Part 14 (1/2)

”But over the hye desse, in the pryncypall place, Where the sayd thre kynges sate crowned all, The best hallynge[89] hanged, as reason was, Whereon were wrought the nine orders angelicall Dyvyded in thre ierarchyses, not cessynge to call _Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus_, blessed be the Trynite, Dominius Deus Sabaoth, three persons in one deyte.”

Then followed in order our Blessed Lady, the twelve Apostles, ”eche one in his figure,” the four Evangelists ”wrought most curyously,” all the disciples

”Prechynge and techynge, unto every nacyon, The faythtes[90] of holy chyrche, for their salvacyon.”

”Martyrs then followed, right manifolde;” Confessors ”fressely embrodred in ryche tyshewe and fyne.” Saintly virgins ”were brothered[91] the clothes of gold within,” and the long array was closed on the other side of the hall by

”n.o.ble auncyent storyes, and how the stronge Sampson Subdued his enemyes by his myghty power; Of Hector of Troye, slayne by fals treason; Of n.o.ble Arthur, kynge of this regyon; With many other mo, which it is to longe Playnly to expresse this tyme you amonge.”

But the powers of the chief proportion of needlewomen, and of many of the subsequent tapestry looms were devoted to giving permanence to those fables which, as exhibited in the Romances of Chivalry, formed the very life and delight of our ancestors in

”------that happy season Ere bright Fancy bent to reason; When the spirit of our stories, Filled the mind with unseen glories; Told of creatures of the air, Spirits, fairies, goblins rare, Guarding man with tenderest care.”

These fables, says Warton, were not only perpetually repeated at the festivals of our ancestors, but were the constant objects of their eyes. The very walls of their apartments were clothed with romantic history.

We have mentioned the history of Alexander in Tapestry as forming an important part of the peace offering of the king of France to Bajazet, and probably there were few princes who did not possess a suit of tapestry on this subject; a most important one in romance, and consequently a desired one for the loom.

There seems an innate propensity in the writers of the Romance of Chivalry to exaggerate, almost to distortion, the achievements of those whose heroic bearing needed no pomp of diction, or wild flow of imagination to ill.u.s.trate it. Thus Charlemagne, one of the best and greatest of men, appears in romance like one whose thirst for slaughter it requires myriads of ”Paynims” to quench.

Arthur, on the contrary, a very (if history tell truth) a very ”so-so”

sort of a man, having not one t.i.the of the intellect or the magnanimity of him to whom we have just referred--Arthur is invested in romance with a halo of interest and of beauty which is perfectly fascinating; and it seems almost impossible to divest oneself of these impressions and to look upon him only in the unattractive light in which history represents him.

A person not initiated in romance would suppose that the real actions of Alexander--the subjugator of Greece, the conqueror of Persia, the captor of the great Darius, but the generous protector of his family--might sufficiently immortalize him. By no means. He cuts a considerable figure in many romances; but in one, appropriated more exclusively to his exploits, he ”surpa.s.ses himself.” The world was conquered:--from north to south, and from east to west his sovereignty was acknowledged; so he forthwith flew up into the air to bring the aerial potentates to his feet. But this experiment not answering, he descended to the depths of the waters with much better success; for immediately all their inhabitants, from the whale to the herring, the cannibal shark, the voracious pike, the majestic sturgeon, the lordly salmon, the rich turbot, and the delicate trout, with all their kith, kin, relations, and allies, the lobster, the crab, and the muscle,

”The sounds and seas with all their finny drove”

crowd round him to do him homage: the oyster lays her pearl at his feet, and the coral boughs meekly wave in token of subjection.

Doubtless in addition to the legitimate ”battles” these exploits, if not fully displayed, were intimated by symbols in the Tapestry.

The Tale of Troy was a very favourite subject for Tapestry, and was found in many n.o.ble mansions, especially in France. It has indeed been conjectured, and on sufficient grounds, that the whole Iliad had been wrought in a consecutive series of hangings. Though during the early part of the middle ages Homer himself was lost, still the ”Tale of Troy divine” was kept alive in two Latin works, which in 1260 formed the basis of a prose romance by a Sicilian.

The great original himself however, had become the companion not only of the studious and learned, but also of the fair and fas.h.i.+onable, while yet the Flemish looms were in the zenith of their popularity.

