NARRATIVE OF THE WRITINGS

It was on the 7th of November that F.B.B. and J.A. had their first sitting for the purpose of furthering the Glastonbury research. This took place at 4.30 p.m. in F.B.B.'s office. J.A. held a pencil, F.B.B. provided foolscap paper, which he steadied with his left hand, whilst placing his right lightly on the back of J.A.'s, so that his fingers lay evenly across its surface.

F.B.B. started by asking the question, as though addressed to some other person:

"Can you tell us anything about Glastonbury?"

J.A.'s fingers began to move, and one or two lines of small irregular writing were traced on the paper. He did not see what was written, nor did F.B.B. decipher it until complete. The agreed method was to remain passive, avoid concentration of the mind on the subject of the writing, and to talk casually of other and indifferent matters, and this was done. The writing turned out to be a sort of abstract dictum—viz.:

"All knowledge is eternal and is available to mental sympathy."

Then followed:

"I was not in sympathy with monks—I cannot find a monk yet."

F.B.B. suggested that one of their living monk-friends might be a sympathetic link, and the writing was resumed. After a short interval J.A.'s hand moved and began to trace a line, ultimately making a drawing which on inspection looked like a recumbent cross, but which when examined proved to be a fairly correct outline of the main features of the Abbey Church traced by a single continuous line, but at the east was a long rectangular addition, nearly as long again as the quire, and this was given in a double line as though to emphasise it. Down the middle of the plan were written the words—

"Gulielmus Monachus." (See Fig.4.)

Next followed what appeared to be an elaborate plan of the great enclosure of the Abbey Church, with a sketch of a central tower, with square pinnacled top, a west front or gabled façade, with two peaked turrets and a large arched light between. Across the middle of the surrounding enclosure a line was drawn, and at one point something like an ornamental turret with two curved diverging lines below appeared, and the words, "linea bifurcata"9were written. Then something looking like a gabled building was sketched, from which a line was traced to two rows of arches,perhaps representing a cloister, and thence another straight line to a drawing recognised as being intended for St. Mary's Chapel, and approaching it from the south. The plan of the chapel showed a large square projection (? turret) on the south, and two doors on the north side.

Fig. 4.—The Plan of the Abbey Church with the Edgar Chapel to the East (Left Hand).

Note.—The drawing has all the marks of a blindfold tracing. The line is continuous, commencing at A, and the north transept is first drawn, very small. Next the line runs east, and the north-east angle of the retro-quire is traced, and, following this, the Edgar Chapel, extending east for about half the length of the quire. Here the line is drawn three times over, as though to emphasise the feature, and it then returns over the old ground, the north transept being again drawn, but larger and further removed, and the whole outline of the church is completed, to the junction south-west of the Edgar Chapel, ending with the signatureGulielmus Monachus(William the Monk).

Q.(by F.B.B.). "What does this drawing represent?"A."Guest Hall ... St. Maria Capella ... Rolf monachus."

Q.(by F.B.B.). "What does this drawing represent?"

A."Guest Hall ... St. Maria Capella ... Rolf monachus."

The first drawing was now examined, and both F.B.B. and J.A. expressed a view unfavourable to the possibility of so large a chapel at the east of the church. It was resolved to try again.

F.B.B. "Please give us a more careful drawing of the chapel sketched just now at the east end of the great church."

In reply, a new sketch of the rectangular chapel was given (see Fig.5), with an attempt to indicate the position of two smaller chapels on the north. Again the line was drawn double, and below was written the following, in cramped characters not easy to decipher:

"Capella St. Edgar. Abbas Beere fecit hanc capellam Beati Edgari ... martyri et hic edificavit vel fecit voltam ... fecit voltam petriam quod vocatur quadripartus sed Abbas Whitting ... destruxit ... et restoravit eam cum nov ... multipart ... nescimus eam quod vocatur."Portus10introitus post reredos post altarium quinquepassuum et capella extensit 30 virgas ad orientem et (? viginti)11in latitudine cum fen (?) ... (?)."F.B.B. "Please repeat; we cannot read this."(Repeated.) "Quinquaginta12virgas et fenestrae transomatae."

"Portus10introitus post reredos post altarium quinquepassuum et capella extensit 30 virgas ad orientem et (? viginti)11in latitudine cum fen (?) ... (?)."

F.B.B. "Please repeat; we cannot read this."

(Repeated.) "Quinquaginta12virgas et fenestrae transomatae."

Fig. 5.—Second Plan of the Edgar Chapel as built by Beere, showing its Relative Greatness as compared with the Little Chapels of the Retro-Quire.

The line starts at the east, and again it is repeated for emphasis. The chapel is shown at first, clear of the east wall, but there is a subsequent loss of position which brings the little chapels beyond their prescribed limit and makes the plan appear confused. Below is written "Capella St. Edgar, Abbas Beere fecit hanc capellam" (Chapel of Saint Edgar, Abbot Beere built this chapel).

F.B.B. "Please give length again."A."30 virgas ... et fenestrae (cum) lapide horizontali quod vocatur transome et vitrea azurea; et fecit altarium ornat(um) cum auro et argento et ... et tumba ante altarium gloriosa aedificavit ad memoriam Sanct ... Edgar...."F.B.B. "Which Abbot did this?"A."Ricar(d)us Whitting.... Ego Johannes Bryant monachus et lapidator."

F.B.B. "Please give length again."

A."30 virgas ... et fenestrae (cum) lapide horizontali quod vocatur transome et vitrea azurea; et fecit altarium ornat(um) cum auro et argento et ... et tumba ante altarium gloriosa aedificavit ad memoriam Sanct ... Edgar...."

F.B.B. "Which Abbot did this?"

A."Ricar(d)us Whitting.... Ego Johannes Bryant monachus et lapidator."

This concluded the sitting.

SITTING II. 11th November, 1907, 1 p.m.

"The material influences were at fault when last ... I think active influences were overpowering my will. Those monks were anxious to communicate.... They want you to know about the Abbey. They say the times are now ripe for the glory to return and the curse is departing. I do not know about these things. They have been wishing to influence you for a long time, and they have been (endeavouring to?) reproduce things in your minds."

Here the influence changes.

