It having been intimated to the king that upon the following day the triennial perambulation of the liberties and franchises of the city of Dublin was to take place; and His Majesty having been humbly solicited to witness the same, most graciously gave his consent. The riding of the franchises, or "riding the fringes," as popularly called, was in fact a most brilliant and truly imposing public spectacle, not to be equalled, and quite surpassing, every other pageant then or since known in Europe.
CHAPTER XII.
Prætexta, et trabeæ, fasces, lectica, tribunal. Quid, si vidisset Prætorem curribus altis Enstantem, et medio sublimem in pulvere circi In tunica Jovis, et pictæ sarrana ferentem Ex humeris aulæa togæ, magnæque coronæ Tantum orbem, quanto cervix non sufficit ulla?
Juvenal, Sat. x.
----Fasces, chains, litters, purple gowns. What! had he seen, in his triumphal car, Amid the dusty cirque conspicuous far, The prætor perched aloft, superbly drest In Jove's proud tunic, with a trailing vest Of Tyrian tapestry, and o'er him spread A crown too bulky for a mortal head?
Gifford's Juvenal.
Peradventure, kind reader, thou art no lover of history or chronicles, no admirer of antiquarian research, and art withal (forefend us!) in thine heart a determined foe to every matter and circumstance pertaining to the "dark, backward, and abysm of time." If such, gentle reader, be the materials of which thou art made, pause fair and softly, if it so beseemeth thee, ere thou venturest again to open this volume, from perusal of which, in sober seriousness, we would make bold to dissuade thee, courteous reader! lest perchance the discussion might "hurt thy health, and prejudice thy conscience," as the sage Sancho Panza hath said of yore.
The day appointed for the display of the grand and solemn pageant of the perambulation of the liberties and franchises of the city of Dublin had arrived. This event only occurred every third year; and upon this august occasion was to be witnessed by the royal eye of the princely James. The arrangement of the procession and of its various details presented the most grand and magnificent spectacle ever witnessed in the Irish metropolis. It was a custom so singular, so unlike any procession or pageant known in any other realm, that when it did occur the nobility and gentry from every near and foreign land crowded to Dublin to behold the splendid array of this unique and magnificent spectacle. Upon this triennial occurrence the interest was most highly increased, and the stately pomp and splendour of the pageant aided and augmented by the cheering presence of the sovereign.
The grand cavalcade in slow and solemn measure advanced, preceded by a noble troop of heavy dragoons;—we mention heavy dragoons distinctly to mark to the reader's attention the distant period of time of which we here speak; for at that period light dragoons were unknown in the British service. The enlivening trumpets rent the air; meanwhile the military bands played at intervals loyal and national airs; banners waving on high, and the various flags and ensigns attached to the numerous vessels in the river, all undulating in the breeze; while around and upon every side the genius of ancient chivalry seemed to preside and conduct the procession. Sir John Ottrington, Lord Mayor of the city of Dublin, came in great pomp, pride, and circumstance of civic distinction, in his magnificent state coach; his dignified head was arrayed in a full flowing peruke, upon which much care and caution had been studiously expended for its adornation; and that day witnessed good-man shaver, Bob Basin to wit, the city barber, a proud and happy man, who seemed all-sufficient to enjoy the triumph of the day, in which, as he modestly conceived, he had done "the State some service, and they knew it." This most formidable bushy specimen of a peruke was cumberously surmounted by the bulky civic crown, which was in sooth unwieldy and most unbecoming in its conformation and appearance; indeed not dissimilar to that worn by the Herald King at Arms upon the high ceremonial of a coronation. The Lord Mayor was attired in full court dress, over which was worn a flowing scarlet gown, and around his neck was suspended the splendid gold enamelled collar which had been most graciously presented to the city of Dublin by Charles the Second, of chaste and pious memory! It must not forsooth be disguised that the costume was as cumbersome as it was unbecoming; yet still the ladies all unanimously agreed in the opinion that Sir John Ottrington was "a very pretty fellow in his day;" a most portly personage he was, who would have become any costume, civil or military, nay, even the hodiern foppery of an English Field-Marshal—tags, bobs, cordons, trappings, ribands, feathers, and so forth. However, had any modern taken a glance at a similar figure, he must assuredly have been incontinently reminded of his facetious old acquaintance, Lord Grizel, in the inimitable and humorous burletta of O'Hara's Tom Thumb!
All the accessoirés of city regalia were duly and circumspectly displayed at this truly splendid pageant. The ponderous city mace was regilt and richly burnished, which shone conspicuous and refulgent from the sinister window of the civic coach; while from the dexter side gently undulated, in transitu, the mayoral wand, like the caduceus of Mercury, imposing peace and silence on the dense and congregated multitude.
The sword of state was carried in the van, while the silver baton was borne by a corporate officer in the rere, attended by the city battle-axe guards, who followed the state coach two by two, while others of the guard flanked it, and the remaining number closed the procession. It is but just to say, that all the civic regalia, in due pomp, and circumstance, and order, were displayed conformable to the ancient, laudable, and loyal usages of this most enlightened corporation.