lope's head, was a comparatively modern addition, but most probably an imitation of an earlier, if not the original ornament. The perforations for affixing the wreath, etc., are in couples all round the crown.' A sharper angle was next presented by the compression of the sides, and the line curving in towards the neck, gave a beak-like appearance to the helmet when surmounted by the wreath mantling and crest, as may be perceived in that of sir Edmund Thorpe, from his effigy in Ashwelthorpe church, Norfolk (see Stothard's Sepul. Effigies). The singular shape of the vizors worn with the basinet during the reigns of Richard II and Henry IV, is well known to all students of this branch of archæology; but two curious examples of helmets of this period, similarly vizored, must not pass unnoticed. One, now in the Tower, purchased also recently from Mr. Pratt, is engraved in the 33rd number of the Archæological Journal. The other, of more gigantic dimensions, is in the arsenal at Venice, and a drawing of it was kindly exhibited to the Association by Mr. James of Aylesbury (see fig. 3), with the following remarks. "The form is unique, and strikes by its vast proportions the commonest observer. The warder gravely assured me it was the helmet worn by Attila on his first descent into Italy. The punctures are confined to the right side. The weight is enormous." And he adds: "I see it is stated that there are two at Vienna; there is only one. The other helmet, which appears to attract universal attention, is of the time of Henry VII, called by the warders the helmet of torture!"" The one in the Tower appears to me to have been a basinet of the fourteenth century altered into a helmet (by the addition of the lower portion) during the fifteenth. M. Allou, in his Etude sur les Casques du Moyen Age, has figured a similar helmet as one which belonged to Philippe le Hardi, duc de Bourgonne vers 1370', preserved in the museum at Dijon." The helmet of the heroic Henry of Monmouth, " England's fifth Harry", is still preserved in Westminster abbey (see fig. 4); and two of the same period are to be seen in Cobham church, Kent, where I made drawings of 1 This is the tilting-helmet (temp. Edward III) alluded to in the "Proceedings" of August 7th, 1850, No. XXIV, page 445. It was brought from some place in Norfolk; but I have no precise account of its discovery. them some years ago (see figs. 5 and 6). This form continued in use during nearly the whole of the fifteenth century; but several varieties were added to it during the reign of Henry VI. The helmet of that unfortunate monarch, placed above his tomb in St. George's chapel, Windsor, and which disappeared probably when that tomb was demolished by the Parliamentarians, has recently been discovered by Mr. Pratt, with that of Edward IV, which had shared a similar fate.1 The former is of the sort familiarized to us by engravings of the heraldic helmets, the occularium being protected by several arched bars (fig. 7). The helmet of Edward IV is nearly of the same form with that of Henry V, before described, but rather rounder in front (fig. 9). One, nearly of the same period, is in the collection at Goodrich Court. Such as these, it Such as these, it may be as well to remark, would be worn for the combat à l'outrance, whilst the more open-faced helmet, simply defended by bars, was confined to the jousts of peace, when the end of the lance was furnished with what was called a cornel, and the point of the sword was rebated, that is, blunted. At our bi-monthly meetings in London, I have also had the gratification of exhibiting, through the kindness of the same indefatigable collector, two other tilting-helmets of the middle of the fifteenth century. The first, exhibited 10th of March 1848 (engraved in our Journal, vol. iii, p. 59), is of German origin, but precisely similar to those pourtrayed in the celebrated MS., "Le Livre du Turnoi", of René, king of Sicily. It is composed partly of leather, and partly of iron, and is fully described in the volume above mentioned. The second, at present in the Tower of London, is all of iron, and opened at the side for the 1 It is unnecessary, in this place, to recite the circumstances under which these interesting relics were discovered, brought to London, and eventually restored to Windsor. It is sufficient to say that the country is indebted to Mr. S. Pratt, of Bond-street, for their rescue and preservation, and to point out the importance of such associations as ours, and the claim they have to public support, when it is evident that, but for the taste and knowledge which it is our specific object to cultivate and