And again, in the Prologue to "_A Wife for a Month_," which was the sole production of FLETCHER, we have the following lines on the same subject-- "Our noble friend, who writ this, bid me say, He had rather dress upon a triumph day My Lord Mayor's feast, and make him sauces too, Sauce for each several month; nay, further go, He had rather build up those invincible pies And castle custards,[18] that affright all eyes, Nay, eat 'em and their artillery-- Than dress for such a curious company One single dish."---- BEAUMONT and FLETCHER--Vol. VIII. p. 137.] [Footnote 18: The ingenuity of ancient cooks in raising pastry fortifications has been already noticed. In the text we have not only fortresses of paste, but castles made of custards, furnished with eatable artillery, on a triumph-day, that is one of the greatest festivities at the Mansion-house. Another similar device of march-pane is mentioned in "Witts and Fancies"--1595, 4to.: "At a nobleman's banquet a ship of march-pane stuff was set upon the board, wherein was all manner of fishes of the like stuff." At a banquet given by Cardinal Birague to Henry III. King of France, his queen, and mother, "A collation was there served upon two long tables, consisting of between eleven and twelve hundred dishes composed of confectionary and dried sweetmeats of various kinds, constructed in the form of castles, pyramids, and other elegant figures."--WRAXALL'S "_History of France_," vol. II. 449.] CHAPTER VIII.--VOL. I., p. 200. "_Primero._" This game is noticed by SHAKESPEARE, in "_The Merry Wives of Windsor_:"-- "I never prospered since I foreswore myself at primero." And likewise in Henry VIII.:-- "And left him at primero, with the Duke of Suffolk." In BEAUMONT and FLETCHER also, mention is made of this celebrated and once fashionable game--in vol. II. p. 185, in "_The Scornful Lady_," and likewise in "_The nice Valour_," in vol. IV. p. 273. Primero too is noticed in STRUTT'S "_Sports and Pastimes of the People of England_," p. 291. There is a poem by the celebrated Sir John Harrington, the translator of _Ariosto_, which affords an admirable illustration of the game: it is entitled, "_The Story of Marcus' Life at Primero_." But as it amounts to upwards of forty lines, it is considered as too long for insertion here. CHAPTER XII.--VOL. I., p. 287. "_Riding the Franchises._" Extract from Harris's "_History of the City of Dublin_," (now become a very scarce work,) chap. VI. p. 114:--