the school-bills of conn o'neill at eton, 1615-22

Irish Historical Studies Publications Ltd

The School-Bills of Conn O'Neill at Eton, 1615-22Author(s): T. W. Moody, Richard Willis, Matthew Bust, Fulke Grevyll, Jo. Sotherton, Edw.Bromley and Jo. DenhamSource: Irish Historical Studies, Vol. 2, No. 6 (Sep., 1940), p. 189Published by: Irish Historical Studies Publications LtdStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30006103 .

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Select Documents I. THE SCHOOL-BILLS OF CONN O'NEILL AT ETON, 1615-22.

C onn O'Neill, known as Conn Ruadh and Conn na Creige, was the second of the three sons of Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone,

by his fourth wife Catherine Magennis.' He was about seven years old and was living among his fosterers in Tyrone at the time of his father's flight from Ulster (Sept. 1607). 'The child was by accident left behind ', Lord Deputy Chichester explained to the privy council: ' for the Earl sought him diligently, but he was overtaken by shortness of time, and for that the people of those parts do follow their creates in solitary places , they are not therefore always ready to be found '.2 Chichester caused a search to be made for Conn, he was found, and taken into custody by Sir Toby Caulfield, who had been appointed receiver of his father's rents. He was kept in Caulfield's castle of Charlemont, in county Armagh, where' the eyes of the people were much fixed upon him '.3 His release was one of the main objects of the conspiracy hatched by the leading Irish of Ulster in the spring of 1615 4-the first attempt at organised resistance to the great confiscation of 16o8-io. The plot was discovered, and Conn was removed for safer keeping to Dublin, in April 16 15, by order of the lord deputy, who requested his masters in London 'to consider what to have done with him whom the people are apt to make an idol '.5 The king had already planned to have 'the sonnes of divers noblemen and gentlemen' of Ireland taken to England, there to be brought up as good Englishmen, and he decided to include Conn among them (May 16I5).6 Where Elizabeth had failed with the great Hugh,7 James hoped to succeed with his son.

The boy was conducted to England in June by Francis Blun-

1 Paul Walsh, The will and family of Hugh O'Neill, earlof Tyrone (1930), p. 31. 2 Cal. S.P.Ire., r6o6-8, p. 26i ; 165-25, p. 39- 3 Ibid., z6o6-8, p. 261 ; r6o8-o, pp. 532-46; 1615-25, p. 39- 4 Ibid., 1615-25, pp. 29-82, passim. 5 Ibid., p. 39. 6 Acts Privy Council, x6z5-i6, pp. 138-9. 7 See IH8t., i. 58-9.

189



190 Select Documents

del, and installed at Eton College.1 The provost of Eton, Sir Henry Savile, was informed by the English privy council (4 July I6I5) that Conn was being put under his charge 'to have him brought up in vertue and religion ', and was warned to take care that ' those to whom you commit him for his particular tuicion and instruccion may be at all times watchful over his behaviour and company '.2 No expense was spared in preparing Conn for his new r6le. His conveyance from Dublin to England cost the government £4o3, and a further £51 was spent on 'apparel, bedding and other necessaries' for him at Eton.4 He was to enjoy the most favoured rank in the college-that of fellow- commoner-was to have a servant to attend him, and all his expenses were to be paid by the king.5 The choice of a trust- worthy servant was left to the provost, but he unaccountably failed to act in the matter. In October 1615, the privy council, ' for as much as his [Conn's] person is of ymportance, being the sonne of suche a father', itself appointed as Conn's servant one George Pierson, 'being recommended unto us for an honest man '. Pierson was to receive a salary of £20 a year from the king, together with his board at the college."

