certain number of female servants for the laundry, and other inferior offices of the household. The manor of Shirefield in Hampshire, was holden temp. Edward II. and III. by John de Warbleton, by the same serjeantry; and probably with a view to the occasional residence of the court at Odiham, in its neighbourhood. 1789, April. Yours, &c. PAL. SURR. CXVI. Sea Coal, or Pit Coal, when first used in this Kingdom. MR. URBAN, THE much-applauded History and Antiquities of Newcastle upon Tyne, by the Rev. John Brand, Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, London, is not come to hand yet; but I learn from your Review (and I give the Reviewer perfect credit for his commendation of the work in general), that, in the second volume, there is a history "of the coal-trade, from the first mention of coal in Britain, to the present time," p. 533; and the note there, collected I presume from the author, is, "sea-coal first occurs in records of the time of Henry III." But this Sir, as I apprehend, should not go down thus to posterity, as it intimates that sea-coal*, or pitcoal, or lithanthracest, for they are all the same, was not known in our island till the time here mentioned, which, in my opinion, is by no means strictly true. The island at first was extremely woody, and afforded fuel of that kind, no doubt, in great abundance; but, nevertheless, there appears to have been some pit-coal gotten here very early; however, long before the reign of Henry III. as I shall now shew, after previously observing, that it is not my meaning to contend that pit-coal was in general use in the times I shall speak of, but only that it was then known and mentioned on certain occasions. It was needful, Sir, to make this remark, in order to prevent any objection that might be made by the reader upon this head. There is a remarkable passage in Solinus, who flourished at least before St. Jerome, which in all reason ought to be *Junius, in his Etymologicum Anglic. writes the word cole; and indeed it is pity the letter a ever got into it, as it is undoubtedly the Sax. Col or Coll. + Camden, vol. III. p. 231, edit. Gough, interpreted of pit-coal. Speaking of warm, and probably of medicinal, springs in Britain, he says, "quibus fontibus præsul est Minerva numen, in cujus de perpetuo ignes nunquam canescunt* in favillas, sed ubi ignis tabuit, vertitur in globos saxeost." These globi saxei can be nothing else but the cinders of pit-coal, for faville or residuum of wood or turf have nothing of the stony or hard matter in them. Bishop Gibson renders it accordingly, round pieces of hard stone, and Mr. Gough, stone balls. It is observable, that pit-coal itself is commonly translated in Latin by carbo saxeus; and we all know that Bath in Somersetshire, the place particularly intended by the author, has much fossile coal not far distant from it. 66 Bishop Watson, in his Chemical Essays, II. p. 364, observes, we have good reason to believe that the Newcastle coal-pits were wrought in the time of the Romans, for coal cinders have been found at the bottom of the foundation of a city built by the Romans in that country; but whether they were not wrought by the Britons, before the Roman invasion, is a question which cannot, perhaps, be possibly decided either way." It signifies nothing, Sir, in the present case, which nation sunk the pits, since the consequence will be the same, viz. that pit-coal was known in our island, in some parts, and in some degree, before the reign of Henry III. And moreover, that the Romans in particular were not more strangers to British pit-coal than they were to British lead, will appear by consulting Dr. Stukeley's Itin. II. p. 54 of second edition; Mr. Pennant's Voyage to the Hebrides, p. 55; and Bishop Watson, II. p. 362, 363. In Fenerable Bede's time, who died A. D. 755, Britain produced gagates, or peats, which by Camden is thought may be canole coal; but this, I think, could scarcely be used for fuel, though it seems it was plentiful. Be this as it will, the abbot and convent of Peterborough¶T demised to Wulfred, A. D. 852, the land of Sempilgaham** for his life, on certain conditions, whereof two are, to pay annually The various reading in H. Steph. edit. 1577, is cassescunt; and Ric. Corin. transcribing this passage, p. 19, has labascunt. + Solinus, cap. 25. Wallis, Hist. of Northumberland. Beda, Hist. Eccles. I. cap. I. Vol. III. p. 103, edit. Gough. Some think this to be a corruption of candle coal, it lights or kindles so easily. Chron. Sax. An. 852. ** Rob, Swapham, p. 106, writes Semplingham, or Sempringham 60 cart loads of wood, and 12 cart loads of fossile coals, for so the learned interpreter renders the word grafan. This, however, is something extraordinary, as there were no coal mines at Sempringham com. Linc. which is supposed to be the place intended*. But perhaps it may mean peat, or turf, which is graven or dug as well as pit-coal; I, therefore, shall lay no great stress on this authority, but shall leave it with you, Sir, and the intelligent reader. Yours, &c. 1789, Aug. L. E. CXVII. Guild of Calendaries at Bristol.