the gate, in a conspicuous point of view. Five and sometimes ten guineas is the douceur on these occasions, which, the clerk of the market informed me, the Earl of Winchilsea (lord of the manor) permits him to have for a perquisite. When I was at Oakham, I copied such of the inscriptions of the shoes as were legible. Many are gone, for I find the late clerk of the market used to take down several old ones when a new one was fixed, which he gave in exchange to save himself expense. The gentleman who now holds the office rescued a number from the hands of a smith, which he caused to be fixed against the jury-box within the castle.' The ceremony of giving possession of lands or offices was, by the feudal law, accompanied with the delivery of certain symbols. In conformity to this practice, princes conferred bishoprics and abbeys by the delivery of a crozier and a ring, which was called their investiture. It seems to have been on this principle that the Lords de Ferrers were entitled to demand from every baron, on his passing through this lordship, a shoe from one of his horses, to be nailed upon the castle gate-the bailiff of the manor being empowered to stop the horses until service was performed. Although there are some very ancient shoes still on the walls of the castle, a great many have disappeared from time to time. The number of shoes now in the castle is 89, and there are two on the entrance-gates. The largest is 4 feet 8 inches by 4 feet 7 inches, and the smallest is 4% inches by 4 inches. The inscription on some of the shoes is effaced. In speaking of the horse-shoes, Mr. Wright, writing in 1684, says: The true original of this custom I have not been able, on my utmost endeavour, to discover; but that such is, and time out of mind hath been, the usage, appears by several monumental horse-shoes, some gilded and of curious workmanship, nail'd upon the castle-hall door.' The following are the latest additions :— Richard Henry Fitzroy Baron Raglan, 1859; James Lord Talbot de Malahide, July 25, 1861; Lord Camperdown, Nov. 28, 1861; The Earl of Ilchester, 1862; G. W. R. Fermor Earl of Pomfret, 1862; The Earl of Granville, 1864; The Earl of Carrick, 1866; Charles George Earl of Gainsborough, 1867; The Marquis of Exeter, Nov. 28, 1867. July 1868. THOMAS GARTON, Governor of the Castle. The following is a list of those shoes on which inscriptions are now legible : Against the wall above the Judge's Bench on the east end of the Castle.-Henry Montague, May 12, 1607; Henry Lord Grey, 1614; William Earl Berners, 1704; Edward Earl of Lincoln, 1680; Edward Earl of Dudley; Elizabeth Baroness Percy, 1771; Heneage Earl of Aylesford, 1779; Charles Lord Barham, 1809; Heneage Earl of Aylesford, 1815; William Earl of Dartmouth, 1815; John Earl Brownlow, August 28, 1818; Brownlow Marquis of Exeter, K.G., Nov. 15, 1827; John Earl of Chesterfield, March 29, 1829; Robert Earl of Roden, Jan. 22, 1829; George Lord Calthorpe, 1831; Hugh Percy, Lord Bishop of Carlisle, June 1832; George Marquis of Cholmondeley, 1838; Arthur Duke of Wellington, K.G., 1838; Thomas Lord Denman, L.C.J.Q.B., March 8, 1839; Charles Lord Barham, Jan. 7, 1839; John Charles Earl Spencer, 1840. Fixed to the wall on the side of the Castle.-Baptist Earl of Gainsborough, Dec. 17, 1604; Robert Earl of Cardigan, April 30, 1667; Edward Earl of Gainsborough, April 10, 1687; Edward Viscount Ipswich, 1687; Francis Lord Guilford, 1690; George Earl of Hertford, September 1703; Lewis Earl of Rockingham, May 30, 1733; Philip Lord Hardwick, August 6, 1736; Augustus Frederick Duke of Leinster, March 29, 1807; George Lord Bishop of Peterborough, 1810; Albemarle Earl of Lindsey, Nov. 11, 1811; R. W. P. Earl Howe, Jan. 9, 1832; Robert Earl of Cardigan, 1815; Marquis of Tweeddale, K. P. C. B., 1832; Charles Earl Fitzwilliam, 1841; Baron Methuen, Dec. 1, 1853; James Lord Wensleydale, 1856; Lord Vivian, 1856. Inscriptions on the Shoes fixed on the south wall.