Of an apostle carved or chased on the end
of the handle; while sometimes a poor person presented only one, but on
that was the figure of the saint for whom the child was named. Sometimes
this rudely molded little figure represented the patron saint of the
sponsor or the donor. In 1666 the custom was on the decline.
An anecdote relating to this usage is told of Shakespeare. The latter
"stood godfather" to the child of a friend; and after the ceremonies of
the christening, as the poet seemed much absorbed and serious, the
father questioned him as to the cause of his melancholy. The sponsor
replied, that he was considering what would be the most suitable gift
for him to present to his god-child, and that he had finally decided.
"I'll give him," said he, "a dozen good latten spoons, and thou shalt
translate them." This was a play upon the word Latin. In the Middle Ages
a kind of bronze used for church and household utensils was known as
"latten"; and the same name was applied in Shakespeare's time to thin
iron plate coated with tin, of which domestic utensils and implements
were made.
In Johnson's "Bartholomew Fair" one of his characters says, "And all
this for the hope of a couple of apostle spoons, and a cup to eat caudle
in." In a work of Middleton, entitled "The Chaste Maid of Cheapside",
one of the characters inquires, "What has he given her?" to which
another replies, "A faire high standing cup, and two great 'postle
spoons, one of them gilt."
The hat, or flat covering on the head of the figure, - that which we call
a turban in one of these at Annapolis, - was a customary appendage and
usual in apostle spoons; the intention being thereby to protect the
features of the tiny heads from wear. Whatever the history of these at
Annapolis, there can be no doubt of their genuineness, and, in a perfect
state, they are extremely rare.
In our antiquarian researches we are naturally drawn to the old
cemetery, adjoining the fort grounds; but learn that the oldest graves
were marked by oaken slabs, which have all disappeared, as have also
many odd stone ones. But among those still standing one records that
some one "dyed 1729"; another states that the body below "is deposited
here until the last trump"; and one, which must be the veritable
original of the "affliction sore" rhyme, ends: "till death did seize
and God did please to ease me of my pain." Still another bears this
epitaph, verbatim et literatim -
"Stay friend stay nor let thy hart prophane
The humble Stone that tells you life is vain.
Here lyes a youth in moulding ruin lost
A blossom nipt by death's untimely frost
O then prepare to meet with him above
In realms of everlasting love."
The stone-cutter's hand must have been as weary when he blundered over
the word humble as the poet's brain evidently was when he reached the
line which limps so lamely to the conclusion.
