In Unfamiliar England: A Record of a Seven Thousand Mile Tour by Motor of the Unfrequented Nooks and Corners, and the Shrines of Especial Interest, in England; With Incursions into Scotland and Ireland.Murphy, Thos. D. (Thomas Dowler)
History
In Unfamiliar England: A Record of a Seven Thousand Mile Tour by Motor of the Unfrequented Nooks and Corners, and the Shrines of Especial Interest, in England; With Incursions into Scotland and Ireland.
Murphy, Thos. D. (Thomas Dowler)
Great Britain -- Description and travel
Despite our numerous visits to Coventry, each one had some new delight
in store; some bit of curious antiquity that had previously escaped us
was sure to turn up, and once in the heart of the old-world town, one
easily forgets the modern manufacturing city that has grown up around
it. In the immediate vicinity of the famous three spires there clusters
much to detain one and which may well make Coventry the shrine of a far
greater number of pilgrims than it now is. If we enter the grand old
church of St. Michael's, whose slender spire rises three hundred feet
into the blue heavens--for the heavens are blue and cloudless after
the rain of yesterday--we shall be confronted by the noblest interior
of any parish church in England. Its unhampered expanse and lightness
of design intensify its splendid proportions. The fine lancet windows
gleam like clustered jewels, for modern glass of unusually good taste
is intermingled with much dating from Tudor times, which, fortunately,
escaped the wrath of the fanatics. The old caretaker tells us that
the church is "soon to be a cathedral," and if so, it will wear its
distinction fitly indeed.
Near by the church is the guildhall, deservedly known as one of the
finest bits of medieval England now extant. One may not undertake to
catalog its glories, but its contents, as well as its architecture,
will interest even the layman. In its muniment room is a collection
of eleven thousand books and manuscripts of great value, and many
rare old paintings grace the walls of the banqueting hall, which has
an unrivaled open-timber roof. In the oriel window at the head of the
stairs, in the softened light of the antique glass, stands Coventry's
patron saint, Lady Godiva, her shrinking figure beautifully wrought in
white marble. Old arms and armor are scattered about the halls and the
whole atmosphere of the place is that of three hundred years ago.
To be sure, Elizabeth visited the guildhall. That rare royal traveler
did not neglect the opportunity for entertainment and display offered
her by her loyal subjects of Coventry. Nor is the tradition of a
certain exchange of compliment between the men of the old town and
their royal mistress without a touch of realism in its portrayal of
the sharp sting of Elizabeth's wit, not infrequently felt by those
who, knowing her vanity, undertook to flatter her too grossly. For it
is recorded that the citizens of Coventry greeted her majesty in an
address done into doggerel in this wise:
"Wee men of Coventree
Are very glad to see
Yr gracious majestie!
Good Lord, how fair ye bee!"
To which she instantly responded:
"Our gracious majesty
Is very glad to see
Ye men of Coventree.
Good Lord, what fools ye bee!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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