and at each a prayer for the soul of the departed was offered or the
_De profundis_ sung. Every one is familiar with the famous Eleanor
crosses erected by King Edward I to mark the spots where the body of
his beloved Queen rested when it was being borne on its last sad
pilgrimage to Westminster Abbey.


MARKET CROSSES

Market crosses form an important section of our subject, and are an
interesting feature of the old market-places wherein they stand. Mr.
Gomme contends that they were the ancient meeting-places of the local
assemblies, and we know that for centuries in many towns they have
been the rallying-points for the inhabitants. Here fairs were
proclaimed, and are still in some old-fashioned places, beginning with
the quaint formula "O yes, O yes, O yes!" a strange corruption of the
old Norman-French word _oyez_, meaning "Hear ye." I have printed in my
book _English Villages_ a very curious proclamation of a fair and
market which was read a few years ago at Broughton-in-Furness by the
steward of the lord of the manor from the steps of the old market
cross. Very comely and attractive structures are many of these ancient
crosses. They vary very much in different parts of the country and
according to the period in which they were erected. The earliest are
simple crosses with steps. Later on they had niches for sculptured
figures, and then in the southern shires a kind of penthouse, usually
octagonal in shape, enclosed the cross, in order to provide shelter
from the weather for the market-folk. In the north the hardy
Yorkshiremen and Lancastrians recked not for rain and storms, and few
covered-in crosses can be found. You will find some beautiful
specimens of these at Malmesbury, Chichester, Somerton, Shepton