A N 
 
 HISTORICAL DESCRIPTION 
 
 AN ANCIENT PAINTING 
 
 A T 
 
 COWDRY, IN SUSSEX, 
 
 THE SEAT OF THE RIGKT HONOURABLE 
 
 LORD VISCOUNT MONTAGUE 
 By sir JOSEPH AYLOFFE, Bart,V.P.A,S. an&F.RB, 
 
 L O N D a Ns 
 
 MDCCLXXVI IH 
 
Digitized, by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Getty Research Institute 
 
 https://archive.org/details/historicaldescriOOaylo 
 
[ 3 ]■ 
 
 An HISTORICAL DESCRIPTION of an ancient 
 Painting on the Wall of the Great Dining Parlour at 
 CovvDRVj in Sussex, the Seat of the Right Hon. 
 the Lord Viscount Montague; reprefenting, "The 
 Rncampinent of the English Forces near Portsmouth, 
 together with aView of the English ^^WErench Fleets 
 at the CQ 7 nmencefnent of the ABion between them o?i the 
 igth day of 'July y i545* alfo fome Account of 
 
 the other ancient Paintings in the fame Room. 
 
 By Sir Joseph Ayloffe, Bart, v.p.a. s. and f.r. s. 
 
 T he many and important advantages which inconteftably refult 
 to the antiquary and hiftorian, from a careful infpe£tion of 
 fuch hiftoric pictures and fculptures, as, being executed with accu- 
 racy and fidelity, are coeval with the tranfadions they are intend- 
 ed to record, cannot be more forceabiy verified, than by the paint- 
 ings which are the truely valuable ornaments of the great dining 
 parlour at Cowdry, in Suflex, the feat of the Right Hon. Anthony 
 Browne, Vifcount Montague. 
 
 Hitherto thefe memorials of Englifli glory have remained unde- 
 fcribed, and in great meafure unnoticed. But the exafl, circum- 
 flantial, and inftrudive manner in which they reprefent feveral very 
 interefting parts of our national Rory, prove them to be highly in- 
 titled to public attention. 
 
 A 2 
 
 The 
 
I 4_ ] 
 
 The paintings 1 am here fpeaking of, and which are In oil on 
 ftucco, occupy the whole length of each fide of the room, and are 
 continued along the upper end, as far as the angles of the jambs 
 which guard the recefs formed by the great bay window. In height 
 they reach from the impoft moulding of the dado to the underfide 
 of the cornice, and are in fine prefervation. 
 
 Thofe on the left fide of the room are divided into three compart- 
 ments, feparated from each other by the figure of a banner-ftaff, 
 whofe but-end is reprefented as refting on the ground, whilfi; its top, 
 as low down as the coronal, is hid by the fafcla of the cornice of 
 the room. The firfi: contains the march of King Henry the Eighth 
 from Calais towards Boulogne ; the fecond reprefents the encamp- 
 ment of the Englifli forces at Marquifle, or, as it was then called, 
 Alarqulfon ; and the third exhibits a view of the fiege of Boulogne ; 
 an event which not only enlarged our territorial pofleffions in 
 France, but redounded to the honour of King Henry, added glory 
 to the Englifli arms, and fignalized the year 1544 in our national 
 annals. 
 
 The paintings on the right hand fide of the room are divided into 
 two compartments ; the one reprefenting the encampment of the 
 Engllfh forces near Portfmouth, together with a view of the Englifh 
 and French fleets at the commencement of the adilon between 
 them on the 19th day of July, 1545 ; and the other containing the 
 proceffion of King Edward the Sixth from the Tower of London, 
 to Weftminftier, on the day preceding that of his coronation. 
 
 Before I proceed, it perhaps may be necellary to confider for 
 a moment the Bate of the Englifli affairs about the times to which 
 thefe paintings relate. 
 
 ill the year 1540, the animcfities which for a coiifiderable time 
 had fubfiffed between the Emperor Charles the Fifth and the 
 French King Francis the Flrft, were grown to fuch a height, as 
 plainly indicated, that a frefh rupture between thofe two nioiiarchs 
 
 was 
 
 I 
 
5 
 
 TX25 nearly approaching. The latter continued to decline the per- 
 formance, on his part, of the treaty of 1526, ufually called T^e Con- 
 cord of Madrid, and more particularly of thofe articles which related 
 to his refloring to Charles the duchy of Burgundy ; and the renun- 
 ciation of his right and claim in the kingdom of Naples, and other 
 territories in the poffeffion of Charles. 
 
