1821.] Yorkshire Hermit.-Specimen of Ancient Sculpture. 401 to render peculiar. The prevailing colour at present is olive green. He has a close jacket and small-clothes of velvet, of this colour; and to his jacket, at the back, and from the shoulders, is appended something like a mantle of the same, short, and when in motion, most picturesque. His legs are covered with white stockings, the tops of which fold over the edges of his small-clothes, above the knees, and his feet are incased in shoes in the nature of sandals, being fastened by laces of blue ribbon, extending in crossed lines up the leg. He sometimes wears small-clothes made of nankeen, instead of the olive ones, with no variation in other respects. He has a cap of the same olive velvet, on one side of which depends a graceful plume of feathers. His wrists are ornamented with ruffles of Charles the First's time, and a frill at his breast in part conceals his luxurious beard. His voice is tuneful, and his address altogether prepossessing; and his appearance, as he stood, reminded us forcibly of some of the heroes of the romantic countries, who are introduced by our dramatists on the stage. You will be struck by the analogy which this man bears to the hermit, who lived not many years ago at Dulwich in Surrey, whose name was Matthews, and who came to so unfortunate an end, being sacrificed to a horrid cupidity of gold, which it was thought he had amassed. He had, in a similar manner, constructed himself a rude habitation at the top of a hill, and embosomed in a thicket of trees; and he was visited by strangers in the same way, and accommodated them with refreshments, or the necessary utensils, as the case required. No one has since been tempted to renew his establishment in the same place: the present approach to the summit, which was the site of his dwelling, is through a path between two hedges, so narrow, and so overgrown with straggling branches, as to offer some resistance to the steps of the adventurer. I shall not trouble you, Mr. Urban, with any reflections on the account above, as the vice is never likely to attain in this country any considerable extent. I shall only remark, cursorily, how erroneous is the popular GENT. MAG. November, 1821. prepossession, that because thousands are too much wedded to the bustle and business of life, the one who runs into the opposite extreme, of separating himself from all intercourse and all social utility, should deserve to be accounted little inferior to the character of a Saint. The habits of life in this kingdom, the train of thinking, and the present constitution of the human breast, must undergo very important changes before the time arrives when it shall be necessary to call for the interposition of Parliament. C. Mr. URBAN, DUR Sept. 10. URING an excursion, in the summer of 1820, through various parts of the romantic county of Derby, I arrived at the town of Wirksworth *, where I slept. On the following morning, Sept. 16, I visited the parish church, which was then undergoing a complete repair. This church is built in the cathedral manner, consisting of a nave, with North and South ailes, having small transepts attached, and also ailes adjoining the choir. After taking a survey of the whole, I went into the chancel, and found fixed in the North wall, a specimen of rude and antient sculpture in basso relievo, representing various circumstances in the history of our blessed Saviour. (See Plate II.) This stone, which is of grit quality, measuring five feet long, and two feet ten inches wide, has, under the very judicious directions of the Vicar and Churchwardens, been placed where it now is. This relick of primeval piety was discovered on removing the old pavement before the altar railing (the sculpture being downwards), and it was not without considerable time bestowed, and great care used, that it was safely presented to public view. It was doubtless much longer, as is evident from its broken and mutilated extremities; and it is with a design that it should be further preserved in your valuable Magazine, that I am induced to send you the accompanying Drawing, taken from a sketch I made the morning I first viewed it. The following description is what I apprehend to be nearly the *Not Worksop, as erroneously printed in the annexed Engraving, ture true one. (The small figures above and below my Drawing are intended for reference to the different subjects.) 1. The washing the Disciples' feet. "He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and be gan to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter; and Peter said unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?" (St. John, xiii. 4, 5, 6.)-N. B. The towel lies at foot of the bason. 2. The Cross, on which is the Lamb, emblematical of our Saviour. I in cline to think that the figures above the Cross are intended for those of St. John and St. Peter; St. John on the left, from the head leaning towards the Cross; that disciple being the beloved one, is always represented reclining on Christ. St. Peter on the right, alluding to that incident in his life, the denial of his Master. Beneath the Cross, are two birds, cocks. 3. The entombing of Christ, wherein he is represented lying on a bier, as in the act of being carried by Joseph of Arimathea and his attendants to the sepulchre. The figure beneath, in a recumbent posture, is descriptive of the conquest obtained over the monster Death and the Grave, by Christ's Passion. The foot of the bier seems to retain Satan captive, as being placed directly through his body. The faces in the centre over the body of Christ, are intended for the guard, the chief Priests and Pharisees placed at the sepulchre, to prevent the body being stolen by his disciples. (St. Matt. xxvii. 