Archaic England Part 65

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 483.--Seventeenth Century Printer's Mark.]

That Ja.n.u.s, the janitor of the Gates of Heaven and of all other gates, was a personification of immortal Time is sufficiently obvious from the attributes which were a.s.signed to him; that the Patrick of Ireland was also the Lord of the 365 days is to be implied from the statement of Nennius that St. Patrick "at the beginning" founded 365 churches and ordained 365 bishops.[994] I was recently accosted in the street by a North-Briton who inquired "what _dame_ is it?": on my failure to catch his meaning his companion pointed to my watch chain and repeated the inquiry "what _time_, is it"; but even without such vivid evidence it is clear that _dame_ and _time_ are mere variants of the same word. It is proverbial that Truth, _alias_ Una, _alias_ Vera, is the daughter of Time: that Time is also the custodian of Truth is a similar commonplace: Time is the same word as Tom, and Tom is a contracted form of Thomas which the dictionaries define as meaning _twin, i.e., twain:_ Thomas is the same name as Tammuz, a Phrygian t.i.tle of Adonis, and in Fig. 404 (_ante_, p. 639), Time was emblemised as the Twain or Pair; in Fig. 483, Father Time is identified with Veritas or Truth, for the legend runs, "Truth in time brings hidden things to light".[995] The Lady Cynethryth, who dwells proverbially at the bottom of a well, is, of course, daily being brought to light; it is, however, unusual to find her thus depicted clambering from a dene hole or a den. In all probability the "Sir Thomas" who figures in the ballad as Fair Rosamond's custodian was originally Sir Tammuz, Tom, or Time--

And you Sir Thomas whom I truste To bee my loves defence, Be careful of my gallant Rose When I am parted hence.

The relentless Queen who appears so prominently in the story may be connoted with the cruel Stepmother who figures in the Cinderella cycle of tales--a ruthless lady whom I have considered elsewhere. The silken thread by which the Queen reached Rosamond--to whose foot, like Jupiter's chain, it was attached--is paralleled by the thread with which Ariadne guided the fickle Theseus. In an unhappy hour the Queen overcomes the trusty Thomas, and guided by the silken thread--

Went where the Ladye Rosamonde Was like an Angel sette.

But when the Queen with steadfast eye Beheld her beauteous face She was amazed in her minde At her exceeding grace.

The word _grace_ is the same as _cross_, and grace is the interpretation given by all dictionaries of the name John or Ian: the red cross was originally termed the Jack, and to the Jack, without doubt, was once a.s.signed the meaning "Infinite in the East, Infinite in the West, Infinite in the South. Thus it is said, He who is in the fire, He who is in the heart, He who is in the Sun, they are _One_ and the same:" in _China_ the Svastika is known as the _Wan_.

FOOTNOTES:

[905] Walford, E., _Greater London_, ii., 95.

[906] Mottingham, anciently Modingham, is supposed to be from Saxon _modig_, proud or lofty, and _ham_, a dwelling. Johnstone derives it as, "Enclosure of Moding," or "of the Sons of Mod or Mot". We may a.s.sume these people were followers of the Maid, and that Mottingham was equivalent to Maiden's Home.

[907] Mackenzie, D. A., _Myths of Crete_, p. xlvi.

[908] Borlase, Wm., _Antiquities of Cornwall_, p. 296.

[909] _Cliff Castles_, p. 33.

[910] _Cf._ Baring-Gould, _Cliff Castles_.

[911] Chislehurst is supposed to mean the pebble hurst or wood, but Chislehurst is on chalk and is less pebbly than many places adjacent: at Chislehurst is White Horse Hill: Nantj.i.z.zel or _j.i.z.zle valley_, in Cornwall, is close to Carn Voel, _alias_ the Diamond House, and thus, I am inclined to think that Chislehurst was a selhurst or selli's wood sacred to Chi the great Jehu.

[912] Adams, W. H. A., _Famous Caves and Catacombs_, p. 90.

[913] Spence L., _Myths of Mexico and Peru_, p. 293.

[914] In 1867 Mr. Roach Smith published the following description: "The ground plan of the caves was like a six-leaved flower diverging from the central cup which is represented by the shaft. The central cave of each three is about 14 yards long and about 6 yards high. The side caves are smaller, about 7 yards long and 2 yards wide. The section is rather singular: taken from end to end the roof line is horizontal: but the floor rises at the end of the cave so that a sketch of the section from end to end of the two princ.i.p.al caves is like the outline of a boat, the shaft being in the position of the mainmast. The section across the cave is like the outline of an egg made to stand on its broader end. They are all hewn out of the chalk, the tool marks, like those which would be made by a pick, being still visible."--_Archaeologia_, i., 32.

Dr. Munro states: "They are usually found on the higher ground of the lower reaches of the Thames ... in fact, North Kent and South Ess.e.x appear to be studded with them."--_Prehistoric Britain_, p. 222.

