The three larger dogs have collars, provided with rings through which, most probably, the leash passed; the other two are of a smaller breed. The horses are hog-maned. Harold’s horse, in the more forward instance, has some ornament entwined with its mane.
Bosham is a hamlet in Sussex, near to Chichester, which still retains its ancient name. It was a sea-port of some consequence in Saxon times, and we frequently read of its being the point of departure for persons going to the Continent. Bosham was the property of Harold, having been obtained by his father, Earl Godwin, from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Among the endowed churches of England, that of Bosham was probably one of the richest. In the reign of King Edward it had land belonging to it to the extent of a hundred and twelve hides. The generality of church endowments were infinitely smaller. Hence we find the church represented in the Tapestry as a structure of considerable consequence.[31]
A tree closes the scene. It is of a species which does not flourish in our modern woods, but which nevertheless grows very abundantly in the MSS. of the tenth and eleventh centuries. Several of similar character may be seen in the Illustrations to Cædmon’s Metrical Paraphrase, executed in the tenth century.[32] These trees, like the lions and leopards of the heralds of a subsequent date, were mere conventional forms, and not intended to be correct representations of the objects indicated.
The next compartment exhibits to us Harold and a companion (one no doubt being used to represent all) entering the sacred structure, with the view of seeking the divine blessing upon their enterprise. As the humility of their posture, when inside, could not be represented, the artist has exhibited them as entering it in a state of semi-genuflexion. In this he follows a classical model. Among the Greeks and Romans the act of adoration was expressed by the artists representing the body inclined slightly forwards, the knees gently bent, and the right hand touching the object of reverence.[33] Over the building which Harold and his companion enter is written the word ECCLESIA.—the church.
It is not a little curious to observe, that in immediate contiguity with the church in which our voyagers offer their devotions, is the festal board at which they comfort their own bowels, and pledge each other in goblets large as their own hearts. The scene is one of a truly Saxon character. Our blue-eyed forefathers never did things by halves, and whenever they sat down at the social table—and they did so as often as convenient—they exhibited a refreshing earnestness.
The scene represents the end of the feast, and hence the drinking horns rather than the platters are brought into requisition. Two of these are magnificent specimens, and remind us of the horn of Ulphe preserved in York Minster, and the Pusey horn. The individuals in the building are evidently pledging each other, and the challenged and the challenger are drinking in turn out of the same cup. Robert de Brunne refers to this practice in the following lines:—
“This is their custom and their gest
When thei are at the ale or fest;
Ilk man that loves, where him think
Sall say wassail, and to him drink.
He that bids, sall say wassail;
The tother sall say again drinkhail.
That said wassail drinkes of the cup,
Kissand his felow he gives it up;
Drinkhail, he says, and drinkes thereof,
Kissand him in bord and skoff.”[34]
Besides horns, semicircular vessels, or mazer cups, appear among the furnishings of the board. These vessels were generally of wood, but occasionally of gold or silver. Our ancestors, who somewhat strangely blended religion with their festivities, not unfrequently had mottos, such as the following, inscribed upon their mazer bowls:—
In the name of the trinitie
Fille the kup and drink to me.