insults of the ruffians. Then came the evils of "restoration." A
terrible renewing was begun in 1848, when the old stalls were
destroyed and much damage done. Twenty years later better things were
accomplished, save that the grandeur of the west front was belittled
by a pipey restoration, when Irish limestone, with its harsh hue, was
used to embellish it.

A curiosity at Wells are the quarter jacks over the clock on the
exterior north wall of the cathedral. Local tradition has it that the
clock with its accompanying figures was part of the spoil removed from
Glastonbury Abbey. The ecclesiastical authorities at Wells assert in
contradiction to this that the clock was the work of one Peter
Lightfoot, and was placed in the cathedral in the latter part of the
fourteenth century. A minute is said to exist in the archives of
repairs to the clock and figures in 1418. It is Mr. Roe's opinion that
the defensive armour on the quarter jacks dates from the first half of
the fifteenth century, the plain oviform breastplates and basinets, as
well as the continuation of the tassets round the hips, being very
characteristic features of this period. The halberds in the hands of
the figures are evidently restorations of a later time. It may be
mentioned that in 1907, when the quarter jacks were painted, it was
discovered that though the figures themselves were carved out of solid
blocks of oak hard as iron, the arms were of elm bolted and braced
thereon. Though such instances of combined materials are common enough
among antiquities of medieval times, it may yet be surmised that the
jar caused by incessant striking may in time have necessitated repairs
to the upper limbs. The arms are immovable, as the figures turn on
pivots to strike.

[Illustration: Quarter Jacks over the Clock on exterior of North Wall