A long table was spread in the broad aisle in
front of the pulpit, with bare, wooden benches on
either side. This table was covered with spotless
cloths of fine linen, which in earlier days were
spun and woven by members of the congregation,
and was set with the old pewter communion serv-
ice that is now one of our most cherished relics.
When the time for the Sacrament arrived, the
precentor, and, later, the unaccompanied choir,
started that wierd and doleful tune, Wyndham.
To its minor cadences the communicants silently
left their pews and walked up the aisles, singing
their solemn communion hymn :
" 'Twas on that dark, that doleful night
When powers of earth and hell arose
Against the Son of God's delight,
And friends betrayed Him to His foes."
95
Keverently they took their places around the
table, as many as could be seated. The rest of
the congregation sat in the front pews. Defer-
ence was paid to age in those days, and it was
usually the older people, the grandfathers and
grandmothers, their sons and daughters, who left
their places first and gathered around the sacred
board; the younger people sitting in the pews
until, with the passing years, they, too, were the
"older members" of Paxton.
The trays and cups first passed by Parson
Elder to hold the emblems of our Christian faith,
were used through changing years by every min-
ister of Paxton down nearly to the close of Mr.
Williamson^s time, though the long table was
abandoned some years earlier.
The solemn service closed with the singing
around the table of that almost forgotten com-
munion hymn to the old long metre tune, Rock-
ingham :
"Jesus is gone above the skies
Where our weak senses reach Him not,
And carnal objects court our eyes
To thrust our Saviour from our thought."
The old pewter service, which was abandoned
for the present silver service in 1892 because of
the weight of the plates, each weighing fully ten
pounds, has an interesting history, and is to be
reckoned among the rare communion services of
to-day from a collector's standpoint.
The marks are nearly obliterated; but by
strong lenses the plates are found to be one of
the earlier examples of that famous member of
96
"The Worshipful Company of Pewterers of Lon-
don," John Townsend. The date 48 is still dis-
tinctly visible and there is a very faint 17 in the
other scroll.
This is the date of John Townsend taking up
his yeomanry. His touchmark of a lamb be-
neath a dove volant is still to be seen on the
Touch Plates preserved at Pewterer's Hall, Lon-
don. Under a strong glass this touch is still
traceable on our pewter ; while the JOHN on the
upper part of the scroll, and the SEND on the
lower, is plain to the unaided eye.
Unfortunately the other half of the touchmark,
connected by a large &, is undecipherable. It
may be the name of Thomas Giffin, who often
worked with John Townsend, as a final "S" is
still to be seen on the upper space of the second
scroll.
Page 35
Presented as published in 1913. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
A long table was spread in the broad aisle in front of the pulpit, with bare, wooden benches on either side. This table was covered with spotless cloths of fine linen, which in earlier days were spun and woven by members of the congregation, and was set with the old pewter communion service that is now one of our most cherished relics.
When the time for the Sacrament arrived, the precentor, and, later, the unaccompanied choir, started that weird and doleful tune, Wyndham. To its minor cadences the communicants silently left their pews and walked up the aisles, singing their solemn communion hymn :
" 'Twas on that dark, that doleful night
When powers of earth and hell arose Against the Son of God's delight,
And friends betrayed Him to His foes."
Reverently they took their places around the table, as many as could be seated. The rest of the congregation sat in the front pews. Deference was paid to age in those days, and it was usually the older people, the grandfathers and grandmothers, their sons and daughters, who left their places first and gathered around the sacred board; the younger people sitting in the pews until, with the passing years, they, too, were the "older members" of Paxton.
The trays and cups first passed by Parson Elder to hold the emblems of our Christian faith, were used through changing years by every minister of Paxton down nearly to the close of Mr. Williamson's time, though the long table was abandoned some years earlier.
The solemn service closed with the singing around the table of that almost forgotten communion hymn to the old long metre tune, Rockingham :
"Jesus is gone above the skies
Where our weak senses reach Him not, And carnal objects court our eyes
To thrust our Saviour from our thought."
The old pewter service, which was abandoned for the present silver service in 1892 because of the weight of the plates, each weighing fully ten pounds, has an interesting history, and is to be reckoned among the rare communion services of today from a collector's standpoint.
The marks are nearly obliterated; but by strong lenses the plates are found to be one of the earlier examples of that famous member of
"The Worshipful Company of Pewterers of London," John Townsend. The date 48 is still distinctly visible and there is a very faint 17 in the other scroll.
This is the date of John Townsend taking up his yeomanry. His touchmark of a lamb beneath a dove volant is still to be seen on the Touch Plates preserved at Pewterer's Hall, London. Under a strong glass this touch is still traceable on our pewter ; while the JOHN on the upper part of the scroll, and the SEND on the lower, is plain to the unaided eye.
Unfortunately the other half of the touchmark, connected by a large &, is undecipherable. It may be the name of Thomas Giffin, who often worked with John Townsend, as a final "S" is still to be seen on the upper space of the second scroll.