 On the other hand, the Emperor perfifted as obftlnately in his re- 
 fafal to rellore Milan to F rancis. Charles thought himfelf further 
 injured by the intrigues carried on by Francis with the Venetians and 
 the Turks ; the latter of whom, by his inftigation, were preparing 
 to invade Germany.; as alfo by the endeavours that had been ufed 
 by the Duke of Orleans, and the Dutchefs d’Eftampes, the French 
 King’s miftrefs, to take him prifoner whilft he was at Paris, in the 
 year 1539 ; and by the ill fuccefs of his negociations in the Diet at 
 Worms. The affaffination of Rincon and Fregofe, the French Am- 
 bafladors to Venice and the Porte, whilfl: they were in their pall'age 
 along the Po, had llkewife inflamed the jealoufy of Francis ; who,. 
 imputlng the commiffion of that a£l to orders given by the Emperor, 
 in refentment furprized and kept prifoner George of Auftria. Fur- 
 ther, the flight fhewn to his AmbafTadors at the Diet at Spire, in 
 the following year, and the contempt wherewith the remonffrance 
 there made was treated, enraged him to fuch a degree, that he pub- 
 lickly defied Charles, and thereupon invaded his territories in five dif- 
 ferent places at once. 
 
 About the fame time our King Henry the Eighth had refblved om 
 a rupture with Scctlan-d, for which_ the marriages of James the 
 Fifth, firft, with Magdalen, the French King’s daughter, againfb 
 the fentlments of the King of England; and fecondly, with Mary 
 of Guife, to whom our King Henry had fhewn fome inclination ; — 
 James’s non-compliance with an- interview with Henry, which hadi 
 been repeatedly appointed; his entertaining fome rebels of the- 
 North ; his refufal to do homage to Henry for the kingdom of 
 
 Scotland ; ■ 
 
■[ 6 ] 
 
 Scotland ; and fome other matters of equal importance, were af- 
 figned as reafons. 
 
 On this occafion Henry fent Sir William Paget to Francis, with 
 inftruclions to hold him to his treaties of perpetual peace, as being 
 apprehenhve that he was inclined to affifl: the Scottifh King. Fran- 
 cis, on his part, declined all propofitions made^ by Paget ; and iiir 
 lifting on Henry’s afliftance for the recovery of Milan, and refu- 
 fing to pay him the penlions ftipulated by former treaties, Paget re- 
 turned home. On the other hand, Henry, provoked by this con- 
 dudl of Francis, defifted from the treaty of marriage between the 
 Duke of Orleans and the Princefs Mary, formerly propofed by the 
 French Ambaflador Pomeroy, and then renewed ; and determined to- 
 comply with the Emperor’s folicitations, and to enter into a league’ 
 with him againft France. 
 
 The unexpected death of the Scottifli King, in 1541, put a ftop 
 to the war with Scotland ; and Plenry, changing his councils, en- 
 deavoured to fecure the perfon of the young Queen of Scotland, and inr 
 due time to match her to his fon. Prince Edward ; but in this de- 
 ftgn he was again thwarted by Francis, and the French faction which 
 then prevailed with the Queen Regent ; fo that he haftened to con- 
 clude the league with the Emperor againft Francis. 
 
 Thefe were the real motives for Henry’s conduct at this time ; 
 but the principal caufes for a war with France, as publickly alledged, 
 were the following, viz. Fraircis’s having fortified Ardres, and made 
 incroachnaents to the prejudice of the Englifta ; his giving his daugh- 
 ter Magdalen, and afterwards the daughter of the Duke of Guife, 
 in marriage to James, King of Scotland, contrary to his promife ; 
 his detaining from Henry the debt of tivo millions of crowns, and 
 a yearly penlion of one hundred thoufand crowns during his life, 
 as ftipulated to be paid to him by the treaty of Moore, concluded 
 Auguft I, 1525; his neglecting to fupply Henry yearly with the 
 lalt of Brouage, to the value of fifteen thoufand crowns, as fettled 
 by one of the three treaties of the 30th of April 1527; his revealing 
 
 to 
 
[ 7 ] 
 
 to the Emperor, when at Aigues Mortes, and at Paris, divers fe- 
 crets wherewith Henry had intrufled him ; and his having confe- 
 derated himfelf with the Turk. 
 
 By the aforementioned league, which was ratified by Charles at 
 Molln del Rey, near Barcelona, on the 8th of April 1544, it was 
 llipulated, amongft other articles, that within one month from 
 the declaration of war againft France, Henry and the Emperor 
 fhould each have a fleet at fea, bearing two, or, if need be, three 
 thoufand foldiers, which fleet fliould remain on the coaft of France, 
 infefling that country 'f' that, within two years from fuch declara- 
 tion of war, .the two princes fhould, either in perfon, or by lieu- 
 tenant, invade the kingdom of France with an army of twenty- 
 thoufand foot, and five thoufand horfe ; and that, when King 
 Henry fhould have fo invaded France with his contingency of 
 troops, the Emperor fhould, at his own cofts, lend him two thou- 
 fand lanfquenets, and two thoufand able horfe, to ferve under him. 
 
