St Giles's

“ Giles’s parish walk the boundaries, those who have deserved flogging are whipped at this stone, in order that, as they grow up, they may remember [29] the place, and be competent to give evidence should any dispute arise with the adjoining parishes. Near this stone stood St. Giles’s Pound. [52] Two old houses stood near this spot on the eastern side of the street, where the entrance gates of Meux’s brewery have been erected: between the second-floor windows of one of them the following inscription was cut in stone: “Opposite this house stood St. ”

“ ONE O’CLOCK A.M.: A FIRE.
[350]
No—the fire is in the very thickest part of St. Giles’s. Unfaithful topographers may have told you that the “Holy Land” being swept away and Buckeridge Street being pulled down, St. Giles’s exists no more. Ne’n croyez rien. The place yet lives—hideous, squalid, decrepit—yet full of an unwholesome vitality. Splendid streets have been pierced through the heart of this region—streets full of mansions four and six storeys high—affluent tradesmen display their splendid wares through glistening plate-glass windows. ”

“ Giles's of 1873 is pretty much what it was a quarter of a century ago. A big brewery and three or four new streets have shorn its skirts somewhat, but it is heartwhole still, and as dirty and draggletailed as ever. The only "enlightenment" that modern customs and usages have brought it appears is in the increased brilliancy of its public houses, which are especially rich in plate-glass and gas glitter. There are the same ragged women, some with babies in their arms - some mere girls - and some with backs bent with age ”

“ As an introduction, I am proud to think that I need only say, once again, that I am the Tower of St. Giles’s Church, Norwich. And surely there cannot be many of our citizens who are in the habit of passing up our broad street, St. Giles’s (the lower Newport as it used to be called) , who have not been struck with the fine proportions of my structure, standing as I do at the head of this fine thoroughfare, and looking and being an object of admiration for my beauty and my striking position. ”

“ Giles, in 1661, but all trace of his remains has now been lost, and no monument until recently indicated his grave.
The last day on which mass was said in St. Giles was [Pg 99] probably the 31st of March 1560; [272] the disturbances connected with the Reformation broke out in Edinburgh at an early date, and St. Giles' Church was one of the first to suffer.
All things have their end.
Churches and cities, which have diseases like to men,
Must have like death that we have. ”

“ Gilles, to whom the old counts of Toulouse had a particular devotion, especially Raymond IV., who is invariably styled in history Raymond de St. Gilles. This saint was very popular, not only in France, but in England and Scotland. A large hospital for lepers was built by the queen of Henry I. outside the city of London, which has given its name to a large district of that city; and St. Giles is the patron saint of Edinburgh, where a church was built under his invocation not later then 1359. This renders his shrine a place of interest to all who speak the English tongue. ”

“ After the Reformation, when Queen Mary conferred the gardens of the Greyfriars upon the town, the churchyard of St Giles’s ceased to be much used as a burying-ground; and that extensive and more appropriate place of sepulture succeeded to this in being made the Westminster Abbey of Scotland. ”

“ Giles in the Fields, or of any ward or precinct within the bills: not this or that “good man”—but the universal parish beadle. “How Christmas and consolatory he looks! how redolent of good cheer is he! He is a cornucopia—an abundance. What pudding sleeves!—what a collar, red, and like a beef steak, is his! He is a walking refreshment! He looks like a whole parish, full, important—but untaxed. The children of charity gaze at him with a modest smile. The straggling boys look on him with confidence. They do not pocket their marbles. They do not fly from their familiar gutter. ”

“ In St. Giles’s the people go shooting the moon. [72]
In St James’s Hotel, boots are welted by nobs,
In St. Giles’s the welting is done by the snobs.
In St. James’s the nobs to the Opera go,
Because they can’t bear anything that is low,
In St. Giles’s that being too slap-up, ’tis agreed,
To go to the stall of “the Garden” instead.
In St. James’s there’s military pensioners dwell,
In St. Giles’s there’s lots of Old Soldiers [73] as well;
In St. James’s they pay, when a regiment they choose,
In St. Giles’s, for nothing, they get “in the Blues.{401}”
In St. ”

