them. Paul's
Chain got its name from the chain which was drawn across the gateway
when service was going on, to prevent noise. The other names explain
themselves.

Inside this area ran a cloister along the north side, turning a short
distance southwards at the east end. This cloister was rebuilt by Dean
More (1407-1421) round an enclosure which was a burial ground for
clerics and men of mark in the City. The cloister was decorated by the
series of paintings commonly known as the Dance of Death, such as may
still be seen in the Cathedral of Basel, and in other places. Verses
were appended to each picture, which were translated by Lydgate, the
monk of Bury, and writer of poems on classical and religious subjects.
Over the eastern side of the cloister was the library, a very fine
one, but it perished in the Great Fire. The name "Pardon" applied to
burial grounds, was not uncommon, apparently. The victims of the Black
Death, in 1348, were buried in a piece of ground on the site of the
Charter House, and this ground was known as Pardon Churchyard; and in
the register books of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, there are two entries
of City magnates buried at different times by "the Pardon Door." Does
it indicate that these particular burial grounds were bought with
money paid for indulgences or expiations?

In the middle of the Pardon Churchyard of St. Paul's was a chapel
of rich ornament, built by "Gilbert Becket, portgrave and principal
magistrate in this City in the reign of King Stephen." He was the
great Archbishop's father. The monuments in it and the surrounding
churchyard are said to have rivalled in beauty those inside the
cathedral. How this cloister and chapel fared, we shall see presently.

[Illustration: A FUNERAL PROCESSION.
_From a MS. of the Hours of the Virgin. Fifteenth Century. British
Museum_, 27697.]

North of the Pardon Churchyard was the College of the Minor Canons,
bordering on Paternoster Row; and between it and the cathedral, in an
open space, which in older times was the authorised meeting-place
of the folkmote, was Paul's Cross. There is no doubt of its exact
situation, for during his valuable explorations into the history of
the cathedral, Mr. Penrose discovered its foundations, six feet below
the pavement, and this site is now marked by an inscription. It is all
now laid out as a pleasant garden, and a goodly number of people may
be seen there daily feeding the tame pigeons.

I have shown already