The student body at Eton consisted of two main classes:---(i) seventy poor scholars, who were educated and maintained out of college funds and were members of the foundation; (ii) commensals, who had to pay for themselves and were not on the foundation. There were two ranks among the commensals, corresponding to fellow-commoners and commoners at Oxford. The former, 'sons of noblemen and special friends of the college up to the number of twenty', dined in the hall at the second table with the chaplains, the usher and the clerks, while the latter sat at the third table with the scholirs and paid less for their board than the fellow-commoners.7 The Audit Books of Eton College record that Conn O'Neill was entered as a fellow- commoner in the third quarter of 16 15 and remained as such till the

1 Acts Privy Council, 1615-16, pp. 243, 252. 2 Ibid., p. 24o. 3 Ibid., p. 252. 4 Issues of the exchequer during the reign of King James I, ed. F. Devon

([836), p. 277. 5 Acts Privy Council, r6z5-r6, p. 240. 6 Ibid., p. 307. 7 H. C. Maxwell Lyte, A history of Eton College, z44o-r9Io (4th ed., 19I1),

PP. r 55-8, 577, 581-2. Wasey Sterry, Annals of Eton (1898), p. 53. A list of Eton commensals, r563-z647, ed. Wasey Sterry (i904), p. 3.



Select Documents 191

third quarter of 1622.1 In August of the latter year, his career at Eton abruptly and mysteriously ended. The provost of Eton was ordered to deliver him to a messenger of the crown, he was brought to Whitehall and thence committed to the Tower of London." With this all that is known of his short and pathetic story closes." Presumably he had disappointed English expec- tations. Presumably he shared the fate of his uncle, Sir Cormac MacBaron O'Neill, of Sir Neill Garve O'Donnell, of Sir Donal O'Cahan and of other chiefs of his native Ulster who were sent without trial to the Tower and never regained their freedom, so far as is known.

As Conn was seven years at Eton, 28 quarterly bills must have been issued to his account. Six of these have come to light and there is evidence of the survival of a seventh-a bill for the quarter Christmas I616-Annunciation 1617, which was among the MSS. of the Rev. Francis Hopkinson, of Malvern Wells, Worcestershire, in i872,4 and was exhibited at the Eton exhibi- tion of 1891.5 Another bill (no 2 below) was included in the collection of M. J. Hurley, of Waterford," from whom it was acquired by Francis Joseph Bigger. It was reproduced, with an introduction by Bigger, in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology in I897.7 Bigger's article was reprinted in the Pall Mall Gazette, where its appearance elicited the information from J. Eliot Hodgkin, of Weybridge, that he possessed five similar bills and a letter from Richard Willis to John Bingley relating to another.8 The Hodgkin collection9 was sold at Sotheby's in April 1914.

1 Ibid., p. 26. For part of this time, Terence [O']Brien was also at Eton (Cal. S.P. Ire., 161.5-25, p. 271).

2 Acts Privy Council, 1621-3, pp. 309-10, 335 3 No records of the Tower are extant prior to 1660 (information kindly supplied

by the constable of the Tower). 4 Hist. MSS. Comm., Third Report (1872), app., p. 265. 5 Wasey Sterry, Annals of Eton, p. 271. 6 See d catalogue of the collection of M. 7. Hurley to be disposed of at the

Chamber of Commerce, Waterford, on 25 Oct. x898 ; Thos. Walsh & Son, auction- eers. I am indebted to Dr. R. I. Best, director of Nat. Lib. Ire., for drawing my attention to this catalogue. Conn O'Neill's school-bill is mentioned on p. 6.

7 2nd series, iii. 140-3. 8 Ibid., v (1899), p. 110. 9 See Rariora : being notes of some of the printed books, manuscripts, historical

documents, medals, engraving, pottery etc. etc. collected (1858-1900) by John Eliot Hodgkin (3 vols., 1902). Conn O'Neill's school-bills are mentioned in vol. i, p. 27.




Prior to the sale, a notice in The Times, entitled 'Eton in the seventeenth century ', drew attention to the school-bills of Conn O'Neill, one of them being reproduced.' The notice was seen by Mr. Alec Wilson, formerly of Belfast, who, realising the human and historical interest of the MSS. in question, secured them for the Belfast Municipal Museum. One of the bills (no. 3 below) was subsequently sold to Eton College, which was anxious to obtain all five, as being among the earliest of its school-bills known to be extant.2 The five Hodgkin bills are printed for the first time, together with the bill from the Bigger collection and the letter from Willis to Bingley, from the Hodgkin collection, both of which have been transcribed, but inaccurately, in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology.3 With the exception of the Hop- kinson bill, these seven documents contain the only known evidence of how Conn O'Neill lived at Eton. They owe their present appearance to the enterprise, public spirit and historical sense of Mr. Wilson.