62, 63, 64, 65, 66.) "Now the next day that followed the day of the preparation, the chief Priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command, therefore, that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye cau. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch." 4. The Presentation in the Tem. ple. The figure with a palm branch in the hand, denotes the Christian's joy on being rescued from sin and misery, by the appearance of Christ upon earth, and offering himself a willing sacrifice for the sins of mankind. 5. The Nativity. The busts beneath, and the person who is pointing towards the Infant, signify the wise men from the East. 6. The Ascension. Our Redeemer is here attended in his ascent by angels, who are supporting and bearing him triumphant in their bands, towards the blessed abode of his heavenly Father. Christ carries his Cross in his hands, the trophy of his hav ing subdued the powers of darkness and death; and by that means restoring to life and immortality the sons of men; made subject to bondage by Adam's transgression. "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Cor. xv. 21, 22.) 7. The return of the Disciples to Jerusalem after the Ascension. "And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into Heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy." (St. Luke, xxiv. 50, 51, 52.) Yours, &c. R. R. RAWLINS. We have been favoured with another Drawing of the same subject from Mr. HUNT, who thus communicates some additional information: THE Stone was found during the late repairs, about two feet below the surface of the pavement, over a stone-built vault or grave; indeed over the proper covering of the said grave, which contained a perfect human skeleton of rather large stature than otherwise. Nothing very remarkable besides was discovered; a few tiles were found in different parts of the church under the floor; two of which had on them, one the arms of Beauchamp, the other those of John of Gaunt's father in law, Henry the good Duke of Lancaster, according 1821.] Shakspeare's Epitaph.-Cumner, Berks. according to Froissart, who died of the plague in 1360, and was buried on the South side of the high altar of the collegiate church at Leicester, founded by his father. In the Calendar of Inquisitions post Mortem, we read at page 14, vol. I. that it appeared in 39 Hen. III. that Margaret de Ferrars, Countess of Derby, had, amongst other property (“pro dote sua)," Asleiorhaye and Arlewashele, both of them places in this parish. After the battle of Chesterfield, in 1266, Robert de Ferrars, for rebelling against his Sovereign, was divest ed of the Earldom of Derby with its large possessions, which were given to Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, and eventually formed a considerable part of the revenues of the Duchy. MR. URBAN, New Town, Stratford- A RESPECTABLE old neighbour of mine, whose family has long resided in the vicinity of this place, lately requested me to inspect and arrange for him a large mass of papers, in order to discover a deed of some importance to him, establishing a legal title to some property lately disputed. In the course of my investigation, many points of much interest to the dabblers in the antiquarian and topographical lore of this neighbourhood have passed through my hands; one of which I have selected for the present communication, trusting, that as it is connected with the "Genius loci," it may prove not unacceptable to many of your readers. It is the well-known Latin distich on Shakspeare's Monument in this town, accompanied by an English translation of it. The MS. from which I copy it, has no date, but is signed TQ-the Q superscribed on the perpendicular line of the T. It may be possibly intended for T. R. The orthography and quaint expression of this translation, in which the translator has evidently laboured to imitate the brevity of the original, carry with them (I think) strong internal evidence, that it was written not many years posterior to the erection of Shakspeare's monument. From the marks of haste in the hand-writing of this MS. I should have judged that it was only one of perhaps many copies of the original, which was probably handed about by the author 2 403 from one friend to another, that under the appearance of obliging them, he might feed upon their praise, and gratify his own vanity but in searching into your Miscellany, I find no mention of such translation, either in the communications of any former or present Antiquaries of Stratford and its neighbourhood. It is observable that the author, both in the Latin epitaph, and his translation, has inserted the name of Sophocles instead of Socrates, from whence it is probable, that he, like the learned commentator Mr.Steevens, was alarmed by the false quantity in the first line of the original, and perhaps also judged the comparison of our poet to the finest dramatic writer of antiquity, to be peculiarly apposite. EPITAPH. Judicio Pylium, genio Sophoclem, arte With Nestor's judgmente bleste, and The muse of Sophocles he rulde at wille; Earthe hides his earthe:-his soule hath Some Account of the Parish of Church is situated to the and, owing to a sudden rise of the ground, is elevated several feet above the road, and the area of the quadrangle. It is not remarkable for exteat, nor does it display any of those Architectural enrichments, which render some of our village Churches subjects of popular notoriety; yet it is nevertheless deserving of notice, inasmuch as "it is reckoned," says Dr. Buckler, "the handsomest Parish Church in this neighbourhood." Though its primitive form, by repeated innovations, has been greatly changed, it still retains some portions characteristic of remote antiquity, which may, in some degree, enable us to ascertain its pristine character, from which the period of its erection may be deduced. In its present state it displays in its ground plan, a nave, having an aile on the North |