Rambles in an Old City Part 8

"A cheseble, of white diaper, powered with stars of gold.

"A pax bread of timber.

"A little chest, with charter of King Henry V.

"A seal of silver, belonging to the fraternity, with an image of St.

George."

Another charter of King Henry VI:-

"Two cloaths, of the martyrdom of St. George.

"One gown of scarlet serge, for St. George.

"A coat armour, beaten with silver, for St. George.

"Four banners, with the arms of St. George, for the trumpeters.

"One banner, with the image of St. George.

"Two shafts for the banners, and one for the pennon.

"A chaplet, for the George.

"Two white gowns for the henchmen.

"Three peyntrells, three croopers, three reins, three head-stalls of red cloth, fringed and lined, with buckles, gilt, with the arms of St. George thereon.

"Eight torches, _a dragon_, a pair of gloves, of plate.

"A sword, with a scabbard covered with velvet, the bosses gilt.

"One russet gown, flowered and powdered with velvet spots.

"A black cheseble, with an alb, with the arms of the Lord Bardolph, by him given.

"Lastly, one ma.s.s book, price twelve marks.

"Also it is ordained, that the procession be done in copes, and all the brethren to have hoods of sanguine, and a reed or wand in his hand; and persons chosen to be aldermen, that every other of them have a red cope, and every one a white cope; the next year shall be clad in scarlet gowns, and parti-coloured hoods, scarlet and white damask, on the forfeiture of the payment of 13_s._ 4_d._; and every commoner to be clad in a long gown, red and white, on the forfeiture of 6_s._ 8_d._; and every commoner to ride to the Wood (St. William's shrine) on St. George's day, by the rules accustomed.

"Also that a priest be paid a salary, amounting to eleven pounds ten s.h.i.+llings.

"Persons appointed to provide hoods for the aldermen and commoners, to wear with their liveries at every entertainment hereafter."

The manner of choosing persons to be members of the society, was thus, in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of King Henry VIII.:-

"The mayor chose three persons for the common council; the alderman chose three other persons for the same; these six chose other six for the same; and these twelve persons, with the advice of the four feast-makers, chose two feast-makers for the next year."

In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of King Henry VIII., A.D. 1545, at the general dissolution of the abbeys, monasteries, convents, friaries, &c., the large and beautiful nave of the church of the Black Friars was converted into a common hall for the mayors, sheriffs, citizens, and commonality, with all their guilds and fraternities, to meet and hold their annual feasts in; but princ.i.p.ally the guild of St. George, who expended two hundred and ten pounds upon its improvement at that time.

"Upon inviting persons to the feast, which was to be done by the surveyors at the Whitsun holidays, all that promised to dine at the feast paid their money down to the feast-maker beforehand.

"In the first year of the reign of King Henry VI., all fraternities, guilds, processions, &c., being thought useless, and tending to promote superst.i.tion, were set aside, and by virtue of the act pa.s.sed, judged and deemed in the actual possession of the sovereign.

"In the third year of the reign of King Edward VI., it was further enacted, and agreed, that the twenty persons, hitherto known as the St. George's a.s.sembly, should be henceforth called the a.s.sembly of the feast of the mayor, sheriffs, citizens, and common council of the city; and twenty persons were appointed to manage the guild feast, now called the feast of the mayor, sheriffs, &c. &c. The feast-makers to provide a supper also on the guild-day evening, and the ordering of the charge to be referred to the mayor, sheriffs, &c.

&c. In the fourth year of this reign, the goods of the company were appraised, and valued at 7 11_s._ 8_d._

"In the first year of the reign of Queen Mary, 1552, it was agreed, that there should be neither George nor Margaret on the next feast day in the procession; but the dragon to come and show himself as in other years.

"April 22d, second of Queen Mary, the laws since Henry VIII.

repealed, and the guild to be kept as before.

"A.D. 1561; cordwainers admitted to office."

Innumerable other entries betray the various changes of arrangement and regulation; but we pa.s.s on to

THE MANNER OF THE PROCESSION ON THE GUILD-DAY.

"About eight o'clock in the morning, the whole body of the court, St.

George's company, and the livery, met at the new elect's, where they were entertained with sugar rolls and sack; from whence they all proceeded with the newly elected mayor to the old mayor's, in this order; the court first, St. George's company next, and the livery last. At the mayor's they had a breakfast provided for them, of pasties and roast beef, and boiled legs of mutton; from whence, in inverted order, (livery, St. George's company, and court), they proceeded to the Cathedral Church, where a sermon was preached, always by the minister of the parish in which the mayor resided; and he was the chaplain during the mayoralty.

