how philip, with four-and-twenty noble guests, dined at arthur’s round table in winchester castle; and how the feast ended.
the royal couple sojourned at wolvesey castle for a week, and during that time a series of grand entertainments were given to all the nobility who had attended the marriage ceremony. pageants were exhibited in the city, and in the pleasant meads beyond the south-gate sports and pastimes of various kinds took place—to wit, archery, horse-races, foot-races, throwing of heavy weights, wrestling, rowing and swimming matches in the itchen, bear-baiting, badger-baiting, bull-running, cock-fighting, duck-hunting in the river, and other diversions, in which our ancestors delighted. these sports, many of which were novel to them, afforded much amusement to philip and the spanish nobles.
mindful of his promise to the duke of norfolk to feast his grace at arthur’s round table in winchester castle, philip appointed the day before his departure for the banquet. twenty-four guests were invited, half of whom were english nobles, and the other half spanish grandees.
in the midst of the great hall of the castle, which was more than a hundred and fifty feet long, and with a lofty roof of open rafters, richly sculptured, was placed
“——the pride of warlike years,
old arthur’s board—”
143in other words, the famous round table, at which king arthur and his illustrious knights had often feasted.
framed by uter pendragon, arthur’s royal sire, who flourished early in the 6th century, or more than twelve hundred years ago, this wondrous table was given by him to king leodegraunce of camelyard, who held it in high esteem. when leodegraunce bestowed his fair daughter, the lovely but erring guenever, upon arthur, he sent him at the same time, as the richest present he could bestow, the royal table, causing it to be conveyed by a hundred knights. enchanted with the gift, arthur forthwith instituted the order of the round table (the earliest military order of knighthood), and had the places appointed for himself and his twenty-four knights blessed by the archbishop of canterbury. so runs the legend. but by whomsoever fashioned, the round table was at least remarkable for antiquity in the time of henry viii., who had it fresh painted for use at the banquet given by him to the emperor charles v. it still exists, as we have already intimated, and is constructed of stout oaken planks, painted in parti-coloured rays, on the borders of which
“some british pen has sketched the names renowned,
in marks obscure, of arthur’s deathless peers.”
obscure as are the characters, the names of sir tristram, sir launcelot, sir galahad, sir percival, sir gawaine, sir ector, sir bors, and other peerless knights, may be read upon this scroll of fame. in cromwell’s time the round table narrowly escaped destruction from the parliamentary soldiers, who never lost an opportunity of committing sacrilege of some kind. they set it up as a target, and perforated it with bullets. in the centre of the board is the tudor rose, and the sovereign’s place is indicated by a full-length portrait of henry viii., seated under a canopy with an ermine mantle over his shoulders, and holding the orb and sword.
the great hall in which the round table was set was hung with ancient and somewhat faded arras, representing in one place the interview of the twelve roman knights with arthur, and in another the renowned british king receiving his sword excalibur from the lady of the lake. 144five-and-twenty suits of armour of colossal size were placed on stands against the walls, while the intervals were filled with trophies composed of shields, spears, swords, battle-axes, maces, and other weapons. the cushion of each chair was embroidered in letters of gold with the name of its occupant. a curiously carved oak chair, in which bluff king hal had sat was assigned to philip. on his right sat the lord chancellor, and on the left the duke of norfolk. the place next to gardiner was allotted to the duke of alva, while norfolk’s neighbour was the duke of medina celi. in this wise were the twenty-four guests disposed—english and spanish nobles alternately.
no diaper covered the capacious board. but it was loaded with salvers, dishes, goblets, and plates of gold and silver. sideboards, also, glittering with plate and drinking vessels, were ranged around the hall. a multitude of pages, esquires, and gentlemen were in attendance. the banquet consisted of five courses, and comprised calvered salmon, stewed lampries, slices of sturgeon, a porpoise in armour, soused pike and bream, trout from the itchen—pronounced delicious—roast cygnets, a roast heron, wild-boar pie, a roast haunch of venison, a roast kid, ruffs, dotterels, bitterns, and many other good things. no restraint was placed upon his guests by the king, who, by his easy and jovial deportment, seemed to invite familiarity. the spanish grandees declared they had never before seen their royal master so full of mirth, and the duke of norfolk vowed that he equalled the emperor in good fellowship. certes, his majesty jested as much, and laughed as heartily as the rest of the company. so infectious was the merriment, that even the stern features of the duke of alva relaxed into a smile.