Since the bills were paid by the crown, they should properly have remained among the records of the exchequer. This is borne out by the fact that, among the Pells records in the English Public Record Office, there are entries giving the total sums expended by the exchequer for Conn O'Neill at Eton from Michaelmas I615 to Christmas 1617 as follows :4 Michaelmas 1615-Christmas 1615 (I bill) £20 5s. od. By order dated Mar. 1616 Christmas 1615-Midsummer 1616 (2 bills) f42 Is. od. ,, ,, ,, I7 July i616 Midsummer 1616-Christmas 1616 (2 bills) C44. Is. 6d. Charges ofreceipt on preceding 4 bills £6 12s. 6d. Christmas 1616-Annunciation 1617 (I bill) £ I8 15s. Id. Annunciation i617-Midsummer 1617 (I bill) £26 os. 4d. ,, ,, ,, 16Mar.6r 8 Midsummer 16I7-Michaelmas 1617 (I bill) £22 4-s. od. Michaelmas rI617-Christmas 1617 (1 bill) £25 igos. 9d.

Of the nine bills mentioned here, that for Annunciation-Mid- summer 1617 is accounted for by the bill formerly in the Bigger collection (no. 2 below). The bill for Christmas 1616-Annun- ciation 1617, recited in the Pells records, is not, as would be expected, the Hodgkin bill headed ' Christmas till Annunciation 1617' (no. 3 below and facsimile). For the one has a total of /18 i 5s. I d., the other of/24 Ios. 3d. ; the one was paid in March

1 The Times, 18 Apr. 1914. 2 The earliest is of the mid-sixteenth century (Maxwell Lyte, op. cit., pp. 1 56-7). 3 2nd series, iii. 141, v. I10. 4 Issues of the exchequer, ed. F. Devon, pp. I84, 189-90, 210.



Select Documents i93 6 I 8, the other not before 29 June 1618 Moreover/18 15s. Id.

is the total of the Hopkinson bill for ' Christmas till Annuncia- tion 1617 ', and the contents of that bill are not the same as those of any one of the bills printed below. Finally, the Hopkinson bill bears an order for payment signed by Sir Fulke Greville, whose name does not appear on any of the Hodgkin bills.' It is clear that the Hopkinson bill is additional to the six bills now printed,2 and does in fact cover the quarter Christmas 1616- Annunciation 1617 ; and it follows that the Hodgkin bill bear- ing the same heading is probably misdated. Since, according to old-style reckoning, the year began at Annunciation, it seems reasonably certain that '1617' in the heading of the Hodgkin bill is the date of the old year, which rightly applies to ' Christmas ' but not to 'Annunciation '. The sequence of the dates of the exchequer endorsements on the Hodgkin bills sup- ports this explanation. The amended dating of the earliest Hodgkin bill means that the five Hodgkin bills constitute a con- secutive series from Christmas 1617 to Annunciation 1619, which thus continues the series of nine bills mentioned in the Pells records. There appear to be no entries of bills subsequent to Christmas 1617 in these records, but this may be due merely to omissions in the printed calendar.

The entries in the Pells records are the official evidence that the bills to which they refer were paid, but they do not prove that these bills were actually retained in official custody. There is, however, proof that the bills were so retained, and that they were involved in a notorious dispersion of public records in the early nineteenth century. In 1835, when there was still no central public record office in England, a vast accumulation of exchequer documents was discovered in a damp vault under Somerset House. The comptroller general of the exchequer, Sir John Newport, to whom the matter was reported in 1836, ordered an examination of the documents to be made by the chief clerk in his office, Ashburnham Bulley. This man, who later admitted that he was ' perfectly unacquainted with records ', obtained per-

1 See above, p. 191. The description given in Hist. MSS. Comm., Third Report, app., p. 265 is: 'Con O'Neal and his attendants' [sic] expenses from Christmas till Annunciation r6 7 (I page), signed by Matthew Bust. Below is Fulke Greville's order for payment. Among the items of charges are, " Given to him upon Salting day, 12d.-A Bible, 6s. 8d.-Latin Grammar, 12d.--Epistolae per Sturmium, 5d.-Tuition, 20s."-the total was 181. 15s. id.'

2 It is to be hoped that the original can be traced and a transcript printed in this journal. An inquiry addressed to Eton College has elicited no reply.

