CON 
there, by fix lords, taken out of the chariot and fet un¬ 
der a molt curious hearfe, full of lights, the effigy lying on 
the coffin, on a pall of gold ; about which the mourners 
being fet within the firlt rail, knights bearing banners 
within the fecond, and officers of arms without the fame. 
Garter king of arms cried aloud, “ For the foul of the 
noble prince Henry VII. king of this realm when the 
choir, beginning with Placebo, and ending with Dirige, 
clofed the folemnities of that day. The next day three 
naafles were folemnly fung by biffiops, at the laft of which 
were offered the banner, horfe, coat of arms, fword, target, 
and helmet ; the nobility likewife offering their rich palls 
of cloth of gold. When the choir had fung Libera me, 
the corpfe was interred, in the chapel built by the de- 
ceafed in Weftminfter-abbey, the treafurer and comptrol¬ 
ler breaking their llaves into the grave; when Garter hav¬ 
ing called with a loud voice, “Vive le roy Hemie le hui- 
tiefme, roy d’Angleterre & de France, fyere dTreland,” 
the mourners, with thofe of the houfehold, departed to 
the palace, where they were fumptuoufly entertained. 
In giving a full account of thefe royal obfequies, we 
enable our reader to compare the magnificence and pomp 
which three hundred years ago animated the minds and 
fired the zeal of the citizens of London and Weftininfter, 
for the prefervation of the royal perfon when alive, at the 
fame time as they (how their veneration for the relics of 
the dead monarch ; bearing always in view', that the me¬ 
tropolis, the heart of the nation, did always beat firlt in 
teftimony of loyalty, a fentiment which may be (hortly 
and appropriately expreffed in the following line from 
an ancient infcription: EJl mihi nunc tadem qua fu.it ante 
Jides o 
“ I Hill retain and (how 
The faith I once did vow.” 
For, although we always find the city fteady, (launch, 
and vigorous, in refilling any attacks upon her rights and 
liberties, yet no part of the kingdom is ever more ready to 
come forward in fupport of the king and conftitution.— 
The city is, as it feems, in poifeffion of the palladium of 
Great Britain ; and her fafety, her honour, her welfare, 
are (<b intimately connefted with the reft of the nation at 
large, that the word London is become nearly fynonymous 
with United Kingdom. 
The firft afits of Henry VIII. were very popular. He 
evinced, at the beginning of his reign, a decided tafte 
for magnificence and (how. His marriage with his de- 
ceafed. brother’s widow was folemnized with extraordi¬ 
nary pomp and expenfe. The drefs of the king and queen 
are thus deferibed by Hall : “ His grace wared in his 
upperft apparell a robe of crimfyn velvet, furred with 
armyns ; his jacket or cote of railed gold ; the placard 
embrodered with diamonds, rubies, emeraudes, great 
pearles, and other rich ftones; a greate bauderike about 
his necke, of large balaffes. The quene was appareled in 
white fatyn embrodered, her hair hanging downe to her 
backe, of a very great length, bewrefull and goodly to 
behold ; and on her hedde a coronal], fet with many riche 
orient ftones.” 
Having given above the ceremonial of a royal funeral, 
we mult place under the eye of the reader, as a counter¬ 
part, the defeription of one of thofe pageants our ances¬ 
tors were fo fond of, and which may afford fome idea of 
the manners and tafte of the time. In the year 1510, 
Henry, difguifed in the habit of a yeoman of the guard, 
went into the city, on the eve of St. John, to fee the 
grand cavalcade of the city-watch. He was fo highly 
pleafed with the fight, that he returned on St. Peter’s eve, 
with his royal confort, attended by the principal nobi¬ 
lity, and ftood in Cheapfide, where they faw the (lately 
march. This ceremony was performed twice every year, 
viz. on the eve of St. John Baptift, and the eve of St. 