"Benedicite. Go unto Glaston soon. Gloria reddenda antiqua. Laus Deo in saecula seculorum. Nubes evaserunt ... memoria rerum manet et red ... Ecclesia catholica extensit et comprehensit latera (sic,? latentia) vera et res occultas sapientibus.

"JOHANNES."

SITTING III. 13th November, 1907.

Writing commenced without any direction by sitters.

"I think I am wrong in some things. Other influences cross my own.... Those monks are trying to make themselves felt by you both. Why do they want to talk Latin?... Why can't they talk English?... Benedicite. Johannes.... It is difficult to talk in Latin tongue (repeated, being illegible). Seems just as difficult to talk in Latin language.""Ye names of builded things are very hard in Latin tongue—transome, fanne tracery, and the like. My son, thou canst not understande. Wee wold speak in the Englyshe tongue. Wee saide that ye volte was multipartite yt was fannes olde style in ye este ende of ye choire and ye newe volt in Edgares chappel.... Glosterfannes (repeated). Fannes ... (again) yclept fanne ... Johannes lap ... mason."Q."What is meant by 'lap mason'?"A."Lapidator ... stonemason."

"Ye names of builded things are very hard in Latin tongue—transome, fanne tracery, and the like. My son, thou canst not understande. Wee wold speak in the Englyshe tongue. Wee saide that ye volte was multipartite yt was fannes olde style in ye este ende of ye choire and ye newe volt in Edgares chappel.... Glosterfannes (repeated). Fannes ... (again) yclept fanne ... Johannes lap ... mason."

Q."What is meant by 'lap mason'?"

A."Lapidator ... stonemason."

Having this signature "Johannes" now again repeated, F.B.B. felt curious to know how far this dramatisation or memory of a personality might be developed.

Q. by F.F.B."Tell us more about yourself."A."I ... died in 1533." (Repeated because almost illegible.) "Yn 1533 obitus ... curator capellae et laborans in mea ecclesia pro amore ecclesiae Dei ... sculptans et supervisor ... yn Henricum septem13... anno 1497 et defunctus anno 1533."

Q. by F.F.B."Tell us more about yourself."

A."I ... died in 1533." (Repeated because almost illegible.) "Yn 1533 obitus ... curator capellae et laborans in mea ecclesia pro amore ecclesiae Dei ... sculptans et supervisor ... yn Henricum septem13... anno 1497 et defunctus anno 1533."

NOTE ON THE FIRST THREE SITTINGS.

We observe in these communications an individual tone, as of a directing influence, at first manifesting without intermediate links, but almost immediately yielding place to the monkish elements introducing themselves as "Gulielmus Monachus," "Rolf Monachus," and "Johannes Bryant." There appears something like a clash of intention, a strain which reacts on the physicalcondition of the sitters, and which seems to account for the rapid exhaustion of power towards the end of the first sitting, and the consequent lack of clearness and consistency in the results.

In the second sitting the directive agency speaks of the monks as "active influences"—an expression to be noted. And it is explained that "the material influences were at fault." Then in the third sitting we get, "I think I am wrong in some things. Other influences cross my own."

It seems very much like a man trying to make a trunk call on a telephone, who is worried because the local office will either persist in switching him off at critical moments, or else because the wires are out of order and imperfectly isolated, so that fragments of other conversation are interjected.

When we come to consider the matter of the monkish communications, under the name Johannes, we are at once confronted by the question, "Is this a piece of actual experience transmitted by a real personality, or are we in contact with a larger field of memory, a cosmic record latent, yet living (the "eternal knowledge" of the first writing we record), and able to find expression in human terms related to the subject before us, by the aid of something furnished by the culture of our own minds, and by the aid of a certain power of mental sympathy which allows such records to be sensed and articulated?"

As to this, it is too early to dogmatise, but in either case room must be left for the presence of a Directive Power accessible to man, capable ofstimulating and energising dormant consciousness, and directing it into such channels as man has developed for its reception and expression.

SITTING IV. 19th November, 1907.

The result was interesting, but contained nothing important as regards the Abbey.

SITTING V. 22nd November, 1907.

A further plan was produced of the general range of Abbey buildings, signed "Johannes." This was followed by a short script as here given:

"When you dig, excavate the pillars of the crypt, six feet below the grass—they will give you a clue. The direction of the walls ... eastwards (this word might almost as easily have been 'westwards,' or even 'outwards,' and it was so ill written that nothing could be decided from it) ... was at an angle ... clothyards twenty seven long, nineteen wide."

It would have been just as easy to read the last as "thirteen." The pencilled original of the plan is preserved, but not the script, as it was not regarded as of value at the time, but the mention of the "walls at an angle," referring, as it would appear, to some part of the chapel whose dimensions are in the context, is an interesting point.

The mention of the crypt seemed simply the mentality of the sitters—a reflex of their study of Wild's plan. It is again referred to, however, in later writings.

SITTING VI. 26th November, 1907.

F.B.B. "Perhaps Johannes will tell us something more?"A."Johannes Bryant is striving for the glory of Glaston. There is much under the grass deep down and unrifled. The east of St. Mary's has a vault under the stairs and under the nave there are vaults14—the destroyers feared, and the ruin of the walls hid the entrance in. Under the tower the volt is perfect, and many names of those buried therein very deep down."Q."Where should we commence to dig?"A."The east end. Seek for the pillars, and the wall(s) at an angle. The foundations are deep."

F.B.B. "Perhaps Johannes will tell us something more?"

A."Johannes Bryant is striving for the glory of Glaston. There is much under the grass deep down and unrifled. The east of St. Mary's has a vault under the stairs and under the nave there are vaults14—the destroyers feared, and the ruin of the walls hid the entrance in. Under the tower the volt is perfect, and many names of those buried therein very deep down."

Q."Where should we commence to dig?"

A."The east end. Seek for the pillars, and the wall(s) at an angle. The foundations are deep."

SITTING IX. 30th December, 1907.

Commencement of writing quite illegible.