 In confequence of thefe ftipulatlons Henry fent over into France 
 an army of thirty thoufand men, divided into three battails. The 
 van was led by Thomas- Duke of Norfolk, and the rear by the 
 Lord Ruflel, aflifted by Henry Earl of Surry, marfhal of the field. 
 Thefe forces, landing at Calais, marched direflly to Montreuil ; where 
 being joined by ten thoufand of the Emperor’s troops, under the 
 command of the admiral Count de Bures, they laid fiege to that 
 town. At the fame time the main battail, conduced by Charles 
 Duke of Suffolk, the King’s lieutenant, accompanied by Flenry Fit = 
 Alan, Earl of Arundel, Marlhal of the field, Sir Anthony Browne, 
 hlafler of the King’s horfe, and divers others, likewife landed at 
 Calais ; and, encamping near that place, waited for the King’s arri- 
 val. On the 14th of July, Henry, attended by a royal train, 
 landed at Calais, and took up his refidence there, at the houle ap- 
 propriated for the ufe of his Exchequer. Here, on the next day, he 
 was waited on by Don Bertran de la Cueva, Duke Albuquerque, 
 
 comv 
 
[ 8 I 
 
 commander of the Emperor’s auxiliary forces, as alfo by the Count 
 de Bures, admiral of the Low Countries. Thefe officers having in- 
 formed Elenry of the ftate of their mailer’s forces and affairs, the 
 King on that day ordered the Duke of Suffolk, who, with the troops 
 under his command, then lay encamped at Marquifon, or Marquife, 
 to march diredlly, and inveft Boulogne, whilft the other part of the 
 army carried on the liege of Montreuil. On Friday the i8th of 
 July, the Duke reconnoitred the outworks of Boulogne, and on 
 the next day broke up his camp, and fat down before the lower 
 town, which was taken on the Monday following, notwithlland- 
 ing a vigorous fally made by the garrifon of the high town. Henry,, 
 having received the news of this fuccefs of his arms, difmifled the 
 Emperor’s admiral, who had till then attended him ; and on the 
 25th of July marched out of Calais, and encamping that night at 
 Marquifon, he, on the next day, proceeded to join the army before 
 Boulogne. 
 
 With thefe circumftances the paintings on the left hand lide of the 
 room commence. 
 
 In the autumn of the year 1 544, the French King, finding his 
 affairs bear a very unfavourable afpedl, and that his towns of Bou- 
 logne and Montreuil were on the point of furrendering to the Eng- 
 lifli troops, which then befieged them, hallened to conclude a fepa- 
 rate treaty with the Emperor, being inceflantly urged thereto by the 
 Duchefs d’Eftampes, who at that time laboured to obtain for the 
 Duke of Orleans an ellablllhment out of the kingdom of France, 
 whereto flie might retire, in cafe either of her dlfgrace, or the King’s 
 death. This treaty was accordingly figned at Crefiy, in the Laon- 
 nois, on the i8th of September, four days after the furrender of 
 Boulogne ; by which means King Henry VIII, deferted by the Em- 
 peror, was left alone to fecure his new conquells, and carry on the 
 war againfi: France. This treaty furnllhed Francis the Firll with a 
 favourable oppportunity for endeavouring to wreak his revenge on 
 Henry, on account of his having taken Boulogne, and the ravages 
 
 com- 
 
[ 9 ] ^ 
 
 committed on the French coafls by the Engllfli fleet. He accordingly 
 determined to invade England ; and for that pnrpofe * aflembled his 
 whole fleet, conlifling of one hundred and fifty large flaips, befides 
 twentv-five gallies, and fifty fmall veflels and tranfpoits, at Havre 
 de Grace, under the command of Monfieur d’Annebaut, admiral of 
 France. This formidable fquadron, after having been reviewed by 
 the French king and his whole court with the greatefl: parade, took 
 a confiderable number of troops on board, and fet fail for England on 
 the fixth day of July, and on that evening came to an anchor off the 
 point of St. Helen’s, in the Ifle of Wight. King Henry, who had 
 previoufly received undoubted intelligence of the defign of this great 
 armament, ordered the Englilh forces, under the command of his 
 lieutenant general the Duke of Suffolk, to rendezvous at Portfmouth; 
 near to which, at Spithead, his navy, commanded by the Vifeount 
 Lifle, high admiral of England, then lay. He likewife foon after 
 repaired to Portfmouth, and there joined the army. At day-break 
 on the 19th, the French admiral, being determined -to provoke the 
 Englifh fleet to an engagement, fent in fome of the gallies, with or- 
 ders to fire upon our fhips whilft they were at anchor under fhelter 
 of the forts ; and thefe orders were accordingly executed by Paulin, 
 Baron de la Garde, who had the condudl of the gallies. The cir- 
 cumflances under which the French and Englifh fleets were at that 
 particular time, the fubfequent condufl and proceedings of each of 
 thofe fleets, and a view^ of the town of Portfmouth, and of the 
 Englifh camp, together with the preparations made to repel the 
 French in cafe of their attempting to land, are the principal fubjedls 
 of the painting in the firft compartment on the right hand fide of the 
 before-mentioned great dining parlour at Cowdry, an engraving of 
 which painting attends this memoir. 
 