—Henry Earl of Exeter, March 22, 1794; Gilbert John Lord Aveland, 1856. Against the wall above the Judge's seat at the west end of the Castle. His Royal Highness Frederick Duke of York and Albany, March 30, 1778 (a splendid shoe-coronet over it); His Royal Highness Ernest Augustus Duke of Cumberland, K.G., Sept. 1808; His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, Jan. 7, 1814 (an elegant shoe-coronet over it); Her Royal Highness Victoria, Duchess of Kent, Sept. 21, 1833; Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandrina Victoria (the Queen), Sept. 21, 1833; His Royal Highness Adolphus Frederick Duke of Cambridge, 1843; Bennet Earl of Harborough, 1753; Brownlow Earl of Exeter, 1759; William Lord Mansfield, L. C.J., 1763; Lewis Lord Sondes, 1766; Charles Lord Camden, 1766; John Frederick Duke of Dorset, 1782; Alexander Lord Loughborough, L.C.J., 1782; John Earl of Westmoreland, 1782; John George Earl Spencer, 1784; John Lord Clifton Earl of Darnley, of Ireland, 1791 (an elegant shoe-has his Lordship's crest over it); Thomas James Viscount Bulkeley, Oct. 10, 1793; Henry Earl of Exeter, March 27, 1794; William Earl of Lonsdale, K.G., 1807; G. C. Weld Lord Forester, 1829; John Singleton Lord Lyndhurst, March 4, 1830. Against the wall above the Judge's Bench.—Elizabeth Baroness Percy, 1771; Heneage Earl of Aylesford, 1779. Fixed on the outer gate.-Brownlow Earl of Exeter, April 10, 1733; John Earl of Exeter, 1774. The following list of shoes appears in Wright's History and Antiquities of Rutland:- Henry Lord Mordant, 1602; Edward Lord Dudley; William Earl of Pembroke; Philip Earl of Montgomery; Henry Lord Clifford, 1607; Lancelot Andrews, Lord Bishop of Ely, 1614; Lord Noel, 1617; Henry Earl of Huntington, 1620; Ferdinando Lord Hastings, 1621; John Lord Vaughan, 1621; Spencer Lord Compton, 1621; Thomas L. Cromwell Vic Le Cale, 1631; Nicholas Earl of Banbury, 1655; John L. Bellasis, Bar. of Worleby, 1667. The following are from a list printed in 1796 :— John Earl of Exeter, Aug. 7, 1714; Brownlow Earl of Exeter, April 10, 1755; Henry Earl of Gainsborough, 1764; Robert Earl of Harborough, 1772; Edward Earl Dudley; P. L. Wharton; George E. Cumberland; E. Wiloughby; Philip Earl of Mountnorris; 1602, ** Septein, Heri L. Mordant, 12th May 1607, Henri Montegle; Henry Lord Grey, 1614; Edward Earle of Lincoln, May 20, 1680; April 8, 1687, Thomas Earle of Stamford; Robert Earle of Cardigan, April 30, 1667; April 10, 1687, Edward of Gainsborough; Aug. 14, Edward Viscount Ipswich, 1687. A curious story is told of 'the Golden Shoe,' presented by Lord Willoughby De Eresby, but stolen by some person who probably thought it was made of the precious metal. Still the shoe was much prized, it having been taken off his Lordship's favourite horse Clinker. The shoe was returned to Oakham in a parcel, by railway, on May 8, 1858, the day on which Lord Chief-Justice Campbell's shoe was placed in the Hall. CHRISTMAS MUMMERS IN THE OLDEN TIME. NE of the most lasting things in the world is custom. To this day we celebrate Christmas with mumming, which our ancestors borrowed from the Roman Saturnalia; and its name from the Danish mvmme, or Dutch momme-disguise in a mask or the painting of faces. We can trace the Lord of Misrule, or master of merry disports, from the King's house to the house of every nobleman of honour or good worship-spiritual or temporal-down to the Mayors' and Sheriffs' feast, to the farmer's fireside, and the roystering in the highways and byways. Prince, peer, and peasant have for ages commemorated our great festival by the same merry means. The ancient mumming, however, took this strange turn: It consisted in changing clothes between men and women, who were dressed in each other's habits; went from one neighbour's house to another, partaking of Christmas cheer, and making merry with them in disguise. Mr. Sandys, in his ingenious Christmastide, remarks that 'the |