The forfeit-toasts are, of course, designed to promote
the consumption of beer, and generally involve the repe-
tition of single words, or a string of words, at a particular
moment, the omission to do this making the culprit liable
to drink another horn or cup of beer. Amongst these is
" The Great Bell of Lincoln", which you will now hear :
THE GEEAT BELL OF LINCOLN.
" The great bell of Lincoln is rung once a year,
And why should we go there and ring
Since our bells ring hero ?
The great bell of Lincoln is broke in her frame,
And she must be mended
'Fore she rings again.
New frame, new wheel, new clapper, new strings.
And we'll turn the bell over.
Hark ! Ilcar how she rings !"
Chorus. — Repeat last three lines.
There are many more good old agricultural songs which
are still treasured up, such as " The Jolly Waggoner",
" The Woodman", " Maying", " The Farmer's Boy", also a
sheep-shearing song. Another song, which is popular
with those who delight in good old-fashioned ideas, com-
mences " Ere round the huge Oak". *' A sweet Country
Life" is a song given by Mr. Broad wood in his collection,
and both music and words are striking.
We will conclude with a quaint and pleasing Christmas
carol, found in Mr. Broadwood's collection, which seems
1 Vol. vii, p. 848.
326
SUSSEX SONGS AND MUSIC.
somewhat similar to the " Hitchm Mayer's Song", printed
in Bell's Songs of the Peasantnj, but contains more verses,
and is generally superior to the latter. Another version
is given in Christmas Carols New and Old, No. xxiv,^
but the words are not nearly so quaint.
THE MOON SHINES BRIGHT.
^-~-€-
e^j
==]-
'*!â– =
^=~^.
::^=:=1
i
HI
The
shines
bright, and the stars
give
i?^g=
?q=] -
-^-
-I- -&-
:3=^i=i
— \—
-^-
r-qi
=li^5^3=ilr.3
-::i-
â– ts -
light,
:=1
In
lit
l!7"5-|^=
-1^
tie time
will
be
day.
±-
^g£— -g-— — 9 * — I 1 » —
— I
— «
==1
^ -
IZAZT.
Repeat last two lines J'.
3:
' Awake, awake, good people all,
Awako. and you shall hear
ffow Christ was born
Upon this morn.
For the Lord loviid us so dear.
" So dear, so dear Christ lovdd us,
And for our sins was slain ;
So pray leave off
Your wieked wickedness.
And turn to the Lord again.
1 Words edited by the Rev. H. R. Bromley, M.A. ; music by Dr.
Stainer.
SUSSEX SONGS AND MUSIC. 327
" The flolils so sroen, so wondrous green, " Repent! Eepent ! good people all;
As green as iiny leaf, Kepont while yet you may,
The Loni our God For it is too late
He watpreth them For to repent
With His heavenly dew so sweet. When dead and turned to clay.
" The life of man is but a span, " Now my song is done, and I must be gone.
Ilia beauty is like any Hower. No longer can I tJirry here ;
Today he is strong. So God bless you all,
To-morrow he is gone, Both great and small,
For he fadeth in less than an hour. And send you a Uappy New Year."
Lastly, my thanks are due to those who have helped
me to form the collection of songs represented to-night,
particularly Mr. Samuel Willett (Cuckfield), Mr. Welling,
and Mr. Harris, of Brighton ; also to my brother, Dr.
Frank J. Sawyer, who has arranged and rehearsed the
music, but who is unavoidably absent in Germany ; and
lastly, but certainly not least, to those wdio have so
kindly come forward to assist me in giving the musical
illustrations.
328
PEE-NORMAN CROSSES AT HALTON AND
HEYSHAM IN LANCASHIRE.
BY J. EOMILLY ALLEN, ESQ., F.S.A. SCOT.
{Read 17th February 1886.)
Lancashire, although not so rich in remains belonging
to the Saxon period as some of the other northern counties
of England, can boast of at least six localities where pre-
Norman crosses still exist to bear witness to the early-
foundation of churches on the sites where they are found.
