Part 24 (1/2)

=Sub isto saxo tumulat' corpus Steph'i Payne, armiger', fil' et hered' Nichi' Payne, arm', quond' seneschali hujus monasterii, gui obiit xiiij die mens' Decembris: Anno D'ni m.ccccc.viij: cujus a'ie p'piciet' altissimus De'. Amen.=

The indents of four s.h.i.+elds, two at the top and two at the bottom of the stone, are visible.

Stephen Payne held the office of Seneschal to the Abbess, which probably meant her Steward or Bailiff for the Abbey property. Of him, says Hutchins,--

”Here (Shaftesbury) was another freehold held 2 Henry VIII., 1511, by Stephen Payne at his death; namely--seven messuages, three gardens in Shaston, of the Abbess; forty acres of land in Bellchalwel of the Earl of Northumberland; and seventy-eight acres of land in the hundred of Alcester, of the Abbot of Evesham, by rent of five s.h.i.+llings.”

In the chancel window are two escutcheons;--1. _Azure, a dolphin embowed_ or (FITZJAMES OF LEWSTON), impaling, _Bendy of eight or and azure, within a bordure of the first_ (NEWBURGH OF WINFRITH), the s.h.i.+eld encircled by a riband, but the inscription destroyed.

”The ancient family of Fitzjames,” continues Hutchins,

”was formerly seated at Redlynch. Sir John Fitzjames, knt., son of James Fitzjames, married Alice, daughter of John Newburgh of East Lullworth, Esq., and was father to Sir John; Richard, bishop successively of Rochester, Chichester and London; and Aldred, ancestor of the Lewston line. The elder branch has been long extinct, but produced many eminent men. Sir John Fitzjames was lord chief justice of the king's bench thirteen years; died 30 Henry VIII., 1539.”

On the other are,--quarterly, 1 and 4, _Argent, a barrulet gules, between four bars gemelles wavy azure_; 2 and 3, _Argent, a chevron gules, between three castles sable_.

Two further escutcheons display, one the emblem of the Trinity with customary legends, and the other--what is seldom seen in painted gla.s.s, being usually found sculptured on the frieze, or on the capitals of the pillars, at or over the entrance to chantry or chancel,--the imagery of

THE FIVE WOUNDS.

Look at yon carven s.h.i.+eld, Above the chantry door, No blazoned pride bedecks its field, But emblems five sprent o'er.

There are His pierced feet,-- There are His mangled hands,-- And wounded heart,--whose latest beat Ceased at love's sweet commands.

=”Fyve wellys”=--there symbolled trace, Hus.h.i.+ng this mortal strife,-- ”=Of pitty, merci, comfort, gracy, And everlastingh lyffe.=”

The shepherd monk of old, Well his vocation knew, Set it o'er gateway of the fold, That all his flock may view.

Ere ranged in order close, They gathered round his board, Signs of His sorrows, sufferings, woes, With thankfulness adored.

Seen with unseen allied,-- Trusting their happy fate, Should some day see them glorified, Keystone of heaven's gate.

Wayfarer of to-day, The same tale runs for thee, As in the ages far away, And for all time to be.

As Sir Thomas Arundell did not get the royal grant until two years after the dissolution of the Abbey, it is probable the work of destruction on the fine building was considerably advanced, as but little time as a rule was allowed to elapse before the demolition commenced, anything that could be turned into money, such as the bells, lead, &c., sold, and the walls pulled down and carried away for building purposes.

Respecting this we further learn from Hutchins,--

”Tradition says, that one Arundell, steward to the Earl of Pembroke, in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, built a large house in the town for himself, out of the Abbey materials.

This seems to have been the same which Mr. c.o.ker speaks of, when he says, 'The greatest ornament of the town is a fair turretted house of the Lord Arundell of Wardour.' But it is most probable it was built by Sir Thomas Arundell, or his son Sir Matthew, out of the ruins of the Abbey. It stands in Bymport Street, and has been a public house, it is now almost pulled down. In 1747, on the chimney piece were these arms,--1. ARUNDELL, _with crescent for difference_.--2. Quarterly, 1 and 4, _Gules, four lozenges ermine_ (DINHAM), 2 and 3, _Gules, three arches conjoined, argent_ (DE ARCHES).--3. CHIDIOCK.--4. _Sable (azure), a bend, with label of three points or, for difference_ (CARMINOW).”

This was not all the property Sir Thomas appears to have had a.s.signed him at the dissolution of religious houses. In 1547, Henry VIII.

granted him the house and site of the Priory (or College) of Slapton in South Devon, ”except all the lead upon the said College other than the gutters, and the lead in the windows; except all the bells and ornaments”--the rectory, also that of Loddiswell, and three other manors in Devon, Somerset, and Cornwall. Although his wife's sister Queen Katharine had been executed four years previously, he is described as 'Chancellor' to her.

a.s.sociated with Sir Thomas Arundell at the Court of Henry VIII., and also in his country possessions in the west, was his relative Henry Daubeney, Earl of Bridgwater, a most unfortunate man. He was the son of Giles, Lord Daubeney, K.G., a trusted servant and soldier to Henry VII.; the old seat and possessions of the family being at South-Petherton, and later at Barrington Court near that town. Lord Daubeney married Elizabeth, sister of Sir Thomas Arundell, K.B., of Lanherne,--the father of Sir John Arundell, who was the father of the Sir Thomas of our narrative,--Henry Daubeney, Earl of Bridgwater, his only son, would therefore be Sir John's cousin.

But not only by kins.h.i.+p on his father's side, but also by a similar relations.h.i.+p on his wife's, was the Earl closely connected with Sir Thomas. Lord Bridgwater married secondly, Katharine Howard, daughter of Thomas, second Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife Agnes Tilney.

She was therefore aunt to Sir Thomas' wife, being her mother's half-sister.

The Countess of Bridgwater was greatly persecuted during the trial of her niece Queen Katharine Howard, and almost every means was resorted to to implicate her with that unfortunate woman. The Earl, her husband, plunged into the vortex of expensive frivolities that surrounded the Court of Henry VIII., and it is related irretrievably crippled, if not finally ruined himself by extravagant display at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. He died without issue, in seclusion and comparative penury at the little rural parish of South-Perrott, near Crewkerne, and was there buried 12 April, 1548,--his wife survived him, and was interred in the Norfolk Chantry in Lambeth church, 11 May, 1554.[42]