extend, our national antiquities might, one by one, utterly disappear, or, at the best, be suffered "to lie and rot in cold obstruction". To what are we to attribute the suddenly awakened liberality and activity of the authorities at the Tower, if not to the indignant remonstrances, public and private, of members of this Association, called forth by the facts which I have so frequently felt it my duty to lay before them? (Vide vol. vi, p. 445.) Be the cause, however, what it may, a change has come over the "spirit of their dream". and during the last eighteen months several valuable additions have been made to the national collection. admission of the head; all we have hitherto noticed, with one exception (that of the effigy in Walkerne church), being sufficiently large to place over the head. It has also a small door, opening at the left side, for the admission of air, or for the facility of hearing (fig. 8). This example is also still more illustrative than the helmet of sir Edmund Thorpe of that peculiarity which gives to the heads of knights, in illuminations of the reign of Henry VI, or Edward IV, the appearance of those of birds, from the narrowness of the necks and the projection of the occularium. The last helmet made solely for the lists is that of the reign of Henry VII, and differs from its totype of the reign of Henry V principally in the lowness of the crown. Amongst the later specimens, it would be nearly flat but for the depression in front for the purpose of sight. The drawings here exhibited are from one in the armoury at Goodrich Court (fig. 10), and one formerly in the collection made by Mr. Brocas (fig. 11). The tournament roll of Henry VIII, in the College of Arms, London, and the well-known engravings by Hans Burgmair, called the triumph of the emperor Maximillian, afford us innumerable examples of their decoration for chivalric sport or processional pageantry. pro You will be kind enough to remember, that in this brief and, I fear, imperfect catalogue, I have not included the various defences for the head worn in battle, but confined myself strictly to that which, from the conquest to the reign of Henry VII, was distinguished as the heaume or helmet, and during the greater portion of that time worn only in the lists. After the reign of Henry VIII, the tilting helmet appears to have been discarded, and the vizored and beavered war-helmet, of whatever denomination, Armet, Casque, or Bourginot, was used indifferently for the battle or the joust. Of these, the varieties are endless; and their simple enumeration would occupy more space than could be accorded to a paper like the present. I will, therefore, conclude with one remark, interesting in an heraldic point of view, particularly to our Chester friends: the similarity between the name of Holme, as pronounced in Cheshire, and heaume, the Anglo-Norman word for helmet, may probably account for the appearance of that bearing in the arms of so many families in the county Palatine. Proceedings of the Association. MARCH 24. THE following associates were elected : Henry Neale Scaife, esq., R.N., Royal Yacht, Portsmouth. Anthony Evans, esq., 3, Tavistock-place. Samuel Blore Swindell, esq., Ashburne, Derbyshire. Charles Lee, esq., 20, Golden-square. Robert Woodcock, esq., Clapton-square. The following presents were received, and thanks voted to the respective donors: From Professor Donaldson. His remarks "On the Present Condition of the Royal Tombs in Westminster Abbey, around the Shrine of Edward the Confessor." 1852. 4to. From Rev. D. Melville. Nature's Teaching; a Lecture read at the Annual Meeting of the Worcestershire Natural History Society. Worcester, 1851. 8vo. From the Society. Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de Normandie. 2ème Série. 9ème volume. Paris, 1852. 4to. From the Société des Antiquaires de Picardie. Coutumes Locales du Bailliage d'Amiens. Tom. ii. 7ème Série. Amiens, 1851. 4to. From Mons. Charma. Sur quelques Objets antiques découverts à Notre-Dame-de-Livoye, près Avranches, par M. A. Charma. Caen, 1852. 8vo. From John Lindsay, esq. Two Lithograph Engravings of Antiquities found in Ireland. Mr. Carrington made the following communication in relation to the rubbings of brasses exhibited by him at a previous meeting (see pp. 58-62 ante): "In the church of St. Michael, Penkevil, near Falmouth, is the brass of an ecclesiastic, in excellent preservation. It is a whole-length figure, with this inscription below it: Pray for the soule of maister John Trembras, maist' of arte, & late p'son of this churche, whiche decessed the xiij day of Septembre in the yere of our lord god ml vc & xv, on |