Glossary

GLOSSARY THE MEANING ATTACHED TO THE TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN THE INVENTORY.

Abacus.—The uppermost member of a capital.

Alettes or Allettes.—Plates usually rectangular, of leather covered with cloth or other light material, fastened by a lace to the back or sides of the shoulders; they commonly display armorial bearings; worn c. 1275 to c. 1325.

Alb.—Long linen robe, with close sleeves; worn by clerks of all grades.

Altar-tomb.—A modern term for a tomb of stone or marble resembling, but not used as, an altar.

Amice.—A linen strip with embroidered apparel, placed upon the head coifwise by a clerk before vesting himself in an alb, after which it is pushed back, and the apparel then appears like a collar.

Amess.—Fur cape with hood, and long tails in front; worn by clerks of the higher grades.

Anelace.—A large dagger.

Apparels.—Rectangular pieces of embroidery on alb, amice, etc.

Apse.—The semi-circular or polygonal end of a chancel or other part of a church.

Arabesque.—A peculiar kind of strap ornament in low relief, common in Moorish architecture, and found in 16th and 17th-century work in England.

Arcade.—A range of arches carried on piers or columns.

Arch.—The following are some of the most usual forms:—

Segmental:—A single are struck from a centre below the springing line.

Segmental-pointed:—Struck from two centres, much below the springing line, to form a slight point at the apex.

Two-centred, pointed, lancet, equilateral:—Two arcs struck from centres on the springing line, and meeting at the apex with a point.

Drop-arch:—A two-centred arch in which the arcs are struck from centres below the springing line.

Three-centred, elliptical:—Formed with three arcs, the middle or uppermost struck from a centre below the springing line.

Four-centred, depressed, Tudor:—A pointed arch of four arcs, the two outer and lower arcs struck from centres on the springing line, and the two inner and upper arcs from centres below the springing line. Sometimes the two upper arcs (and in a few cases all four arcs) are replaced by straight lines.

Ogee, ogival:—A pointed arch of four or more arcs, the two uppermost or middle arcs being reversed, i.e., convex instead of concave to the base line.

Stilted:—An arch with its springing line raised above the level of the imposts.

Skew:—An arch not at right angles laterally with its jambs.

Archbishops' Vestments.—Buskins, sandals, amice, alb, girdle, stole, fanon, tunic, dalmatic, chasuble, pall; gloves, ring, mitre; an archbishop carries a crozier but, in later times, a cross staff.

Architrave.—A moulded enrichment to the jambs and head of a doorway or window opening; the lowest member of an entablature (q.v.).

Argent.—In heraldry, white or silver, the latter being the word used in mediæval English blazonry.

Armet.—See "Helmet".

Arming Doublet.—Sleeved coat worn under armour; 15th and 16th-centuries.

Arming Points.—Laces for attaching parts of armour together.

Arris.—A sharp edge or corner.

Articulation.—The joining of several plates of armour to form a flexible defence.

Ashlar.—Masonry wrought to an even face and square edges.

Aumbries.—See "Lockers."

Azure.—In heraldry, blue.

Badge of Ulster.—A silver scocheon charged with a red hand upraised, borne in the arms of baronets of England, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Bailey.—A court attached to a mount or other fortified enclosure.

Bainbergs.—Shin defence of plate armour, or leather.

Ball-flower.—In architecture, a decoration peculiar to the first quarter of the 14th century, consisting of a globular flower of three petals enclosing a small ball.

Banded Mail.—Mail shown with bands of leather or woven stuff, between rows of rings; construction uncertain.

Bar.—See "Fesse".

Barbe.—Pleated linen covering for chin and throat, worn by widows and women under vows.

Barbican Mount.—A mound advanced from the main defences to protect an entrance.

Barge-board.—A board placed below the verge or edge of a gabled roof, a short distance from the face of the wall, and either taking the place of, or covering the end rafters, which would otherwise be exposed to view.

Barnack-stone.—A shelly oolitic limestone quarried at Barnack, Northants.

Barrel-vaulting.—See "Vaulting".

Barrow.—A burial mound.

Barry.—In heraldry, an even number of divisions in a shield, normally six, but sometimes four or eight, set barwise. When a greater and indefinite number of divisions appear the word Burely is used.

Barwise.—Disposed after the manner of heraldic bars.

Bascinet.—Steel head-piece worn with camail, sometimes fitted with vizor.

Baston.—See "Bend".

Bead.—A small round moulding.

Bead-and-reel Ornament.—In 12th century, mouldings with projecting cross-rings at short intervals.

Bell-capital.—A form of capital of which the chief characteristic is the reverse bell between the neck moulding and upper moulding; the bell is often enriched with carving.

Bend.—In heraldry, a band passing aslant and across the shield, commonly from the dexter chief. A narrow bend thrown across other charges is called a Baston. The baston drawn in the other direction across the shield showing the ends cut off, is a mark of bastardy in post-mediæval heraldry.

Bendwise.—In the direction of a bend.

Bendy.—In heraldry, divided bendwise into an equal number of divisions, normally six.

Berm.—A platform on the slope of a rampart.

Besagues.—Small plates worn in front of the arm-pits.

Bevor.—Plate defence for chin and throat.