"When the sermon was ended, the court had their horses taken, finely caparisoned, which they mounted; and at the entrance into the Royal Free School, which was curiously adorned with greens and flowers, in a bower, stood one of the lads thereto belonging, who was ready against the new mayor should come up, to address himself to him in an oration of Latin, as did several others, in different places, on horseback. As the court proceeded with their robes of justice, the alderman in their scarlet, and the sheriffs in their violet gowns, with each a white wand in his hand, with trumpet sounding, the city music playing along the streets, with the standard of England carried before them. Then followed St. George's standard and company, supported by very tall stout men, who had dresses suitable and proper for them; in this manner they proceeded, though but slowly, occasioned by their stopping several times in different places, to hear the speeches which were then spoken by the free-school boys, as before mentioned.

"Being arrived at the guildhall, in the market, the new-elected mayor had his robe of justice put on him, the gold chain placed about his neck, the key of the gates delivered to him according to custom: he was then sworn; after which he generally made a speech to the citizens. The whole body then remounted their horses, and proceeded to the New Hall (or St. Andrew's Hall) to the dinner. As soon as the court and their ladies, with the rest of the company, were seated, the dinner was served up first to the mayor's table, next at St.

George's, and then, as fast as they could, all the rest of the tables were plentifully filled with great variety of all kinds of good eatables, but little or no butcher's meat, but as to pasties, tarts, pickles, lobsters, salmon, sturgeon, hams, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and pigeons, in great plenty, even to profusion; and these all served up in order, and besides what beer every one chose to drink, either small or strong, they had what quant.i.ty they pleased, besides a bottle of wine, which every man had delivered to him to drink after dinner.

As soon as dinner was over, St George's company looked into their book to see for the names of such as were eligible to be chosen as feast-makers; and when they had selected four persons, they walked round the hall to look for them; and no sooner was one of them espied, than he had a garland of roses and greens thrown over his head, and was congratulated upon being chosen as feast-maker for the next year. If any of the four were absent, it sufficed to send the garland to them at their own houses, to make the appointment sure. A pecuniary fine attended a refusal to serve.

After the choice of feast-makers was over, the "banquets" were given to the ladies, and it growing towards evening the whole body rose from their seats and waited upon the new mayor home, where all were again entertained with sugar rolls and sack; and then concluded the day by seeing the old mayor to his home, where they remained and drank as long as it was proper.

The great guns were discharged many times during the day.

The whole street, sometimes the whole parish, in which the mayor resided was decorated in the handsomest manner; the streets were all strewn with rushes and planted with trees, variety of "garlands, s.h.i.+p, antients, and streamers in abundance." The outside of the houses were hung with tapestry and pictures.

"The dragon (carried by a man in the body) gave great diversion to the common people; they always seemed to fear it much when it was near them, but looked upon it with pleasure when at a little distance; it was so contrived as to spread its wings and move its head. As there was always a mult.i.tude of people to see the procession, it was necessary to have several persons to keep them from coming too near, or breaking the ranks; for this purpose there were six men called Whifflers, somewhat like the Roman gladiators, who were neatly dressed, and who had the art of brandis.h.i.+ng their very sharp swords in the greatest crowds with such dexterity as to harm no one, and of a sudden, to toss them high in the air and catch them again by the hilts: to this purpose also a man or two in painted canvas coats and vermilion red and yellow cloth caps, adorned with cats' tails and small bells, went up and down to clear the way; their weapons were only small wands. These were called or known by the name of d.i.c.k Fools; even they had their admirers, but it was among the children and mobility."

The above curious and quaint description of the St. George's Company and the procession, is an extract from Mackerell's "History of Norwich,"

published by the Archaeological Society. From the same source the further particulars added are collected.

It would appear that the company, enjoying so many powers and privileges, grew insolent and overbearing, and were wont to insult with impunity, and tyrannize unmercifully over the pockets, purses, and freedom of their fellow-citizens, until at length an individual named Clarke, an alderman, to whom they had shown much discourtesy and injustice, by considerable effort succeeded in bringing their career as a body to an end. Their charter, books, regalia, and all that belonged to them were given up to the Corporation, and arrangements made at the same time for the mayor's procession and rejoicings upon a new footing. The dragon, the fools, and whifflers, were continued and paid by the Corporation, but instead of the St. George's company, the sixty common councilmen attended upon the newly elected mayor on horseback in their gowns. The mayor was to make a guild feast at his own charge, 150 being given him towards the expenses of his mayoralty.

