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A N 
 
 A C C O U N T 
 
 OF SOME 
 
 ENGWSH HISTORICAL PAINTINGS 
 
 A T 
 
 C O W D R Y, in S U S S E X. 
 
 By Sir JOSEPH AYLOFFE, Bart. V.P.A.S. and F,R.S. 
 
 L O N D O N, MDCCLXXIV. 
 
[3] 
 
 AN ACCOV NT of Jome ancient English Hijlorical 
 Paintings at C o w d r y /-^ S u s s e x. 
 
 B Y 
 
 Sir Jofeph Ayloffe, Bart. V. P. A. S. and F. R. S. 
 
 Read at the Societv of Antiquaries, March 25, and April i, 1773. 
 
 IN a Memoir which I formerly laid before the Society, touch- 
 ing the royal pidlure of the interview between King Henry 
 VIII. and the French King Francis the Firft [a], I took notice of 
 the advantages which might refult to the hiftorian and antiquary 
 from a careful infpe6lion of fuch remaining hiftoric paintings and 
 fculptures, as, being executed with accuracy and fidelity, are go- 
 aeval with the tranfadions they are intended to record. 
 
 During the recefs of the laft fummer, in company with Meflrs. 
 Brander, Chown, Aftle, and Bljke, Members of this Society, I 
 had an opportunity of viewing and examining at leifure a con- 
 fiderable number of very curious and ancient paintings of this 
 fort, now preferved at Cowdry, near Midhurft, in SuiTex, the 
 feat of the Right Honourable Vifcount Montague, who permit- 
 ted us a freedom of accefs to thofe valuable treafures, with an eafe 
 and politenefs that fully characterized the nobleman and the 
 fcholar. 
 
 The fubje(5ts of thefe paintings, together with the clrcumftan- 
 tial and inftru6live manner in which they reprefent feveral very 
 interefting parts of our national flory, manifeflly confirm thofe 
 
 [fl] See Archaeologia, vol. III. p. 185. 
 A 2 
 
 fenti- 
 
4 HiJIorical Account of 
 
 fcntiments which I had long entertained as to the utility of fuch 
 pieces. And it was with no Tmall degree of fatibfadion that we 
 foj.ip^ them not pn|y e:^hibiting exact views of towns, fortifica- 
 tions, and other places of irnportance, in the ftate and conditioti 
 in which they adiially were at the time of painting thofe piftures ; 
 but that they in a great meafure explain and lay open the art of 
 war both by fea and land, as praftifed 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 refpedl to a variety of other matters of antiquity. 
 
 Hitherto thefe monuments of Englifh glory, although in« 
 difputably well entitled to public attention, have remained un- 
 defcribed, and in great meafure unnoticed. In order therefore that 
 theSocij^ty may have fome faittt idea of them, I prefume to offer 
 the following account, to whick I am the rather induced, by 
 many of thofe paintings having been paffed over in filence, and 
 others only tranfiently mentioned, by the ingenious author, whofe 
 literary labours, and courfe of inquiries after painting in England,, 
 enabled him to give a more drcumftantial and ample defcription of 
 thofe valuable hiftoric records than hath hitherto been publifli^d. 
 
 At prefent I fliall confine myfelf to thofe pamtings only which 
 are the Angular and very remarkable ornaments of the great, 
 dining parlour, referving the account of the other Englifh hifto- 
 ric piftures, at Cowdry, to fome future occafion. 
 
 These paintings, which are in oil on ftucco, occupy the whole 
 length of each fide of the room, and are continued along the up- 
 per end, as far as the angles of the jambs which guard the recefs 
 formed by the great bay window. In height they reach froms 
 the irjipoft moulding of the dado to the under fide of the cornice, 
 and are in fine prefervatba, 
 
 Those 
 
foms ancient EnglKh Paintings at Cowdry. ^ 
 
 TfiosE on the left fide of the room are divided into three 
 compartments, feparated from each other by the figure of a bair- 
 ner-fldff, whofe biit-end is reprefented as refting on the ground, 
 whilft its top, as low down as the coronal, is hid by the fafcia of 
 the cornice of the room. The fir ft contains the march of Kino- 
 Henry the Eighth from Calais towards Boulogne ; the fec« nd 
 reprefents the encampment of the Englifli forces at Marquiile,. 
 or, as it was then called, Marquifon ; and the third exhibits a 
 view of the fiege of Boulogne ; an event which not only en- 
 larged our territorial pofleffions in France, but redounded to the 
 honour of King Henry, added glory to the Englifii arms, and 
 fignalized the year 1 544 in our national annals. 
 
 The paintings on the right hand fide of the room are divided 
 into two compartments, the one containing the rendezvous of 
 the Englifli army at Portfmouth, in the year 1545, to oppofe 
 the intended invafion of this kingdom by the French, whofe for- 
 midable fleet of men of war and tranfports are reprefented as ly- 
 ing off"St. Helen's ; and the other containing the proceflion of King 
 Edward the Sixth from the Tower of London to Wefl;minfter, 
 on the day preceding that of his coronation. 
 
 Before 1 proceed to a further defcrlption of thefe piflures, k 
 perhaps n^ay be neceflary to confider for a moment the ftate of 
 Englifli affairs about the times to which they relate. 
 
 In the year 1540, the animofities which for a confiderable time 
 had fubfifted between the Emperor Charles the Fifth and the 
 French King Francis the Firfl:, \¥ere grown to fuch a height, as 
 plainly indicated, that a frefli rupture between thofe two mo- 
 narchs was nearly approaching. The latter continued to decline 
 the performance on his part of the treaty of 1526, ufually called 
 ^he Concord of Madrid^ and more particularly of thofe articles 
 which related to his reftoring to Charks the duchy of Burgundy ; 
 
 B and 
 
5 j^n Hiftoncal Account of 
 
 and the renunciation of his right and claim in the kingdom of 
 Naples, and other territories in the pofleffion of Charles. 
 
