HASTILUDE CHAMBER, GOODRICH COURT. To the Editor of the Analyst. SIR,-Perceiving in your account of Mr. Planché's admirable work on costume, allusion to the armour at Goodrich Court, in the county of Hereford, I trouble you with some account of the Hastilude chamber in that edifice, from a few notes I made in a tour on the justly-celebrated river Wye. It is probably known to several of your readers, that the collection is the finest any where to be found possessed by an individual, and, chronologically speaking, perhaps the most comprehensive in the world. It is disposed in several apartments of a building, the architecture of which dates from the close of the reign of Edward I. to the commencement of that of Edward III., and is so arranged as to produce both effect and instruction. The hastilude chamber, as the name imports, is appropriated to the tournament, and never did I see so perfect a representation of that most fascinating delight of our ancestors. Opposite the entrance appears the heraldic tree, from the branches of which are suspended the seven shields of the combatants, of various shapes, according to the dates of their armour. At the foot of this is a plain pedestal, against which is the placard setting forth the conditions of the tournament; upon it a tilting helmet of the time of Henry VII., with its crest surrounded by the wreath, which is thus demonstrated to be formed of two scarfs intertwined and tied behind; and in front of it another of the period of Henry VI., such as it appears on seals in that age. The figures are separated from the company by a railing, which was called the lists from the French lices, a corruption of the Italian lizza. Against the wall is the royal box, in an elevated position, with a herald on each side. It has a handsome canopy of ancient gothic carving in oak, under which is a piece of tapestry of the time of Henry VI., and in front a crimson velvet cloth, with the initials H. R., and the portcullis, besides the fringe, of a golden hue. These heralds are dressed in their tabards, wear on their heads black velvet caps, and on their legs red stockings. One holds a casque as a reward for the defendants of the lists, if successful; the other a sword for the attacking party, who accept the challenge in case of their conquest. In front are two knights in full tournament armour of the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, on galloping horses, and just about to strike each other. The former in the coursing hat and mentoniere, his thighs protected by sockets on the saddle, and with an enormous lance, with a beautiful vamplate. His horse is richly caparisoned in crimson and amber silk damask, with the word urnheym occurring four times on a black velvet border. On the chanfron are the arms of Frederick Von Hurnleym, of Swabia, and round the neck a row of bells. The latter has his horse trapped with the arms of Bavaria, which he also bears in relief on his shoulder-shield. The manefare, or covering for the horse's mane, is highly curious, being of open work, and is attached to a demi-chanfron. But the most interesting circumstance occurs in the mentoniere of the helmet, I mean the little door, the sudden opening of which occasioned the death of Henry II. of France, by permitting the lance of Captain Montgomery to pass through his eye and enter his brain at a tournament, which he gave on the marriage of his son with Mary Queen of Scots. Three figures stand in front of the firstmentioned, apparently waiting their turn to run a course, in the armour of Edward IV. and Richard III., and two before the latter of Richard III. and Elizabeth. The lances of these knights are furnished with vamplates of different kinds, and are tipped with the etui de fer, the etui de fer rebated, the cronel, the morne, and the mornette. Among the armour are seen the grand guard, the guard-de-bras, the volant piece, &c.; and on the walls hang other curious specimens used in this kind of sport. As the tournament was a practice for war, the armour was generally double to protect the wearer from the dreadful effects of so dangerous an exercise. This weight of armour was accompanied by heavier weapons, that being accustomed to them the knights might feel the greater ease when in the field of battle. At the back are the guard, with long pikes, dressed in a costume of the time of Henry VIII., and two trumpeters, with beautiful banners to their trumpets, in the act of sounding the charge. The whole is grouped in a very picturesque manner, and the general effect very imposing. I learnt that the public were permitted to see the house every day but Sundays. VIATOR. August 6th, 1831. LOVE. THERE is a love which meets the eye, That does the very thoughts supply And there is love that cannot brook But at a sound-a breath-a look, One, brightly sparkles on the brow, The other breathes its pent-up vow That, yields a soft and sweet control **** To the Editor of the Analyst. THE following anecdote, connected in some degree with the annals of Worcester, may not be inappropriate to the objects