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MARIN FLORA
Madroño (Arbutus Menziesii) in the tanbark oak-madroño forest
near Mountain Theater, Mount Tamalpais.
MARIN FLORA
Manual of the Flowering Plants and
Ferns of Marin County, California

By

JOHN T H O M A S H O W E L L

PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHARLES T. TOWNSEND

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

B E R K E L E Y AND LOS ANGELES

1949
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES
CALIFORNIA

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON, ENGLAND

COPYRIGHT, 1 9 4 9 , BY
T H E REGENTS O F T H E UNIVERSITY O F CALIFORNIA

P R I N T E D IN T H E UNITED STATES O F AMERICA

BY T H E GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY
 Preface
THE METROPOLITAN area about San Francisco Bay is noted for the ease with
which one may get from crowded cities into open country. For many decades,
Marin County has been considered one of the most scenic parts and its hills and
forests have been a constant lure to those who wish to lose themselves in the
beauty of a natural scene. In 1938 I turned to the Marin countryside for weekly
recreational walks, and, to add a botanical motive to my outings, I began almost
immediately to collect data on the rich and diverse flora which was everywhere
about me. T h e elaboration of these simple data, so pleasantly acquired, has
resulted in the present work.
My aim has been to prepare a usable tool with which both amateur naturalist
and student can become familiar with a remarkable flora lying within ready
access of more than a million people, and no effort has been spared to give as
accurate and full an account as possible. Although my botanical field studies in
Marin County have been pursued more intensively for the past ten years from
the California Academy of Sciences, they actually began over twenty years ago
while I was still a student of W. L. Jepson. Over this period of years almost
every part of the county has been explored, and some places, such as Mount
Tamalpais, Point Reyes Peninsula, and Tiburon Peninsula, have been visited
many times. Even after this prolonged and detailed survey, plants new to the
area are being found, and because so many of the species in the region are
characterized by an extremely localized occurrence or restricted range, they will
probably continue to be found.
It was originally hoped that the present work would be relatively simple and
nontechnical, but such an aim has been only partly realized. In a flora as exten-
sive and as diverse as that of Marin County, there is no way of preparing keys
for the identification of the plants without recourse to scientific terminology.
T h e meaning of these botanical terms can be found in the glossary preceding
the index at the end of the book. T h e details in the keys given for the deter-
mination of family, genus, species, variety, or form apply only to the plants of
Marin County, though much of the data should hold for central coastal Cali-
fornia. T o save space, descriptions of the different groups, from families to
forms, are not given beyond the points needed to identify them in our region.
Students desiring a fuller treatment of a plant will find it described in detail
in the floras of L. R. Abrams or W. L. Jepson, either under the name used for
the plant in this work or under the synonym placed at the end of the ecologic
and distributional note that is given for each Marin County plant recognized.
Synonymy, beyond this kind supplied for reference purposes, is rarely given.
Systematic work in botany, whether it is floristic or monographic, leans so
heavily on what has been done by others that excessive pretensions to novelty
and originality can generally be discounted. Of the utmost importance and
help in assembling floristic data in the present work was a manuscript catalogue
of Marin County plants given to me by the late John W. Stacey. A shorter
general list was received from Dorothy Sutliffe and a catalogue of plants found

[v]
vi PREFACE

in the Sausalito Hills was received from Elsie Zeile Lovegrove. T h e Stacey cata-
logue approached the proportions of a complete flora, 1,006 species being listed
from many localities. T h o u g h its importance and usefulness in the present work
can be realized by the n u m b e r of times it is referred to for records of occurrence,
it is to be regretted that botanical specimens substantiating these records are
usually lacking. Besides the help from these three lists, many field records and
specimens have been provided by Hans Leschke, whose name also appears fre-
quently with the others at appropriate places in the text. Numerous other rec-
ords have come from Alice Eastwood—in conversations with her, from her exten-
sive writings, or from her abundant Marin collections preserved in the Her-
barium of the California Academy of Sciences. In the present work, the western
America floras of L. R. Abrams, W. L. Jepson, T . H. Kearney and R. H. Peebles,
P. A. Munz, and M. E. Peck, as well as the floristic works of others, have been
consulted constantly, and the works of L. H . Bailey and A. Rehder have been
referred to frequently in connection with the identification of naturalized garden
plants. Wherever possible, account and use have been made of pertinent revi-
sional notes and monographic studies of many students. Most of the American
botanists who are authorities on families or genera represented in the Marin
flora have generously answered questions, identified specimens, and given other
taxonomic or bibliographic help, and to all these I am very grateful. It is from
all these sources that the presently acceptable name for each Marin County
plant, as interpreted in my judgment, has been obtained.
Besides the debt owed to many for botanical assistance, I also wish to express
special gratitude to the following: R u p e r t C. Barneby, who has read the manu-
script and contributed many helpful suggestions; Hans Leschke, who has not only
read the manuscript b u t has also been a keen and constant collaborator in field
work; Thomas H. Kearney, who has helped to clarify many problems, botanical
and bibliographic; Lewis S. Rose, who has cooperated in field work and has as-
sisted in many ways in the herbarium; Evelyn M. Deasy, who has prepared the
manuscript. A special debt is owed to Charles T . Townsend for his fine photo-
graphic record of the Marin scene and to Malcolm G. Smith who has drawn the
maps. Finally, I wish to acknowledge my obligations to the California Academy
of Sciences, which for nearly a century has been the scientific institution nearest
to Marin County, and to Alice Eastwood, its Curator of Botany, who for over
fifty years has been the one most concerned with Marin County plants.
J. T. H.
California Academy of Sciences
November 22, 1948
 Contents
Introduction 1

