“Then into Corn Hil anon I rode,
Where was much stolen gear among;
I saw where hung mine own fair hood,
That I had lost among the throng.
To buy my own hood, I thought it wrong;
I knew it well, as I did my creed,
But for lack of money I could not speed.”
Stow’s monument was ostensibly raised to his memory by his widow, but there is no doubt that it was by subscription. It is of terra cotta; and the figure, once painted to represent life, is seen as the original used to be seen, seated at a table, engaged with pen and book. Maitland states that the remains were disturbed, and even removed, but he does not say whither nor wherefore, in the year 1732. Like the mortal remains of Fernand Cortes, no man can speak decisively of their resting-place.
Leaving those who love such research to make due inquiry after them, we will now hold brief converse touching another celebrated “John of the Needle,” the Chronicler Speed.