In 1939, having failed after much searching to locate any extant seal of Strongbow, I gave in Historic Heraldry of Britain (Oxford, 1939, pp. 36–7) such particulars as I could of two which have perished, one known by a drawing, the other by a photograph and description. Soon after the book's appearance a letter from Captain R. B. Haselden informed me that what I had been seeking existed in the Huntington Library, namely, a complete and almost perfect seal of Strongbow attached to a charter formerly at Stowe. To the historian, the sigillographer, and the herald alike, this seal is of exceptional interest: to the historian, because it is the only known seal extant of an important historical figure; to the sigillographer, because of the unique design of the counterseal; and to the herald, for its bearing on the early history of one of the two or three oldest heraldic devices.

You may, perhaps, recollect, that after the singular reverse of fortune by which King Edward the Fourth was obliged to leave his crown and kingdom in the hands of the Earl of Warwick, he embarked on the 3d October, 1470, from Lynn, accompanied only by his brother the Duke of Gloucester, the Lord Scales brother of the Queen, the Lord Hastings his Chamberlain, and some few hundred followers; and with this comparatively scanty retinue steered in three small vessels for the dominions of his brother-in-law, the Duke of Burgundy, under whose protection his only hope of safety seemed to lie. So sudden had been the change which reduced the monarch to the condition of an exile, that he had not time even to collect his treasure or wearing apparel, and, in the words of Hall (who here follows the testimony of the contemporary historian Philippe de Comines) he departed “without bagge or bagage, without clothe, sacke, or male!”

A copper-alloy scabbard chape of Viking-period type and date was found by a metal-detector user at Chatburn, Lancashire, in 1993. It has been acquired, through the good offices of the finder, Mr Steve Owen, and the landowners, the Trustees of The Hon R C Assheton's Settlement, by Blackburn Museum, where its registration number is 1995.14. Assistance is acknowledged from the following bodies with the costs of acquisition and conservation: the MGC/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, the National Art Collections Fund and the North West Museums Service. Conservation has been carried out by the York Archaeological Trust.

This Society published in vol. lxxii of Archaeologia an illustrated description of the almost complete series of the seals of the bishops of Durham, from William of St. Calais (1081) to Cuthbert Tunstall (1559), preserved in the treasury of the dean and chapter of Durham. This paper with the ensuing catalogue is an attempt to record the seals of later date belonging to the see and to the cathedral church of Durham, up to the abolition of what remained of the palatinate powers of the bishops in 1836. The writer thought that this would be a comparatively easy task but it has not been so, for after an exhaustive search in all likely places, the result has been disappointing; examples have been difficult to find, some of the bishops are not represented at all and others only by their great seals in chancery. The only examples of episcopal seals of dignity which have been found later than that of Barnes (pi. xiv, no. 2) are that of Cosin (pi. xvi, no. 3) and those of Trevor, Egerton, and Barrington (pi. xvii).

The paper discusses an unsigned London made sector, a mathematical instrument which provides instrumental solutions to trigonometrical problems. The instrument is identified as being made to the design published by Sir Jonas Moore in 1673 with scales specifically intended for use in drawing ground plans for fortifications. It encapsulates the codified design rules of various seventeenth century engineers. One of the fortification scales which adopts general rules of the Count de Pagan, is attributed to Charles II. The use of the sector is explained and the Carolian design parameters compared with others. Consideration of the design work of the King's Engineer, Sir Bernard de Gomme, suggests that his Royal Master may have influenced that engineer's acceptance of Pagan's rules. Specifically de Gomme's design for Tilbury Fort is seen to follow design ratios probably attributable to Charles II and issued on a medal in 1666.