Location and Physiographic Features 1

Geologic Structure and Rocks 2

Soils 4

Climate and Weather 4

Life Zones and Plant Associations 5

Effect of Fire 21

Numerical Analysis of the Flora 23

Geographic Distribution of Plants in Marin County 23

Marin County Flora and Flora of Coast Ranges . . . . 25

Endemic Plants 27

Naturalized Plants 27

Early Botanical Explorers 28

Later Botanical Explorers 30

L'envoi 33

Keys to the Groups and Families 35

Enumeration of the Flora 49

Principal References 295

Glossary of Technical Terms 297

Index of Names 307

Maps of Marin County and Mount Tamalpais 321

[vii]
 Introduction
PHYSIOGRAPHIC FEATURES
WHEN JOHN C. FREMONT proposed the name Chrysopylae, or Golden Gate, for
the narrow channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean, he could
hardly have known that within a few decades the works of man would have all
but obliterated that which was natural on the southern shore of the channel.
T o the north in Marin County, however, beyond the small towns and cities, long
stretches of country are altered only as cattle have grazed and man has cut
timber, built roads, or cleared ground; in spite of its proximity to a world port
and metropolis, the landscape still displays a wildness and natural beauty that
have been but little impaired. For the hills along the north shore have for the
most part been kept as military reservations and the slopes of Mount Tamalpais are
mostly included in federal, state, and municipal preserves. T h e marshes and hills
along the bay have been little affected by dredging and filling; the coastal bluffs
and ridges of Point Reyes Peninsula are much as they were when Sir Francis
Drake landed in 1579; and the broad open hills at the northern end of the county
must still appear as they did to the Russians, when, more than a hundred years
ago, those colonists looked southward across Bodega Bay from the Sonoma hills
of Russian America to the Marin hills of Alta California. Indeed, throughout
the 529 square miles of the Marin County Peninsula, the scenes of beauty are an
encouragement and an invitation to see and learn more of nature.
Marin County has remained relatively wild and large cities have not been
built along its shores chiefly because of its hilly, even mountainous, topography.
Nearly everywhere hills and wave-cut bluffs rise from the water or tidal marshes,
and only occasionally is there level or gently sloping ground where hills are
more gradual or where narrow valleys and canyons enter the bay or ocean.
Along the Golden Gate the rise from the water is so abrupt that the highest
point in the Sausalito Hills, 960 feet, is attained in less than a mile; the slope
east of Stinson Beach rises 2,000 feet above the ocean in little more than a mile;
and the precipitous bluffs at Point Reyes have an elevation of 600 feet.
Sand beaches are mostly small and narrow and are restricted to the heads of
coves except in several notable places. At the head of both Bolinas Bay and Drakes
Bay remarkable sandspits have developed which almost cut off from the ocean
Bolinas Lagoon and Drakes Estero, and along the ocean north of Point Reyes and
again north of Tomales Bay are long broad beaches and the most extensive
dunes in the county. T h e Point Reyes beach and dunes have completely cut off
from the ocean Abbotts Lagoon, a freshwater sandbar lake; and at Dillons
Beach, Rodeo Lagoon, and other places, larger or smaller ponds of fresh or
brackish water have been formed behind beaches and dunes. Elsewhere, par-
ticularly along San Francisco Bay and at the head of Tomales Bay, broad marsh
lands penetrated by meandering sloughs and tidal channels are a distinctive fea-
ture. But nearly everywhere, beyond the marshes, back of the beaches, above the
seacliffs, is the hill country of Marin County.

[1]
2 MARIN FLORA

T h e hills are frequently aligned or grouped to form rounded or elongate

ridges, separated from one another by passes, canyons, or valleys. Three of these
ridges project into the bay as Tiburon, San Quentin, and San Rafael peninsulas,
while two circular areas to the south are Angel Island, separated from the main-
land by Raccoon Strait, and the Sausalito Hills, cut off from the adjacent hill
country by a low pass between the bay and the ocean known as Elk Valley.
North of Elk Valley rise the hills that culminate in Mount Tamalpais, 2,610
feet in elevation, the highest and most prominent point in Marin County. Since
the slopes of the mountain rise abruptly from the bay and from the ocean, it
has a beauty and impressiveness usually found only in peaks much higher, and
deep, steep-walled canyons separated by sharp rocky ridges add to the general
wildness and interest of the scene.
This country of rugged relief, of which the summit of Mount Tamalpais is
the highest part, extends to the north for some distance, and is bounded by
Ross and Nicasio valleys and the lower part of Lagunitas Creek. In this area
there are the well-defined elevations of Bolinas, Carson, and San Geronimo
ridges, and the uplands are dissected by the deep canyons of Lagunitas and
Corte Madera creeks and their tributaries. T h e ruggedness of this country in
many parts is such that, if one is off roads and trails, travel may be arduous
and a cross-country trip may still be difficult and adventurous. Beyond this
rugged Tamalpais area and north to the Sonoma County line, the valley lands
are more ample and the slopes of the hills are usually less abrupt. Nowhere does
an elevation exceed 2,000 feet, though that height is approached at the top of
Big Rock Ridge, elevation 1,905 feet, and Burdell Mountain, a little farther
north, 1,560 feet in elevation. These ridges, like Mount Tamalpais, rise from
near sea level, but they lack the bold contours of that mountain and are there-
fore not so impressive.