Bezant.—In heraldry, a gold roundel or disc.

Billet.—In heraldry, a small oblong figure; also an architectural ornament chiefly used in the 11th and 12th centuries.

Billety.—In heraldry, a field or charge powdered with billets.

Bishops' Vestments.—Same as an archbishop's, but without pall, and a bishop carries a crozier, and not a cross.

Bolection-moullding.—A moulding raised above the general plane of the framework of the door or panelling in which it is set.

Border.—In heraldry, an edging round a shield.

Boss.—A projecting square or round ornament, generally carved, covering the intersections of the ribs in a panelled ceiling or roof, or placed at the apex of a vault.

Bouget or Water-bouget.—A brace or yoke of leather bottles, borne as a heraldic charge.

Bowtell.—A round moulding; another term for roll-moulding.

Brassarts.—Plate armour defence for the arms.

Bressumer.—A beam supporting the front of a building.

Brick-nogging.—The brick - work filling the spaces between the uprights of a timber-framed building.

Brigandine.—Coat of padded cloth and very small plates (of metal).

Broach-spire.—See "Spire".

Broach-stop.—A half pyramidal stop against a chamfer to bring the edge of the masonry out to a right angle.

Buff Coat.—Coat of heavy leather.

Burgonet.—See "Helmet".

Buskins.—Stockings reaching to the knee; worn by archbishops, bishops, and mitred abbots.

Butterfly Head-dress.—Large, of lawn and gauze on wire, late 15th-century.

Buttress.—A mass of masonry or brick-work built against a wall to give additional strength.

Angle-buttresses:—Two meeting, or nearly meeting, at an angle of 90° at the corner of a building.

Diagonal-buttress:—One placed against the right angle formed by two walls, and more or less equi-angular with both.

Flying-buttress:—One connected to the wall which it supports, by a half-arch, springing at some distance from the wall, and leaving a clear space beneath or within the buttress.

Cable-moulding.—A round moulding carved in the form of a cable.

Camail.—Hood of mail; first worn attached to hauberk, then separate from it with tippet of mail over shoulders, and, in 14th century, attached to bascinet.

Cambered (applied to a beam).—Curved so that the middle is higher than the ends.

Canonical Quire Habit.—Surplice, amess, cope.

Canopy.—A projection or hood over a door, window, etc., and the covering above a tomb or niche; also the representation of the same on a brass.

Canton.—A word applied in modern heraldry to the Quarter which is commonly given less space than in the older examples.

Caryatides.—Pillars carved as human figures.

Casement.—1. A wide hollow moulding in window jambs, etc.

2. A window frame hinged at the side to open.

3. The sinking for a brass in a stone-slab.

Cassock.—Long, close-sleeved gown; worn by all clerks.

Central Chimney Type of House.—See "House".

Chamfer.—The small plane formed when the sharp edge or corner of stone or wood is cut away, usually at an angle of 45°; when the plane is concave it is termed a hollow chamfer, and when the plane is sunk below its arrises, or edges, a sunk chamfer.

Chancel Arch.—The arch spanning the west end of the chancel.

Chantry-chapel.—A small chapel usually occupying part of a large building, specially attached to a chantry.

Chasuble.—A nearly circular cape with central hole for head, worn by priests and bishops at mass. It is put on over all the other vestments.

Chausses.—Leg defences of mail.

Checky.—In heraldry, a field or charge divided into checkers.

Cheveron.—In heraldry, a charge resembling a plain barge-board of a gable. A field or charge filled with cheverons of alternating colours is said to be cheveronny.

Chief.—In heraldry, the upper part of the shield. Cut off from the rest of the field by a horizontal line and having its own tincture, it becomes one of the charges of the shield, covering a space which occupies from a third to a half of it.

Chrismatory.—A box containing the holy oils for anointing.

Chrisom-child.—A newly-baptised child bound in swaddling clothes.

Cinquefoil.—1. See "Foil".

2. An heraldic flower of five petals.

Clearstorey.—An open storey or range of windows in the upper part of a nave, chancel, etc. of a church, immediately below the roof.

Close-helmet.—See "Helmet".

Clunch.—A local name for the lower chalk limestone, composed of chalk and clay.

Cockatrice.—A monster with the head and legs of a cock and the tail of a wyver.

Coif.—Small close hood, covering head only.

Collar-beam.—A horizontal beam framed to and serving to tie a pair of rafters together some distance above the wall-plate level.

Combed Work.—The decoration of plaster surfaces by "combing" it into various patterns.

Console.—A bracket with a compound curved outline.

Cops, Knee and Elbow.—Knee and elbow defences of leather or plate.

Cope.—Cloak fastening in front with morse; processional and quire vestment only; worn by clerks of most grades.

Corbel.—A projecting stone or piece of timber supporting, or intended to support, a superincumbent weight.

Cotises.—In heraldry, pairs of narrow bands, in the form of bends, pales, fesses, or cheverons, and borne accompanying one of those charges on each side of it.

Counterchanged.—In heraldry, term applied in cases where the field and charges exchange tinctures on either side of a dividing line.

Counter scarp.—The reverse slope of a ditch facing towards the place defended.

Courtyard Type of House.—See "House".

