1831.] The Coronation of Richard the Third. CORONATION OF RICHARD III. IN our last number was inserted "the Order of the Coronation of Richard the Second," that being the earliest of which a full description has been preserved. The following account of the Coronation of the third Richard has been recently published for the first time in the fourth number of "Excerpta Historica." The orthography is here so far modified as to suit the general reader, who will be rewarded by the occurrence of some very remarkable incidents. The King and Queen came out of the White Hall* to Westminster Hall unto the King's Bench upon red cloth; and from the King's Bench, also upon red cloth, they went barefoot in procession with the Lords spiritual and temporal. The order of the procession was as follows. First went the trumpets and clarions; then the Serjeants at Arms and Heralds; and then a company of priests attendant on the Cross, namely, Priests with grey amices, Abbats and Bishops with mitres on their heads, and crosiers in their hands, and the Bishop of Rochester bearing the Cross before the Cardinal (Archbishop Bourchier). The Earl of Northumberland bore the pointless sword naked; the Lord Stanley the mass; the Earl of Kent the second sword on the King's right hand, and the Lord Lovell the third sword on his left; the Duke of Suffolk the King's sceptre; the Earl of Lincoln the cross with the ball; the Earl of Surrey the fourth sword in its scabbard; and the Duke of Norfolk the King's Crown betwixt his hands. Then followed the King, in his robes of purple velvet, between the Bishops of Bath and Durham, and a cloth of state held over his head by the Cinque Ports; the Duke of Buckingham, with a white staff in his hand, bearing the King's train. Then came Earls and Barons. The Earl of Huntingdon bore the Queen's sceptre; the Viscount Lisle the rod with the dove; and the Earl of Wiltshire the Queen's crown. The Queen walked between the Bishops of Exeter and Norwich, having on her head a circlet of gold with many precious stones, and a cloth of state borne over, with a bell of gold at each corner, my Lady of Richmond * A room in the Palace of Westminster, afterwards used as the House of Lords. 231 bearing her train. My Lady of Suffolk went alone in state, having a circlet of gold on her head; after her came the Duchess of Norfolk, with other ladies to the number of twenty; and lastly Knights and Esquires, with many tipstaves. When the King had arrived at St. Edward's shrine, he was placed in his seat of state; and anon came forth before his Highness both priests and clerks, singing Latin and pricksong, and doing the full Royal service ordained for the occasion. At the anointing, strange to say, Queen put off their robes, and there "the King and stood all naked from the middle upwards, and anon the Bishop anointed both the King and the Queen." Then the King took the cross with the ball in his right hand, and the sceptre in his left, and the priests and clerks sung Te Deum with great royalty. The Cardinal then prepared to read mass, and the King and Queen went to their seats of state, where two Bishops came and knelt before the King, and then rose and kissed him, and so stood by his side, one on his right hand and the other on his left; and the Lords bearing the regalia came and stood about him, the Duke of Buckingham on his right hand, the Duke of Norfolk on his left, and the Earl of Surrey before him, holding a sword upright all the time of mass. The Bishops of Exeter and Norwich stood by the Queen; the Duchess of Suffolk sat on her right hand, and my Lady of Richmond on her left, and the Duchess of Norfolk and other ladies knelt behind her. The King and Queen sat still until the pax was given, and when that was done, went to the high altar, and there kneeled down, and anon the Cardinal turned round with the holy sacrament in his hand and divided it between them both, and there they received the good Lord, and were houseuled both. When mass was done, the King went up to St. Edward's shrine, and offered up Saint Edward's crown and many other reliques. That done, the Lords set his own crown on his head, and the company departed homewards, every lord in his degree as they went. They then proceeded to the high dais in Westminster Hall, and soon as they came there the King and Queen retired to their chamber, the clothes of state being still left in the as 232 The Coronation of Richard the Third. hall. Whilst the King was in his chamber, the Duke of Norfolk came riding into the hall, on a horse trapped down to the ground with cloth of gold, and removed from the hall all people except the King's servants; and the Duke of Buckingham, calling to him the Marshal of the Hall and other officers, directed them how the King would have his lords sit at four boards in the hall. At four o'clock the King and Queen came to the high dais, and there they sat down to their dinner, the King sitting in the midst of the board, and the Queen on the left hand, near the board's end: on the right hand of the Queen stood my Lady of Nottingham, and on the left hand the Lady of Surrey, holding the cloth of state over her head when she either eat or drank; and on the right hand of the King sat the Bishop of Durham in the Cardinal's room. And anon the Lords and Ladies removed down into the Hall, and all the Ladies stood at the boards where they were assigned to sit: the Lord Chancellor and other