Old England: A Pictorial Museum (page 44/52)

1387.—Leaping through a Hoop. (Ancient MS. engraved in Strutt’s Sports)

A boy, barefoot, stands with arms outstretched; perhaps he has been running. He is about to jump or leap through a ring or hoop held by his two smiling play-mates. [more...] [$]

1389.—Ancient Dice Box.

The government of Edward IV.—a thing of force—grows alarmed at the idea of any decrease of the materials of force, and so the popular sports are condemned, and the instruments used in them are to be destroyed;—dice (Fig. 1389) among the rest; and shooting-butts (Fig. 1375) are to be erected in every township. But he edict fails; the use of the [...] [more...] [$]

1390.—Shuttle-Cock (From a MS. in the Douce Collection.)

Two boys or men are seen playing shuttlecock with wide bats. Is this an early form of badminton? [$]

Methley Hall

“Methley Hall, or Methley Park, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, seven miles south-east from Leeds, is the seat of the Saviles, Earls Mexborough, which family have held the manor for several centuries. The original manor-house was built by Sir Robert Waterton, in the reign of Henry IV.; but after the manor became the property of the Saviles, the old house was pulled down, and the present magnificent mansion erected on its site by Sir John Savile, Baron of the Exchequer, with additions by his son Sir Henry Saville, in a handsome and uniform style. Of this building only the hall and the back part of the house remain: the far-famed gallery with its armorial bearings in painted glass no longer exists; it has given place to the present front part of the mansion, which is of no great magnificence without [i.e. [more...] [$]

Methley Hall, Wallpaper Version

A version of the Methley Hall coloured engraving; this version has been cropped slightly so that it’s the right size for a computer desktop background, or wallpaper. [more...] [$]

1422.—Queen Anne Boleyn. (From a Painting by Holbein.)

Thus Anne Bullen [Anne Boleyn] was at last Queen of England, and Katherine deposed. (p. 23) [more...] [$]

1423.—Hever Castle. (From an Original Sketch)

Anne Bullen [Anne Boleyn] behaved throughout the whole affair with the utmost prudence. Shehad determiend to be the king’s wife, not his mistress; and from that determnation ensued events, the importance of which, in relation to the destinies of the country, it is hardly possible to overrate. Hever Castle (Fig. 1423), Kent, was the family residence [...] [more...] [$]

1425.—Group of Christening Gifts.

Thus Anne Bullen [Anne Boleyn] was at last Queen of England, and Katherine deposed. At first all things smiled upon the beautiful and light-hearted woman who now presided over the domestic arrangements of the court. A dughter—Elizabeth—was born; and loud and long were the congratulations, magnificent the feastings and processions of the christening [...]her maids of honour. It is said that the premature birth of a son was brought on by discovering some unseemly familiarity between Henry and Lady Jane Seymour; and the death of that son in consequence completed her ruin. (p. 23) [more...] [$]