G E O L O G I C STRUCTURE AND ROCKS

On the west, the Tamalpais highland is bounded by a narrow valley which,
together with Bolinas Lagoon on the south and Tomales Bay on the north,
separates Point Reyes Peninsula from the rest of Marin County. T h e most
prominent topographic feature of this part of the county is Inverness Ridge, the
long straight ridge that parallels the narrow valley and the bays at either end.
T h e ridge is not high, the highest points being Mount Wittenberg, 1,403 feet,
and Mount Vision, 1,336 feet, but the narrow elongate highland is regular, with
only Bear Valley breaking its continuity. On the east front it is quite steep, but
on the west it slopes more gradually to the edge of precipitous ocean bluffs, to
the marshy borders of Drakes Estero, and to the broad coastal downs above the
Point Reyes dunes.
T h e straight narrow valley which separates the Tamalpais area from Point
Reyes Peninsula is noteworthy not only from the physiographer's point of view,
but also from the geologist's, since it lies along the San Andreas Fault and repre-
sents one of the most pronounced and remarkable fault-trace features in this part
of California. This fault, which extends northward from the Gulf of California
through the mountains of southern California and the South Coast Ranges,
crosses west of the Golden Gate between the mainland and the Farallon Islands
and enters Marin County at Bolinas Lagoon. After extending along the fault-
GEOLOGIC S T R U C T U R E AND ROCKS 3
trace valley and Tomales Bay in Marin County, it passes across the Bodega road-
stead, separates Bodega Head from the mainland in southern Sonoma County,
again passes out into the ocean, and reappears on the mainland for the last time
in northern Sonoma and southern Mendocino counties, before finally disappear-
ing in the depths of the Pacific just north of Point Arena. It was along the
northern part of the San Andreas Fault that the movement took place which, in
1906, caused the earthquake that resulted in the disastrous San Francisco fire.
While the fault line in Marin County is most prominently marked by the rift
valley and the steep escarpments of Inverness and Bolinas ridges, there are also
other less conspicuous features associated with it, such as trenching, sag ponds,
displaced hills and streams, and fault breccia. Although these physiographic
features make the area unusually interesting, the chief significance of the fault
line is that it separates regions with different geologic histories. East of the
fault, the rocks are very old and belong to a series known as the Franciscan
Group which is generally believed by geologists to belong to the Jurassic period
of geologic history. These rocks are largely sedimentary and consist of shales,
sandstones, and conglomerates, together with sometimes local and sometimes
extensive occurrences of radiolarian chert. Intruded into these sediments are
basic igneous rocks, which, like the outcrops of the chert, may be localized or
more extensive. T h e most conspicuous occurrences of these igneous rocks are in
those areas where one of them has been metamorphosed to form serpentine, a
very distinctive rock type that is common on Tiburon Peninsula, Mount Tamal-
pais, Carson Ridge, and in other places in the Franciscan area.
T h e noteworthy geologic feature of the southern and middle part of Marin
County is that there is no trace of younger rock formations anywhere, the only
recent sedimentary accumulations being the dunes and beaches along the shore
and the limited soil deposits on level ground of valley and coastal flats. This
fact indicates that Mount Tamalpais and the surrounding area belong to an
ancient upland or mountain mass that has been above sea level as long as any
area in western coastal California and much longer than most areas; otherwise
sediments of younger formations would be found overlying the ancient Fran-
ciscan rocks. This old formation is widespread in the Coast Ranges, but almost
everywhere it is found together with younger sedimentary rocks that were de-
posited on the Franciscan series at a time when that particular area was de-
pressed or below sea level. This is the condition that prevails in Marin County
north of the Tamalpais physiographic area, for there the Franciscan rocks are
overlain by sediments of Pliocene age and along the ocean there are localized
beach deposits of Pleistocene age.
T o the west of the San Andreas Fault another very old rock is found, but
unlike the sediments and intrusive igneous rocks of the Franciscan formation,
this rock is granite. T h e occurrence of this coarsely crystalline igneous type is
rather extensive along Inverness Ridge near Inverness and at the northern end
of the peninsula, and there is a localized outcrop near Point Reyes. T h e granite
is not so easy to recognize when it is much weathered, but the granitic ocean
cliffs at McClure Beach are distinctive and much of the beauty of the bluffs
at Shell Beach comes from the granite of which they are composed. This type of
granite, which is commonly known as Montara granite because of its occurrence
on Montara Mountain south of San Francisco, has never been found east of the
4 MARIN FLORA

San Andreas Fault, but to the west it has been found not only in Marin and
San Mateo counties, but also on Bodega Head in Sonoma County, Cordell Bank
west of Point Reyes, Farallon Islands in San Francisco County, and far to the
south on the Monterey Peninsula and in the Santa Lucia Mountains in Monterey
County. Wherever it occurs, the granite is generally overlain by much younger
sediments. On Point Reyes Peninsula these rocks are of several kinds. Most com-
mon and widespread are the pale bedded rocks of shaly character that have been
referred to the Monterey series of the Miocene epoch, a formation covering
most of the peninsula west of Inverness Ridge. On the west side of Bolinas
Lagoon and extending a little to the north along the San Andreas Fault are
Pliocene marine sands that overlie the Monterey series in that area, and near
Point Reyes is again a localized Pleistocene beach deposit. Then on top of these
relatively young formations are the very recent beach and dune deposits, already
described.
SOILS

In regions having a desert climate it is generally much easier to examine the

geologic structure and study the rocks than in places like Marin County, where,
owing to the moderate amount of rainfall, the rocks break down in a relatively
short time to form a layer of soil. Most of the area is covered with clayey or
sandy loam, depending on the character of the underlying rocks; but in
many places the terrain is too steep for the soil to remain in place and land-
slides are frequent. T h u s there are many rocky blulfs along the shoreline, and
on the more abrupt slopes of hills and canyons, rock outcrops are frequent and
sometimes extensive. T h e rugged country of the Tamalpais physiographic area
is especially rocky, and on the steep slopes of Mount Tamalpais itself the soil
layer is usually very thin or even entirely lacking. Outcrops of chert and
serpentine—slowly weathering rocks—are generally easily recognized since they
are frequently quite devoid of a soil cover; nevertheless, some soil accumulates
in level places and mingles with broken fragments of the substratum. Adjacent
to dune areas along the coast the soil becomes increasingly sandy as the beach
is approached, and a dune-derived soil of considerable depth may develop.
Deep soils also collect as an alluvium in the restricted valley bottoms or along
the base of hills, and this deep wash soil may merge locally with siltlike
deposits on tidal flats, especially along the bay and the maritime esteros.

