One mistake as I know now, the dear old rector made. He did not know of the archæological interest of the church, disfigured as it had been by country carpenters and painters and white-washers, and he built a new one, designed by Sir G. Gilbert Scott, then a very young man. And so S. Wilfred’s Church was pulled down, and a modern building, handsome enough, has taken its place. But before it was finished the old rector died. So now my recollections pass on to another building and another idea of service.
The new church was certainly more comfortable for the schoolboys, and the singing still continued good. But the new rector made some alterations in matters on which his predecessors had been strong. He was a very pronounced Puritan, and forbade the school children to turn eastward for the Creeds. He forbade such simple anthems as “Lord of all power and might,” and Cecil’s “I will arise.” But he had his very good points. He was young and active, and visited his people assiduously, established a monthly Communion, and worked up a regular branch of the Church Missionary Society, which nobody in the village had ever heard of before. I grew up to manhood during his incumbency, and though I regarded his Puritan practices, and listened to his Calvinistic sermons and tirades against Popery with extreme dislike, I see now that he was a man who was most faithful to his convictions, and no man could be more earnest for the spiritual welfare of his people. He was no scholar, I doubt whether he could have read a page of the Greek Testament in his later days. But he was the kind friend of the sick and the aged, and looked after the young people of his flock, and when they went forth into the world gave them loving and sensible counsels. His wife was as sweet and saintly a character as ever I knew, and their large family have all proved the wisdom of their training. One son has earned himself a name as respected as it is widely known.
His successor was a man of like views, better read, and a kindly-hearted man. But he was less in his parish. Though he kept no curate, he was constantly absent as a “missionary deputation,” and his congregation, who had never been instructed in church principles, fell away. He died, and his successor, who was only there for a year or two, was, I am told, a failure, greatly owing to weak health; and so we come down to present times. An organ has been given to the church, thanks to a generous layman; the choir march in procession to their places in the chancel, they do a respectable choral service, and of course turn eastward for their Creed. The parson looks thoroughly well after them, and loves them. There are regular week-day services, and a fair attendance on holy days, and the Sunday congregation is steadily increasing. It had gone down terribly.
Such is an impartial review of the church life in an out-of-the-way country village. My own special old Rector (for I owe more to him than I could ever tell), the builder of the church, was one of the original movers in the celebrated movement of 1833, was in fact one of the persons present at the meeting at Hadleigh Rectory, under the presidency of Hugh James Rose, which led to the starting of the Tracts for the Times.
His name appears both in Palmer’s Narrative, and in Newman’s Correspondence. He was a great friend of John Keble. But as the Tract Movement declined visibly towards Rome he regarded it with increasing dislike, and in his last years expressed that dislike with emphasis. I have sometimes wondered what position he would take up if he lived in our own day, and am inclined to think that the present Archbishop of Canterbury would be regarded by him as best expressing his own views. Peace to them every one, everlasting Light and Rest.
Index
Abbatial staff, [196]
Abbots Bromley, horns at, [13]
Advent ringing, [46]
Agnus Bell, [43]
Ale, baptized in, [80]
Ales, Church, [19], [151-152]
Altars in churches, [161-166]
Andrews, William, F.R.H.S., Inscriptions on Bells, [49-63];
Laws of the Belfry, [64-73];
Bells cast in churchyards, [154-156].