This subject formed part of the decoration of Holyrood House, on the occasion of the marriage of Henry the Seventh's daughter to James, King of Scotland in 1503. We are told in an ancient record, that the ”hanginge of the queene's gret chammer represented the ystory of Troye toune, that the king's grett chammer had one table, wer was satt, hys chamerlayne, the grett sqyer, and many others, well served; the which chammer was haunged about with the story of Hercules, together with other ystorys.” And at the same solemnity, ”in the hall wher the qwene's company wer satt in lyke as in the other, an wich was haunged of the history of Hercules.”

The tragic and fearful story of Coucy's heart gave rise to an old metrical English Romance, called the 'Knight of Courtesy and the Lady of f.a.guel.' It was entirely represented in tapestry. The incident, a true one, on which it was founded, occurred about 1180; and was thus:--

”Some hundred and odd years since, there was in France one Captain Coucy, a gallant gentleman of an ancient extraction, and keeper of Coucy Castle, which is yet standing, and in good repair. He fell in love with a young gentlewoman, and courted her for his wife. There was a reciprocal love between them; but her parents understanding of it, by way of prevention, they shuffled up a forced match 'twixt her and one Monsieur Faiell who was a great heir: Captain Coucy hereupon quitted France in discontent, and went to the wars in Hungary against the Turk; where he received a mortal wound, not far from Bada. Being carried to his lodging, he languished for some days; but a little before his death he spoke to an ancient servant of his, that he had many proofs of his fidelity and truth; but now he had a great business to intrust him with, which he conjured him by all means to do, which was, That after his death, he should get his body to be opened and then to take his heart out of his breast, and put in an earthen pot, to be baked to powder; and then to put the powder in a handsome box, with that bracelet of hair he had worn long about on his left wrist, which was a lock of Mademoiselle Faiell's hair, and put it among the powder, together with a little note he had written with his own blood to her; and after he had given him the rites of burial, to make all the speed he could to France, and deliver the box to Mademoiselle Faiell. The old servant did as his master had commanded him, and so went to France; and coming one day to Monsieur Faiell's house, he suddenly met with him, who examined him because he knew he was Captain Coucy's servant, and finding him timorous and faltering in his speech, he searched him, and found the said box in his pocket with the note, which expressed what was therein. He dismissed the bearer with menaces, that he should come no more near his house: Monsieur Faiell going in, sent for his cook, and delivered him the powder, charging him to make a little well-relished dish of it, without losing a jot of it, for it was a very costly thing; and commanded him to bring it in himself, after the last course at supper. The cook bringing in the dish accordingly, Monsieur Faiell commanded all to void the room, and began a serious discourse with his wife: However since he had married her, he observed she was always melancholy, and he feared she was inclining to a consumption; therefore he had provided for her a very precious cordial, which he was well a.s.sured would cure her. Thereupon he made her eat up the whole dish; and afterwards much importuning him to know what it was, he told her at last, she had eaten Coucy's heart, and so drew the box out of his pocket, and showed her the note and bracelet. In a sudden exultation of joy, she with a far-fetched sigh said, '_This is precious indeed_,' and so licked the dish, saying, '_It is so precious, that 'tis pity to put ever any meat upon 't_.' So she went to bed, and in the morning she was found stone dead.”[92]

But a more national, a more inspiriting, and a more agreeable theme for the alert finger or the busy loom is found in the life and adventures of that prince of combatants, that hero of all heroes, Guy Earl of Warwick. Help me, shades of renowned slaughterers, whilst I record his achievements! Bear witness to his deed, ye grisly phantoms, ye b.l.o.o.d.y ghosts of infidel Paynims, whom his Christian sword mowed down, even as corn falls beneath the the reaper's sickle, till the redoubtable champion strode breast deep in bodies over fifteen acres covered with slaughtered foes![93] And all this from Christian zeal!

”In faith of Christ a Christian true The wicked laws of infidels, He sought by power to subdue.

”So pa.s.sed he the seas of Greece, To help the Emperour to his right, Against the mighty Soldan's host Of puissant Persians for to fight: Where he did slay of Sarazens And heathen Pagans many a man, And slew the Soldan's cousin dear, Who had to name, Doughty Colbron.

”Ezkeldered that famous knight, To death likewise he did pursue, And Almain, king of Tyre also, Most terrible too in fight to view: He went into the Soldan's host, Being thither on amba.s.sage sent, And brought away his head with him, He having slain him in his tent.”

Or pa.s.sing by his

”Feats of arms In strange and sundry heathen lands,”