The Earl of Derby's Return to London in i^p^ 169 



His cote-armure^ was of cloth of Tars,' 



Couched with perles^ whyte, and rounde, and grete. 



His sadel* was of brend^ gold newe ybete®; 



^ Henry was fond of having his arms displayed on his travels. 'Con- 

 siderable sums [were] paid for tables and scutcheons of Derby's heraldic 

 arms, both on wood and paper, and for painting them. Lancaster 

 Herald painted these arms at Prague, and again at Vienna, and much 

 care seems to have been taken by the heralds to have these insignia 

 always painted or hung in the lord's hall or room wherever he made 

 a stay of any length' (D. A., p. Ivii, and index, p. ZZA, s. v. Arms in 

 heraldry). 'He had eight tablets {tahulce) painted with his arms and 

 those of his knights and squires, and hung up in St. Mark's Church' 

 (Wylie 4. 108, note), and a picture of the same for the church of 

 St. George {D. A. 234. 24; cf. WyHe 4. 129, note 2). He would therefore 

 not be likely to neglect his 'cote armure' ; indeed he may have had his 

 arms repeated on the caparisons of his horse, and elsewhere about his 

 person, somewhat as represented in the picture of Sir Geoflfrey Louterell 

 (Coulton, opp. p. 194; cf. Encyc. Brit., nth ed., 13. 312). As his arms 

 included the leopards (see p. 174, note i) of the English shield, Henry 

 would ride forth somewhat like Guillaume de Lorris' god of love 

 (Chaucer, R. R. 893-4), painted 



with losenges and scochouns, 

 With briddes, libardes, and lyouns. 



When he wore his helmet, it would probably be with a plume of ostrich 

 feathers, since his badge was two ostrich feathers Argent (Beltz, p. 242), 

 and in 1393-4 he had his goldsmith make him two bushes for his helmet 

 for the jousts at Hertford (Christmas) and at Westminster (Wylie 

 4, 164; cf. 4. 161). Even in Lithuania the guests of the Teutonic Order 

 sometimes wore such plumes in their helmets {Jour. Eng. and Germ. 

 Phil 14. 382). 



Froissart (Kervyn 7. 454) describes how the 'cotte d'armure' of Sir 

 John Chandos led to his death in 1369 (tr. Johnes) : 'He . . . was 

 dressed in a large robe which fell to the ground, blazoned with his arms 

 on white sarcenet, argent, a pile gules, one on his breast, and the other 

 on his back, . . . As he marched, he entangled his legs with his 

 robe, which was of the longest, and made a stumble,' etc. Cf . Ramsay 2. 4. 



' Otherwise known as Tartarin. The New Eng. Diet, defines it as 'a 

 rich stuff, apparently of silk, imported from the East, probably from 

 China through Tartary.' It was of various colors — white, scarlet, blue, 

 green (see Wylie's index, s. v. Tartryn, 4. 364). About 1410, Henry 

 had four coats of arms made of satin and Tartarin (Wylie 4. 226). 



^For Wylie's index, s. v. Pearls, see 4. 513. 



*In 1391-2 Henry had a jeweled saddle (Wylie 4. 161); in 1395 one 

 covered with red velvet (4. 169) ; in 1399-1400 one with green velvet 

 and ivory carvings (4. 197) ; four saddles with velvet, garnished with 

 gold cloth of Venice and fringe of silk and gold (4. 200) ; eight saddles 