A portion of the head of what must have been, when
whole, one of the largest crosses in the country is to be
seen outside the east end of the church dedicated to
St. Oswald, at Winwick. This has been already illus-
trated and described in our Journal} The cross of Ciini-
balth, the son of Cuthbert, with its Runic inscription,
found at Lancaster,^ and now safely deposited in the
British Museum, is well known to students of northern
antiquities. At Whalley^ there are three very fine crosses
still erect, which although of great interest have never
yet received the attention they deserve. It is to be
hoped that some member of this Association will take the
matter up. In restoring the church at Bolton, portions
of the shaft and head of a cross with interlaced work
were found, which have been illustrated in the Ham
Anastatic Drawing Society's annual volume.'^
The sculptured stones which form the subject of the
jDresent paper are at Halton and Heysham. Both of
these places are easily accessible from Lancaster ; Halton
being on the banks of the river Lune, four miles to the
north-east ; and Heysham on the sea-coast, about the
same distance to the west.
Halton formed part of the Hundred of Amounderness,
1 Vol. xxxvii, p. 92.
2 Stephens' Handbook of Runic Monuments, p. 124.
â– '' Whitakcr's History of Whalley (cd. 1876), vol. ii, p. 15.
4 1879, PI. 20.
PRE-NORMAN CROSSES. 329
which was given hy Athelstan, King of England (a.d.
925-40), to God, St. Peter, and the Church at York, dur-
ing the prelacy of Bishop Wolfstan. Earl Tosti, who was
killed at the hattle of Stamford Bridge (Sept. 25, 1066),
was lord of the manor of Hal ton. In Domesday Book,
Halton or "Hotune" is mentioned amongst the thirty
manors, but no church is referred to. The parish of Hal-
ton then included jmrt of that of Lancaster, part of Wal-
ton, and the whole of Heysham and Bolton-le-Sands.
The eastern keep of a Saxon castle, which may have been
the seat of Earl Tosti's barony, is to be seen near the
church. Even in Iloman times Halton must have been
a place of some note, for in 1794 an altar belonging to
this period was dug up in the churchyard, bearing the
inscription, —
DEO
MART
SABINV
P . P . ET MILIT
N BARC . SC
EIIVS PO
It is now built into the walls of one of the rooms at Hal-
ton Hall.
"Soon after the enclosure of Halton Moor, in 1797, a
countryman, in digging the portion allotted to him, found
a silver cup elegantly chased, with two ears like a Iloman
diota, and filled with more than a thousand pennies of
Canute (a.d. 1014-36), bearing the names of different
mint-masters, but nearly all the local eofr ; and ^ besides
these was a thin piece of gold stamped on one side into
a high relief on the other, and bearing the rude figure of
a lion. It has besides two small holes, apparently for
inserting silk threads, in order to be worn about the
neck. The coins were sold to a watchmaker in Lancaster,
and dispersed; but the cup and gold ornament were pur-
chased by a gentleman in London, and are believed to be
now in the British Museum."^
The parish church of Halton is dedicated to St. Wil-
frid, Archbishop of York (a.d. 669-709). The present build-
ing is entirely new, with the exception of the western
» Annah of the Farisli of Ualton. By E. M.
330 PRE-NORMAN CROSSES
tower, and was erected, in 1877, from the designs of
Messrs. Paley and Austin, the well known architects.
The church then pulled down was built in the year 1792.
The tower, which belongs to the Perpendicular period,
contains three bells inscribed as follows : — large bell,
"Pespice finem Maria, 1597"; middle bell, "Johannes o.
p. n. s. c. e." (in black letter) ; small bell, " See Petre o.
p. n." (in black letter).
Not far from the church, at the east end, is a spring
of pure water, called " St. Wilfrid's Well", which has the
reputation of curing inflamed eyes.
The pre-Norman sculptured stones consist of the muti-
lated shaft of a cross still erect in the old base on the
south side of the church, four fragments built into the
west wall of the south porch, and the top of the shaft of
a small cross.