Cove.—A curved surface forming the junction between a wall and a ceiling.

Cover-paten.—A cover to a communion cup, intended for use as a paten.

Crackows.—Shoes or sollerets with very long pointed toes.

Credence.—A shelf, niche, or table on which the vessels, etc. for mass are placed.

Crest.—A device worn upon the helm.

Crest, cresting.—An ornamental finish on the top edge of a screen, etc. usually in the form of square leaves. and flowers.

Crockets.—Carvings which represent projecting leaves of conventional design; used to enrich the vertical or sloping sides of parts of a building, such as spires, canopies, hood moulds, etc.

Cross.—In its simplest form in heraldry, a pale combined with a fesse, as the St. George's Cross; there are many other varieties, of which the following are the most common:—Crosslet,—with a small arm crossing the end of each main arm, the ends being cut off squarely; Crosslet fitchy,—having the lowest arm spiked or pointed; Crosslet flowered or flory,—having the arms headed with fleurs de lis; Crosslet formy,— arms widening from the centre, and square at the ends. The old forms of the crosslet have, as a rule, the arms ending as in trefoils with rounded petals; Plain cross,— with four equal arms; Moline (or mill-rind),—with the arms split or forked at the ends; Paty,—as a cross formy, but with the arms notched in two places at the ends, giving them a form which may approach that of a blunt head of a fleur de lis; Potent (or Jerusalem),—having a small transverse arm at the extreme end of each main arm; Tau (or Anthony),— in the form of a T.

Cross-loop.—Narrow slits or openings in a wall, in the form of a cross, generally with circular enlargements at the ends.

Cross-vaulting.—See "Vaulting".

Cross-staff.—Staff terminating in a cross; carried before archbishops, who are usually shown holding it in effigies, brasses, etc.

Crusilly.—In heraldry, the field of a shield covered or powdered with small crosslets.

Cuirass.—Breast and back plates of metal or leather.

Cushion-capital.—An early form of capital (late 11th and early 12th-century).

Cusps (cusping, cusped heads, sub-cusps).—The projecting points forming the foils in Gothic windows, arches, panels, etc.; they were frequently ornamented at the ends, or cusp-points, with leaves, flowers, berries, etc.

Dagging.—Cutting of edges of garments into slits and foliations.

Dalmatic.—The special vestment at mass of a deacon; loose robe, moderate length, slit up sides, with wide sleeves and fringed edges.

Dance.—In heraldry, a fesse or bar drawn zigzagwise.

Deacons' Vestments (Mass).—Amice, alb, stole (worn over left shoulder), dalmatic and fanon.

Demi-brassart.—Plate defences for outside of arm.

Dexter.—In heraldry, the right side of a shield (from the position of the holder).

Diagonal-buttress.—See "Buttress."

Diaper.—Decoration of surfaces with squares, diamonds, and other patterns.

Dimidiated.—In heraldry, cut in half palewise and one half removed.

Dog-legged Staircase.—Two flights of stairs in opposite directions.

Dog-tooth Ornament.—A typical 13th-century carved ornament consisting of a series of pyramidal flowers of four petals; used to cover hollow mouldings.

Dormer-window.—A vertical window on the slope of a roof, and having a roof of its own.

Dorter.—A dormitory or sleeping apartment.

Double-ogee.—See "Ogee."

Dovetail.—A carpenter's joint for two boards, one with a series of projecting pieces resembling doves' tails fitting into the other with similar hollows; in heraldry, an edge formed like a dovetail joint.

Drawbar.—A wood bolt inside a doorway, sliding when out of use into a long channel in the thickness of the wall.

Dressings.—The stones used about a window, or other feature when worked to a finished face, whether smooth, tooled in various ways, moulded, or sculptured.

Drip-stone.—See "Label."

Drop-arch.—See "Arch."

Easter Sepulchre.—A locker in the north wall of a chancel wherein the Host was placed from Good Friday to Easter Day, to typify Christ's burial after his crucifixion. A temporary wooden structure in imitation of a Sepulchre with lights, etc. was often placed before it, but in some parts of the country this was a more permanent and ornate structure of stone.

Eaves.—The lower edge or verge of a sloping roof overhanging a wall.

Embattled or Battled.—In heraldry, the edge of a chief, bend, bar, or the like drawn in the fashion of the battlements of a wall.

Embrasures.—The openings, indents, or sinkings in an embattled parapet.

Enceinte.—The main outline of a fort.

Engaged Shafts.—Shafts cut out of the solid or comnected with the jamb, pier, respond, or other part against which they stand.

Engrailed or Indented.—In heraldry, edged with a series of concave curves or sharp indentures. In modern heraldry the two forms are nicely distinguished.

Entablature.—The horizontal superstructure above the columns or jambs of an opening, and consisting of an architrave, frieze and cornice.

Ermine or Ermines.—The fur most frequently used in heraldry; white powdered with black tails. Other varieties are sometimes found, as sable ermined with silver, and in more modern heraldry, gold ermined with sable, and sable ermined with gold.

E Type of House.—See "House."

Fanon.—A strip of embroidery probably at one time a handkerchief held in the left hand, or worn hanging from the left wrist by bishops, priests and deacons. It is often called a maniple.

Fan Vaulting.—See "Vaulting."

