I am unacquainted with the work referred to in the first extract. The second is from The Whole Works of W. Tindal, John Frith, and Dr. Barnes [edited by Foxe], Lond. 1573. The title of the work which contains the passage is, The Obedience of a Christian Man, set forth by William Tindal, 1528, Oct. 2.
Ἁλιεύς.
Dublin.
Bible of 1527 (Vol. ix., p. 352.).—In reference to the monogram inquired after in this Query, I think I have seen it, or one very similar, among the "mason marks" on Strasburg Tower, which would seem a place of Freemason pilgrimage: for the soft stone is deeply carved in various places within the tower with such marks as this, together with initials and dates of visit. I have also marks very similar from the stones of the tower of the pretty little cathedral of Freiburg, Briesgau. I should incline to think it a Masonic mark, and not that of an engraver on wood, or of a printer.
A. B. R.
Belmont.
Shrove Tuesday (Vol. ix., p. 324.).—The bell described as rung on Shrove Tuesday at Newbury, was no doubt the old summons which used to call our ancestors to the priest to be shrived, or confessed, on that day. It is commonly called the "Pancake Bell," because it was also the signal for the cook to put the pancake on the fire. This savoury couplet occurs in Poor Robin for 1684:
"But hark, I hear the pancake bell,
And fritters make a gallant smell."
The custom of ringing this bell has been retained in many parishes. It is orthodoxly rung at Ecclesfield from eleven to twelve a.m. Plenty of information on this subject may be found in Brand's Popular Antiquities.