"... (the) end of the time approaches. The year is big with issues and Glastonbury will engage much of your attention...."JOHANNES, MONACHUS.""Wait, and the course will open in the spring. You will learn as you proceed. We have much to do this season....""... The chapel of Our Lady of Glaston—type of spiritual things which are not manifest to you. The changes need not alarm you. The reconstructions will be more perfect. Let the State fall in ruins and the outward garments of Faith perish—fear not!""... For greater things will rise into being—great nations and great ideals. We work for it. Be willing, and strive not against the tide. Up on the crest and prosper. All will work for the best.... The spark will live thro' the rains and re-light dead fires, fire which is still fire but with purer flame. We cannot hasten the time,but it is sure and is not delayed. You are between two influences. Earth and spirit mingle not. Losing earthly grasp leaves you without earthly support. Hold fast to earth's duties. Work as men for man's meat. Keep open ears for spiritual help and whisperings. Assimilate and combine both forces. Stand in the market-place and cry your wares, but listen for the still small voice in the silence of your chamber. Work in the sun. Listen in the starlight...."

"... (the) end of the time approaches. The year is big with issues and Glastonbury will engage much of your attention....

"JOHANNES, MONACHUS."

"Wait, and the course will open in the spring. You will learn as you proceed. We have much to do this season...."

"... The chapel of Our Lady of Glaston—type of spiritual things which are not manifest to you. The changes need not alarm you. The reconstructions will be more perfect. Let the State fall in ruins and the outward garments of Faith perish—fear not!"

"... For greater things will rise into being—great nations and great ideals. We work for it. Be willing, and strive not against the tide. Up on the crest and prosper. All will work for the best.... The spark will live thro' the rains and re-light dead fires, fire which is still fire but with purer flame. We cannot hasten the time,but it is sure and is not delayed. You are between two influences. Earth and spirit mingle not. Losing earthly grasp leaves you without earthly support. Hold fast to earth's duties. Work as men for man's meat. Keep open ears for spiritual help and whisperings. Assimilate and combine both forces. Stand in the market-place and cry your wares, but listen for the still small voice in the silence of your chamber. Work in the sun. Listen in the starlight...."

Both F.B.B. and J.A. expressed a good deal of surprise at the nature of the first part of this communication, as any idea of impending revolution in Church or State had been utterly remote from our minds and not in any way the subject of conversation. The passage was an intrusion and a puzzle. But we did not regard it as of any special interest; more as a curiosity for which a psychological explanation was lacking.

Later there occurred more such intrusions, pointing with increasing definiteness to the nature of that which we were warned to anticipate, but they belong to another story and have no connection with the discovery of the Edgar Chapel. Hence the record of many sittings will be omitted, and we pass to the nineteenth, held 19th February, 1908, after a visit to the Abbey. F.B.B. had not yet received his appointment, but was steadily preparing, and at the moment was engaged in working out the probable appearance of the approaches to the central chapel of the retro-quire, and the work of Bere's time had been discussed.

N.B.—All the 1907 sittings were at Bristol. The next to be recorded (Sitting XIX.) was held at Glastonbury.

SITTING XIX. 19th February, 1908. At Glaston

"The arche is flatte—three ells from side to side—ten feet high—all panellae. All ye midst of ye est ende was panellae and the grete chappell was15..."... we have told you long tyme sins—panellae everywhere ... thin walls and poore foundations in the new work."Two capellae north and south and between them a greate space with a tall doore in the midst, of four centres, all panelled under ye fann-tracery over ye lintel. And there were two altares on either side and much carven woode very blacke which was took away for the panellae. And the holes in ye walls were covered with the panellae so that they shewed not, and yt was all of stone very white and faire and in ye doore was a greate stairway with two windowes on either hand that did rise one above the other of equal height above ye stairway.... And ye stairway was divided in ye midst by a grete rail of stone so that they who went upp might not meet with they who came down ye said stair."And beyond rose a Capella of Edgar ye sainte, faire and high with grete windowes with transomes and between ye windowes were pillars as panellae the whych did holde ye roofe of stone vaultid very faire in panellae which were fanwise very fine much like carven yvorie and carvings ypainted in ye bosses and in ye spandrels and there was a grete windowe in ye est parte of eight lights all ye arches and ye roofe being flatte as of the period and the chamber was yflagged with tiles of many colours and in ye midst was a tumbe of silver and precious stones and pictures in the panellae over against ye est window. And ye chamber was in length seventy feet in four bayes and in width it was thirty and foure16... and the walls were thin and all of faire squared stone and newe carven soe that they who did destroy this ... first, even before the great church."And soe hyt was not. There were faire steppes of marble and ye fannes over ye doore did hold a lyttel galeriethe whych did open close on ye stairway looking down on them that passed there and a lytell windowe was above for to lyte ye chapell in ye church at back of ye two altares for hyt was darke."Forty and two feete was the hight of ye newe chapelle and yt was ybuttressed with faire buttresses and walls slantwise at ye cornere."

"The arche is flatte—three ells from side to side—ten feet high—all panellae. All ye midst of ye est ende was panellae and the grete chappell was15...

"... we have told you long tyme sins—panellae everywhere ... thin walls and poore foundations in the new work.

"Two capellae north and south and between them a greate space with a tall doore in the midst, of four centres, all panelled under ye fann-tracery over ye lintel. And there were two altares on either side and much carven woode very blacke which was took away for the panellae. And the holes in ye walls were covered with the panellae so that they shewed not, and yt was all of stone very white and faire and in ye doore was a greate stairway with two windowes on either hand that did rise one above the other of equal height above ye stairway.... And ye stairway was divided in ye midst by a grete rail of stone so that they who went upp might not meet with they who came down ye said stair.

"And beyond rose a Capella of Edgar ye sainte, faire and high with grete windowes with transomes and between ye windowes were pillars as panellae the whych did holde ye roofe of stone vaultid very faire in panellae which were fanwise very fine much like carven yvorie and carvings ypainted in ye bosses and in ye spandrels and there was a grete windowe in ye est parte of eight lights all ye arches and ye roofe being flatte as of the period and the chamber was yflagged with tiles of many colours and in ye midst was a tumbe of silver and precious stones and pictures in the panellae over against ye est window. And ye chamber was in length seventy feet in four bayes and in width it was thirty and foure16... and the walls were thin and all of faire squared stone and newe carven soe that they who did destroy this ... first, even before the great church.

"And soe hyt was not. There were faire steppes of marble and ye fannes over ye doore did hold a lyttel galeriethe whych did open close on ye stairway looking down on them that passed there and a lytell windowe was above for to lyte ye chapell in ye church at back of ye two altares for hyt was darke.