N




mission from the treasury to destroy what was worthless in the collection. In 1838 he made a contract, which the treasury sanctioned, with a fishmonger of Hungerford Market, Charles Jay, who undertook to remove the documents to the comptroller general's office in Whitehall in return for the right to buy all rejected matter at 48 a ton. And so it came about that Jay obtained over eight tons of paper and parchment, which he intended to sell as waste, and which, in fact, contained records of great historical value. Many of them were turned to commercial uses and thus perished. But many others were bought from Jay by dealers and collectors who had got wind of what was happening. One such buyer was John Mackenzie, a bookbinder, who disposed of numerous documents through Samuel Sotheby. Among those sold for him at Sotheby's on i i April 1840 was one of Conn O'Neill's bills-for the quarter Michaelmas-Christmas 1616.1 In a similar way, we can fairly assume, the bills known to us passed out of Jay's hands to be incorporated in 'made collections'. Hopkinson's MSS. consisted largely of dispersed exchequer-documents,2 and they formed a considerable part of two sections of the Hodgkin collection, in one of which Conn O'Neill's school bills were located.3 There can hardly be any doubt that the Hopkinson and Hodgkin bills had a common origin in the Somerset House exchequer-documents, and the same provenance may be assumed for the Hurley bill. Other bills may come to light, but, in view of what has been said, it is more remarkable that any have survived than that the majority appear to have perished.

Each of the Hodgkin documents here transcribed is on a separate piece of paper, measuring approximately 12" x 8", which has been folded twice from head to foot (see facsimile). The letter from Willis to Bingley is on a double sheet ; the bills are on single sheets, worn at the edges, and two of them (nos. 6 and 7 below) are torn along one fold, but all the writing is intact and perfectly legible. The original of the bill in the Bigger collection (which also measured 12" x 8"), was, I am informed by Professor J. W. Bigger, lost or stolen before his uncle's death in 1926, and its fate is unknown. The reproduction of this bill in

1' Report from the select committee [of the house of lords] appointed to inquire into the destruction and sale of papers and other documents from the exchequer...', in Lords' fourn., vol. lxxii, I84o, app. 5 (pp. 237-86).

2 Hist. MSS. Comm., Third Report, app., pp. 261-2. 3 Rariora, i. 9-0o.



Select Documents 195 the Ulster Journal of Archaeology is not a facsimile, though so described, since the block from which it is printed has evidently been made from a tracing, not a photograph, of the original. The tracing has been fairly done on the whole, but the first word of the Latin endorsement and the signature below it are, it is almost certain, defective. The former reads ' Lib'anb' ', which does not make sense, and is probably a draftsman's mistake for ' Lib'ant'' (' Liberantur '). The latter reads ' Satherton ', but the ' a' is unconvincing and is obviously a misreading of ' o', as is shown by a comparison with 'Sotherton' in the original of document 7. The transcript by the earl of Belmore, accompany- ing the reproduction in the Ulster Yournal of Archaeology, is of no help.1 With these two exceptions, the transcription of all seven documents has presented no difficulties. Contracted forms have in all cases been expanded, their meaning being undoubted.

In document I, the signature at the end of the letter is not in the same hand as the letter itself; all the other documents are holographs, with endorsements (indicated below in smaller type) added by officials of the exchequer. Ri[chard] Willis, the signatory of document I, was private secretary to the chancellor of the exchequer, Sir Fulke Greville.2 John Bingley, to whom document I is addressed and who is also mentioned in document 2, was auditor of the receipt of the exchequer.3 Matthew Bust, the writer of the bills, was headmaster of Eton College (1611-30).4 Sir Fulke Greville, whose signature appears below the instruc- tion to Bingley in document 2, was chancellor of the exchequer (1614-21).5 John Sotherton, signatory of the Latin endorse-

1 The transcript makes no attempt to deal with the first word of the endorsement and proceeds, without comment, as follows : 'p maid et sacried Georgii Bearson scdo die July, ano dt xv. Jacobi'. A flourish after 'Sotherton' is read as : 'C: I. ? (clericus primus)' Cf. document 2 below.