 On the other hand, the Emperor perfifted as obftinately in his 
 refufal to reftore Milan to Francis. Charles thought himfelf fur- 
 ther injured by the intrigues carried on by Francis with the Ve- 
 netians 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 ne- 
 gociations in the Diet at Worms. The aflaffination of Rincon 
 and Fregofe, the French Ambaffadors to Venice and the Porte, 
 whilft they were in their paffage along the Po, had likewife in- 
 flamed the jealoufy of Francis ; who, imputing the commiffion of 
 that a£l to orders given by the Emperor, in refentment furprlzed 
 and kept prifoner George of Auftria. Further, the flight (hewn 
 to his Ambafladors, at the Diet at Spire, in the following yeaf, 
 and the contempt wherewith the remonftance there made was 
 treated, enraged him to fuch a degree, that he publickly defied 
 Charles, and thereupon invaded his territories in five difTerent 
 places at once. 
 
 About the fame time our King Henry the Eighth had refolved 
 on a rupture with Scotland, for which the marriage of James the 
 Fifth; firL, with Magdalen, the French King's daughter, agalnfl 
 the fentiments of the King of England ; and fecondly, with Mary 
 of Guife, to whom our King Henry had £hewn fome inclina- 
 tion ; — James's non-compliance with an interview with Henry, 
 which had been repeatedly appointed j his entertaining fome rebels 
 of the North ; his refufal to do homage to Henry for the king- 
 dom of Scotland; and fome other matters of equal impo^i'tance, 
 were affigned as reafons. 
 
 On 
 
fome ancient Englifla Piciures at Cowdry. 7 
 
 On this occafioii Henry lent Sir William Paget to Francis, with 
 inftructions to hold him to his treaties of perpetual peace, as being 
 apprehenfive that he was inclined to affift the Sco.ttifh King. 
 Francis on his part declined all propofitions made by Paget ; and 
 infifting on Henry's affiftance for the recovery of Milan, and re- 
 fuling to pay him the penlions ftipulated by former treaties, Paget 
 returned home. On the other hand, Henry, provoked by this 
 condud of Francis, defifted from the treaty of marriage between 
 the Duke of Orleans and the Princefs Mary, formerly propofed by 
 the French Ambaffador Pomeroy, and then renewed ; and deter- 
 mined to comply with the Emperor's folicitations, and to enter 
 into a league with him againft France. 
 
 The unexpeiled death of the Scottifli King, in 1541, put a 
 flop to the war with Scotland ; and Henry, changing his councils, 
 endeavoured to fecure the perfon of the young Queen of Scotland, 
 and in due time to match her to his fon, Prince Edward ; but in 
 this defign he was again thwarted by Francis, and the French fac- 
 tion, which then prevailed with the Queen Regent ; fo that he 
 haftened to conclude the league with the Emperor agalnft Francis. 
 
 These were the real motives for Henry's condud at this timer 
 but the principal caufes for a war with France, as publickly al- 
 ledged, were the following, viz. Francis's having fortified Ardres,. 
 and made incro3chments to the prejudice of the Engllfh ; his 
 giving his daughter Magdalen, and afterwards the daughter of 
 the Duke of Guife, in marriage to James, King of Scotland, con- 
 trary to his promife ; his detaining from Henry the debt of two 
 millions of crowns, and a yearly penlion of one hundred thou fan d 
 crowns daring h's life, as ftipulated to be paid to him by the treaty 
 of Moore, conchided Augufl: i, 1525; his neglefting to fupply 
 Henry yearly with the fait of Brouage to the value of fifteen tliou- 
 fand crowns, as fettled by one of the three treaties of the ^cth of 
 
 E 2 .Aprii 
 
8 An Hijlorkal Account of 
 
 April 1 527 ; his revealing to the Emperor, when at AlgiieslMor- 
 tes, and at Paris, divers fecrets wherewith Henry had intrufted 
 him ; and his having confederated himfelf with theTurk. 
 
 By the aforementioned league, which was ratified by Charles at 
 IMolin del Rey, near Barcelona, on the 8th of April 1544, it was 
 fllpulated, amongft other articles, that within one month from 
 the declaration of war again ft France, Henry and the Emperor 
 fliould each have a fleet at fea, bearing two, or, if need be, three 
 thoufand foldiers, which fleet fhould remain on the coaft of France, 
 infefting that country j that, within two years from fuch declara- 
 tion of war, the two princes fliould, 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 fliould have fo invaded France with his contingency of 
 troops, the Emperor fliould, at his own cofts, lend him two thou- 
 fand lanfquenets, and two thoufand able horfe, to ferve un- 
 der him. 
 
 In confequence of thefe ftipulations, 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, affifted by Henry Earl of Surry, marflial of the 
 field. Thefe forces landing at Calais, marched direftly to Mont- 
 reuil, 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, conduc- 
 ted by Charles Duke of Suffolk, the King's lieutenant, accompa- 
 nied by Henry Fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel, Marflial of the field, 
 Sir Anthony Brown, Mafler of the King's horfe, and divers others, 
 likewife landed at Calais, and encamping near that place, waited 
 for the King's arrival. On the 14th of July Henry, attended 
 by a royal train, landed at Calais, and took up his refidence there, 
 
 at 
 
fome ancient Englifli Paintings at Cowdry. 9 
 
 at the houfe appropriated for the ufe of his Exchequer. Hereon 
 the next day he was waited on by Don Bertran de la Cueva, Duke 
 Albuquerque, commander of the Emperor's auxiliary forces, as 
 alfo by the Count de Bures, admiral of the Low Countries. 
 Thefe officers having informed Henry of the ftate of their mailer's 
 forces and affairs, the King on that day ordered the Duke of Suf- 
 folk, who with the troops under his command then lay encamped 
 at Marquifon, or Marquife, to march diredlly, and inveft Bou- 
 logne, whilft the other part of the army carried on the fiege of 
 Montreuil. On Friday the i8th of July the Duke reconnoitred 
 the out- works 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, notwithftanding a vigorous fally made 
 by the garrifon of the high town. Henry, having received the 
 news of this fuccefs of his arms, difmiiled 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 fide 
 of the room commence. 
 
 On a fcroll near the top of the firft compartments of the paint- 
 ings is written, 
 
 " The Metinge of the Kinge bst 
 *< St Antoni Browne upon the 
 «' Hill betwene Callis and 
 " Marquison." 
 
