myne aunceteres afore tyme dyd conveigh hider wᵗ yᵐ ffrom Armoryke whᵉ ys to ſeien Britaine yᵉ leſſe & a certayne holye clerke ſhoulde allweyes beare my ffadir on honde yᵗ he owghte uttirly ffor to ffruſſhe yᵉ ſame affyrmynge yᵗ yt was ffourmyd & confflatyd off ſathanas hym ſelffe by arte magike & dyvellyſſhe wherefore my ffadir dyd take yᵉ ſame & to braſt yt yn tweyne but I John de Vincey dyd ſave whool yᵉ tweye p̄tes therof & topeecyd yᵐ togydder agayne ſoe as yee ſe on y{s} daye mondaye next ffolowynge after yᵉ ffeeste of ſeynte Marye yᵉ bleſſed vyrgyne yn yᵉ yeere of ſalvacioun ffowertene hundreth & ffyve & ffowrti.” 

 Modernised Version of the above Black-Letter Translation. 

 “Thys rellike ys a ryghte mistycall worke and a marvaylous, ye whyche myne aunceteres aforetyme dyd conveigh hider with them from Armoryke which ys to seien Britaine ye Lesse and a certayne holye clerke should allweyes beare my fadir on honde that he owghte uttirly for to frusshe ye same, affyrmynge that yt was fourmed and conflatyed of Sathanas hym selfe by arte magike and dyvellysshe wherefore my fadir dyd take ye same and tobrast yt yn tweyne, but I, John de Vincey, dyd save whool ye tweye partes therof and topeecyd them togydder agayne soe as yee se, on this daye mondaye next followynge after ye feeste of Seynte Marye ye Blessed Vyrgyne yn ye yeere of Salvacioun fowertene hundreth and fyve and fowerti.” 

 The next and, save one, last entry was Elizabethan, and dated 1564. “A most strange historie, and one that did cost my father his life; for in seekynge for the place upon the east coast of Africa, his pinnance was sunk by a Portuguese galleon off Lorenzo Marquez, and he himself perished.—John Vincey.” 

 Then came the last entry, apparently, to judge by the style of writing, made by some representative of the family in the middle of the eighteenth century. It was a misquotation of the well-known lines in Hamlet, and ran thus: “There are more things in Heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio.”[3] 

  [3] Another thing that makes me fix the date of this entry at the middle of the eighteenth century is that, curiously enough, I have an acting copy of “Hamlet,” written about 1740, in which these two lines are misquoted almost exactly in the same way, and I have little doubt but that the Vincey who wrote them on the potsherd heard them so misquoted at that date. Of course, the lines really run:—  There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.—L. H. H. 

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