| Acknowledgements |
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xv | |
| Introduction |
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xvi | |
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St Patrick (c. 390-461) His early life, from his Confession |
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2 | (1) |
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Gildas (c. 500-c. 570) The sins of the British priests, from Concerning the Destruction and Conquest of Britain |
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2 | (1) |
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Bede (c. 672-735) A personal note, from History of the English Church and People |
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3 | (1) |
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Gregory the Great (c. 540-604) `Careful thought to the affairs of the English': letter to Mellitus, 601, quoted in Rede's History |
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4 | (1) |
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Bede (c. 672-735) The sparrow in the banqueting hall, 627, and the Easter Controversy at Whitby, 664, from History of the English Church and People |
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5 | (4) |
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Stephen Of Ripon (b. c. 650) A miraculous rescue in 666, from the Life of St Wilfrid |
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9 | (1) |
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Bede (c. 672-735) Building in the Roman style, c. 710, from History of the English Church and People |
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10 | (1) |
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Alcuin (c. 732-804) Letter to King Ethelred of Northumbria following the Viking raid on Lindisfarne, 793 |
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11 | (2) |
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Alfred the Great (849-899) Recovering the old learning and wisdom: Preface to his translation of Pope Gregory's Pastoral Care |
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13 | (2) |
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Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Re-founding of Peterborough Abbey in the wake of the Danes' destruction, 963 |
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15 | (2) |
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Henry of Huntingdon (c. 1088-1155) The reign of Edgar `the Peaceable', 959-975, from his History of the English People |
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17 | (2) |
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Exeter Book (c. 995) Riddle 26 |
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19 | (1) |
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Aelfric Bata, c. 1000 Colloquy 28, A thief is punished |
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20 | (1) |
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Wulfstan (d. 1023) Invoking the spirit of Gildas, from `Sermon of the Wolf to the English' |
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21 | (1) |
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William of Malmesbury (c. 1095-1143) Resisting temptation, and attacking the slave-trade, from Coleman's Life of St Wulfstan |
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22 | (2) |
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Abbot Guibert (1053-1124) Relics on tour, from his Autobiography |
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24 | (2) |
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William of Malmesbury (c. 1095-1143) Old Glastonbury, and after the Conquest, from his Chronicle of the Kings of England |
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26 | (3) |
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Eadmer (d. c. 1124) Examples of sheep, oxen and dogs, from the Life of St Anselm |
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29 | (1) |
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A Dominican friar `God has ordained three classes of men' - theme for a sermon |
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30 | (1) |
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Reginald Of Durham (d. 1190) Pedlar, sailor, saint, from the Life of St Godric |
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30 | (2) |
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Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The nineteen years of anarchy during King Stephen's reign, 1137 |
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32 | (1) |
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Roger Of Pontigny The meeting at Northampton in 1164, from the Life of Thomas Becket |
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33 | (2) |
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Adam of Eynsham (c. 1155-1233) Bishop Hugh performs a miraculous cure, from the Life of St Hugh of Lincoln |
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35 | (1) |
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Walter Map (c. 1130-c. 1210) Cistercian habits, from Courtiers' Trifles |
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36 | (2) |
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Iocelin de Brakelond (1173-1202) Abbot Samson rules his abbey, from the Chronicle |
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38 | (2) |
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Gerald of Wales (c. 1147-c. 1223) The lavish refectory of Canterbury Priory, from his autobiography |
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40 | (1) |
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Prior Peter of Aldgate (1139/40-1221) Tithes and greedy priests, from Vitae Patrum |
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41 | (2) |
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Matthew Paris (c. 1200-1259) The murder of the Prior of Thetford, 1248 |
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43 | (1) |
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Bartholomew The Englishman (c. 1250) `How Angell in bodily Shappe Is Peynted' |
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44 | (1) |
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A Dominican friar-preacher, late C13 `When a certain very rich rustic ` |
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45 | (1) |
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46 | (1) |
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Bartholomew De Cotton The Norwich calamity, 1271, from his Historia Anglicana |
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47 | (1) |
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Exeter Constitutions Bishop Quivil of Exeter decrees tithe payments, 1287 |
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48 | (1) |
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Bishop Stapledon of Exeter receives sidesmen's reports on parish priests, 1301 |
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49 | (1) |
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Anonymous (early to mid-C14) The Pricke of Conscience (from a C19 version) |
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50 | (1) |
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John Bromyard (d. c. 1352) Gargoyles, and women's finery; two illustrations for preaching |
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51 | (1) |
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Thomas of Walsingham (d. c. 1422) John Ball and the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, from his Chronica Majora |
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52 | (2) |
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Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1342-1400) The Parson from the Canterbury Tales |
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54 | (2) |
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William Langland (c. 1332-1390s) An autobiographical passage, and Gluttony, from Piers Plowman |
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56 | (4) |
