NOTE 4-(p, 32.)

"Tabula Eliensis." It is related by Dallaway, that, " In 1087, during the vacancy occasioned by the death of Theodwyn, Prior of Ely, the King sent as many Knights and Gentlemen to take possession of the monastery as there were monks remaining in it. The portraits and arms of these, with the names on scrolls, were painted on one tablet, and set up in the great hall. A MS. in the British Museum seems to give it a very early date. Fuller places it in 1306. Mr. Cole observes, that the helmets of the Knights in the Ely tablet are round-a proof, that they were not painted till the 14th century, and that the shape of the escutcheons is still more modern.' There are, indeed, a few instances, but rather of devices than of arms, borne soon after the conquest; yet we cannot suppose, that they were used by these forty Knights, to whom they are appropriated, so early as 1087, though known to belong to their families; from which appears, that the arms were subsequently added."

it

NOTE 5-(p. 32.)

"Bayeux Tapestry." This ancient, and curious, relique has excited much controversy in the literary world. Its appellation of tapestry, in the ordinary sense of that word, is a misnomer, as it is, in reality, a stupendous specimen of needle-work, and represents the invasion of England by William, the First, with all the preceding circumstances, which led to it, and concluding with the battle of Hastings. It was first brought into notice by Father Montfaucon and M. Lancelot in the early part of the last century, who, in their respective works,† have figured, and described, it. Dr. Ducarel, afterwards, republished Montfaucon's Plates in his " Anglo-Norman Antiquities," accompanied with a dissertation, and explanation, by Mr. Smart Lethieullier. "I had" (says Ducarel) "the satisfaction of seeing that famous piece of furniture, which with great exactness, though in barbarous needle-work, represents the history of Harold, king of

Origin and Progress of the Science of Heraldry in England,” p. 32. + The" Monumens de la Monarchie Française," and the "Memoirs de l'Academie des Inscriptions."

England, and of William, duke of Normandy, from the embassy of the former to duke William, at the command of Edward, the Confessor, to his overthrow and death at the battle fought near Hastings. The ground of this piece of work is a white linen cloth, or canvas, one foot eleven inches in depth, and two hundred and twelve feet in length. The figures of men, horses, &c., are in their proper colours, worked in the manner of samplers in worstead, and of a style not unlike what we see upon the China and Japan ware; those of the men particularly, being without the least symmetry or proportion. There is a small border, which runs at the top and at the bottom of the tapestry, with several figures of men, beasts, flowers, and even fables, which have nothing to do with the history, but are only ornaments. At the end of every particular scene there is a tree by way of distinction; and over many of the principal figures there are inscriptions, but many of them obliterated. It is annually hung up on St. John's Day, and goes round the nave of the church, where it continues eight days; and, at all other times, it is carefully kept, locked up in a strong wainscot press, in a chapel on the south side of the cathedral dedicated to Thomas Becket. By tradition, it is called duke William's toilette, and said to be the work of Matilda, his queen, and the ladies of her court, after he had obtained the crown of England." The preceding extract I have re-copied from Strutt's "Complete View of the Dress and Habits of the People of England;" and, in commenting on it, he gives it as his opinion, that "it appears to have been the production of an artist more modern than the fair Matilda," He adds, "I should place it at half a century, at least, posterior to the event it is designed to commemorate." His reasons are, I think, more specious than conclusive; and, in my opinion, without meaning to detract from his great merit, Strutt challenges criticism too closely, when he postpones to "half a century at least" the era of the work to "the event it is designed to commemorate." If the improbability be alleged by you, gentle reader, that Queen Matilda and the fair Ladies of her Court would never have condescended to employ their hands in needle-work, and, especially, in that of so coarse a texture, let me remind you, prithee, of King Lemuel's description of a virtuous wife: "She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands." "She perceiveth Anglo-Norman Antiquities," p. 79; and " Appendix," p. 2.

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that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night." She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff." "She maketh herself coverings of tapestry, her clothing is silk and purple." "She maketh fine linen, and selleth it, and delivereth girdles unto the merchant." "She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness."* King Lemuel here points out the deeds of the virtuous, and thrifty, wife; and that, in this eloquent description of the industrious, and married, female, (who “looketh well to the ways of her household,") he does include the one of higher rank, we must believe, when he says, "her clothing is silk and purple," which I must here remark is the colour more especially pertaining to royalty in all ages and nations. Nothing is more certain, than that, in the early, and simple, ages, even Queens and Princesses thought it no dishonour to spin, and to weave-to place their hands to the wheel, and to the loom. Homer testifies this in the instances of Andromache, the wife of Hector, and Penelope, the wife of Ulysses. The allegations of Homer may be asserted to be the offspring of poetical fiction. The ladies of the present day will say, that the Greeks and Romans were barbarians; but let us descend to more modern times, and then draw the conclusion, that the practice of the later proves that of the former age, for, in the annals of man, refinement is, usually, found to take a progressive course. is testified by William of Malmesbury, that the four daughters of the Saxon King, Edward, the elder, employed their otherwise leisure hours in spinning, and in works with the needle: "Colum & acum exercere consuescerent," says he; and yet their hands were sought by the greatest Princes then in Europe. Thus there is no incongruity in the supposition, that this stupendous piece of needle-work was really effected by the industrious labours of Queen Matilda and her fair hand-maids. What could have been more natural than the desire on her part thus to record the glorious deeds of her Lord and Master, the Duke of Normandy, and, at that time, the King of England? What could have been more expected, than that the loving Queen, in honour of her valiant spouse, and to gratify the vanity of the Norman Race, and, thus, to soften the disappointment of the transfer of the Sovereignty to another realm, should present to the Church of Bayeux-the Cathedral of his • Proverbs xxxi. 13, 18, 19, 22, 24, 27.