-The Rolls Chapel. MR. URBAN, MR. Barrett, in his newly-published "History of Bristol,” speaking of the Calendaries, who formed a guild in that city so early as Robert Earl of Gloucester, Robert Fitz Harding, &c. (Tanner's Not. Mon. p. 479, Leland Itin. VII. 71), says, p. 449," it appears, from records, that they were a society of religious and laity, like a college de propaganda fide, wherein Jews and other infidels were converted, youth instructed, and liberally maintained in the same manner, and under the like direction, as at the Rolls in Chancerylane, London; and as the custody of the Rolls was committed to the latter, so the former preserved the archives of the town of Bristol, whence they were called the fraternity of the Kalendars, from keeping a kalendar, or monthly register of all the public acts, registering deeds, rolls, &c. as that of London took the Rolls, both implying the same office of chroniclers, or public registers, of which no great cities were destitute." Du Cange, in his Glossary, v. Fratres Kalendari, says, "Nomen a kalendis sortiti quod modum ordinemque festorum quæ singulis mensibus celebranda forent, quæ anniversaria recolenda, quæ eleemosyne distribuendæ, quæ jejunia servanda Ima cuiuslibet mensis die, indicarent." They occur in the foundation charter of Ottenburg in Marten. Collect. I. 1219. See also Paulini Chron. Monast. Ottenburgensis init. *See Gibson in Expl. Nom. Loc. Of the religious object of this guild Mr. B. brings proofs from a Latin deed in the little Red Book, in the chamber of Bristol, by him translated; an inquisition into their rights, 1318; but the library mentioned in a settlement of their disputes with the mayor by the Bishop of Worcester, 1464, to be then newly founded, is not described as containing any thing more than books. It was indeed a public library, and a weekly lecture was given in it to all who chose to come: but not a word of the public records being there kept. This is inferred from one of the fraternity having been town-clerk in the reign of Edward IV. and having left several records of the city affairs, &c. and from Leland's quoting "a remembraunce of memorable actes done in Brighstowe, out of a litle boke of the antiquities of the house of Calendaries in Brighstowe," It. VII. 71. Leland expressly says this was nothing more nor less than "a gylde or fraternitie of the clergie and commonaltie of Brighstowe, kept in the church of the Trinitie, seen at Al Halowes." William of Worcester, the Bristol Antiquary, calls it à college of priests, p. 190, and, in p. 253, a college or fraternity founded in honour of the festival of Corpus Christi. Mr. Barrett's inference therefore, is drawn from the eight hundredthe bookes mentioned by Rowley. This is just such a proof as it would be to say, that, because Matthew Paris, a monk of St. Alban's, wrote a History of England, therefore the monks of St. Alban's were the historians of England. As to the Domus Conversorum, founded by Henry III. and now called The Rolls, it was not till after the expulsion of the Jews in 1377 had lessened the number of converts, that the chapel was applied to the purpose of keeping the rolls and records in chancery, and the mastership of this house was annexed to the office of keeper of the rolls of chancery, who is since called Master of the Rolls. Stowe's Survey of London, p. 435; Tanner's Not. Mon. pp. 314, 315. It is easy to see, therefore, that, as the original destination of the house was for a very different purpose, so the rolls were only lodged in its chapel as in any other public office. 1789, Nov. D. H. CXVIII. Public Libraries in London about the end of the Seventeenth Century. MR. URBAN, SOME remarks having lately fallen into my hands, among other MS. papers, relative to the former state of London, I have selected the following on the subject of public libraries, as they stood about the beginning of the present century, whereby some of your correspondents may have an opportunity of observing and communicating to the public the different improvements that have since taken place in the literary repositories of this celebrated city. First, of those in the Tower. In Wakefield Tower and the White Tower are vast numbers of records relating to monasteries, &c. several state-papers and private letters of foreign princes to the English court. The White Tower was originally a chapel of the palace, and is a very uncom→ mon sort of a structure. At Westminster, in the Exchequer, the records are in the keeping of the Lord Treasurer. Here are preserved the two Domesday books, one in folio, and one in quarto. Powel's Repertory of Records, in quarto, printed in 1631, contains a farther account of these books. The Parliament Rolls are kept in an old stone tower in the Old Palace Yard in Westminster; and the State Papers, from the time of Henry VIII. to this time (about 1700), are kept in the fine built gate as you go through to the Cockpit, and is called the Paper Office. It was built by Henry VIII. and is one of the most curious pieces of workmanship in Europe for the old flint work; and it is reported that Hans Holbein was the architect. The papers mention Sir Robert Cotton's library, now so usefully displayed; therefore I shall pass over to the library deposited in the great cloister of the abbey. It was founded by Dr. Williams, Dean of Westminster, and Bishop of Lincoln, who was a great promoter of learning in his day. He purchased most of the books of the heirs of one Baker, of Highgate, and founded it for public use every day in termtime, from nine till twelve in the forenoon, and two till four in the afternoon. By negligence many of the MSS. were burnt; amongst which was the pompous and curious Book of the Ceremonies of the Coronation of the Kings of England. There was also a library at St. James's, mostly collected |