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John Mirk (late C14-early C15) The Service for Excommunication, from Instructions for Parish Priests |
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60 | (1) |
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Margery Kempe (c. 1373-after 1439) The King's Lynn fire, from her Book |
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61 | (2) |
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Anonymous, c. 1430 A mother's instructions to her daughter |
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63 | (1) |
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Anonymous, early C15 Jolly Jankin |
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64 | (1) |
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Anonymous, C15 Going to Hell |
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65 | (2) |
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Margaret Paston (1423-1484) Letter to her husband |
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67 | (1) |
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Lincoln Diocese Documents Lollards in the Ecclesiastical Court, Buckden Manor, 1457 |
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68 | (2) |
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Master Rypon Of Durham (mid-C15) An amusing story' for a sermon |
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70 | (1) |
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Traditional God speed the plow |
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71 | (1) |
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Hundred Tales, later C15 Last will and testament |
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72 | (2) |
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Wakefield Mystery Plays (early to mid-C15) The Second Shepherds' Pageant |
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74 | (1) |
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Traditional Lyke-Wake Dirge |
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75 | (2) |
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Anonymous, c. 1500 The Love Letter |
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77 | (1) |
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Anonymous, published by Wynkyn de Worde, 1511 The Demaundes Joyous |
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77 | (1) |
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John Stow (1524/25-1605) A feast day, from A Survey of London |
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78 | (1) |
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Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466-1536) Some of the fools, from In Praise of Folly |
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79 | (2) |
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William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536) The need for a Bible in English, from The Obedience of a Christian Man |
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81 | (1) |
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Sir Thomas More (1477-1535) The Poor man and the Priest, from Dialogues |
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82 | (1) |
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William Roper (1495/96-1578) Dame Alice visits Sir Thomas in the Tower of London, from The Life of Sir Thomas More |
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83 | (1) |
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Thomas Starkey (c. 1495-1538) A diseased body politic, from A Dialogue between Cardinal Pole and Thomas Lupset' |
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84 | (2) |
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Sir Thomas Elyot (c. 1499-1546) "That all daunsynge is nat to be reproved', from The boke named The Governour |
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86 | (2) |
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Decree of HENRY VIII, 1537 The abolition of several festival days |
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88 | (1) |
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Roger Martin (c. 1527-1615) Long Melford in its Catholic days, from his Memoir |
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89 | (1) |
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Thomas Beccon (c. 1511-1567) Rural decay after the dissolution of the monasteries, from The Jewel of Joy |
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90 | (1) |
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Archbishop Latimer (c. 1487-1555) The practice of the longbow, from a sermon before Edward VI, 1549 |
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91 | (1) |
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John Hooker (1526-1601) Reprisals after the Prayer Book Rebellion, from his History of Exeter |
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92 | (3) |
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John Foxe (1516-1587) "The Behaviour of Dr Ridley and Master Latimer! from his `Book of Martyrs' |
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95 | (4) |
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Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) The emigration of his `obscure family! from his autobiography |
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99 | (1) |
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William Kethe (d. 1594) `The Old Hundredth |
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100 | (1) |
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William Harrison (1534-1593) The Church of England takes shape, from The Description of England |
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101 | (3) |
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Philip Stubbes (c. 1555-1610) An account of Ailgnia, from The Anatomy of Abuses |
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104 | (2) |
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The Archdeacon of Essex's Ecclesiastical Court Some court cases, 1586-91 |
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106 | (1) |
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Court of `Interrogatories! Dorset The Raleigh case, 1594 |
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107 | (1) |
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Robert Greene (1558-1592) A St Paul's pickpocket, from The Second Part of Coney-Catching |
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108 | (2) |
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William Alabaster (1568-1640) Disputation between Catholic and Protestant brothers |
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110 | (1) |
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William Shakespeare (1564-1616) `Winter's Song' from Love's Labours Lost |
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110 | (1) |
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John Donne (1572-1631) `Seeke true religion! from Satyre III |
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111 | (2) |
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Francis Bacon (1561-1626) `Of Superstition' |
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113 | (1) |
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John Aubrey (1626-1697) Lancelot Andrewes and the good fat alderman, from Brief Lives |
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114 | (1) |
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Nicholas Breton (c. 1545-1626) Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Easter Day, from Fantastickes |
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115 | (2) |
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James 1 Declaration, 1618 `Concerning lawful sports to be used' |
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117 | (2) |
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John Donne (1572-1631) `We die every day! from the Lent sermon, 1622 |
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119 | (1) |