 This piece gives us a birds-eye view of the harbour, town, and 
 fortifications of Portfmouth, of South-fea Caflle, Spithead, the eaft 
 * Memoires de Du Bellai, 
 
 B 
 
 end 
 
[ lO ] 
 
 end of the Ifle of Wight, and part of the adjacent county of Hants, 
 as alfo of the French and Engliih fleets, and part of the Englifh 
 camp. In the fore-ground, on the left hand fide of the painting, is 
 a reprefentation of the then town of Portfrnouth, with its grand en- 
 trance, or gateway on the land fide, placed fo as to face the fpedla- 
 tor. It appears to be nearly a fquare, open on that fide which ad- 
 joins to the harbour, but defended on the other three fides by a 
 fingle wall, kernelled, and fortified at the angles by circular forts or 
 baftions ; probably thofe which, as the great luminary of antiquity, 
 Mr. Camden *, tells us, were begun by King Edward the Fourth, 
 and finifhed by King Henry the Seventh. 
 
 On the rampart of the wall which faces to Spithead are feveral 
 cannon mounted. The embrafures of the parapet, through which 
 fome of them are laid, are defended by gabions ; others have piles 
 of ball laid near them, and all are guarded by Matroffes, and other 
 perfons of the train, holding in their hands rammers, fpunges, and 
 other implements of the artillery. In the center of this rampart is a 
 flag flying, charged with Barre of four. Or, and Argent ; and^on the 
 fide of the town, next to the harbour, is a batter}- of four cannon, 
 each of them flanked by a gabion, and the whole guarded by Ma- 
 trofles. Soldiers appear difperfed in diflerent parts of the town 
 fome of whom, as well as Labourers, are wheeling ammunition to 
 the batteries on the rampart facing Spithead ; and in the efplanade, 
 or Breet, immediately under that rampart, is a grave looking elderly 
 man, with a wand in his hand, drefied in a furred gown, or habit 
 of ceremony, probably intended to reprefent the mayor of Portf- 
 mouth, feemingly giving diredlions to feveral perfons who appear to 
 be refpedtfully attentive to him. At a fmall diftance from the town, 
 and near to the point, is the Englifh camp, defended on that part of 
 its front which faces towards St. Helen’s, by a circular fort, mounted 
 with five guns. All the tents and pavilions are paned, fome blue 
 and white, fome red and white, and others red and yellow ; and 
 
 ^ Britan, in Hampfhire. 
 
 the 
 
[ " ] 
 
 the principal of them furmoimted by vanes, charged v/lth either the 
 arms or badges of the refpe£live commanders to wliom they feveraiiy 
 appertained. The king, mounted on a {lately courfer, whofe head- 
 flail, reins, and llirrups, are fludded and embofied v/ith gold, is re- 
 prefented as riding from the town of Portfmouth, and jufi entering 
 into Southfea Caflle, in his way to the camp. He wears on his head 
 a black bonnet, ornamented with a white feather, and is dreffed in 
 ajacquet of cloth of gold, and a furcoat -or gown of browni velvet, 
 with breeches and hofe of white filk. His countenance appears fe- 
 rene and fedate. All the features of his face are highly finifhed, and 
 the portrait hath by good judges been efteemed to be the greatefl 
 likenefs w^e now have of that monarch, in the decline of his age. 
 He is preceded by four Henchmen, or pages on foot, and near the 
 right flank of his horfe are three others, all of them dreffed in the 
 royal uniform, and bearing their bonnets in their hands ; and on his 
 left hand is a lacquey likewife on foot, dreffed in a different livery. 
 Behind the King are two perfons on horfeback ; that on the right 
 hand is the Duke of Suffolk, the King’s lieutenant in this expedition, 
 mounted on a black horfe ; he is dreffed in a fcarlet habit, and hath 
 a black bonnet on his head ; his beard is remarkably white, curled, 
 and parted in the middle. The other is Sir Anthony Browne, the 
 King’s mafler of the horfe, mounted on a white courfer. Thefe are 
 followed by two demi-lancemen, horfed, and compleatly harneffed. 
 