Bishops were placed at another board; the Master of the Rolls, the King's Chaplain, and the Mayor of London, at the Earls' board; and at the Barons' board the Chief Judges of England, the Sergeants of the coif, the Chief Barons of the Exchequer, and other worshipful men of the law. The first course was conducted in by the Duke of Norfolk as Marshal of England, Sir Thomas Percy the Comptroller, Sir William Hampton the Treasurer, Lord Lovell the Chamberlain, Lord Surrey the Steward, with a white staff in his hand, and Mr. Fywater the Sewer, and the king was served on dishes of gold and silver, all covered; Lord Audley was carver to the King all the din ner time, and Lord Scroop of Upsal Cupbearer; and so my Lord Lovell was standing before the King all the dinner time, and two Squires lying under the board at the King's feet. After the King the Queen was served, and then the Bishop of Durham, all three with covered dishes. My Lady of Suffolk was served in her state by herself alone, and my Lady of Norfolk and my Lady of Richmond sitting at another mess, and then all the other ladies, sitting at a board all upon one side, and no man with them except * "Chapelyn" in orig. the singular number-probably his Confessor, or Dean of the Chapel. [Sept. their carvers, who knelt before them. And anon every man retired down into the hall, and were placed according to their rank. At the second course came riding into the hall Sir Robert Dymoke, the King's Champion, his horse trapped with white and red silk, and himself in white armour, and the Heralds of Arms standing upon a stage among all the company. The Champion then rode up before the King, and there demanded before all the people, whether there were any man who would assert against King Richard the Third why he should not pretend to the Crown. For a while all the people were in peace; and, when he had finished his challenge, all the hall with one voice cried, "King Richard." One of the Lords then brought the Champion a a covered cup full of red wine, which he took, and, having uncovered, drank thereof; and, when he had done, he cast out the wine and covered the cup again, and, having made his obeisance to the King, turned round his horse, and rode through the hall with the cup in his hand, which he had for his labour. Then came down before the King all his Heralds of Arms, in number eighteen; four of them wore crowns, and one of these four spoke certain words (doubtless Garter proclaiming the King's style*), which said, all the others cried a Larges; and this they repeated three times in the hall, and then returned to their standing. As to the third Course, the evening was so far spent that nothing further could be served except wafers and hypocras. And when this was done, there were brought into the hall great lights of wax, torches, and torchets; and the Lords began to rise from their boards, and went up to the King making their obeisance. Then the King and Queen arose and went to their chambers, and every man and woman departed and went their ways. The document concludes with a list of the three Dukes, nine Earls, two Viscounts, twenty-one Lords, and seventy Knights, who were present at this Coronation, besides the seventeen Knights of the Bath then created. * This passage shows pretty plainly that the Chronicler was not himself one of the fraternity of Heralds, to whom we are so frequently indebted for our knowledge of ancient ceremonials. 1831.] [233] REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. The History of English Dramatic Poetry to the time of Shakspeare, and Annals of the Stage to the Restoration. By J. Payne MR. HINDS, in allusion to the "Ancient Religious Mysteries," says, that histrionic representations being the first rude mode by which men would probably express themselves, to records so preserved may be assigned an earlier date than to hieroglyphic symbols, or to the simplest monuments. These religious mysteries were practised by all the early nations; and imitations, called also mysteries, were got up by charlatans, and were accompanied by such gross indecencies, that Cicero makes the term mysterium synonymous with abominatio. In the popularity of these dramatic abominations, we look for the origin of the coarseness and indelicacy of our mediæval dramas, and the unconsciousness of impropriety among our ancestors, who beheld Adam and Eve on the stage in puris naturalibus, for custom extinguishes modesty. A law of Theodosius, and previous attempts, proscribed these abominable mysteries; and in the century preceding his æra, Gregory of Nazianzum, a poet as well as orator and theologian, in imitation, he says, of Euripides, composed plays from Scripture. The use of the term mysteries for such plays, is of uncertain origin. Admitting with Mr. Collier (ii. 125) the French use of the term mystery for a drama, there must have been a cause for such an appropriation. Parkhurst † says, that St. Paul uses the term mystery of godliness" in reference to the famous Eleusinian rites; and it may be that the word was partly alienated to plays, in allusion to the popular abuses which we have mentioned. We agree fully with Mr. Collier (ii. 123), that the term is not ancient in England; and we assume that the Latin word ludus was substituted by Fitzstephen, Matthew Paris, and other early chroniclers, because the Anglo-Saxons had no other * Rise and Early Progress of Christianity, i. 20. † Lexic. 