"Thus (using the words of the writer) fell this honourable tyrannical company, who had lorded it over the rest of the citizens, by laws of their own making, for an hundred and fourscore years; had made all ranks of men submit to them; neither had they any regard to the meanness of persons' circ.u.mstances, by which they had been the ruin of many families, and had occasioned much rancour and uneasiness every annual election of common-councilmen, when the conquerors always put the vanquished on to the livery; thereby delivering them over to the mercy of St. George, who was sure to have a pluck at them as they a.s.sembled and met together; until this gentleman alderman Clarke had the courage to oppose and withstand them; and having taken a great deal of pains and time, at last effected this great work, and brought this insolent company to a final period; for which good deed he ought to have his name transmitted to the latest posterity."

And now it behoves us to inquire who was St. George? Shall we be content to hear of his mighty prowess, his renowned sanct.i.ty, and his eminent exaltation as patron saint of our country, and the most famous guilds or fraternities that have ever flourished in Christendom, and know nothing of his origin, history, or reality? Shall we subscribe to the heretical belief that St. George was neither more nor less than a soldier in the army of Diocletian, who rewarded his great military exploits by cutting off his head for advocating the cause of the Christians, and that therefore he was elevated into the calendar of saints and martyrs in the early church? Shall we deny that he ever went to war with an insatiable dragon, who, having eaten up all the sheep and cattle in the neighbourhood, was fed upon fair youths and maidens "from a city of Libya, called Silene, and that he did mortally wound the said dragon and led him through the streets of the city," as if it had been a meek beast and debonnaire? or shall we give ear to the suggestion that St. George is but another name for St Michael, who is always represented in combat with the dragon? To whatever belief we may incline, the fact of the antiquity of his claims upon Christendom for universal reverence cannot be disputed. Long before he became the patron saint of England, many eastern nations had adopted him in the same capacity; and to his personal and miraculous interference in protecting Richard Cur de Lion in his conflict with Saladin, are we to attribute his elevation to that dignity in this country? Many orders of knighthood besides that of England have been distinguished by his name in Austria, Bavaria, Burgundy, Montesa, Ravenna, Genoa, and Rome. The most authentic accounts that have come down to us of the individual history and mortal career of this semi-fabulous personage, resolve themselves into a few leading facts. He was a saint of high repute in the eastern church at a very early date, a Cappadocian of good family, and a commander of note in the army of Diocletian, and that he suffered martyrdom at Raniel, on the 23d of April, the day on which his festival was kept. He is mentioned in old Saxon homilies as an ealder-man (or earl) of Cappadocia, and is mentioned in a MS. Martyrologic.u.m Saxonic.u.m, in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, as Georius n.o.bilis Martyr. The Greeks called him the "Great Martyr." The Coptic Arabic MSS. mention him as of Cappadocia; Constantine inst.i.tuted a religious order of knighthood, under the t.i.tle of St. George, on which was borne a red cross; he is also said to have erected a church near his tomb in Palestine, and others in his honour at Constantinople. The red cross, usually attributed to St. George for an armorial bearing, was possibly adopted from Constantine's order of knighthood. The figure of the saint armed and on horseback, expresses his martial character; and the dragon by many is conceived to be a symbol of Paganism; the figure of the young lady sometimes introduced also is regarded as a type of some city or province imploring aid, or may possibly have been intended to memorialize the rescue of the damsel, whom he is reported so gallantly to have saved from destruction. There is a separate legend of a St. Margaret and a dragon related by Mrs. Jameson, which says that the governor of Antioch, captivated by the beauty of the fair Margaret, who inclined not to his highness, shut her up in a dungeon, and subjected her to all kinds of torments, and that during her imprisonment the devil, in the form of a dragon, appeared ready to devour her, but she held up the cross and he fled. Many old prints represent the dragon lying peaceably down, and Margaret with the cross standing by unharmed. An old church at Canterbury is dedicated to this Saint Margaret. Whether or not there exists any connection between her and the heroine who usually is a.s.sociated with St. George, we know not.

We conclude this speculative inquiry with a curious extract from a work by Dr. Sayer, a translation of a fragment annexed to the Vatican MS. of Olfrid's Gospels, some say written in the fourth century:-

George went to judgement With much honour From the market-place, And a great mult.i.tude following him, He proceeded to the Rhine {223} To perform the sacred duty, Which then was highly celebrated, And most acceptable to G.o.d.

He quitted the kingdoms of the earth, And he obtained the kingdom of heaven.