Next in succession advanced a triumphal car, or caravan, drawn by six beautiful black steeds, covered with handsome nets, the coachman and postillion in rich splendid liveries. Within the carriage was exhibited a handsome printing-press, with two pressmen and a compositor at work. A hackney author was occupied in writing for and correcting the press. A printer's devil was busily at work; and a painter engaged at his eazle, all in meet and proper costume. The printing-press was richly and appropriately ornamented: in the front stood a figure of Mercury holding a poem, copies of which were struck off, and distributed among the spectators; it was in praise of the noble art of printing, in which honourable mention was made of the founders and benefactors of this glorious invention. Nor were the following distinguished worthies forgotten:—Wynkin de Worde, Caxton, Pynson, Kerver, Simon Vostre, Theodore Martin, Jean Petit, Plantin, the two Elzivers, &c. The printer's devil published impressions of the poem among the congregated multitude.
The masters and wardens of the guild, splendidly arrayed in appropriate costume, attended by kettle-drums mounted on horseback, the performers dressed in Turkish habits, and attended by grooms in Tartar habits, who led the horses, that were most splendidly caparisoned, next came on. They were followed by persons on foot bearing long silver maces; at intervals they obtained copies from the press of verses laudatory of King James, which were distributed among the people. Four copies were struck off on white satin, and sent into the castle to be presented to King James; the verses were by Waller and Lord Lansdowne; at receiving of which King James seemed most highly gratified. They were as follows:—
"Bred in the camp, fam'd for his valour young; At sea successful, vigorous, and strong; His fleet, his army, and his mighty mind, Esteem and rev'rence thro' the world do find." [46]
"Tho' trained in arms, and learned in martial arts, Thou choosest not to conquer men but hearts; Expecting nations for thy triumphs wait, But thou prefer'st the name of just to great." [47]
Having perused these lines, King James most sweetly smiled, and with his accustomed gracious condescension, gracefully approached the centre window of the presence-chamber; he condescendingly looked down, and most courteously bowed to the corporation of Printers, his face illumined with a smile peculiar to himself, and in a most king-like attitude he gracefully waved his hand. Then addressing the Duke of Tyrconnel, who, with the other nobles of the household, surrounded His Majesty, the king was pleased to say, "I perceive your Grace's countrymen are tam Marti, quam Mercurio—they are courteous as they are brave." The Duke lowly and respectfully bowed his acquiescence to the observation.
The proud pageant having closed, all the troops assembled presented arms, lowered their banners; while drum, trumpet, and kettle-drum struck up the anthem of "God save the King!"
The Duke of Tyrconnel fully explained to the king the name, description, and detail of each guild as it made its entrance and exit. The duke had taken some pains to prepare himself to be the royal Cicerone of the day; and, in sooth, as King James remarked to him, like my Lord Hamlet, he was "as good as a chorus."
The number of saddle, led, and draft-horses, produced in this splendid pageant were the best bred and most beautiful horses in the kingdom, being selected, by the courtesy and permission of the noble proprietors, from the most valuable studs the country then could boast of. The richness of the horse furniture, housings, trappings, harness, &c., quite surpasses description. Never were present upon any former occasion so many foreigners of distinction; and exclusive of those immediately attendant upon the king, the nobility and gentry crowded to Dublin, as did the noblesse of foreign realms, to witness, whenever it occurred, this magnificent spectacle, which could not be equalled in any other part of Europe.
King James was quite enraptured at the brilliant display, and addressing the Duke of Tyrconnel, said:—"Albeit I have sojourned for a length of time at my court of St. Germains, and have, in sooth, resided in the country of pomp, spectacle, and pageantry, yet assuredly never have I there witnessed such a scene of splendour as I have beheld this day, either at Versailles or at Paris!—It has given me great satisfaction truly, and I must observe that I consider that the taste, pomp, and splendour of the pageant of to-day has rarely, if ever, been surpassed."
At night-fall the waits were in attendance at the upper castle-gate to serenade the royal James. As the usage has become obsolete, it is necessary to acquaint the reader that WAITS were a band of itinerant nocturnal musicians, who perambulated the streets, singing, and playing on different instruments, at different houses, where they addressed the master or mistress of the mansion; and at Christmas-tide they were usually most alert in their avocation, when they were tolerably sure of an honorarium. The Irish waits resembled the musiqué ambulanté of France. In England waits are very ancient. It is now about thirty-eight or forty years since this custom has wholly ceased in the city of Dublin. The Irish waits were always attended by a man who bore a long pole, from which was suspended a spherical illuminated lantern, which they called their moon; with Falstaff they might indeed say, "Let us be gentlemen of the shade—minions of the moon!" They sung and accompanied the following verses to the air of "God save the King!"