 Southfea Caflle is reprefented as flrongly fortified, defended by 
 feveral cannon mounted on its ramparts, and particularly by a bat- 
 tery of eight guns erected on the platform facing Spithead. Between 
 the camp, and the fort on the point, is a large band of pikemen in 
 armour; having with them two pair of colours difplayed, the one 
 charged with Barre of ten, Argent and Gules; and the other with 
 the crofs of St. George. In their front is a file of archers on foot, 
 and on their left flank is a numerous band of fufileers : thefe corps 
 feem to be marching from the main guard to the platform fronting 
 
 B 2 the 
 
[ 
 
 the fea. The whole coall: on that fide is defended by divers pieces 
 of cannon, and is interfperfed with feveral perfons, fome of whom 
 appear to be foldiers, and others merely fpedfators. - 
 
 On the back of the Ifle of Wiglit, off Bembiidge Point, and 
 from thence fcretching along fliore by the Foreland and Blackmore- 
 hay to Culver Cliff, is the numerous French fleet, all under their 
 top-fails ; the admiral’s fhip being diflinguiflaed by having the French 
 colours flying on her jack- flaff, and alfo holftcd about half mafl: high 
 on her- mizen. Off that part which Is known by the name of No 
 Aland's Land^ are feveral French gallies ; and ftill further Inward 
 are four more of the French gallies firing at the Englifli fleet, which 
 is lying at Spithead. The four laft-mentioned gallies are undoubtedly 
 placed here, to reprefent and point out the pofition of thofe, which, 
 as we are informed by du Bella! and Florenge, the French admiral 
 had detached from his fleet, under the conduct of the Baron de la 
 Garde, to provoke the Engllfh fleet, and bring on a general engage- 
 rrient. It is to be remarked, that the colours of the Knights of 
 Malta, viz. Gules a Crofs Argent, are flying on the mafts, and other 
 parts of all the gallies ; and that the admiral of thofe veflels, who 
 is flatioued a little a head of the admiral of the fleet, hath on his en- 
 flgn-ftaff the arms of the then Pope. Behind the Engilfli fquadron, 
 on the fhore on the Gofport fide, are three large circular forts or baf- 
 tions, each mounted by two tire of cannon, one over the other, 
 and cafemated in fuch manner as to fecure the gunners from all 
 danger. Near the fpit, and in the front of the Englifli fleet, the mafl: 
 heads of a large man of war appear juft above water; and near to 
 them are feveral dead bodies and parts of rigging floating on the 
 water, as alfo feveral boats with men in them, rowing towards the 
 wreck, in order to take up fuch of the crew as v/ere endeavouring 
 to fave themfelves by fwimming. This fcene is intended to fhew the 
 fate of the Mary Rofe, the fecond fhip in point of fize at that time 
 belonging to the Engiifh navy, which fhip funk at the very begin- 
 
 ning 
 
[ '3 ] 
 
 nlng of the engagement between the two fleets, by which acci- 
 dent Sir George Carew, her commander, together with all the crew 
 then on board, except about forty, perifhed with her. The hing- 
 liih hhloxhans afcribe this accident to her being overladen with guns, 
 her larger ones unbreeched, and her fea-ports open, fo that in tack- 
 ing the water entered, and flie funk immediately ; and Mr. Bur- 
 chet * tells us, that her lofs was occafioned by a little fway, which 
 overfet her, her ports being made within fixteen inches of the water. 
 The French writers -f give a very different account, and iniiff that 
 fhe was funk by the terrible lire of their cannon, and that no more 
 than thirty-five of the crew efcaped. In this cafe, however, we may 
 with the greater probability rely on what our own countrymen tell 
 us, not only as they were the moft likely to know the real fadl, 
 but as their account is in a great meafure confirmed by the Cowdry 
 pidlure of which I am now fpeaking. The Mary Rofe is here re- 
 prefented as juft funk, at a fmall diftance from the tall of the fpit ; 
 and the head-moft of the French fhlps is' not nearer to her than St. 
 Helen’s Point, which is far beyond the reach of their guns; nei- 
 ther are any of thofe fliips reprefented as firing ; a eircumftance 
 which our painter, whofe accuracy is remarkable, certainly would 
 not have omitted, had it then been fuppofed that the Mary Rofe had 
 been funk by the enemy’s fire. One of the four gallies before men- 
 tioned is indeed reprefented as firing her prow gun towards the place 
 where the Mary Rofe funk; but the weight of metal, which the guns of 
 gallies ufually carried, was not fufficient to haveeffefted fuch a cataftro- 
 phe. Another of the French gallies is feen firing at the Englifh Admi- 
 ral’s fhip, who returns that fire with her bow-chaces. This fhip was 
 the Great Harry, on board of which the High Admiral, A’ifcount Lifle, 
 
 ^ Naval Hiftory, p. 340. Sir William Monfon, in his Naval Trafls, fays 
 the fame. 
 
 t Du Bellai. F. Daniel, Hid. de la Milice de la France, Gallard, Hlft. de 
 Francois I. &c. 
 
