Notes and Queries, Number 48, September 28, 1850

THE COLLAR OF SS

(Vol. ii., pp. 89. 194. 248.)

The Collar of SS. "is to this day a mystery to the most learned and indefatigable antiquaries," according to Mr. Planché, in his valuable little work on The History of British Costume: what has appeared in "NOTES AND QUERIES" certainly has not cleared away the obscurity. ARMIGER tells us (Vol. ii., p. 195.): "As to the derivation of the name of the collar from Soverayne; from St. Simplicius; from the martyrs of Soissons (viz. St. Crespin and St. Crespinian, upon whose anniversary the battle of Agincourt was fought); from the Countess of Salisbury; from the word Souvenez; and, lastly, from Seneschallus or Steward, (which latter is MR. NICHOLS' notion)—they may be regarded as mere monkish (?) or heraldic gossip." If the monastic writers had spoken anything on the matter, a doubt never would have existed: but none of them has even hinted at it. Never having seen the articles in the Gentleman's Magazine, I do not know MR. NICHOLS' reasons for supposing "Seneschallus or Steward" could have furnished an origin of the SS.; but I am at loss to think of any grounds upon which such a guess could rest. From the searches I have made upon this question, it seems to me that these SS. are taken as a short way of expressing the "SANCTUS, SANCTUS, SANCTUS" of the Salisbury liturgy and ritual. I hope soon to be able to lay before the public the documents out of which I draw this opinion, in a note to the third and forthcoming volume of The Church of our Fathers.

D. ROCK.

Collar of SS.—To your list of persons now privileged to wear these collars, I beg to add her Majesty's serjeant trumpeter, Thomas Lister Parker, Esq., to whom a silver collar of SS. has been granted. It is always worn by him or his deputy on state occasions.

THOMAS LEWIS,

Acting Serjeant Trumpeter. 34. Mount Street.

JOACHIN, THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR

(Vol. ii., p. 229.)

Your correspondent AMICUS will I fear find very little information about this mysterious person in the writers of French history of the time. He is thus mentioned in Cavendish's Life of Wolsey (ed. 1825, vol. i. p. 73.):—

"The French king lying in his camp, sent secretly into England a privy person, a very witty man, to entreat of a peace between him and the king our sovereign lord, whose name was John Joachin; he was kept as secret as might be, that no man had intelligence of his repair; for he was no Frenchman, but an Italian born, a man before of no estimation in France, or known to be in favour with his master, but to be a merchant; and for his subtle wit, elected to entreat of such affairs as the king had commanded him by embassy. This Joachin, after his arrival here in England, was secretly conveyed unto the king's manor of Richmond, and there remained until Whitsuntide; at which time the cardinal resorted thither, and kept there the said feast very solemnly. In which season my lord caused this Joachin divers times to dine with him, whose talk and behaviour seemed to be witty, sober, and wondrous discreet."

My note on this passage says:—

"The name of this person was Giovanni Joacchino Passano, a Genoese; he was afterwards called Seigneur de Vaux. The emperor, it appears, was informed of his being in England, and for what purpose. The cardinal stated that Joacchino came over as a merchant; and that as soon as he discovered himself to be sent by the lady regent of France, he made De Præt (the emperor's ambassador) privy thereto, and likewise of the answer given to her proposals. The air of mystery which attached to this mission naturally created suspicion; and, after a few months, De Præt, in his letters to the emperor, and to Margaret, governess of the Netherlands, expressed his surmise that all was not right, alleging his reasons. His letters were intercepted by the cardinal, and read before the council. Charles and Margaret complained of the insult, and the cardinal explained as well as he could: at the same time protesting against the misinterpretation of De Præt, and assuring them that nothing could be further from his wish than that any disunion should arise between the king his master and the emperor; and notwithstanding the suspicious aspect of this transaction, his dispatches, both before and after this fracas, strongly corroborate his assertions. Wolsey suspected that the Pope was inclined toward the cause of Francis, and reminded him of his obligations to Henry and Charles. The Pope had already taken the alarm, and had made terms with the French king, but had industriously concealed it from Wolsey, and at length urged in his excuse that he had no alternative. Joacchino was again in England upon a different mission, and was an eye-witness of the melancholy condition of the cardinal when his fortunes were reversed. He sympathised with him, and interested himself for him with Francis and the queen dowager, as appears by his letters published in Legrand, Histoire du Divorce de Henry VIII."

I think it is from this interesting book, which throws much light upon many of the intricate passages of the history of the times, that I derived my information. It is in all respects a work worth consulting.

S.W. SINGER.

REMAINS OF JAMES II

(Vol. ii., p. 243.)

