Introduction. 11 



Garsault, until the reign of Charles the sixth, was 

 the back of the horse or mule; neither kings, 

 queens, princes, nor subjects were acquainted with 

 any other. In the time of that monarch, litters, 

 borne by two horses, first appeared; but these 

 were uncovered, and used, only, by ladies of the 

 court. Froissart describes Isabel, the second wife 

 of Richard the second of England, as having been 

 borne "en une litiere moult riehe, qui etoit or- 

 donnee pour elle ;" and this kind of vehicle, during 

 the reigns of several succeeding monarchs, appears 

 to have been used by women of distinction in this 

 country, but, only, it is to be observed, in cases of 

 illness, or on occasions of ceremony. For ex- 

 ample, — when Margaret, daughter of Henry the 

 seventh, went into Scotland, she generally rode 

 "a faire palfrey;" while, after her, was conveyed 

 " one vary riche litere, borne by two faire coursers, 

 vary nobly drest; in the which litere the sayd 

 queene was borne in the intrying of the good 

 townes, or otherwise, to her good playsher." 



Towards the end of the thirteenth century, ve- 

 hicles with wheels, for the use of ladies, were first 

 introduced. They appear to have been of Italian 

 origin, as the first notice of them is found in an 

 account of the entry of Charles of Anjou into 

 Naples ; on which occasion, we are told, his queen 