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former Dukedom-such an inestimable record of his proud, and honourable, achievement. I must, moreover, add, that credited tradition, usually, dates its origin from the era of the fact, on which it is founded-that it does not spring midway, and that, had its possession accrued to the Church of Bayeux from any other quarter, there would have been, at least, another, and conflicting, tradition. "We often read," (says Henry, in his "History of Britain," Vol. iv. p. 135,) "in the monkish historians of those times, of queens and princesses making presents of precious, and painted, vestments (as they called them) to the church.' Mr. Dawson Turner, in his "Tour in Normandy," visited Bayeux; and, as he well describes this most interesting relique of antiquity, I am induced, also, to transcribe his account of it, as he will supply the lacune of Ducarel in my former extract. "Till the revolution" (says he) "the tapestry was always kept in the cathedral, in a chapel on the south side, dedicated to Thomas à Becket, and was only exposed to public view once a year, during the octave of the feast of St. John, on which occasion it was hung up in the nave of the church, which it completely surrounded. From the time thus selected for the display of it, the tapestry acquired the name le toile de Saint Jean; and it is to the present day commonly so called in the city. During the most stormy part of the revolution, it was secreted; but it was brought to Paris when the fury of vandalism had subsided. And, when the first Consul was preparing for the invasion of England, this ancient trophy of the subjugation of the British nation was proudly exhibited to the gaze of the Parisians, who saw another Conqueror in Napoléon Bonaparté, and many well-sounding effusions, in prose and verse, appeared, in which the laurels of Duke William were transferred, by anticipation, to the brows of the child and champion of jacobinism. Bonaparté returned the tapestry to the municipality, accompanied by a letter, in which he thanked them for the care they had taken of so precious a relic. From that period to the present, it has remained in the residence appropriated to the mayor, the former episcopal palace; and here we saw it.

"It is a piece of brownish linen cloth, about two hundred and twelve feet long, and eighteen inches wide, French measure. The figures are worked with worsted of different colours, but Annales Eccles. Winton. in Angl. Sacra, t. 1, p. 290.

principally light red, blue, and yellow. The historical series is included between borders composed of animals, &c. The colours are faded, but not so much so as might have been expected. The figures exhibit a regular line of events, commencing with Edward, the Confessor, seated upon his throne, in the act of dispatching Harold to the court of the Norman Duke, and continued through Harold's journey, his capture by the Comte de Ponthieu, his interview with William, the death of Edward, the usurpation of the British throne by Harold, the Norman invasion, the battle of Hastings, and Harold's death. These various events are distributed into seventy-two compartments, each of them designated by an inscription in Latin. Ducarel justly compares the style of the execution to that of a girl's sampler. The figures are covered with work, except on their faces, which are merely in outline. In point of drawing, they are superior to the contemporary sculpture at St. George's and elsewhere; and the performance is not deficient in energy. The colours are distributed rather fancifully; thus the fore and off legs of the horses are varied. It is hardly necessary to observe, that perspective is wholly disregarded, and that no attempt is made to express light and shadow.

"Great attention, however, is paid to costume; and more individuality of character has been preserved than could have been expected, considering the rude style of the workmanship. The Saxons are represented with long mustachios: the Normans have their upper lip shaven, and retain little more hair upon their heads than a single lock in front.-Historians relate how the English spies reported the invading army to be wholly composed of ecclesiastics; and this tapestry affords a graphical illustration of the chroniclers' text. Not the least remarkable feature of the tapestry, in point of costume, lies in the armour, which in some instances is formed of interlaced rings; in others of square compartments; and in others of lozenges. Those who contend for the antiquity of Duke William's equestrian statue at Caen, may find a confirmation of their opinions in the shape of the saddles assigned to the figures of the Bayeux tapestry; and equally so in their cloaks, and their pendant braided tresses.

"The tapestry is coiled round a cylinder, which is turned by a winch and wheel; and it is rolled and unrolled with so little attention, that, if it continues under such management as