Where breath of westerne windes may calmely yield content, Where casements neede not opened be, where ayre is never pent, Where shade may serue for shryne and yet the sunne at hande, Where beautie neede not quake for cold, ne yet with sunne be tande.1 The assembly is to be held at noon, and as the hour approaches, gaunt serving-men, clad in their master's blue coats and wearing his badge on their sleeves, appear on the scene, leading heavily laden pack-horses, more hungrylooking than themselves. First comes the butler, whose jade carried baskets, packed with black-jacks of ale and flagons of wine. Setting these to cool in the running brook, the butler spreads on the levellest portion of the turf a large linen cloth, on which he places some score of trenchers and Next come knives. William cook,' and his men, and as they unlade their pack-horses they afford appetising glimpses of cold capons, loins of veal, neats' tongues powdered, sausages and other savoury knacks and kickshaws, evidently provided for the entertainment of a numerous company. The explanation of the scene is soon given. Master Petre, a man of note in these parts, had just brought home 6 The book from which these lines are quoted is an important work, referred to in these pages as the Noble Arte. It is entitled, The Noble Arte of Venerie or Hunting, wherein is handled and set out the Vertues, Nature, and Properties of fiuetene sundrie Chaces together, with the order and maner how to Hunte and kill eueryone of them. Translated and collected for the pleasure of all noblemen and gentlemen, out of the best approued authors, which haue written anything concerning the same: and reduced into such order and proper termes as are used here, in this noble Realme of England.' The Noble Arte was published in 1575 by Christopher Barker, and is usually bound with Turbervile's Booke of Faulconrie, published by Barker in the same year. The name of the translator and collector is not given. I have in note on The Book of Sport given some reasons for doubting the authorship of Turbervile, to whom it has been ascribed. The volume contains many curious woodcuts, several of which have been reproduced by Mr. Hedley Peek, in a series of articles in the Badminton Magazine, entitled 'Old Sporting Prints.' It also contains a number of poetical effusions contributed by George Gascoigne, the author of the earliest English satire (The Steel Glas, 1576), to whom Hallam assigns a respectable place among the Elizabethan versifiers.' a fair and wealthy bride, the Lady Katherine, and the hunting was proclaimed in their honour. The Justice had insisted that none of the pomp and circumstance of the noble art of venery should be omitted. For Master Petre had travelled much, and Master Shallow would not have him say that a Gloucestershire Justice yielded to any in due observance of the ceremonies of the chase. On ordinary occasions no such formalities were observed. When the Justice rode a-hunting it was usually after dinner, but when Master Slender had his will, the welkin rang from early dawn with sound of horn and cry of hounds, and merry shouts of 'hunt's up' chased away the lingering shades of night. Unwillingly, and with no expectation of a day's hunting after his mind, Abraham Slender proceeded to carry out his kinsman's behests, and to organise a solemn hunting, according to the use of princes and honourable persons. After all, the hounds were the Justice's, and he must be obeyed. He might have consoled himself with the reflections that in matters of the chase, if the master proposes he certainly does not dispose, and that the unexpected generally occurs. But Master Slender, as we know, had not sufficient philosophy to keep him from quarrelling at a bear-baiting, and his temper to-day is none of the sweetest. The hour of noon drew near as Perkes and his companion reached the place of the assembly. The clatter of hoofs and sound of voices announced the approach of a large party from the direction of the Hall. The Justice led the way. "Good morrow, good morrow, honest neighbour Perkes, thou art welcome, thou and thy friend. Nay, keep a good heart! for if judgment was given against thee at the sessions, 'twas no fault of thine, or of thy suit. Thou hast been always a good neighbour, and a true friend of the deer. Thy turn will" The rest of the sentence was lost. The Justice stopped short when his eye caught William Visor of Woncot, who stepped obsequiously forward, cap in hand, and with bended knee wished his worship good day, hoped his health was good, and received the Justice's welcome as it had been the benediction of a bishop. By the time these greetings were over, the Justice and his companions had dismounted, and had handed their horses to the care of their attendants. Perkes and his friend, who were unattended, made their horses fast to neighbouring trees, and seated themselves on the turf by a cloth placed at a respectful distance from that which was spread for the Justice and his friends. At Master Shallow's right sat Petre's bride, straight and slender as the hazel twig, 'as brown in hue As hazel nuts and sweeter than the kernels.'1 Opposite