Part 8 (2/2)

_Third course_--Dates in composite, cream mottled, carp, turbot, tench, perch, fresh sturgeon with whelks, porpoise roasted, memis fried, crayfish, prawns, eels roasted with lamprey, a leche called the white leche flourished with hawthorn leaves and red haws, and a march pane, garnished with figures of angels, having among them an image of St. Katherine holding this reason--

”Il est ecrit, Pour voir et dit Per mariage pur C'est guerre ne dure.”

And lastly, a subtlety representing a tiger looking into a mirror, and a man sitting on horseback fully armed, holding in his arms a tiger's whelp, with this reason, ”Par force sanz reson il ay pryse ceste beste,” and with his one hand making a countenance of throwing mirrors at the great tiger, the which held this reason--

”Gile de mirror, Ma fete distour.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”Marble Panel Florentine 1420, S. Kensington museum.”]

KING HENRY THE SIXTH

became king in 1422, before he was nine months old, and although the regency of the two kingdoms to which he was heir had been arranged by Henry V. before his death, the reign of the third king of the House of Lancaster saw the undoing of much that had been accomplished in the reigns of his father and grandfather. It was during the reign of Henry VI. that Joan of Arc came forward alleging her Divine commission to rescue France from the English invader. But it is not part of our subject to describe her heroic career. The troublous times which made the French heroine a name in history were unfavourable to Christmas festivities. The Royal Christmases of Henry the Sixth were less costly than those of his immediate predecessors. But as soon as he was old enough to do so he observed the festival, as did also his soldiers, even in time of war. Mills[28] mentions that, ”during the memorable siege of Orleans [1428-9], at the request of the English the festivities of Christmas suspended the horrors of war, and the nativity of the Saviour was commemorated to the sound of martial music. Talbot, Suffolk, and other ornaments of English chivalry made presents of fruits to the accomplished Dunois, who vied with their courtesy by presenting to Suffolk some black plush he wished for as a lining for his dress in the then winter season. The high-spirited knights of one side challenged the prowest knights of the other, as their predecessors in chivalry had done. It is observable, however, that these jousts were not held in honour of the ladies, but the challenge always declared that if there were in the other host a knight so generous and loving of his country as to be willing to combat in her defence, he was invited to present himself.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: Henry IV.'s Cradle]

In 1433 Henry kept his Christmas at Bury, and in 1436 at Kenilworth Castle. Nothing remarkable, however, is recorded respecting these festivities. But some interesting particulars have been preserved of a

CHRISTMAS PLAY PERFORMED IN 1445

at Middleton Tower, Norfolk, the family seat of Lord Scales, one of the early owners of Sandringham, which is now a residence of the Prince of Wales. Mrs. Herbert Jones[29] says:--

”One winter, when he was about forty-six years old, in a quiet interval soon after Henry the Sixth's marriage to Margaret of Anjou, Lord Scales and his wife were living at Middleton. In a south-east direction lay the higher ground where rose the Blackborough Priory of nuns, founded by a previous Lady Scales; west of them, at three miles'

distance, bristling with the architecture of the Middle Ages in all its bloom and beauty, before religious disunion had defaced it, prosperous in its self-government, stood the town of Lynn.

”The mayor and council had organised a play to be acted on Christmas Day, 1445, before the Lord Scales at Middleton, representing scenes from the Nativity of our Lord. Large sums were paid by order of the mayor for the requisite dresses, ornaments, and scenery, some of which were supplied by the 'Nathan' of Lynn, and others prepared and bought expressly. 'John Clerk' performed the angel Gabriel, and a lady of the name of Gilbert the Virgin Mary. Their parts were to be sung. Four other performers were also paid for their services, and the whole party, headed by the mayor, set off with their paraphernalia in a cart, harnessed to four or more horses, for Middleton on Christmas morning. The breakfast of the carters was paid for at the inn by the town, but the magnates from Lynn and the actors were entertained at the castle.[30]

”It was in the courtyard that this quaint representation took place; the musical dialogues, the songs and hymns, the profusion of ornaments, personal and otherwise, recorded as pressed on to the stage, the grotesque angel and virgin, must have furnished a lively hour under the castle walls on that long-ago Christmas Day.”

