"Item, payed to the Morrys-Daunsars and the Mynstrelles, mete and drink at Whitsontide 0 3 4 Payed to them the Sonday after May Day 0 0 20 Pd. to the Painter for painting of their cotes 0 2 8 Pd. to the Painter for 2 doz. of Lyvereys 0 0 20." The following is a curious note drawn from the original accounts of St. Giles', Cripplegate, London:-- "1571. Item, paide in charges by the appointment of the parisshoners, for the settinge forth of a gyaunt morris-dainsers, with vj calyvers and iij boies on horseback, to go in the watche befoore the Lade Maiore uppon Midsomer even, as may appeare by particulars for the furnishinge of same, vj. li. ixs. ixd." [Illustration: MORRIS DANCE, FROM A PAINTED WINDOW AT BETLEY.] We learn from the churchwardens' accounts of Great Marlow that dresses for the Morris-dance were lent out to the neighbouring parishes down to 1629. Some interesting pictures illustrating the usages of bygone ages include the Morris-dance, and gives us a good idea of the costumes of those taking part in it. A painted window at Betley, Staffordshire, has frequently formed the subject of an illustration, and we give one of it. Here is shown in a spirited style a set of Morris-dancers. It is described in Steven's "Shakespeare" (_Henry IV._, Part I.) There are eleven pictures and a Maypole. The characters are as follow:--1, Robin Hood; 2, Maid Marion; 3, Friar Tuck; 4, 6, 7, 10, and 11, Morris-dancers; 5, the hobby-horse; 8, the Maypole; 9, the piper; and 12, the fool. Figures 10 and 11 have long streamers to the sleeves, and all the dancers have bells, either at the ankles, wrists, or knees. Tollett, the owner of the window, believed it dated back to the time of Henry VIII., _c._ 1535. Douce thinks it belongs to the reign of Edward IV., and other authorities share his opinion. It is thought that the figures of the English friar, Maypole, and hobby-horse have been added at a later period. Towards the close of the reign of James I., Vickenboom painted a picture, Richmond Palace, and in it a company of Morris-dancers form an attractive feature. The original painting includes seven figures, consisting of a fool, hobby-horse, piper, Maid Marion, and three dancers. We give an illustration of the first four characters and one of the dancers, from a drawing by Douce, produced from a tracing made by Grose. The bells on the dancer and the fool are clearly shown. We also present a picture of a Whitsun Morris-dance. In the olden time, at Whitsuntide, this diversion was extremely popular. Many allusions to the Morris-dancers occur in the writings of Elizabethan authors. Shakespeare, for example, in Henry V., refers to it thus:-- "And let us doit with no show of fear; No! with no more than if we heard that England Were busied with a Whitsun Morris-dance."