sat her husband. We know him as Petruchio, masquerading in the thin disguise of a Veronese; a disguise quickly thrown aside when he reaches his country house, and rates Nathaniel, Gregory, and Philip after the fashion of a Gloucestershire country gentleman. There was an affected plainness in his attire, but a close observer would infer from his appearance and manner that he had seen somewhat of foreign countries and courts. His next neighbour, Master Abraham Slender, was open to no such imputation. Never, indeed, had he quitted Gloucestershire, save on one occasion some two years ago, of which we have heard somewhat, when he accompanied his uncle Master Shallow on a visit, certainly to Windsor, and for aught we know to London. Never again will he be induced to leave his native county. "London," he is wont But Gloucestershire not a soul here but to say, "may be a mighty fine place. is the place for a gentleman. Why, knows who I be, and doffs to me accordingly. Whereas when I was in Windsor I might as well be a scholar or an ordinary man, for all the worship I had when I went abroad." Old Justice Silence is there, of course, with his son 1 Tam. of Shrew, ii. 1. 255. William and his dark-eyed daughter Ellen, Master Shallow's god-daughter-'a black ousel' her father would call her whenever her beauty was commended-but black or fair she would seem to find favour in the eyes of Master Petre's cousin Ferdinand. This Ferdinand Petre was a frequent visitor at Petre Manor. He had been a fellow student with William Silence at Gray's Inn, of which he is now a member; to my cost,' his father always adds, when he announces the fact, and no doubt with truth; for while the fair Ellen, like Imogen, is simply attired in a riding suit, no costlier than would fit a franklin's housewife,' 3 her brother and his fellow student display all the bravery of the latest London fashion. Will Squele and his fair daughter Anne had ridden many miles to take part in the Justice's solemn hunting. He and the Justice had been boon companions in the olden timesfifty-five years ago, as old Silence never fails to remind them -when they heard the chimes at midnight in all the inns of court. Shal. I was once of Clement's Inn, where I think they will talk of mad Shallow yet. Sil. You were called 'lusty Shallow' then, cousin. Shal. By the mass, I was called anything; and I would have 12 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 9. Both thrushes and blackbirds were included in the class 'ousel.' A black ousel simply means a blackbird. Brunettes were not admired in Tudor days. The woman coloured ill' (Sonnet cxliv.), 'as black as hell, as dark as night' (Sonnet cxlvii.), must have possessed strong counterbalancing charms to conquer the poet's objection to her colour. Her complexion is'dun,' and black wires grow on her head' (Sonnet cxxx.). This prejudice survives in the use of the word 'fair' to denote light in colour, in conjunction with such words as hair and complexion. It is said of Beatrice : If fair-faced, She would swear the gentleman should be her sister; Made a foul blot. Much Ado, iii. 1. 61. There was therefore no need for commentators to invent a saying, according to which a black ousel was equivalent to a black sheep; or to imagine a kind of bird, so called, which seldom mates. 2 PET. Bid my cousin Ferdinand come hither. (Tam. of Shrew, iv. 1. 154.) Cymb. iii. 2. 78. с done any thing indeed too, and roundly too. There was I, and little John Doit of Staffordshire, and black George Barnes, and Francis Pickbone, and Will Squele, a Cotswold man; you had not four such swinge-bucklers in all the inns o' court again. 2 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 15. Will Squele is old no doubt he cannot choose but be oldyet he is hale and hearty, and his bright eye and russet cheek bespeak the healthiness of his Cotswold home. "Much good may it do your good hearts, proface, proface," said the Justice as the company sat down to meat. Valiant trenchermen they were for the most part, and required little encouragement to do full justice to the repast. But there comes at length to Tudor sportsmen, as to Homeric heroes, a moment when the desire of eating and drinking has been expelled. Then comes business. The arrival of this moment was marked by the approach of the huntsman to the Justice to make his report. You may see him on his knees in a woodcut in the Noble Arte, presenting on a dish the tokens from which the weight and age of the hart may be estimated, describing where he is harboured, and detailing the measurement of the impression of his slot, or forefoot: Lowe I crouche before the Lordings all. To make them hope the Harte may like them well. Now it so happens that Master Silence, with another present at the assembly, had been out betimes with the huntsman and the forester. He tells in his diary the story of the hunting, beginning before the dawn of day; for to harbour a stag, or to take a purse, you must go by the moon and the seven stars, and not by Phoebus.' 2 Fal. Marry then, sweet wag, when thou art king, let not us 'The Blazon pronounced by the Huntsman.-Noble Arte. 2 1 Hen. IV. i. 2. 15. |