Fenestration.—The arrangement of windows in the elevation of a building.

Feretory.—A place or chamber for a body which was watched by a "feretrar"; the term now usually confined to a shrine or the chamber in which it stands.

Fesse.—In heraldry, a band athwart the shield. When more than one fesse is borne they are known as Bars.

Finial.—A formal bunch of foliage or similar ornament at the top of a pinnacle, gable, canopy, etc.

Fitchy.—See "Cross."

Foil (trefoil, quatrefoil, cinquefoil, multifoil, etc.).—A leaf-shaped curve formed by the cusping or feathering in an opening or panel.

Foliated (of a capital, corbel, etc.).—Carved with leaf ornament.

Fosse.—A ditch.

Four-centred Arch.—See "Arch."

Frater.—The refectory or dining-hall of a monastery.

Fret or Fretty.—In heraldry, a charge formed by a number of interlacing bastons drawn dexter-wise and sinisterwise. In modern heraldry, the charge of a fret takes the form of a narrow saltire interlacing a voided lozenge, while the word Fretty is kept for the older form.

Frieze.—The middle division in an entablature, between the architrave and the cornice; generally any band of ornament or colour immediately below a cornice.

Fusil.—In heraldry, a word applied to the pieces into which a fesse is divided by engrailing or indenting.

Fylfot.—A peculiar cruciform figure, each arm of which is bent to form one or more right angles in its length.

Gable.—The wall at the end of a high-pitched roof, generally triangular, sometimes semi-circular, and often with an outline of various curves, then called curvilinear.

Gadlings.—Spikes or knobs on plate gauntlets.

Gambeson.—Garment of padded cloth worn under hauberk or as sole defence.

Gardant.—In heraldry, an epithet of a beast whose full face is seen.

Garreted Joints.—Wide joints in rubble or masonry into which thin pieces of flint or stone have been inserted.

Gimel-bar or Gemel-bar.—In heraldry, a bar painted as two narrow bars lying close to one another.

Gipon.—Close-fitting vest of cloth, worn over armour c. 1350 to c. 1410.

Gobony.—In heraldry, a row of checkers of a metal alternating with a colour, or either with a fur.

Gorget.—Plate defence for neck and throat.

Greek Cross.—A plain cross with four equal arms.

Griffon.—A winged monster with the fore parts of an eagle, and the hinder parts of a lion.

Groining, Groined Vault.—See "Vaulting".

Guige.—Strap from which shield was suspended.

Guilloche-pattern.—An ornament consisting of two or more intertwining wavy bands.

Gules.—In heraldry, red.

Gussets.—Pieces of flexible armour placed in gaps of plate defences.

Gyronny or Gironny.—In heraldry, the field of a shield divided into six, eight or more gussets meeting at a point in the midst.

Half-H type of House.—See "House."

Hall and cellar type of House.—See "House."

Hammer-beams.—Horizontal brackets projecting from the wall at the wall-plate level, and somewhat resembling the two ends of a tie-beam with its middle part cut away; they are supported by braces (or struts), and help to diminish the lateral pressure in a roof by reducing the span for the upper part of the truss.

Hatchment.—A display of arms in a lozenge-shaped frame.

Hauberk.—Shirt of chain or other mail.

Helm.—Complete barrel or dome-shaped head defence of plate.

Helmet.—A light headpiece; various forms are: Armet, Burgonet, close Helmet, all similar in principle.

Herm.—A form of caryatid, a square tapering column with a carved human figure growing out of it at the top.

Hood-mould.—See "Label".

Houses.—These are classified as far as possible under the following definitions:—

i. Hall and cellar type:—Hall on first floor; rooms beneath generally stone vaulted; examples as early as the 12th century.

ii. H type:—Hall between projecting wings, one containing living rooms, the other the offices. The usual form of a mediæval house, employed, with variations, down to the 17th century.

iii. L type:—Hall and one wing; generally for small houses.

iv. E. type:—Hall with two wings and a middle porch; generally of the 16th and 17th centuries.

v. Half-H type:—A variation of the E type without the middle porch.

vi. Courtyard type:—House built round a square; sometimes only three ranges of buildings with or without an enclosing wall and gateway on the fourth side.

vii. Central Chimney type:—(Rectangular plan), small houses only.

Impaled.—See "Parted."

Indent.—The sinking or casement, in a slab, in which a monumental brass is, or has been, fixed.

Indented.—See "Engrailed."

Invected.—In modern heraldry, edged with a series of convex curves.

Jambs.—1. The sides of an archway, doorway, window, or other opening.

2. In heraldry, legs of lions, etc.

3. In armour, plate defences for lower leg.

Jazerine.—Armour of small plates on leather or cloth.

Keep.—The great tower or stronghold in a Norman castle; of greater height and strength than the other buildings.

Keystone.—The middle stone in an arch.

King-post.—The middle vertical post in a roof truss.

Kneeler.—Stone at the foot of a gable.

Label (hood-mould, dripstone).—A projecting moulding on the face of a wall above an arch; in some cases it follows the form of the arch, and in others is square in outline.

Label.—In heraldry, a narrow horizontal band (lying across the chief of a shield), from which small strips, generally three or five, called points, depend at right angles.