[915] _Nat. Hist._, lib. xvii., cap. viii.

[916] Part I.

[917] One of the most characteristic symbols of the aegean is St.

Andrew's Cross: I have suggested that the Scotch Hendrie meant _ancient drie_ or _drew_, and it is not without significance that tradition closely connects St. Andrews in Scotland with the aegean. The legend runs that St. Rule arrived at St. Andrews bringing with him a precious relic--no less than Sanct Androwis Arme. "This Reule," continues the annalist, "was ane monk of Grece born in Achaia and abbot in the town of Patras"--Simpkins, J. E., _Fife_, Country Folklore, vol. vli., p. 243.

[918] _The Gnostics and their Remains_, p. 72.

[919] "It is certain that ancient caves do exist in Palestine which in form and circ.u.mstance, and to some extent also in decoration, approximate so nearly to the Royston Cave that if any historical connection could be established between them, it would scarcely seem doubtful that the one is a copy of the other."--Beldam, J., _The Royston Cave_, p. 24. According to the same authority there are indications at the Royston Cave "of an extreme and primeval antiquity," and he adds, "it bears, indeed, a strong resemblance in form and dimension to the ancient British habitation; and certain marks and decorations in its oldest parts such as indentations and punctures, giving a diapered appearance to the surface, are very similar to what is seen in confessedly Druidical and Phoenician structures," p. 22.

[920] Beldam, J., _The Royston Cave_, p. 24.

[921] In Caledonia dovecots or _doocats_ are still superst.i.tiously maintained: there may be a connection between _doocat_ and the "Dowgate" Hill which neighbours the present Cathedral of St. Paul.

[922] Nichols, W. J., _The Chislehurst Caves and Dene Holes_, p. 5.

[923] Walford, E., _Greater London_, ii., 127.

[924] _Ibid._, p. 131.

[925] G.o.ddard, A. R., _Ess.e.x Archaeological Society's Transactions_, vol. vii., 1899.

[926] Courtois, _Dictionaire Geographique de l'Arrondiss.e.m.e.nt de Saint Omer_, p. 156.

[927] Wilson, J. G., _Gazetteer_, i., 1044.

[928] Eckenstein, L., _Comparative Studies in Nursery Rhymes_, p.

154.

[929] Dan or Don is one of the main European root river names; it occurs notably in the story of the _Dan_aides who carried water in broken urns to fill a bottomless vessel, and again in _Dan_aus who is said to have relieved Argos from drought.

[930] P. 242.

[931] Herbert, A., _Cyclops_, p. 154.

[932] Wright, T., _Patrick's Purgatory_, p. 162.

[933] _Ibid._, p. 231.

[934] _Travels in the East_, p. 2.

[935] "This was the _round_ church of St. Mary, divided into two stories by slabs of stone; in the upper part are four altars; on the eastern side below there is another, and to the right of it an empty tomb of stone, in which the Virgin Mary is said to have been buried; but who moved her body, or when this took place, no one can say. On entering this chamber, you see on the right-hand side a stone inserted in the wall, on which Christ knelt when He prayed on the night in which He was betrayed; and the marks of His knees are still seen on the stone, as if it had been as soft as wax."

[936] Wright comments upon this: "Dr. Clarke is the only modern traveller who has given any notice of these subterranean chambers or pits, which he supposes to have been ancient places of idolatrous wors.h.i.+p".

[937] _Cf._ Baring-Gould, _Curious Legends_, p. 238.

[938] _Mysteries of the Cabiri_, ii., 393.

[939] _Cf._ Herbert, A., _Cyclops_, p. 155.

[940] _Ibid._, p. 154.

[941] It is not improbable that the Pied Piper incident was actually enacted annually at the Koppenburg, and that the children of Hamelyn were given the treat of being taken through some brilliantly lit cavern "joining the town and close at hand". Whether the Koppenburg contains any grottos I am unable to say.

[942] _Cyclops_, p. 156.

[943] The authorities connect the surnames Kettle and Chettle with the Kettle or Cauldron of Norse mythology, whence Prof.

Weekley writes: "The renowned Captain Kettle, described by his creator as a Welshman, must have descended from some hardy Norse pirate". Why Norse? The word _kettle_, Gaelic _cadhal_, is supposedly borrowed from the Latin _catillus_, a small bowl: the Greek for cup is _kotulos_, and it is probable that _kettle_ and _cotyledon_ are alike radically Ket, Cot, or Cad. In Scotland _adhan_ meant cauldron, whence Rust thinks that Edinbro or Dunedin was once a cauldron hill.

[944] Sandringham, near King's Lynn, appeared in Domesday as Sandersincham: upon this Johnston comments, "Curious corruption. This is 'Holy Dersingham,' as compared with the next parish Dersingham. French _saint_, Latin _sanctus_, Holy."