THE PIDDINGTON PLATE
BY
BARRY VAN-ASTEN
Those among us who
have a deep academic interest or fascination for the past and for unearthing
oddities and peculiarities particular to one’s subject, in this instance, Roman
Northamptonshire, may be in danger of contracting an acute and incurable case
of boredom, for examine as you will, there is no mention of the Piddington
Plate in Thomas Sternberg’s ‘The Dialect and Folk-Lore of Northamptonshire’ of
1851, nor is there any reference to it in ‘Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in
Northamptonshire and Rutland’ of 1901, yet exist, the plate certainly did, but
the nature of its ‘existence’ has caused those who have presented any evidence
to explicitly wish to remain anonymous, and in the event caused an element of
doubt as to its authenticity, yet I feel fully justified in relenting to those
wishes and therefore I have refrained from identifying some sources and omitted
certain names in connection with this.
It is quite natural
for those of an antiquarian aspect to find great pleasure in the discovery of
an historical object to which there has been no thorough record; such was the
interest surrounding the finding of at what first appeared to be a small,
inconsequential silver cup, sometime around the year 1771 in the village of
Piddington in Northamptonshire; facts pertaining to the cup are scarce but it
is mere speculation that the cup was unearthed by John Glass, the Deputy Ranger
of Salcey Forest, but at the time of his death in 1775 it is known that the cup
was given to the 12th Cent. Church of St. John
the Baptist in Piddington which Pevsner calls ‘strange and unsatisfactory’ and where
there is a fine wall tablet to John Glass. The rector, Joseph Fordiffe, of whom
little is known, thought it wise to keep it from the eyes of his parishioners
as its provocative influence may encourage ‘rough earthy passions’, rectors’
then as now tended to overestimate their parishioners’ (who were largely
uneducated) powers of suggestibility and openness to sin and all sort of
beastliness, seeing themselves as guardians of the morals and general
well-being of the parish, punishing with penitence those who step outside its
boundaries and rewarding those who, ‘like gentle sheep’ conform to the wishes
of the majority and abide by the teachings of Christ by the promise of
everlasting peace in the Kingdom of Heaven; this seed was sown very early
amongst the incurably devout and devious monastic communities, who in many
instances succumbed to the vice and immorality, lusts of the flesh and for
power and wealth that they were supposed to abstain and deplore. We now know of
course that there is an extensive Roman site at Piddington and the villa was
discovered in 1781 when a mosaic floor was unearthed by workmen digging for
limestone and soon pieces were being taken by enthusiastic Northamptonian collectors
as ‘souvenirs’.
THE CUP WHICH IS A
PLATE
The cup, which came to
be known as the Piddington Plate for some obscure reason gave rise among a
select few who were entrusted to behold it to the saying ‘when is a plate not a
plate – when it is the Piddington Plate!’ It is thought that the cup which
measured 4.3 inches in height, 3.9 inches in width or rim and 4.3 inches in depth
and depicted graphic scenes of the sexual act showing young male gladiators in
various states of arousal during combat can be dated to around the early 2nd
Cent. AD; around the base of the cup is the stylised form of an elongated ‘sinister
looking cat’, thought to be a representation of the goddess Diana.
The cup is reminiscent
of another Greco-Roman silver drinking vessel which can be seen in the British Museum: The Warren Cup dating from the 1st
Cent. AD named after the American art collector who was in possession of the
cup, Edward Perry Warren (1860-1928).
ENTER FATHER DAMPIER
A later incumbent of
the church, the Reverend Augustus Dampier who was born in Dorset
and had the good fortune to attend St.
John’s College,
Oxford – (was
it he who inspired Oscar Wilde to include the Reverend Augustus Dampier in his
story, ‘The Canterville Ghost’?) thought that the cup ‘exerted an evil
influence’ and left instructions in a letter to his successor at Piddington,
the Reverend Walter Henzell Gough to ‘on no account disturb the plate’ which
shows ‘pagan fornications’, adding that he had ‘blessed and placed the plate in
a sanctuary where it shall do no harm!’; Gough, a Worcester College, Oxford
scholar with ‘tendencies towards the gothic’, was Rector of Piddington from
1876-77 and would no doubt be perturbed and intrigued by such curious behaviour
and with the antiquarian’s hand for disturbing the dust of the past probably
viewed and handled the cup before returning it to its ‘sanctuary’. That
Reverend Dampier, a man whose powers of resolution knew no beginnings believed
there was a curse upon the cup is undeniable for his first-born child, Ethel
Maud Dampier, born in 1866, died suddenly and tragically at the age of 26 in
Kensington, London, in 1893; she was buried in Gillingham, Norfolk on 23rd
June that year.
