Notes and Queries, Number 233, April 15, 1854: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.Various
History
Notes and Queries, Number 233, April 15, 1854: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.
Various
Questions and answers -- Periodicals
In addition to the Tower, there was in Cromwell's time the fortification of
Baynard's Castle, near Blackfriars, and the city gates were also
fortifications on a small scale; they were rebuilt (St. John's,
Clerkenwell, excepted, which was spared) after the Great Fire, and were
taken down somewhere about 1760. Can any of your readers tell me whether
there is any series of prints extant of the most remarkable buildings which
were destroyed by the fire? There are some few maps, and a print or two
interspersed here and there, in the British Museum; but is there any
regular series of plates? We know that Inigo Jones built a Grecian portico
on to the east end of the Gothic cathedral of old St. Paul's, surmounted
with statues of Charles I., &c.; that the Puritans destroyed a beautiful
conduit at the top of Cheapside; that Sir Thomas Gresham's Exchange was
standing. But among the many city halls burnt down, were there any fine
specimens of architecture, any churches worthy of note? And as Guildhall
was not entirely consumed, what parts of the present edifice belong to the
olden time?
You are doubtless aware that the fire did not extend to St. Giles's
Cripplegate, and that at the back of the church are remains of the old city
walls.
ARDELIO.
* * * * *
BATTLE OF OTTERBURN.
On what authority does Mr. Tytler (_History of Scotland_, vol. iii. pp.
45--53.), in his otherwise very fair account of this celebrated battle,
assert that the Earl of Douglas was a younger man than Hotspur? I have no
doubt that he found it so recorded somewhere, and willingly believed that
his countrymen had prevailed, not only over superior numbers of the enemy,
but also over greater experience on the part of the hostile general; but a
little more investigation would have shown him that the difference of age
lay the other way. Henry Percy, by his own account (in the Scrope and
Grosvenor Controversy), was born in 1366, and was therefore twenty-two when
the battle was fought. I do not know that there is any direct evidence to
Douglas's age, but the following considerations appear to me decisive as to
his being much older than his rival.
1. Froissart's visit to Scotland was undoubtedly prior to 1366 (although
the exact date is not given), and during his stay of fifteen days at
Dalkeith, he saw much of the youthful heir of that castle, the future hero
of Otterburn, and describes him as a "promising youth."
2. Hotspur, in his deposition above mentioned, says that he first bore arms
at the siege of Berwick in 1378; but his antagonist must have commenced his
military career long before, as Froissart mentions him as knighted on the
occasion of the battle fought a few days after the surrender of that place,
between Sir Archibald Douglas and Sir Thomas Musgrave; none but kings' sons
were knighted in childhood in those days, or without undergoing a long
previous probation in the inferior grades of chivalry.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account