 On the right hand is a bird's-eye view of the RifebanCy or, 
 more properly fpeaking, the Ryjhrook, together with the town 
 and caftle of Calais, and their refpeftive fortifications. At fome 
 din:ance from them, and nearly at the bottom of the fore-ground 
 of the picture, is an elevation of the weft-front of fort Nieulai, or 
 2 as 
 
lo An Hijlorkal Account of 
 
 as it was then called by the Englifh Newman's Bridge^ but by 
 miftake written New Name Bridg on the pidure. King Henry, 
 with a moft royal train which marched with him from Calais, is 
 here reprefented as paffing through fort Nieulai^ and from thence 
 croffing the river of Hames^ by means of a bridge compofed of 
 three arches, and proceeding towards Marquifon, or Marquife. 
 The King, drefTed in compleat armour, and mounted on a bay 
 horfe richly caparifoned, rides in the midfl: of a body of pikemen, 
 and is preceded by his ftandard-bearer, carrying the royal banner. 
 Some perfons, apparently of quality, on horfeback, fundry officers 
 at arms, and a party of foldiers, are reprefented as having juft af- 
 cended the hill between Efcales and Peuplinque, where the King 
 is received by Sir Anthony Brown at the head of a party of horfe. 
 The horfemen in compleat armour, and under the guidon of St, 
 George are drawn up on the fummit of the hill on the left hand, 
 Oppofite to them the trumpeters of the guard, richly drefled in 
 the royal livery, form a line, each of them having his trumpet 
 ornamented with a banner of the arms of England and France 
 quarterly. They feem as if founding to arms on the King's ap- 
 proach. In the middle of the ground, between the horfemen and 
 trumpeters, is Sir Anthony Brown, mounted on a brown horfe, 
 and bowing in the moft refpeflful manner to the King. He holds, 
 his bonnet in his right hand, and points with it towards the right 
 of the forces, probably to fhevv the King the ground which had 
 been marked out near Marquife for the royal camp, though the 
 fpot is not reprefented in the pi£lure. 
 
 In the rear of the King is a party of horfe, followed by feveral 
 bodies, as well of horfe as foot, dreffed in diftinft liveries, having 
 their refpeftive banners and guidons difplayed. Thefe form a 
 ilne of march from the gate of Nieulai to the bridge over the river 
 of Hames^ and continue from thence Co the place where the King 
 is met by Sir Ajithony Brown. 
 
 Although 
 
fome ancient EngUfh Paintings at Cowdry. i r 
 
 Although the fubjeft of this piece unavoidably occafioned a 
 fltiffnefs in the painting, yet the painter hath relieved it as much 
 as he poffibly could confiftently with the truth of hiftorical repre- 
 fentation, by a laudable difpofition of the feveral bands of men, 
 by the face given to the country through which they are paffing, 
 and by the introdudion and difpofition of feveral figures repre- 
 fented as ftragglers from the main body of the army. As he feems 
 to have been chafte in properly difiinguiftiing the different corps 
 of guards, henchmen, light horfe, demi-lances, pikemen, gun- 
 ners, &c. fo he hath duly obferved to mark the different live- 
 ries of the refpeilive bands, by varying the cloathing of each 
 ftragler, and by reprefenting fome as wearing both ftockings of 
 the fame colour, and others with one flocking of one colour, and 
 the other of another colour ; thus fome have both ftockings white, 
 fome both red, and fome both yellow, vvhilft others again have a 
 yellow flocking on one leg, and a red flocking on the other. 
 Some have a white flocking on the left leg, and a red one on the 
 right; and others again a yellow flockiug on the right legj and a 
 black flocking on the left. At a confiderable diftance from the line 
 of march, but clofe to the north wefl tower of fort Nieulaiy and in 
 the front of the piece, are two foldiers reprefented as fighting with 
 each other. 7"he ikuli-cap or head- piece of each is fimilar; but they 
 are differently arirfcd, the one holds a fmall buckler in his left hand, 
 and a long fword in his right ; and the other hath a very large 
 buckler, and a fword fomewhat fhorter than that of his antagoniil. 
 It is difficult to determine the reafbn for introducing the figures 
 of theie combatants into the pi6lure ; but as they are placed in the 
 fore-ground, aivd in a very confplcuous manner, there can remain 
 but little doubt of their being defigned to mark and perpetuate the 
 iViemory of fome fingular event which happened at that tirhe. 
 
 Having taken a view of this firfl compartment, it is no mroe 
 than juflice to confider how the painter hath therein kept to, 
 ot deviated from, hiflorical truth. In the Diary of the King's 
 
 voyage, 
 
it An W[loncal Account cf 
 
 voyage, and of the fiege of Boulogne, printed by Rymer [b], we 
 find, that the Duke ot Suffolk, with Sir Anthony Brown, Mafter 
 of the Horfe to the King, 2nd the main battail of the Englifh 
 forces, lay encamped at Marquifon, which is about nine miles 
 from Boulogne : That five days after the King's arrival at Calais, 
 they undertook the fiege ot Boulogne, and that the King, having 
 received the news of the taking the lower town on the 25th of 
 July, marched for Boulogne in the following order. Firft, drums 
 and viffleurs; then the trumpets, the officers of arms, and the 
 barons ; — then Garter, followed by the Duke of Alberquerk, and 
 the Earl of Rutland bearing the King's banner difplayed ; then 
 the King's Majefty, armed at all pieces, mounted upon a goodly 
 courfer. And after him the Lord Herbert, bearing the King's 
 head-piece and fpear ; and followed by the henchmen, well horfed. 
 That at the gates of Nieulai the King was met by the Duke of 
 Alberquerk's company of one hundred horfe, the Earl of Eflex 
 chief captain of the men at arms, and Sir Thomas Drury, accom- 
 panied by a great number of horfemen j and that he proceeded 
 from thence in the following order. Firft, light horfes and demi- 
 lances J then the guard, viz. twentyfive archers on the right fide, 
 and as many gunners on the left ; the King's Majefty riding in 
 the midft of the pikemen ; then the men of arms ; after whom 
 the reft of the army followed, every band in order, having liis 
 banner or guidon difplayed. 
 
 Lord Herbert, in his Life of Henry the Eighth, further fays, 
 ** that the main battail were apparelled in a bizarre fafliion, their 
 " colours being red and yellow, and that the van-guard had caps 
 and hofe party coloured." And HoUinflied, in his Chronicle, 
 takes notice, " that the battel, called the King's battel, were in 
 i< coats, caps, and hofen, red guarded with yellow.'* Now if we 
 
 Rymer's Foed. vol. XV, 
 
 compare 
 
fome ancle Hi Englifli Paintings at Cowdry. 13 
 
 comp.ire thefc accoiints with the pldure, we fiiall find that the 
 pahiter hath adhered to facls and the truth of hirtory in every par- 
 ticular, fo far at leaft, as it was poffible for him to rcprefent them 
 in his piece. 
 