REVEREND FITZHERBERT
AND THE ETON PREDICAMENT
The predecessor of
Reverend Dampier, the rather tiresomely long-winded Reverend Fitzherbert
Astley-Cave-Browne-Cave, a Northants born man with notions peculiar to that
region who matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford and found himself the
long-suffering Rector of Piddington in 1868 described it as ‘that blasted cup!’
and to pacify its lurid connotations and disturbing influence, grew daffodils
in it! In fact, a letter dated August 1886 from his son, Cecil Beckwith who was
born in 1871 and attended Eton College, Windsor, suggests the influence of the
cup may have had wider connotations for young Cecil thanks his father for
certain advice as to the ‘unwritten law’ or the ‘Eton epidemic’ which can do
‘immeasurable damage to a young man’s reputation not to mention his digestion’
and that the ‘boy who spent a whole term under siege’ was now ‘exalting the
spirit’ and ‘recovering from the relentless attacks’; his father implored him
of his priority to let ‘that which is sacrosanct never be unguarded’ and ending
the letter with a warning about ‘reading French novels’ or being the ‘perpetrator
of bad poetry, especially of a romantic nature, which does one’s virtue great
harm for which there is no repentance’ or indulging in ‘coffee which enflames
lust, for I should rather that you went over to Rome than entertained
“aesthetic notions” of a continental aroma: the moral doctrine of chastity is
the gracious reward of our Lord Jesus and whether in the English or the Latin,
purity can be served up with any sauce! – “To the pure all things are pure, but
nothing is pure to the impure.” Remember, we are mere ornaments of God and the
Good Lord keep you safe, my boy.’ The ‘Good Lord’ did indeed keep him safe for
Cecil, like his father, went up to Brasenose a few years later in 1890 where as
we all know impropriety is unheard of! And so it is presumed that the cup lay
untouched and hidden away in its ‘sanctuary’ blessed by the gentle hand of
Father Dampier, passing through the incumbency of Reverends Gough (1876-77),
Tanner (1877-92), Percival (1892-93), Friend (1893-1900), Brown (1900-1902) and
Reverend Charles Ryder Macnally of Durham University, who also suffered loss
when his son, Charles Francis Ryder Macnally, born in 1894 was killed in action
during the Great War just days away from peace on 29th October 1918
– he was 24 years old. By all accounts Reverend Ryder Macnally who was ordained
deacon in 1888 and priest the following year, was an excellent violin player and
his wife, Mary Adelaide (1863-1943) was the Reverend’s church organist. The
good Reverend Ryder Macnally later became vicar of Hartwell in 1903 and Kilsby
in 1925 (he died aged 80 in 1943), and so we come to the incumbency of the
Reverend Herbert Fletcher Mann in 1904, one of those irregular church
busy-body’s who just cannot help sticking their nose into things and making a
mess of everything in the name of God!
HERBERT FLETCHER MANN
(1858-1935)
The Reverend Mann who
was born in Toppesfield, Essex, had attended the University of Durham (BA 1887,
MA 1888) and married Sophia May Foss in 1891 much to the relief of his family,
had a distinctly enlightened attitude to the depictions on the cup which he
removed from its sanctuary with the rather antiquarian turn of mind to submit a
letter to the editor of ‘Notes & Queries’ the quarterly journal pertaining
to scholarly curiosities; whether he did so or not it was certainly not
published and what fragments of his thoughts were left became scattered. But we
do have a letter which survives and was directed towards his clerical friend,
the Reverend Hereward Eyre Wake (1869-1934), a distinguished theologian and
scholar of Worcester College, Oxford; the letter is dated 1st
September 1905 and after the usual preliminary greetings Herbert mentions the
cup ‘which is also a plate’ and describes it to Reverend Wake as a ‘silver
drinking vessel with relief figures depicting nude youths in various conditions
of abnormal foreplay after the Greek manner’. He gives its dimensions and
mentions that ‘it probably had two handles which time has sadly removed’ and
‘apart from a small dent in its base which depicts the body of a rather
menacing cat in relief, is a perfect example of a “skyphos”.’ He goes on to say
that ‘strangely, since it has been exposed again I have suffered nightly
terrors which I am not usually prone to’ and that ‘it has sorely tested my
faith! I should not like it to get into undesirable hands – it is emblematic of
the Black Mass!’ The Reverend Mann had a tendency to exaggerate and saw satanic
influence in most things. The Reverend Wake replies to the letter on 25th
September saying that his son, five year old Hereward Baldwin causes him ‘much
consternation’ for he has ‘fostered a habit of solitude’ and is ‘not prepared
to tolerate the faults of others’; he goes on to say that he hopes Herbert’s
wife, Sophia is not too ‘disturbed’ by the ‘cup which is a plate!’ before
mentioning his interest in the ‘playful cat’ for he has a ‘distinct fondness
for our feline friends’. One senses that Reverend Wake considers his friend’s
tendency towards the superstitious as unimportant and is taking his plight
lightly in a playful mood, yet it is more than likely that he is fearing for
his friend’s mental health and after much horticultural nonsense Reverend
Wake’s advice to Herbert is to replace the cup where he found it and to ‘forget
all about it!’ ending the letter – ‘Mary sends her regards.’ (Mrs. Wake). We
can assume that he does not heed the advice for Mann’s successor, the Reverend
Basil Gordon Dumnore Clarke, (1885-1980), born in Kent who attended University
College, Durham, writes to Reverend Mann in October 1929 at the Vicarage in
Grendon, Northamptonshire, in reply to Mann’s letter, informing him that ‘he
has not come upon the object whether in the guise of plate or cup and that no
such entity is either ‘living or dead’ within the church. I believe we can take
the Reverend’s word for it that he has not seen the plate for he himself has
suffered bitter sweet pains, for just days after his marriage to Dorothy Campbell
Cary on 10th September 1925, his mother, Frances died on 23rd
September, followed not too long after by the Reverend’s father, William Murray
Charles Clarke, on 24th October the following year.
