of that nation. It was practised during the early feudal ages of modern Europe, by the higher orders of society; and, probably, gave origin to tilting, jousts, and tournaments; the elegance and splendour of which soon superseded it in the days of chivalry, leaving the more humble quintain as an exercise for the citizens; and, at length, it degenerated into a mere rustic sport.

A rude engraving on wood, in the folio edition of Stowe's Survey, represents the quintain as formed of a post fixed perpendicularly in the ground, with a cross-bar turning on a pivot or spindle on the top, having a broad board at one end, and a bag of sand suspended at the other. At this board they run, on horseback, with blunt spears or staves. The same writer describes a quintain set up on Cornhill, in his time, which "made great pastime, for he that hit not the broad end of the quintain, was of all men laughed to scorn; and he that hit it full, if he rode not the faster, had a sound blow on his neck, with a bag full of sand, hanged on the other end."*

See much on this subject, Stowe, v. i. p. 249;

In Italy, Germany, and Flanders, a quintain carved in wood, in imitation of the human form, was in common use during the sixteenth century. The figure generally represented a Saracen, with a shield in one hand and a sword in the other; and, being placed upon a pivot, the skill of those who attacked it depended on striking the figure between the eyes; for if the weapon deviated to the right or the left, and, especially, if it struck the shield, the quintain turned round with such velocity, as to give the horseman a violent blow on the back with the sword; a circumstance which exposed the party to ridicule and disgrace; as breaking the lance to shivers, by a stroke betwixt the eyes, was the highest proof of skill."*

TILTING. Of a far more respectable character than any of the popular amusements hitherto noticed, were the recreations of the tilt-yard, so enthusiastically followed by the

also Strutt's Glig Gamena Angel. Theod. p. 130, ét infra.

* Laneham's Letter, 18 (note).

Leicester, her

gallant nobles of Elizabeth's court. Here, at least, was much to please the fancy, and excite the imagination, if not to satisfy the taste. As all persons below the rank of an esquire were excluded from taking part in the jousts and tournaments held in this privileged spot, and as there was a constant competition among the courtiers upon the point of splendid appearance in public, this scene of chivalric shew would be popular with all orders, and hold out peculiar attractions to the female sex. In fact, we find that the queen and her ladies were frequent visiters there. favourite, one of the most adroit of the courtiers in the exercises of the joust, was in constant requisition upon these occasions, to gratify her Majesty's eye with a view of his noble form, and graceful motions; with the richness of his armour, and the evolutions of his beautiful charger. Mr. Pennant, in his "London," has given us a good print, from an ancient painting, of this great lord, equipped for the tilt-yard; nor can we deny him the praise, as far as it goes, of a majestic and imposing person. In this, he seems to

have had somewhat the advantage of his royal mistress; for, at the very moment when he might fairly boast himself as the completest gentleman, and finest figure, of any of the gay assemblage around him, Elizabeth might be seen, in her sixty-sixth year, with wrinkled face, red perriwig, hooked nose, skinny lips, and black teeth, sucking in the grossest flatteries of her courtiers; and leering at Leicester, while he told her of her beauty and worth.*

The character of Elizabeth's court, a singular medley of foppery and intrigue, littleness and magnificence, wisdom and foily, is admirably given in Miss Lucy Aikin's "Memoirs" of the same; a work which reflects the highest credit on the judgment, discrimination, and taste of the accomplished author. May the well-merited success of these Memoirs, and of those of the reign of James I., induce Miss Aikin still further to inform and delight the public, by a continuation of such domestic history to the æra of the Revolution. We are ardent admirers of female talent, when undebased by the pedantry and affectation of the bas bleu school; and rendered illustrious, as well as improving, by an association with the mild attractions, and appropriate virtues, of the female character. Nor can we, as Englishmen, avoid feeling a certain pride of heart, when we reflect that we have

Our old chroniclers have indulged largely in their description of the "jousts and tournaments," which were held in this and the preceding reigns. The following detail dates earlier than Elizabeth's time, but it is given as a curious specimen of the minute formalities with which these sports, as our ancestors considered them, were conducted. The illegitimate son of the Duke of Burgundy had come to England, to make proposals of marriage with Edward IVth's sister. A tilting match was held in honour of the lady; Anthony Woodville, the Queen's brother, (afterwards Lord Rivers,) on the part of England, and the suitor himself, on the part of Burgundy. Their encounter in Smithfield is thus described:-"On the first day, they ran together certain courses with sharp spears, and so departed with equal honour. The next

been, and are, contemporaries with such excellent British female writers, and true ornaments of their sex, as the late artless and fascinating Miss Austin ; the natural but correct, the elegant but dignified, Lucy Aikin; and that magical analyzer of the human. heart, who has clothed all the varieties of passion in all the graces of poetry,-Joanna Baillie.