he, on the other hand, bore the lion ducally gorged, as it is now borne by his successor to the dignity. That this is the correct bearing seems clear from the following grant of King Richard the Second, assuming that the grant in question applies to the Howards as well as to the Mowbrays. The latter family, on succeeding to the great inheritance of Margaret Duchess of Norfolk, adopted the crest of her father, Thomas of Brotherton, as may yet be seen on two of their garter plates. But in the 17th of Richard the Second, that king granted the following crest by an order, which will be found in Rymer, vol. vii. p. 763.

"Rex omnibus ad quos, &c. salutem. Sciatis quod, cùm dilectus et fidelis consanguineus noster, Thomas, Comes Marescallus et Nottynghamiæ, habeat justum titulum hæreditarium ad portandum, pro Cresta sua, unum Leopardum de Auro, cum uno Labello Albo, qui de jure esset cresta filii nostri primogeniti, si quem procreassemus. Nos, eâ consideratione, concessimus pro nobis, et hæredibus nostris, eidem Thomæ, et hæredibus suis, quòd ipsi, pro differentia in ea parte, deferre possint, et deferant unum Leopardum, et in loco Labelli, unam Coronam de Argento, absque impedimento nostri, vel hæredum nostrorum supradictorum. In cujus, &c. Teste Rege apud Westmonasterium duodecimo

die Januarii.

"Per breve de privato sigillo." From the foregoing grant it is evident that all the males of the family of Howard, establishing their descent from John, the first duke, are only entitled to bear one and the same crest, and that consequently the Earls of Carlisle and Effingham are in error as to the manner in which it is now borne by them, as being in direct contradiction to the aforesaid grant, whereby the leopard, or lion, as now used, with a label, was limited to the Prince of Wales; and the former earl, more especially, inasmuch as the garter plate of his ancestor Henry Earl of Carlisle, in 1756, has the same crest as that of Henry Duke of Norfolk before mentioned.

In conclusion, I may observe, that the following garter plates of the Mowbrays and Howards exhibit some discrepancies, those representing the lion as simply statant being, it must be

presumed, the work of ignorant engravers.

1. John Mowbray, Earl Marshal, elected 9 Hen. V., grandson of Margaret Duchess of Norfolk, and son of Thomas Earl of Nottingham, 17 Ric. II. The crest of Thomas of Brotherton, but without the label. The ancient crest of Mowbray is said to have been, on a chapeau, a lion between a pair of dragon's wings.

2. John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, grandson of the preceding, elected 12 Edw. IV. The same, but having the label. It was probably omitted by mistake in the previous instance.

3. Thomas Howard, second Duke of Norfolk of that family, elected 2 Hen. VIII. The same as the preceding.

4. William Howard, Lord Howard of Effingham, son of the second Duke, elected 1 Philip & Mary. The lion is here given statant instead of statantguardant.

5. Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham, son of the preceding, elected 17 Eliz. The same as 3.

6. Thomas Howard, first Earl of Suffolk, elected 39 Eliz. The lion is statant, and the Scotch augmentation is omitted in the arms.

7. Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, son of the poet, elected 2 Jac. I. The same as the last,-the Scotch augmentation omitted.

8. Thomas Howard, Viscount Bindon, elected 4 Jac. I. The same as 5, but the Scotch augmentation omitted.

9. Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, elected 1611. For crest, the badge of Arundel, viz. the white horse courant. The Scotch augmentation omitted.

10. Thomas Howard, Earl of Berkshire, elected 1625. The same crest as 8. Scotch augmentation omitted.

11. Theophilus Howard, Earl of Suffolk, elected 1628. The same as the last,-Scotch augmentation in

NOTES IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.

(Continued from p. 43.)

AN account of Aspley may be seen in your Magazine for Jan. 1845.

In Bletchley Church,* the only new thing of interest is a barrel organ, of decent though not imposing appearance. The fine works of Browne Willis, which cost 15007. in the aggregate, are still rich, though faded. The chancel ceiling, with the twelve Apostles and the glory at the end, will yield to none of its immediate class in England; the chancel, altar, and gallery screens, Ionic and Corinthian, and pewing of excellent wainscot, may see centuries yet: the careful marbled painting of the pillars and arches is in surprising preservation. Of the pulpit and chancel hangings the velvet is decidedly changed, but the gold fringe is as fresh as yesterday; thus showing that the manufacture then was much better than now. Browne Willis re-cast, and probably added to, the number of the bells, which amount to eight, with a tenor of 20 cwt. of pretty good tone; but the "chimes," which play every third hour, a rare concomitant of a country village, are amongst the best in England. The tower, which he also furnished with good pinnacles, is not unlike the handsome one of Crawley, near Woburn: the churchyard, rather too small, has an avenue of yews, of which the writer never saw another instance; the large old parsonage has been handsomely rebuilt of late years.