The churchyard cross, in its present state, consists of
a shaft, 3 ft. 10 ins. high, 1 ft. 4 ins. by 1 ft. at the
bottom, tapering to 1 ft. by 1 1 ins. at the top ; fixed in
a base 4 ft. square at the bottom ; diminishing by three
steps with sloping faces, to 2 ft. 3 ins. square at the top.
The height of the steps is 1 ft., 8 ins., and 6 ins. respect-
ively, making altogether 2 ft. 2 ins. as the total height
of the base. The material of which this and the other
fragments is composed is a yellowish sandstone. In the
year 1635 the Pev. Pichard Jackson, who was rector at
that time, removed the upper part of the cross, so as to
convert the remaining portion into the pedestal for a
sundial, which purpose it still serves. The inscription on
the sundial is, " For St. Wilfrid's Church, Halton, 1635."
One of the pieces that was cut ofl* was thrown aside
amongst the rubbish in the yard at Halton Hall for
many years ; but after passing through various hands it
has been again restored. Another fragment was recently
discovered built into the wall of a ruined cottage near
the church.
The base of the churchyard cross is devoid of ornament.
The subjects sculptured on the shaft are as follow : —
North Side. — Divided into four rectangular panels, and
part of a fifth, containing — (1), two dragons twisted to-
gether ; (2), a horse ; (3), left blank, probably for an in-
scription with interlaced work at the side ; (4), interlaced
work partly defaced.
AT 11 ALTON AND HEYSHAM. 331
South Side. — Divided into two panels with semicircu-
lar top§ containing, (l), interlaced work ; (2), conventional
foliage.
jiist Side. — Divided into two panels with semicircular
heads, the top one being again subdivided into two others
containing — (l), perhaps a conventional tree with two
birds, but rather difficult to make out ; below, the figure
of a man with hands upraised, and some interlaced work
in front; (2), a blacksmith seated at his forge, with a
hammer upraised, in the act of striking ; below is what
seem to be a pair of double bellows and an anvil ; on the
forge a pair of pincers. The top of the panel is filled in
wath a circular ring and a figure of eight loops interlaced,
a sword, a pair of j^incers, a hammer, and another object.
West Side. — Divided into two panels with semicircular
heads, containing — (1), large figure enthroned with t\yo
smaller figures seated at each side below ; (2), a cross in
the centre, with two figures holding staves raised on a
pedestal at either side.
In dealing with the sculpture upon these stones there
are three different points to be considered : (1), the gene-
ral arrangement of the design ; (2), the ornamental fea-
tures ; (3), the symbolism. As regards the general
arrangement, a cable-moulding runs up each of the four
angles of the shaft, and the sides are divided up into
panels by flat bands about 1^ inch wide, forming a frame
round each subject. The system of arranging a design
in panels is peculiarly Celtic ; but on the Halton Cross
most of the panels have semicircular heads instead of
being separated from the next ones by horizontal bands,
as is usually the case. The arched top has more the
character of the arcading found on Norman fonts and the
illuminated tables of canons in the early MSS. A very
good example of this method of treatment is to be found
on part of the shaft of a cross at Otley in Yorkshire. As
far as I know, panels with arched tops do not exist except
on pre-Norman stones in England.^ In the present state
of our knowledge of the subject I should hesitate whether
to ascribe this peculiarity to difference of time or differ-
ence of area.
1 This, of course, iTicludcs the wliolc of tlie ancient kingdom of
Northumbria, wliich belonged to England at tliut time.
