to this celebrated Dun Cow. Instances of church curiosities of this kind could be greatly extended; space can be found only for one, which happens to be of great interest. In the church chest of Canewdon, near Rochford, Essex, there is preserved an immense and somewhat unattractive relic which, in all probability, is a portion of a vertebra of a whale (Fig. 50). How the bone came to be deposited in the church, and where it was found, are mysteries. The most plausible surmise is that it was dredged up by fishermen off the coast. Strange to say, the relic, which is known to the villagers as “Canute’s knee-bone,” is the second which the church has possessed. The predecessor of the present bone long since [Illustration: FIG. 50. “Canute’s knee-bone,” Canewdon church, Essex. The other objects are: (1) an iron-bound church chest; (2) a carved panel (c. A.D. 1410), probably part of a screen; (3) a cylindrical alms box, 8½´´ high and 12´´ in circumference, turned out of a solid piece of wood. ] disappeared--no one knows where. There is an entry in the parish register, dated A.D. 1711, which refers to a certain “Ribbe Bone”--a portion of the skeleton of St Christopher. The Rev. C. R. Hardy, vicar of Canewdon, informs me that a later writer alludes to the “knee-cap of a Dane,” which was kept locked up in the church chest and shown to visitors. The two bones alluded to can scarcely be identical, and the facts show how rapidly a secondary myth can arise, when there is, as will at once be shown, a tributary tradition to support it. This tradition asserts that on the hill overlooking the village a battle was fought with the Danes. Professor Freeman, who closely investigated matters on the spot, came to the conclusion that the topographical details harmonized well with the description of Assandun, and that it was here that Canute met Edmund Ironsides in conflict (A.D. 1016). By the way, we notice that Canute’s nephew, Sweyn, was presented with the manor of which Canewdon forms a part. Freeman further considered that the place-name Canewdon may preserve the name of the Danish conqueror[475]. The Rev. E. W. Heygate has also suggested that Canewdon signifies “Cnut’s Down[476].” In these days, however, when etymology is based on research work, the conjectures of a past generation must be approached with suspicion. The Domesday spelling Carenduna, occurring only seventy years after the battle, and the later forms Carendun, Cannedon, Canvedon, Canudon, seem practically decisive against the proposed derivation. Title-deeds of the sixteenth century have Canudon; and the parish register of 1636, Canewdon. Mr F. W. Reader, whose reputation as an archaeologist and scientific observer is well-established, found, upon inquiry, that the pronunciation of the village name was Cańewdon, and that it is only in modern times that the accentuation of the second syllable has gained ground. Mr Hardy says that the pronunciations are equally common.