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Trevelyan Papers Mistress Ann Prideaux examined in court, 1628 |
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119 | (1) |
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George Herbert (1593-1633) "The Parson's Condescending', from The Country Parson |
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120 | (2) |
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Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) Mary Waters, from Worthies of England |
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122 | (1) |
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John Milton (1608-1674) `At a Solemn Mustek! and from Il Penseroso |
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123 | (2) |
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Donald Lupton (d. 1676) Alehouses, from London and the Countrey Carbonadoed and Quartred into severall Characters |
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125 | (1) |
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James Shirley (1596-1666) Death the Leveller |
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126 | (1) |
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William Dowsing (1596-1668) Iconoclastic activities, from his Journal |
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127 | (2) |
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Gerrard Winstanley (1609-1676) `True Levellers' appeal for justice, 1650 |
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129 | (2) |
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John Shaw (1608-1672) A young Puritan sets out on his career, from his memoir |
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131 | (2) |
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Samuel Butler (1613-1680) The Presbyterian knight, from Hudibras |
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133 | (1) |
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John Earle (c. 1601-1665) `A young raw preacher' and A she-precise hypocrite', from Microcosmographie |
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134 | (3) |
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Richard Baxter (1615-1691) Early days in the Civil War, from Reliquiae Baxterianae |
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137 | (2) |
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John Evelyn (1620-1706) From his Diary for 1653 |
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139 | (1) |
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Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) From his Diary for 1664 |
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140 | (1) |
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Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) The country gentleman of the seventeenth century, from History of England |
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140 | (2) |
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John Bunyan (1628-1688) From The Pilgrim's Progress, Part II |
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142 | (4) |
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John Dryden (1631-1700) `Harvest Home' from King Arthur |
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146 | (1) |
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John Locke (1632-1704) Church membership voluntary, from Letters Concerning Toleration |
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147 | (1) |
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Traditional The Vicar of Bray |
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148 | (2) |
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Richard Gough (1635-1723) From The History of Myddle |
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150 | (2) |
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Anonymous, 1705 "The Poor Vicar's Complaint in a Letter to a Member of Parliament' |
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152 | (1) |
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Joseph Addison (1672-1719) Sir Roger de Coverley at church, from The Spectator |
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153 | (2) |
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Richard Steele (1672-1729) Just and unjust impediments to courtship, from The Spectator |
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155 | (2) |
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Alexander Pope (1688-1744) Letter to John Caryll, 1 May 1714 |
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157 | (1) |
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Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) From `An Argument to prove that the Abolishing of Christianity in England may be attended with some Inconveniences! and extract from Gulliver's Travels |
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158 | (3) |
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Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) From "The True-born Englishman! and A Tour through the Whole Island of Great Britain |
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161 | (2) |
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Voltaire (1694-1778) `On the Church of England! from Letters concerning the English Nation |
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163 | (1) |
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The Gentleman's Magazine (1732) A plain Love-Letter, a Specimen' |
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164 | (1) |
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Henry Fielding (1707-1754) A very curious adventure, from The Adventures of Joseph Andrews |
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165 | (4) |
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John Wesley (1703-1791) Missions from Wiltshire to Northumberland, from his Journal |
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169 | (2) |
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Thomas Gray (1716-1771) `Elegy written in a Country Churchyard' |
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171 | (4) |
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The Gentleman's Magazine (1769) A Genuine Letter from a Noble Lord to a Right Reverend Prelate' |
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175 | (2) |
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Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) Mr William Grimshaw of Haworth, from The Life of Charlotte Bronte |
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177 | (2) |
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Thomas Turner (1729-1773) `The silliest frolic! from his diary for 1758 |
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179 | (3) |
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Laurence Sterne (1713-1768) Letter to John Wodehouse, 1765 |
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182 | (1) |
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Oliver Goldsmith (c. 1730-1774) Dr Primrose's `little republic! from The Vicar of Wakefield |
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183 | (3) |
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Gilbert White (1720-1793) Country superstitions, from The Natural History ofSelborne |
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186 | (2) |
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James Boswell (1740-1795) In Dr Johnson's company, from The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D |
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188 | (1) |
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Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) The severity of the early Church Fathers, from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire |
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189 | (3) |
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Karl Philip Moritz (1756-1793) Nettlebed in 1782, from Travels through Several Parts of England |
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192 | (4) |
