“‘An honest Soldier never is forgot
Whether he die by Musket or by Pot.’”
There seems to have been a great desire among soldiers to commemorate this hero, or the moral of his death, for the stone was replaced again in 1802.
As we left this spot I recalled the memory of the Saxon, St. Brinstan, who was fond of walking here. He was an excellent man, but of a somewhat melancholy turn of mind. Every day he washed the feet of the poor, and every night he would pace up and down among the tombs saying the Placebo and Dirige; and we are told that on one occasion when he finished by saying with emphasis “Requiescat in pace,” a chorus as from a multitude of voices came from the sepulchres pronouncing a loud “Amen.”
“A pious invention,” said Mr. Hertford, “unless, indeed, some of the monks were playing him a trick.”
Roman Pavements.
“Close to this,” I observed, “was found the Roman pavement in the Museum, about ten feet underground. Another pavement, part of which can be seen in front of the Deanery, was discovered (1880) in one of the western gardens of Dome Alley. The distance between them was small, but the difference of depth (four feet) would seem to indicate two periods of construction. We seldom realize that the Romans were here three or four hundred years.”
In the wall bounding the graveyard on the south we noticed an archway. This led down some steps still remaining into a vaulted crypt (dating from 1400), where dozens of skeletons have been found. The Dean discovered last autumn some Perpendicular groining, and massive buttresses which have probably supported a chapel where masses were “sayable.”
We now made for the “Slype” Gate, at the south-west corner of the Cathedral, beside which there is a fanciful inscription:—
| ILL | PREC | ||
| AC | ATOR | ||
| H | VI | ||
| AMBULA. |