The following passage is transcribed from a communication relative to the Scotch College at Paris, made by the Rev. H. Longueville Jones to the Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica, 1841, vol. vii. p. 33.:—

"The king left his brains to this college; and, it used to be said, other parts, but this is more doubtful, to the Irish and English colleges at Paris. His heart was bequeathed to the Dames de St. Marie at Chaillot, and his entrails were buried at St. Germain-en-Laye, where a handsome monument has been erected to his memory by order of George IV.; but the body itself was interred in the monastery of English Benedictine Monks that once existed in the Rue du Faubourg St. Jacques, close to the Val de Grace. In this latter house, previous to the Revolution, the following simple inscription marked where the monarch's body lay:—

"'CI GIST JACQUES II. ROI DE LA GRANDE BRETAGNE.'"

A monument to the king still exists in the chapel of the Scotch College (which is now leased to a private school), and the inscription, in Latin, written by James, Duke of Perth, is printed in the same volume of Collectanea, p. 35., followed by all the other inscriptions to James's adherents now remaining in that chapel.

In a subsequent communication respecting the Irish College at Paris, made by the same gentleman, and printed in the same volume, at p. 113. are these remarks:—

"It is not uninteresting to add, that the body of James II. was brought to this college after the destruction of the English Benedictine Monastery adjoining the Val de Grace; and remained for some years in a temporary tomb in one of the lecture halls, then used as the chapel. It was afterwards removed; by whose authority, and to what place, is not exactly known: but it is considered not improbable that it was transported to the church of St. Germain-en-Laye, and there buried under the monument erected by George IV. Some additional light will probably be thrown on this subject, in a work on the Stuarts now in course of compilation."

Has this work since appeared?

J.G.N.

Interment of James II.—I remember reading in the French papers, in the year 1823 or 1824, a long account of the then recent exhumation and re-interment in another spot of the remains of James II. I was but a boy at the time, and neglected to make a "Note", which might now be valuable to you. I have not the least doubt, however, that the fact will be discovered on reference to a file of the Etoile, or any other of the Paris papers of one or other of the years above named.

There is a marble monument erected in memory of James, in the chapel of the old Scotch College, in the Rue des Fossés Saint Victor. An urn of bronze, gilt, containing the king's brains, formerly stood on the crown of this monument. The urn was smashed and the contents scattered over the ground, during the French Revolution. A much more important loss to posterity was incurred by the destruction of the manuscripts entrusted by James to the keeping of the brotherhood he loved. The trust is alluded to with mingled pride and affection in the noble and touching inscription on the royal monument.

J.D.

Earl's Court, Kensington.

HANDFASTING

(Vol. ii., p. 151.)

Your correspondent J.M.G. has brought forward a curious subject, and one well deserving attention and illustration. A fair is said to have been held at the meeting of the Black and White Esks, at the foot of Eskdalemuir, in Dumfriesshire, when the singular custom of Handfasting was observed. The old statistical account of the parish says:

"At that fair it was the custom for unmarried persons of both sexes to choose a companion according to their liking, whom they were to live with till that time next year. This was called handfasting, or hand-in-fist. If they were pleased with each other at that time, then they continued together for life; if not, they separated, and were free to make another choice as at the first."

 

John Maxwell, Esq., of Broomholm, in a letter (dated April 15th, 1796) to the Rev. Wm. Brown, D.D., of Eskdalemuir, says, in reference to this custom:

"No account can be given of the period at which the custom of handfasting commenced; but I was told by an old man, John Murray, who died at the farm of Irvine (as you go from Langholm to Canobie), and had formerly been a proprietor in Eskdaldemuir, that he was acquainted with, or at least had seen an old man, I think his name was Beattie, who was grandson to a couple who had been handfasted. You perhaps know that the children born under the handfasting engagement were reckoned lawful children, and not bastards, though the parents did afterwards resile. This custom of handfasting does not seem to have been peculiar to your parish. Mention is made in some histories of Scotland that Robert II. was handfasted to Elizabeth More before he married Euphemia Ross, daughter of Hugh, Earl of that name, by both of whom he had children; his eldest son John, by Elizabeth More, viz., King Robert III., commonly called Jock Ferngyear, succeeded to the throne in preference to the sons of Euphemia, his married wife. Indeed, after Euphemia's death, he married his former handfasted wife Elizabeth."

Sir J. Chardin observes that contracts for temporary wives are frequent in the East, which contracts are made before the Cadi with the formality of a measure of corn, mentioned over and above the stipulated sum of money.

Baron du Tott's account of "Marriages by Capin," corroborated by Eastern travellers, corresponds with the custom of Handfasting. He says:

"There is another kind of marriage which, stipulating the return to be made, fixes likewise the time when the divorce is to take place. This contract is called capin: and, properly speaking, is only an agreement between the parties to live together for such a price, during such a time."

This contract is a regular form of marriage, and is so regarded generally in the East.

The Jews seem to have had a similar custom, which perhaps they borrowed from the neighbouring nations; at least the connexion formed by the prophet Hosea (chap. iii. 2.) bears a strong resemblance to Handfasting and Capin.

JARLTZBERG.