"Forty and two feete was the hight of ye newe chapelle and yt was ybuttressed with faire buttresses and walls slantwise at ye cornere."

There appears throughout this communication a tendency to older forms of spelling never quite achieved, and constantly slipping back into the normal. The phrasing seems more consistently old-fashioned.

Note the further reference to "walls slantwise at ye cornere," recalling the "walls at an angle" mentioned in an earlier script.

SITTING XXIV. 5th March, 1908.

"... Wold I could tell you of the great Est window in the gabell. It is hard to say its many parts but ye shall see it a noon. (This is of the quire.—F.B.B.)"The buildings on the south side of the east end were two. One was a chapell, the other for the priest to robe in."Saint Edgar was buried in the window where ye see the cross. Afterwards Beer moved him to the new chapell that he builded. Chapell was like unto Wells but more faire."

"... Wold I could tell you of the great Est window in the gabell. It is hard to say its many parts but ye shall see it a noon. (This is of the quire.—F.B.B.)

"The buildings on the south side of the east end were two. One was a chapell, the other for the priest to robe in.

"Saint Edgar was buried in the window where ye see the cross. Afterwards Beer moved him to the new chapell that he builded. Chapell was like unto Wells but more faire."

This obviously alludes to Bishop Stillington's Chapel, a fan-vaulted structure of rich sixteenth-century work, now destroyed.

SITTING XXV. 10th March, 1908.

F.B.B. obtained the appointment as representative of the Somerset Archæological Society, with licence to excavate, in the month of May, 1908.

SITTING XXVII. 17th March, 1908. At Bristol.

"The time is ripe for the stones to be studied. Go ye soone.""The corbel-stones are full large." (This refers to a sketch reconstruction of the transept wall by F.B.B.) "Put ye ten between each buttress."Q."Is the parapet right?"A."The parapet is right."Q."What about the quire vaulting shown?"A."Ye volte is welnigh righte for what ye see, but over Arthur's tombe to the Est window it was fayrer and much ygilt soe that the lightes of the Altar shold shine thereon and make a glory.""Looke for ye ribs of the choir, plain ones and carven, and ye bosses. Some be at the East End. Enow has been left from the destroyer, just enow and no more: it was so ordained lest they should destroy for ever. Make ye yourselves a scheme—enow left everywhere.""Why destroyed they not the walls that came to hande? They cared not, but indeed they left it and digged deepe for stones."They could not an they would.""Why left they the altar stones when they might have digged up? say, why?"Q."You say, 'Saxon, Norman, and Native, all strive together for the glory of Glaston.' Can you put us in touch with any of these early influences?"A."What wold they tell ye? Their works were rude, and have departed. The Abbey is not of them—nothing save certain books—and we wold that the books were againe, only the Church as it was wont to be. We who speke are of its different orders: Gulielmus of old tyme, and Johannes later, and he who builded last—our Abbot Beere. What more is needed? Wee point the way; to you it is to follow, and all that is needed is given you. Worke wyth brain and handes, and all is there. So it is ordained, for what ye desire, that is good that ye shall strive for. Wee worked in our day: ye must work in yours. Ne work, ne wages,—ne what you call honour."Q."It is St. Patrick's Day to-day. Can you tell us anything of his time and of his work, and St. Brigit's? No doubt there was much in the great Library of the Abbey."A."Olde legends, meet for the people—but what value? They were, and didde, much among the heathen. We know not more, save that their workes were old and very dry to rede." (This passage is signed with a cross in a circle, and a capital letter, not clearly identified.)Q."Please write your name."A."Reginaldus, qui obiit 1214—one thousand, two hundred and 14."

"The time is ripe for the stones to be studied. Go ye soone."

"The corbel-stones are full large." (This refers to a sketch reconstruction of the transept wall by F.B.B.) "Put ye ten between each buttress."

Q."Is the parapet right?"

A."The parapet is right."

Q."What about the quire vaulting shown?"

A."Ye volte is welnigh righte for what ye see, but over Arthur's tombe to the Est window it was fayrer and much ygilt soe that the lightes of the Altar shold shine thereon and make a glory."

"Looke for ye ribs of the choir, plain ones and carven, and ye bosses. Some be at the East End. Enow has been left from the destroyer, just enow and no more: it was so ordained lest they should destroy for ever. Make ye yourselves a scheme—enow left everywhere."

"Why destroyed they not the walls that came to hande? They cared not, but indeed they left it and digged deepe for stones.

"They could not an they would."

"Why left they the altar stones when they might have digged up? say, why?"

Q."You say, 'Saxon, Norman, and Native, all strive together for the glory of Glaston.' Can you put us in touch with any of these early influences?"

A."What wold they tell ye? Their works were rude, and have departed. The Abbey is not of them—nothing save certain books—and we wold that the books were againe, only the Church as it was wont to be. We who speke are of its different orders: Gulielmus of old tyme, and Johannes later, and he who builded last—our Abbot Beere. What more is needed? Wee point the way; to you it is to follow, and all that is needed is given you. Worke wyth brain and handes, and all is there. So it is ordained, for what ye desire, that is good that ye shall strive for. Wee worked in our day: ye must work in yours. Ne work, ne wages,—ne what you call honour."

Q."It is St. Patrick's Day to-day. Can you tell us anything of his time and of his work, and St. Brigit's? No doubt there was much in the great Library of the Abbey."

A."Olde legends, meet for the people—but what value? They were, and didde, much among the heathen. We know not more, save that their workes were old and very dry to rede." (This passage is signed with a cross in a circle, and a capital letter, not clearly identified.)

Q."Please write your name."

A."Reginaldus, qui obiit 1214—one thousand, two hundred and 14."

The identity of this Reginald is not clear. Bishop Reginald of Wells, who consecrated the Chapel of St. Mary at Glastonbury, died in 1191 according to the chronicles. The Chapel is said to have been completed in 1216.

The script has been retraced, as it was done in soft pencil and could not be preserved.

SITTING XXIX. 20th April, 1908.