 As none of the Engllfli hlftorians, or the Diary juft now quo- 
 ted, exprefsly mention that it was Sir Anthony Brown wlio re- 
 ceived the King on the height between Efcales and Peuplinque, 
 fome doubts may perhaps be ftarted as to the truth of the above 
 affertion. Probability will however in great meafure fupport it. 
 Sir Anthony Brown, as appears by the before-mentioned journal, 
 was at that time encamped at Marquifon ; and being mafter of the 
 horfe to the King, had, in point of office, the care of the quarters 
 there affigned for that monarch ; confequently he was the moil 
 proper perfon to meet the King, and to (hew and condudl him to 
 his camp. This fuggeftion is further ftrengthened, not only by 
 the tradition that hath always prevailed in Lord Montague's fa- 
 mily, that Sir Anthony met the King on that fpot^ and the in- 
 fcription on the pifture teftifying the fame j but by the evident 
 likenefs that there is between the face of the figure reprefented as 
 meeting the King, and that of an undoubted portrait of Sir An- 
 thony, now in one of the apartments at Cowdry. 
 
 The Rijbank, or Ryjbrook [c], is here depifted in the fame 
 form and manner as it is reprefented in a plan of the fiege of Ca- 
 lais, 
 
 [^r] The Rifoarik, corruptly fo called from its more ancient name of Ryforook^ 
 is fuppofed by fevcral.of the French writers (1) to have been the work of the 
 Emperor Caligula, but in fail it was originally built by the Englifli, fo late as 
 the reign of King Richaid II. as is evident from the French Rolls now preferved 
 in the Tower of London. In the year 1391, the French having augmented the 
 fortifications of Ardres, St. Omers, and Boulogne, and placed ftrong garrifons in 
 
 (i) Etat ds la France par M. Boulainviiliers, torn. I. p. 64. Memorial of Monf. Bignon, Intendant of Picardy, 
 MS, in the Depot at Verfailles. Aniales de Calais, par M. BarnarJ, chap. iv. p. 28, 
 
 C each. 
 
14 -^n Hi/lor ical Account of 
 
 lais, by the Duke de Gulfe, in the year 1558, puMiflicd by Monf. 
 Lefcbure, in his Millory of Calais [c/J. Exaflly confon^nt to the 
 lame plni is the view of the town and fortifications of Calais, and 
 that cf fort NisuLii, or Newman's Bridge [f"*, a^ clelcrib:'d in this 
 painting. It is farther obfervable, for the trcdit and authenticity 
 of the Cowdry pifture, that the painter hath given the fame pre- 
 cife niniiber and form of arches tohisbri Jcreover the river of Hames, 
 as it appears to have in that engraved in the before-mentioned 
 plan ot the liege. 
 
 The fecond compartment reprefents, as is expreffed near its 
 top, *' The Camping of the King at Morguison." 
 
 each, thereby alarmed the Englifli, who be^an to fufpeiH: fom.e defign was form- 
 ing againft Calais. John Duke of Lancafter was thereupon appointed lieutenant 
 general of the Englifh territories in Ficardy, and fent to infpeft and examine into 
 the condition of the fortrefTes in thofe parts (2). On his arrival at Calais, he 
 gave orders for putting the fortifications of that place into a proper ftate of de- 
 fence, and finding it weak on that fide next to the harbour, he there erefted a 
 ftrong fortified tower, which obtained the appellation, fiift of The New Tower^ 
 and afterwards that of Lancajlers New Tower (3). After the battle of Agincourt, 
 John GerrardjWho was then commandant of this tower, by order of King Henry 
 V. added thereto two ftrong baftions, feparated by a curtain of one hundred 
 and thirty-two feet in length, which ferved as a wall for the cafements, which 
 were carried on throughout its whole extent, and fortified with turrets at each 
 angle {4). From that time it v/as called the Fortrefs of Ryfirook. Some of thofc 
 works are now remaining, 
 [ij Tom. II. p. 292. 
 
 [f] The origin of fort Nieiilai is not exaflly known ; but it is generally fup- 
 pofed to be one of thofe forts which were built by the Emperor Charlemagne, in 
 the year 810, upon the fea coaft ofPicardy, to defend it againft: the invafions of 
 the Danes, and other Northern pirates, who then infefted the feas between Flan- 
 ders, France, and England. Malbr. de Morin. lib. v. c. 46. Hift. de la Ville 
 de Calais, per M. L^febure, torn. I. p. 628, 629. 
 
 (2) Rot. Franc, m. 5. 
 
 (3) Ibid, m, I. & g. Hift. de Calais, par M, Lefebure, torn, I. p. 133. 
 
 ^4) Rot. Franc, m. 9. Sc 17. Hift. de Calais, par M. Lefebure, torn. II, p. 100. 
 
 The 
 
fomc ancknt Englirii Paintings at Cowdry. i ^ 
 
 The front or foreground of this piece reprefents a champaign 
 country, covered with baggage and ammunition Vva_'gons, artil- 
 lery, and a great number of dilTerent forts of tents, labouring un- 
 der the utmoft diftrefs fi-om a violent and incefTant ficnm of wind 
 and lightning, which is exprefled in a mafterly manner. Here 
 we fee feveral tents blown down, and lying on the ground; whilft 
 the foldiers and women, in ail the pangs of fright and horror, 
 are endeavouring to creep fiom under the fliattered ruins, and 
 feem apprehenlive of being again buried under the neighbouring 
 tottering tents. Others have ihcir tent-pins drawn, and are re- 
 prefented as falling, whilft the foldiers and artillery- men, harraffed 
 by the ftrefs of weather, and fcarce able to ftand againft the force 
 of the wind, weakly endeavour to keep them up. Of thofc that 
 are left ftanding, fome are torn in pieces by the wind, and others 
 have their curtains blown open, and waving in the air. In the 
 back ground is a view of the church and village of Marquifon 
 all on fire, occafioned, as tradition ha:h it, by the flafhes of light- 
 ning. The hiftorians of that time take no notice of this ftorm; 
 but the above quoted Diary alludes to it, where it fays, " The 
 " King camped that night at Marquifon, being a very great tem- 
 " peftuous night of rain and thunder." 
 
