HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 95 



eyes, and to the enlightened minds of the present age, they had 

 undoubtedly their advantages ; pageants and parades struck the 

 minds of the populace with reverential awe and respect ; they made 

 them submit patiently to subordination ; they afforded them an 

 opportunity not only of discovering the number of inhabitants, but 

 the number of effective men, to protect their rights and properties ; 

 and they promoted mirth and hilarity. Nor were these the only 

 benefits to be derived from them ; the neighbouring inhabitants par- 

 took of the advantages ; the nobility and gentry resident within 

 several miles round the town, before they had adopted the pernicious 

 custom of deserting their native mansions, and mispending their 

 time and substance in the debaucheries of the metropolis, thought 

 it sufficient entertainment and recreation for themselves and their 

 children to attend this Whitsun-bower gala. Crowds of them were 

 used to flock in, and to increase their amusement there were dis- 

 played a variety of other exhibitions adapted to the taste of those 

 times, such as bear and bull-baitings, interludes, flying-chain, leger- 

 demain practitioners, wild beasts, &c. Uncouth as these amuse- 

 meats may be deemed by our modern refined taste, they had their 

 charms and their utility ; the novelty and dexterity of them ex- 

 cited admiration, they did not tend to promote vice and immorality, 

 and they afforded an opportunity to all ranks of people to assemble 

 and spend their time in innocent mirth and hilarity."* 

 . An inferior court, called Maudlin's Court, is annually held in 

 Lichfield. It was anciently instituted for punishing drunkenness, and 

 for the purpose of administering the oath of office to the dozeners 

 or petty constables. 



The inhabitants of Lichfield first sent representatives to Parlia- 

 ment in the 33d year of the reign of Edward I. 1304 ; and in the 

 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 20th of Edward II. ; and the 1st, 14th, 

 and 27th of Edward III. From that period they were discontinued 

 till the year 1547, the 1st of Edward the Sixth, when Lichfield was 

 raised to the dignity of a city and corporation. 



Since that era, so auspicious to the civil and religious liberties 

 of Englishmen, Lichfield has been favoured with many immunities 

 conferred by successive Sovereigns. 



On the 10th of March, 1701, it was determined by the House of 

 Commons, that the bailiffs, magistrates, freeholders, and all that 



The ceremonies of Greenhill Bower, after having been discontinued for 

 many years, were revived on the 3d of June, 1816, (Whit Monday,) with some 

 eclat, but stripped of much of their former pomp. 



