
A.M.