“As soon as this magnificent sight was disclosed, every one dropped on his knees, and probably the tinkling of the silver bells attached to the canopy would indicate the moment to all the hundreds of pilgrims in whatever part of the Cathedral they might be. The body of the Saint in the inner iron chest was not to be seen except by mounting a ladder, which would be but rarely allowed. But whilst the votaries knelt around, the Prior, or some other great officer of the monastery, came forward, and with a white wand touched the several jewels, naming the giver of each, and for the benefit of foreigners, adding the French name of each, with a description of its value and marvellous qualities. A complete list of them has been preserved to us, curious, but devoid of general interest. There was one, however, which far outshone the rest, and indeed was supposed to be the finest in Europe. It was the great carbuncle, ruby, or diamond, said to be as large as a hen’s egg or a thumb-nail, and commonly called ‘The Regale of France.’ The attention of the spectators was riveted by the figure of an angel pointing to it. It had been given to the original tomb in the Crypt by Louis VII. of France, when here on his pilgrimage.[3] “The lid once more descended on the golden ark; the pilgrims ‘telling heartily their beads Prayed to St. Thomas in such wise as they could,’ and then withdrew, down the opposite flight of steps from which they had ascended.”--(A. P. S.) Next the pilgrims received the small leaden bottles, or _ampulles_, filled with water mixed with the Martyr’s blood; and in the numerous booths and stalls that lined Mercery Lane, the narrow street running from the Cathedral to the Chequers Inn, bought other memorials of the Pilgrimage, particularly the leaden brooches representing the mitred head of the saint with the legend, _Caput Thomæ_. From the middle of the Fourteenth to the end of the Fifteenth Century a wonder-working well was shown to pilgrims in the Precincts. Among the great visitors to the shrine of the “holy blissful Martyr” were all the English kings from Henry II. to Henry VIII.; Edward I. (1299), who presented the golden crown of Scotland, the crown given by Edward to John Balliol and carried off by him, but recaptured at Dover; Richard and John of England; Louis VII. of France; Isabella, wife of Edward II.; John, the captive king of France; Henry V. on his return from Agincourt; Emmanuel, Emperor of the East in 1400, and Sigismund, Emperor of the West in 1417; and great lords and ladies from England, France and Scotland. The barons of the Cinque Ports, after every coronation, presented the canopies of silk and gold which they held and still hold over the head of the king.