NOTES TO KENILWORTH. 1. Page 120. This is an imitation of Gascoigne's verses spoken by the Herculean porter, as mentioned in the text. The original may be found in the republication of the Princely Pleasures of Kenilworth, by the same author, in the History of Kenilworth, already quoted. Chiswick, 1821. 2. Page 123. See Laneham's Account of the Queen's Entertainment at Killingworth Castle, in 1575, a very diverting tract, written by as great a coxcomb as ever blotted paper. (See vol. xxii., p. 344.) The original is extremely rare, but it has been twice reprinted; once in Mr. Nichols's very curious and interesting collection of the Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth, vol. i. ; and more lately in a beautiful antiquarian publication termed Kenilworth Illustrated, printed at Chiswick, for Meridew of Coventry, and Radcliffe of Birmingham. It contains reprints of Laneham's Letter, Gascoigne's Princely Progress, and other scarce pieces, annotated with accuracy and ability. The author takes the liberty to refer to this work as his authority for the account of the festivities. 3. Page 124. To justify what may be considered as a high-coloured picture, the author quotes the original of the courtly and shrewd Sir James Melville, being then Queen Mary's envoy at the Court of London. "I was required," says Sir James, "to stay till I had seen him made Earle of Leicester, and Baron of Denbigh, with great solemnity; herself (Elizabeth) helping to put on his ceremonial, he sitting on his knees before her, keeping a great gravity and a discreet behaviour; but she could not refrain from putting her hand to his neck to kittle (2. e. tickle) him, smilingly, the French Ambassador and I standing beside her."-MELVILLE's Memoirs, Bannatyne Edition, p. 120. 4. Page 134. The incident alluded to occurs in the poem of Orlando In namorato of Boiardo, libro ii. canto 4, stanza 25. "Non era per ventura," &c. It may be rendered thus :— As then, perchance, unguarded was the tower, Robed in a loose cymar of lily white, And on her lap a sword of breadth and might, In whose broad blade, as a mirror bright, Like maid that trims her for a festal night, The fairy deck'd her hair, and placed her coronet aright. Elizabeth's attachment to the Italian school of poetry was singularly manifested on a well-known occasion. Her godson, Sir John Harrington, having offended her delicacy by translating some of the licentious passages of the Orlando Furioso, she imposed on him, as a penance, the task of rendering the whole poem into English. 5. Page 146. In revising this work for the present edition, I have had the means of making some accurate additions to my attempt to describe the princely pleasures of Kenilworth, by the kindness of my friend William Hamper, Esq., who had the goodness to communicate to me an inventory of the furniture of Kenilworth in the days of the magnificent Earl of Leicester. I have adorned the text with some of the splendid articles mentioned in the inventory, but antiquaries, especially, will be desirous to see a more full specimen than the story leaves room for. EXTRACTS FROM KENILWORTH INVENTORY, A. D. 1584. A Salte, Ship-fashion, of the mother of perle, garnished with silver and divers workes, warlike-ensignes, and ornaments, with xvj peeces of ordinance, whereof ij on wheles, two anckers on the foreparte, and on the steame the image of Dame Fortune standing on a globe with a flag in her hand. Pois xxxij oz. A gilt salte like a swann, mother of perle. Pois xxx oz iij quarters. A George on horseback, of wood, painted and gilt, with a case for knives in the tayle of the horse, and a case for oyster knives in the brest of the Dragon. A green barge-cloth, embrother'd with white lions and beares. A perfuming pann, of silver. Pois xix oz. In the halle. Tabells, long and short, vj. Forms, long and short, xiiij. HANGINGS. (These are minutely specified, and consisted of the following subjects, in tapestry, and gilt and red leather.) Flowers, beasts, and pillars arched. Forest worke. Historie. Storie of Susanna, the Prodigall Childe, Saule, Tobie, Hercules, Lady Fame, Hawking and Hunting, Jezabell, Judith and Holofernes, David, Abraham, Sampson, Hippolitus, Alexander the Great, Naaman the Assyrian, Jacob, &c. BEDSTEDS, WITH THEIR FURNITURE. (These are magnificent and numerous. I shall copy, verbatim, the description of what appears to have been one of the best.) A bedsted of wallnut-tree, toppe fashion, the pillers redd and varnished, the ceelor, tester, and single vallance of crimson satin, paned with a broad border of bone lace of golde and silver. The tester richlie embrothered with my Lo. armes in a garland of hoppes, roses, and pomegranetts, and lyned with buckerom. Fyve curteins of crimson sattin to the same bedsted, striped downe with a bone lace of gold and silver, garnished with buttons and loops of crimson silk and golde, containing xiiij bredths of sattin, and one yarde iij quarters deepe. The celor, vallance, and curteins lyned with crymson taffa ta sarsenet. A crymson sattin counterpointe, quilted and embr. with a golde twiste, and lyned with redd sarsenet, being in length iij yards good, and in bredth iij scant. A chaise of crymson sattin, suteable. A fayre quilte of crymson sattin, vj breadths, iij yardes 3 quarters naile deepe, all lozenged over with silver twiste, in the midst a cinquefoile within a garland of ragged staves, fringed round aboute with a small fringe of crymson silke, lyned throughe with white fustian. Fyve plumes of coolered feathers, garnished with bone lace and spangells of goulde and silver, standing in cups* knitt all over with goalde, silver. and crymson silk. * Probably on the centre and four corners of the bedstead. Four bears and ragged staves occupied a similar position on another of these sumptuous pieces of furniture. NOTES TO KENILWORTH. 