hither by sea from the Phoenician coast; and that these glass works prove it, among innumerable other arguments which I could produce.

All considerations demonstrate this to be the true case; let us consider the measure of the antiquities before us, in regard to the ancient Druid, and Oriental cubit; this is somewhat more than our twenty inches; the blade of the sword is edged on both sides; two feet, seven inches long, which is exactly a cubit and half; near two inches broad, the fifth part of half a cubit.

The iron of the spear head is exactly half a cubit long; some little matter above ten inches. The diameter of the

umbo of the shield half that quantity.

There cannot be a better proof of the oriental extraction of our old Britons. Here in the isle of Ely, they lived in great security, for the conquest of this particular country gave the Romans no little trouble; the same of the Normans; for there was no easy passage into it.

On the 22d of February 1759, Mr. Jacobs, of Feversham, gave an account to the Antiquarian society, of digging up a body near Barham downs, of an old Briton; a sword and spear found with it, of like manner as ours; moreover a necklace of glass beads was about the neck of the skeleton.

Such ornaments I observe about the necks of our British kings on their coins; whereof I have 15 plates engraven, with their descriptions.

The glass vase found with the body at Chateris, was unluckily broken in pieces, which renders it impossible to know its exact figure or use; but the make of it is extraor dinary, and what, I believe, our present glass blowers cannot perform; many pipes proceeded from it, but closed; I think ten in number. I never saw one like it, nor can I conjecture what its purpose was.

We learn from Fingal the whole import of this discovery of our British hero; the sword, spear, and umbo, bespeak vast antiquity, being only a body of rust, like the British king's bridle, founder of the immense work of Abury, which cannot be less than 3000 years old: it was dug up with his body on Silbury hill, the largest tumulus in the world; and is now in my possession.

We learn from Fingal the custom of burying these martial instruments, with the owners, and this particular circumstance, that our hero was the last of his family; otherwise, it was their custom to bequeath their armour to their sons, to be kept in the hall from generation to generation.

From Fingal we learn the use of the brazen horns, here exhibited by bishop Pocock; found in bogs in Ireland: they sounded with them to battle.

The sword and bow were the usual instruments of our Britons, as in Fingal; and as with the heroes of Phoenicia, probably our hero of Chateris had his bow buried with him, but consumed.

So Jacob in his last will, Genesis XLVIII. 22, gave to his son Joseph, a portion above his brethren; which he took out of the hand of the Amorite, with his sword, and with his bow.

1766, March.

W. STUKELEY,

LXI. Custom of making April Fools,

MR, URBAN,

IT is a matter of some difficulty to account for the expres sion, an April fool, and the strange custom so universally pre valent throughout this kingdom, of people's making fools of one another on the 1st of April, by trying to impose upon each other, and sending one another, upon that day, upon frivolous, ridiculous, and absurd errands. However, something I have to offer on the subject, and I shall here throw it out, if it were only to induce others to give us their sentiments. The custom, no doubt, had an original, and one of a very general nature; and therefore one may reasonably hope, that though one person may not be so happy as to investigate the meaning and occasion of it, yet another possibly may. But I am the more ready to attempt a solution of this difficulty, because I find Mr. Bourne, in his Antiquitates Vulgares, has totally omitted it, though it fell so plainly within the compass of his design.

I observe, first, Mr. Urban, that this custom, and expression, has no connection at all, with the 'Festum Hypodiaconorum, Festum Stultorum, Festum_Fatuorum, Festum Innocentium, &c.' mentioned in Du Fresne; for these jocular festivals were kept at a very different time of the year.

2dly, That I have found no traces, either of the name, or of the custom, in other countries, insomuch that it appears to me to be an indigenal custom of our own. I speak only as to myself in this; for others, perhaps, may have discovered it in other parts, though I have not.

Now, thirdly, to account for it; the name undoubtedly arose from the custom, and this I think arose from hence: our year formerly began, as to some purposes, and in some respects, on the 25th of March, which was supposed to be the Incarnation of our Lord; and it is certain, that the commencement of the new year, at whatever time that was supposed to be, was always esteemed an high festival, and that, both amongst the ancient Romans, and with us. Now, Sir, great festivals were usually attended with an Octave; that is, they were wont to continue 8 days, whereof the first and the last were the principal; and you will find that the first of April is the Octave of the 25th of March, and the close or ending, consequently, of that feast, which was both the festival of the annunciation, and of the commencement of the new year. From hence, as I take it, it became a day of extraordinary mirth and festivity, especially amongst the lower sort, who are apt to pervert and to make a bad use of institutions which at first might be very laudable in themselves.

I am, Sir, &c.

1766, April.

T. Row.

LXII. On the Regalls, or Rigols, a Musical Instrument, formerly used in the King's Chapel.

THERE is an officer at this day in the King's Chapel at St. James's, who is called Tuner of the Regalls, and the person is Mr. Bernard Gates, with a stipend of 561. Now there are few people that know any thing of the nature of this instrument, though it was once in public use, and the salary for regulating it is still continued: it may therefore be worth while to bestow a few words upon it.