446. GENT. MAG. September, 1831. term for histrionic representations, than Pleza, play; a word still of most indefinite application. As to the term miracle-plays, it seems to us to be taken from the subjects; but we do not agree with Mr. Collier, where he says (ii. 124), "The compound term of miracle-play seemed to me best adapted, according to the old authorities, to express briefly the origin and nature of the representation." Neither the thing which forms the subject or the word mystery are of English origin; and when we find in Scripture, that mystery does not signify any thing secret and incomprehensible, but (in the words of Parkhurst) "a spiritual truth, couched under an external representation or similitude," the word is very properly applied to dramatic representations, and is better than miracle-play, because the latter limits the drama to only a part of the extensive subject. There were mysteries, as those of Adam, Noah, &c. &c. which had no reference to miracles, only to histories. Mr. Collier says (ii. 126), "If miracle-plays had their origin in Constantinople, they would soon find their way into Italy, and from thence may have been dispersed over the rest of Europe;" and he admits that the miracle-play of St. Katharine acted at Dunstable early in the twelfth century, was composed by a Norman monk, who was also a member of the University of Paris. ii. 127. Now Boileau says, that the pilgrims who, for the representation of the Passion, opened the first theatre at Paris, brought thither from Italy the taste and first idea of the drama. It appears to us that this play of St. Katharine, and others similar, only grew out of the dramatic representations of the Passion, Resurrection, &c. performed at the due seasons in churches, and some of these we can trace to the time of Zosimus, who filled the papal chair anno 416, when Theodosius was Emperor. In the Bibliotheca Patrum we should probably find the germs of all these innovations. It is certain too, that in the 4th century Pagan sports and spectacles still exist 234 REVIEW.-Collier's History of Dramatic Poetry. ed. When obscurity attaches to the origin of a thing, we are often inclined to ascribe the obscurity to remoteness of origin. In the century mentioned, fictitious writings upon Scriptural subjects were innumerable. Some further remarks may be made. A grandeur of character has been often observed in the savages of America, which is not found in the barbarous invaders of the Roman em pire. Alaric resembled a Dey of Algiers, not an Alexander, and his followers ruffians, not Homer's heroes, because they had no feelings above sense. But the replies of the Scythians to Cyrus and Alexander exhibit elevation of sentiment-intellectual dignity. A feeling of this desideratum in the manners of the Middle Age caused chivalry to be supported, but that applied only to the higher ranks. The manners and understanding of their inferiors had not a more lofty elevation than that which good hounds may be said to possess; for their gratifications were wholly sensual, and their manners, under the tyranny of feudality and superstition, canine and dependant. There might be some fortunate menials, who were honoured with a collar, perhaps made parlour dogs, but the majority were kenneled, or kicked about in the kitchen; the best of them, as to intellect, being only valued for low humour, in the character of clowns and fools. Now the drama is at all times a test of public taste and intellect, because nobody will patronize what they do not feel and enjoy. The plays of Terence, which for intellectual merit are admired in the present day, were popular; but could they have been so, unless a Roman audience had been sufficiently refined? It was for want of such elevated intellectuality that literature in the Middle Ages so degenerated. Could such barbarians have relished a play of Sophocles? In the year 1286 the spectacles of the French were limited aux fétes, moitié burlesques, moitié religieuses, &c. and an old Chronicle of Milan says, histriones used to sing of Roland and Oliver, (whence by the way, our Rowland for an Oliver,) and, upon conclusion of the song, buffoons and mimes used to play upon the harp, et decenti corporis * Spanheim, p. 291, ed. Wright. Id. 317-319. [Sept. motu se circumvolvebant, i. e. gracefully.‡ Mr. Collier thinks that histrio probably implied all sorts of performers. Ducange says, "Histriones præpositi meretricum in Glossis antiq. iidem forte qui lenones," and this passage explains why they were refused Christian burial, and were otherwise civilly disgraced. We shall not translate the definition, and have given the original word histriones, on account of Mr. Collier's observation. There is no labour which an English Antiquary will grudge in elucidation of the ancient manners of his own country. He will follow, like a mole, the worms of record; but unfortunately there is not a custom of the country which is indigenous, and every lexicographer knows that the root must be acquired, before the word can be defined. Dramas have as foreign an origin as tea and sugar. Harlequin is only Mercury, and in the vases of Greece we see every character known upon the stage; but unfortunately there are among them no Druids or early Britons, Anglo-Saxons, or Normans. Our aborigines were savages; and we have no barbarians in the plays of Sophocles, Euripides, Æschylus, Aristophanes, or Menander. Our