"Gloria in excelsis tibi Deo. Pax vobiscum, filii."The time is near. Dig well and those things which ye seek shall be given you but serche carefully lest ye eradicate those things that be left for your guidance...."... the est end will be the first, and then ye shall find proof of ye goodly towers at ye west end.17Serche the ruins for the way they were finished. There is much left to guide you....""... Influence man, and that which was before decreed shall aid you and they who are around you shall feel your influence and ours."In very truth it was a goodly church and it is said that ye of your time shall know what works we did pro gloria Dei."We were mistaken in some things—all men are—but the thought that made the great church of Glaston was not bounded by ye mind and that thought must live and prevail."Move, work, and unceasingly persist, and in time there will be a place for what once was and ye shall know its buildings yet again as they were wont to be. The lesser works first: and then cometh one who will build the great church—a son of Glaston from beyond the sea. Even now he waits and watches. We wait and watch and hope with the knowledge that comes to men on the other side. The church is always the church, and in the great schema of the world we come soon and our instrument Glaston shall find a mighty place.... Thus Johannes saith."

"Gloria in excelsis tibi Deo. Pax vobiscum, filii.

"The time is near. Dig well and those things which ye seek shall be given you but serche carefully lest ye eradicate those things that be left for your guidance....

"... the est end will be the first, and then ye shall find proof of ye goodly towers at ye west end.17Serche the ruins for the way they were finished. There is much left to guide you...."

"... Influence man, and that which was before decreed shall aid you and they who are around you shall feel your influence and ours.

"In very truth it was a goodly church and it is said that ye of your time shall know what works we did pro gloria Dei.

"We were mistaken in some things—all men are—but the thought that made the great church of Glaston was not bounded by ye mind and that thought must live and prevail.

"Move, work, and unceasingly persist, and in time there will be a place for what once was and ye shall know its buildings yet again as they were wont to be. The lesser works first: and then cometh one who will build the great church—a son of Glaston from beyond the sea. Even now he waits and watches. We wait and watch and hope with the knowledge that comes to men on the other side. The church is always the church, and in the great schema of the world we come soon and our instrument Glaston shall find a mighty place.... Thus Johannes saith."

At this point the sequence of the writing is broken by the story of Johannes going a-fishing, and lingering in the lanes. This we give in Part II.

Q."We should like to know something of the nature of the old foundations which were found under the Quire in the 1904 excavations, also whether any light can be thrown upon the subterranean piers, their date and purpose?""... The window was straight as we knew it, but18was somewhat changed by Abbot Beere when he made the chapell. Ye are right about ye end walls. Johannes saw to the building thereof for they were five years before they builded the last part because there was nothing in the coffers—so the church was perfect without the new parts."What was it Beere performed? We will remember. The olde church had a chapell going east like to Edgar's and the corners were cut off most like. The foundations ye mean remain. We know but that which we heard and that which they who followed after did, we know not, save only we can enquire."Beere, Abbot, is not with us now. He has a work toperform. There are others who build in your England and he hath to lead them as they should be led. They who builded in our day and were masters, lead ye now.

"... The window was straight as we knew it, but18was somewhat changed by Abbot Beere when he made the chapell. Ye are right about ye end walls. Johannes saw to the building thereof for they were five years before they builded the last part because there was nothing in the coffers—so the church was perfect without the new parts.

"What was it Beere performed? We will remember. The olde church had a chapell going east like to Edgar's and the corners were cut off most like. The foundations ye mean remain. We know but that which we heard and that which they who followed after did, we know not, save only we can enquire.

"Beere, Abbot, is not with us now. He has a work toperform. There are others who build in your England and he hath to lead them as they should be led. They who builded in our day and were masters, lead ye now.

"ROBERT. ANNO 1334. GLASTON."

NOTE ON SITTING XXIX.

The blending of influences is again very marked, but the dominant thought is that of one of the inmates of the great abbatial House. The signature "Robert" (anno 1334) does not help us. This was the year that witnessed the election of John de Breynton as Abbot, vice Adam de Sodbury, and it was an era of great building activities. But Robert speaks, or is made to speak, for those of an era two hundred years later, or nearly, and it is strange to find a voice from the fourteenth century recalling the "window" as it then was, and going on to describe alterations made at the beginning of the sixteenth.

And the allusion to Abbot Beere's living influence is of peculiar interest. Among the best modern exponents of the Gothic English styles, the call of the past, and the influence of the past, is vital as an element in their work, and it is precisely in the measure in which they are able to translate the spirit of the past, that they can claim inspiration in what they strive to produce.19Occasionally a sincere student will obtain some mental pictures of a bygone time of singular clearness and fidelity, whence, he knows not; only that they are spontaneously apparent to himwhen in astate of mental passivity after intellectual exertion in the particular direction needed. It may be of interest here to quote an experience once related to the writer by an old friend, W., now retired from practice, but who in the 80's of the last century was responsible for a good deal of scholarly restoration work in the west country. W. was very partial to the Early English forms, and if he had a fault, it was the fault of his day, when restorers were a little ruthless, as we should think nowadays, in substituting Early English detail for the fifteenth century "vernacular" of the district. On one occasion he was called upon to undertake "restoration"—which, in this case, meant a partial rebuilding—of a decayed church in the very decayed town of I. The south wall of the nave, a work of the ordinary "Perpendicular" sort, had to be rebuilt, and he had to construct a new arcade for the aisle adjoining. Somehow he felt disinclined to do this in the fifteenth-century style, but was prompted to design afresh, in the manner of the thirteenth. And for his pillars he imagined a form of capital having rather a complex moulding. There was nothing visible to guide him, but it appealed to him as suitable. Nor was it a local type—at least, this would be the writer's recollection of the impression he derived from the drawing which W. showed him.

The capitals were provided of this pattern, the old wall was pulled down, and hidden within it and built into its substance was founda pier-capital of a moulding identical in detail. I myselfwas satisfied that he had never seen any particle of this early work, and he allows me to retell the story here. As to the story of Johannes, the truant monk and nature-lover, it takes the form of an interpretation of his memory-record by another. Whether we are dealing with a singularly vivid imaginative picture or with the personality of a man no one can really decide. But later examples will elucidate the part he plays in the scheme, and it is one of much interest from the psychological point of view.

SITTING XXIX.—Continued.20th April, 1908.

"Ye crypt was mere a chamber under the stairs and it was at the west end of the chapel. It was not for sepulture and it is gone long syne by reason of the fall of the floor of ye chapel."Yt wasne underground and was low—a man might hardly walk sans stooping."