Lancet.—A long narrow window with a pointed head, typical of the 13th century.

Langued (of beasts, etc.).—In heraldry, a term used when indicating the tincture of a beast's tongue.

Latin Cross.—A plain cross with the bottom arm longer than the other three.

Leopard.—In heraldry, a lion showing its full face; always passant (unless otherwise emblazoned), as in the three leopards of England.

Lierne Vault.—See "Vaulting."

Lintel.—The flat beam or joist bridging an opening.

Lion.—In heraldry, face in profile and (unless otherwise emblazoned) always rampant.

Liripipe.—Long tail of cloth attached to hooded tippet of 14th century; the whole finally developed into form of turban called Liripipe head-dress.

Locker (Aumbry).—A small cupboard cut or built in a wall.

Loculus.—A small niche or locker in an Easter Sepulchre, in which the pyx was placed.

Loop.—A small narrow light in a turret, etc.; often unglazed.

Low side window.—A window with a low sill, i.e. within a few feet of the floor, in the N. or S. wall of the chancel near the W. end; it appears to have been always provided with a shutter instead of fixed glass; use uncertain.

Lozenge.—In heraldry, a charge like the diamond in a pack of cards.

L type of house.—See "House".

Luce.—In heraldry, a fish (pike).

Lychgate.—A covered gateway, at the entrance of a churchyard, beneath which the bier is rested at a funeral.

Mail Skirt.—Skirt of chain mail worn under taces and tuiles.

Mail Standard.—Collar of chain mail.

Manche, Maunche.—A lady's sleeve with a long pendent lappet; a heraldic charge.

Maniple.—See "Fanon".

Mantle.—In heraldry, the cloth hung over the hinder part of the helm, like the Indian "pagri," the edges came to be fantastically dagged and slit.

Martlet.—A martin, shown sometimes in heraldry without feet.

Mask stop.—A stop at the end of a label, bearing a distant resemblance to a human face; generally of the 12th and 13th centuries.

Mass Vestments.—These included the amice, alb, and girdle (which were worn by all clerks) to which a subdeacon added the tunicle and fanon, a deacon the dalmatic, fanon, and stole (over one shoulder only) and the priest the fanon, stole (over both shoulders) and chasuble. Bishops and certain privileged abbots wore the tunicle and dalmatic under the chasuble, with the mitre, gloves, and ring, and buskins and sandals. Archbishops used the pall in addition to all the foregoing. Bishops, abbots, and archbishops alike carried croziers, and in the same way, but an archbishop had likewise a cross carried before him for dignity, and he is generally represented holding one for distinction. The mass vestments were sometimes worn over the quire habit, and the hood of the grey amess can often be seen on effigies hanging beyond the amice apparel at the back of the neck.

Merlon.—The solid part of an embattled parapet between the embrasures.

Mezzanine.—A subordinate storey between two main floors of a building.

Mill-rind (Fer de moline).—The iron affixed to the centre of a millstone; a common heraldic charge. In early heraldry the name given to the mill-rind cross, or cross moline.

Misericorde.—1. A projecting carved bracket affixed to the underside of the seat of a stall so that when the seat, which is hinged, is turned up against the back, the bracket forms a rest for the user.

2. Dagger worn with armour.

Mitred Abbots' Vestments.—Same as a bishop's.

Modillions.—Brackets under the cornice in classical architecture.

Molet.—In heraldry, a star of five or six points, the rays drawn with straight lines.

Morse.—Large clasp or brooch fastening cope across the breast.

Mullion.—A vertical post, standard, or upright dividing a window into two or more lights; generally chamfered, and often moulded.

Muntin.—The intermediate uprights in the framing of a door, screen, or panel, butting into or stopped by the rails.

Nasal.—Vertical bar or plate to protect nose.

Nebuly.—Heraldic term for a line or edge, following the fashion of the mediæval artists' conventional cloud.

Neck-moulding.—The narrow moulding at the bottom of a capital

Newel.—The central post in a circular or winding staircase; also the principal posts at the angles of a dog-legged or well staircase.

Nogging.—The filling, generally of brick, between the posts, etc. of a timber-framed house.

Ogee.—A compound curve of two parts, one convex, the other concave; a double-ogee moulding is formed by two ogees meeting at their convex ends.

Or.—In heraldry, gold; a word which, like argent, was established in English blazon in the second half of the 16th century.

Orders of Arches.—Receding divisions, or concentric rings of voussoirs, generally moulded.

Oriel Window.—A projecting bay-window carried upon corbels or brackets.

Orie.—In heraldry, a term used of a number of small charges, as martlets or the like, set in the shield in the manner of a border. Also a wreath of twisted cloth worn on bascinet, or bare head, to take weight of helm; or on helm to hold mantle in place.

Orphreys.—Strips of embroidery on vestments.

"Out of the Solid."—Mouldings worked on the styles, rails, etc., of framing, instead of being fixed on to them.

Oversailing Courses.—A number of brick courses of which each course projects beyond the one below it.

Pale.—A vertical band down the middle of a shield.

Palimpsest.—Of a brass: re-used by engraving the back of an older engraved plate.

Of a wall-painting: superimposed on an earlier painting.