C L I M A T E AND W E A T H E R
T h e Marin climate, like that of most of coastal California, is characterized by
warm dry summers and cool rainy winters, the same general type of climate that
is found in the Mediterranean regions of southern Europe and northern Africa.
T h e Pacific Ocean and the fog, however, have a more moderating effect than
the Mediterranean, and the annual range of average temperature is not so great
as it is farther inland in California.
T h e extremes of temperature recorded for specific stations in Marin County
may vary by as much as 95° Fahrenheit, while the mean temperatures for Janu-
ary and July may differ by only a fourth to a third as much. Thus the maximum
ranges recorded for Mount Tamalpais, Kentfield, and Hamilton Field are 19°-
100°, 17°-112°, and 27°-102°, respectively, while the mean temperatures for
January and July for the same stations are: Mount Tamalpais, 43.7° (Jan.), 69.0°
L I F E ZONES AND PLANT ASSOCIATIONS 5
(July); Kentfield, 45.8° (Jan.), 65.5° (July); and Hamilton Field, 47.6° (Jan.),
66.3° (July). For these three stations the average annual mean temperature is
55.0°, 56.4°, and 57.8°.
While the average seasonal range of temperature for these three places is about
20° between summer and winter, there are places along the ocean where the
range is less than 5°. Thus at Point Reyes, where the minimum and maximum
are 27° and 98°, the average temperatures are 49.8° (Jan.), 53.7° (July), and 52.5°
(annual). This is a good example of an isothermal climate which is rarely found
on land and which is in marked contrast with the continental type of climate.
Along the eastern boundary of California, across the Sierra Nevada and beyond
the influence of the ocean, the averages for January and July may vary by as
much as 45° and differences between minimum and maximum temperatures may
approach 140°.
While the average annual mean temperature varies but a few degrees for
stations on the coast and in the interior of Marin County, the extremes in annual
rainfall are much greater and differ markedly within a short distance. At Point
Reyes the average is only 18 inches but at Point Reyes Station near the head of
Tomales Bay it is 32 inches. At Kentfield and Hamilton Field the differences are
even greater, 45 inches at the former and only 28 inches at the latter. T h e pre-
cipitation on the lee side of the San Rafael Hills and at Black Point is perhaps
still less.
T h e summer fogs that are prevalent along the coast are a departure from the
usual character of Mediterranean climate, and the influence of the cool moist
air is felt far inland, even beyond the point where the mists are still condensed
and visible. Fogs aTe most frequent and persistent along the immediate coast;
and, although high country like the Sausalito Hills, Mount Tamalpais, and In-
verness Ridge are effective barriers controlling their inland movement, there is
no part of Marin County to which they do not penetrate when most extensive.
It is to the fog that Point Reyes owes its equable, albeit chilly, summer tempera-
ture—a climate which impressed Sir Francis Drake and the crew of the Golden
Hinde during their sojourn on the Point Reyes coast in June and July, 1579, as
set forth in the notes of Chaplain Francis Fletcher in The World Encompassed.
"During all which time, notwithstanding it was in the height of summer, and
so neere the sunne, yet were wee continually visited with like nipping colds
as we had [never] felt before" and by "those thicke mists and most stinking
fogges." So impressed was the narrator by this unseemly summer weather that he
devoted almost one-sixth of the account concerning the California visit to the
cold and wind and to theorizing why the sun, even "in the pride of his heate,"
could not dissipate the "insufferable sharpnesse." All who have tried to explore
the Point Reyes dunes and downs in the midst of a cold summer fog can fully
sympathize with the early English visitors and even forgive them the slight
exaggerations that color their record.

L I F E Z O N E S AND P L A N T ASSOCIATIONS
There is so much difference in climate between the coastal and interior parts
of Marin County that two life zones, as defined by C. Hart Merriam, can be
recognized with the aid of plant indicators. On moister slopes and in canyons
near the coast the Transition Zone is marked by such trees as Pinus muricata,
6 MARIN FLORA