Peter and Paul. The manner of conducting this noflur- 
nal parade was as follows: The city-mufic followed by 
the lord-mayor’s officers in party-coloured liveries; the 
(word-bearer on horfeback, in beautiful armour, before 
DON. 
the lord-mayor, mounted on a (lately horfe richly deco¬ 
rated, attended by a giant and two pages on horleback, 
three pageants, morrice-dancers and footmen 5 after thefe 
came the Iheriffs, followed by their officers in proper li¬ 
veries, and attended by their giants, pages, See. then a 
confiderable body of demi-lancers iri bright armour, on 
(lately horfes ; thefe were followed by a great number of 
carabineers in fuftian coats, with the city-arms on their 
backs and breads; then marched a diviiion of archers, 
with their bows bent, and by their fide (heaves of arrows; 
after thefe a great number of halberdiers, preceded by a 
party of pikemen, with crofiets and helmets ; and the 
rear was brought up by a party of bilimen with aprons 
and helmets of mail. The whole body confided of about 
two thoufand ( men in different divifions, in each of which 
were properly fixed muficians, drums, ftandards, and en- 
figns. The march began at the conduit, the weft end of 
Cheapfide, and pafled through Cheapfide, the Poultry, 
Cornhill,.and Leadenhall-itreet, to Aldgate ; from whence 
it returned through Fenchurch-ftreet, Gracechurcli-ftreet, 
Cornhill, and fo back to the conduit again. The pro- 
cefiion was illuminated by nine hundred and forty large 
lanterns, fixed at the ends of poles, and carried on men’s 
(houlders ; two hundred of which were provided at the 
expenfe of the city, five hundred at that of the compa¬ 
nies, and two hundred and forty by the city-conftables ; 
exclufive of thefe, a great number of lamps were hung 
again ft the houfes on each fide the way, decorated with 
flowers and greens made into garlands. The whole formed 
a very plealing light, and gave the higheft fatisfabtion to 
the royal pair. 
It is alfo to be remarked, that the year 151a was the 
firft year that the Italian form of mafquerade was intro¬ 
duced into this nation ; when king Henry, on Twelfth- 
night, with eleven more, difguifed with long flow¬ 
ing garments, wrought all in gold, and with maiks and 
caps of gold tiffue, preceded by fix gentlemen alfo in 
mafquerade, with lilk garments, and torches in their 
hands, entered the ball-room after (upper, and each took 
out a lady to dance; and thus continued the reft of the 
evening. 
In the year 1514, the land holders about Iflingtcn, 
Iloxton, and Shoreditch, had inclofed their grounds fo 
that the citizens were debarred from thc-ir accultomed ex- 
ercifes and fports in thefe fields, or if they purfued them 
were indidted as trefpaffers. The populace, irritated at 
this treatment, and inftigated by a fellow who ran about 
the ftreets, in a merry-andrew’s coat, calling for fpades 
and (hovels, affembled in great numbers, and with thefe 
implements foon levelled the fences. On this the king 
fent commiflioners into the city to inquire into the cauie 
of this tumult, who, being met in the convent of the Grey 
Friars, fummoned the lord-mayor and aldermen before 
them to give an account of the matter; when they repri¬ 
manded thefe magiftrates for not being more careful of the 
peace of the city, and ftricfly enjoined them to prevent 
luch occurrences in future. , 
Fabian fays, that, in 1515, the Thames was frozen fo 
hard that carriages of all forts pafled between Weftminfter 
and Lambeth upon the ice. 
It was an ancient cuftom, fays Hall, in his Chronicle, for 
the citizens of London to celebrate May-day, by divert¬ 
ing themfelves in the neighbouring woods and meadows; 
and, continues, this hiftorian, this diverfion was become (o 
great a fafhion, that it engaged the king and queen, this 
year, attended by-their nobles, to ride a-mayir.g, from 
Greenwich to the top of Shooter’s hill, on May-day in 
the morning. In this excurfion, their majefties were de- 
fignedly met by two hundred yeomen, clothed in green, 
with green hoods, and bows and arrows, under a captain 
named Robin Hood. Robin ir.treated the king to flop 
and fee his men (hoot, which they performed moft dex- 
trouily at once, at his whittle; and their arrows were fo 
contrived in the heads, that they alfo whittled, when (hot 
off, with a ((range and loud noife, that greatly delighted 
his royal guelts, whom Robin afterwards conducted to 