Paly.—In heraldry, a shield divided by lines palewise, generally into six divisions, unless otherwise emblazoned.

Panache.—A plume or brush of feathers worn on the helm.

Pargetting.—Ornamental plaster work on the surface of a wall.

Parted or Party.—In heraldry, a term used when a shield is divided into two parts down the middle. When two coats of arms are marshalled, each in one of these divisions, the one is said to be party or parted with the other, or, in the words of the later heraldry, to be impaling it. The word party or parted is also used for other specified divisions, as party bendwise.

Parvise.—Now generally used to denote a chamber above a porch.

Passant (of beasts, etc.).—In heraldry, walking and looking forward,—head in profile.

Pastoral Staff.—Staff ending in ornamented crook; carried by archbishops, bishops, and heads of monastic houses.

Paten.—A plate or salver for holding the Bread at the celebration of the Holy Communion.

Paty (cross).—See "Cross".

Pauldron.—Plate defence for the shoulders.

Pediment.—A low-pitched gable used in Classical and Renaissance architecture above a portico, at the end of a building, and above doors, windows, niches, etc.; sometimes the middle part is omitted, forming a "broken" pediment.

Perk.—A perch on which to hang vestments.

Pheon.—In heraldry, a broad arrow head.

Pile.—In heraldry, a triangular or wedge-shaped charge, issuing from the chief of the shield unless otherwise blazoned.

Pilaster.—A shallow pillar attached to and projecting from a wall.

Piscina.—A basin with a drain, set in a niche or recess in the wall S. of an altar.

Pitch of Roof.—The slope or angle of a ridged roof.

Plinth.—The projecting base of a wall, generally chamfered or moulded at the top; also the square member below a column.

Poppy-head.—The ornament at the heads of bench-standards, etc., in churches; generally carved with foliage and flowers, somewhat resembling a fleur-de-lis.

Portcullis.—A running gate, rising and falling in vertical grooves in the jambs of a doorway.

Pourpoint.—Defence of padded cloth or of leather set with metal studs.

Powdered.—A shield or charge with small charges scattered indiscriminately thereon is said to be powdered with them.

Presbytery.—The part of a church in which is placed the high altar, E. of the quire.

Priests' Vestments (Mass).—Amice, alb, girdle, stole, fanon, chasuble.

Principals.—Generally the larger rafters of a roof; also sometimes used for the tie-beams, purlins, and other main timbers.

Processional Vestments.—Same as canonical.

Purlin.—A horizontal timber resting on the principal rafters of a roof-truss, and forming an intermediate support for the common rafters.

Purple or Purpure.—One of the colours in heraldry.

Pyx.—Any small box, but usually a vessel to contain the reserved Sacrament.

Quarry.—In glazing, small panes of glass, generally diamond-shaped or square, set diagonally.

Quarter.—In heraldry, the dexter corner of the shield; a charge made by enclosing that corner with a right-angled line taking in a quarter or somewhat less of the shield and giving it a tincture of its own.

Quartered or Quarterly.—A term which, in its original sense, belongs to a shield or charge divided cross-wise into four quarters. After the practice of marshalling divers coats in the quarters of a shield had been established, the quarters themselves might be quartered for the admission of more coats, or the four original divisions increased to six or more, each being still termed a quarter.

Quatrefoil.—In heraldry, a four-petalled flower. See also "Foil."

Queen-posts.—A pair of vertical posts in a roof-truss equidistant from the middle line.

Quills.—Bars forming cross-guard of sword.

Quilted Defence.—Armour made of padded cloth, leather, etc.

Quire-habit.—In secular churches: for boys, a surplice only over the cassock; for clerks or vicars, the surplice and a black cope-like mantle, partly closed in front and put over the head, which was exchanged for a silk cope on festivals; canons put on over the surplice a grey amess. In monastic churches, all classes, whether canons regular, monks, friars, nuns, or novices wore the ordinary habit with a cope on festivals.

Quoin.—The dressed stones at the corners of a building.

Ragged, Raguly.—In heraldry, applied to a charge (commonly a bend) whose edges are ragged like a tree trunk with the limbs lopped away.

Rampant (of beasts, etc.).—In heraldry, erect; one hind paw on the ground, the other paws elevated.

Rampart.—A mound surrounding a fortified place.

Rapier.—Cut and thrust sword.

Razed.—Of a head, etc. in heraldry, having a ragged edge as though torn off.

Rear arch.—The arch on the inside of a wall enclosing a doorway or window opening.

Rear-vault.—The space between a rear arch and the outer stonework of a window.

Rebate (rabbet, rabbit).—A continuous rectangular notch cut on the edge of a solid.

Reliquary.—A small box or other receptacle for relics.

Rerebrace.—Plate or leather defence for upper arm.

Reredos.—A hanging, wall, or screen of stone or wood at the back of an altar or dais.

Respond.—The half-pillar or pier at the end of an arcade.

Revetment.—A retaining wall of masonry against a bank of earth.

Roll-moulding.—A plain round moulding cut upon the edges of stone and woodwork, etc.

