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Article ;~ ; • I' ¦ " • ¦ LONDON AND MIDDLESEX A... ← Page 5 of 6 →
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;~ ; • I' ¦ " • ¦ London And Middlesex A...
of the time of Edward VI . was ignorantly appropriated to that of William ! . : foot soldiers were arranged between horse soldiers , and the warders innocently ascribed to the various implements of war names and uses alike unknown , either in ancient or modern warfare . " Sir Samuel Meyrick ( who died about two years ago ) , the owner of the very fine collection of arms and armours at Goodrich Castle , and the author of " Ancient Armour , " undertook the difficult task of re-arranging . this room , and left it to the public nearly in the state in which it is to be seen at the present time . Of course , since the years 1827 and 1828 ,
various valuable additions have been made ; but he planted the seed which has since yielded the fruit , and made the Tower Armory second only to the larger collection in the Z winger , at Dresden . A gentleman present stated that twelve of the suits could be positively identified , In the recesses are glass cases filled with specimens of offensive and defensive weapons of various countries and ages , also
the great bell or tocsin lately taken from the Russians at Boniarsund . Leaving the Horse Armory , the party arrived .. in the New Room ( lately re-arranged ) containing various descriptions of Eastern , Indian , and Chinese arms ; also a very early specimen of Greek armour . Here is a beautiful trophy of arms , flags , & c . ; a splendid pair of kettle-drums , taken by the great Duke of Marlborough , at Blenheim ; the pistols of the Sultan Tippoo Saib , and the sword and sash of the late Duke of York ; also some very fine small cannon ,
damascened in silver and gold , and two very curious grotesquely-carved waterfigures , with grinning faces , —the one holding in his hand a measure of wine , and the other a pot of beer . Sir S . Meyrick states that " they were originally over the door in the great hall of the palace at G-reenwich , which led to the buttery and larder ; and that they were brought with the armour from that palace on its destruction . " Ascending a few more stairs brings us to Queen Elizabeth ' s Armory , so called from a dingy effigy of that monarch on
horseback ; it is also called the Spanish Armory , having been used as a temporary receptacle for the spoils taken from the invincible Armada , in 1588 ; but , added one of the members , the only piece of Spanish work is the collar of torture , every other article being decidedly English , although perhaps of foreign design . Here are a pair of thumbscrews , the scavenger ' s daughter , invented by Sir William Skiffington , who was ( reputed to have been ) the first person subjected to this dreadful machine . Here also is the block on which the Lords Balmerino ,
Kilmarnock , and , seven months later , Lord Lovat were beheaded ; and near it is the axe which is traditionally understood to have been the instrument of death to Anne Boleyn , Lady Jane Grey , and the Earl of Essex . This is not quite correct with respect to Anne Boleyne ; for Stowe , in his " Chronicles , " expressly says that "the hangman of Calais smote off her head at one stroke with a sword . " Attached to the axe is part of the original handle , the * present one being comparatively modern . The rest of the room comprises spears , lances , swords ,
pikes , halberds , partisans , maces , cressets , shields , and various specimens of chain-shot , grape-shot , canister , & c . <& c . From this room access is gained by a small doorway to a dark cell , formed in . the thickness of the wall , ten feet long by eight feet wide . From the inscriptions on the wall there can he no doubt but that this cell was used as a prison : tradition has assigned it to have been the place of confinement of Sir Walter Raleigh , and the room in which he wrote his " History of the World . " The anecdote about Sir Walter receiving
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
;~ ; • I' ¦ " • ¦ London And Middlesex A...
of the time of Edward VI . was ignorantly appropriated to that of William ! . : foot soldiers were arranged between horse soldiers , and the warders innocently ascribed to the various implements of war names and uses alike unknown , either in ancient or modern warfare . " Sir Samuel Meyrick ( who died about two years ago ) , the owner of the very fine collection of arms and armours at Goodrich Castle , and the author of " Ancient Armour , " undertook the difficult task of re-arranging . this room , and left it to the public nearly in the state in which it is to be seen at the present time . Of course , since the years 1827 and 1828 ,
various valuable additions have been made ; but he planted the seed which has since yielded the fruit , and made the Tower Armory second only to the larger collection in the Z winger , at Dresden . A gentleman present stated that twelve of the suits could be positively identified , In the recesses are glass cases filled with specimens of offensive and defensive weapons of various countries and ages , also
the great bell or tocsin lately taken from the Russians at Boniarsund . Leaving the Horse Armory , the party arrived .. in the New Room ( lately re-arranged ) containing various descriptions of Eastern , Indian , and Chinese arms ; also a very early specimen of Greek armour . Here is a beautiful trophy of arms , flags , & c . ; a splendid pair of kettle-drums , taken by the great Duke of Marlborough , at Blenheim ; the pistols of the Sultan Tippoo Saib , and the sword and sash of the late Duke of York ; also some very fine small cannon ,
damascened in silver and gold , and two very curious grotesquely-carved waterfigures , with grinning faces , —the one holding in his hand a measure of wine , and the other a pot of beer . Sir S . Meyrick states that " they were originally over the door in the great hall of the palace at G-reenwich , which led to the buttery and larder ; and that they were brought with the armour from that palace on its destruction . " Ascending a few more stairs brings us to Queen Elizabeth ' s Armory , so called from a dingy effigy of that monarch on
horseback ; it is also called the Spanish Armory , having been used as a temporary receptacle for the spoils taken from the invincible Armada , in 1588 ; but , added one of the members , the only piece of Spanish work is the collar of torture , every other article being decidedly English , although perhaps of foreign design . Here are a pair of thumbscrews , the scavenger ' s daughter , invented by Sir William Skiffington , who was ( reputed to have been ) the first person subjected to this dreadful machine . Here also is the block on which the Lords Balmerino ,
Kilmarnock , and , seven months later , Lord Lovat were beheaded ; and near it is the axe which is traditionally understood to have been the instrument of death to Anne Boleyn , Lady Jane Grey , and the Earl of Essex . This is not quite correct with respect to Anne Boleyne ; for Stowe , in his " Chronicles , " expressly says that "the hangman of Calais smote off her head at one stroke with a sword . " Attached to the axe is part of the original handle , the * present one being comparatively modern . The rest of the room comprises spears , lances , swords ,
pikes , halberds , partisans , maces , cressets , shields , and various specimens of chain-shot , grape-shot , canister , & c . <& c . From this room access is gained by a small doorway to a dark cell , formed in . the thickness of the wall , ten feet long by eight feet wide . From the inscriptions on the wall there can he no doubt but that this cell was used as a prison : tradition has assigned it to have been the place of confinement of Sir Walter Raleigh , and the room in which he wrote his " History of the World . " The anecdote about Sir Walter receiving