embraced by your new publication. Should similar communications suit you, I shall be glad to make "The Analyst" the vehicle of some biographical as well as bibliographical memoranda, which I have transcribed into my common-place book. J. M. G. The father of Dr. Samuel Johnson, the celebrated Lexicographer, it is well known, in early life, kept a book-stall in Lichfield, and attended on market days, as was then customary, the neighbouring towns. There was, a few years ago, a copy of one of his original Sale Catalogues, in the possession of Thomas Fernyhough, Esq. of Peterborough, from which the following Title of the Catalogue, and Mr. Johnson's address to his customers are extracted: "A Catalogue of choice Books in all Faculties, Divinity, History, Travels, Law, Physick, Mathematicks, Philosophy, Poetry, &c.; together with Bibles, Common Prayers, Shop Books, Pocket Books, &c. Also fine French Prints for stair cases, and large Chimney Pieces, Maps, large and small-To be Sold by Auction, or he who bids most, at the Talbot, in Sidbury, Worcester, the sale to begin on Friday the 21st this instant March, exactly at six o'clock in the afternoon, and continue till all be sold. Catalogues are given out at the Place of Sale, or by MICHAEL JOHNSON, of Lichfield. The Conditions of Sale : "I. That he who bids most is the buyer, but if any difference arise which the company cannot decide, the book or books to be put to sale again. II. That all the books, for ought we know, are perfect; but if any appear otherwise before taken away, the buyer to have the choice of taking or leaving them. "III. That no person advance less than 6d. each bidding, after any book comes to 10s. nor put in any book or set of books under half value. Note.-Any gentleman that cannot attend may send his orders, and they shall be faithfully executed. Printed for Mich. Johnson, 1717-18. "To all Gentlemen, Ladies, and others, in and near Worcester.—I have had several auctions in your neighbourhood, as Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Evesham, &c. with success, and am now to address myself, and try my fortune with you. You must not wonder, that I begin every day's sale with small and common books; the reason is a room is some time a filling, and persons of address and business, seldom coming fast, they are entertainment till we are full; they are never the last books of the best kind of that sort, for ordinary families and young persons, &c. But in the body of the catalogue you will find Law, Mathematicks, History: and for the learned in Divinity, there are, Drs. South, Taylor, Tillotson, Beveridge, and Flavel, &c. the best of that kind; and to please the Ladies, I have added store of fine pictures, and paper hangings; and by the way I would desire them to take notice that the pictures shall always be put up by noon of that day they are to be sold, that they may be viewed by day light. I have no more, but to wish you pleas'd, and myself a good sale, who am, "Your humble Servant, CRÉPU; OR, “IS IT POSSIBLE?” A TALE OF BLOOD. THE solemn bell of Brussels cathedral had given warning of that most portentous of all hours, which, according to ancient crones and chronicles, releases the interred body from the bondage of the grave, and permits of its temporary re-union with the spirit, to roam awhile on earth, to scare the conscience of the wicked, fright babes and old veterans, clank chains, lift bed-hangings, wave tapestry, turn tapers blue, and howl and gibber in the lone court, or by the still loner way-side. In short it was midnight, and as the last echo of the last chime died away, the painted, carved, and highly-polished door of a sumptuous edifice near the Hotelde-Ville, was thrown open, and discovered a group of merry roisterers, who had evidently bowed fervently at the shrine of Bacchus, and were still reeling from their genuflections. Their mirth was loud and daring; "quip and crank" prevailed, as the strong flames of a couple of torches held aloft by liveried lackeys, showed a candle-light effect" which Schalcken would have contemplated with rapture. Half a dozen gallants, attired in the full mode of 1680, with an immense mass of curls on their shoulders, long cravats of Mechlin lace, deep ruffles of the same, and richly embroidered suits of velvet, with diamond buckles in their square-toed high-heeled shoes, were bidding adieu to a booncompanion, and pledging him in what might have been the stirrup-cup had the stranger been otherwise than a pedestrian. A stout, middleaged, muscular man, with blunt features, twinkling grey eyes, and a complexion pretty well bronzed in its natural state, but now heightened to a dull brick colour by its proprietor's late orgies, was the object of these valedictory courtesies. His steeple-crowned hat, set jauntily on one side, was ornamented with a long feather and a precious stone of great brilliancy; a wide Flanders ruff, somewhat disordered, encompassed his neck, and a short full cloak of black velvet, opening in front, displayed a close-fitting doublet of military cut, crossing which