It would be imprudent
to come to a definite conclusion as to the whereabouts of the ‘plate which is a
cup’ and its disappearance under the incumbency of Reverend Clarke is said to
have caused the church to be ‘troubled by nocturnal disturbances’, an annoyance
which continues to this day! But it is my belief that Reverend Mann’s wife, Sophia,
fearing for her husband’s sanity and believing that there is some sort of a
curse attached to the ‘cup which is a plate’, removed the cup from the church
sometime between Reverend Mann accepting the living at Grendon in February
(1929) and Reverend Clarke accepting the role as vicar of Piddington with
Horton in September and Mrs Mann either had it buried in the churchyard which
would seem more likely, or somewhere in the vicinity. Sophia’s mother, Charity,
had lived with Sophia and Reverend Mann while he was vicar of Piddington
(Sophia’s father, Charles Herbert Foss, a barrister, had died of pneumonia in
1899 aged 71) and sadly died in 1915 aged 74, perhaps strengthening Sophia’s
belief in the curse of the plate. Reverend Clarke remained vicar of Piddington
until 1936 before Reverend Noel Evans M.A. followed and had to retire due to
ill health in 1939 and then the Reverend John Branch Phillips M.A. of Keble
College, Oxford
came to Piddington from his seventeen years as Rector of Grasmere, bringing
with him the stench of some recent scandal!
DEATH THREAT
Reverend Phillips
while Rector at Grasmere was the recipient of death threats in which a local
labourer, Thomas Henry Thackery, 45, of Rothay Cottage, Grasmere, threatened to
‘kill and murder’ the Rector in a letter written between 10-12 May 1938.
Thackery, an unemployed widow with six children had ‘been in receipt of public
assistance relief’; on 12th May the Rector on holiday at Uxbridge,
Middlesex, received a three-page letter by post (forwarded on as it was
addressed to Grendon Rectory), unstamped, which had no address or signature but
Reverend Phillips recognised the writing which was ‘foul and abusive’ as
Thackery’s – ‘if ever thou turns up to tell me what I am getting I will kill
thee stone dead. I have wished many a time lately that I had killed thee that
night through by the hotel… I will learn thee to try and bully me with thy…
police. If I could get at thee this moment I would punch thy … liver out.’ The
Rector complained to the police and on 20th May PC Bannard
interviewed Thackery who confessed to writing the letter and promised to not
‘send him any more until next winter. I don’t like him.’ [The Penrith Observer.
Tuesday 5th July
1938. p. 2] Thackery was given 9 months in prison and Reverend
Phillips left Piddington church in 1949 when he married Mary Phyllis Boot.
Reverend Herbert
Fletcher Mann died while at Eastbourne on 13th November 1936;
his wife, Sophia, seems to have succumbed to the curse, if indeed there was a
curse upon the cup which depicted the image of the cat goddess, Diana, the
huntress, and in 1940 her demise was reported in the Northampton Mercury &
Herald:
‘STOOPED TO STROKE
CAT…
Death fall. A Yardley
Hastings woman bent down in her garden to stroke her cat, fell backwards to the
ground and sustained injuries which led to her death. This was disclosed at the
inquest at Northampton General
Hospital on Friday on
Mrs. Sophia May Mann (79), the Cottage, Yardley Hastings.’ The article goes on
to say that ‘Mrs. Rosa Gertrude Sichel, of 13, Lisgar-Terrace, Kensington, London, W.14. the dead
woman’s sister, gave evidence of identification and said Mrs. Mann was the
widow of the Reverend Herbert Mann.
Miss Ethel Patch, of
the Cottage, Yardley Hastings, said she had been in the employ of Mrs. Mann as
a maid for 45 years. On August 16th she heard Mrs. Mann call and
went to the garden and found her lying on the ground. Mrs. Mann told her that
she had bent down to stroke the cat, caught her foot, and fell backwards.’ The
doctor was called and Mrs. Mann was sent to hospital suffering from a fractured
femur which was set; her ‘condition deteriorated and she died on Wednesday.
Death was due to Myocardial degeneration accelerated by the fracture.’ [Northampton Mercury &
Herald. Friday 13th
September 1940. p. 8] It is not too difficult to believe that
Sophia’s maid, Ethel Patch also knew the secret of the cup and possibly
assisted Sophia as she was there at Hackleton Vicarage during Reverend Mann’s
incumbency, along with a young gardener named Harry Blackwell, born in Preston
Deanery in 1891. As to the authenticity of much of this tale and whether there
really was a curse set upon the Piddington Plate we shall never know, that is,
until the plate is unearthed once more and the cup which is a plate can tell
its story once again!
