confirmation from the fact that Shakspere has transferred other names from the old play, Ned, Gadshill, and why not, then, Oldcastle? The prince in one place calls Falstaff "my old lad of the castle;" but this may be otherwise explained. The Sir John Oldcastle of history, Lord Cobham, was, as is well known, one of the most strenuous supporters of the Reformation of Wickliffe; and hence it has been argued that the original name of Shakspere's fat knight was offensive to zealous protestants in the time of Elizabeth, and was accordingly changed to that of Falstaff. Malone holds a contrary opinion to this belief, and prefers to make Shakspere catch the idea of the character of Falstaff from the old play, instead of holding that he took the name alone. We are inclined to think, with Ritson, that Shakspere took the name without receiving the slightest hint of the character. In our opinion, there was either another play besides "The Famous Victories" in which the name of Oldcastle was introduced, or the remarks of contemporary writers applied to Shakspere's Falstaff, who had originally borne the name of Oldcastle. The following passage is from Fuller's Church History: "Stage-poets have themselves been very bold with, and others very merry at, the memory of Sir John Oldcastle, whom they have fancied a boon companion, a jovial royster, and a coward to boot. The best is, Sir John Falstaff hath relieved the memory of Sir John Oldcastle, and of late is substited buffoon in his place." This description of Fuller cannot apply to the Sir John Oldcastle of "The Famous Victories." The dull dog of that play is neither a jovial companion, nor a coward to boot. The prologue to the old play of Sir John Oldcastle, printed in 1600, has these lines :—

"It is no pamper'd glutton we present,

Nor aged counsellor to youthful sin,
But one whose virtue shone above the rest,

A valiant martyr, and a virtuous peer."

Whether or not Shakspere's Falstaff was originally called Oldcastle, he was, after the character was fairly established as Falstaff, anxious to vindicate himself from the charge that he had attempted to represent the Oldcastle of history. In the epilogue to the second Part of Henry IV. we find this passage:-"For anything I know, Falstaff shall die of a sweat, unless already he be killed with your hard opinions; for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this is not the man." It is remarkable, however, that as late as 1611, or perhaps later, in a comedy by Nathaniel Field, called "Amends for Ladies," Falstaff's description of honour is mentioned by one of the characters as if it had been delivered by Sir John Oldcastle.

.......

But another controversy has arisen out of the substitution of Falstaff for Oldcastle. Fuller is once more the complainant against Shakspere. In his " Worthies," speaking of Sir John Fastolff, he says, "The stage has been over bold with his memory, making him a Thrasonical puff, and emblem of mock valour.-True it is, Sir John Oldcastle did first bear the brunt of the one, being made the makesport in all plays for a coward. Now as I am glad that Sir John Oldcastle is put out, so I am sorry that Sir John Fastolfe is put in. Nor is our comedian excusable by some alteration of his name, writing him Sir John Falstafe (and making him the property and pleasure of King Henry V. to abuse), seeing the vicinity of sounds intrench on the memory of that worthy knight." The charge against Shakspere of libelling the memory of Sir John Fastolff is repeated by other writers, as we find in a very curious note under the article Fastolff in Kippis's edition of the Biographia Britannica. Our readers, who are perhaps already weary of the subject, will be satisfied with the following very sensible remarks of Oldys, the writer of that note :

"Upon whom does the horsing of a dead corpse on Falstaff's back reflect? whose honour suffers, in his being forced by the unexpected surprise of his armed plunderers to surrender his treasure? whose policy is impeached by his creeping into a bucking-basket to avoid the storms of a jealous husband? whose reputation suffers by his being buffeted in the disguise of an old witch, or fortuneteller, of Brentford? or whose valour is to be called in question, because he cannot avoid being tormented by a swarm of little fairies in Windsor Forest? If the good name of Fastolff, or any other man of honour, had ever been maliciously doomed to be sacrificed to durable disgrace or exposure, in the character of Falstaff, it would have been founded upon some important, some significant transactions, some instances of flagitious and irreputable misconduct, not such odd, droll, inconsiderable circumstances as these, the harmless issue of pleasant wit and humour, or delightful union of nature and fancy; all so visibly devised of the comic strain, so designed only for innocent

merriment and diversion, without any personal reflection on this great man, or any other, that we believe there is no real character to be read of in all history, that can be justly disparaged by any application, discernibly intended, of this imaginary one in poetry."

COSTUME.*

THE fashions of the reign of Richard II. underwent little if any variation during that of Henry IV., as our engravings and descriptions of the monumental effigies and other portraits of the principal historical personages introduced in the two parts of this play will shew.

