The "cresset light" was a large lanthorn placed upon a long pole, and carried upon men's shoulders. There is extant a copy of a letter from Henry VII. to the mayor and aldermen of London, commanding them to make bonfires, and to show other marks of rejoicing in the city, when the contract was ratified for the marriage of his daughter Mary with the prince of Castile.'

XXVI.-PUBLIC SHOWS IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

These motley displays of pomp and absurdity, proper only for the amusement of children, or to excite the admiration of the populace, were, however, highly relished by the nobility, and repeatedly exhibited by them, on extraordinary occasions. One would think, indeed, that the repetitions would have been intolerable; on the contrary, for want of more rational entertainments, they maintained for ages their popularity, and do not appear to have lost the smallest portion of their attraction by the frequency of representation. Shows of this kind were never more fashionable than in the sixteenth century, when they were generally encouraged by persons of the highest rank, and exhibited with very little essential variation; and especially during the reign of Henry VIII.2 His daughter Elizabeth appears to have been equally pleased with this species of pageantry; and therefore it was constantly provided for her amusement, by the nobility whom she visited from time to time, in her progresses or excursions to various parts of the kingdom. I shall simply give the outlines of a succession of entertainments contrived to divert her when she visited the earl of Leicester at Kenel worth castle, and this shall serve as a specimen for the

rest.

XXVII-QUEEN ELIZABETH AT KENELWORTH.

Her majesty came thither on Saturday the ninth of July, 1575;4 she was met near the castle by a fictitious Sibyl, who promised peace and prosperity to the country during her reign. Over the first gate of the castle there stood six gigantic figures with trumpets, real trumpeters being stationed behind them,

Cotton MS. Titus, B. i.

See the account of the court ludi in the chapter on Theatrical Exhibitions. The reader may find accounts of most of these excursions in a work entitled The Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, in two volumes 4to. published by Mr. Nichols.

This account is chiefly taken from a small pamphlet called Princely Pleasures at Kenelworth Castle. Progresses, vol. i.

who sounded as the queen approached. This pageant was childish enough, but not more so than the reason for its being placed there. "By this dumb show," says my author, "it was meant that in the daies of king Arthur, men were of that stature; so that the castle of Kenelworth should seem still to be kept by king Arthur's heirs and their servants." Laneham says these figures were eight feet high. Upon her majesty entering the gateway, the porter, in the character of Hercules, made an oration, and presented to her the keys. Being come into the base court, a lady" came all over the pool, being so conveyed, that it seemed she had gone upon the water; she was attended by two water nymphs, and calling herself the Lady of the Lake, she addressed her majesty with a speech prepared for the purpose." The queen then proceeded to the inner court, and passed the bridge, which was railled on both sides, and the tops of the posts were adorned with "sundry presents and gifts," as of wine, corn, fruits, fishes, fowls, instruments of music, and weapons of war. Laneham calls the adorned posts well-proportioned pillars turned:" he tells us there were fourteen of them, seven on each side of the bridge; on the first pair were birds of various kinds alive in cages, said to be the presents of the god Silvanus; on the next pair were different sorts of fruits in silver bowls, the gift of the goddess Pomona; on the third pair were different kinds of grain in silver bowls, the gift of Ceres; on the fourth, in silvered pots, were red and white wine with clusters of grapes in a silver bowl, the gift of Bacchus; on the fifth were fishes of various kinds in trays, the donation of Neptune; on the sixth were weapons of war, the gift of Mars; and on the seventh, various musical instruments, the presents of Apollo. The meaning of these emblematical decorations was explained in a Latin speech delivered by the author of it. Then an excellent band of music began to play as her majesty entered the inner court, where she alighted from her horse, and went up stairs to the apartments prepared for her.

66

On Sunday evening she was entertained with a grand display of fireworks, as well in the air as upon the water.

On Monday, after a great hunting, she was met on her return by Gascoigne the poet, so disguised as to represent a savage man, who paid her many high-flown compliments in a kind of dialogue between himself and an echo.

On Tuesday she was diverted with music, dancing, and an interlude upor the water

On Wednesday was another grand hunting.

On Thursday she was amused with a grand bear-beating, to which were added tumbling and fire-works. Bear-beating and bull-baiting were fashionable at this period, and considered as proper pastimes for the amusement of ladies of the highest rank. Elizabeth, though a woman, possessed a masculine mind, and preferred, or affected to prefer, the exercises of the chace and other recreations pursued by men, rather than those usually appropriated to her sex.

On Friday, the weather being unfavourable, there were no open shows.

On Saturday there was dancing within the castle, and a country brideale, with running at the quintain in the castle yard, and a pantomimical show called "the Old Coventry Play of Hock Thursday," performed by persons who came from Coventry for that purpose. In the evening a regular play was acted, succeeded by a banquet and a masque.