at the close of the repast, and as soon as the chargers and other dishes had been removed, an immense silver bowl, covered by a lid, was placed upon the table by the three gigantic yeomen of the guard, og, gog, and magog—a task not accomplished without some difficulty—amidst the laughter of the guests, who eyed the stupendous vessel with astonishment.
“if that bowl be filled with hippocras, sire,” exclaimed the duke of norfolk, “there must be enough liquor within it to drown us all, or to float a man-of-war.”
145before any reply could be made, the attention of the company was attracted by a ringing sound proceeding from the vessel.
all the guests looked towards their royal host as if for explanation.
“i know not what it means,” said the king, who appeared as much surprised as the rest. “take off the lid, and let us see.”
the order was obeyed by og, whose countenance wore a broad grin, and as he raised the cover, the cause of the strange sounds became manifest. in the midst of a sea of hippocras floated a silver boat, in which was seated xit, in the guise of the enchanter merlin, and holding in his hand a silver ladle, with which he had struck the sides of the bowl, to intimate his presence. raising himself carefully, so as not to upset the frail barque in which he was placed, the dwarf bowed as gracefully as circumstances would permit, to philip, and said, “doubtless your majesty is surprised to see me here, but i trust i shall not incur your sovereign displeasure when i say that my desire to be present at your banquet led me to adopt this expedient to gain admittance. besides, i may be useful,” he added, flourishing the ladle.
“thou art welcome, thou sprightly imp,” replied philip, laughing. “keep our goblets filled, that is all we require from thee.”
“gramercy, sire, i will endeavour to perform the office of butler to your entire satisfaction,” replied xit, filling the cup extended to him by the king.
after all the guests had been served with great expedition and skill, philip said to the dwarf, “now, sirrah, a toast.”
“i am greatly honoured by the command, sire,” replied xit. “my toast, i am well assured, will be drunk with enthusiasm, both by your majesty and your illustrious guests. i will give your royal consort, and our most gracious mistress, the queen. may heaven shed its choicest blessings upon her!”
“well said, thou merry knave!” cried philip. “no toast could be more agreeable to us. my lords, we will dedicate this cup to the queen.”
the toast was rapturously drunk by the assemblage, but just as the goblets were emptied an unexpected incident 146occurred. in the excitement of the moment, and while waving the ladle, xit lost his balance, and plunged head-foremost into the vinous flood beneath him. as he emerged the next moment, his half-drowned appearance caused shouts of laughter from the company, which were echoed by all the pages, esquires, and other attendants.
“marry, thou hast had a bath such as few men have enjoyed,” observed philip, laughing.
“i would rather it had been water, sire,” spluttered xit. “i shall never enjoy the flavour of hippocras again. i pray you let me be taken hence.”
“there is no hurry,” cried the duke of norfolk, laughing immoderately. “we cannot let thee go yet. make the most of thy position, and quaff thy fill. the wine is spoiled for all but thee.”
“were i to quaff more than i have already done, i should become a sorry spectacle, your grace, and might offend this noble company,” observed xit. “i have no desire to die the death of the duke of clarence.”
“take him hence,” said philip, who thought the jest had lasted long enough; “but let him not out of the bowl till its contents be emptied.”
on this, the three giants, lifting the mighty bowl from the table, conveyed it to another part of the hall, where they set it down. the king’s commands were scrupulously obeyed. notwithstanding xit’s piteous entreaties to be set free, he was detained a prisoner till the whole of the hippocras had been drunk. to this end the giants lent their best assistance, but before it could be fully accomplished, the king and his noble guests had departed. so ended the banquet at arthur’s round table.
next day philip and mary, attended by their whole court, and by the spanish grandees, quitted winchester, and proceeded by easy stages to windsor.