2 Hist. MSS. Comm., Fourth Report, app., p. 284; see also Twelfth Report, app. i (Cowper MSS.), pp. 64, 67.

3 Cal. 8.P. Dom., z6z9-23, p. 6z2. Acts Privy Council, xr65-z6, p. 37I. For the identification of Bingley's office, I am indebted to Dr. A. P. Newton, whose knowledge of the administrative history of this period is unrivalled. Dr. Newton writes: 'Bingley was head of the banking side of the exchequer, i.e. the lower exchequer. He managed the whole of the paying-in and paying-out, his work being checked by Wardour, clerk of the pells. There are voluminous records by which his work can be traced. Willis was writing to Bingley about what we should now call the cashing of a treasury warrant.'

4 Maxwell Lyte, A history of Eton College, 1440-1910, p. 599- 5 DNB.



196 Select Documents ment on documents 2 and 7, was a baron of the exchequer 1 ; so too was Sir Edward Bromley 2 (endorsements on documents 3 and 4) and Sir John Denham 3 (endorsements on documents 5 and 6). George Pearson, mentioned in the endorsements on documents 2 and 7 (spelt 'Peirson' in the latter), was Conn O'Neill's 'attendaunt ' whose wages appear in the bills as A5 a quarter, in accordance with the terms of his appointment.4

I have pleasure in expressing my thanks to Mr. Arthur Deane, curator of the Belfast Museum-who first brought the bills to my notice-for his very kind and helpful attention to my in- quiries, and for permission to publish the documents in his custody.

T. W. MOODY

I. Richard Willis to 7ohn Bingley, 5 Dec. 1615 [Transcribed from the original in Municipal Museum, Belfast.)

Sir I send you with the new byll demaunded for Con O Neale for

Michelmas quarter last the former byll, which I borowed of you for recty- fying an error in the upholsters reckoning, who was paid too short xxS, which I have now entred in the foote of the new byll, together with xis vid more, which was omitted in the silkmans reckoning. You may please to lett Mr Glouer know that I have retorned the old byll unto you, because he lately inquired for it: & in the payment of the new byll, to take order that those 2 sommes of xx8 & xis vid may be stayd in the Tellors handes, for those to whome the same are due: & hereafter you shalbe troubled with no more after-reckonings of this sorte, if I can helpe it. And so with due remembrance of my service unto you, I take my leaue. 5 Decemb. 16I5

At your commaundement Ri: WILLIS.

(On verso:] To the Worshipfull my verie good frend, John Bingley Esqr.

(In same hand as 'Ri: Willis '] Mr. Willys letter concerning Con O Neale the Erle of Tyrones sonne.

[In different hand]

1 DNB. 2 Cal. 8.P. Dorm., z6xx-x8, p. 6Ii. Acts Privy Council, 6zr5-x6, p. I19;

rz66-17, p. 379; r6x8-xg, p. 360; 6x19-2z, pp. 49, 57, 347- 3 DNB. 4 See above, p. 190.



Select Documents 197 2. Billfor 25 Mar.-24 June 1617

[Transcribed from reproduction in UJeA, 2nd series, iii. 141 ; original formerly in the possession of Francis Joseph Bigger.]

The expenses of Con O Neale from Annunciation till Midsommer. I617

Paper 4d Riders Dictionary1 ix8 a paperbooke xiiid candles XXd giuen to him iis vid taylor 411 xiiS 4d Ostess for him and his attendaunt 411 viis vd for gloues xxiiid shoemaker xvs iid barber vid counsell when he was sick 4d Diet for him self 49s via

for his attendaunt 41s 3d For a hatt and a band xviiis His attendaunts wages vii for sweeping his chamber and making beds iiis for his lodging xxs learning to write va inke quills, sweeping the schole 4d for shirts, bands, cuffs &caet 51s tuicion xx8

Summa xxvi1U iiijd

MATTHEW BUST

Mr Bingley: let allowance be made of the moneys due by this Byll according to His Maiesties Letters of pryvy seale in that behalf. 40 July 1617.

FULKE GREVYLL

Liberantur per manum et sacramentum Georgii Pearson secundo die Julii anno xv Regis Jacobi

Jo: SOTHERTON

[On verso:] Con 0 Neale quarter ending at midsommer 1617 xxvill iiiid




3. Billfor 25 Dec. 1617-25 Mar. 1618 [Transcribed from a photograph, in Municipal Museum, Belfast, of the original in

Eton College.)