It was recently my good fortune to discover in the Muniment Room of King's College, Cambridge, in a very unusual situation, the manuscript of a fourteenth-century love-song. Mr. Flower kindly drew my attention to a love-song of the early sixteenth century preserved in a rather similar manner at the Public Record Office. Both manuscripts included musical settings. That of the fourteenth-century song, Bryd one brere, has been edited and arranged by Mr. F. McD. C. Turner, of Magdalene College, Cambridge; that of the song from the sixteenth century by Professor E. J. Dent, of King's College; and they will be found in later sections of this paper. Meanwhile I shall endeavour to describe the manuscripts themselves, the literary texts of the two lyrics, and what can be inferred of their history.

Early in March this year, shepherds reported to the Forest Department that they had found a cave, with paintings, on the ancient site of Salamis, Famagusta District. This information was passed to the Museum, for whom I inspected the place. All that was then visible was a large hole in the sand, about 15 ft. deep and 6 ft. wide, which led into a narrow shaft opening on to a round chamber; this was full, nearly to the top, with sand and rubbish. The paintings and upper inscriptions (pl. XI, 2) were all visible, and it was possible to crawl through to the second chamber, which was practically clear.

This paper draws upon documentary, visual and archaeological evidence to chart the development of the sacristy of Westminster Abbey from its construction as one of the earliest parts of the abbey’s thirteenth-century rebuilding to its demolition in the mid-eighteenth century − a story that reflects wider changes of religious and political history.

A small but interesting find of Roman coins was made recently by Mr. Stuart Piggott during his examination of the site at Rams Hill, near Uffington, described in the preceding paper; and I may here recapitulate his description of the discovery. Two adult skeletons were found, buried one above the other, in a ditch which appeared to belong to an enclosure of the Ditchley–Wootton–Fawler–Kiddington type, and of which three sides were defined, suggesting a square 260 ft. across. There had evidently been occupation within this (although a trench encountered no foundations)—probably a wooden building on analogy with Ditchley; and the pottery in the ditch was first-century, with abundant Belgic types. Into the filling of this ditch, or rather in a cleared-out portion of it (since no grave dug through the filling could be detected in the section), the two burials had been deposited, the upper on his back with no grave-goods, the lower on his left side with the coins. Two coins, one silver and one bronze, were enclosed between two thin silver-foil discs folded over each other in the mouth; the other coins (seven) were all together in a compact mass high up against the ribs, a fact which suggests the previous existence of a bag or purse slung round the neck. Thus there is no doubt of the strict contemporaneity of the whole group. There was nothing else to suggest late Roman occupation of the site.

Four or five years ago, whilst making some researches in the State Paper Office relating to the time of Charles I., I met with a short succession of Letters from a person of the name of Nehemiah Wharton, addressed to his then late master and honoured friend Mr. George Willingham, merchant, at the Golden Anchor in St. Swithin's Lane. A few of these Letters, which I then, and some which I have since transcribed, I now lay before your Lordship and our Society. They form a graphic illustration of the historical incidents of Butler's celebrated poem, and detail the more than wretched condition under which our country suffered throughout the confused period of the Great Rebellion, wherever the rival forces came, whether to plunder or to protect the unfortunate inhabitants. Another feature in these Letters is the strange and ceaseless union of outrage with religion. Atrocities of the worst kind were constantly followed by “a famous,” “a worthy,” “a godly,” or “a heavenly sermon,” preached by one or other of the spiritual trumpeters of the time, who inflamed the population. After pillaging Sir Robert Fisher's house, near Coventry, on the next day, the soldiers “kept the Fast and heard two Sermons.” Before the third was ended they had an alarm to march.

The Antiquaries decided to seek incorporation in March I751 and secured a royal charter, little supplemented since, in the following November. By using all known domestic and governmental records and also many ‘blue books’ the charter's progress from petition to patent is here traced and the composition of its cost examined. The key position of the Attorney General now occupied by the Privy Council Office, the scrupulous observance of obsolescent legal formalities, and the Antiquaries' debt to the Royal Society's charters are emphasized. Domestic interest apart, the article contributes to the neglected study of eighteenth-century diplomatic.