It appears, by the local papers, that an annual dinner is held, in memory of Browne Willis, at Fenny Stratford. Fenny Stratford, in this parish, and that of Simpson, is one of the smallest market towns in England, population about 1000. The market, or some shadow of one, and fairs, remain. Here, also, railway travelling has made a sad difference, but all the houses of entertainment remain, though with diminished receipts, and it bears its reverses "like a gentleman." Canal traffic still exists, and may be improving. The antiquary and picturesque tourist should view a magnificent stack of chimneys on an old house in the cross street leading to Bletchley, exactly "as large as a

church tower," and resembling one in the prospect of the place. Last summer the Chapel was slightly damaged by lightning, which injury is now repairing; its neat brick walls and tower with stone mullions, &c. are good specimens of taste 130 years ago. Everything which Browne Willis did, whose remains are interred here, was munificent; the wainscoting, altar-piece, and gallery, are even finer than at Bletchley: the ceiling is painted with the arms of benefactors, panneled, with gilt borders. The beautiful little east window, which, it strikes the writer, might be by Oliver, like that at Northhill, Beds. might laugh at the overloaded † tawdriness lately introduced at two, but excellent; and the "tenor Westminster Abbey. The bells are only has the boldness to ring the "curfew” in this little place, at eight every evening.

In a notice of Browne Willis, given in Chambers's Journal a few years back, it was said that, although by his from two thousand pounds per annum large expenses he had reduced his estate to one, he was too high-minded to raise the rents of his tenants.-The writer has heard it said, that "he was a mere antiquary, had no feeling of religion,' himself, looks much otherwise. &c.-but his epitaph here, written by Christe, soter et judex, huic, peccatorum primo, misericors et propitius

esto !"

66

On the north wall is a table of collections made in neighbouring churches in both counties towards the erection. Woburn was about 47. 10s. This chapel was handsomely enlarged for 6001. or 7007. twenty-five years back.

Simpson Church, one mile north of Fenny Stratford, as Bletchley is southwest, is of singular ichnography. It has a wide nave aisle, and a very slender tower, barely half its width, chancel, and two small transepts. There but rather lofty in the centre; a small is a similar disposition, but with a fullwidth tower, at Stoke Hammond; also at Sundon, (Beds.) At the west end has

† Had the marigold window only been filled, or one row at least of niches (perhaps never intended to be glazed) spared the bright masses of red, buff, and

1794.

not have been so very much violated.

been a good window, and there are two pretty good ones on the south side; but the interior, which has no gallery, is plain to absolute meanness, and would be much benefited by any little liberality in neat ornament.

This village has some poor cottages. It is pre-eminently "fenny," as the low strands, and rows of poplars with discoloured stems, clearly indicate. A bridge is now very properly erected over the dangerous "ford," which horses sometimes refused, and where Mr. Sibthorpe, a respectable farmer, occupying the whole of the small parish of Walton, was drowned twentyfive years ago. The "old river," running through here to Leighton, I am informed, loses itself in the ground, at the "downfall" as it is termed, near the Dunstable Hills. At Fenny Stratford, before the entrance, is a good, lofty, brick bridge of three arches, one of which is scarcely filled in general, and the visitor wonders of the others, as we read of the Manzanares bridge at Madrid, "how the plague they got there!" But he might have seen, in October last, the three filled, and the waters rising six feet above their level, over a neighbouring meadow. They "soon rise and soon sink," in this quarter.

*

Newton Longueville, also I believe termed "Newton in the Clay," two miles west by north of Bletchley, by a dreary road passing the works of the intended Oxford Railway, has a singular old church, the interior of which is little known, as being Norman beyond question. The upper moulding of the arches has been curved so as to resemble pointed; but the arches are round, with zigzag mouldings, and the columns, or some of them, are circular, and have their capitals supported by corbels, at (what may be termed for this occasion) the corners of the columns; a variety seen at St. Anne's, Lewes, Sussex; but, perhaps, in few other places. There are only two arches on each side of the nave, of which the writer has only observed one other instance, at Seaford, which is mentioned in his "Coast of Sussex;" there is, however, a north chancel here, with two pointed arches, as at Bletchley. The

"Which proudly strides with six arches over a stream three feet wide.". Cumberland's "Nicholas Pedrosa."

windows are all "perpendicular" and neat; the tower not large or high, but containing six fair-toned bells, re-cast from five, tenor 13 cwt. The interior is decent; the pulpit cloth of green velvet, a pleasing variety, and the King's Arms in an efficient position in front of the gallery. The singing is rather primitive, in parts, and not bad, but without any instruments.

On the south side of the churchyard is a mansion apparently of some antiquity.

The brief notes with which I beg to conclude, are recorded from former reminiscences of twenty or thirty years back.

Wing, about four miles from Leighton Buzzard, has, in a large and fine church, one of the largest west windows in a tower, often to be seen. [The writer is informed that it has in addition a heavy peal of bells for a village; tenor 30 cwt. or upwards.]

The little original church of Linslade, which formerly contained about 100 inhabitants only, has some handsome fittings, and stands in a romantic nook, with a little cliff, wood, and water. [At the "New Town" by the Leighton railway station, containing about 1000 inhabitants, a new church is building, of one aisle; the tower, as often now, somewhat foolishly placed on the north side. It is of brown stone, with good white mullions, &c. and appeared to the writer likely to turn out picturesque.]

Soulbury, a good church of three aisles, but with little remarkable. With the former, this belongs to branches of the Lovat family (not of the northern executed politician).

Walton, of one aisle, neat, modernised. Woughton on the Green, respectable, of three aisles. Great Woolston, of two. Little Woolston, of one; one of the poorest and smallest in the county, with a wooden steeple.

Milton Keynes, or Lower Milton, in rather an aqueous region, rejoicing in another esteemed incumbent of nearly thirty years, of the name of Jones, has a respectable church, with a spacious nave and chancel, and the tower (or some other ancient part of the building) on the north side.

Broughton, one aisle, neat, if not handsome.

Willen, very small, in the patronage of Westminster School; the writer was