The History of London Part 25

~b.u.t.tery~: a storeroom where liquors and other provisions were kept.

~Baynard's Castle~ has given its name to one of the City wards.

~The Duke of Buckingham~ secured the crown for Richard III., and then being insufficiently rewarded rebelled against him, and was executed in 1483.

~George, Duke of Clarence~, brother of Edward IV., first sided with his father-in-law, the Earl of Warwick, then joined his brother in 1471.

With justice, therefore, Shakespeare called him 'false, fleeting, perjured Clarence. He was accused of treason and found dead in the Tower in 1478.

35. AMUs.e.m.e.nTS.

~Tournament~: a sham fight at which knights, mostly on horseback, used to show their skill.

~Twelfth Day~: twelve days after Christmas, formerly an occasion of great festivities, which have now nearly died out.

~Morris-dance~: a _Moorish_ dance to an accompaniment of bells and tambourines.

~cresset~: a kind of lantern formed of an open brazier filled with combustible materials.

~demilance~: a kind of horse-soldier armed with a short lance.

~mummeries~: entertainments performed by men in masks.

~Curfew~: the bell rung at eight o'clock at night as a sign to put out all lights. Ancient towns having much wood were liable to serious fires.

36. WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

~Thorney~, Isle of Thorns; _ey_ and _ea_ meaning island, as in Anglesey, Chelsea, Winchelsea.

~precinct~: the limit of the ground belonging to a church or other inst.i.tution.

~commissioner~: appointed to see that the work was carried out.

~Sir G. Gilbert Scott~, born 1811, died 1878, was the greatest modern English architect.

~took sanctuary~: fled for shelter to the abbey, whence she could not be taken without violating the privileges of the Church.

~William Caxton~ set up in 1476 the first printing press in England.

~coronation chair~: under this is the famous stone brought from Scone by Edward I., over which all the Scottish kings had been crowned since about 800 A.D.

37. THE COURT AT WESTMINSTER.

~Star Chamber Court~, in which cases were tried before some members of the Privy Council and two judges without a jury. This was established in 1487 to restore order because great lords and landowners used to frighten juries from giving true verdicts.

~bear and ragged staff~: the arms of the Earl of Warwick consisted of a bear erect and hugging a rough stake. (See pictures on pp. 111, 113.)

~arras~: tapestry for hanging; so called from Arras, in the north of France, where it was made.

~refectory~: the hall where the monks or nuns took their meals.

38. JUSTICE AND PUNISHMENTS.

~executive officers~: those whose duty it is to enforce the law.

~contrition~: repentance.

~securities~: stocks and shares; papers which can be of no use to the ordinary thief.

~Bridewell~: the site of a prison, now demolished. It adjoined Whitefriars, and may be seen in the map to the west of Blackfriars.

~amende honorable~ (French): when one who has done wrong gives satisfaction without loss of honour.

~pillory~: a framework supported by an upright pillar. In it were holes through which the head and hands of offenders were thrust. In this uncomfortable position they had to stand exposed to the insults of the mob.

~cogged~: loaded so as always to fall in a certain way.

~t.i.tle deeds~: writings drawn up in proper legal form to prove the possession of property.

39. THE POLITICAL POWER OF LONDON.

~Froissart~: an early French chronicler or historian who visited England in the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II., and died in 1401.

~besotted with~: stupidly and excessively fond of.

~commonalty~: the common people.

~Berkeley Castle~, in Gloucestershire, where Edward II. was murdered in 1327.

~a son was born~: Edward, Prince of Wales, born in 1453. After the Yorkist victory of Northampton in 1460 Edward's claim to the throne was set aside in favour of Richard, Duke of York, father of Edward IV. The Prince was slain at the battle of Tewkesbury, 1471.

~benevolences~: loans of money, supposed to be voluntary, really compulsory, made by merchants and other rich men to the king.

~charts~: papers; ~blank cheques~: orders on the bank for money with all except the amount required filled up and properly signed.

~factor~: if 2 3 makes six, 2 and 3 are each factors of 6; hence it is something which helps to bring about some result.

40. ELIZABETHAN LONDON. PART I.

~Stow~ (born 1525, died 1605): a famous writer in Queen Elizabeth's reign on the antiquities of London and other places.

~Whitechapel~ takes its name from a white chapel-of-ease built to relieve Stepney, in which parish this district was till 1763.