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were the meeting places of the various government commissioners, and occasionally superseded the senate-house as an arena of politics. By the parliamentary commanders they were converted into barracks, by the puritanical clergy into preaching places, and by succeeding lord mayors they were afterwards used as temporary mansion-houses.

Besides the appendant buildings to the hall, or grand apartment, it should be mentioned, that in Elizabeth's and the Stuarts' reigns, every hall was obliged also to have a granary and an armoury, and that, under the ancient regimé, the companies' almshouses for decayed members always, where there was room, adjoined the hall, that the almsmen might be ready to join in processions and pageants. Their furniture has been mostly described: an amusing peculiarity attending their donations of plate should, however, have been mentioned. It was that of attaching an ejaculatory prayer for the donors, to the entry of their names and gifts, similar to what has been observed in the case of bequests, and which belonged only to the catholic period. A specimen of these entries, from the grocers' books, is given below.*

Triumphs and Pageants.-Matthew Paris describes two royal triumphs made by the citizens in 1236 and 1252, to celebrate the marriage of Henry III., and of that sovereign's daughter; but, though much splendor was displayed on both occasions, no shews took place connected with the "Trades," and our object is only to notice such.

The earliest exhibition of the kind that seems directly to apply occurred in 1298, on the return of Edward I. from his victory over the Scots, when we are told by Stow that "every citizen, according to their severall trades, made their several shew, but specially the fishmongers', which, in a solempne procession, passed through the citie, having amongst

• 1466. "A standing cuppe of sylver with a cover, weying xxiv ounces troy, given by Thomas Swetenham, grocer. Ih'u be mercyfull unto his soul!" 1467. "Of the gyfte of John Godyn, grocer. (Ih'u have mercy on his soule!) A stondinge cuppe, the cover of sylver, and alle gylte with roses and sonnes" (suns,) "weighinge xxxj ounces."

1467."Of the gyfte of Sir John Howard, knyghte, a standing cuppe and cover of sylver, and alle gylte, weying xvj ownces and half troye weighte. God send him long life and welfare."

Drinking cups, gallon pots, basons and ewers, large silver salvers, goblets, and salts, constitute the articles usually given, and which are said to be of "sylver, sylver guylte, parcel gylte, or sylver white."

other pageants and shews foure sturgeons gilt carried on foure horses; then foure salmons of silver on foure horses; and after them sixe and fortie armed knightes riding on horses, made like sluces of the sea;* and then one representing St. Magnus, (because it was on St. Magnus day,) with a thousand horsemen," &c.

The next account in which we read of the companies being introduced was the coronation procession of Henry IV. in 1399, when Froissart states Cheapside to have had seven fountains running with red and white wine. The new king was escorted by prodigious numbers of gentlemen, with their servants in liveries and hoods; and the different companies of London, led by their wardens, were clothed in their proper liveries, and bore banners of their trades.

The common name these triumphs were then called by was "ridings." Chaucer, in describing an idle city apprentice, makes their frequent occurrence in Cheapside a great cause of drawing him from his work:

"When there any ridings were in Chepe,t

Out of the shoppe thider wold he lepe;

And till that he had all the sight ysein,

And danced wel, he would not come again."

Processioning on horseback to meet and escort distinguished personages on these occasions, was expressed by the singular, and seemingly hostile phrase of "riding against them, (Norman French, pour chevaucher.") Thus the Chonicle of London tells us, under the year 1446,

"This yeare came quene Margaret into England, with grete roialte of the kyng's cost, and was receyved at London the xxviii day of May in the moost goodly wise, with alle the citizeins on horsebak riding ayenst hir to the Black-heth, in blew gownes and rede hodes; and in the cite in diverse places goodly sights ayenst hir comyng."+

• What Strype here calls "sluices" should be " luces," a fish introduced in the fishmongers' arms.

The Chepe continued for many centuries the name of the principal thoroughfare of the metropolis. Cheapside, originally applied to the houses on the side of the Chepe (or market) is, as the name of the whole street, comparatively modern. -Note to Nichols' "Fageants."

The custom of the companies joining the mayor and sheriffs in procession, either to meet the sovereigns on their public entry into the city, or on Lord Mayor's-day, is detailed in an ordinance of the grocers, termed "An Acte of

Or, as Fabian, who describes the dress of the livery: "She was met with the mayre, aldermen, and sherifes of the cytee, and the craftes of the same, in browne blewe with browderyd slevys; that is to meane, everye mysterye or crafte wyth conysaunce of his mysterye, and rede hodes upon eyther of their heddes; and so the same day brought her into London, where for her were ordayned sumptuouse and costely pagentes, and resemblance of dyuerse old hystoryes, to the great comforte of her and such as came with her.*

When Joan, queen of Henry IV., made her approach towards London in 1401, she was welcomed by the companies in a similar manner. The grocers' books record an allowance of 6s. 8d. to Robert Sterns, their beadle, to ride into Suffolk to furnish minstrels. He engaged six of them, namely, "Panel mynstrale et ses rampagnons," who had 47. for riding with the company to Blackheath, and 2s. for their dinner and wine. That their appearance might correspond with the magnificence of the ceremony, 10s. 2d. was paid to provide them with new caps and hoods: in the entry, "po lo: chaprons and po: lo fessures." Antiquaries describe the rest of the minstrel's dress to have consisted of showy vestments, with gold and silver chains, and that they rode on richly harnessed horses. The other items of expense connected with this part of the company's show, were 13s. 4d. "to the said minstrels on the morrow when the queen passed through Cheapside to Westminster; for wine for them while there, 18d. and for a horse for the beadle, 12d."