a broad white leathern belt sustained a sword of rather extravagant longitude: trunk hose and maroquin shoes, with trim rosettes, completed the costume of the departing guest. Bursts of laughter, jests, and gibes, and sarcasms, with sentiments more memorable for their good-will and jollity than their sober philosophy, stunned the martial visitant as he raised a huge bell-mouthed drinking glass to his lips, and, at one draught, decanted the Rhenish which it contained. A peevish refusal of attendance, a muttered “good night," a striking down of his beaver upon his brow, a fierce flinging out of his right leg, and a correspondent flourish of his dexter arm, as he prepared for his homeward march, raised an uproar of merriment from his friends; he heeded it not, but, steadying himself for a moment to recover the gravity partially endangered by his too vigorous outset, went off at a pace remarkable for nothing but sundry vacillations from right to left, similar to those practised by fresh-water sailors on stepping from stem to stern in a rough sea. Godfrey Schalcken, the celebrated painter of fire-lights, who desired William III. to hold a candle while he sketched in his Majesty's portrait. In a few seconds, the shouts of his comrades and the glare of the flambeaux waxed faint and dim, and the turn of a corner brought our hero into obscurity, illumined only by occasional gleams of the moon, which struggling in a rebel drift of tempestuous clouds, threw out a beam now and then, as if asserting her prerogative to enlighten the world. The imagination of the soldier-for such he appeared-was apparently alive to all the glories of warlike enterprise; words of mighty import of death and wounds and cannon's roar; of attack and slaughter, siege and sortie; battle and ambuscade, broke from him at intervals, and these were curiously intermixed with the fond phrases of a floral enthusiast wandering through his flower beds. Roses, tulips, peonies, anemonies, hyacinths-all the favourites of the parterre, with their bright minions the butterflies, were apostrophised and verbally transplanted to the field of carnage; nor must we omit to state that ejaculations of less warrantable purity, and more like the rude oaths of the halbert, ever and anon varied the oratory of the speaker. In this chequered mood he was zigzagging on, when a rough salutation manual, on the shoulders, roused his belligerent propensities, and, foaming with ire indescribable, he whirled out his bilboa, faced round, and with a biting anathema, made a deadly lunge at his antagonist. The pass was effectual,-hot blood gushed into the face of the soldier, a heavy groan, and a heavier fall, succeeded the blow-then a bubbling sound, and all was silent. The fumes of inebriation instantly fled from the brain of the conqueror; appalled at the consequence of his rashness, he stood for a moment rooted to the very ground, his crimsoned blade in his hand, and his hair bristling on his head like "quills on the fretful porcupine." Detection, arrest, a criminal process, judgment and execution-a scaffold, and all its sickening accompaniments, rushed before him in momentary but hideous display. "San Jago, assist me!" at length uttered the unhappy soldier, throwing down his sword, and stooping to take note of the dying man. One glance was sufficient, he sprung back as if galvanised, poured out a hearty thanksgiving, made a summerset in the air, took off his beaver, bent it double with delight, and, finally, kicked it into the kennel; then, rushing up to the victim who lay lifeless before him, he hastily unbuckled his buffalo belt, fastened it securely round the feet, and, raising the corpse on his back, tottered home as speedily as he could, dreading an encounter with the watch. Alarm lent wings to his heels, and thus transformed him into a modern Mercury; the moon peeped out pryingly as he knocked with subdued eagerness at the back gate of a fair house, on the outskirts of the good city of Brussels: the baying of a dog at some distance returned the demand, and while banning the tardiness of those within, the soldier leaned his burthen upon a fence and proceeded to fan his brow with his broad hat. His resting-place was a long slip of garden ground, at the end of which, close to the trellised door-way of a quaint, old, tall-chimneyed dwelling, he stood panting from the effects of his flight. Narrow paths, neatly gravelled and bordered with close-clipped edgings of box, intersected the place at right angles, a summer-house, gilded and painted and surmounted with a fantastic weather cock, stood in the centre; and miniature plantations fenced in the spot, and protected the flower plots from too boisterous a salute from the winds. These small treasuries of Flora were disposed in bizarre fashion and mathematical form, but they exhibited some of the rarest and costliest roots that ever a Dutch bulb buyer gloated on with ecstacy. There were tulips worth the Muscovite's diadem, and hyacinths, one individual of which were cheap at the wealth of a "dynasty" of Burgomasters. |