263 A carpett for a cupboarde of crymson sattin, embrothered with a border of goulde twiste, about iij parts of it fringed with silk and goulde, lyned with bridges* sattin, in length ij yards, and ij bredths of sattin. (There were eleven down beds and ninety feather beds, besides thirtyseven mattresses.) CHAYRES, STOOLES, AND CUSHENS. (These were equally splendid with the beds, &c. I shall here copy that which stands at the head of the list.) A chaier of crimson velvet, the seate and backe partlie embrothered, with R. L. in cloth of goulde, the beare and ragged staffe in clothe of silver, garnished with lace and fringe of goulde, silver, and crimson silck. The frame covered with velvet, bounde aboute the edge with goulde lace, and, studded with gilt nailes. A square stoole and a foote stoole, of crimson velvet fringed and garnished suteable. A long cushen of crimson velvet, embr. with the ragged staffe in a wreathe of goulde, with my Lo. poise " Droyte et Loyall" written in the same, and the letters R. L. in clothe of goulde, being garnished with lace, fringe, buttons, and tassels, of gold, silver, and crimson silck, lyned with crimson taff., being in length 1 yard quarter. A square cushen, of the like velvet, embr. suteable to the long cushen. CARPETS. (There were 10 velvet carpets for tables and windows, 49 Turkey carpets for floors, and 32 cloth carpets. One of each I will now specify.) A carpett of crimson velvet, richly embr. with my Lo. posie, beares and ragged staves, &c., of clothe of goulde and silver, garnished upon the seames and aboute with golde lace, fringed accordinglie, fyned with crimson taffata sarsenett, being 3 breadths of velvet, one yard 3 quarters long. A great Turquoy carpett, the grounde blew, with a list of yelloe at each end, being in length x yards, in bredthe iiij yards and quarter. A long carpett of blew clothe, lyned with bridges sattin, fringed with blew silck and goulde, in length vj yards lack a quarter, the whole bredth of the clothe. PICTURES. (Chiefly described as having curtains.) The Queene's Majestie, (2 great tables.) 3 of my Lord. St. Jerome. Lo. of Arundell. Lord Mathevers. Lord of Pembroke. Counte Egmondt. The Queene of Scotts. King Philip. The Baker's Daughters. The Duke of Feria. Alexander Magnus. Two Yonge Ladies. Pompæa Sabina. Fred. D. of Saxony. Emp. Charles. K. Philip's Wife. Prince of Orange and his Wife. Marq. of Berges and his Wife. Counte de Horne. Count Holstrate. Monsr. Brederode. Duke Alva. Cardinal Grandville. Duches of Parma. Henrie E. of Pembrooke and his young Countess. Countis of Essex. Occacion and Repentance. Lord Mowntacute. Sir Jas. Crofts. Sir Wr. Mildmay. Sr. Wm. Pickering. Edwin Abp. of York. A tabell of an historie of men, women, and children, molden in wax. A little foulding table of ebanie, garnished with white bone, wherein are written verses with Ires. of goulde. A table of my Lord's armes. Fyve of the plannetts, painted in frames. INSTRUMENTS. (I shall give two specimens.) An instrument of organs, regalls, and virginalls, covered with crimson velvet, and garnished with goulde lace. Á fair pair of double virginalls. CABONETTS. A cabonett of crimson sattin, richlie embr. with a device of hunting the stagg, in goulde, silver, and silck, with iiij glasses in the topp thereof, xvj cupps of flowers made of goulde, silver, and silck, in a case of seather, lyned with greene sattin of bridges. (Another of purple velvet. A desk of red leather.) A CHESS BORDE of ebanie, with checkars of christall and other stones, layed with silver,garnished with beares and ragged staves, and cinquefoiles of silver. The xxxij men likewyse of christall and other stones sett, the one sort in silver white, the other gilte, in a case gilded and lyned with green cotton. (Another of bone and ebanie. A pair of tabells of bone.) A GREAT BRASON CANDLESTICK to hang in the roofe of the howse, verie fayer and curiouslye wrought, with xxiiij branches, xij greate and xij of lesser size, 6 rowlers and ij wings for the spreade eagle, xxiiij socketts for candells, xij greater and xij of a lesser sorte. xxiiij sawcers, or candle-cupps, of like proporcion to put under the socketts, iij images of men and iij of weomen, of brass, verie finely and artificiallie done. These specimens of Leicester's magnificence may serve to assure the reader that it scarce lay in the power of a modern author to exaggerate the lavish style of expense displayed in the princely pleasures of Kenilworth. 6. Page 260. In a curious manuscript copy of the information given by Ben Jonson to Drummond of Hawthornden, as abridged by Sir Robert Sibbald, Leicester's death is ascribed to poison administered as a cordial by his countess, to whom he had given it, representing it to be a restorative in any faintness, in the hope that she herself might be cut off by using it. We have already quoted Jonson's account of this merited stroke of retribution in a note, p.vii.of Introduction to the present work. It may be here added, that the following satirical epitaph on Leicester occurs in Drummond's Collections, but is evidently not of his composition : |