On Henry the Fifth's arrival at Dover from France, in 1415, the mayor, alderman, and "craftsmen," rode to Blackheath to meet the king on his road from Eltham, with his prisoners, when their dress is said to have been "red with hoods red and white." Hall writes with rapture of the splendor of the show: "Here I might declare unto you, if I would

Mercyment," that is, of amercing or fining. It ordains, "that whoever shall omit to come in due time, when warned by the beadle, to the court quarter-day, "to ryding against ye king, queene, or other lords, with the maire, sheriff, or going on p'cession with the maire, as common course is, at Cristmasse and other tymes, congregacion or any other thynges, that they be warned to pay the penalty or amercement to the beadle," or if they omitted till the master came, they were to pay the double. The mulct being, for the kyng, queene, or maire's ridyng, fine iijs. iiijd.' and on other occasions, 12d. or 2s."

• Stow refers us to certain verses made upon these pageants by Lydgate.

be tedious and prolixe, how the mayre of London and the senate, apparelled in orie't-grayned skarlet; how iij.c. commoners clad in beautiful murrey, well mounted and georgeously horsed, with rich collars and greete chaynes, met the king at Blackheathe, rejoicing at his victorious returne."

And Lydgate (who, less afraid of prolixity) describes the whole with his usual minuteness.

"The mayr of London was redy bown,
With alle the craftes of that cite,

All clothyd in red throughout the town,

A semely sight it was to se:

To the Blak-heth thanne rod he,

And spredde the way on every syde;

xxti M. men myght well see,

Our comely kyng for to abyde."

And he then details the whole ceremony in verses, which, not directly applying, we omit.

The preparations of the Brewers' Company to celebrate the second arrival of the same monarch from France, seven years afterwards, with some general particulars of the procession, are given in the following notice from that company's books:

"On Thursday, 13 February, 1422, the king came from France to London, and W. Cambrigge, the mayor, rode with all the commonalty of the city to meet him; who were all commanded to be clad alike, in white gowns with red capes. The brewers ordered that all householders of their company, and all the breweresmen' of 40s. a year, should provide clothes for themselves, under fine of 20s. ; but many neglected, and yet were let off easily. William, the (company's) clerk, had a gown given to him by the masters. The queen likewise came on Friday the 21st, and was received in like manner."

The arrival of King Henry VI. at Dover, on his return from being crowned King of France, in 1432, and his subsequent reception by the civic authorities, afforded great opportunity of display to the companies. Stow says "the mayor and aldermen rode against him on horseback; the aldermen in gowns of scarlet with sanguine hoods, the mayor in crimson velvet, with a great velvet hat furred, a girdle of gold about his middle, and a jewel of gold about his neck, trailing down behind him; and that he was followed by his three hunts

men on great coursers, in entire suits of red, all spangled with silver. The whole commonalty of the city, who seem mostly to have been liverymen, brought up the rear, clothed in white gowns and scarlet hoods, with divers conuzances embroidered on their sleves."

Lydgate, who has commemorated the ceremony in a long poem, describes "all the craftes rydyng ayens the kyng all in white; and supposes they adopted it as expressing the purity of their loyalty:

"There clothyng was of colour full covenable;

-The noble mair clad in red velvet,

The shrieves, the aldermen, full notable,
In furryd clokes, the colour of scarlett;
In stately wyse whanne they were met,
Ich one were wel horsyd, and made no delay,
But with there maire rood forth on there way.

The citezens ich on of the citee,

In their entent that they were pure and clene;
Ches them of whit a ful faire lyvere,

In evry craft, as it was wel sene;

To shewe the trowthe that they dede mene,
Toward the kyng hadde mad them feithfully
In sundry devyses embrowdyd richely."

"The Merchants Strangers," consisting of the " Geneweys, Florentines, (Genoese and Venetians,) and also the Easterlings, (all of which nations had then residences in the city,) were dressed in their country fashion, or, as it is stated, “clad in there manere," and attended by serjeants and other officers, "statly horsyd, "passed through the suburbs, riding after the mayor. At Blackheath (the general place of rendezvous on these occasions,) the whole arranged themselves in two ranks, leaving

"A strete between ech party lik a wall;

Alle clad in whit, and the most principalle
Afore in red."

In allusion to the name and profession of the mayor, (John Wells, grocer,) a pageant, conceived with much taste, and the first attempt at scenic display we read of, was placed against the Great Conduit between Grocers' and Mercers' Halls, representing a grove of such foreign fruits as were peculiar to the trade of a grocer, and in the midst of it three Wells; whose waters, at the king's presence, seemed miraculously, like those at Cana, changed to wine.

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