[The most authentic account of English monasteries, &c. will be found in Dugdale's Monasticon, edited by Cayley and Ellis; Tanner's Notitia, edit. 1744; and Stevens's Additions to Dugdale. In Dodd's Church History, by Tierney, vol. i. p. 458., will be found "A List of the Abbots, Priors, and other Superiors of the Principal Religious Houses in England, from the Foundation to their Suppression." And for a list of all the mitred abbots and priors of England, who are known to have been mitred, or to have sat in parliament subsequent to the beginning of the reign of Edward III., see Glossary of Heraldry, pp. xxix. xxx.]
Bishops at the Hampton Court Controversy.
—Can you inform me who were the nine bishops who attended the Hampton Court conference in 1603-4?
C. H. D.
[Archbishop of Canterbury, John Whitgift; London, Richard Bancroft; Durham, Tobias Matthew; Winchester, Thomas Bilson; Worcester, Gervase Babington; St. David's, Anthony Rudd; Chichester, Anthony Watson; Carlisle, Henry Robinson; Peterborough, Thomas Dove.]
Replies.
SCOTTISH REGALIA.
(Vol. iv., p. 208.)
The story referred to by Jeremy Taylor reminds me of a somewhat similar instance of dishonest astuteness I lately heard of in Scotland, from an old Highlander; the which, though courtesy forbade me to dispute, I at the time received "cum grano," and have since been unable to verify. It was as follows:
The custodians (whether rightful or not, I know not, as no date was assigned to the action of the narrative) of the Scottish regalia being bound by an oath to deliver it to the Governor of Carlisle, as the nearest representative of the English sovereign, by a certain day, determined upon a plan for performing (!), and at the same time evading, their promise. Having selected the most able steed in Scotland, a suitable deputation escorted the regalia and the horse to the appointed place of tradition. The embassy carrying with them the more valuable and portable of their treasures—the jewels, not the horse, of which hereafter,—were duly admitted to an audience with the governor, who received them in the presence of the principal inhabitants of Carlisle: and having produced and surrendered the regalia (and doubtless taken an acquittance!), surreptitiously, and with gipsey adroitness, regained possession of it, and conveying it from the audience chamber, immediately delivered it to an expectant messenger; who, mounted on the before-mentioned horse, awaited its return outside the hall; and who, ventre à terre, pursued his eager flight across the border, nor once drew rein until his precious burden was again deposited in the custody of Scottish tenure. Whether the deputation was dismissed, and escaped before the discovery of its chicanery, or whether the conspirators received the well-merited punishment of their audacious dissimulation, my informant knew not. And although the story tells more in favour of the astuteness than the honesty of his countrymen (if true), he narrated it with considerable unction, and declared that it was generally believed and admired in Scotland; the patriotism displayed, the dangerous nature of the enterprise, and the success which attended it, palliating any stigma which might attach to the want of faith, double dealing, and casuistry which marked the transaction.
The method by which the horse's title to be considered the ablest in Scotland was ascertained, was ingenious. The horses the most renowned for fleetness and endurance were secretly collected, and having been deprived of water for a considerable time, were presently, one by one, permitted to bury their heads in the grateful bucket, and the duration of each draught was scrupulously watched and recorded; the animal that retained its nostrils for the longest time immersed being selected for the honour of rescuing the royal treasure, as having given proofs of its superior wind and bottom.