early dramas were mere puppet shows performed by living machines. Such are our deductions; and, reserving specification of certain curious matters to a future article, we shall finish this with a passage of general history relating to Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Essex. In vol. i. p. 338, it is said, from a MS. diary, "April 4. Dr. Parry told me the Countess Kildare assured him that the Queene caused the ring wherewith shee was wedded to the crowne, to be cutt from her finger some six weekes before hir death; but wore a ring which the E. of Essex gave her, unto the day of hir death." In a manuscript History of Bristol in our possession, copied from one older, is the following entry, under the year 1600. We will not say that it is not taken from some printed work, only if it be so, that it is unknown to us. "1600. This year ye Earle of Essex, after he had been some time in prison, was without her Majesty's knowledge or con ‡ Nouveaux Mémoires sur l'Italie par deux gentilshommes Suedois, iii. 334. 1831.] REVIEW. Fosbroke's Raglan Tour. sent, beheaded privetly in the Tower by y means of St Robt Cecill, Rawly, and severall others of his adversaries; but when ye Queen heard of Essex's death, she presently took it so grievously, that she kept her bed for a space, and was never well after; but as it was supposed it cost her Majesty her life. She was most grievously offended with them that caused the Earle to be put to death, saying to them, You had best take away my life also;' and to shew her love to ye Earle, and her sorrow for his death, she wore black mourning." Keynsham, the seat of the Haring tons, is near Bristol, and there is a paragraph in the "Nugæ Antiquæ," which shows that the melancholy of the Queen in her latter days was by her contemporaries ascribed to the death of Essex. We need only allude to the copious collection of accounts concerning her last sickness, to be found in Mr. Nichols's Progresses. (To be continued.) Raglan Tour. A Picturesque and Topogra phical Account of Raglan Castle, with cursory Sketches of Abergavenny and Crickhowell. By the Rev. Thomas Dudley Fosbroke, M.A. &c. &c. 12mo. pp. 66. MR. FOSBROKE states in his Preface, that Topography is heavy reading; and he might have added that modern Literature requires all works to be made as entertaining as possible. He had previously published a cheap volume entitled "The Tourist's Grammar, or Rules relating to the Scenery 235 are some things especially hostile to rural residence, one is, no good roads; another is, a lapse into sensuality and coarseness for want of society; and the other ennui. To avoid these, a pursuit and refined taste are essential, because people in the present times cannot live as Squire Western did; although we know that, if a country gentleman does not sport, he is very likely to ruin his constitution for want of exercise. In towns and cities people lounge during whole mornings for news and gossiping, of course are incessant ambulators: but for a great part of the year sporting objects alone will stimulate a country gentleman to wade through mud and dirt. It has been said, that against rainy days there should be provided a billiard-table, a hand-organ set to quadrille tunes (for the young people in the evening), and a library of good novels. Certainly rural residence does require all possible innocent amusements, and the stud study of landscapegardening is a most appropriate one. The "Tourist's Grammar," and the present work, written as an exemplification of Mr. Fosbroke's plan, both tend to facilitate this study. Raglan, a palatial castle of the fifteenth century (the ancient seat of the Somersets), was a good subject for selection, because it is most beautifully laid out; and, as Mr. Fosbroke says, does not, like ruins in general, "convey a feeling of solitude, melancholy, or desolation. It is not a palace for and Antiquities incident to Travellers, owls, a paradise for snakes, or a compiled from the great writers on the Picturesque,” with the professed object of relieving the dry catalogue matter of local works. Now certainly there is no reason why topographers should not be paysagists as well as statists; why they should not promote public good by making people enjoy the beauties of their vicinity, as well as the profits. The importance of such a taste implies contingent consequences far too extensive for a notice like this. A land proprietor may be induced to improve in all manner of ways a residence in which he delights; his habits may be more and more derusticated, for that implies grossness, his manners elevated, and the proceeds of his property augment ed, because it is the natural result of an interest taken in a thing, to ameliorate it as much as possible. There churchyard for ghosts. It is an oriental fancy scene, -a Claude, not a Salvator picture,-a Vauxhall of ruins. Oberon, Ariel, Titania, and all that sprightly tribe, the lovely children of Fancy and Innocence, are the only inhabitants which a poetical imagination can justly appropriate to it." cluding the outer vallum. The latter, i. e. first court, is "composed of a the half-shell of the keep, and an andouble towered gateway in the centre; gular hexagonal tower. Thus the back-ground is building; the intervening space in front, lawn and shrub Raglan consists of three courts, in bery; and the tout ensemble, a drop scene at a theatre, over a superb groupe."-p. 12. |