New-York tribune., 1907-06-29
Tales Of ar Cldtimc Worthy, the
Parish CE6rk.
fHE PARISH CLERK: BY T. II. Dtchheld, NJ.
Crown Svo, Pr $40 +. =. Dutton & Co.

u NililSh III ii sunny nOOG OF hlllnOr and of al
1ectionate appreciation Of what was fine and
lovable in the humanity with which it deals
The parish clerk of England Il functionary more
or less important in her Church for thousand
years, is passing into the limbo Of extinct races,
and ii Is we'll that SO sympathetic a chroncler
as Mr. Dtchffeld should have been moved TO
gather for preservation these facts. anecdotes
and "reminiscences. He has described the parish
clerk the life and mainstay of the village
music the instructor Of young clerics the up
holder Of ancient customs and old established
usaGes, and be has excused his absurdities and
eccentricities the fault of the dulness, dead
mess and irIcvcrenCe OF the age in which he
lived. In spite of All that can be said against
him." the critic concludes "he was often very
faithful loyal pious and worthy man'-and the
truth Of This assertion is shown by many a
charming bit Of biography here enshrined.
The author offers us much interesting informa-
ton concerning the clerk Of medieval days-the
Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks was
formed in London in the reign of Henry H. and
II still maintains its ancient hall-and concern
ing the clerks mystery plays and moralites
But even more entertaining are the stories Of
the ways Of these worthless of the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries. Some of these ways were
eXasperating, in the case of men too igno-
rant to understand the value Of the precious
church registers under their There is a
story of parish clerk who likewise tailor
and who cut up the parchment pages of the reg
lister for the purpose of providing himself with
measures. Another clerk found divers pages use
full when tackled together, covering for the
tester of a bedstead; third had no better use
for such relies than TO wrap ZIP with them the
goods in his village grocery; n fourth cut out
tie parchment leaves and presented them 10 ms
old lady friends f6f wrapping their knitting
pins: a fifth found the lea OF the registers
very convenient for singeinC a goose Yet
there have been clerks careful as these were
ignorant and indifferent. Apropos of the IN
estimable value of old church registers for
proving titles TO estates and other property
.'sometinles incomes Of thousands of POUNDS de-
,,en6 1,pou a little entry in of these old
books"-Nir Ditchfeld records personal eN-
rerjence: The present writer owes much 10 le
faithful care of a good clerk who guarded wen
The registers of Il defunct City church or Lon
5op Nv father was endeavoring TO prove his
title 10 an estate in the North Country, ana mao
10 obtain certificates Of the births deaths anu
marriages of the family during ABOUT a century
one wedding could not be proved. Report
stated that it had been a runaway marriage
and that the bride ard bridegroom had hed |"
London TO be married in a city chufch. MY
father casually heard OF the name OF some
church, where II was thought that me WeuulHS
might have taken place. He wrote to the au
+borities of that church. 1t had, however, ceaSeu
"a axist The church had disappeared, puI liIe
old clerk was alive, and knew Where uie poo>H
,-are He searched and found the missing reg
ister and the chain OF evidence was coliiple .I9,
a,d the title TO the property fully estaoilshed'
hitch was confirmed after much troublesome
u+;gatIon bv the Court of Chancery-
The oIdtfme village chors tuned UP ooediehI
% +ba pitch pipe of the clerk, VINO llISI saN0
- the number of the psalm; when the cholrS
..o.trad before the arrival Of barrel organs. the
.larlr turned the handle and changed the par
,-ele Of that terrible instrument ana leu me
singing Sometimes accidents happened 10 'ne
handle as on a Sunday In Yorkshire cilui en-
,,.ben the music stopped suddenly during ser
;o and the clerk addressed the vicar loudly
..rlease. sor an ell as COON off, In a huht
sne5onshire church one Sunday no sound at an
came from the curtained organ when the hYl!il
,,e Given ont till lat last, after a solemn
,7ausa the clerks quizzical face appeared ana
mis- harsh voice shouted out Dang II, she on
sneak" Occasionally the clerk not only su-
rerintended the music, but provided revlSeu
version of a psalm. Witness the case ol INC
Sor,ersetsrire official who, when the LORD
T7isbor Of the diocese came to visit his church.
FeIt that the occasion demanded fitting trib-
ute, and called upon the congregation TO sing
.Zsneshul yarshun zspechiy dapted Vur tcaz-
shun."
Wy on ye 20, ye little Ills?
And what du 'ee zskipE
Is 1t a'cause ter prach too we
Is cum'd me Lord Bishlp?
WV zskip We 70, ye little ills?
An what du 'ee op!
Is II a'cause pTach 100 We
Is cum'd Lord Bishop?
Then let us avl arize an zing
An let aTl stTlc up
An zing glawrious gong OF praze
An bless Lord Blshup'
The old-fashioned parish clerk of little educa-
ton used to make strange havoc with the pro-
nunciation Of hard words and proper names IN
reading his portion Of the church service one
of them we are told, was accustomed TO read
''Ananias. Azarias and Mizzle." and another, IN
reading And I viii make thy windows OF
acates and thy gates Of carbuncles,' rendered
= thy window Of a gate, and thy gates OF crao
ancles" third clerk, says Mr.. Ditch1eld'
who was not much of a scholard, used TO
allow no difficulty 10 check his fiuency. II the
right word did not fall 10 his hand ne made
shift with another Of somewhat similar sound
ihe result frequently taxing TO the utterinosl
the self-control of the better educated among
his hearers He was ill-mated to a shrewish
wife and one was sensible Of thrill of sym
pathy when, without thought Of frreverence
and In all simplicity, he rolled out instead or
Woe is me, that am constrained TO dwell with
Mesech" Woe is me- that am constrained to
dwell with Missisr AS queer their read
ines was the giving out OF notices by clerks of
this type 1t is remembered that old ShTop
sh.re clerk gave out on Easter Day this strange
notice: Last Friday was Good Friday, but
we've forgotten un: so next Friday viii be-
Another extraordinary notice in reference to
Ash Wednesday was given out by a clerk
with sporting tastes: There will be no service
on Wednesday-cos why7 Mester be going
hunting and so beeZe IE' In this connection the
author quotes Gu hbert Bedes version Of the
story of the rector who. failing TO get back in
time for service the false teeth that had gone
10 the dents: for repairs stumbled incoherently
through th+ prayers and gave up his days task
IN despair f1e confided his plight 10 his clerk
bidding him 10 tell the congregation merely
that The morning service was ended and that
there would be none in the afternoon What
Was his horror 10 hear the clerk boldly an
nouncing from the desk: This is to give notice!
there wont be sarmOn nor NO mar,