186 ON CABINETS OF NATURAL HISTORY SPECIMENS
" Thus have I rudely rigde this paper saile,
Soone maye hee waufted bee with happie gaile ;
Nor needs it piratts feare, for, though it die,
Loves endles trafique in this breast doth lie."
This Hatton-Fanshawe alliance is mentioned, though incorrectly, and with
altered surroundings, in the Ingoldsby Legend of "Bleeding Heart Yard" :—
" One Alice Hatton, nee Fanshawe—a name
Which you'll recognise, reader, at once as the same,
With that borne by Sir Christopher's erudite dame."
Here he built a chapel, which was consecrated in 1616, but is now used as a
stable. One of the large carved oak cantilevers of the chapel roof, a stone tablet
in the granary, with shield of arms, and inscription of a later owner, Sir
Thomas Cambell, 1664 (who married Mary, daughter of Viscount Fanshawe), and
the chapel with its niches and oval windows were seen by the kind permission of
Mr. James Lamb.
We may gain some idea of the grandeur and size of Clay Hall, which was
one of the most important estates in this end of Essex, from the MSS. of Smart
Lethieullier of Aldersbrook, recording the principal houses near Barking, about
1750. He calls it "A noble seat finely situated, and commanding a pleasant
prospect. No less than thirty rooms were standing within a few years past, and
it is now entirely pulled down, and a small farmhouse built in its stead." It is
probable, however, from the inscription on the tablet mentioned above, that the
mansion had been added to, or rebuilt, by Sir Thomas Cambell about a century
before.
The return drive was made by St. Swithin's Farm and Redbridge, through
Wanstead to Snaresbrook Station, thus ending a most interesting and successful
meeting.
ON CABINETS OF NATURAL HISTORY SPECI-
MENS FOR CIRCULATION AMONG THE
VILLAGE SCHOOLS OF ESSEX.
By F. W. RUDLER, F.G.S., M.A.I.
Curator of the Museum of Practical Geology ; formerly Professor of Natural Science in the
University College of Wales.
WHEN the Essex Field Club's scheme for founding a Central
Museum and Scientific Institution at Chelmsford shall be
accomplished, there is one simple way in which it may readily extend
its influence throughout the county, and thus lay claim to wide
sympathy and support. This is by establishing a system of lending
small collections to schools and rural institutions. A number of
small cabinets, cheaply but strongly made, and filled with attractive
specimens, well-arranged and clearly-labelled, should be issued from