"Ye crypt was mere a chamber under the stairs and it was at the west end of the chapel. It was not for sepulture and it is gone long syne by reason of the fall of the floor of ye chapel.

"Yt wasne underground and was low—a man might hardly walk sans stooping."

The work of excavation commenced shortly after the receipt of this communication.

SITTING XXXII. 16th June, 1908 (after excavation No. 4).

"All is well. We direct your course and will continue. There is some difficulty and ye must use your own intelligence. There are two chapels and ye must try and judge old and new. The scheme of Abbot Monington gave one, and under the church are remains yet older. The pillar of many shafts20was in the midst between the buttress andthe chapel wall, and the great window needed the buttress to hold hym up. Seek out the choir wall, where the arches were behind the altar, and it will be plaine. Digge for the vestries on the south choir wall—there is somewhat left here, and there is alsoe a chantry under the window by the crosse.21"Judge not the wall by the foundations thereof. They are mighty but—wee have told you—thin walls were over them.22"Search far for the est end of Edgar's Chapel. It is but little damaged. S. Mary and S. Andrew's Chapels, over the ends of ye choir aisles."

"Judge not the wall by the foundations thereof. They are mighty but—wee have told you—thin walls were over them.22

"Search far for the est end of Edgar's Chapel. It is but little damaged. S. Mary and S. Andrew's Chapels, over the ends of ye choir aisles."

The only reminiscence of a retro-chapel is to be found in the plan of the Abbey embodied in Phelps'sSomerset, reproduced by Warner. Phelps shows a dotted-line extension of the east wall of the retro-quire of nearly the same projection as Willis's plan, but in this case it ends with a semicircle—a feature impossible for anything but a Norman chapel, which here would be out of the question. In a corner of Phelps's plan appears a similar diagram, but with the rectangular part much lengthened. Both are lettered "F,"and the reference table gives "F" = Lady's Chapel. Warner copies this plan, calling this latter one "the Chapel according to its original dimensions." Neither F.B.B. nor J.A. had at that time seen Warner's copy of Phelps's plan, because the copy of Warner accessible to them in the Bristol Public Library had lost this sheet. But owing to the general haziness of the plan, and its numerous inaccuracies, and the entirely impossible suggestion of a semicircular apse (in a dotted-line figure), as well as owing to the suggestion "Lady's Chapel," these records had proved the reverse of illuminating, save as inspiring a guess that the original and shorter quire might very likely have been furnished with a Lady Chapel, for use in the remote days, before the western chapel of St. Mary had been opened up and thrown into the general series by the inclusion of the "Galilee"—a work of the fourteenth century, and that this Lady Chapel had been ultimately shorn of the greater part of its length by its absorption into the new retro-quire, what time Abbot Monington caused the quire to be lengthened by two bays (about 40 feet)temp.1344 or thereabouts. Such an hypothesis would entail the deduction that after the lengthening of the retro-quire in the fourteenth century, there would remain at the east end a relatively short projection—say, of 12 feet or so—and some such reasoning may well have inspired Willis's scheme (see his plan in theArchitectural History of Glastonbury Abbey), though he rightly rejected the semicircle as an eastern finish.

Q."Was there any crypt under Edgar's Chapel? What were the clear dimensions of the chapel itself?"A."The cript is fallen in, but the clay is not the old clay. Clear out the midst thereof, and many fragments be there. The width ye shall find is twenty and seven, and outside, thirty and four, so we remember."BEERE,Abbas."Q."What was the clear internal length of the chapel?"A. "Wee laid down seventy and two, but they builded longer, and he who followed made new schemes for a certaine roofe in golde and crimson, very cunning. Ye must use your talents, lest they weaken. Piece by piece ye shall rebuild it and there is enow, I wot, for ye."Digge east beyond the beds of feathered grasses. There was a passage to the east doore in ye walle to the streete. In the midst it remaineth. There was a lodging where now is the great howse, and wee loved passages. They were safe, and the priesthood loveth secret places. There is somewhat in us that loveth mystical things, so we tell not all, but leave it to the love which seeketh and is not wearied."23

Q."Was there any crypt under Edgar's Chapel? What were the clear dimensions of the chapel itself?"

A."The cript is fallen in, but the clay is not the old clay. Clear out the midst thereof, and many fragments be there. The width ye shall find is twenty and seven, and outside, thirty and four, so we remember.

"BEERE,Abbas."

Q."What was the clear internal length of the chapel?"

A. "Wee laid down seventy and two, but they builded longer, and he who followed made new schemes for a certaine roofe in golde and crimson, very cunning. Ye must use your talents, lest they weaken. Piece by piece ye shall rebuild it and there is enow, I wot, for ye.

"Digge east beyond the beds of feathered grasses. There was a passage to the east doore in ye walle to the streete. In the midst it remaineth. There was a lodging where now is the great howse, and wee loved passages. They were safe, and the priesthood loveth secret places. There is somewhat in us that loveth mystical things, so we tell not all, but leave it to the love which seeketh and is not wearied."23

At the time of this writing, only the west end of the chapel had been excavated, so that the length was still a matter of complete doubt. A massive wall running north and south had been found just about in the position of that shown as a projection in Willis's plan—namely, about 12 feet east of the walls of the retro-quire, and on the farther side of this the foundations commenced at a much higher level, indicative of a later extension by Bere from this point onwards. And the whole of this cross-wall must have been Bere'swork, for it ran north and south for some 32 feet, and beyond that came the projection of its buttresses. When the continuation walls of the chapel to the east were further revealed, the clear width between their footings was about 18 feet, and as they were each about 6 feet 6 inches in width, the whole was not quite 32. So the suggestion in the script of a clear internal width to this chapel of 27 feet is by no means improbable if measured into the window recesses. As to the length given (72 feet), a total of 90 had already been spoken of, so that the 72 must represent the rectangular portion of the chapel,pluseither the antechapel or the eastward extension only, either of which give this approximate total.

As afterwards revealed (see plan inSom. Arch. Soc. Proc.for 1908), the correspondence proved to be faithful, as the scale shows. Measure from the interior of the east wall of the retro-quire, which will include all the space within the antechapel of Bere's work, eastwards to the end of his rectangular walls, and the whole is close on 72 feet—viz., 12 + 5 + 50 + 5 in approximate measures.