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James Woodforde (1740-1803) Beating the Bounds, and Tithe Audit Day, from Diary of a Country Parson |
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196 | (2) |
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William Cowper (1731-1800) `The Yearly Distress, or Tithing Time' |
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198 | (2) |
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Anonymous, from Cornwall A Ferry Fable' |
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200 | (1) |
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William Blake (1757-1827) An Answer to the Parson! and two Songs of Experience |
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201 | (2) |
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Hannah More (1745-1833) A Dialogue! from Village Politics |
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203 | (1) |
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George Crabbe (1755-1832) A pauper's death, from The Village |
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204 | (3) |
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Jane Austen (1775-1817) `But why are you to be a clergyman?', from Mansfield Park |
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207 | (2) |
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William Hazlitt (1778-1830) `On the Causes of Methodism' |
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209 | (4) |
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John Keats (1795-1821) T begin to hate Parsons', from a letter to his brother George and sister-in-law |
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213 | (1) |
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John Skinner (1772-1839) From his diary in 1822 |
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214 | (3) |
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William Cobbett (1763-1835) From Rural rides |
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217 | (2) |
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E. W. L. Davies (1812-1894) From A Memoir of the Rev. John Russell |
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219 | (1) |
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John Clare (1793-1862) `December) from The Shepherd's Calendar |
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220 | (4) |
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Sydney Smith (1771-1845) `Advice to Parishioners' |
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224 | (2) |
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Hartley Coleridge (1796-1849) The parish clerk |
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226 | (1) |
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G. W. Fulcher (1795-1855) `John Ashford) from The Village Paupers |
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227 | (2) |
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Frances Trollope (1780-1863) From The Vicar of Wrexhill |
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229 | (2) |
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Charles Darwin (1809-1882) Cambridge 1828-31, from his Autobiography |
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231 | (2) |
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Charles Dickens (1812-1870) `Our Parish', from Sketches by Boz |
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233 | (2) |
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Joseph Arch (1826-1919) Growing up in Warwickshire, from The Story of his Life, Told by Himself |
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235 | (4) |
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Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) From Past and Present |
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239 | (1) |
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Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) `The religion of England is part of good-breeding! from English Traits |
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239 | (2) |
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William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) Snobs and good clerics |
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241 | (2) |
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Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) and Anne Bronte (1820-1849) Letter from 1840, and diary paper from 1845 |
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243 | (2) |
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John Ruskin (1819-1900) From "The Lamp of Sacrifice; from The Seven Lamps of Architecture |
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245 | (3) |
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`Cosmopolite' Letter to the Suffolk Chronicle, 1850 |
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248 | (1) |
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Charles Kingsley (1819-1875) Visit to Cambridge, from Alton Locke, Tailor and Poet |
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249 | (3) |
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Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) From In Memoriam |
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252 | (1) |
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J. A. Froude (1818-1894) From The Nemesis of Faith |
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253 | (5) |
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Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861) Spirit's Song, and `The Latest Decalogue' |
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258 | (2) |
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Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) `Dover Beach' |
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260 | (1) |
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Sir Leslie Stephen (1832-1904) Reform begins to reach Cambridge, from his Autobiography |
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261 | (3) |
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Robert Browning (1812-1889) From Bishop Blougram's Apology |
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264 | (1) |
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Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) Letter to his father, and `Felix Randal' |
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265 | (3) |
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Edmund Gosse (1849-1928) Christmas 1857, from Father and Son |
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268 | (2) |
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Samuel Butler (1835-1902) From The Way of All Flesh |
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270 | (3) |
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Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) The Archdeacon and his wife in bed, from The Warden |
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273 | (1) |
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George Eliot (1819-1880) Dr Cumming, and the Rev. Amos Barton |
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274 | (3) |
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Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) "The Curate in a Populous Parish |
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277 | (2) |
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Henry Mayhew (1812-1887) A Street Boy! from London Labour and the London Poor |
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279 | (1) |
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Charles Dickens (1812-1870) Jo is moved on, from Bleak House |
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280 | (1) |
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Cecil Torr (1857-1928) Dartmoor habits, from Small Talk at Wreyland |
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281 | (1) |
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George Sturt (1863-1927) From A Small Boy in the Sixties |
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282 | (2) |