“ This church is a vicarage, the patronage of which is in the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s, and it is constituted a prebend of that cathedral by the name of Mora. The Vicar receives about 360l. a year by tithes.
In this church are many tombs, and here lies the body of the incomparable John Milton, the author of Paradise Lost.
St. Giles’s in the Fields, on the south side of St. Giles’s street, is so named to distinguish it from St. Giles’s Cripplegate. ”

“ Giles's church (a deep and lofty gothic doorway) the steps of which were yet stained with the gallant blood of M'Clellan of Bombie, among the gaily-attired crowd that was pressing up the flight and into that magnificent fane, the countess, with her friends and followers, encountered Redhall, with his friend (Kinloss) , and his followers, Nichol Birrel, Dobbie, and Sanders Screw, whose official capacities did not prevent their appearance among his retinue, like whom, they wore steel bonnets, and were barbed to the teeth. ”

“ About seventeen months after he was baptized Elder Giles was called to labor as a missionary in Monmouthshire, where he soon baptized a goodly number of people, organized about thirty branches of the Church and had the satisfaction of seeing his converts enjoy the gifts of the gospel, such as speaking in tongues, interpreting the same, healing the sick, casting out evil spirits, etc. He had much opposition to meet, and suffered considerable persecution, but was upheld by the power of God, and had great joy in his labors. ”

“ We have been deceived! Look there!"
"Where? where?" cried Sir Francis. "What is the matter, Sir Giles? You quite terrify me with your fierce looks. Help me to pick up the ring, and let the ceremony go on."
"It is well for you that it is not completed," replied Sir Giles, almost black in the face with choler. "You know not whom you are about to wed. But we will soon see. Off with your veil, minion! Off with it, I say!"
"Sir Giles, I will not permit this liberty," cried the old usurer. "You shall not touch her. Whom should it be but my own dear, delectable Aveline?" ”

“ Giles, is an ancient structure, in the decorated style of English architecture, with a square embattled tower. The living is a rectory in the archdeaconry of Stafford and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry; K.B. £12 9s. 2d.; Patron, Trinity College, Cambridge. It has also a chapel of ease (the living of which is in the gift of the rector) , several places of Worship for dissenters, a Roman Catholic chapel, a free school, endowed by a Mr. Stubbs, and one upon the national plan. Since the opening of the Grand Trunk Canal, the commercial importance of this town has considerably increased. ”

“ Besides the high altar there must have been an altar to the patron saint, St. Giles. There is also evidence of the existence of a chapel of St. Michael, for in the 46th year of Henry III. Robert of Portpool bequeathed certain rents to provide for the maintenance of a chaplain “to celebrate perpetually divine service in the chapel of St. Michael, within the hospital church of S. Giles.” [651]
According to an order of the Vestry of 8th August, 1623, there then existed a nave and a chancel, both with pillars, clerestory walls over, and aisles on either side. ”

“ He was able and bound to provide one man and horse, with “harness” for both, when the king had need of him; for this species of feudal tenure yet lingered, and supplied the want of a standing army. In short, he was an English yeoman, “all of the olden time.”
The fire was burning brightly on the hearth in old Giles’ cottage, which looked as pleasant as in days of yore; he and his old dame occupied their chairs on either side, for the day’s work was over, and they were resting after its fatigues, whilst they anxiously awaited the arrival of their foster son, their Cuthbert. ”

“ It was English history she saw now when she went up to Oxford with Giles and Ruth, and English history was English character; whereas event, in French history, played so much more potent a part. Wandering in and out with Giles, the beauty of the town, with its significance, stole upon her mind and senses. Meditative, benign, and so humane, it seemed to smile at you like an old ecclesiastic with kindly eyes for youth. As one sat in a sun-steeped garden or dim, carved chapel, one felt its quiet like that of a tree, full of life and growth, so that, though it was old, it was also young ”