There were several clumps of pampas grass on the high bank, but farther east than our advance at the moment. Another fragment of script, unfortunately now lost, again referred to one of the clumps on the south side, as being just west of a large mass of masonry. This was correct. The large mass in question is that which stands up high above the rest at the south-east angle of the rectangular chapel. Again, we have thecurious and unusual suggestion of an east door to the chapel (compare the "Portus introitus post reredos," etc.). When, long subsequently, the two inclined walls of the apse were revealed, the gap in the middle was remarked. The footing on the north side of the eastern gap was cut squarely off, and evidently by intention, and was thus strongly suggestive of a doorway or archway here.

In "the walle to the streete" we may perhaps discern an explanation of the continuation of the angular wall on the south, which runs on for a distance not yet ascertained in the direction of the upper part of the town, and would have passed near the building which formerly occupied the site of the present Abbey House.

"Use your talents. Wee guide. It is meet. Noe worke, noe wage. All workes well. This wee tell you. Ledde was on the roofe—ne stones, the wych cometh from meaner buildings elsewhere. The stone tiles were high roofes but ye chappell was flatte or thereabouts."As how think ye the est ende would have looked to them who came from the green pathe in the wall?"... and ye can see right well. Dig deeper: it needeth. Fear not. It will be clear to you ere another night fall. Even yet there is somewhat east and south to finde. Ye are skilled to find the stones which we put there. All are of the chapelle that ye have noted."Benedicite."WHYTTINGE,nuper Abbas."

"As how think ye the est ende would have looked to them who came from the green pathe in the wall?

"... and ye can see right well. Dig deeper: it needeth. Fear not. It will be clear to you ere another night fall. Even yet there is somewhat east and south to finde. Ye are skilled to find the stones which we put there. All are of the chapelle that ye have noted.

"Benedicite."WHYTTINGE,nuper Abbas."

It was not until several months later that the whole of Bere's rectangular chapel was disclosed. The bank increased in height as we proceeded east. But the farther we went, the more stone we found on the south side, until atlast, at the south-east corner, a block of solid masonry was uncovered which rose several feet above the general level. And to the south of the last two buttresses on this side there came to light the trench or matrix of a small additional building, a chantry or a sacristy. These trenches were cleared and filled with solid concrete to preserve the record of the lost walls, which must otherwise have perished through the falling-in of the loose and crumbling earth.

SITTING XXXVI. 9th October, 1908.

"Ye must see owre old manor of Sharpham. There is somewhat for you there. Search it diligently, and the walls around."Ye church ye have found is ye one which Ina builded and it was yjoined to the olde churche by a timber passage-way and many steppys. Yt had no towre, but as it were the short arms of a crosse and ye pillars were greate and rounde as ye see. (This alludes to an excavation in the nave.)"Ye roofe was woode and it was rough and rude, ne like unto our church of St. Mary."Would ye could digge around ye altare,24for there ye will find much black marble of the style ye call 'decorated.'"We wold make ye see it—square, and as it were square buttresses with canopies and imagery, full forty feet in height, somewhat level in ye toppe, like a screene, and in ye midst a faire canopy of gilded stone in width four feet and full of fifteen feet in height; and in front an image of Our Lady in gold and scarlet robes holding in her hands the Christ and a sceptre of power. On either side two doors with steppys leading down to the path for processions behind ye altare. Can ye not see it? Black stone and images, and guilding in the hollow places under the ornaments. On ye south side, as we deem it, ye will find most of ye pieces and even ye tombes of Arthur and of ye two saints Edgar25(sic) all black stone with much guilding and ye effigies of ye Kinge and ye Queene with ye Lyons in blacke stone—nay, rather, ye Lyons were in light stone like ye bases of ye tombes.

"Ye must see owre old manor of Sharpham. There is somewhat for you there. Search it diligently, and the walls around.

"Ye church ye have found is ye one which Ina builded and it was yjoined to the olde churche by a timber passage-way and many steppys. Yt had no towre, but as it were the short arms of a crosse and ye pillars were greate and rounde as ye see. (This alludes to an excavation in the nave.)

"Ye roofe was woode and it was rough and rude, ne like unto our church of St. Mary.

"Would ye could digge around ye altare,24for there ye will find much black marble of the style ye call 'decorated.'

"We wold make ye see it—square, and as it were square buttresses with canopies and imagery, full forty feet in height, somewhat level in ye toppe, like a screene, and in ye midst a faire canopy of gilded stone in width four feet and full of fifteen feet in height; and in front an image of Our Lady in gold and scarlet robes holding in her hands the Christ and a sceptre of power. On either side two doors with steppys leading down to the path for processions behind ye altare. Can ye not see it? Black stone and images, and guilding in the hollow places under the ornaments. On ye south side, as we deem it, ye will find most of ye pieces and even ye tombes of Arthur and of ye two saints Edgar25(sic) all black stone with much guilding and ye effigies of ye Kinge and ye Queene with ye Lyons in blacke stone—nay, rather, ye Lyons were in light stone like ye bases of ye tombes.

PLATE II.THE EDGAR CHAPEL.View of the completed excavations, showing Bere's rectangular chapel of four bays, and the eastern annexe with the "walls at an angle."To face page 56.

PLATE II.

THE EDGAR CHAPEL.View of the completed excavations, showing Bere's rectangular chapel of four bays, and the eastern annexe with the "walls at an angle."To face page 56.

THE EDGAR CHAPEL.View of the completed excavations, showing Bere's rectangular chapel of four bays, and the eastern annexe with the "walls at an angle."

To face page 56.

"And ye grete east window in pannels like unto ye sides of ye choir, and very faire, with a balcony. Ye balcony was underneath ye window and from yt did lead the way to ye altare back where was an ymage of Saint Mary, of great value and very olde, which was saved from the fire long synce."Ego sum JOHANNES qui ex memoria rei dico—meminisco—dixi annorum 1492." (I am Johannes, who speak from memory of the matter. The time of which I spoke would be 1492, as I remember.)

"Ego sum JOHANNES qui ex memoria rei dico—meminisco—dixi annorum 1492." (I am Johannes, who speak from memory of the matter. The time of which I spoke would be 1492, as I remember.)

SITTING XXXVII. 30th November, 1908.

