New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-03-23
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
CLEVER STUDY ON 4 CURIOUS SUBJECT


THIS book does not consist merely of an
enumeration Of curiosties. The author SHOWS III
many Instances low some Grotesque Dit oi S0u.p
ture enbodies very ancient ideas ana ies'nu'.
lie might have gone much further in this heiu
than he has done CT course almost all 'he
pieces lie has described are themselves Oh re-
spcctcble antiquity, often dating back 10 'he
great fire Of 1906 in London. They belong "
fine when the ability to read readily was not so
common as it is now and when people were az
customed to Interpreting embems Oh course
thev often construed them in the wrong way
JTsuallv II happened that when the sign dlsap-
neared or was partially effaceG its real meaning
was lost by INSTRUMENTATION Thus win d GER
tain Full and Mouth Inn, the or1glnal sigh was
POSSIBLY a bowl and mouth. very Soou SYM
for a tavern. But the sculptured Signs VI o'
ondon had deeper meaning on occ"sioi''
Among the most significant were those WAioA
represented the Three Kings OF Cologne o"e VI
tho most imposing legends Of Christianity was
T., this way put to vulgar use after IL hau Se'Neu
IN the evolution Of church art and the ineuiaeN"
sr,o As in tho case of other tales which were
snro,d over Europe, it was in England tho' '''S
tor, If The Maei who followed the strange
etar 10 bethlehem and visited the ihiahl ""''o"i
first got INFO writing in complete S""Pe'
was not known from the narrative Vi ''
Matthew, how many wise men there "e'e' ou'
tre tradition that they were thiee was ''''''
adoDted Augustine supported II py Poi'ine
on. the number Of different gifts mentioned ~
mo Evangelist A long time elapsed AFTER 'he
number was fxel before names were chosen
4, ,eoet that is a natural inference from the TACT
tb,t redc the English historian OF the eleh'n
o,,r~1- was the first distinguish them u!
titles He rushed in where his pre'hre" ." Wv
Continent were yet too timld 10 Ueau' -,
long before his time the figures OF inc ''"e' No.
hcen made familiar. for instance ps u "
a., tbe Church of st. Apoliinarlus quit ny
doric the Goth in the Port OF fsaVein"' "
~ tbro. Kings at the head of the procession Oh
TWENTY-FIVE female figures were lep'e9'n''u
tho background Of a scene. the front OF "ni0'
- c,5 With soa and shipping. That is, they
a,r,osod 70 have got to bethlehem by boat
..o,d ~ over the deserts from the East l"
ob ,,;o.uras il was necessary to Distinguish ''ie
foures so one was often made IKE 'HH' "a "
old man. another like that Of YOUTH anu "a,
third like a man IN middle NE l" p'"' .t
pageants these picturesque cha'"o''''' 900
=, richlv as the resources Of the times OF '''e p'
Mo allowed. marched through the whoie i"'"''
val neriod They were to be seen Ill "'''0 -
,n naintings in mOsaics, and at last Oh 'iie 0"'0
lis Of taverns The sign in which they We'V
" - ,,.as an appropriate for inns. be-
so tbar memorable journey under the eu""-
- -, tho Star of Bethlehem had maze 'hei'i
49, ratrons of all travellers. 1T Is also sa'u "
hova been used in England by the l"eIVc'''
oause they imported fine linen from Coios"'
whore after many vicissitudes' the po"'' "a
Wise Kings found resting-place' WI, 80,
doscribes a stone bass-reef now III 'he "
hou Museum but formerly tavern 9's'
&C., ~ egures are represented standing all III
,ho Game attitude. They have scep'Ie9 III W
- n nds the left arm being in each case
oo,ator.s left has flowing hair. that III 'no
oav,,re ,s Of negro type, the one on the iisii' 10
a,s,,np,,shed by a large mustache
w., "a an example of the hold which a Chii'
+,an legend had the imaslhauo"s %
neople down comparatively ieC7'
Dr. the nopular fancy is very Impartial ~ "P
nears also to have preserved III lon'oi' ~
works of the old Teutonic heathehs"i' A'
r,ho has ever medded with the story OF
THOR must remember his adventures Ill '
horsA If the giant Geirrod whittier ne went
-. h,c hammer or his magic belt. Now
III. o4ort Geirrod was a famous parsonage Win
.h Northern peoples Though Thor was sald
% have killed him, he still figured as the wariiNe
and cunning king of a land OUTSIDE 'he hno""
world which historic men were sara 10 nav.
visited 1t may we'll be supposed tha' ne s'oou
for the portrait of the giant Gerard VINO gave
his name to famous house OF OLD LONDON
The statue of this giant Gerard, carved from
twisted block of timber distorted anu al d.
case" ornamented the front OF the mousse Ill
or.s,io, Within the house firpole which
reached from floor 10 ceiling, and TINS was sara
tn be the staff with which the giant went 10
wars The statue and the tirpOle were suincleht
Tokens of the tale that this giant Gerard
lived on the site, and that the house. which was
first a residence and then hotel was Simply d
monument to his memory. Inc curious lat
about the matter was that this story grew out
Of the mistaken pronunciation of a name Inc
house belonged to John Gisors Mayor OF London
in l245, and long retained by MS de-
scendants MIR. Norman quotes the ola an
t,cuarv Stow to show how the name Gisors was
gradually changed 10 Gerard. The imaginative
peaple got as near the name Of Thor's ancient
foa es they could Naturally. after they had
the name fixed to their liking, they had to give
a reason for it, and they imagined that long
7eforc the town Of Lud existed the giant mad
hls lair in the neighborhood. perhaps in a cavern
like that of Cacus, whom Hercules slew men,
when the Gisors, Lord Mayor and all, were prac-
ticaly forgotten, and the house was made an
inn 1t was natural to have an efligy OF the
Ciant ard a stroke Of genius TO have preserved
his club OF courge the great fire helped TO
break legitimate tradition and TO give the tale
te,,ers chance In the case of Gerard Hall the
crypt was left, and used TO sustain a
structure Of brick in place OF stone. The con-
fusion and corruption Of names is not at all
surprising, but IL the connection between GER
rod and Gerard were demonstrated it would only
show anew how Ions the old paganism survived
in the memories of men. There was historic
meaning in another sign, where were repre-
sonted William Evans and Jeffrey Hudson,
giant and dwarf respectively at the court of
Charles l.
Where the fire Of 1CG6 ended stood for e long
time d bracket let into the wall of a house
wooden statue Of a naked boy. with the in
scrip;ion, This boy is in memory put up for the
late fire Of London. occasioned by the sin OF
gluttoay." Mr.. Norman tells how certain In
den4ndent preacher nroyei that the fire was due