332 PRE-NORMAN CROSSES
The ornamental features of the Halton Cross consist of
dragons, mterlaced work, and conventional foliage. As
regards the former,! look upon the dragonesque patterns,
which are one of the leading characteristics of early Celtic
art, rather as being zoomorphic forms of ornament than
as having any special symbolic meaning. The shapes of
the beasts are so unlike anything real, and vary so much
with the fancy of the designer, that it is difficult to give
any intelligible description of their appearance, or to
classify them according to locality and age. Some of the
zoomorphic patterns seen in the best Celtic and Hiberno-
Saxon MSS., such as the Book of Kells^ and the Lindis-
farne Gospels,^ appear to have been developed out of
interlaced work by introducing heads, tails, and claws of
animals at the ends of the bands. In the Lombardic
MSS.^ we find initial letters converted into beasts by a
somewhat similar process ; and in the tenth and eleventh
centuries, scrolls of foliage were combined with figures of
dragons, birds, archers,^ etc.
The question of the origin and development of zoomor-
phism is one of very great interest ; but its full discussion
would be beyond the scope of the present paper. I will
only remark that much light might be thrown on the
subject by a thorough examination of the Lombardic
MSS,, which, besides the predominance of animal forms,
possess other features in common with the sculptured
stones of the north of England, such as the use of inter-
laced work, and the peculiar way of representing the
symbols of the four Evangelists, referred to later on.
The interlaced patterns which occur on the side of the
Halton Cross are those numbered 101 and 135 in my
classified list of Celtic ornament published in the Pro-
ceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.^ Pat-
tern No. 101 is found on sculptured stones at Aberlemno
in Forfarshire, and Arthurlee in Renfrewshire ; and pat-
tern No. 135 at St. Oswald's and Billingham, in Durham,
and at Penally in Pembrokeshire.
* Westwood's Miniatures, PI. 10.
^ Astle's Origin ofWriting, PI. 14.
^ Nouvemt Traite ile Diplomatique, vol. ii, PI. 19,
^ Westwood's Miniatures, PI. 5U; border of portrait of St. Dunstcan ;
Boulogne Psalter, PI. 38 ; cross-shaft at Bishop Auckland,
'-' Vol. xvii, p. 211.
AT HALTON AND TIEYSHAM. 333
Conventional foliage such as we see on the south side
of the Halton Cross is a characteristic feature of the
ornamentation of the stones in tlie north of England and
south of Scotland, but it is not found on the monuments
belonging to the purely Celtic area.
Next, as regards the symbolism of the Halton Cross.
On the north side we have the figure of a horse without
a rider, which, as far as my experience goes, is quite
unique.^ Warriors, or huntsmen on horseback, occvu^ very
frequently on early crosses, more especially in Scotland ;
but horses alone are seldom if ever seen. The view that
contemporary events were represented upon Christian
monuments at this early period is one wholly unsupported
by any evidence whatsoever ; and the key to the mean-
ing of the subjects here sculptured must be sought in
some spiritual ajDplication founded on texts of Scripture.
The horse is used as a symbol in the Catacombs at Rome;
and according to Martigny,^ the generally accepted ex-
planation is that it refers to the j)assages in the writings
of St. Paul,^ where the life of the Christian is compared
to a race, — " Know ye not that they which run in a race
run all, but one receiveth the prize ? So run that ye may
obtain." Most of the texts in the Bible, wdiere horses
are mentioned, refer also to the rider, the most remark-
able ones being those in the Revelations. M. Didron, in
his Iconograj)Me Chretienrie,'^ gives an engraving of a fresco
in Auxerre Cathedral, in France, where Christ is repre-
sented as the King of kings and Lord of lords, seated
on a white horse, according to the description in the
Apocalypse.^ Examples of figures on horseback occur on
early crosses at Gosforth and Dearham, in Cumberland ;
Crowle in Lincolnshire ; Wycliffe in Yorkshire ; Chester-
le-Street in Durham ; and Bakewell in Derbyshire ; Llan-
dough, Glamorganshire ; Penmon, Anglesey ; Kirk An-
dreas, Kirk Michael, and Douglas, in the Isle of Man. In
Scotland there is hardly a single sculptured stone which
has not a representation of one or more horsemen upon
1 There is an animal on a stone at Kirkby Hill, in Yorkshire, which
may possibly be intended for a horse ; bnt I know of no other example.
