A guide, descriptive and historical, through the Town of ShrewsburyLeighton, W. A. (William Allport)
History
A guide, descriptive and historical, through the Town of Shrewsbury
Leighton, W. A. (William Allport)
Shrewsbury (England) -- Guidebooks
Two exhibitions of £40 a year each are founded for students of Magdalen
College, Cambridge, to which, scholars originally on the hospital
foundation have the preference, or in default of such, two born in
Frankwell, educated at the Free Schools, and having been one year in the
upper form in the head school are most eligible.
The hospital is a plain brick building. The central portion surmounted
by a pediment and clock turret comprises the chapel and school-room, and
the houses of the master and mistress, and in the wings on each side are
the apartments of the hospitallers. A lodge has recently been erected
and the ground in front enclosed from the street by an iron railing.
{176}
We now continue our walk along the undulating eminence, which rises
abruptly from the Severn opposite the Quarry, until we arrive at
KINGSLAND,
a large tract of ground, the common property of the Burgesses, studded
with small enclosures and buildings called “Arbours,” to which the
several incorporated trading companies of the town annually resort in
procession on the second Monday after Trinity Sunday, accompanied by
bands of music, flags, devices emblematical of their crafts, and preceded
by “a king” on horseback, gaily dressed with “crownlets and gauds of rare
device,” either representing the monarch who granted their charters, or
some principal personage of their trades. The Mayor and Corporation,
attended by many of the respectable inhabitants of the place, visit the
several Companies, and partake of refreshments prepared in their
respective arbours:—
“Whilst the merry bells ring round,
And the jocund rebecks sound,
To many a youth and many a maid
Dancing in the chequered shade;
And young and old come forth to play
On this sunshine holiday,
Till the live-long day-light fail.”
The pageant of “Shrewsbury Show” originated, no doubt, in the procession
which took place on Corpus Christi day, one of the most splendid
festivals of the Romish Church. The several Companies, preceded by their
Masters and Wardens, attended the Bailiffs and Corporation, who with the
Abbot and dignified Ecclesiastics of the Abbey, Friaries, and Churches of
the town, clad in their splendid robes, and bearing the Holy Sacrament
under a rich canopy, lighted with innumerable wax tapers, proceeded in
solemn order to a stone cross called the Weeping Cross, without the town.
Here having bewailed their sins, and offered up petitions for a joyous
harvest, they returned in the same order to St. Chad’s church, and
attended the celebration of High Mass. Three days of unbounded jollity
and recreation followed this magnificent festival. On the Reformation of
religion this ceremonious procession was of course discontinued, and the
present single day of relaxation and amusement substituted in its stead
by the authorities of the place.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account