nience, letters of dispensation are granted to those who apply for them, in the following form. V. R. Right trusty and well beloved cousin, we greet you well. It having been represented to us, that neither you, nor the your wife, can without great prejudice attend at our [and our royal consort's] coronation on the instant : we have therefore thought fit, and do hereby, dispense with your and her attendance upon that occasion. And so we bid you heartily farewell. Given at our Court of St. James's, the the first year of our reign. day of in The Earl Marshal next issues a proclamation, regulating the dresses to be worn at the coronation. Earl Marshal's Office, 30, Great George-street, The Earl Marshal's Order concerning the Robes, Coronets, &c., which are to be worn by the Peers at the Coronation of her Most Sacred Majesty Queen Victoria. These are to give notice to all Peers who attend at the Coronation of her Majesty, that the robe or mantle of the Peers be of crimson velvet, edged with miniver, the cape furred with miniver pure, and powdered with bars or rows of ermine, according to their degree, viz:— Barons, two rows. Viscounts, two rows and a half. Earls, three rows. Marquisses, three rows and a half. The said mantles or robes to be worn over the full court-dress, uniform, or regimentals usually worn at her Majesty's Drawing rooms. Their coronets to be of silver gilt; the caps of crimson velvet turned up with ermine, with a gold tassel on the top; and no jewels or precious stones are to be set or used in the coronets, or counterfeit pearls instead of silver balls. The coronet of a Baron to have, on the circle or rim, six silver balls at equal distances. The coronet of a Viscount to have, on the circle, sixteen silver balls. The coronet of an Earl to have, on the circle, eight silver balls, raised upon points, with gold strawberry leaves between the points. The coronet of a Marquis to have, on the circle, four gold strawberry leaves, and four silver balls alternately, the latter a little raised on points above the rim. The coronet of a Duke to have, on the circle, eight gold strawberry leaves. By her Majesty's command, NORFOLK, Earl Marshal. Earl Marshal's Office, 30, Great George-street, Westminster, April 10, 1838. The Earl Marshal's Order concerning the Robes, Coronets, &c., which are to be worn by the Peeresses at the Coronation of her Most Sacred Majesty Queen Victoria. These are to give notice to all Peeresses who attend at the coronation of her Majesty, that the robes or mantles appertaining to their respective ranks are to be worn over the usual full court dress. That the robe or mantle of a Baroness be of crimson velvet, the cape whereof to be furred with miniver pure, and powdered with two bars or rows of ermine; the said mantle to be edged round with miniver pure, two inches in breadth, and the train to be three feet on the ground; the coronet to be according to her degree, viz., a rim or circle with six pearls upon the same, not raised upon points. That the robe or mantle of a Viscountess be like that of a Baroness, only the cape powdered with two rows and a half of ermine, the edging of the mantle two inches as before, and the train a yard and a quarter; the coronet to be according to her degree, viz., a rim or a circle with pearls thereon, sixteen in number, and not raised upon points. That the robe or mantle of a Countess be as before, only the cape powdered with three rows of ermine, the edging three inches in breadth, and the train a yard and a half; the coronet to be composed of eight pearls raised upon points or rays, with small strawberry leaves between, above the rim. That the robe or mantle of a Marchioness be as before, only the cape powdered with three rows and a half of ermine, the edging four inches in breadth, the train a yard and three quarters; the coronet to be composed of four strawberry leaves and four pearls raised upon points of the same height as the leaves, alternately, above the rim. That the robe or mantle of a Duchess be as before, only the cape powdered with four rows of ermine, the edging five inches broad, the train two yards; the coronet to be composed of eight strawberry leaves, all of equal height above the rim. And that the caps of all the said coronets to be of crimson velvet, turned up with ermine, with a tassel of gold on the top. By her Majesty's command, NORFOLK, Earl Marshal. In the age of the Plantagenets and Tudors, and under the Stuarts, until the coronation of James II., it was customary for the kings to reside in the Tower of London for some time previous to the coronation; and having assembled there the principal nobles, officers of state, and members of the court, to create a certain number of Knights of the Bath. Though bathing was a usual preliminary to knighthood from the earliest ages of chivalry, there is no proof that knights took their designation from this form until the coronation of Henry IV., of which Froissart gives the following account. "On the Saturday before the coronation, the