Cham. Because they speak no English, thus they pray'd To tell your grace, that, having heard by fame This night to meet here, they could do no less, Crave leave to view these ladies and entreat Wol. They have done my poor 70 Say, lord chamberlain, house grace; for which A thousand thanks and pray 'em take their pleasures. [They choose. The King chooses Anne Bullen. King. The fairest hand I ever touch'd! O beauty, Till now I never knew thee! [Music. Dance. Wol. My lord! Cham. Your grace? 75. "The fairest hand I ever touched"; this incident of the king's dancing with Anne Boleyn did not occur during the banquet at YorkHouse, but is judiciously introduced here from another occasion. Which occasion was a grand entertainment given by the king at Greenwich, May 5, 1527, to the French ambassadors who had come to negotiate a marriage between their king, Francis I, or his son, the duke of Orleans, and the Princess Mary. First a grand tournament was held, and three hundred lances broken; then came a course of songs and dances. About midnight, the king, the ambassadors, and six others withdrew, disguised themselves as Venetian noblemen, returned, and took out ladies to dance, the king having Anne Boleyn for his partner. As Holinshed says nothing about this matter, the Poet probably derived it from Hall or Cavendish, who give detailed accounts of it. The latter thus describes the impression made by the queen and her ladies: "They seemed to all men to be rather celestial angels descended from heaven than flesh and bone. Surely, to me, simple soul, it was inestimable."-H. N. H. Wol. Pray, tell 'em thus much from me: There should be one amongst 'em, by his person, More worthy this place than myself; to whom, If I but knew him, with my love and duty 80 I would surrender it. Cham. [Whispers the Masquers. Such a one, they all confess, There is indeed; which they would have your grace Find out, and he will take it. Wol. Let me see then. By all your good leaves, gentlemen; here I'll make My royal choice. King. [Unmasking] Ye have found him, car dinal: You hold a fair assembly; you do well, lord: You are a churchman, or, I'll tell you, cardinal, Wol. I am glad King. My lord chamberlain, 90 Prithee, come hither: what fair lady's that? Cham. An't please your grace, Sir Thomas Bullen's daughter, The Viscount Rochford, one of her highness" women. 79. "this place"; i. e. the seat of honor.-C. H. H. 1 King. By heaven, she is a dainty one. Sweetheart, And not to kiss you. A health, gentlemen! Wol. Sir Thomas Lovell, is the banquet ready Lov. Wol. Yes, my lord. Your grace, 100 I fear, with dancing is a little heated. There's fresher air, my lord, In the next chamber. ner, Sweet part I must not yet forsake you. Let's be merry, 96. "And not to kiss you"; a kiss was anciently the established fee of a lady's partner. Thus in A Dialogue between Custom and Veritie, concerning the Use and Abuse of Dauncing and Minstrelsie : "But some reply, what foole would daunce, If that when daunce is doon He may not have at ladyes lips That which in daunce he woon."-H. N. H. 102. "in the next chamber"; according to Cavendish, the king, on discovering himself, being desired by Wolsey to take his place under the state or seat of honor, said "that he would go first and shift his apparel, and so departed, and went straight into my lord's bedchamber, where a great fire was made and prepared for him, and there new apparelled him with rich and princely garments. And in the time of the king's absence the dishes of the banquet were cleane taken up, and the tables spread with new and sweet perfumed cloths. -Then the king took his seat under the cloth of estate, commanding no man to remove, but set still as they did before. Then in came a new banquet before the king's majesty, and to all the rest through the tables, wherein, I suppose were served two hundred dishes or above. Thus passed they forth the whole night with banquetting."-H. N. H. Good my lord cardinal: I have half a dozen healths To drink to these fair ladies, and a measure To lead 'em once again; and then let's dream Who's best in favor. Let the music knock it. [Exeunt with trumpets. Enter two Gentlemen, meeting. First Gent. Whither away so fast? Sec. Gent. O, God save ye! Even to the hall, to hear what shall become First Gent. I'll save you That labor, sir. All's now done, but the cere First. Gent. Yes, truly is he, and condemn'd upon 't. Sec. Gent. I am sorry for 't. First Gent. So are a number more. Sec. Gent. But, pray, how pass'd it? 10 First Gent. I'll tell you in a little. The great duke Came to the bar; where to his accusations |