Rood (Rood-beam, Rood-screen, Rood-loft).—A cross or crucifix. The Great Rood was set up at the E. end of the nave with accompanying figures of St. Mary and St. John; it was generally carved in wood, and fixed on the loft or head of the rood-screen, or in a special beam (the Rood-beam), reaching from wall to wall. Sometimes the rood was merely painted on the wall above the chancel-arch or on a closed wood partition or tympanum in the upper half of the arch. The Rood-screen is the open screen spanning the E. end of the nave, shutting off the chancel; in the 15th century a narrow gallery was often constructed above the cornice to carry the rood and other images and candles, and it was also used as a music gallery. The loft was approached by a staircase (and occasionally by more than one), either of wood or in a turret built in the wall wherever most convenient, and, when the loft was carried right across the building, the intervening walls of the nave were often pierced with narrow archways. Many of the roods were destroyed at the Reformation, and their final removal, with the loft, was ordered in 1561.

Roundel.—A round disc or small sphere as a heraldic charge.

Rubble.—Walling of rough unsquared stones or flints.

Rustic work, rusticated joints.—Masonry in which the jointing is accentuated by grooves.

Sable.—In heraldry, black.

Salade.—Light steel headpiece, frequently with vizor.

Saltire.—In heraldry, an X-shaped cross; also called St. Andrew's cross.

Sanctus-bell.—A small bell usually hung in a bell-cot over the E. gable of the nave, or in the steeple, and rung at the elevation of the Host during mass.

Sash-window.—A window of which the part to open is made to slide up and down, with pulleys and counterbalances. In late 17th or early 18th-century work the frames were placed almost flush with the outer face of the walls (flush-sash, or outside sash.)

Scallop.—A shellfish, a common charge in heraldry.

Scalloped capital.—A later development of the 12th-century cushion capital.

Scappled Flints.—Split flints.

Scarp.—A vertical or sloping face of earth in a ditch or moat, or cut in the slope of a hill, facing away from the place which it helps to defend.

Scroll-moulding.—A rounded moulding of two parts, the upper projecting beyond the lower, thus resembling a scroll of parchment.

Scutcheon or Scocheon.—A shield, a charge in heraldry. Voided Scutcheon, a scutcheon whose border alone is seen; incorrectly termed in modern heraldry an Orle. A door handle in the form of a pendent ring, etc. A covering for a keyhole.

Sedilia (sing. sedile, a seat).—The seats on the S. side of the chancel, quire, or chapel near the altar, used by the ministers during the Mass.

Sexpartite vault.—See "Vaulting."

Shaft.—A small pillar.

Shafted jambs.—A jamb containing one or more shafts either engaged or detached.

Shell-keep.—A wall of masonry encircling the top of the mount in a Norman castle.

Shingles.—Tiles made of cleft oak; used for covering spires, etc.

Sinister.—In heraldry, the left half of a shield (from the position of the holder).

Slype.—A mediæval term for a narrow passage between two buildings; generally used for that from the cloister to the cemetery of a monastic establishment.

Soffit.—The under side of a staircase, lintel, cornice, arch, canopy, etc.

Soffit-cusps.—Cusps springing from the flat soffit of an arched head, and not from its chamfered sides or edges.

Solar.—An upper chamber in a mediæval house reserved for the private use of the family.

Sollerets.—Shoes of articulated plates.

Spandrel.—The triangular-shaped space above the haunch of an arch; the two outer edges generally form a rectangle, as in an arched and square-headed doorway; the name is also applied to a space within a curved brace below a tie-beam, etc. and to any similar spaces.

Spire, Broach - spire, Needle - spire.—The tall pointed termination, usually of stone or wood, forming the roof of a tower or turret. A Broach-spire rises from the sides of the tower without a parapet, the angles of a square tower being surmounted, in this case, by half-pyramids against the alternate faces of the spire, when octagonal. A Needle-spire is small and narrow, and rises from the middle of the tower-roof well within the parapet.

Splay.—A sloping face making an angle less than a rightangle with the main surface, as in window jambs, etc.

Springing-line.—The level at which an arch springs from its supports.

Sprocket-pieces.—Short lengths of timber covering the ends of roof-rafters to flatten the angle or pitch of the roof at the eaves.

Spurs.—Prick: in form of plain goad; early form.

Rowel: with spiked wheel; later form.

Squint.—A piercing through a wall to allow a view of an altar from places whence it could otherwise not be seen.

Stages of Tower.—The divisions marked by horizontal string-courses externally.

Stanchion, stancheon.—The upright iron bars in a screen, window, etc.

Style.—The vertical members of a frame into which are tenoned the ends of the rails or horizontal pieces.

Stole.—A long narrow strip of embroidery with fringed ends worn above the alb by a deacon over the left shoulder, and by priests and bishops over both shoulders.

Stops.—Projecting stones at the ends of labels, stringcourses, etc. against which the mouldings finish; they are usually carved in various forms, such as shields, bunches of foliage, human or grotesque heads, etc.; a finish at the end of any moulding or chamfer bringing the corner out to a square edge, or sometimes, in the case of a moulding, to a chamfered edge. A splayed stop has a plain sloping face, but in many other cases the face is moulded.

Stoup.—A vessel, placed near an entrance doorway, to contain holy water; those remaining are usually in the form of a deeply-dished stone set in a niche. Also called Holy-water Stones, or Holy-water Stocks.