On the Sunday there was no public spectacle.

On the Monday there was a hunting in the afternoon, and, on the queen's return, she was entertained with another show upon the water, in which appeared a person in the character of Arion, riding upon a dolphin twenty-four feet in length; and he sung an admirable song, accompanied with music performed by six musicians concealed in the belly of the fish. Her majesty, it appears, was much pleased with this exhibition. The person who entertained her majesty in the character of Arion is said to have been Harry Goldingham, of whom the following anecdote is related: "There was a spectacle presented to queen Elizabeth upon the water, and among others, Harry Goldingham was to represent Arion upon the back of a dolphin; but finding his voice to be very hoarse and unpleasant when he came to perform his part, he tears off his disguise, and swears that he was none of Arion, not he, but even honest Harry Goldingham; which blunt discoverie pleased the queen better than if it had gone thorough in the right way. Yet he could order his voice to an instrument exceedingly well." This story has been applied to the performance above mentioned, but I trust mistakenly; it certainly must have happened on some other occasion, for such a circumstance would not have escaped the observation of the facetious Laneham; besides it appears in this instance that

Harl. MS 6395, entitled Merry Passages and Jests, art 221.

the part of Arion was performed without defect, and the song well executed.

On Tuesday the Coventry play was repeated, because the queen had not seen the whole of it on Saturday.

On Wednesday, the twentieth of the same month, she departed from Kenelworth. Various other pastimes were prepared upon this occasion; but, for want of time and opportunity, they could not be performed.

XXVIII.--LOVE OF PUBLIC SIGHTS ILLUSTRATED FROM

SHAKSPEARE.

The English are particularised for their partiality to strange sights; uncommon beasts, birds, or fishes, are sure to attract their notice, and especially such of them as are of the monstrous kind; and this propensity of our countrymen is neatly satirised by Shakspeare in the Tempest; where Stephano, seeing Calaban lying upon the stage, and being uncertain whether he was a fish, a beast, or one of the inhabitants of the island, speaks in the following manner: "Were I in England now, as orce I was, and had this fish painted, not a holiday fool give me a piece of silver. There would this man: any strange beast there makes a man. not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to sce a dead Indian." Indeed, we may observe that a cow with two heads, a pig with six legs, or any other unnatural production, with proper management, are pretty certain fortunes to the possessors.

there but would monster make a When they will

XXIX.-KOPE-DANCING, TUTORED ANIMALS, AND PUPPET-SHOWS.

They also take great delight in seeing men and animals perform such feats as appear to be entirely contrary to their nature; as, men and monkeys dancing upon ropes, or walking upon wires; dogs dancing minuets, pigs arranging letters so as to form words at their master's command; hares beating drums, or birds firing off cannons. These exhibitions, for all of them

1 Tempest, act ii, scene :▼

d

have in reality been brought to public view, are ridiculed by the Spectator, in a paper dated the 3d of April, 1711. The author pretends that he received the following letter from a show-man who resided near Charing-Cross:

"Honoured Sir,-Having heard that this nation is a great encourager of ingenuity, I have brought with me a rope-dancer that was caught in one of the woods belonging to the great Mogul. He is by birth a monkey, but swings upon a rope, takes a pipe of tobacco, and drinks a glass of ale, like any reasonable creature.' He gives great satisfaction to the quality; and if they will make a subscription for him, I will send for a brother of his out of Holland, that is a very good tumbler; and also for another of the same family whom I design for my merry-andrew, as being an excellent mimic, and the greatest droll in the country where he now is. I hope to have this entertainment in readiness for the next winter; and doubt not but it will please more than the opera or the puppet-show. I will not say that a monkey is a better man than some of the opera heroes; but certainly he is a better representative of a man than any artificial composition of wood and wire."

The latter part of this sarcasm relates to a feigned dispute for seniority between Powel, a puppet-showman, who exhibited his wooden heroes under the little piazza in Covent-garden, and the managers of the Italian opera; which is mentioned in a preceding paper 2 to this effect: "The opera at the Haymarket, and that under the little piazza of Covent-garden, are at present the two leading diversions of the town; Powel professing in his advertisements to set up Whittington and his Cat against Rinaldo and Armida."-After some observations, which are not immediately to the present purpose, the author proceeds: “I observe that Powel and the undertakers of the opera had both of them the same thought, and I think much about the same time, of introducing animals on their several stages, though indeed with different success. The sparrows and chaffinches

There actually was such a monkey exhibited at that time near Charing-Cross, but in the bills which were given to the public he is called a Wild Hairy Man, and they tell us he performed all that the Spectator relates concerning him; but this subject is treated more fully in the body of the work.

2 Spectator, vol. i. No. 14.