The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the WestRogers, W. H. Hamilton (William Henry Hamilton)
History
The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West
Rogers, W. H. Hamilton (William Henry Hamilton)
Great Britain -- History -- Tudors, 1485-1603; Great Britain -- History -- Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485
"Tradition assigns the court-yard of the Blue Boar Inn, as the
scene of this bloody tragedy; but great uncertainty seems always
to have prevailed as to the spot where the mutilated remains of
this unfortunate nobleman were finally deposited. The
frontispiece which is presented to our readers, gives a view of
the kitchen of an inn (the Saracen's Head) in Salisbury, in
which, while some repairs and alterations were being made, a
skeleton, in the condition shewn in the picture, was discovered
beneath the floor of the apartment, which is on a level with the
ground. A view of the appearance of the figure, together with the
apartment, was made and published by Mr. J. M. Cullam--of which
view, with his permission we have taken a copy. These human
remains, are with good reason, supposed to have belonged to that
Duke of Buckingham.
"It is supposed that the head and right arm, after having been
submitted to the personal inspection of the King, then resident
in "the King's house," in the Close, were sent to London to be
affixed to Temple Bar, or exposed on Tower Hill, as was commonly
used to be done in those times. A tomb in the north chantry of
St. Thomas's church, Salisbury, was once supposed to contain the
remains of Buckingham, and another in Britford church, near
Salisbury, obtained a similar reputation; but sufficient evidence
has been found to shew these were only _monuments_ to his memory,
and no indications, leading to probability, have ever appeared,
to point out the place of the sepulture of the Duke of
Buckingham, till the discovery took place represented in our
frontispiece.
"The Saracen's Head Inn (owing to the peculiar contiguity of the
two places) is supposed to have once formed part of the premises
attached to those of the Blue Boar. The grave, therefore, of the
Duke, was probably made only a few yards, possibly feet, from the
spot where he suffered decapitation. The skeleton was found about
eight inches below the surface of the soil; the spinal column
appeared imbedded in the clay, and on taking up some of the
detached vertebræ, they crumbled to dust in the hands. All the
remains were in a like friable condition."
Commenting on this discovery, Sir R. C. Hoare remarks,--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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