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"breadth ; the tracery, which is of the richest kind, all filled
with stained glass of the period of Edwards II. and III.,
except the one opposite the entrance, which was restored a few
years ago. The illustrations in the windows are events from
sacred history or from the lives of the saints. The entrance
doorway occupies the eighth side, above which is tracery,
matching that of the windows, with a row of 13 niches
formerly filled with figures, supposed to have been those of
Christ and the twelve apostles. The vaulted roof is elaborate
in design and workmanship, and contains on the various bosses
and intersections of the groining a number of grotesque heads
and figures, no two being alike; it is illuminated with stars
of gold on a blae ground; the floor is of encaustic tiles. There
are stalls for the clergy all round the building, and a gallery
above, between the top of the stalls and the sills of the
windows. The table is of great antiquity. It is in this justly
celebrated and most beautiful of houses that convocation meets
for the northern part of the kingdom, after which it adjourns
to the Zouch Chapel.
The Vestry —The entrance to this is in the south aisle of the
choir; it is immediately adjacent to the chapel built by Archbishop
de la Zouch, in which are several closets and receptacles
for valuables and antiquities pertaining to the Cathedral.
Of the antiquities, the most celebrated is the horn of
Ulphus, made of an elephant's tusk 29 inches in length,,
curiously carved, and was originally ornamented with gold
mountings. It is a most valuable relic of ancient art,,
and is the title by which the Dean and Chapter hold several
of their estates. The circumstances of the gift are recorded
as follows: Ulphus, son-in-law of Canute, was a Saxon
prince of the western part of Deira. Finding that his two
sons were likely to quarrel after his death about their
inheritance, he resolved to make them both equal. Coming
to York, he brought this horn, from which he was accustomed
to drink, filled it with wine, and kneeling before the altar
devoutly drank it off, thus dedicating all his lands and
revenues to God and St. Peter for ever. After the reformation,
the horn was stolen, the value of its ornament, no
doulDt, being the temptation. It, however, ultimately fell
into the hands of Sir Thomas Fairfax, the parliamentarian
general, whose son, Henry Lord Fairfax, restored it to the