of his person in the shape of a cumbrous
imitation of himself, that is paraded once a year through street and
suburb, to keep alive the shadow of the memory of "good old times," in
the hearts of the populace of a pleasure-loving city--but a sorrowful and
piteous spectacle is this walking ghost of the _Snap_ of the glorious
guild of St. George.

CHAPTER VI.
PAGEANTRY.

_Pageantries_.--_Ancient_ "_Mysteries_."--_Origin of the religious
drama_.--_Moralities_.--_Oratorios_.--_Allegorical plays of Queen
Elizabeth's time_.--_The Pageants got up to do honour to her
visit_.--_Will Kempe_, _Morris dancer_, _his_ "_nine days
wonder_."--"_Hobby-horses_."--_Festivals_.--_St. Nicholas or Boy
Bishop_.--_Bishop Blaize_.--_Woolcombers' jubilee_.--_Southland
fair_.--_St. Valentine_.--_Mode of celebrating the festival_.--"_Chairing
the members_."--_Origin of the custom_.

Among the many quaint specimens of the ways and doings of the ancient
respectable denizens of this present sober-minded city, that have been
rescued from the dim and dusty obscurity of the municipal record chamber,
has been found a curious minute of the proceedings of a solemn court held
on the Sabbath day of the feast of St. Matthew the Apostle, in the
nineteenth year of King Henry VIII., when a petition was presented to the
mayor, sheriffs and common council of the city of Norwich, by the
aldermen and brethren of the guild of St. Luke, praying to be relieved
from the burthen of being sole purveyors of plays and pageants for the
people on Whitsun Monday and Tuesday; and it may safely serve as a text
for a few rambling sketches of the entertainments that were wont to
gratify the taste of the lovers of the drama, in the age before the
stream of imperishable philosophy had been poured forth from the waters
of Avon, or its banks had resounded to the harmony that was destined to
sweep over the length and breadth of the earth, vibrating through the
chords of every living heart that felt its breath.

Deep in the human mind lies the yearning for amusement, great have been
those who, laying hold of this inherent principle of our nature, could
make it a means for enlightening and ennobling it; nor must we judge of
the sincerity of the attempts that were made in this work, by their
impotency or failure. In dark and barbarous times, what may seem gross
buffoonery to our refined senses, may have had power to convey a moral
lesson or excite a worthy impulse; and we ma