"The ending of the chappel was at an angle, the sides makyng as it were a baye in the east wall there. The last bay to the east hayde an arche like unto a chancel arche and with a feather ornament, as hadde all the other arches; and the space beyond into the baye was as it were three fannes with thin pillars running up the angles and spreading toward the arche. In the three faces of the east wall were three windowes, and all this was faire made by Abbot Whitting, who lengthened Edgar's Chappel somewhat, to the extent of half a bay.... The fannes are flat which Whitting builded, and ye will see them how they fitted together."The lytell chantry was roofed in pannels by ... Beere, and ye have found the pieces, deep cut and faire—quatrefoil with lozenges, cuspings on either side, and ye roofe as was called 'barrel' shaped—ne fannes in ye chantry."

"The lytell chantry was roofed in pannels by ... Beere, and ye have found the pieces, deep cut and faire—quatrefoil with lozenges, cuspings on either side, and ye roofe as was called 'barrel' shaped—ne fannes in ye chantry."

This script was obtained before the angular walls of the apse had been found. The description generally is quite a plausible one, and there is good reason for thinking that the apse would have been finished by the last Abbot (Whiting). Some stones of the fan-work were found at the endof the year. The "little chantry" would seem to refer to the projecting footings found between the last two buttresses on the south side. It compares again with Gloucester Lady Chapel, where such additions are found north and south of the fourth bay from the west.

Q."Whence came the vaulting-rib, which we have found?"A."He went in the passage-way to Edgar's Chappel and the volting of like molding went with it—east of the arches behind the altare."Monington was used to what ye call 'decorated' and the choir roof wasne of the newe style—ye 'perpendicular,' but the other style done after Gloster fashion."

Q."Whence came the vaulting-rib, which we have found?"

A."He went in the passage-way to Edgar's Chappel and the volting of like molding went with it—east of the arches behind the altare.

"Monington was used to what ye call 'decorated' and the choir roof wasne of the newe style—ye 'perpendicular,' but the other style done after Gloster fashion."

SITTING XXXVIII. 2nd December, 1908.

"Gulielmus monachus qui in area chori requiescet26... Reginaldus. Hee wots not what they didde but saith the olde procession path went round three corners and they builded the new window after hys tyme straight. Ye have found the old wall before Monington. I guess but doe not know."Gulielmus monk of Saint Benedict wold speke but he hath been long ded and cannot as he wold. He of Monington Abbas qui ... he did make the est end full square, that know I he didd, and in hym three arches and a grete screene ... soe it was in my day, that he who followed after did enlong the window and it was full weake and they rebuilded it.... He did build strong walls over ye lytell chapel of Our Ladye that then was and in them a new window and on either side he placed a walle which did continue the walls of the choire and did put in an arche and under hym a tombe on either side with the altar in the midst, and above the arche as it was two grete high windows, very narrow which did make on to the grete east window and wyth hym made a grete faire window which did light up all the choir and did fill it with glassen cleare and bright of many colours."

"Gulielmus monk of Saint Benedict wold speke but he hath been long ded and cannot as he wold. He of Monington Abbas qui ... he did make the est end full square, that know I he didd, and in hym three arches and a grete screene ... soe it was in my day, that he who followed after did enlong the window and it was full weake and they rebuilded it.... He did build strong walls over ye lytell chapel of Our Ladye that then was and in them a new window and on either side he placed a walle which did continue the walls of the choire and did put in an arche and under hym a tombe on either side with the altar in the midst, and above the arche as it was two grete high windows, very narrow which did make on to the grete east window and wyth hym made a grete faire window which did light up all the choir and did fill it with glassen cleare and bright of many colours."

SITTING XXXIX. 5th December, 1908.

"Johannes wold speke. There is (somewhat) gone from us. The olde foundations were left and they did add to them. The walls at an angle were put in by Abbot Beere when he builded the chappell and enlarged the windows. We have told ye of the high windowes and the arche under wych the tombe(s) of Edgar (sic) one on either side—the Elder and the Younger. The arch was ycarven very faire and panellae did rise to ye roofe, and ye volte over the Est window was ydonne in fanne worke: likewise the eastern part of ye choire was in fannes wyth a great arch as soe it was donne with panellae between."

During the summer and autumn of 1908 the work of excavation had been steadily continued. By December practically the whole of the rectangular portion of Beere's chapel had been laid bare, and proved to be of four bays, in accordance with the script. The excavation of the antechapel entirely confirmed Willis's view of the divisions of the retro-quire, and, strange to say, justified his plan in regard to the length of the central projection, for it was abundantly clear from the appearance of the two flanking walls (or, rather, their foundations) that there had been an original projection here of the same extent as he showed, and that Beere had merely taken on at this point and started his new work with a massive cross-wall at a different level. The footings of the north and south walls of Beere's chapel were about 6 feet 6 inches broad and a little over 18 feet apart in the clear. The thin Perpendicular work above would normally stand rather over the outer margin of the footings to allow of the projecting piers supporting the fans of theroof, and this would entirely justify a computation of width approaching 27 feet clear into the recesses of windows. But the total internal length on the foundations between east and west footings measured 49 feet, a dimension in itself insufficient to justify the 70 feet claimed in the script, even if it were considered that part of the breadth on the west footing, and an even larger part on the east footing must be included in the interior area of the chapel. Possibly a further 6 feet or so might be allowed for these margins, making a total internal length for the rectangular chapel of 55 feet, to which another 15 feet must be added if the measurement of 70 feet given in the script were to be justified.

But the rectangular chapel ended off with a proper finish to the east, and the two return buttresses were well marked. At this point the digging had been very deep, as the level of the bank rises steadily from west to east, and we were now about 10 feet under the grass level. The rectangular end was cleared, and before us rose a sheer face of clay without trace of any continuance. Nothing had yet been seen of "walls at an angle," and the writer scanned the face of the clay many times, trying to detect any signs of disturbance or of a further junction of building, and so matters remained till the end of December.

In the meantime a report had been prepared for the annual volume ofProceedings of the Somerset Arch. Soc., and as by this time F.B.B. was fully persuaded that Hearne and Hollar are givingus fact when they state that the total length of the Abbey was 580 feet, he boldly drew a plan of the excavated chapel with an addition in dotted lines, making out the requisite dimension andshowing a polygonal annexe or apse, and this he caused to be published in the 1908Proceedings.27

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