Pseudotsuga taxifolia, and Sequoia sempervirens, and also by many shrubs,

among which are Corylus californica, Ribes Menziesii, Rubus parviflorus, Ceano-
thus tkrysiflorus, and Vaccinium ovatum. In this zone a large variety of herbaceous
plants grow on open coastal slopes, in wooded canyons, or in meadows among the
hills. This humid coastal belt gives way toward the interior to the Upper Sonoran
Zone, which is represented by extensive grassland, usually by scattered oaks, and by
chaparral on rocky, exposed ridges. These areas are relatively drier and may
actually have less rainfall than the coastal districts, or the areas may be drier
because of the steep slopes, rocky soil, windy or sunny exposures, or varying
combinations of these features. In this zone the grassland and chaparral are
usually evident enough, and the oaks, Quercus Douglasii and Q. lobata, may
serve as useful zone indicators.
Although the life zones are helpful in analyzing the flora of a region in a
general way, particularly in an extensive area, the life-zone concept in Marin
County is not so useful because conditions arising from the interaction of climate,
topography, and substratum are extremely and locally varied. Within a short
distance, conditions may change so completely that two entirely different groups
of plants which are neighbors as far as space is concerned may be quite unrelated
in their requirements of soil and moisture. Grassland may end abruptly on the
edge of brush, forest may pass into chaparral, and dunes and salt marshes may
adjoin one another. Varied physical conditions in a restricted area produce
diverse expressions in the vegetation, and these can be best understood and
appreciated by a consideration of the plant associations of the county.
As is true in the defining of life zones, it is not always easy to limit or define a
plant association; but in a general way this can be done satisfactorily enough,
if due regard is given to the fact that nearly every plant association blends or
merges gradually with one or more other associations which it may adjoin.
Sometimes the intermediate area is narrow and scarcely noticeable, but at other
times it may be quite extensive and may itself have a characteristic appearance.
Gradual, rather than abrupt, change from one set of physical and biological
conditions to another is largely responsible for this blending: it is in this inter-
mediate zone where the plant communities are making their floristic readjust-
ments as a new set of conditions is approached.
T h e associations and the belt where they blend may be thought of as some-
thing more or less permanent and static, but usually this interrelationship of
plant communities is a moving changeable thing that reflects in a vital way the
response of the plants that make up the associations. Thus, in a landscape which
constantly changes owing to geologic or other processes, new conditions are aris-
ing to which the plant communities respond; the development of the plant
communities themselves creates conditions that modify the basic stability of the
community as an organized entity; and natural or unnatural accidents (that may
be catastrophic in relation to the plant association concerned) may occur at
any time.
So, while the plant communities are usually definite enough, they are not
always stable, and intergradation from one to another is to be expected. In
Marin County the following twelve associations can generally be distinguished:
redwood forest, tanbark oak-madrono woodland, oak-buckeye woodland, Doug-
las fir forest, bishop pine forest, chaparral, coastal brush, grassland (sometimes
closely related to one or another of these listed associations), streambank and
1. Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) in M u i r Woods National Monument.
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year, he shall be prohibited coming to the church, and when dead be
refused ecclesiastical burial.”
All, rich and poor, noble and simple, on coming to the Sacrament of
Penance, were treated alike. An old fifteenth-century book of
Instructions says—
“Every body that shall be confessed, be he never so hye
degree or estate, ought to shew loweness in herte,
lowenes in speche and lowenes in body for that tyme to
hym that shall hear hym; and or he begynne to shew what
lyeth in hys conscience, fyrste at hys beginnyng he shall
say, Benedicite: and afturwards hys confessor hath
answered Dominus. Sume than, whych be lettered, seyn
here Confiteor til they come to Mea culpa: sume seyn no
ferthere, but to Quia peccavi nimis; some seyn no
Confiteor in latin till at the last end. Of these maner
begynnings it is lytyl charge, for the substance of
Confession is in opyn declaration and schewyng of ye
synnes, in whyche a mannus conscience demyth hym
gulty agenst God. In thys declaration be manye formes of
shewyng, for some scheme and divyde here confession in
thought, speche and dede, and in thys forme sume can
specyfye here synnes, and namely in cotydian confession,
as when a man is confessed ofte; oythes as every day or
every othur day or onus in sevene nyght. Also sume
schewe and here confession by declaration of ye fyve
wyttes, and all may be well as in such cotydyan
confession. Also sume, and the most parte lettyred and
unletteryd, schewe openly her synnes be confession of ye
sevene dedly synnes, and thane they schewe what they
have offendyd God agenste Hys precepts, and then in
mysdyspendyng of here fyve wyttes, and thanne in not
fulfyllyng ye seven dedus of mercy. And so, whanne they
have specyfyed what comyth to here mynde, then yn ye
ende, they yelde them cowpable generally to God and
putte hem in Hys mercy, askyng lowly penaunce for her
 synnnes and absolution of here confessor in the name of
holy church.”
The instructions, given by the Canons of the English Church, as to
the method to be followed by priests in hearing confessions, are
simple and to the point. They are to remember that they are doctors
for the cure of spiritual evils, and to be ever ready “to pour oil and
wine” into the wounds of their penitents. They are to bear in mind the
proverb, that “what may cure the eye need not cure the heel,” and
are to apply the proper remedy fitting to each disease. They are to
be patient, and “to hear what any one may have to say, bearing with
them in the spirit of mildness, and not exasperating them by word or
look.” They are “not to let their eyes wander hither and thither, but
keep them cast downwards, not looking into the face of the penitent,”
unless it be to gauge the sincerity of his sorrow, which is often
reflected most of all in the countenance. Women are to be confessed
in the open church, and outside the (lenten) veil, not so as to be
heard by others but to be seen by them.
The place where confessions might be heard was settled in the
Constitutions of Archbishop Walter Reynold, in 1322.
“Let the priest,” it is said, “choose for himself a common
place for hearing confessions, where he may be seen
generally by all in the church; and do not let him hear any
one, and especially any woman, in a private place, except
in great necessity and because of some infirmity of the
penitent.”
Myrc, in his Instructions, says that in Confession the priest is to

“Teche hym to knele downe on hys kne,

Pore other ryche, whether he be,
Then over thyn yen pulle thyn hod,
And here hys schryfte wyth mylde mod.”