2 Bid. des Ant. Chrrf., art., " Chcval", p. 171.
3 I Cor., ix, 24, and II Tim., iv, 7. ^ p. 315.
'•> xix, 11.
334 PRE-NORMAN CROSSES
it, generally engaged in the chase. In Ireland, horsemen
are generally seen on the bases of the high crosses. It is
impossible to believe that in all these cases nothing more
is intended beyond the representation of the occupations
of every-day life, which would be quite out of place in
association with scenes from Scripture, and amidst dis-
tinctly Christian symbols.
The subject on the upper panel on the east side of the
Halton Cross I am unable to explain, and can only say
that it shows a human being standing in front of what
may either be a piece of simple interlaced work, or a
dragon with a knotted tail. The blacksmith working at
his forge, in the lower panel, is, I believe, the only known
instance of the kind upon a pre-Norman sculptured
stone, and is probably the earliest portrait of an English
workman in metal which we possess. The Scandinavian
school of English archgeologists will probably recognise
him to be Wieland or Thor ; but I think it is in the
highest degree unlikely that heathen legends were ever
adapted to Christian purposes, and until some much
stronger evidence has been brought forward than the
supposed resemblances between the descriptions in the
Sagas and the sculptures on the crosses, we must hesitate
to accept this view of the case. In order to complete the
chain of evidence it is necessary to go further, and show
not only that a certain grouping of figures and accessories
corresponds more or less with a particular story, but also
to produce an illustration from a contemporary MS. or a
sculpture where the meaning of the subject is made clear
by an inscription. Anything short of this is mere specu-
lation. A picture of a smith will be found in the cele-
brated Utrecht Psalter and the Eadwine Psalter, in
the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Harleian
Psalter, No. 603, in the British Museum, the illumi-
nations of the two latter being copied from the former.
The smith at his forge illustrates the verse from the
Psalms (xii, 6) : " The words of the Lord are pure
words : as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified
seven times.-"^ There are very few texts in the Bible re-
ferring to working in metal, the most important being
the one in Genesis (iv, 22), describing Tubal Cain as "an
1 W. de Gray Birch's UtrecJit Psalter, p. 211.
CROSS SHAFT AT HALTON
M^y
m
r>^.
FRAGMENTS AT HALTOX.
HALTON CROSS.
^^
P
^
''r-nTTrm \
SHAFT OF CROSS AT HEYSUAM.
AT 11 ALTON AND IIEYSHAM. 335
instructor of every artificer in brass and iron,"^ and those
in Isaiah (xHv, 12), about the manufacture of idols, " The
smith with the tongs both worked in the coals, and
fashioned it with hammers, and worketh it with the
strength of his arms"; and (liv, 16), "Behold I have
created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and
that bringeth forth an instrument for his work." How-
ever, I have never seen any illustrations of these passages
from Isaiah in the MSS. of the Old Testament ; and the
reason that they are passed over is probably because
there is nothing in them which has any special reference
to the doctrines of Christianity. It is just possible that
the blacksmith at Halton belongs to that class of sepul-
chral memorial which is intended to show the trade of
the deceased, such as is found in the Catacombs at Rome,
and on the tombstones of the eighteenth century in
Scotland. Instances of smiths' tools being carved on
early crosses exist at Leeds, ^ Dunfallandy,*^ in Perth-
shire, and Kirkholm^ in Wigtonshire. Upon the Rune-
inscribed casket^ in the British Museum a smith is
carved, next to the scene of the Adoration of the Magi.^
Professor Stephens thinks he is intended for Wieland.
The subjects sculptured on the west side of the Halton
Cross are quite unlike anything I have seen elsewhere. The
enthroned figure in the upper panel may possibly be in-
tended for Christ in Glory, but there is no nimbus round
the head. The cross in the lower panel is perhaps
typical of the Crucifixion (the figure of the Saviour being
omitted), with the Virgin and St. John at each side.
