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16<br />

ST. JOHN OF BEVERLEY.<br />

beneath the fifth diamond-shaped slab of black marble<br />

westward from the central tower, and exactly below the<br />

second boss or keystone in the groining of the roof.<br />

AboutJuly, 1868, the workmen occupied in cleansingand<br />

scraping the ceiling immediately over the repository of<br />

the saintly relics, brought to view the followinginscription,<br />

which was previouslyknown to be there under the<br />

limewash: — " Beverlacen sis beati Johann, is subtus in<br />

theca ponuntur ossa." (Beneath, in a vault, are contained<br />

the bones of Blessed John of Beverley.) This<br />

inscription has been restored,and is always an object of<br />

inquiry by visitors.<br />

In Alban Butler's " Lives of the Saints " we are told<br />

that the mortal remains of Saint John of Beverley, which,<br />

before the Reformation, wereplaced under a costly shrine,<br />

were hid in the nave of thechurch in the beginningof the<br />

reign ofEdward VI. This must be incorrect, unless the<br />

relics were taken up between1197 and 1644.<br />

Numerous lives of Saint John of Beverley have been<br />

written. The first was by Bede in his Ecclesiastical<br />

History. Next was that of Folcard, a Benedictine monk,<br />

written in Latin about 1066. Afterwards came those of<br />

Alured of Beverley,1120 (the manuscript of whichhistory<br />

is in the Cotton collection);Asketal of Beverley,1320;<br />

an anonymous author, 1373 ; Fuller, 1660; Thomas<br />

Gent, 1732 ; andDrake, 1736.

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