per masculine woman, with a tawny
face," who delivered a lengthy speech, which concluded the exhibition
for that day.

In 1676 the pageant in Cheapside, which dignified Sir Thomas Davies'
accession as Lord Mayor, was "a Scythian chariot of triumph," in which
sat a fierce Tamburlain, of terrible aspect and morose disposition, who
was, however, very civil and complimentary upon the present occasion.
He was attended by Discipline, bearing the king's banner, Conduct that
of the Mayor, Courage that of the City, while Victory displayed the flag
of the Drapers' Company. The lions of the Drapers' arms drew the car,
led by "Asian captive princes, in royal robes and crowns of gold, and
ridden by two negro princes." The third pageant was "Fortune's Bower,"
in which the goddess sat with Prosperity, Gladness, Peace, Plenty,
Honour, and Riches. A lamb stood in front, on which rode a boy, "holding
the banner of the Virgin." The fourth pageant was a kind of "chase,"
full of shepherds and others preparing cloth, dancing, tumbling, and
curvetting, being intended to represent confusion.

In the show of 1672 two giants, Gogmagog and Corineus, fifteen feet high
(whose ancestors were probably destroyed in the Great Fire), appeared in
two chariots, "merry, happy, and taking tobacco, to the great admiration
and delight of all the spectators." Their predecessors are spoken of by
Marston, the dramatist, Stow, and Bishop Corbet. In 1708 (says Mr.
Fairholt) the present Guildhall giants were carved by Richard Saunders.
In 1837 Alderman Lucas exhibited two wickerwork copies of Gog and Magog,
fourteen feet high, their faces on a level with the first-floor windows
of Cheapside, and these monstrosities delighted the crowd.

In 1701 (William III.) Sir William Gore, mercer, being Lord Mayor,
displayed at his pageant the famous "maiden chariot" of the Mercers'
Company. It was drawn by nine white horses, ridden by nine allegorical
personages--four representing the four quarters of the world, the other
five the retinue of Fame--and all sounding remorselessly on silver
trumpets. Fourteen pages, &c., attended the horses, while twenty lictors
in silver helmets and forty attendants cleared a way for the procession.
The royal virgin in the chariot was attended by Truth and Mercy, besides
kettle-drummers and trumpeters. The quaintest thing was that at the
Guildhall banquet the virgin, surrounded by all her ladies and pages,
dined in state at a separate table.