Читать книгу Highways and Byways in Lincolnshire онлайн

119 страница из 129

Of brasses, in which the cathedral before the Reformation was specially rich, having two hundred, only one now remains, that of Bishop Russell, 1494, which is now in the cathedral library; but in a record made in 1641 by Sir W. Dugdale and Robert Sanderson, afterwards Bishop, is the following most charming little inscription to John Marshall, Canon of the cathedral, 1446, beneath the figure of a rose:—

“Ut rosa pallescit ubi solem sentit abesse

Sic homo vanescit; nunc est, nunc desinit esse.”

which may be Englished

“As the rose loses colour not kissed by the sun,

So man fades and passes; now here, and now gone.”

The ascent of the towers gives magnificent views; from the central tower one may see “Boston Stump” on one hand, and on the other Newark spire. The big bell, too, has its attractions, but the greatest curiosity is the elastic stone beam, a very flat arch connecting the two western towers, made of twenty-three stones with coarse mortar joints, which only rises sixteen inches, and vibrates when jumped on. Its purpose is not clear, possibly to gauge the settlement of the towers. The north end now is thirteen inches lower than the south. A gallery in the thickness of the wall between the great west window and the Cinquefoil above it, allows a wonderful view of the whole length of the cathedral. It is called Sir Joseph Banks’ view.