Anglo-Saxon burials, [127]
Anglo-Saxon marriage, [100]
Anglo-Saxon prelates, [198-201]
Annointing at baptism, [89]
Announcements of fortunes at marriages, [121]
Apostle Spoons, [90]
Armour, burial in, [132]
Armour in Churches, [174-181]
Armour at funerals, [129], [178]
Arvel Dinner, [139]
Ascension Day customs, [188-189]
Axon, W. E. A., Shorthand in Church, [246-260]
Banns, forbidding, [113]
Banns peal, [46]
Baptism, earliest titles of, [78]
Baptism rejected, [79]
Barton-le-Street, curious customs at, [20]
Batley bells, poem on, [61-63]
Beating the Bounds, [182-190]
Bell inscriptions, [35], [39], [40], [45], [49], [63]
Bells cast in churches and churchyards, [154]
Bells lost, [38-39]
Benham, Rev. Canon, B.D., F.S.A., Customs and Superstitions of Baptism, [78-98];
Reminiscences of our Village Church, [261-270]
Bibles, throwing dice for, [165]
Biddenden Maids, [25]
Bidding at weddings, [119]
Bidding for funerals, [146]
Bishops in Battle, [198-231]
Black Prince, armour of, [175]
Blinds taken down at death, [139]
Bragget Sunday, [23]
Bread and beer distributed at a tomb, [20]
Bridegrooms, [104]
Box at funerals, [145]
Boy-bishop, [2-8]
Bozeat toffee, [25]
Bridesmaids, [103]
Briscoe, J. Potter, “Curiosities of the Belfry,” [73]
Bull-running, [28]
Burial Customs, [126-146]
Burial without city walls, [127]
Bumping children, [187-188];
a curate, [188]
Buns and cider, [24]
Burning books, [158]
Burnley marriage custom, [123]
Butchers’ serenade, [122]
Caistor gad-whip, [28]
Canute’s crown, [175]
Card-playing, [20]
Carling Sunday, [23]
Caroline, Queen, trial of, [26];
Catechising, [266]
Chanting in Church, [265]
Choir in the olden days, [263-264]
Christening bit, [92];
garments, [89];
tongs, [91];
folk-lore, [94-98]
Chrisom, [143]
Christmas, [13], [22], [29], [46]
Church-Ales, [19], [151], [152]
Churchwardens’ accounts, [186-187]
Churchyards, [127]
Cider, [24]
Cock-fighting, [20]
Coffins, burials without, [134-135]
Collecting at funerals in Wales, [139-140]
Commonwealth, marriages under, [115]
Corpse, and right of way, [140]
Costume at weddings, [123]
Cox, Rev. J. C., LL.D., F.S.A., on Sports in Churches, [1-20];
Armour in Churches, [174-181]
Cremation, [127]
Cromwell, satire on, [252]
Cross roads, burial at, [144]
Crosses, burial, [141], [144], [158]
Crusaders, [218], [224]
Customs and superstitions of baptism, [78-98]
Dancing in churches, [8-15]
Dates on bells, [40]
Day for marriage, [125]
Dead, baptism of, [84]
Dead, ringing home, [130]
Deaf and dumb marriages, [120-121]
Dice cast on the Altar, [165]
Disputes settled in churchyards, [147]
Doles at funerals, [135], [152]
Domesday Book, churches mentioned in, [147]
Dowry for poor maidens, [111]
Druids, [26]
Easter, [24], [36]
Easter Eggs, [31]
Eastern portion of churchyard, burial in, [136-138]
Edward III., armour of, [176]
Embalming, [126]
Epitaph, curious, [58], [137]
Fairs held in churchyards, [149], [237]
Feast, [22]
Feasts, burial, [136]
Feasting in churches, [19]
Feudal tenures, [211]
Fig-pie Sunday, [23]
Font, use of, [81]
Football, [27]
Foxhunting parson, [262]
Funeral banquets, [19]
Garlands at funerals, [143]
Garlands, nuptial, [105]
Gifts at christening, [92-93]
Girls baptised first, [94]
Gold and silver, altars made of, [163]
Good Friday, [24], [28]
Good Shepherd, [193]
Grain at weddings, [119]
Great Rebellion, [227], [231]
Great Tom of Lincoln, [41]
Gretna Green marriages, [120]
Gowrie Plot, [37]
Gunpowder Plot, [35-36]
Hats worn in church, [247]
Hampshire burial superstitions, [131]
Handbells, [44]
Hare-pie, [24]
Harvest Bell, [45]
Haxey Hood, [27]
Heart burial, [128]
Hearse, [130]
Hindoo marriage custom, [110]
Holy Cross, [147], [167]
Holy Day Customs, [21-32]
Horn-dancers, [13-14]
Horse claimed at a mortuary, [129]
Hot cross buns, [24]
Hot pot at weddings, [102]
Hour-glasses in coffins, [131]
Howlett, England, F.S.A., Marriage Customs, [99-125],