Con 0 Neales expenses from Christmas till Annunciation, 1617 with his attendaunt

Giuen to him 2 sundry times o- 4- 0 sweeping his chamber and making bedes halfe the yeare o- 6- 0 for healing his knee being sore o- 1- 6 gloues for this half yeare 0- 4- 0 lodging I- o- O paper o- o- 8 candles o- I- 6 a knife 0- 0- 8 barber o- o- 8 shoemaker o- 7- 0 taylor 3- 19- 9 diet for him self and his Attendaunt 4- 8- o ostess 4- 9- 4 fyer o- 2- 6 his Attendauntes wages 5- 0- O inke, quills, sweeping the schole o- 0- 4 6 arrowes, 2 stringes, bowcase &caet. o- 2- 4 tuicion I- o- o

charges of the exchequer for the 4 last quarters 3- 2- 0

Summa 24- 10- 3

MATTHEW BUST

Mathew Bust hath made oath before me that this is a true Accomte of the Expenses accordinge to the Title.

EDw: BROMLEY:

290 Junii 16I8

[I am unable to supply the endorsement on the verso, as it was not photographed, and I have not received from Eton College a reply to my request for a transcript.]




4. Bill for 25 Mar.-24 June 1618 [Transcribed from the original in Municipal Museum, Belfast.]

Con 0 Neales expenses from Annunciation till Midsommer, 1618 with his attendaunt

A paperbooke o- o- 4 paper o- 0- 4 giuen to him 2 sundry times o- 3- o sweeping his chamber and making bedes o- 3- 0 candles o- I- 6 shoemaker o- 7- 0 taylor o- 15- 10 Ostess 3- 3- 2 Diet for him self and his attendaunt 6- I- o lodging x- 0- 0 barber o- 0- 4 2 payr of gloues 0- 2- O a shooting gloue o- o- 6 his attendauntes wages 5- o- o inke, quilles, sweeping the schole o- 0- 4 tuicion I- O- O

Summa 17- 18- 4

MATTHEW BUST

Mathew Bust hath made oath before me that this is a true Accompte of the Expenses accordinge to the title.

EDW: BROMLEY

290 Junii 1618

[On verso:] Con 0 Neale from the Annunciacion 1618 untill midsommer 1618:

17.18.4.




5. Billfor 24 June-29 Sept. 6r18 (Transcribed from the original in Municipal Museum, Belfast.)

The expenses of Con O Neale with his Attendant from Midsommer till Michelmas. I618.

Paper o- o- 4 candles o- 0- 9 giuen to him o- I- 6 Epistolae per Sturmium 2 0- 0- 4 taylor 6- 12-10 shoemaker o- 7- 2 Ostess I- 18- O gloues 0- 2- 0 making bedes and sweeping his chamber o- 3- 0 mending his chamber windowes o- o- 3 shirtes bandes, cuffes, handkirchers I- 9- 6 taking an oath 0- 2- 6 charges of the exchequer I- 9- 6 barber o- o- 8 diet for himself 3- II- 6

for his attendant 3- 6- o an inkehorne o- o- 4 lodging I- 0- 0 for a hatt and band o- I8- 2 inke, quills, sweeping the schole o- o- 6 his Attendantes wages 5- 0- 0 tuicion I- 0- o

Summa 27- 4- 10

MATTHEW BUST

29 December I6I8 prestitit sacramentum suum predictus Matheus Bust die et anno supradicto coram me

Jo: DENHAM

[On verso:] Mathew Bust his bill for the expenses of Con O Neale for the quarter ended at

Michelmas I618 xxviili iiiis xd.




6. Bill for 29 Sept.-25 Dec. i618 [Transcribed from the original in Municipal Museum, Belfast.]

The expenses of Con O Neale with his Attendant from Michelmas till Christmas. 1618.

