Stow.)

CHAPTER XXVII.

CHEAPSIDE SHOWS AND PAGEANTS.

A Tournament in Cheapside--The Queen in Danger--The Street in
Holiday Attire--The Earliest Civic Show on record--The Water
Processions--A Lord Mayor's Show in Queen Elizabeth's Reign--Gossip
about Lord Mayors' Shows--Splendid Pageants--Royal Visitors at Lord
Mayor's Shows--A Grand Banquet in Guildhall--George III. and the
Lord Mayor's Show--The Lord Mayor's State Coach--The Men in
Armour--Sir Claudius Hunter and Elliston--Stow and the Midsummer
Watch.

We do not hear much in the old chronicles of tournaments and shivered
spears in Cheapside, but of gorgeous pageants much. On coronation days,
and days when our kings rode from the Tower to Westminster, or from
Castle Baynard eastward, Cheapside blossomed at once with flags and
banners, rich tapestry hung from every window, and the very gutters ran
with wine, so loyal and generous were the citizens of those early days.
Costume was bright and splendid in the Middle Ages, and heraldry kept
alive the habit of contrasting and mingling colours. Citizens were
wealthy, and, moreover, lavish of their wealth.

In these processions and pageants, Cheapside was always the very centre
of the show. There velvets and silks trailed; there jewels shone; there
spearheads and axe-heads glittered; there breastplates and steel caps
gleamed; there proud horses fretted; there bells clashed; there the mob
clamoured; there proud, warlike, and beautiful faces showed, uncapped
and unveiled, to the seething, jostling people; and there mayor and
aldermen grew hottest, bowed most, and puffed out with fullest dignity.

In order to celebrate the birth of the heir of England (the Black
Prince, 1330), a great tournament was proclaimed in London. Philippa and
all the female nobility were invited to be present. Thirteen knights
were engaged on each side, and the tournament was held in Cheapside,
between Wood Street and Queen Street; the highway was covered with sand,
to prevent the horses' feet from slipping, and a grand temporary wooden
tower was erected, for the accommodation of the Queen and her ladies.
But scarcely had this fair company entered the tower, when the
scaffolding suddenly gave way, and all present fell to the ground with
the Queen. Though no one was injured, all were terribly frightened, and
great confusion ensued. When the young king saw the peril of his wife,
he flew into a tempest of rage