he brunt of varying ages,
Was doomed for pavement 'neath the horses' feet,
Until a Maiden,[7] near to Sherborne Lane,
Saved me--and rescued London from that stain.

And now, vain mortal, I have told thee all,
My fate, my primal use, the what and which;
And though my struggling spirit owned thy salt,
Once more I'll slumber in my holy niche,
And "Britain's sun may set," what's that to me,
Since I, stone-blind and dumb, for aye will be.

J.E.

[2] See _Ode to London Stone_. MIRROR, No. 357, p. 114.

[3] See Shakspeare's Henry VI., part 2, act 4, scene 6.

[4] The ancient name for London.

[5] The cause of the great plague in 1665, was ascribed to the
importation of infected goods from Holland, where the plague
had committed great ravages the preceding year.

[6] Stowe in his history describes the London Stone, "fixed in
the ground very deep, fastened with bars of iron and otherwise,
so strongly set that if carts do runne against it through
negligence, the wheels be broken, and the stone itself unshaken."
See No. 64 of the Mirror for an account of London Stone.

[7] When the church of St. Swithin was repaired in 1798, some of
the parishioners declared the London Stone a nuisance which
ought to be removed. Fortunately, one gentleman, Thomas Maiden,
of Sherborne Laue, interfered and rescued it from annihilation,
and caused it to be placed in its present situation.

* * * * *

HAVER BREAD.

(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.)

A correspondent wishes to be informed of the definition of the word
_avver_. In the 15th volume of the "Beauties of England and Wales," it is
alluded to thus:--"This county (Westmoreland) being supposed unfavourable
to the growth of wheat, black oats, called _haver_, and the species of
barley called _bere_, or _bigg_, were the only grains it produced. Of the
_haver_, bread was made, or the species of pottage called hasty pudding;
this bread being made into thin unleavened cakes, and laid up in chests
within the influence of the fire, has the quality of preserving its
sweetness for several months; it is still in common use. The _bigg_ was
chiefly made into malt, and each family brewed its own ale; during the hay
harvest the women drank a pleasant sharp beverage, made by