To begin with the king; the effigy of Henry, in Canterbury Cathedral, is one of the most magnificent of the series of royal monuments. The king is represented in his robes of state, consisting of a long tunic, with pocket holes richly embroidered, as are also the borders of the sleeves. Over his shoulders is a cape which descends in front low enough to cover the girdle. The inner tunic has a rolling collar sitting close up into the neck. The mantle, with a broad edging of embroidery, is connected not only by cords and tassels, but by a splendidly jewelled band, passing over the chest. The face has beard and moustaches, but no hair is visible on the head, it being cropped all round excessively short,-a fashion which commenced towards the close of this reign. The crown is very large and most tastefully or amented, and may have been a faithful representation of the "great Harry Crown," which was broken up by Henry V., and pawned in pieces, A. D. 1415, to raise monies for the expenses of the French war.

Of Henry Prince of Wales, there are two representations. One in a copy of Occleve's Poems in the Royal Collection, Brit. Mus., marked 17 D 6, in which the poet is depicted presenting a copy of his " Regimine Principis" to the prince, who is dressed in a pink robe, and wears a peculiarly shaped coronet on his head. The other is a painting by Vertue, copied from some other illuminated MS. of Occleve's Poems, also representing that Poet offering a book to the prince. This painting was formerly in the possession of Mr. Douce, whose splendid collection of prints, drawings, MSS., &c., went to the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The prince is therein habited in a long blue robe, with the extravagantly long sweeping-sleeves of the period, lined with ermine, and escalloped at the edges. His coronet is without the high pinnacles which distinguish it in the former representa

tion.

The decoration of the collar SS. first appears during this reign; but of the derivation we have still no precise information. The most plausible conjecture is that it was formed of the repetition of the initial letter of Henry IV.'s word or device, "Souveraine;" which appears also to have been that of his father, John of Gaunt. The collar of Esses is seen round the neck of Joan of Navarre, Henry's queen, who lies beside him at Canterbury; and the canopy of the monument is powdered with the letter S, intermingled with the eagle volant and crowned, which in this reign was usually appended to the collar of SS. That of Queen Joan had formerly such a pendant, but it is now broken off. A great gold collar, called of Ilkington, is mentioned, in Rymer's Fœdera, as having been a personal jewel of Henry V. while Prince of Wales. It was richly adorned with rubies, sapphires, and pearls, and pawned for £500 to the Bishop of Worcester, in 1415. To the prince also belonged a sword, the sheath of which was garnished with ostrich feathers, in goldsmith's work, or embroidery. Such dresses and decorations would, of course, be worn by Prince Henry only on state occasions. In his revels at the Boar's Head, he would wear only the dress of a private gentleman; and for the general dress of the time the best authorities are the illuminations in the MSS. marked Digby, 283, in the Bodleian Lib. Oxford, and No. 2332, in the Harleian Collect. Brit. Mus., which latter is a curious little calendar of the year 1411, every month being headed with the representation of a personage following some occupation or amusement, indicative of its peculiarities, and affording a most authentic specimen of the habit of the period. Of Prince John of Lancaster we know no representation until after he became Duke of Bedford. Nor are we aware of any portrait of Thomas Duke of Clarence or Prince Humphrey of Gloster at this period. The Earls of Westmoreland and Northumberland have been already presented, in their civil dresses, to our readers with the

The description of the Scenes will appear in Part II.

play of Richard II.; but we give the former, in complete armour, from his effigy in Staindrop Church, Durham, as an illustration of the military costume of this reign. The bascinet is ornamented with a splendid border and fillet of goldsmith's work and jewellery. The jupon, emblazoned with the arms of Neville, confined over the hips by an equally magnificent military girdle. With the difference of the armorial bearings, such would be the appointments of every knight in the field, from the sovereign downwards, the king's bascinet, or those of the knight's armed in imitation of the king, being surrounded by a crown instead of a jewelled band, or fillet.

The seal of Owen Glendower, as Prince of Wales, exhibits that famous personage, on one side, in his robes of state, and, on the other, in complete armour, with his tilting helmet and crest, encircled by a coronet.

Sir William Gascoigne, Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench, is represented in his judicial costume on his monument in Harwood Church, Yorkshire.

For the dress of Falstaff and his companions the MSS. before mentioned must be consulted.

For the proper costume of the Ladies Northumberland, Percy, and Mortimer, we should point to the effigy of the Countess of Westmoreland, in Staindrop Church, Durham; and for that of Dame Quickly and Doll Tearsheet, to the descriptions of Chaucer and the illuminated MSS. of the period.

ACT I.