new king went from Westminster to the Tower of London, attended by great numbers, and those squires that were to be knighted watched their arms that night: they amounted to forty-six: each squire had his chamber and bath in which he bathed. The ensuing day, the duke of Lancaster (Henry IV.), after mass created them knights, and presented them with long green coats, with straight sleeves lined with miniver, after the manner of prelates. These knights had on their left shoulders, a double cord of white silk, with white tufts hanging down." In the Harleian Manuscripts we have a particular detail of the ceremonies used in creating Knights of the Bath, at the coronation of Henry V. It is thus translated by Mr. Anstis, in his history of that order of knighthood. "In the year 1413, in the twentysixth year of the age of Henry V., on a Friday before the Passion week, all the requisites for his coronation having been prepared by the direction of his ministers, according to the ancient and laudable rites and usages of the kingdom, the king, accompanied with a noble and numerous train of lords spiritual and temporal, set forward from his palace of Kingston-upon-Thames, towards the Tower of London; he was met on the way by a great number of earls, barons, knights, esquires, and other his subjects of condition; particularly the citizens of London, who made a splendid and handsome appearance; sparing no expense, whereby they might testify their zeal and exultation, while the clergy made a regular procession with much solemnity. The king, in this manner, and under so many marks of honour, was conducted to the Tower of London, where about fifty gallant young gentlemen or more, of noble birth, well qualified to receive the degree of knighthood, waited in expectation that they might receive this honour from the hands of so great a monarch, at the first opening of so glorious a solemnity. "These young candidates, being decently habited in their proper vestments, to express the more honour to the king at so great a feast, to which nothing requisite for the magnificence of it was wanting; and while his majesty in royal state, as became his dignity, was attended by the great lords; those candidates, in testimony that they should not be obliged at any time in future, to do the like service in the habits of esquires, served up the dishes at this royal festival, according to the received usage; and immediately after the entertainment was concluded, they retired to an apartment appointed and prepared for that use, where dukes, earls, barons, and honourable knights, as their counsellors or directors, instructed them concerning their proper rules of behaviour upon their accession to this venerable order, and with much prudent and forceable persuasion, taught them what they ought to do, if they would faithfully discharge the duties of it. "The young candidates at a convenient time prescribed, went into the baths prepared severally for them, performing their vigils and other rites and exercises preparatory to this degree, regularly, with assiduity and an intense degree of pious zeal. The whole night having been devoted to these lucubrations, early the next morning, upon the first appearance of light, those candidates, having given the rich golden beds wherein they had reposed themselves in the night, to some domestic servants of the king's household as their customary fee, proceeded to hear mass; and when they had regularly gone through the course of their devotion, having mounted their fine horses, they rode in their rich silk mantles, till they came to the gate of the royal palace, where descending from their horses, each of them, being supported by two knights, and conducted with all proper marks of honour and respect suitable to his different quality, was introduced and presented to the king, who, sitting in royal state, the throne being surrounded with a numerous train of noble and great personages, promoted them severally to the honour of knighthood. After their investiture, they were permitted to sit down in their rich mantles in the king's presence, but during the whole time of dinner they did not taste any part of the entertainment. "After the royal feast was concluded, the young knights, divesting themselves of their mantles, put on rich robes, being the king's livery of the same suit, and when the king in the vigil of the Sunday before Passion week, rode to Westminster in much state and solemn order, attended with a great concourse of princes and noblemen, as became the grandeur of so potent a monarch; all these young knights preceded the king, riding on their horses in admirable order, through the middle of the city, and made so delightful an appearance, that all the spectators were inebriated with joy." The most curious portion of this ceremonial is the prohibition imposed on the knights of not eating; in the ancient ritual, the rule says, that "a newly created knight ought not to eat or drink, but under the restraint of a bride on the day of her marriage." Chaucer, in |