 The third compartment, which is in fize equal to both the 
 former, reprefents the liege of Boulogne \J\ 
 
 On 
 
 [/] Theancitnt Gejfor'iacum changed its name for that of Bononla, under the 
 empire of Dioclefian, about which time Caraufius, finding that town a proper 
 retreat for his troops then employed in an expedition againft the Morini, took 
 pofteflion of the place, and fortified it ; but not long after he was difpoffefled thereof 
 by Conftantius Chlorus, who thenceforth kept his court there, whenever his af- 
 fairs did not call him to Treves. From the frequent refidence of the fubfequent 
 emperors at this place, and more particularly when the harbours of Wiflan and 
 Ambletufe were abandoned, Boulogne became a flourifhing town, being then the 
 
 C 2 only 
 
1 6 An HiJIorical Account of 
 
 On the left hand is a view of the high or upper town of 
 Boulogne, defended by a fliong wall, flrengtheued with lofry 
 
 rauiparts, 
 
 cnl,' port in Gaul at which the Romans enlxi'kcd for Britaip, and was th n cal- 
 led Bononia Oceanenfij^ to dirtinguifh it from Bononia in Italy. In the year 463 it 
 appears to be generally called Boulogne; for in that year, Leger, the principal of 
 the chiefs of the iVlorini, on the fubmillion of thofe people to the Franks, was ap- 
 pointed Earl of Boulogne, and its territories, which extended to the river Efca it; 
 but he going foon afier into Britain to the alTiftance of Uther Pendragon, vvas 
 deprived of thofe his then new dignity and acquifitions. His fon Leger II. how- 
 ever, by the aid of our Britifh King Arthur, recovered them from Clotaire, King 
 of Soiflbns, to whofe lot they had fallen upon the partition made between him 
 and his three brothers, after the death of their father Clovis. In 8S1, the north- 
 ern intruders, who had ravaged Flanders and the fea coafl of Picardy, laid fiege 
 to Boulogne, and having entirely rafed its ancient walls, wh'ch from their excef- 
 five height had occafioned the town to be foinetimes called Haut-mur^ or Haulte- 
 mure (1), malTacred great part of the inhabitants, without diflincElion of age or 
 fex. From that time Boulogne was in great meafure deferted, till Philip, Earl 
 of Boulogne, uncle to King Lewis IX. in the year 1227, re-edified its walls, 
 divided the upper from the lower town, and ftrengthened the former, by erecting 
 on its eaft fide a caftle, defended by a wet ditch, which feparated it from the 
 town, wherewith it had communication by means of a bridge; as alfo by raifing 
 at a fmall diftance a ftrong tower, called Parquet, or Martinienne (2). From thefe 
 advantages the inhabitants formed the mofl: fanguine hopes of feeing their town 
 flourifti once more ; but they were greatly difappointed in their expectations, by 
 Philip's fortifying of Calais, cleanfing and. deepening its harbour, erecting a ftrong 
 caftle for its defence, making it the place of his refidence, and giving every 
 encouragement to the eftabliftiment of trade and commerce therein ; of all which 
 advantages the inhabitants made the beft ufe. The taking of Calais by theEng- 
 lifti, in the year 1347, gave a new turn to the aftairs of Boulogne, as from that 
 time it became the frontier town of the French territories, and the only fortrtfs 
 that could cover Picardy on that fide next Calais. On this account Charles VI. 
 enlarged and ftrengthened its fortifications confiderably ; and the town, by reafon 
 of the numerous garrifon ufually kept there, and the conveniency of its harbour, 
 foon grew rich and flourifliing, notwithftanding the frequent incurfions mace in o 
 its neighbourhood by the Englifli garrifon at Calais. In the year 1488 K.Henry VII. 
 with a powerful army befieged it; but foon after raifed the fiege, on the exchanging 
 
 (i) Coutumier general dePicardie, par Duhours. 
 
 (?) Mem. de Pu Bellai. Arn, Ferron. ad Hift. P. JEmil. addit. p. 14?. 
 
 the 
 
feme ancient Englifli Paintings ai Covclry. 17 
 
 r.imparts, and baftions fixed on its flar.k?. On the eaft fide of 
 t};e town \i the citadel, covered by another large baftion. Beneath 
 thofe, and nearer to the fore part of the piclure, is a view of tlie 
 lower town, as alfo of its river a;ul harbour, with part of the fea 
 between the jettee heads and the harbour of Wiflan. In the fore- 
 ground of the piclure is the main Englifli camp within an intrtnch- 
 mer.t thrown up on the north fide of Boulogne, from whence the 
 approaches appear to be carried on for forming the attack upon 
 that part of the high tov/n which faces towards the fea. Over it 
 is written " The King's Camp." At the eaftern corner of this 
 camp is a royal battery, confifiing of upwards of thirty guns, 
 commanded by the King in perfon \g\ He is drefled in compleat - 
 
 armour 
 
 the ratificrtion of the peace concluded between him and Charles VIII. which the 
 latt r pui chafed at the price of feven hundred and forty thoufar.d crowns. Francis 
 I. foon after his acceffion, increafed the fortifications, by adding thereto the 
 tower of our Lady, that of St. Francis, and a tliird called le Moineau, which latter 
 commanded the lov/ town, was flrengthened with ramparts faced with freeflone, 
 and flanked at due diftances with turrets mined and countermined. In 1532 it 
 was honoured with being the place of interview between King Henry Vill and 
 Francis I. when they entered into that agreement which obliged the Grand Sig- 
 nior to lay afide his dcfign of invading Chriftendom (3). In 1544 it was be- 
 fieged and taken by King Henry VIII, and continued in the pollcffion of the 
 Englifli till the month of January 1550, when, in confideration of four hundred 
 thoufand crowns, agreed to be paid by the French King Henry II. to King Ed- 
 ward VI. it was, purfuant to treaty, delivered up to the French. 
 
