“If any person, of what degree soever, high or low, shall deny or gainsay our sovereign lord King George the fourth, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, defender of the faith, son and next heir to our sovereign lord King George the third, the last king, deceased, to be right heir to the imperial crown of this United Kingdom, or that he ought not to enjoy the same, here is his Champion, who saith that he lieth, and is a false traitor, being ready in person to combat with him, and in this quarrel will adventure his life against him on what day soever he shall be appointed.” Whereupon the Champion threw down his gauntlet; which, having lain a short time upon the ground, the Herald took it up, and delivered it again to the Champion. They then advanced to the middle of the Hall, where the ceremony was again performed in the same manner. Lastly, they advanced to the steps of the throne, where the Herald (and those who preceded him) ascending to the middle of the steps, proclaimed the challenge in the like manner; when the Champion having thrown down his gauntlet and received it again from the Herald, made a low obeisance to the King: whereupon the Cupbearer, having received from the Officer of the Jewel-House, a Gold Cup and Cover filled with Wine, presented the same to the King, and his Majesty drank to the Champion, and sent to him by the Cupbearer the said Cup, which the Champion (having put on his gauntlet) received, and having made a low obeisance to the King, and drank the Wine; after which, making another low obeisance to his Majesty, and being accompanied as before, he departed out of the Hall, taking with him the said cup and cover as his fee. {63} In this inscription Sir Robert Dymoke is, by mistake of the sculptor, styled _knight_ and _baronet_ instead of _knight banneret_. {68} “Vir illustris in consilio, strenuus in prælio, princeps militæ in Angliæ, et in omni regno ornatissimus.” Wever’s Fun. Mem. p. 366. {70} The MS. vol. of Church notes, so often before quoted, contains the following description of this castle:— “The castle of Bullingbrooke was built by William de Romara, Earle of Lincolne, and ennobled by the birth of King Henry the 4th, who from thence took his sirname. Heretofore it was a famous structure, but now gone much to ruine and decay. “The towne standes in a bottome, and the castell in the lowest part of it, compassed about with a large moat fed by springs. It is most accessible on the south-west part, the rest being encompassed by the hills. “As for the frame of the building, it lieth in a square, the area within the walls conteyning about an acre and a half, the building is very uniforme.