HISTORICAL

the father being more earnest to see it, by force | skull was found uninjured. Thomas of Waltook it out of his bosom, and, perceiving the contents thereof, in a great rage caused his horses to be saddled out of hand, and spitefully reproving his son of treason, for whom he was become surety and mainpernour for his good bearing in open parliament, he incontinently mounted on horseback to ride towards Windsor to the king, to declare to him the malicious intent of his son and his accomplices. The Earl of Rutland, seeing in what danger he stood, took his horse and rode another way to Windsor, in post, so that he got thither before his father, and when he was alighted at the castle-gate, he caused the gates to be shut, saying, that he must needs deliver the keys to the king. When he came before the king's presence, he kneeled down on his knees, beseeching him of mercy and forgiveness, and declaring the whole matter unto him in order as everything had passed; obtained pardon; and therewith came his father, and, being let in, delivered the indenture which he had taken from his son, unto the king; who thereby perceiving his son's words to be true, changed his purpose for his going to Oxford, and dispatched messengers forth to signify unto the Earl of Northumberland his high constable, and to the Earl of Westmorland his high marshal, and to others his assured friends, of all the doubtful danger and perilous jeopardy."

The death of Richard the Second is one of those historical mysteries which, perhaps, will never be cleared up. The story which Shakspere has adopted, of his assassination by Sir Piers of Exton and his followers, was related by Caxton in his addition to Hygden's 'Polychronicon;' was copied by Fabyan, and, of course, found its way into Holinshed. The honest old compiler, however, notices the other storiesthat he died either by compulsory famine or by voluntary pining. Caxton borrowed his account, it is supposed, from a French manuscript in the royal library at Paris, written by a partisan of Richard. In his 'Chronicle,' printed two years before the additions to the 'Polychronicon,' Caxton takes no notice of the story of the assassination by Sir Piers of Exton; but says "He was enfamined unto the death by his keeper, yet much people in England, and in other lands, said, that he was alive many year after his death." It is a remarkable confirmation of the belief that Richard did not die by the wounds of a battle-axe, that when his tomb was opened in Westminster Abbey, some years since, his

HISTORIES.-VOL. 1.

singham, who was living at the time of Richard's death, relates that the unhappy captive voluntarily starved himself. His body was removed to the Tower, where it was publicly exhibited. The story of his voluntary starvation is, however, doubtful; that of his violent assassination seems altogether apocryphal. In an important document, whose publication we owe to Sir Henry Ellis-the manifesto of the Percies against Henry the Fourth, issued just before the battle of Shrewsbury-Henry is distinctly charged with having caused Richard to perish from hunger, thirst, and cold, after fifteen days and nights of sufferings unheard of among Christians. Two years afterwards Archbishop Scroop repeats the charge; but he adds, what unquestionably weakens its force, "ut vulgariter dicitur." There is one other story which has formed the subject of a very curious controversy, but which it would be out of place here to detail -that espoused by Mr. Tytler-that Richard escaped, and lived nineteen years in Scotland. The various arguments for and against this incredible tale may be found in a paper, by the late amiable and accomplished Lord Dover, read before the Royal Society of Literaturo. The conflicting evidence as to the causes of Richard's death in Pomfret Castle is very ably detailed by Mr. Amyot, in the 20th volume of the Archæologia.' The prison-scene in Shakspere will, perhaps, more than any accredited relation, continue to influence the popular belief; and yet, on the other hand, we have the beautiful passage in Gray's Bard, to support the less dramatic story :

"Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr blows,
While proudly riding o'er the azure realm,
In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes;

Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm;
Regardless of the sweeping whirlwind's spray,
That, hush'd in grim repose, expects his evening prey.

Fill high the sparkling bowl,

The rich repast prepare,

Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast:
Close by the regal chair

Fell thirst and famine scowl

A baleful smile upon their baffled guest."

The body of Richard was brought to London; and being publicly exposed, was removed to Langley for interment. Henry V., who appears always to have cherished a generous regard for the memory of the unfortunate king, caused it to be removed, in great state, to Westminster Abbey.

P

SCENES.

Or the architectural drawings by Mr. Poynter, | houses, but many of its earlier features were the room in the Palace, Act I., is imaginary, preserved, and the engraving affords a key to but it presents an example of the architectural explain several authentic particulars as to its style of the period. The interior is represented condition two centuries and a half earlier. as tapestried, with the well-known cognizances of Westminster Hall was erected by Richard, and Richard II., the sun and the white hart. The finished in 1399. The first business of the street leading to the Tower, Act V., is also meeting of Parliament in the edifice which the imaginary. The exterior of Westminster Hall, king had caused to be built out of his exactions Act IV., is an attempt at restoration. Hollar of the wealth of his subjects, was to proceed to has left a view of New Palace Yard, dated his deposition. 1647. It was at that time surrounded by

COSTUME.

FOR the male costume of this play we are overwhelmed with authorities. Not only do we possess elaborately-executed portraits and monumental effigies of Richard, and the greater number of the other historical personages, but the time is particularly rich in illuminated manuscripts, and in anecdotes illustrative of the dress and armour of the people at large.

The poems of Chaucer and the chronicles of Froissart are full of information on these points; and in the Harleian Collection of MSS. there is the well-known and invaluable Metrical History' of the deposition of Richard II., by a gentleman of the household of Charles the VI. of France, and who attended Richard during the whole of the period he describes". The MS. is liberally illustrated by miniatures exhibiting all the principal scenes of that eventful story, and containing portraits, of the dress at least, of Richard II., Bolingbroke, the Earls of Northumberland, Westmorland, Exeter, Salisbury, the Bishop of Carlisle, &c., &c.