 [^] I'he face of the King, as reprefented in this part of the painting, is far 
 from being a good likenefs, and is painted in a ftyle inferior to that of any other 
 portrait in the room. This circumftance is the more necelTary to be taken notice 
 of, as it will be obferved in the fequel, that our painter was peculiarly attentive 
 to the giving an exacS: portrait of the King, and fucceeded happily in that attempt. 
 The cafe was this. During the grand rebellion, Cowdry being made a place of 
 arms for the Parliament forces, the then noble owner caufed all the paintings in the 
 
 (3) Corps Diplom. T. IV. part. IV. p. 8g. Du Tillet, v. iv. Rrcueil des Tiiitet <les R. du Fr, l< d'Angi. 
 Let. fur I'ordre et cerem. obferv. a I'entrevue des Rois, M. de Du Bcilai. 
 
 dining- 
 
I S /In H'lftorical Account of 
 
 armour inlaid ond otherwife ornamented with gold, nnd ftanding 
 within a bufque of high trees. In his right hand he holds a bat- 
 toon of command, as dirciling the operations of the liege, and 
 appears to be coniiderably tnller than any of the foldiers near 
 him. This reprefentation of the King agrees intirelj with the 
 defcription given by Hollinflicd, in his Chronicle. " It was, 
 fays that hiliorian, " a matter in the camp of eafe to difcern which 
 " was the King; for none of the reft came near him in tallnels 
 *' by the head. As for his proportion of limbs, it was anfwer- 
 *' able to his goodly ftature and making, a memorable defcription 
 " whereof, as well as of his artificial armour, 1 find reported as 
 followeth : 
 
 " Rex capite Henricus rtliquos fupereminet omnc^, 
 Heros praevalidus, feu fortia brachia fpeftes. 
 Sen furas quos fulvo opifex incluferat auro, 
 
 " Siv^e virile ducis praefbanti pedore corpus. 
 Nulla vi domitum, nullo penetrabile ferro." 
 
 Two of the guns in the royal battery are remarkably large and 
 fhort, and very much refeml^jle thofe wooden pieces fhewn at the 
 Tower of London, and faid to have been devifed by Henry the 
 Eighth, to appear as great ordnance, and intimidate the befieged. 
 This battery is playing on that part of the town wall which 
 fronts towards the lower Boulogne, and wherein a confiderable 
 breach appears to be effefted, and the Englifh advanced in their 
 
 c'iniMg-parlour to be covered with a thick white-wafh. One of the ofEcers quar- 
 tered there, diverting himfelf with his half-pike, accidentally ftruck the point 
 againfl that part of the wall whereon the King's face was portrayed, and broke it 
 off. Afcer the Reftoration, the white-wafla was taken off, and the damage being 
 difcovered, was repaired by another painter; who, probably having nev^r feen any 
 good portrait of King Huiry, hath there given but a faint refemblance of his 
 feal,u!es. 
 
 trenches 
 
fom-J a-:cicnt Engliflj Pc::/ii::i^s at Cowclr','. 
 
 trenches to the foot of that wall \_b\ On th.e left is another camp, 
 over which is written, '* The Duice of Alberkirky Camp." 
 Beyond thi>, higher up in the pldlnre, is the park for the artil- 
 lery, crowded with ordnance iiorc^, artillery waggons, great gnns, 
 mortars, f.sfcin-.s, f. nd bags, and the feveral inrpkments belonging 
 to the train. A great niimb.r of foldiers and njatrofles are here, 
 biifily employed in making up and delivering out cartridges for 
 the great gi;ns, charging bomb fhells, twilling match, and per-, 
 forming a variety of other fcrviccs. In the front of this park^ 
 is a battery playing upon a bafticn built at that angle of the town 
 wall which is near to the breach made by the great guns oi the 
 royal battery. Between thefe two camps is another battery, con- 
 filiing of mortars only, all of which are throwing bombs irito the. 
 town. More within the land, and to the right of the road lead- 
 ing from Boulogne to Marqulfe, is another camp, called The 
 Lord Admiral's Camp. In the front of this camp is a fafcine 
 battery, which plays furioufly on the caftle, and over it is written 
 The Monte. This battery is particularly mentioned by Hol- 
 linflied, who fays, that, " befides the trenches which were caft 
 *' and brought in manner round about the town, there was a 
 *' mount raifed on the eaft fide, and divers pieces of artillery planted 
 
 aloft thereon, which, together with the mortar pieces, fore an- 
 " noyed them \vithin, and battered down the Heeple of our Lady's 
 *' church;" and then adds, '* the battery was made in the trioft 
 " forcible wife in three feveral places, and the walls, tower, and 
 " caftles, were undermined, and the town within fo beaten with 
 <* fhot out of the camp, and from the mount and trench by the mortar 
 " pieces, that there were but few houfes left therein." Our pic- 
 
 \h'\ During the ti:ne of the aflault, the great artillery did beat flill upon them 
 ^ that prefented themfelves at the breaches to repel ihe alLilants. Hol'inflicd's 
 Chron. 
 
 ture 
 
20 An Hiflorical Account of 
 
 ture reprefents the cathedral, tower, caftle, and town, exactly in 
 Tuch a ruinous condition. On tljc left of the laft-mentloned canip 
 is another fafcine battery playing upon the citadel, defended by a 
 large tower or baftion [?], near to which a confiderable breach 
 appears to be made In the wall \Ji\, On this battery is dlfplayed a 
 large flag charged with the Crols of St. George, Impaled with 
 B-irre of eight, Azure and Or. More to the left of thefe is yet 
 another camp, over which is written The Duke of Sufoly's 
 Campe. Within the lines af this camp are two batteries of five 
 guns each: one is playing furioufly on the bray of the citadel, 
 which appears to be almoil reduced to ruins ; and the other is 
 battering in breach in that part of the town wall which di- 
 vides the land port from the citadel. At a confiderable dlfl:ance 
 from thefe camps, and in the upper part of the pi£lure, where 
 there is a faint appearance of tents, is written Sir Anthony 
 Brown's Camp. From this camp Sir Anthony Brov^n, mounted 
 on a bay horfe, and attended by feveral other horfemen, is feen 
 riding full fpeed towards the road to Montreuil, and waving in his 
 right hand the King's ftandard, charged in chief with the Dragon 
 of Cadwaliader, and near to the extremities of each point, with 
 the Crofs of St. George [/^ 
 
 Betv/een the Duke of Alberquerque's camp and that of the 
 Lord Admiral, is a bag-piper playing on his drone, and followed 
 
 [/] And. Ferron, in his additions to the Hiftory of P. T^lmilius, p. 148, fays, 
 that this tower was called Parquet^ or Mart'nientie, 
 
 [/f] When a piece of the caftle was blown up, and the breaches made as was 
 thought reafonable, the aflault was given by the Lord Dudley. Hollinflied's 
 Chronicle. 
 
