In rough magnificence array'd,

When ancient Chivalry display'd

The pomp of her heroic games,

And crested chiefs and tissued dames

Assembled, at the clarion's call,

In some proud castle's high arch'd hall.

--Warton Prince

John held his high festival in the Castle of Ashby. This was

not the same building of which the stately ruins still interest the

traveller, and which was erected at a later period by the Lord Hastings,

High Chamberlain of England, one of the first victims of the tyranny

of Richard the Third, and yet better known as one of Shakspeare's

characters than by his historical fame. The castle and town of Ashby, at

this time, belonged to Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester, who, during

the period of our history, was absent in the Holy Land. Prince John, in

the meanwhile, occupied his castle, and disposed of his domains without

scruple; and seeking at present to dazzle men's eyes by his hospitality

and magnificence, had given orders for great preparations, in order to

render the banquet as splendid as possible.

The purveyors of the Prince, who exercised on this and other occasions

the full authority of royalty, had swept the country of all that could

be collected which was esteemed fit for their master's table. Guests

also were invited in great numbers; and in the necessity in which he

then found himself of courting popularity, Prince John had extended his

invitation to a few distinguished Saxon and Danish families, as well as

to the Norman nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood. However

despised and degraded on ordinary occasions, the great numbers of

the Anglo-Saxons must necessarily render them formidable in the civil

commotions which seemed approaching, and it was an obvious point of

policy to secure popularity with their leaders.

It was accordingly the Prince's intention, which he for some time

maintained, to treat these unwonted guests with a courtesy to which they

had been little accustomed. But although no man with less scruple

made his ordinary habits and feelings bend to his interest, it was

the misfortune of this Prince, that his levity and petulance were

perpetually breaking out, and undoing all that had been gained by his

previous dissimulation.

Of this fickle temper he gave a memorable example in Ireland, when sent

thither by his father, Henry the Second, with the purpose of buying

golden opinions of the inhabitants of that new and important acquisition

to the English crown. Upon this occasion the Irish chieftains contended

which should first offer to the young Prince their loyal homage and

the kiss of peace. But, instead of receiving their salutations with

courtesy, John and his petulant attendants could not resist the

temptation of pulling the long beards of the Irish chieftains; a

conduct which, as might have been expected, was highly resented by these

insulted dignitaries, and produced fatal consequences to the English

domination in Ireland. It is necessary to keep these inconsistencies

of John's character in view, that the reader may understand his conduct

during the present evening.




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