This is the only one of all the subjects which can with
absolute certainty be said to be Christian, but its associa-
tion with the others makes it probable that they are
Christian also.
When I visited Halton there was, lying near the foot
of the shaft in the churchyard, a fragment, which has now
been deposited in a place of greater safety by the Rev.
^ Illustrated in the MS. of Caedmon's Paraphrase of the Scriptures,
in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, tenth century. See ArcJia'olot/ia,
vol. xxiv, PI. 79, and in ^Ifric's Heptateuch in the British Museum.
^ Juurn. Brit. Arcliceol. Assoc, vol. xli, p. 132.
^ Stuart's Sculptured Stones, vol. i. * lb., vol. ii, PI. 70.
^ Stephens' Ilandbooh of Runic Monuments, p. 145.
* As also in the Norman font at Ingleton, Yoi-kshirc.
188G -24
336 PRE-NORMAN CROSSES
S. Hastings, rector of the parish, to whom I am much
indehtecl for kind assistance in my researches. This
fragment is 1 ft. 6 ins. long, by 9 ins. by 11 ins. at the
bottom, and tapering to 8:^ ins. by 8| ins. at the top.
Each side has a complete panel of sculpture and portion
of another. The panels have semicircular heads, and con-
tain the symbols of the Four Evangelists, one on each
side — the Man of St. Matthew, the Lion of St. Mark,
the Calf of St. Luke, and the Eagle of St. John. The
symbols are three-quarters length draped human figures,
holding books, and having the heads of the two beasts,
the man and the bird. They exactly resemble the figures
on the cross at Ilkley,^ in Yorkshire, but instead of being
arranged one above the other on the shaft, they are placed
all at the same level round the top. There are, at least, two
other instances of the symbols of the Evangelists being
treated in a similar manner,— -on the cross at Sandbach,^ in
Cheshire, surrounding the Crucifixion, and on the very
remarkable early sculptured slab at Wirksworth,^ in
Derbyshire, in the four angles of a cross, with the Agnus
Dei on it. There are also two stones in Scotland, at
Kirriemuir* and Inchbrayock,'' in Forfarshire, with figures
very much resembling those in question.
I cannot find any instances of the symbols of the Four
Evangelists on the crosses of Ireland or Wales, although
they occur in almost all the Celtic MSS. of the Gospels
of the same period.
It is well known that the symbolic beasts have their
origin in the descriptions given in the vision of Ezekiel
(i, 10, and x, 14) and the Apocalypse of St. John (iv, 8).
They first make their appearance in Christian art in the
fifth century, the earliest dated example being on the
mosaics of the church of St. Sabina at Rome, executed
by the order of St. Selestin I, in a.d. 424. The early
fathers, SS. Jerome, Augustine, and Ambrose, do not
agree as to the interpretation of the texts in Ezekiel and
the Revelations, but the generally accepted view is that
of St. Jerome, founded on the opening verses of the dif-
ferent Gospels. " The first face, that of a man, signifies
^ Journ. Brit. Archceol. Assoc, vol. xl, p. 160.
^ Lysons' Magna Britannia. •" Froc. Soc. Ant. Scot., xviii, p. 397.
* Stuart's Sculptured Stones, vol. i, PI. 43. ^ Ditto, vol. ii, PI. 2.
AT H ALTON AND IIEYSHAM. 337
Matthew, who begins to write, as of a man, the book of
the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son
of Abraham ; the second, Mark, in which is heard the
voice of the lion roaring in the desert, ' Prepare ye the
way of the Lord' ; the third, that of the calf, prefigures
St. Luke the Evangelist commencing his history from the
priest Zechariah ; and the fourth the Evangelist, John,
who having taken the wings of an eagle, and hastening
to loftier things, speaks of God.' Other commentators
found their interpretations on the general teaching of
the Gospels and the nature of Christ. In many of the
early MSS.,^ and on some monuments,^' explanatory verses
and inscriptions are added to the symbols. Martigny, in