 [/I Lcfebure and other French writers fay, that the armies of Henry and 
 Francis amounted together to 8o,oco foot, and 2o,COO horfe, and that each of 
 them had a much greater train of artilKry and warlike ftores than had ever before 
 been feen in Europe, 
 
 by 
 
fome ancient Engllfh Paintings at Cowdry. 21 
 
 by a number of men, drefled in plaids, their hair red, their 
 
 heads uncovered, and their legs bare. They have pikes in their 
 hands, and broad fwords hanging by their fides, and are driving 
 flieep and oxen towards the artillery park. Thefe probably were 
 intended to reprefent certain Scotch irregulars in their return from 
 foraging for the fnpply of the Englifli army. 
 
 At the bottom of the fore-ground of the pidure, and to the 
 right of the King's camp, is a view of an o£langular pharos or 
 watch-tower, fortified by a ditch, and fome out- works, and fitu- 
 ate on the top of the promontory, or cliffs which command the 
 entrance into the harbour. On its front is written The Old 
 Man [/■], and within the works are feen feveral Engiifh foldiers. 
 
 When 
 
 [z] The building of this tower, called by the French Tour d'Ordre, and by 
 the Englifh The Old Man, is by father Montfaucon and others [i] afcribed to 
 the Emperor Caligula, at the time of his vaunted, although only pretended, con- 
 queft of Britain, and as intended by him for a monument of that vain-glorious ex- 
 pedition. The difcovery made in the year 1681 of the remains of a fimilar build- 
 ing, together with divers Roman infcriptions, coins, and other antiquities, near the 
 old mouth of the Rhine, hath however induced other writers to fix upon Catwick^ 
 in the neighbourhood of Leyden, as the true fcite of Caligula's Pharos, and to at- 
 tribute the building of the Tour d' Ordre to fome other of the Emperors (2) ; 
 all the wi iters on this fubjeit agreeing, that it was undoubtedly a work of the 
 Romans. Upon the decline of the empire, this pharos fell to decay, and continued 
 in a ruinous condition till the year 810, when Charlemagne having pitched upon 
 Boulogne as the place of rendezvous for the fleet which he had fitted out to oppofe 
 the invafion of his dominions by the Danifti and other piratical Northern ftates, 
 caufed it to be repaired, fortified, and lighted up for the better direction and fafetjr 
 of his cruizers on that coaft (3). If we may credit fome of the French hiftori- 
 ans, that Emperor entertained fo high an opinion of the utility of this pharos, that 
 in token thereof he created one of the fons of Otton, Earl of Boulogne, a Baron, 
 by the ftile of Baron d'Ordre (4). This matter however is very much contro- 
 
 (1) Memoiresde 1' Academic des Infcriptiions, torn. vi. p. 581. 
 
 (1) Adrian Junius, in Hift. Batav. p. 108. Ortelii Theat. Mundi, p. 47. Delices de Leyde, par Gerard 
 Goris, p. 20. Lefebure, Hift. de Calais, vol. I. p. 137, &c. 
 
 (^) "Eginhardi Vita Car. Mag. ap. Du Chefne, T. ii. p. 200, 201. (4) Chopin de Legibus Andium, p. 378. 
 
 verted, 
 
 D 
 
22 An Htflorlcal Account of 
 
 When the Englifh fat down before the town, this pharos contained 
 
 vferted (5). When the Danifti pirates laid fiege to Boulogne, in the year 88 1, 
 the Tour d" Ordre^ by means of the crofs-bow men ported in it, was of great fer- 
 vice to the town, by galling the enemy's flank, and impeding their approaches, till, 
 the wall being broke down in many places, it was taken by ftorm. From the de- 
 parture of the Danes, this tower continued the only defence of the harbour and 
 town till the year 1227, when Philip Earl of Boulogne, uncle to Lewis IX, di- 
 vided the upper from the lower town, and re-edified the ancient walls of the 
 former, which had in great meafure been demoliflied during the before-mentioned 
 liege (6). King Henry VIII, after he had taken Boulogne, encompaffed this 
 pharos with a fmall fort, turreted at each angle, and ftrengthened it with other 
 out-works, fo that the ancient tower looked like the dungeon or keep of the fort- 
 refs (7). It remained in this ftate till the year 1644, when the people of Boulogne 
 having opened a quarry between the fort and the harbour, and drawn from thence 
 a large quantity of ftone, which they fold to the Dutch, the fea broke in, and, 
 waftiing away large pieces of the rock, undermined the foundation fo far, that 
 about noon of the 29th day of July, the top part of the clifF, together with the 
 fort and pharos, fell down at the fame inftant (8). Of this oflagonal tower father 
 Montfaucon gives the following defcription, which is here inferted as a teftimony 
 of the accuracy of the painter of the Cowdry pi£lures. "According to Bucheiius, 
 <' each fide of this building was at its bafe twenty-four or twenty-five inches broad ; 
 *' the circumference of the whole being about two hundred feet, and its di- 
 •* menfion fixty-fix. Its elevation confifted of twelve ftages or ftories, each of which 
 *• gradually diminilhed, and was at its bafe lefsin diameter than that immediately 
 *' beneath it. This reduction was efFeded by decreafingthe thicknefs of the wall of 
 " the reduced ftory, and revealing or fetting itback within the thicknefs of that of 
 *' its under ftory, fo that the projeflile part of the latter, by its greater thicknefs, 
 *' formed on its top a kind of gallery of about eighteen inches wide, running round 
 " the outfide of the tower. And in this manner the building was carried up to its 
 *• fummit, whereon the fires were lighted. In order to give this tower an agreeable 
 " appearance, the walls were built of different-coloured materials. Firft, three cour- 
 *' fes of iron coloured freeftone,thcn twocourfes of ayellowifli ftone, and over them 
 " two courfes of found red bricks ; and this variation of colour and materials wais 
 regularly obferved in carrying up the walls as far as to theunderfide of the coping". 
 The original appellation of this tower was Turris Ardens, which afterwards 
 was corrupted to Turris Ordans, or Ordensis ; and at length varied by the 
 Boulonois, to LA Tour p'Ordre (9). 
 
