The leaf had at the top the alphabet large and small, with a list of the vowels and a string of easy monosyllables of the _ab_, _eb_, _ib_ sort, and a copy of the Lord's Prayer. The matter varied somewhat from time to time. Here is an exact reproduction of the text of one specimen, from a recent catalogue of a London antiquarian bookseller, who prices it at twelve guineas, or a trifle more than sixty dollars. These old horn-books are now excessively rare, having seldom survived the wear and tear of the nursery. [Illustration: +Aabcdefghijklmnopq rsstuvwxyz& aeiou ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQ RSTUVWXYZ a e i o u | a e i o u ab eb ib ob ub | ba be bi bo bu ac ec ic oc uc | ca ce ci co cu ad ed id od ud | da de di do du In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoſt. _Amen._ Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name; thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this Day our daily Bread; and forgive us our treſpaſſes, as we forgive them that treſpaſs againſt us: And lead us not into Temptation, but deliver us from Evil. _Amen._] The alphabet was prefaced by a cross, whence it came to be called the Christ Cross row,[4] corrupted into "criss-cross-row" or contracted into "cross-row"; as in _Richard III._ (i. 1. 55), where Clarence says:-- "He harkens after prophecies and dreams, And from the cross-row plucks the letter G, And says a wizard told him that by G His issue disinherited should be." Shenstone alludes to the horn-book in _The School-mistress_:-- "Their books of stature small they take in hand, Which with pellucid horn secured are To save from fingers wet the letters fair." Possibly, the boy William, instead of a horn-book, had an "A-B-C book," which often contained a catechism, in addition to the elementary reading matter. To this we have an allusion in _King John_, i. 1. 196:-- "Now your traveller-- He and his toothpick at my worship's mess, And when my knightly stomach is sufficed, Why, then I suck my teeth and catechise My picked man of countries: 'My dear sir,'-- Thus, leaning on my elbow, I begin,-- 'I shall beseech you'--that is question now; And then comes answer like an Absey book." "Absey" is one of many old spellings for "A-B-C"--_abece_, _apece_, _apecy_, _apsie_, _absee_, _abcee_, _abeesee_, etc. It was not a long walk that our seven-year-old boy had to take in going to school. Turning the corner of Henley Street, where his father lives (compare the map, page 42 above), he passes into the High Street, on which (though the street changes its name twice before we get there) the Guildhall is situated. The adjoining Guild Chapel is separated only by a narrow lane from the "great house," as it was called, the handsomest in all Stratford.