The place usually chosen by the priest to hear the confessions of his
people was apparently at the opening of the chancel, or at a bench
end near that part of the nave. In some of the churchwardens’
accounts there is mention of a special seat or bench, called the
“shryving stool,” “the shriving pew,” “the shriving place;” whilst at St.
Mary the Great, Cambridge, there appears to have been a special
erection for Lent time, as there is an entry of expense for “six irons
pertaining to the shryving stole for lenton,” which suggests that these
iron rods were to support some sort of a screen round about the
place of confession. Perhaps, however, it may have been for an
extra confessor, since, as already related, in one place it is said that
the parish paid for three extra priests “to shreve” in Holy Week.
The Holy Eucharist.—All adults of every parish were bound to
receive the Holy Communion at least once a year under pain of
being considered outside the benefits and privileges of Holy Church
and of being refused Christian burial, if they were to die without
having made their peace. Besides the Easter precept, all were
strongly urged to approach the Holy Eucharist more frequently, and
especially at Christmas and Easter, and, as has been already
pointed out, there is some evidence to show that, in point of fact, lay
people did communicate more frequently, and especially on the
Sundays of Lent.
At Easter and other times of general Communion the laity, after their
reception of the Sacrament, were given a drink of wine and water
from a chalice. The clergy were, however, directed to explain
carefully to the people that this was not part of the Sacrament. They
were to impress upon them the fact that they really received the
Body and Blood of our Lord under the one form of bread, and that
this cup of wine and water was given merely to enable them to
swallow the host more securely and easily after their fast.
Extreme Unction.—
“This Sacrament,” says the Synod of Exeter, “is to be
considered as health giving to both body and soul ...
wherefore it is not the least of the Sacraments, and parish
priests, when required, should show themselves ever
ready to visit the sick, and to administer it to such as ask,
without asking or expecting any payment or reward.
 “We further order that, avoiding all negligence, parish
priests shall be watchful and careful in the care committed
to them, and that without reasonable cause they never
sleep out of their parishes. And further that in case they do
ever so, they procure some fitting substitute, who knows
how to do everything which the cure of souls requires.”
If by the fault, negligence, or absence of his priest any one, old or
young, shall die without Baptism, Confession, Holy Communion, or
Extreme Unction, the priest convicted of this is to be forthwith
suspended from the exercise of his ecclesiastical functions, and this
suspension is not to be relaxed until he has done fitting penance “for
so grave a crime.”
 SACRAMENT OF EXTREME UNCTION
Visitation of the Sick.—The subject of Extreme Unction, “the
Sacrament of the sick,” to be given in danger of death through
sickness, raises the question of the visitation of the sick in a
mediæval parish. The order that all parish priests should visit the
sick of their district every Sunday has already been noticed. It was,
moreover, a positive law of the Church, that every priest should go at
once on being called to a sick person, no matter what time of the day
or night the summons might come. Priests were ordered also to
impress upon all doctors the need of urging sick people and their
friends to send immediately for the priest in all cases of serious
illnesses. Priests, however, were not to wait to be called, but directly
they heard that any of their people were unwell they were warned to
go at once to them.
A chance story, used to enliven a fifteenth-century sermon, illustrates
the readiness of priests to go to the sick whenever they were
summoned.
“I read,” says the preacher, “in Devonshire, besides
Axbridge dwelt a holy vicar, and had in his parish a sick
woman that lay all at the death, half a myle from him in a
town. The which woman at midnight sent after this vicar to
come and give her her rites. Then this vicar with all haste
that he might he rose and rode to the church and took
God’s body in a box of ivory,” etc.
Archbishop Peckham legislated for the mode of carrying the Blessed
Sacrament to the sick, or rather he codified and made obligatory the
usual practice. The parish priest was to be vested in surplice and
stole, and accompanied by another priest, or at least by a clerk. He
was to carry the Blessed Sacrament in both hands before his breast,
covered by a veil, and was to be preceded by a server carrying a
light in a lantern, and ringing a hand bell, to give notice to the people
that “the King of Glory under the veil of bread” was being borne
through their midst, in order that they might kneel or otherwise adore
Him.
If the case was so urgent, that there was no time for the priest to
secure a clerk to carry the light and bell, Lyndwood notes that the
practice was for the priest to hang the lamp and bell upon one of his
arms. This he would also do in large parishes, where sick people
had to be visited at a distance and on horseback. In this case the
lamp and bell would be hung round the horse’s neck.
On the return to the church, should the Blessed Sacrament have
been consumed, the light was to be extinguished and the bell
silenced, so that the people might understand, and not, in this case,
kneel as the priest passed along. Lyndwood adds that the people
should be told to follow the Sacrament with “bowed head, devotion of
heart, and uplifted hands.” They were to be taught also to use a set
form of prayer as the priest passed along, such as the following:
“Hail! Light of the world, Word of the Father, true Victim, Living Flesh,
true God and true Man. Hail flesh of Christ, which has suffered for
me! Oh, flesh of Christ, let Thy blood wash my soul!” The great
canonist says that he himself on these occasions was accustomed to
make use of the well-known “Ave verum Corpus, natum ex Maria
Virgine,” etc.
 HEARSE AND PALL, FIFTEENTH CENTURY. CANTORS AT
LECTERN
The bell and light, or lights, for the visitation of the sick, were to be
found by the parish, and the churchwardens’ accounts consistently
record expenses to procure and maintain these lights. In some
places, apparently, the people found two such lanterns instead of the
one which the law obliged them to furnish. In the Archdeacon’s
visitations, also, there were set inquiries to see that the parish did its
duty in this matter. In one such examination there are references to
the necessary “cyphus pro infirmis,” which is stated to be good, bad,
or wanting altogether. What this may have been is not quite clear;
but probably it was the dish in which the priest purified his fingers,
after having communicated the sick person. Myrc gives a rhyming
summary of what a priest should know about visiting the sick. He is
to go fast when called; he is to take a clean surplice and a stole,
“and pul thy hod over thy syght;” in case of death being imminent, he
is not to make the sick man confess all his sins, but merely charge
him to ask God’s mercy with humble heart. If the sick man cannot
speak, but shows by signs that he wishes for the Sacraments
—“Nertheless thou schalt hym Soyle, and give hym hosul and holy
oyle.”
The bishops watched carefully to see that no laxity should creep into
the mode of giving the Viaticum to the sick. Bishop Grandisson, in
