DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67419#0316
294
THE DAYS OF “ GOOD QUEEN BESS.’
are told, for instance, that as the Earl of Cumberland
stood before Elizabeth she dropped her glove; and
on his picking it up graciously desired him to keep
it. He caused the trophy to be encircled with
diamonds; and ever after, at all tilts and tourneys,
bore it conspicuously placed in front of his high
crowned hat. Jousting and tilting in honour of the
ladies (by whom prizes were awarded) continued
still to be a favourite diversion. There were annual
contentions in the lists in honour of the sovereign,
and twenty-five persons of the first rank established
a society of arms for this purpose, of which the
chivalric Sir Henry Lee was for some time pre-
sident.
The “ romance of chivalry ” was sinking to be suc-
ceeded by the heavier tomes of G omberville, Scudery,
&c., but the extension of classical knowledge, the
vast strides in acquirement of various kinds, the
utter change, so to speak, in the system of literature,
all contributed to the downfall of the chivalric
romance. Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia introduced a
rage for high-flown pastoral effusions; and now too
was re-born that taste for metaphorical effusion and
spiritual romance, which was first exhibited in the
fourth century in the Bishop of Tricca’s romance of
“ Barlaam and Josaphat,” and which now pervaded
the fast-rising puritan party, and was afterwards
fully developed in that unaccountably fascinating
work, “ The Pilgrim’s Progress.” Nevertheless, as
yet
“ Courted and caress’d,
High placed in hall, a welcome guest,”
THE DAYS OF “ GOOD QUEEN BESS.’
are told, for instance, that as the Earl of Cumberland
stood before Elizabeth she dropped her glove; and
on his picking it up graciously desired him to keep
it. He caused the trophy to be encircled with
diamonds; and ever after, at all tilts and tourneys,
bore it conspicuously placed in front of his high
crowned hat. Jousting and tilting in honour of the
ladies (by whom prizes were awarded) continued
still to be a favourite diversion. There were annual
contentions in the lists in honour of the sovereign,
and twenty-five persons of the first rank established
a society of arms for this purpose, of which the
chivalric Sir Henry Lee was for some time pre-
sident.
The “ romance of chivalry ” was sinking to be suc-
ceeded by the heavier tomes of G omberville, Scudery,
&c., but the extension of classical knowledge, the
vast strides in acquirement of various kinds, the
utter change, so to speak, in the system of literature,
all contributed to the downfall of the chivalric
romance. Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia introduced a
rage for high-flown pastoral effusions; and now too
was re-born that taste for metaphorical effusion and
spiritual romance, which was first exhibited in the
fourth century in the Bishop of Tricca’s romance of
“ Barlaam and Josaphat,” and which now pervaded
the fast-rising puritan party, and was afterwards
fully developed in that unaccountably fascinating
work, “ The Pilgrim’s Progress.” Nevertheless, as
yet
“ Courted and caress’d,
High placed in hall, a welcome guest,”