It is written at present regalls, but in books it is commonly rigols, and this I take to be the truer orthography. As to the instrument itself Grassineau makes a kind of faggotino of it, describing it thus, "A kind of musical instrument, consisting of several sticks bound together, only separated by beads. It makes a tolerable harmony, being well struck with a ball, at the end of a stick." Other authors, with more reason, represent it as a clarichord, or clavichord.Thus Skinner, Rigols, vox quæ mihi in solo Dict. Angl. occurrit, exp. instrumentum musicum, quod alio nomine clavichordium, a clavichord, dicitur.'-And it must be acknow◄

ledged that this agrees best with the service to be perform. ed by it in the King's Chapel, where it was employed in the place of the organ; as likewise with the post it occasioned, which was that of tuning it, or keeping it in order; see also the passage cited below from Spelman. The etymology comes next to be considered, and here Skinner says, 'Author somniando, ut solet, suaviter deducit a Fr. G. Regail lardir, exhilarari; sane si talis vox sit, quod nullus credo, mallem deducere a Fr. G. se Rigoler, deridere, irridere, lascivire, hoc a Lat. Ridiculus, ridiculari, vel quod magis placet, a Lat. Lyricula.'-As before he said he found the word no where but in the English Dictionary, though it oc curs in many authors, whom I need not name, so here he professes absolutely to disbelieve there is any such word.— However, his etymology from Lyricula is not greatly aniss, since rigols may naturally enough be corrupted or shortened from Lyricula. Nevertheless I do not take it to be the truth, but that the word rather comes from the Italian Rigabello, being a corruption of that; for hear Sir H. Spelman, 'In Ede Sancti Raphaelis Venetiis, instrumenti musici cujusdam forma extat, ei nomen rigabello: cujus in ecclesiis usus fuerit ante organa illa pneumatica quæ hodie usurpantur. Rigabello successit aliud quod Tursello dictum est, cujus Venetias usum induxit homo Germanus.' Sansovinus, Lib. 6. Descript. Venetiarum.-The sense of which is. "That in the church of St. Raphael at Venice, the figure of a certain musical instrument, called a rigabello, was to be seen; it was wont to be used in churches, before organs came into vogue. Another instrument, called turcello succeeded the rigabello, the use of which was introduced at Venice by a German*."

This passage not only discovers the etymology of the word, namely that it is a corruption or contraction of rigabellot, but likewise shews how we came by the instrument, viz. that it came to us from Italy in those times when this island had a constant intercourse with that country, and in a manner borrowed every thing from thence relative to the practice and service of the church. The French, I apprehend, had their word, regale, which signifies the same thing, from the same original, and the same country. And if any one, after all, should chuse to spell the word

* Spelm. Gloss, v. Rigabello. See also Du Fresne in voce. t Rigabel, Rigol.

regalls, and to fetch it immediately from the French regate, I shall have no great objection; however, I am for the other etymology myself.

1767, March.

Yours, &c.

T. Row

LXIII. An account of the principal Buildings, Streets, &c. in London and Westminster, with their Antiquity, Derivation, &c. extracted from Stow, Speed, Maitland, &c.

ADLE-STREET, is in old records called King Adel-street, from King Adelstan the Saxon.

Admiralty-Office was formerly called Wallingford-house. Albemarle-street, so named from the Duke of Albemarle, who bought the east of Clarendon's House, which stood there.

Ald-Gate, i. e. Old Gate, was one of the four original gates of the city, being mentioned in King Edgar's reign, in 967. The late Gate was rebuilt in 1609.

Aldermanbury was so called from the mayor and aldermen holding their berry or court, in a hall which formerly stood on the east side of that street, till the New Berry court, or Guildhall that now is, was finished.

Aldersgate was rebuilt in 1617, and repaired in 1670. Arches, court of, kept in the church of St. Mary-le-bow, was so called from the arclies, or bows, that were on the steeple.

Ave-mary Lane was so called in the Popish times, from text-writers and bead-makers who dwelt there.

Bank of England was begun to be built in 1732, and finished in 1734.

Barbican took its name from a watch tower, or burk-kenning, which stood there, and was destroyed by Henry III. in 1267.

Barnard's Inn, was formerly the house of John Mackworth, dean of Lincoln, and was given by him to the professors of the law.

Bartholomew Fair, was instituted in the reign of Henry I. St. Bartholomew Hospital, was also founded by Henry I was reformed and endowed by Henry VIII. and incorporated by Edward VI. It was rebuilt in 1729.

Bennet-street, Westminster, so called from Bennet College, Cambridge, to whom it belongs.

Bermondsey-street took its name from a priory, or abbey, of St. Saviour, called Bermonds-eye, founded in 1081, and suppressed in 1539.