[112] Henry in 1519 tried to procure horses from Italy, but was informed by Alfonso of Ferrara that there, too, the breed was decayed (Cal. S. P. vol. iii. part i. 171). Henry gave as much as £35, a great sum, for his own horses.
[113] Cal. S. P. 1514. 4902.
[114] Ibid. 1513. 4375.
[115] Stow. Mortar is the German meerthier, sea-beast. So other pieces were called after reptiles and monsters and birds,—serpentines, dragons, basilisks, falcons, culverins (couleuvrines), etc.
[116] See Cal. S. P., Dom., Addenda (1561-1579), pp. 78-84.
[117] Cal. S. P., Dom., Addenda (1566-1579), pp. 111-113, 115-116, 121-123, 126-127, 129.
[118] One sentence gives a clue to Henry VIII.'s long discouragement of firearms. "Is not the safety of the country worth more than the saving of a few wild-fowl?"
[119] Stow.
[120] The word was borrowed from the French casaque, the regular term for a livery-coat. Facings were soon added. Cal. S. P., Dom. (1595), p. 22.
[121] Cal. S, P., Dom. (1581-1590), p. 16.