1335, issued a special mandate to the priests of his diocese on the
matter, as he had heard that some carelessness had been noticed.
He reminds them that the Provincial Constitutions were clear in their
prescriptions that all were to wear a surplice and stole, unless the
weather were bad, and then these might be carried and put on
before the room of the sick man was entered. They must always
have the light borne before them, however, and the bell was to be
rung to call the attention of the people generally to the passing of the
Sacrament, and thus enable them to make their adoration.
According to most books of instruction on the duties of priests,
before the sick man was anointed or received the holy Viaticum, the
parson was to put to him what were known as “the seven
interrogations.” He was to be asked: (1) if he believed the articles of
the faith and the Holy Scriptures; (2) whether he recognized that he
had offended God Almighty; (3) whether he was sorry for his sins; (4)
whether he desired to amend, and if God gave him more time, by His
grace he would do so; (5) whether he forgave all his enemies; (6)
whether he would make all satisfaction; (7) “Belevest thowe fully that
Criste dyed for the, and that thow may never be saved but by the
merite of Cristes passione, and thonne thonkest therof God with
thyne harte as moche as thowe mayest? He answerethe, Yee.”
“Thanne let the curat desire the sick persone to saye In
manus tuas &cetera with a good stedfast mynde and yf
that he canne. And yef he cannot, let the curate saye it for
hym. And who so ever may verely of very good
conscience and trowthe without any faynyng, answere
‘yee,’ to all the articles and poyntes afore rehersed, he
shalle live ever in hevyne with Alle myghtie God and with
 his holy cumpany, wherunto Ihesus brynge bothe youe
and me. Amen.”
Marriage.—So far in this chapter the Sacraments which every
parishioner had to receive at one time or other have been briefly
treated. It remains to speak of the Sacrament of Matrimony, which,
though not absolutely general, yet commonly affected most people in
every parish. “Marriage,” says Bishop Quevil, in the Synod of Exeter
—“marriage should be celebrated with great discretion and
reverence, in proper places and at proper times, with all modesty
and mature consideration; it should be celebrated not in taverns nor
during feastings and drinkings, nor in secret and suspect places.”
That a matter of this importance should be rightly done, the Synod
lays down the law of the Catholic Church on the point; no espousal
or marriage was to be held valid unless the contract was made in the
presence of the parish priest and three witnesses. For, although the
contract of the parties was the essential factor in marriage, still,
“without the authority of the Church, by the judgment of which the
contract had to be approved, marriages are not to be contracted.”
 SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY
The first matter to be attended to in arranging for a marriage in any
parochial church was, as now, the publication of the banns in the
church on three successive Sundays or feast days. This was to
secure the proof of the freedom of the parties to marry. In a book of
instructions for parish priests, written about 1426, some interesting
information is given as to marriage.
“The seventh Sacrament is wedlock,” it says, “before the
which Sacrament the banes in holy church shal be thryes
asked on thre solempne dayes—a werk day or two
between, at the lest: eche day on this maner: N. of V. has
spoken with N. of P. to have hir to his wife, and to ryght
lyve in forme of holy chyrche. If any mon knowe any
lettyng qwy they may not come togedyr say now or never
on payne of cursyng.”
On the day appointed for the marriage, at the door of the church, the
priest shall interrogate the parties as follows:—
“N. Hast thu wille to have this wommon to thi wedded wif.
R. Ye syr. My thu wel fynde at thi best to love hur and hold
ye to hur and to no other to thi lives end. R. Ye syr. Then
take her by yor hande and say after me: I N. take the N. in
forme of holy chyrche to my wedded wyfe, forsakyng alle
other, holdyng me hollych to the, in sekenes and in hele,
in ryches and in poverte, in well and in wo, tyl deth us
departe, and there to I plyght ye my trowthe.”
Then the woman repeated the form as above.
It was this “Marriage at the church door” which had to be
established, according to Bracton, in any question as to the legality
or non-legality of the contract. After this “taking to wife at the church
door,” the parties entered the church and completed the rite in the
church itself. As in the case of baptisms, churchings, and funerals,
the fee for marriages was fixed at 1d., but apparently all who could
afford it, gave more.
 “Three ornaments,” says the author of Dives and Pauper
—“three ornaments (at marriage) belonged principally to
the wyfe: a rynge on her finger, a broche on hyr breste,
and a garlande on hir head. The rynge betokeneth true
love; the broche betokeneth clenness of herte and chastity
that she ought to have; and the garland betokeneth the
gladness and the dignity of the sacrament of wedlock.”
Some of the ornaments for the bride at marriage the parish provided.
The nuptial veil was one of the things which the churchwardens were
supposed to find, and frequent inquiries were made concerning it in
the parochial visitations. In one parish the wardens possessed “one
standing mazer to serve for brides at their wedding;” and in another,
a set of jewels was left in trust for the use of brides on their wedding
day. If lent outside the parish, they were to be paid for, and the
receipt was to go to the common purposes of the church to which
they belonged.
 CHAPTER X
THE PARISH PULPIT
The influence on parochial life of the Sunday sermon and what went
with it can hardly be exaggerated. It was not only that it was at this
time that the priest instructed his people in their faith and in the
practice of their religion; but the pulpit was the means, and in those
days the sole means, by which the official or quasi-official business
of the place was announced to the inhabitants of a district. The great
variety of matters that had necessarily to be brought to the notice of
the parishioners would have all tended to make the pulpit utterances
on the Sunday, in a pre-Reformation parish, both interesting and
instructive. In this chapter it is proposed to illustrate some of the
many features presented at the time of the Sunday sermon; and first
as to the regular religious teaching of faith and morals.
The first duty of the Church, after seeing to the administration of the
Sacraments and the offering of the Sacrifice of the Altar, was
obviously to teach and direct its children in all matters of belief and
practice. This was done from the pulpit, which was in all probability
an unpretentious wooden erection, perhaps in the screen, or at the
chancel arch. In one case there is given the cost of the erection of a
pulpit of wood; another churchwardens’ account speaks of “clasps
for” the pulpit (?), possibly hinges for the door; a third tells of “a
green silk veil for the pulpit”; and a fourth of “cloth and a pillow” for it.
The chief interest, however, is not in the thing itself, but in its use.
 PULPIT, 1475, ST. PAUL’S, TRURO
It is impossible to think that Chaucer’s typical priest was a mere
creation of his imagination. The picture must have had its
counterpart in numberless parishes in England in the fourteenth
century. This is how the poet’s priest is described:—