Paper o- o- 8 candles o- 2- 3 The booke intituled Deus et Rex 3 o- o- 6 2 kniues o- I- 4 taylor 4- 3- 3 shoemaker o- 9- 4 Ostess I- i8- 8

sweeping his chimnye o- o- 4 gloues 0- 2- 0 barber 0- 0- 4 making his bed, and sweeping his chamber 0- 3- 0 shirtes, bandes, cuffes I- 10- 0 his attendantes wages 5- 0- o giuen to him o- 2- o 2 keyes and mending the hinge of his dore o- I- 7 diet for him self 3- 11- 6

for his attendante 3- 6- o a loade of charcoale I- O- o a loade and a halfe of wood 0- Io- 9 lodging I- o- 0 fyer 0- 2- 6 inke, quills, sweeping the schole o- 0- 4 tuicion I- O- 0

Summa 24- 6- 4

MATTHEW BUST

29th December 16I8 prestitit sacramentum suum predictus Matheus Bust die et anno supradicto coram me

Jo: DENHAM

[On verso:] Mathew Bust his bill for expenses of Con o Neale for the quarter ended att Christmas

1618 xxiiiill vis iiiid.




7. Bill for 25 Dec. 1618-25 Mar. z6z9 [Transcribed from the original in Municipal Museum, Belfast.]

The expenses of Con O Neale and his attendaunt from Christmas till Annunciation. 169-.

Candles o- 2- 3 giuen to him upon salting day4 o- I- 6 Tullii Officia 5 0- I- 3 a paperbooke 0- I- o Ovidii Metamorph 6 o- I- 4. Epistolae familiares 7 0- I- 4 Caninii Hellenismus 8 o- 2- 0 Thesaurus phrasium poeticarum o- I- 6 a knife o- o- 8 paper o- o- 8 Graecum Testamentum 0- 1- 9 taylor o- 3- 3 barber 0- 0- 4 the glazier 0- 2- 2 glouer 0- 2- 0 shoemaker o- 7- 4 for curing his sore finger o- o- 6 Ostess 4- 14- 10 a desk with boxes o- 8- 0 Diet for him self and his attendaunt 4- 2- 6 chamber I - 0- 0 sweeping his chamber and making bedes o- 3- 0 for horse hire 0- 4- 0 fyer 0- 2- 6 his attendauntes wages 5- 0- 0 inke, quills, sweeping the schole 0- 0- 4 his attendauntes bill I- 3- 1 remaining upon the former accoumptes I- 12- 6 tuicion I- 0- o

li s d Summa 21- I- 7

MATTHEW BUST

Memorandum that George Peirson maketh oathe the nineth daye of Aprill anno domini 1619 that the particuler somes above mencioned were truely disbursed for the uses abouesaide

Jo: SOTHERTON

tOn verso:] Charges of Con O Neale for the annunciacion quarter 1619. 21.1.7.




NOTES

i. John Rider (I562-I632), bishop of Killaloe, 1613-32, was the author of the celebrated dictionary first published at Oxford in 1589, with the title : Bibliotheca scholastica : a double dictionarie penned for all those that would haue within short space the vse of the Latin tongue, either to speak or write. It was in two parts, English-Latin and Latin-English. Taken up arid modified by Francis Holyoake, it was republished in London, in 1606, as Rider's dictionarie corrected and augmented by Francis Holyoke. Another edition was published at Oxford, in I612, as Rider's dictionarie corrected and with the addition of above five hundred words enriched.. . by Francis Holyoke. Other editions: London, I6x7, I626; Oxford, I627; London, I633, I64o, I648, 1676-7. (DNB., Francis Holyoake, John Rider; F. Madan, Oxford books, ii (i912), nos. o6, 351, 596; Short-tit. cat., z475- x64o, nos. 21029, 21032-21036b).

2. Johann Stur;n (1507-89) was one of the leading educationists of the sixteenth century, and rector of a famous classical school at Strasbourg for over 40 years from 1538. ' He made the writing and speaking of Latin the almost exclusive aim of education. His school was frequented by pupils from all lands, and became the model for gymnasia in many parts of Ger- many' (J. E. Sandys, A history of classical scholarship, ii (1908). 267). Among his many published works was a complete edition of Cicero. A friend and admirer of Sturm's was Roger Ascham (15x5-78), the English educationist, who recommended his selection from Cicero's letters as a first reading-book in Latin for boys (The scholemaster, ed. J. E. B. Mayor (1884), pp. 66, 98, I44, 161). This is probably what is meant by 'Epistolae per Sturmium' above. The earliest English edition appears to be: Marci Tullii Ciceronis epistolarum libri quatuor. . . a Ioanne Sturmio puerili educa- tioni confecti . . ., Cambridge, 1631 (H. E. Palmer, List of English editions and translations of Greek and Latin classics printed before x64g (Biblio- graphical Society, 19I1), p. 30; Short-tit. cat., no. 5303). There is an edition in TCD, published at Glasgow in 1691, with the title: M. Tullii Ciceronis epistolarum libri quatuor, ab loanne Sturmio, puerilis educationis causa selecti, & ad castigatissima Ciceronis exemplaria recens collati (Dictionnaire historique et critique de Pierre Bayle (ed. of 1820), xiii. 533-41; Nouvelle biographie ge'nrale, xliv. 595-6; F. P. Graves, A history of education during the middle ages and the transition to modern times (193 1), pp. I 58-61 ; DNB, Roger Ascham.)

