Greenwich: past and present

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Effingham Wilson, 1885 - 142 pages
 

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Page 16 - ... kneeled, as the others had done, and placed what was brought upon the table, they too retired with the same ceremonies performed by the first. At last came an unmarried lady (we...
Page 17 - When they had waited there a little while, the yeomen of the guard entered, bareheaded, clothed in scarlet, with a golden rose upon their backs, bringing in at each turn a course of twenty-four dishes, served in plate, most of it gilt ; these dishes were received by a gentleman in the same order they were brought, and placed upon the table, while the lady-taster gave to each of the guard a mouthful to eat of the particular dish he had brought, for fear of any poison.
Page 15 - Year of her Age, as we were told, very Majestic; her Face oblong, fair, but wrinkled; her Eyes small, yet black and pleasant; her Nose a little hooked; her Lips narrow; and her Teeth black (a Defect the English seem subject to, from their too great Use of Sugar...
Page 17 - At last came an unmarried lady (we were told she was a countess) and along with her a married one, bearing a tasting-knife; the former was dressed in white silk, who, when she had prostrated herself three times, in the most graceful manner approached the table, and rubbed the plates with bread and salt, with as much awe as if the Queen had been present.
Page 19 - It was even so. The royal barge, manned with the Queen's watermen, richly attired in the regal liveries, and having the banner of England displayed, did indeed lie at the great stairs which ascended from the river, and along with it two or three other boats for transporting such part of her retinue as were not in immediate attendance on the royal person.
Page 16 - Her bosom was uncovered, as all the English ladies have it till they marry ; and she had on a necklace of exceeding fine jewels ; her hands were small, her fingers long, and her stature neither tall nor low ; her air was stately, her manner of speaking mild and obliging.
Page 16 - But while she was still at prayers, we saw her table set out with the following solemnity : a Gentleman entered the room bearing a rod, and along with him another who had a table cloth, which, after they had both kneeled three times with the utmost veneration, he spread upon the table, and after kneeling again, they both retired. Then came two others, one with the rod again, the other with a...
Page 15 - English fashion, strewed with hay, through which the queen commonly passes in her way to chapel. At the door stood a gentleman dressed in velvet, with a gold chain, whose office was to introduce to the queen any person of distinction that came to wait on her. It was Sunday, when there is usually the greatest attendance of nobility.
Page 17 - At the end of all this ceremonial a number of unmarried ladies appeared, who, with particular solemnity, lifted the meat off the, table, and conveyed it into the queen's inner and more private chamber, where, after she had chosen for herself, the rest goes to the ladies of the court. The queen dines and sups alone with very few attendants ; and it is very seldom that any body, foreigner or native, is admitted at that time, and then only at the intercession of somebody in power.
Page 55 - ... for the reliefe and support of seamen serving on board the shipps or vessells belonging to the Navy Royall of us, our heires, or successors ; or imploy'd in our or their service at sea ; who, by reason of age, wounds, or other disabilities, shall be incapable of further service at sea, and be unable to maintain themselves ; and also for the sustentation of the widows, and maintenance and education of the children of seamen happening to be slaine or disabled in such sea service.

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