THE WARS OF THE ROSES.

During the destructive wars of York and Lancaster the festivities of Christmas were frequently interrupted by hostilities, for some of the most b.l.o.o.d.y encounters (as, for example, the terrible battle of Wakefield) occurred at Christmastide. The wars of the contending factions continued throughout the reign of Henry VI., whose personal weakness left the House of Lancaster at the mercy of the Parliament, in which the voice of the Barons was paramount. That the country was in a state of shameful misgovernment was shown by the att.i.tude of the commercial cla.s.s and the insurrection under John Cade; yet Henry could find time for amus.e.m.e.nt. ”Under pretence of change of air the court removed to Coventry that the king might enjoy the sports of the field.”[31]

The Christmases of Henry were not kept with the splendour which characterised those of his rival and successor, Edward IV. Henry's habits were religious, and his house expenses parsimonious--sometimes necessarily so, for he was short of money. From the introduction to the ”Paston Letters” (edited by Mr. James Gairdner) it appears that the king was in such impecunious circ.u.mstances in 1451 that he had to borrow his expenses for Christmas: ”The government was getting paralysed alike by debt and by indecision. 'As for tidings here,'

writes John Bocking, 'I certify you all that is nought, or will be nought. The king borroweth his expenses.'” Henry antic.i.p.ated what Ben Jonson discovered in a later age, that--

”Christmas is near; And neither good cheer, Mirth, fooling, nor wit, Nor any least fit Of gambol or sport Will come at the Court, If there be no money.”

And so rather than leave Christmas un.o.bserved the poor king ”borrowed his expenses.” Subsequently Henry's health failed, and then later comes the record: ”At Christmas [1454], to the great joy of the nation, the king began to recover from his painful illness. He woke up, as it were, from a long sleep. So decidedly had he regained his faculties that on St. John's Day (27th December) he commanded his almoner to ride to Canterbury with an offering, and his secretary to present another at the shrine of St. Edward.”[32]

The terrible battle of Wakefield at Christmastide, 1460, was one of the most important victories won by the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses. The king, Henry VI., had secretly encouraged Richard, Duke of York, that the nation would soon be ready to a.s.sent to the restoration of the legitimate branch of the royal family. Richard was the son of Anne Mortimer, who was descended from Philippa, the only daughter of the Duke of Clarence, second son of Edward III.; and consequently he stood in the order of succession before the king actually on the throne, who was descended from John of Gaunt, a younger son of Edward III. The Duke of York at length openly advanced his t.i.tle as the true heir to the crown, and urged Parliament to confer it upon him. As, however, the Lancastrian branch of the royal family had enjoyed the crown for three generations it was resolved that Henry VI. should continue to reign during his life and that Richard should succeed him. This compromise greatly displeased the queen, Margaret, who was indignant at the injury it inflicted on her son. She therefore urged the n.o.bles who had hitherto supported her husband to take up arms on behalf of his son. Accordingly the Earl of Northumberland, with Lords Dacre, Clifford, and Nevil, a.s.sembled an army at York, and were soon joined by the Duke of Somerset and the Earl of Devon. ”Parliament being prorogued in December, the Duke of York and the Earl of Salisbury hastened from London with a large armed force towards York, but coming unexpectedly upon the troops of the Duke of Somerset at Worksop, their vanguard was destroyed. On the 21st of December, however, they reached Sandal Castle with six thousand men, and kept their Christmas there, notwithstanding that the enemy under the Duke of Somerset and the Earl of Northumberland were close by at Pontefract” (_William Wyrcester_). On the 30th of December the opposing forces met at Wakefield, and in the terrible battle which ensued Richard, Duke of York was slain, his son, Lord Rutland, was murdered by Lord Clifford while escaping from the battlefield, and the Earl of Salisbury and others were taken as prisoners to Pontefract, where they were beheaded.

Edward, son of Richard Duke of York, was afterwards joined by his cousin, Richard, Earl of Warwick, the famous ”kingmaker.” They hastened northwards and met the Lancastrians at Towton, where a decisive battle was fought, and won by the Yorkists. Edward was then recognised by Parliament and proclaimed king as Edward IV., and Henry VI. was attainted of high treason.

IN 1461 EDWARD THE FOURTH

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