This circumstance is the more fortunate, as, although we possess numberless illuminated copies of Froissart, all that have come under our notice have been executed as late, at least, as the commencement of the reign of our Henry VI., and, consequently, present us with the dress and armour of another century. We take this opportunity of impressing this fact upon the minds of our readers, by at once re

• See Historical Illustrations to Act III.

ferring them to the cuts in this number, taken from an illuminated copy of Froissart, and representing the quarrel and combat between the Earls of Hereford and Norfolk, and Richard II. surrendering his crown to Bolingbroke, by comparison of which with those from the 'Metrical History,' they will perceive the difference in the fashions of the times, and avoid confounding the former with those which are given as undoubted authorities for the costume of this play.

The foppery of dress prevailing during the reign of Richard II. is the universal theme of satire and reprobation amongst the poets and historians of the day; and York, in the first Scene of the second Act of this play, speaks with perfect truth of our apish nation" limping in base imitation after the "fashions in proud Italy," or wherever the "world thrusts forth a vanity;" a passage which Dr. Johnson has presumed, of course, to be a mistake of Shakspere, or, rather, a wilful anachronism of the man who gave "to all nations the customs of England, and to all ages the manners of his own!" Richard himself was (as the Rev. Mr. Webb has remarked in his description of the 'Metrical History' aforesaid—' Archæologia,’ vol. xx.) the greatest fop of his day". He had a coat estimated at thirty thousand marks, the value of which must chiefly have arisen from

■ The Monk of Evesham describes him as extravagantly splendid in his entertainments and dress.

the quantity of precious stones with which it was embroidered, such being one of the many extravagant fashions of the time. Those of working letters and mottoes on the dresses, and cutting the edges of the mantles, hoods, &c., into the shape of leaves and other devices, will be seen by referring to the portrait of Richard in the Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster, and the illuminations of the 'Metrical History.' Bolingbroke, in the miniatures of that work, is represented in mourning for his father. When he entered London with the captive Richard in his train, he was dressed, according to Froissart, in a short jack, or jacket, of cloth of gold, "a la fachon d'Almayne."

and chained under a tree, was worn by all Richard's friends and retainers. In the wardrobe account of his twenty-second year is an entry of a belt and sheath of a sword, of red velvet, embroidered with white harts crowned, and with rosemary branches.

The armour of this reign was nearly all of plate; a neck-piece of chain fastened to the bascinet, and called the camail, and the indented edge of the chain-apron depending below the jupon, or surcoat, being nearly all the mail visible. The jupon introduced during the preceding reign was a garment of silk, or velvet, richly embroidered with the armorial bearings of the wearer, fitting tight to the shape, and confined over the hips by a magnificent girdle. (Vide that of the Black Prince at Canterbury.) In the 'Metrical History,' however, Richard and his knights are represented in loose surcoats, sometimes with sleeves, and embroidered all over with fanciful devices, the king's being golden ostrich feathers. The armour worn by Bolingbroke, when he entered the lists at Co

Of John of Gaunt we are told that he wore his garments "not wide," and yet they became him "full well." In the Cotton MS., marked D 6, he is represented granting the claims at the coronation of Richard II., as Lord High Steward of England. He is attired in a long party-coloured robe, one half white, the other blue, such being the family colours of the House of Lancaster. White and red were, how-ventry, was manufactured expressly for him at ever, assumed by Richard II. as his livery colours, and, as such, worn by the courtiers and citizens on state occasions.

The sleeves of John of Gaunt's robe, it will be observed, are tight, and reach to the wrist, after the old fashion of Edward the III.'s time: but bearing out the words of the old poet before quoted, who praises him for not giving way to the extravagancies of his nephew's court; Chaucer, the Monk of Evesham, and the author of an anonymous work, cited by Camden, and called The Eulogium,' all complain of the large, long, and wide sleeves, reaching almost to the feet, which even the servants wore in imitation of their masters.

The shoes had excessively long pikes, sometimes crooked upwards, and then called crackowes (probably from Cracow, in Poland), and, according to the author of 'The Eulogium,' occasionally fastened to the knees by chains of gold or silver. The chaperon, or hood, of this reign is of a most indescribable shape, and is sometimes worn over the capucium or cowl. Single ostrich feathers are also seen occasionally in front of the hood, or cap. The hair was worn long in the neck and at the sides, and elderly persons are generally represented with forked beards.

The decoration of the white hart, crowned ■ The statute passed in prohibition of such vanities calls these dresses" apparel broider'd of stone."

Milan by order of Galeazzo Visconti, to whom he had written on the subject.

The chronicler Hall (and Holinshed follows him), describing this event, asserts, but without quoting his authority, that Bolingbroke's horse was caparisoned with blue and green velvet, embroidered all over with swans and antelopes (his badges and supporters), and that the housings of the Duke of Norfolk's charger were of crimson velvet, embroidered with silver lions (his paternal arms) and mulberry trees, a punning device, the family name being Mowbray. The vizor of the bascinet, or war helmet of this time, was of a singular shape, giving to the wearer almost the appearance of having the head of a bird. A specimen is to be seen in the Tower of London, and a still more perfect one is in the armoury of Sir S. Meyrick, at Goodrich Court

No feathers, as yet, decorated the helmet unless they formed the heraldic crest of the family, and then only the tournament helmet.

Of the female characters in the play, the Duchess of Gloster is the only one for whose dress we have any precise authority; and it is probable that she is represented on her monumental brass in Westminster Abbey, which furnishes it, in the habit of a nun of Barking Abbey, to which place she retired after her husband's murder, and took the veil. The nuns of