Burial Customs, [126-146]
Hucksters’ stalls in churches, [1]
Husband and Wife re-united, [117]
Images, [244]
Immersion, [81]
Inscriptions on Bells, [49-63]
Kershaw, S. W., F.S.A., The Cloister and its story, [232-245]
Kendal Custom, [30]
Kissing, [109]
Knives, [103]
Lamplough, Edward, Bishops in Battle, [198-231]
Lights to guide travellers by night, [232]
Longest day, [242]
Laws of the Belfry, [64-73]
Market Bell, [37]
Marriage Customs, [99-125]
Mass on the field of battle, [213]
May 29th, ringing on, [34]
Maunday Thursday, [30]
Midnight burials, [142]
Mince-pies, [22]
Miracle Play, [16-18]
Mistletoe, [26]
Mitred Abbots, [196]
Molly Grime, [28]
Monks of Durham, [204]
Moravian marriage customs, [117]
Morris dancers, [10-12]
Mothering Sunday, [23]
Mulled ale, [23]
Myton, battle of, [203]
New Year’s eve ringing, [40]
Nicholson, John, Concerning the Churchyard, [147-160]
Notorious characters buried north side of the church, [137]
Oak-apple day, [34]
Palm Sunday at Leigh, [29]
Palls, [145]
Page, John T., The Rood Loft and its uses, [167-173];
Beating the Bounds, [182-190]
Pancakes, [22], [37]
Pancake bell, [23]
Parish Armour, [178-181]
Parish Clerks, [114]
Passing Bell, [47], [128]
Pastoral staff, [129]
Paul’s Pitcher Day, [30]
Paying toll at weddings, [122]
Peacock, Florence, Church Bells, when and why they were Rung, [33-48]
Penance performance in Hull, [158]
Preaching from Shorthand, [259]
Private baptism, [83]
Proxy, marriage by, [106]
Processioning, [184]
Puritan, [267]
Quakers baptized, [81]
Quarrels in churchyards, [151]
Reeve, Isaac J., Ringers’ Jugs, [74-77]
Refreshment Sunday, [23]
Reminiscences of our Village Church, [261-270]
Reporting, objections to, [258]
Revival of the rood screen, [172]
Rice at wedding, [118]
Rings, wedding, [107]
Ringers’ Jugs, [74-77]
Rival Popes, [216]
Rome, ancient, marriage in, [10]
Rood Loft and its Uses, [167-173]
Roods swept away at the Reformation, [170]
Rogation Week, [183]
Rosemary at funerals, [131]
Rubbish heap in churchyards, [159]
Russian burial customs, [141]
St. Andrew, [40-41]
St. Hugh’s Day, [44]
Saints and martyrs buried under the altar, [161]
Salt at funerals, [144]
Sand strewing at weddings, [124]
Sanctus Bell, [42]
Sawdust strewing at weddings, [124]
Saxon Church, [261-262]
Screens in churches, [168-169]
Scrope, Richard, [224-227]
Scriptorium, [233-235]
Scrambling customs, [153-154]
Seasons for marrying, [111]
Secular uses of churches, [1]
Sceptre, [192]
Seville, dancing at, [14-15]
Shakespeare on armour, [175]
Sitting posture, buried in a, [134]
Shrines, [236]
Shrove Tuesday, [22-36]
Shoes at weddings, [118-124]
Shorthand in Church, [246-260]
Simnels, [23]
Skeletons represented on tombs, [142]
Smith, W. H., shorthand reports for, [259-260]
Spencer, Bishop of Norwich, [214], [216]
Sponsors, [86]
Sports in Churches, [1-20]
Sports in churchyards, [150-151]
Staff of authority, [191]
Standard, battle of, [201-202]
Stocks, [157]
Story of the Crosier, [191-197]
Sunday burials, [145]
Sunday of the Five Loaves, [23]
Sundials, [156-157]
Swedish funerals, [141]
Taxes on baptism, [94]
Torches at funerals, [137-138]
Tracts of the Times started, [269]
Trading in churchyards, [148]
True Lovers’ Knot, [107]
Twickenham cakes, [24]
Tyack, Rev. G. S., B.A., on Holy Day Customs, [21-32].
Altars in Churches, [161-166].
The Story of the Crosier, [191-197]
Umbrella, parish, [140]
Upright burial, [133]
Viands connected with Holy Days, [25]
Washing feet, [30]
Waxen effigies, [142]
Wedding bells, [114]
Wedding biddings, [119]
Well-dressing, [27]
Welsh custom, [29]
Whitby funeral cakes, [146]
Whitsuntide, [11]
Wine, baptized in, [80]
Wine drinking in church at weddings, [102]
Wills about armour, [177]
Wool stored in churches, [1]
Woollen, burial in, [132]
Wren stoning, [29]
Wymund, the Saxon, [205-207]
Yule-log, [26]
Yule, songs of, [13]