 embarkecL 
 
[ U ] 
 
 embarked. The rojal idandard of England is flying at her enfign- 
 flaff and jack-ftaff ; and at her main top-maft-head are holfted the 
 colours of St. George. This (hip, the only one with three maflis in 
 the whole fquadron, hath her quarters and fides, according to the 
 praclice of thofe times, fortified with targets, charged with the crofs 
 of St. George, and other heraldical devices, and Is here reprefen ted 
 as having all her falls fet, and bearing dowm upon the French fleet. 
 Of the reft of the Englifh fquadron, fome are under way, and others 
 weighing their anchors, and their top-fails fet, A little to the right 
 of the Englilh fleet are fome of thofe pinnaces which the French 
 called Rambarges, one of which is here reprefented under the ftern 
 of a French galley, raking her fore and aft. Thefe pinnaces 
 were longer than ordinary, in proportion to their breadth, and much 
 narrower than the gallies, vying in fwiftnefs with them, as 
 the French hlftorians acknowledge; and being well worked with oars 
 and fails by our Englifh failors, bore down upon the French gallies 
 with fuch impetuofty, and galled their' ftern s in fuch a manner 
 with their guns, the gallies having no cannon on their poops, that 
 the French apprehended nothing lefs than their total deftrudflon. 
 
 As the principal fhips in this pldlure are reprefented with port- 
 holes for their guns, it may not be improper to obferve, that, at the 
 time of this engagement, that praffice was not of a long ftanding ; 
 the making of fuch embrafures in the fides of fhips, for putting 
 through the muzzles of their cannon, being brought into ufe fo late 
 as the beginning of the fixteenth century. Previous to that time, 
 they placed only a few cannon upon the deck of fuch fhips as car- 
 ried any, and upon the prow or poop, as is yet done in galeafles, 
 and upon the prow of gallies *. 
 
 * The earlleft reprefentation of fliips of war having port-holes for their guns, which 
 I have hiiherto met with, is in a very remarkable pi£lure likewife prefervecl at Cowdry, 
 of the landing of the Emperor Charles V. at Dover, in the year 1520, under the con- 
 voy of the Englifh fleet, commanded by the Earl of Southampton. 
 
 The 
 
[ '5 ] 
 
 The lubjeel of the painting now under our conhderatlon, fo far 
 as I have already defcribed the principal parts, is evidently handled 
 with the greatefl: attention to truth ; all is regular, circumftantial, 
 and intelligible, nothing being mifreprefented, difguifed, or con- 
 fufed. In the fubfequent and more minute parts we (hall find the 
 painter obferving the fame accuracy and fidelity. 
 
 All the hiftorians, who mention the tranfaflion of which I have 
 been treating, agree, that the French navy being galled by the fire 
 of theEnglifh pinnaces, and unable to draw our lieet into the main, 
 fell dowm below Blackm.ore-bay, and landed about t^vo thoufand 
 men on the Ifie of Wight. Here the French admiral, Annebaut, 
 held a council of war, in which it was moved to fortify and keep 
 poflefiion of the ifland ; but this propofition being deemed imprac- 
 ticable, they began to burn the villages, until they were driven aw^ay 
 by Richard Worfley, captain of the ifland, with the lofs of their 
 commanding officer, and during the expedition having fufiered a 
 very confiderable lofs, ftretched over to their own coafts, and never 
 attempted to approach England again. 
 
 Thefe circumftances have not efcaped the notice of our painter. 
 In the view of part of the Ifle of Wight, which he hath given us 
 on the right hand fide of the back ground of the painting, he re- 
 fents the village of Bembridge, and feveral houfes, as juft fet on fire 
 by the French, who are feen retreating to their boats with the ut- 
 moft precipitation, being purfued crofs Brading Harbour * and Kemps- 
 Hill by a number of armed men, undoubtedly intended by the pain- 
 
 Brading Harbour, or haven, is a large traft of boggy ground, confifting of about 
 feven hundred acres, covered every tide with fhallow water, which flows from the fea 
 through a narrow inlet. That it had once been firm land is inconteftably proved by a 
 well walled with ftone having been difeovered about the middle of the haven, when en- 
 deavours for draining the Morafs were vifed in the year 1620, by the owner Sir Bevis 
 Thelwall, Sir Hugh Middleton, &c. 
 
 ler, 
 
[ >6 ] 
 
 ter, to fliew the ro'Jt of thofe who, under the command of Captain 
 Worilev, drove the enemy off the ifland. 
 
 AlmofL clofe to the water’s edge, and near the inlet into Brad- 
 ing' Harbour, the painter hath placed a church, and not far from 
 it we lee an ancient ruin, neither of which are now to be found 
 upon thofe fpots : the former is the old church of St. Helen, which 
 hihorv informs us food at the extremity of the parifh, fo near the 
 fea, that the waves waOaed away great part of the church>yard, and 
 even endangered the I'afety of the building ; wherefore the inhabi- 
 tants applied for and obtained a faculty for eredling a new church, 
 which was accordingly, in the year 1719, built on a more fecure fpot. 
 The ancient ruin is meant to reprefent the old priory of St. Helen, 
 which food on the eaft fhore, and on the fame pleafant feite where 
 the feat of Nalla Grofe, Efq. now ftands. This priory, the 
 name of whole founder hath not been handed down to us, belonged 
 to a Cluniac abbey in France, and was one of the alien priories given 
 by Henry the Sixth to his college at Eton. 
 