3. Deus & rex: sive dialogus quo demonstratur acobum Regem immediate sub Deo constitutum. . . iustissime sibi vendicare quicquid in iuramento fidelitatis requiritur. London, I6I5. Copy in Marsh's Library, Dublin. Other editions: London, i 615; Cambridge, I615; London, 1616 (Short- tit. cat., nos. 14415-18). There was also an English version: God and the king: or a dialogue shewing that King James being immediate under God

doth rightfully claime whatsoever is required by the oath of allegiance.




London, I6I5. Copy in Marsh's Library. Other editions:-Cambridge, 1615; London, 1616 (Short-tit. cat., nos. 14419-20). The book, intended :for the young, was ordered to be taught in all schools and universities in England, Ireland and Scotland (R. Steele (ed.), Tudor and Stuart proclam- ations, i. 139; ii. 22, 284). Its authorship is attributed to Richard Mocket :(1577-1618), warden of All Souls, Oxford, 1614-18 (DNB).

4. A traditional celebration at Eton, known as ' montem ', was a pro- cession of the boys to a small hill (ad montem) nearby, which became known as Salt Hill, where freshmen were initiated with salt. Later the 'salt' came to mean a money-tribute levied on spectators and passers-by for the benefit of the captain of the school. For a full account of this curious festivity which continued down to 1844, see Maxwell Lyte, A history of Eton College, ch. 21.

5. Cicero's De officiis. There was a London edition of i614: De

offciis Marci Tullii Ciceronis libri tres (H. E. Palmer, op. cit., p. 28; Short-tit. cat., no. 5268).

6. Ovid's Metamorphoses. There was a London edition of 1589: P. Ouidii Nasonis Metamorphoseon libri XV, ab Andrea Nangerio castigati .(H. E. Palmer, op. cit., p. 79; Short-tit. cat., no. 18952).

7. Probably not Cicero's Epistolae familiares (cf. note 2 above), but Disertissimi viri Rogeri Aschamifamiliarium epistolarum libri tres, London, I576, 1578, 1581, I590 (Short-tit. cat., nos. 826-9).

8. Angelus Caninius [or Caninus] (1521-57), Italian grammarian, was the author of a Greek grammar first published at Paris in 1555, of which an edition was published in London in 1613 with the title: A. Caninii

'EAArlviois6s copiosissimi Graecarum Latinarumque vocum indicis accessione per C. Hauboesium locupletatus (Short-tit. cat., no. 4566). There was another London edition in 1624 (ibid., no. 4567). (Dictionnaire historique et critique de Pierre Bayle (ed. of 1820), iv. 395-8; Nouvelle biographie genelrale, viii. 474.)

ADDENDUM As this goes to press, I have received the following information from the Rev.

Douglas Graham, a master of Eton College, to whom I am deeply grateful: (i) The endorsement on the verso of document 3 (above, p. 198) is: 'Con

O Neale from Christmas I617 untill the Annunciacion 1618 24.10.3.' This confirms my amended dating of the document in question (above, pp. 192-3).

(ii) The Hopkinson bill, for the quarter Christmas I616-Annunciation 1617 (above, pp. 191-3), is now in Eton College.

(iii) There is an eighth bill in Eton College, covering the quarter Midsummer- Michaelmas xI67, and having a total of £22 4s. IOd. (cf. above, p. r92).

T. W. M.



FACSIMILE OF SCHOOL-BILL FOR CONN O'NEILL AT ETON

(See document 3)

