Addressed: [To the right] worshipfull M1 [Dr] Metcalff archydekyn of Rochester be thes delyu'yd at Mr Hudsons bruer at Pollys qwarff.

[Right worshipfull] in my most vmbell man I comend me to yowr Mrshyp beyng ryght [.] of yowr good helth & how ye have sped with my lord of Salysbere [I have] beeyn at Hygham wyth the ladys to know of them qwat placys thay [..] to so Dame Pene desyrys yow that she may be at Cantenbe at St Sepulkres & the old pryares desyrys that she may be at Sent Lenardes a lytyll from London in Exseckes & they desyre yow to help them in to thes placys & my lady Goodlyff hath desyryd Mr Hamenden to se the maykyng of ther wrytynges for ther penoyson & I haue desyryd hym to mayk speyd theryn & he sayd at aft Bartylmew day he wyll make the best hast that he can for be for that day he can not tend for harvest my loord spak to me to help yow in suche thyngs that I can for Hyghm yff ther be ane thyng that I may do send me woord & my labor sall be redy the nonys begyns to sell thayr stuff & I have desyryd Jamys Vrmston the fermer to marke qwatt thay sell & quo buys hyt no more to yowr maistershyp at thys tyme bot Jehu haue yow in hys kepyng be your awne to hys powre

JOHN WYLBOR.

Addressed: To the right worshipfull Mr Doctor Metcalfe Archdiacon of Rochest".

Dew recomendacions premysed.. yor maistershipe know my lorde is right glade yt yor maistershipe hath so gude liklyhode of places for yo1 nuñes desiring yow to make the best sped that yow kan therein his lordshipe hath sende to yo1 maistershipe thes ij letters herein closyd the on of the for sir Thomas Nevell & the other for Mr Doctor Roiston accordynge to yor desyre, Dame Elizabeth Nevell comendyd, thus our lorde have yor maistershipe in his kepyng at Hallyng the xxvij day of November

yor owne to his litill power

RICHARD SHARPE.

It would appear from the following documents that Dame Swayne was treated with much consideration,

while Lawrence and Penny were removed rather hurriedly. I assume that Godlive Lawrence's letter was addressed to Dame Swayne. It is interesting to notice from the way in which she spells case (kyse) that her pronunciation was probably cockney' in its character.

Delyured to Dame Swayne at her departyng.

ffirst a fetherbede with a bolster & iiij pelows. Itm a payr of blanketts with a cou❜led.

I'm ij payr of shettes & oon shett.

I'm iij paynted clothes for hyr bed.
Itm oon kyrtill.

Madame we recomend us on to you and wer as you onder stonde yt we wer takyn away sodenly and lyfte owre gere abrode trosteng yt you wold be on to us as we wolde haffe bene on to you and you had bene In kyse lyke wys. We pray you to send us v shetys yt we lefft abrode be syde iiij payr of the howses and to vs smokys and ij Vayls and ij blake mantyls and ij cottys on of 4 H

VOL. XVII.

blake and nother of vyolet and a payr of slyffes and to kyrtyls on of blake and nother of wyhet and an abyt and the chyste In the lytyl botre wt a haps and an kercher and all thys gere ys abrode and all ower tothyr gyre. We pray you het may be sauyd for us al so ower bokys to say owr sarvys no more at thys tyme bout Jhu kepe you

Be your syster dame

GODLIFE LAWRENCE.

Endorsed: Delyu'yd to Wyllm Mayst Scharpys seruand Imprmis ij bokes, ij kyrtylles, v chettes, ij Mantylles, on cotte, a kercheffe.

The following document (dated 28 January 1521) gives us an idea of the arrangements necessary for the transfer of the nuns. The name of Isabel Stamp does not occur in the list of prioresses of St Helen's given by Dugdale (Monasticon, IV. 551).

Endorsed: An Acquitance ffor Saynt Elyns.

Be it knowen to all men to Whome this present writing shall come That we Isabell Stampe p'osesse of the p'ory of the nonnes of Saynt Elyns wtin Bisshopps gate in London & the Covent of the same place send gretyng in our lord god eu'lasting Wheare opon late tyme on Dame Godlif Lawraunce late nonne of the nonry of Hygham in the Countye of Kent wt her owen full mynde not constraynet of any person and by the consent of the Right Reverend ffader in god John Bushop of Rochestre her ordynary hath surrendred and geven up in to thandes of the said Reurende ffad in god All her Right Title interest & possession That she in any tyme past hath had in the said nonnry of Hygham To thentent that she might be incorporated & admitted a suster in the said nonry of Saynt Elyns in London knowinge the said Isabell Stampe prioresse of the Covent of Sent Elyns to have receyved the day of makyng of these presens With the said Dame Godlif at the tyme of her incorporacon & admission in to the saide nonry of Saynt Elyns of the said Reu'ende ffad in god by thands of Nicholas

Metcalf Clerke & deputie for the said Reu'end ffad xl powndes of good & lawfull money of England in full contemptacon & payment of all suche summes of money as to the said Dame Godlif Laurance is assigned & appoynted. In wettenes of all the p'misses We the said p'oresse & the Covent of Saynt Elyns to this ower p'sent writyng have sette ower seale of ower office yoven the xxviij day of January in the xiij yer of the reigne of king Henry theight.

(To be continued.)

R. F. S.

TO A DEAD POET.

AND there thou liest, life of yesteryear,
Honey-sweet singer once, now breathless clay,
Skilled archer of great words men loved to hear.
Now their wide wealth is told but by each tear

One man's bruised heart must shed, as day by day The Sunrise lights him on the world's sad way. Thou hast no light, cold thy earth-bed and drear. Dead, oh my heart, it cannot be for aye!

Nay, but thy songs so passionately sweet
Drop healing balm into my memory
Of times I lay half-dreaming at thy feet.
Dear Heaven! I long the ghosts of old to greet,
The ghosts of our dead selves in company,
Down those long golden years I worshipped thee.

X.

DELPHI.*

POET, last laid amid thy peers in song
Within the sacred shrine where England keeps
The memory of the bards whose music stirred
The hearts of those whose labours made her great,
We dare not mock with ineffectual tears

The silence of thy grave, where only comes
The sound of music and the chant of praise.
Or if perchance a passing footstep breaks
The stillness of the spot, it only seems
An echo of the life that night and day
Rolls like a sea around these minster walls.
Here where the worship of a vanished past
Is crystallized in stone, the noisy cries
Of creeds and systems sounding far away,
Like some low murmur of a troubled sea,
Fall, and are silent. Like the mist that rose
Folding the flowers of Paradise in white,
Faint as an anthem heard on distant hills,
Sounds the great chorus of unceasing praise
Rolling in thunder to the throne of Heaven.
As on some sea-girt cliff flares up by night
The sudden beacon, on from hill to hill

The flaming message goes; the light burns dim,
But far away on battlement or crag

The fiery summons flies; and all is well.

• A poem sent in as an alternative to the Ode which gained the Chancellor's Medal for 1893.