“The Mayr of london was Redy bown,
With all ye craftes of that Cite
Alle clothyd in red, thorugh out ye town
A semely sight it was to se:
To ye black Hethe thanne rod he,
And spredde ye way on euery syde;
Xxti Ml. men myght wel se
Oure comely kynge for to abyde.
Wot ze right well that thus it was
Gloria tibi Trinitas.
The kyng from Eltham sone he nam,
Hyse presoners with hym dede brynge;
And to ye Blake Heth ful sone he cam,
He saw london with oughte lesynge.
‘Heill Ryall london,’ seyde our kyng,
‘Crist ye kepe from euere care!’
And thanné zaf it his blessyng
And preied to Crist that it well fare.
Wot ze right well that thus it was,
Gloria tibi Trinitas.
The Mair hym mette with moche honour
With alle ye Aldermen with oughte lesyng;
‘Heyl,’ seide ye Mair, ‘thou conquerour,
The grace of God with the doth spryng:
Heil Duk, Heil Prynce, Heil comely Kyng;
Most worthiest Lord vndir Crist ryall,
Heil rulere of Remes with oughte lettyng,
Heil flour of knyghthood now ouer all.’
Wot ze right well that thus it was,
Gloria tibi Trinitas.
‘Here is come youre Citee all
Zow to worchepe, and to magnyfye;
To welcome zow bothe gret and small,
With zow euere more to lyue and dye.’
‘Graunt mercy Sires,’ oure kyng ’gan say,
And toward london he ’gan ryde;
This was vp on Seynt Clementys day
They welcomed hym on euery side.
Wot ze right well that thus it was,
Gloria tibi Trinitas.
The lordes of Fraunce thei ’gan say then,
‘Jngelond is nought as we wene;
Jt farith by these Englyssh men,
As it doth by a swarm of bene:
Jngeland is lik an hyve with jnne,
There fleeres makith vs full evell to wryng,
Tho ben there arrowes sharpe and kene,
Thorugh oure harneys they do vs styng.’
Wot ze right well that thus it was,
Gloria tibi Trinitas.
To london Brygge thanne rood oure kyng,
The processions there they mette hym ryght;
‘Ave Rex Anglorum,’ thei ’gan syng,
‘Flos Mundi,’ thei seide, ‘goddys knyght.’
To london Brigge whan he com right,
Vp on the gate ther stode on hy
A gyaunt, that was full grym of myght,
To teche the Frensshe men curtesy.
Wot ze right well that thus it was,
Gloria tibi Trinitas.
And at the Drawe brigge that is faste by,
Two toures there were vp pight;
An Antelope and a Lyon stondyng hym by,
Above them Seynt George oure lady’s knyght.
Be syde hym many an Angell bright,
‘Benedictus’ thei ’gan synge;
‘Qui venit in nomine domini, goddys knyght’
Gracia Dei with zow doth sprynge.’
Wot ze right well that thus it was,
Gloria tibi Trinitas.”
“Thus finish Lydgate’s verses, so far as they relate to these Pageants on London Bridge; but as they tell us nothing of the Royal display upon that occasion, let me remark to you, that we are told, in an Heraldical Manuscript in the Harleian Collection, No. 6079, folio 24 a, that ‘At the cominge in of Kinge Henry the Vth out of Fraunce into Englande, his coursers were trapped wth trappers of partye colours: scilicet, one syde blewe velute embroudered wth Antellopes sittinge vpon stayres wth longe flowers springinge betwixt their horns.’ Which trappings were, by the King’s order, subsequently given to the Abbey of Westminster for the vestry, where they were converted into copes and other Ecclesiastical habits.”
“But before you quite shut up your account of these Pageants, my good Mr. Postern,” said I, as he came to a close, “let me say a word or two, touching those Royal supporters, which sat upon the columns on London Bridge; since there are many curious little points of Antiquity to be met with in the history of Heraldic bearings. The first use of an Antelope as a supporter to the King’s Arms, is doubtfully hinted at in a Manuscript in the Harleian Library in the British Museum, No. 2259, as having been so ancient as the reign of King Richard II.; though we are much more certain that King Henry IV. entertained a Pursuivant named Antelope, and probably adopted such an animal as his dexter supporter, from the family of Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex, into which he married. The instance of a Lion also appearing as a supporter, is mentioned in Gough’s ‘Sepulchral Monuments,’ which you have already quoted, volume ii., part ii., page 68, from the information of John Charles Brooke, Esq., Somerset Herald, who says that when Henry V. became King, he bore on the dexter side of his Arms, a Lion rampant guardant, and on the sinister, an Antelope. We read also that he bore an Antelope and a Swan, and two Antelopes; and you may see all these excellently drawn and described in Mr. Thomas Willement’s ‘Regal Heraldry,’ London, 1821, 4to., pages 21, 28, 30, 33, and 36.”
“Many thanks to you, Mr. Geoffrey Barbican,” recommenced my visitor, “for this most opportune display of your Heraldical learning: and, in returning to London Bridge, I must observe, that as all history is but a record of the evanescent scenes of human life, it must, of course, be formed of all those strong lights and shades which are so very conspicuous in its original; and hence arises that striking contrast of events, which so frequently fills us with solemnity and awe. We retire, perchance, from a banquet to a prison, or from a triumph to an execution; at least, such is the nature of the next event which I find for our Chronicles, for the Towers of London Bridge usually claimed a portion in most of the victims of the axe and the scaffold. The principles of the Lollards, as they were invidiously called, were then rapidly spreading; and Sir John Oldcastle, commonly called the good Lord Cobham, was one of the most active leaders in the religious reform commenced by Wickliffe: as he was not only at a very considerable cost in collecting and transcribing his works, which he caused to be widely distributed, but he also maintained many of his disciples as itinerant preachers throughout the country. Oldcastle had, however, escaped from the power of the Clergy who had condemned him as a heretic, and confined him in the Tower; when King Henry being persuaded by them that he headed 20,000 Lollards for his destruction, he was attainted, and a large reward offered for his head: in confirmation of which Stow informs us, in his ‘Annals,’ page 352, that on the ‘viii day of October’—1416—‘was a Parchment maker of Trill-melle Streete drawne, hanged, and headed, for that he had harboured Sir John Oldcastle:’ and the Harleian Chronicle, No. 565, page 77 a, adds, that his head ‘was set upon London Bridge for tretory.’ Another obscure person, most probably concerned in the same unhappy society, is also recorded as coming to a similar end: for, ‘John Benet, Woolman,’ says Stow, in the place I last cited, ‘who had in London scattered sceduls full of sedition, was drawne, hanged, and beheaded on Michaelmas-day:’ and the Harleian Chronicle adds, that his head was also fixed upon London Bridge.