 When we firil: take a view of the back-ground of the piece which 
 I have been deferibing, the painter appears to have been guilty of an 
 egregious blunder. In the view of the Ifle of Wight there feem to 
 be three iflands reprefented ; and on the Gofport fide, the ground on 
 which the forts are built looks as if it was cut off from the main 
 land of Hamplhire by a narrow river. A little confideration of the 
 pdan of the lOe of Wight, and of the coaft of Hampfhire oppofite 
 thereunto, will, however, reconcile the fuggefted abfurdity, and 
 explain this matter. The part of the wall whereon this piece is 
 painted, doth not admit of a fufficient fpace between the dado and 
 the cornice of the room for the painter to reprefent the whole, 
 either of Brading Harbour, in the Ifle of Wight, or of that which 
 paffes by the town of Gofport, and runs up nearly to Alver- 
 ffoke. So that the up^per line of the painting being neceffarily drawn 
 
 through 
 
[ '7 ] . 
 
 through the middle of thofe harbours, they give the appearance 
 illaiids to the lands circumjacent. 
 
 As the feveral paintings on the other parts of the room have been 
 fullv defcribed in a memoir which I had the honour to lay before 
 the fociety in the year 1773, and lince printed in the third volume of 
 their Archjeologia, it is needlefs to take any further notice of them in 
 this place, other than to obferve, that they are truly valuable and ln-> 
 ffrudive remains, which in a great meafure explain and lay open the art 
 of war as praclifed by our anceftors above two hundred years ago, as 
 well as reprefent the military cuftoms and manners then prevalent, 
 exclufive of the information they afford in refpeft to a variety of other 
 matters of antiquity. In fhoit, all of them have great hlftoric merit, 
 and well deferve to be preferved for the information of pofferity j 
 more efpecially that which reprefents the fiege of Boulogne ; for, 
 in this piece, perhaps the moft perfedl and diftindl of any of its 
 kind, we have the compleat reprefen tation of a fiege, according to 
 the pradtlce ufed in the fixteenth century. We fee the form 
 of thofe fortitications which were then fuppofed to be fufficient for 
 the defence of a frontier town. We alfo fee that town invefted 
 by a powerful army, divided into four camps, with the Park of 
 Artillery in the mldft, and the fiege_ covered by a body of forces 
 encam-ped at a dilfance. Here we are taught the form and manner 
 of encampments, the method of carrying on approaches, and 
 forming the attack, together with the mode of defence. We 
 fee the forms of great ordnance, mortars, and military machines, 
 then ufed, with the method praCiifed in vvorking them ; the va- 
 rious implements of w'ar, ordnance ftores, fafcines, camp colours, 
 enfigns, banners, guidons, and tents ; as alfo the bread, baggage, 
 and ammunition waggons, tlien in fervice ; of which iafc fome 
 are of a very lingular fhape, being half cones laid on their fide 
 upon the bed of their carriages, and with their broadeft end next to 
 the fhafts. Here, likewlfe, we learn the metliods ufed in preparing 
 and fupplying the train and army with all (lores, &c. wanted in 
 
 C their 
 
[ i8 ] 
 
 fheir different departments. We are fhewn the various uniforms- or 
 liveries of the refpedive bands of foldiers, and the habiliments of 
 war appropriated to the different corps. In fhort, by duly contem- 
 plating that picture, we may form a tolerably good idea of whatever 
 related to the military of thofe times. 
 
 Thefe paintings have generally been afcribed to Hans Holbein ; 
 but they certainly are not the work of that mafler ; neither the 
 landfklp, drawing, or colouring, are like his; and, upon the whole, 
 they are fomewhat inferior to any pictures now known, to be the 
 produtl of his pencil. 
 
 The common opinion, that they were painted by Holbein^ 
 might probably arife from his having refided' fome time at Cowdry, 
 where he was ' entertained by Sir Anthony Browne, and painted 
 feveral excellent portraits, as alfo many of thofe fine heads which 
 are now in the withdfawing-room, on the ground floor next to 
 the garden. 
 
 The reign of King Henry the Eighth furnlfhed us- with feveral 
 other painters, the names of many of whom are remembered in the 
 Anecdotes of Painting in England ; as Anthony Toto, Luca Penne, 
 Johannes Corvus, Jerome de Trevifi, Jenet, Theodore Bernard!, 
 Hornebrand, or Horrebout, Nicholas Lyfard, Wright, Cornelli, &g. 
 And it is moll likely, that the paintings now under confideratioii 
 were the work of one of thefe mailers, who probably might have 
 received fome inflruflions in regard thereto from Holbein.. 
 