String-course.—A projecting horizontal band of brick or stone in a wall; usually moulded.

Strut.—A timber forming a sloping support to a horizontal beam, etc.

Sub-deacons' Vestments (Mass).—Amice, alb, tunicle, fanon.

Surcoat.—Coat, usually sleeveless, worn over armour.

Tabard.—Short loose surcoat, open at sides, sometimes worn with armour, and emblazoned with arms; distinctive garment of heralds.

Taces or tonlets.—Articulated defence for hips and lower part of body.

Tapul.—Ridge down centre of breastplate.

Tie-beam.—The horizontal transverse beam in a roof, tying together the feet of the rafters to counteract the thrust.

Timber-framed building.—A building of which the walls are built of open timbers and covered with plaster or boarding, or with interstices filled in with brickwork.

Totternhoe Stone.—Clunch from the Totternhoe beds.

Tracery.—The ornamental work in the head of a window, screen, panel, etc. formed by the curving and interlacing of bars of stone or wood, and grouped together, generally over two or more lights or bays.

Transom.—A horizontal bar of stone or wood across the upper half of a window opening, doorway, or panel.

Trefoil.—In heraldry, a three-lobed leaf, with a pendent stalk.

Tressure.—Heraldic term for a voided scocheon surrounded by another. Set about on the outer edge of the outer voided scocheon and on the inner edge of the inner one, with alternate heads and tails of fleurs de lis, it is called a flowered tressure, or, by careful blazoners, a tressure flowered and counter-flowered.

Tripping.—Applied, in heraldry, to stags, etc. walking or passant.

Truss.—A number of timbers framed together to bridge a space or form a bracket, to be self-supporting, and to carry other timbers. The trusses of a roof are generally named after a peculiar feature in their construction, such as King-post, Queen-post, Hammer-beam, etc. (q.v.).

Tuilles.—In armour, plates attached to and hanging from the edge of taces, or tonlete.

Tumulus.—A burial mound.

Tunicle.—Similar to dalmatic.

Tympanum.—An enclosed space in the head of an arch, doorway, etc. or in the triangle of a pediment.

Types of Houses.—See "Houses".

Vair.—In heraldry, fur; it is indicated by barring the field or charge (see Barry), each division being divided athwart by a waved or battled line into silver and azure. Other tinctures are found, but must be specified by the blazoners as vairy ermine and gules, etc.

Vallum.—A rampart.

Vambrace.—Plate defence for lower arm.

Vamplates.—Funnel-shaped hand-guard of lance.

Vaulting.—An arched ceiling or roof of stone, brick, or wood. Barrel vaulting (sometimes called waggon head vaulting) is a vault unbroken in its length by cross vaults. A groined vault (or cross vaulting) is one crossed at right angles by another. A rib-vault is a framework of arched ribs carrying the material which covers in the spaces between them. One bay of vaulting, divided into four quarters or compartments, is termed quadripartite; but often the bay is divided longitudinally into two subsidiary bays, each equalling a bay of the wall supports; the vaulting bay is thus divided into six compartments, and is termed sex-partite. A more complicated form is lierne vaulting; this contains secondary ribs, which do not spring from the wall-supports, but cross from main rib to main rib, producing a star-shaped plan. Fan vaulting is made up of compartments or bays, each containing numerous ribs, spreading from a common pendent in equal curves, and giving a fan-like effect when seen from below.

Vernicle.—A representation of the face of Christ printed upon the napkin.

Vert.—In heraldry, green.

Vestments (ecclesiastical).—See alb, amice, amess, apparels, archbishops' vestments, bishops' vestments, buskins, canonical quire habit, cassock, chasuble, cope, cross staff, dalmatic, deacons' vestments, fanon, mitred abbots' vestments, morse, orphreys, pastoral staff, priests' vestments, processional vestments, quire habit, sub-deacons' vestments, stole, tunicle.

Vizor.—Hinged face-guard of bascinet, salade, close helmet, etc.

Voided.—In heraldry, with the middle part cut away, leaving a margin.

Volute.—A spiral form of ornament.

Voussoirs.—The stones forming an arch.

Waggon-head Vault.—See "Vaulting."

Wall-plate.—A timber laid lengthwise on the wall to receive the ends of the rafters and other joists.

Water-bouget.—See "Bouget."

Wattle and daub.—An old form of plastering in timber-framed buildings.

Wave-mould.—A compound mould formed by a convex curve between two concave curves.

Weather-boarding.—Horizontal boards nailed to the uprights of timber-framed buildings and made to overlap; the boards are wedge-shaped in section, the upper edge being the thinner.

Weathering (to sills, tops of buttresses, etc.).—A sloping surface for casting off water, etc.

Well-staircase.—A staircase of several flights and generally square, surrounding a space or "well."

Wichert or Whitchet (white earth).—A local term for a kind of white marl or mud found at Haddenham, Dinton, and in the district, and used unburnt mixed with chopped straw for walling.

Wimple.—Scarf covering chin and throat.

Window.—A term applied to the stone, brick, or woodwork forming the window opening, as well as the glass.

Wyver or Wyvern.—A dragon-like monster with a beaked head, two legs with claws, and tail sometimes coiled in a knot. The earlier examples show wings.