To my mind a very much more practical and reasonable supposition would be that they were introduced, and used, for burial purposes. At a period when the body would not be brought into the church, except in the case of some ecclesiastic or other notable person, the priest would here be able, from his stall, to see the funeral cortége come into the churchyard, and then say the first part of the office through this window; which was always shuttered and without [p 185] glass. In some cases there is a book-ledge corbelled out on the east jamb of the window inside, which has puzzled antiquaries, but which has not otherwise received a satisfactory explanation. In immediate proximity to the window, at the end of the stalls (and sometimes in the earlier churches through them), was the priest’s door, out of which he would then proceed to the grave to commit the body to the earth. The grave itself needs not necessarily be within sight of the window. But in a number of instances the churchyard cross was so; and this may have served as the recognised place for the mourners, with the body, to assemble.

In the case of Foxton, Leicestershire, the “Lych Window,” as I would call it, is on the north side. Here the burials are chiefly on the north side; a steep slope down towards the church on the south side rendering it very difficult and unsuitable for them. At Addisham, Kent, the priest’s door is, contrary to the usual custom, on the north side, where is also a principal portion of the churchyard, and, so far as my own observations go, the position of the window would greatly depend upon the arrangement of the churchyard, whether north or south.

[p 186]
Mazes.

By the Rev. Geo. S. Tyack, B.A.

Something concerning the construction of labyrinths, or mazes, is known even to the most general reader; it needs but a slight acquaintance with classical literature to learn of the famous example formed at Crete by Dædalus; the legend of the concealment of “fair Rosamond,” within a maze at Woodstock, is familiar enough; and the existing labyrinth at Hampton Court, the work of William III. is well known. But probably few who have not looked somewhat into the matter, have any idea of the number of such mazes which still exist, or of the yet greater number of which we have authentic records. A learned French antiquary, Mons. Bonnin, of Evreux, collected two hundred examples, gathered from many lands, and stretching in history from classical to modern times.

Of the most ancient labyrinths it will be enough to indicate the localities. One is said to have been constructed in Egypt by King Minos, [p 187] and to have served as a model for the one raised by Dædalus at Cnossus, in Crete, as a prison for the Minataur

. Another Egyptian example, which has been noticed by several authors, was near Lake Mœris. Lemnos contained a famous labyrinth; and Lar Porsena built one at Clusium, in Etruria. These mazes consisted either of a series of connected caverns, as it has been supposed was the case in Crete; or, as in the [p 188] other instances, were formed of courts enclosed by walls and colonnades.

LABYRINTH INSCRIBED ON ONE OF THE PORCH PIERS OF LUCCA CATHEDRAL.

The use of the labyrinth in mediæval times, has, however, greater interest for us in this paper, especially from the fact that such was distinctly ecclesiastical. Several continental churches have labyrinths, either cut in stone or inlaid in coloured marbles, figured upon their walls or elsewhere. At Lucca Cathedral is an example incised upon one of the piers of the porch; and others may be seen at Pavia, Aix in Provence, and at Poitiers. These are all small, the diameter of the Lucca labyrinth being 1 foot 7½ inches, which is the dimension also of one in an ancient pavement in the church of S. Maria in Aquiro, in Rome. That the suggestion for the construction of these arose from the mythological legends concerning those of pagan days is proved by the fact that in several of them the figures of Theseus and the Minataur