in
1389, there was a mighty contest at Smithfield. Froissart tells us that
heralds were sent to every country in Europe where chivalry was
honoured, to proclaim the time and place, and brave knights were invited
to splinter a lance, or wield a sword, in honour of their mistresses.
Knights and nobles from far and near assembled. London was thronged with
warriors of every clime and language. Smithfield was surrounded with
temporary chambers and pavilions, constructed for the accommodation of
the King and the princes, the Queen and the maidens of her court; and
when the solemnity was about to commence, sixty horses, richly
accoutred, were led to the lists by squires, accompanied by heralds and
minstrels; after which, sixty ladies followed on palfreys, each lady
leading an armed knight by a chain of silver. The first day the games
commenced with encounters of the lance, the two most skilful combatants
receiving as prizes a golden crown and a rich girdle adorned with
precious stones; after which, the night was spent in feasting and
dancing. During five days the contest lasted, and each evening called
the knights and dames to the same joyous festivities and pastimes. The
'prentices and citizens enjoyed the spectacle quite as much as the
combatants, and the young men used to copy their betters and practise
feats of war, riding on horseback, and using disarmed lances and
shields. Battles, too, were fought on the water, when young men in
boats, with lance in rest, charged a shield hung on a pole fixed in the
midst of the stream. This sport provided great amusement to the
spectators, who stood upon the bridge or wharf and neighbouring houses,
especially when the adventurous youths failed and fell into the river.
Leaping, dancing, shooting, wrestling, casting the stone, and practising
their shields were the favourite amusements of the London youths, while
the maidens tripped to the sound of their timbrels, and danced as long
as they could well see. In winter, boars were set to fight, bulls and
bears were baited, and cock-fighting was the recognised amusement of
schoolboys.

When the frost covered the great fen on the north side of the city with
ice, good Fitzstephen delighted to watch "the young men play upon the
ice; some, striding as wide as they may, do slide swiftly; others make
themselves seats of ice as great as millstones; one sits down, many hand
in hand do draw him, and one slipping on a sudden, all fall together;
some t