“A good man was ther of religioun,

And was a poure parsoun of a town;
But riche he was of holy thought and werk.
He was also a lerned man, a clerk,
That Christe’s Gospel trewely wolde preche,
His parischens devoutly wolde he teche.
 But Christe’s lore and His Apostles twelve
He taughte, but first he folwede it himselve.”

It will be remembered, too, that the story Chaucer makes his priest
contribute to the Canterbury Tales is nothing else than an excellent
and complete tract, almost certainly a translation of a Latin
theological treatise, upon the Sacrament of Penance.
As a sample, however, of what is popularly believed on this subject
at the present day, it is well to take the opinion of by no means an
extreme party writer, Bishop Hobhouse. “Preaching,” he says, “was
not a regular part of the Sunday observances as now. It was rare,
but we must not conclude from the silence of our MSS. (i.e.
churchwardens’ accounts) that it was never practised.” In another
place he states, upon what he thinks sufficient evidence, “that there
was a total absence of any system of clerical training, and that the
cultivation of the conscience as the directing power of man’s soul,
and the implanting of holy affections in the heart seem to have been
no part of the Church’s system of guidance.” That this is certainly not
a correct view as to the way in which the pastors of the parochial
churches in pre-Reformation days discharged—or rather neglected
—their duties, in view of the facts, appears to be certain. The
grounds for this opinion are the following: for practical purposes we
may divide the religious teaching, given by the clergy, into the two
classes of sermons and instructions. The distinction is obvious. By
the first are meant those set discourses to prove some definite
theme, or expound some definite passage of Holy Scripture, or
deduce the lessons to be learnt from the life of some saint. In other
words, putting aside the controversial aspect, which, of course, was
rare in those days, a sermon in mediæval times was much what a
sermon is to-day. There was this difference, however, that in pre-
Reformation days the sermon was not probably so frequent as in
these modern times. Now, whatever instruction is given to the people
at large is conveyed to them almost entirely in the form of set
sermons, which, however admirable in themselves, seldom convey
to their hearers consecutive and systematic, dogmatic and moral
teaching. Mediæval methods of imparting religious knowledge were
different. For the most part the priest fulfilled the duty of instructing
his flock by plain, unadorned, and familiar instructions upon matters
of faith and practice. These must have much more resembled our
present catechetical instructions than our modern pulpit discourses.
To the subject of set sermons I shall have occasion to return
presently, but as vastly more important, at any rate in the opinion of
our Catholic forefathers, let us first consider the question of familiar
instructions. For the sake of clearness we will confine our attention to
the two centuries (the fourteenth and fifteenth) previous to the great
religious revolution under Henry VIII.
Before the close of the thirteenth century, namely, in a.d. 1281,
Archbishop Peckham issued the celebrated Constitutions of the
Synod of Oxford which are called by his name. There we find the
instruction of the people legislated for minutely.
“We order,” runs the Constitution, “that every priest having
the charge of a flock do, four times in each year (that is,
once each quarter), on one or more solemn feast days,
either himself or by some one else, instruct the people in
the vulgar language, simply and without any fantastical
admixture of subtle distinctions, in the articles of the
Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Evangelical
Precepts, the seven works of mercy, the seven deadly sins
with their offshoots, the seven principal virtues, and the
Seven Sacraments.”
The Synod then proceeded to set out in considerable detail each of
the points upon which the people must be instructed. Now, it is
obvious that if four times a year this law was complied with in the
spirit in which it was given, the people were very thoroughly
instructed indeed in their faith. But was this law faithfully carried out
by the clergy, and rigorously enforced by the bishops in the
succeeding centuries? That is the real question. I think that there is
ample evidence that it was. In the first place, the Constitutions of
Peckham are referred to constantly in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries as the foundation of the existing practices in the English
Church. Thus, to take a few specific instances in the middle of the
fourteenth century, the decree of a diocesan Synod orders—
 “That all rectors, vicars, or chaplains holding ecclesiastical
offices shall expound clearly and plainly to their people, on
all Sundays and feast days, the Word of God and the
Catholic faith of the Apostles; and that they shall diligently
instruct their subjects in the articles of faith, and teach
them in their native language the Apostles’ Creed, and
urge them to expound it and teach the same faith to their
children.”
Again, in a.d. 1357, Archbishop
Thoresby, of York, anxious for the
better instruction of his people,
commissioned a monk of St.
Mary’s, York, named Gatryke, to
draw out in English an exposition
of the Creed, the
Commandments, the seven
deadly sins, etc. This tract the
archbishop, as he says in his
preface, through the counsel of
his clergy, sent to all his priests—
“So that each and every one,
who under him had the charge
of souls, do openly in English,
upon Sundays teach and
preach them, that they have
cure of the law and the way to
know God Almighty. And he
commands and bids, in all that
he may, that all who have
keeping or cure under him,
enjoin their parishioners and STONE PULPIT BRACKET,
their subjects, that they hear WALPOLE ST. ANDREW,
and learn all these things, and NORFOLK
oft, either rehearse them till
they know them, and so teach
them to their children, if they any have, when they are old
enough to learn them; and that parsons and vicars and all
parish priests inquire diligently of their subjects at Lent-
time, when they come to shrift, whether they know these
things, and if it be found that they know them not, that they
enjoin them upon his behalf, and on pain of penance, to
know them. And so there be none to excuse themselves
through ignorance of them, our father, the Archbishop, of
his goodness has ordained and bidden that they be
showed openly in English amongst the flock.”

ARCHIDIACONAL VISITATION
 SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY
To take another example: the Acts of the Synod, held by Simon
Langham at Ely in a.d. 1364, order that every parish priest frequently
preach and expound the Ten Commandments, etc., in English (in
idiomate communi), and all priests are urged to devote themselves
to the study of the Sacred Scriptures, so as to be ready “to give an
account of the hope and faith” that are in them. Further, they are to
see that the children are taught their prayers; and even adults, when
coming to confession, are to be examined as to their religious
knowledge.
Even when the rise of the Lollard heretics rendered it important that
some check should be given to general and unauthorized preaching,
this did not interfere with the ordinary work of instruction. The orders