 About the year 1519, one Theodore Bernard! painted in the fouth 
 tranfept of Chichefter cathedral the pidlures of the Kings of Eng- 
 land, and bllhops of that fee, and two hlllorical pieces relative to 
 the church ; and afterwards fettled with his family in that part of 
 Suflex. We are llkewlfe told, that Jerome de Trevifi, who was 
 an engineer as well as a painter, attended King Plenty the Eighth 
 to the fiege of Boulogne, in the former quality, and was there flain ; 
 and that fome (ketches of that and other fieges, drawn by his hand, 
 
 3 are 
 
[ '9 ] _ 
 
 are pr^erved in a book in the Cotton Library. May we not then 
 reafonably conjecture, that the feveral paintings on . the walls of 
 the great dining parlour at Cowdry, were painted either by this Ber- 
 nardi, or by one of his pupils ; and that, for the painter’s more ac- 
 curate defcription of the liege of Bologno, , he had poflefled himfelf 
 of fome of thofe drawings, which at the time of the fiege had been 
 made byTrevifi? 
 
 Cowdry is lituated fo near to Chichelter, which was the refidence 
 of Bernardi, that Sir Anthony Browne, by whofe orders thefe pic- 
 tures were undoubtedly painted, may reafonably be fuppofed to have 
 feen his performances in the cathedral of- that city, and to have 
 been otherwife informed of his abilities as an hiftory-painter. With 
 equal probability we may fugged:, that Sir- Anthony Browne, who 
 attended the King in his expedition againft Boulogne, was acquaint-, 
 ed w'ith Jerome de Trevifi, and had procured fome, if not all the 
 drawings which he had made of the liege of that place, and of the 
 Englilh encampments, in order that thofe clrcumftances might,, with . 
 the greater accuracy, be reprefented in- the pictures with which he in- 
 tended to adorn his favourite Cowdry. Whoever was the painter^ , 
 all further enquiry about him is unnecellary. 
 
 It is very juHly remarked by the ingenious author of Anecdotes of 
 Painting in England, that the hiftories, habits, and cuftoms, of the 
 times, reprefented in the paintings at Cowdry, .make the room that 
 contains them a fmgular curiofity ; but when he proceeds to fay, 
 that they are its only merit, and that there is nothing good either 
 in the defigns, difpolition, or colouring, I muft dillent from him in 
 that opinion. 
 
 In thofe hlHory pieces which are in great meafure the produCl 
 of imagination, the fubjeCl may be treated, and the llory toldj in * 
 whatever manner the fertile genius of the mafter may fugged:., . Alle- 
 gorical and emblematical figures may be introduced, and their form, 
 attitude, drefs, and grouping, may be - conformable to the painter’s 
 foie will and pleafure ; his landlkips, buildings, and embellilhments, 
 
 C 2 may 
 
, [ ] 
 
 may be of his own formation ; and the defgn, difpofitlon, and co- 
 louring of the whole, may be fuch as he fliall think heft adapted to 
 produce a good effedl, and to form that, which, according to the 
 rules of his art, may juftly be pronounced a beautiful and mafterly 
 pidlure ; but when an exa£l reprefentation of fome inftrudive and 
 remarkable tranfafllon that happened within the knowledge of the 
 painter, together with all its attendant circumftances, is intended to 
 be recorded by his pencil, in order to preferve and hand down 
 to pofterlty a jufl and compleat idea of the real fa£l exaftly as it hap- 
 pened, the cafe is widely different ; and he is in every refpedl confined 
 to the faithful and minute obfervance of truth, accuracy, and ex- 
 ailnefs, and that without the leaf! addition, diminution, or varia- 
 tion. It is upon fuch plan that his defign muff neceffarily be formed. 
 His landlkip is to be the real face of the country whereon the bii- 
 finefs he is reprefenting was tranfafted ; and the buildings fuch, 
 and fuch only, as then flood thereon. The difpofition of thofe 
 buildings, as well as of his figures, and all other things fub- 
 fervient to the ffory, muff be fuch as in fa6t they adlually were. 
 The form and colours of his habits are to be fuch as the perfons 
 reprefented really wore at the time, and the colouring of every 
 objefl in the piece muff be that which really diftinguifhed it, and 
 belonged thereto. Under thefe circumftances the paintings in the 
 dining parlour at Cowdry were evidently formed. Whoever will be 
 at the paine of comparing them with the account and defcriptions 
 given of the tranfttftions they reprefent, by the contemporary hif- 
 torians, and with the appearance of the country and buildings thefe 
 pictures exhibit, will find, that the painter’s pencil hath throughout 
 the w'hole been guided by that ftricft conformity to truth and fail, 
 which will more than fufficiently atone for any other defedls in the 
 requifites for producing a beautiful painting. 
 
 THE END.