“ You know, Giles, that I had so many expenses with your poor father's illness and death that I have not paid the rent due last quarter-day; and you know it is in our landlord's power to turn us into the streets to-morrow.
'Well, mother,' cried Giles, bursting into tears, 'Master Charles must have the rabbit. But oh!' continued he, 'he does not love you as I do, my pretty Snowball; he will not feed and take care of you as I have done, and you will soon die, and I shall never see you again.' And his tears fell fast on the white head of his little pet as he spoke. ”

“ Giles, “I feel that very much—and yet, if your eminence would condescend, though I hardly suppose it possible, his lordship is really going to do us the honor of dining with us to-day; only a few friends, and if your eminence could make the sacrifice, and it were not an act of too great presumption, to ask your eminence to join our party.”
“I never eat and I never drink,” said the cardinal. “I am sorry to say I cannot. I like dinner society very much. You see the world, and you hear things which you do not hear otherwise. ”

“ The fame of the saintly hermit now spread far and wide, and was much increased by the many miracles wrought through his intercession. The king tried to persuade him to leave his solitude, but prevailed upon him only in so far, that Giles accepted several disciples and founded a monastery in which the rule of St. Benedict was observed, and of which he was chosen the abbot. He governed his community wisely and well, and at the earnest solicitation of his monks was ordained priest. ”

“ Giles was erected by charter of James III. into a collegiate establishment, but it is not called collegiate till 1475. The chapter consisted of a provost or dean, sixteen prebendaries, a master of the choir, four choristers, a sacristan, and a beadle with chaplains. The revenues of the altars and chaplainries in the church were appropriated for the support of the several officers in the new establishment. The King reserved the nomination of the dean or provost, who enjoyed the tithes and other revenues of St. Giles' Church, with the adjacent manse ”

“ The faith in the ordinances of the gospel displayed by the Saints among whom Brother Giles labored was quite remarkable. The feeling with most of them on being taken sick was that if they could only have the Elders come and lay their hands upon them they would be well, and the result was generally according to their faith. Brother Wm. Lewis, of whom mention has already been made, was taken seriously sick on one occasion and was unable to leave his bed. His first thought was to send for Elder Giles to come and administer to him. ”

“ Behind him were two young gentlemen, one of whom held Sir Giles's horse by the bridle. My lady, of a pallor very death-like, and stumbling as she stepped down from the coach so that she was like to have fallen but for the ready support of his hands, said a few words to Sir Giles, but all in a voice so low from weakness of fatigue and the faintness of terror as no word of it to reach my ears. ”

“ Giles’s, a drab in Fleet-Ditch, live in the eyes of millions, and eke out a dreary, wretched, scanty, or loathsome existence from the gorgeous, busy, glowing scene around them. It is a common saying among such persons that ‘they had rather be hanged in London than die a natural death out of it any where else’—Such is the force of habit and imagination. ”

“ Giles is chronicled the removal of the remains of the Marquis of Montrose from the Abbey Church of Holyrood to St. Giles’s [Pg 252] Church, where they were honoured with a magnificent and pompous funeral. The entry in the register of burials records the final interment as follows:—“11 May 1661.—The Rt. Hon. James, Marquis of Montrose, Earl of Kincardine, Lord Grahame and Mugdok, His Majesty’s late commissioner and Captain General for the kingdom of Scotland, and knt. of most hon. order of the Garter, was conveyed from the kirk of Holyrood House with great honour and solemnity to St. ”

“ Sitting there in the French sunlight, Giles felt again his old sense of astonishment that such computations should, so inevitably, on this soil, occur to him; that he should feel himself, with whatever moral bitterness, accepting situations that could hardly, in England, present themselves to his imagination. He felt himself immersed in madame Vervier’s milieu ”

“ This is no small favor. It is as if the emperor were to come to Assisi, and wish to make choice of a favorite; each one would say, 'I wish to God it may be myself.' It is thus God has made choice of you." He assured him that his vocation came from heaven and exhorted him to persevere. Then presenting him to Bertrand and Peter, he said: "Here is a good brother, whom God has sent us." And when he was alone with them, he told them that Giles would one day excel in sublime virtue. ”