The flower among them a'."
It goes on to relate how the ball strayed into the Jew's garden, into which the little Hugh was wiled, and "slicked like a swine."
Hugh is said to have been about eight years old at the time of his death. Matthew Paris mentions the legend, and says that many Jews came together to Lincoln on the occasion. They appointed a Jew as judge, to represent Pilate, and by this man's sentence the boy was afflicted with various torments before being put to death. The boy being missed, inquiries were made by his mother, and the body was at last found at the bottom of a well belonging to a Jew's house. It was given to the Canons of Lincoln, who honourably buried it as that of a martyr, in their Cathedral. According to Matthew Paris, the name of the Jew who took a leading part in the affair was Copin. He was tied to a horse's tail, dragged to Canwick Hill, and there hanged. Many other Jews were executed as accomplices, and a large number imprisoned. Traditions say that Copin lived in one of the still remaining "Jews' houses" in the Steep. The terrible massacre of the Jews in Lincoln, Norwich, York, and other towns in the time of Richard I., was probably instigated by such tales as this.
The shrine, which remained perfect until the Civil War of the seventeenth century, was in the Decorated style. The base still remains, and on it has been placed a fragment of the original canopy. The arcade behind, of five arches, is carved with the ball-flower, a distinctive mark of the period; traces of colouring and gilding still remain. The stone coffin below was opened in the year 1791, when it was found to contain the skeleton of a child, 3 ft. 3 in. long, encased in lead.
An inscription in the pavement of the aisle marks the burial place of Henry of Huntingdon (b. between 1080 and 1085: d. about 1155). This famous chronicler, who has recorded many interesting facts concerning the history of Lincoln, was probably brought up in the household of Bishop Bloet. In 1109 or the following year he was made Archdeacon of Huntingdon (then in the diocese of Lincoln). It was at the request of Bishop Alexander the Magnificent that he undertook the "Historia Anglorum," which he carried down to the year 1154.
The North Aisle has the double wall-arcade of St. Hugh on the one side, and the arcaded screens on the other. Three of the screens are of Grosseteste's time (1235-53); that in the easternmost bay is a slightly later work.
At the western end, an oak screen, carved with Gothic tracery and the linen pattern, separates the aisle from the chapel of St. James. The two westernmost piers on the south side shew the clumsy way in which they were restored after the fall of the central tower. On the side of the third pier is a carved head supporting a bracket in Purbeck marble.
The Eastern Transept is also the work of St. Hugh. There have been alterations made at a later period; these will be pointed out. The four semi-circular chapels on the east side were considered by Professor Willis to have been finished after the death of St. Hugh, though no doubt forming part of the original design. There hardly appears to be any necessity to assign them to a later date than the rest of the transept. The northern arm is in two bays, with the two semi-circular chapels on its eastern side, and a chamber, misnamed the "Dean's Chapel," to the west.