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William Barnes (1801-1886) `Vo'k a-Comen into Church' |
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284 | (2) |
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Francis Kilvert (1840-1879) From his Diary for 1870 |
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286 | (3) |
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Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) Mellstock Parish Band, from Under the Greenwood Tree |
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289 | (2) |
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Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924) Rev. Robert Hawker, shipwrecks, and a Devonshire character |
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291 | (5) |
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W. H. Thornton (1830-1916) From Reminiscences and Reflections of an Old West-Country Clergyman |
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296 | (2) |
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Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) Children's Sundays in former times, from Sylvie and Bruno |
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298 | (2) |
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Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) A house party on Sunday, from Lothair |
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300 | (2) |
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Annie Besant (1847-1933) A vicar's wife finds her voice, from her Autobiography |
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302 | (2) |
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Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) The language of the Prayer Book, from Last Essays on Church and Religion |
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304 | (1) |
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Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) Emotional appeal in religion |
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305 | (2) |
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William Hale White (1831-1913) Cowfold, in The Revolution in Tanner's Lane |
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307 | (2) |
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Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) `Birchington Churchyard' |
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309 | (1) |
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William Morris (1834-1896) Letter to The Times |
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310 | (1) |
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Flora Thompson (1876-1947) `To Church on Sunday! from Lark Rise |
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311 | (5) |
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Gwen Raverat (1885-1957) A supreme bore! from Period Piece |
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316 | (2) |
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George Ewart Evans (1909-1988) Winifred Spence, recorded in conversation |
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318 | (2) |
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Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) `Natural Theology' |
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320 | (2) |
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Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) From Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man |
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322 | (3) |
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Robert Roberts (1905-1974) From A Ragged Schooling: Growing Up in the Classic Slum |
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325 | (4) |
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Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) `Channel Firing' |
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329 | (1) |
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Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) `Parable of the old Man and the Young' |
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330 | (1) |
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Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) `They' |
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331 | (1) |
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Adrian Bell (1901-1980) From Corduroy |
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332 | (2) |
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D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) `Hymns in a Man's Life' |
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334 | (4) |
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Alfred Noyes (1880-1958) "The Bee in Church' |
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338 | (1) |
|
T. F. Powys (1875-1953) "The Hassock and the Psalter' |
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339 | (7) |
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Sir John Squire (1884-1958) A lift from a bishop, from The Honeysuckle and the Bee |
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346 | (3) |
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Francis Brett Young (1884-1954) From Portrait of a Village |
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349 | (3) |
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John Betjeman (1906-1984) `In Westminster Abbey' |
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352 | (2) |
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C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) From The Screwtape Letters |
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354 | (2) |
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T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) From Little Gidding |
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356 | (2) |
|
John Moore (1907-1967) Death of the Rector, and The Groupers Arrive, from Brensham Village |
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|
358 | (4) |
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Herbert Butterfield (1900-1979) From Christianity and History |
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362 | (1) |
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John Betjeman (1906-1984) From "The Persecution of the Country Clergy' |
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362 | (2) |
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Kathleen Raine (1908-2003) `Returning from Church' |
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364 | (1) |
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R. S. Thomas (1913-2000) "The Country Clergy', `In Church; and "The Priest' |
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364 | (2) |
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John Press (1920-2007) `Narborough Church |
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366 | (1) |
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Philip Larkin (1922-2005) `Church Going' |
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367 | (2) |
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Ronald Blythe (b. 1922) The Rev. Gethyn Owen, from Akenfield |
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369 | (3) |
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U. A. Fanthorpe (1929-2009) `Soothing and Awful' |
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372 | (2) |
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Alan Bennett (b. 1934) `Comfortable Words', from Writing Home |
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374 | (2) |
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Jeannette Winterson (b. 1959) From Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? |
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376 | (2) |
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John Rogers (1936-2018) From The Undelivered Mardle |
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378 | (2) |
| The Calendar And The Ritual Year |
|
380 | (2) |
| Text Credits |
|
382 | |
