When Henry, Earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII. arrived in England, and marched against Richard III. he was joined at Shrewsbury, by Sir Gilbert Talbot, High Sheriff of the county, who added 4,000 men to his small army. Henry, sensible of the material aid that was thus rendered him, paid Shrewsbury the compliment of visiting it shortly after he reached the throne; again in 1488 when he remained several days; a third time in 1490 when the King, Queen, and Prince Arthur were present at St. George’s Feast, which, strangely enough, was held in St. Chad’s Church, Princess Street; and a fourth time in 1495 when he was sumptuously entertained by the corporation—public men who, like Falstaff, had a hearty and deep affection for sack. Some of the charges for this banquet are most curious and amusing. There was bread which cost £2; there was bread for the Queen 2s. 8d.; there were four oxen, £3 6s. 8d!—there could have been no controversy about the high price of butcher’s meat; there were twenty-four wethers £1 12s.—talk of the “good old times,” what farmer, badly off as he is in these days, would wish them back again?—there were twenty-four bottles of wine for “the King and the Lords in the Castle,” 16s., eightpence a bottle!—there was wine to make Hipocrass for the Queen, 4s.; there was a tun of wine £8, and six hogsheads of ale £2 6s. The bread, oxen, and wethers cost £7 1s. 4d., the ale and wine for the King, the Queen, the guard, the King’s gentlemen, and the minstrels cost £13 15s.! That was a truly English entertainment! The Prince had 10s. spent on bread for his wants, and £4 on “half-a-tun of wine” for his refreshment and enlivenment. Rewards were given to children, footmen, players, and serjeants-at-arms. The total charge was £39 17s. 6d. Do hotel keepers sigh for the return of the ancient days?