 (5) Lefebure, Hift. de Calais, vol, i, p. 429. 
 
 (6) Le Er. Le Q^itn,Hift. de la Ville de Boulogne, M. S. Infcnption over the caflle-gate at Boulogne. 
 
 (7) Mem. tie I'Acad, des Infcrip. Tom. vi. p. 589. (8) Ibid. (9) Ibid. 
 
 a nunie° 
 
fome ancient EngllHi Paintings at Covvdrj. 2j 
 
 a numerous garrifon, well provided with all forts of ncceflarics 
 fufficient to hold out a long time j but on the third day of the 
 fiege, its commandant, together with the garrifon, furrendered 
 themfelves prifoners of war to the Duke of Suifolk. 
 
 In this piece, perhaps the moft perfeft and diftinft of any of its 
 kind, we have the compleat reprefentalion of a fiege, according to 
 the pra£lice ufed above two hundred years ago. We fee the form 
 of thofe fortifications which were then fuppofed to be fufficient forthe 
 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 midft, and the fiege covered by a body of forces, encamped at 
 diftance. Here we are taught the form and manner of encamp- 
 ments, 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 prafiifed in working them ; the various implements of 
 war, ordnance ftores, falcines, camp colours, enfigns, banners, 
 guidons, and tents ; as alfo the bread, baggage, and ammunition 
 waggons, then in fervice ; of which lafl: fome are of a very lin- 
 gular fhape, being half cones laid on their fide upon the bed of 
 their carriages, and with their broadeft end next to the (hafts. 
 Here likewife we learn the methods ufed in preparing and fupply- 
 ing the train and army with all ftores, &c. wanted in their differ- 
 ent 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 the pidure, we may form a tolerably good idea of what- 
 ever related to the military of thofe times. 
 
 In order to afcertain the precife time of the fiege which the 
 painter made choice of for the minute of the piece, we muft recur to 
 iifliory. 
 
 D 2 The 
 
i24 Hijlor'ical Account of 
 
 The trenches [^] were begun, and the firfl: battery was opened 
 and eredted againll: Boulogne upon the 19th of July. On the 2 ill 
 the lower town was taken. On the 22d the Tour d' Ordre, 
 called by the Englifli the Old Man, the figure of which is re- 
 prefented in the fore ground of this pidture, and which defended 
 the entrance into the port, together with its garrifon, furrendered 
 at difcretion to our troops. King Henry did not come to the camp 
 before the town till the 26th of that month, and it was not until 
 the 3d of Auguft that the batteries to the eaft of the town where 
 the King lay began their fire. On the 8th of September, as we 
 learn from the King's letter to the Queen, the bray of the caftle 
 was taken, and three other batteries began to play on the caftle 
 and town, which, with the three mines that day fprung, did great 
 execution in tearing the largeft: of the bulwarks. 
 
 In the pi6ture the town and caftle, with their refpeftlve forti- 
 fications, are reprefented as in a ruinous condition. A large breach is 
 made in the wall fronting towards the north, and the men in the 
 trenches before it are aftive and bufy, as preparing for the afl^ault, 
 under cover of the royal battery, which is playing furioufly on 
 that part of the town which adjoined to the breach. The bray 
 appears to be reduced almoft to ruins, a breach is made in the 
 wall near the citadel, and great part of the citadel itfelf broke 
 down, and the cannon and mortars from all the other batteries 
 are playing on thofe fortifications. 
 
 These circumftances, as reprefented in the painting, being 
 therefore compared with the hiftory of the progrels of the fiege, 
 as it flood on the 8th of September, according to the diary, and the 
 King's letter to the Queen, may be an inducement to fix on that 
 day for the time of the pifture now under confideration [/]. 
 
 [/^] Journal of the fiege in Rymer's Foedera, before cited, 
 f/j Hollinftied fays, that the town furrendered on the 8th day of September j 
 but the journal fays, that it was on Holyrood day, the 14th of September. 
 
 During 
 
 /J 
 
fome ancient Engllfii Painti?igs at Cowdry. 25 
 
 During the fiege, the Duke de Vendome was hovenng about 
 Picardy, with an army of obfervation, and harrafled the befieg- 
 ers ; the Dauphin alfo, with a confiderable number of forces, 
 frequently attempted to relieve Boulogne, and compel King Henry 
 to raife the fiege. It is therefore probable, that the hurry in which 
 the painting reprefents Sir Anthony Brown, when coming from 
 his camp, was owing to an alarm of that fort, and that his bring- 
 ing out the royal ftandard in the manner defcribed, was to ferve a 
 double purpofe, viz. that of fummoning to arms the men in the 
 camp under his particular command, and that of giving notice at 
 the fame time to King Henry of the enemy's approach. 
 
 The firft compartment on the right hand fide of the room re- 
 prefents a very memorable tranfaftion, to wit, that of the at- 
 tempt made by the French to invade this kingdom in the year 
 1545, which Monfieur Rapin juftly calls the greateft attempt the 
 French had ever made at fea ; together with the preparations at 
 Portfmouth, and on the adjacent coaft, to oppofe and prevent the 
 execution of that formidable defign. 
 
 In the autumn of the year 1544, the French King, finding his 
 affairs bear a very unfavourable afped, and that his towns of 
 Boulogne and Montreuil were on the point of furrendering to 
 the Englifli troops which then befieged them, haftened to con- 
 clude a feparate treaty with the Emperor, being inceiTantly urged 
 thereto by the Duchefs d* Efiampes, who at that time laboured 
 to obtain for the Duke of Orleans an efiablifliment out of the 
 kingdom of France, whereto fiie might retire, in cafe either of 
 her difgrace, or the King's death. This treaty was accordingly 
 figned at Crefley, in the Laonnois, on the i8th of September, 
 four days after the furrender of Boulogne, by which means King 
 
 [^«J Memoires de Du Bellai, liv. 10,. 
 
 Henry 
 
26 An HtJlGrical Account of 
 
 Henry VIII, dcfeited by the Emperor, was left alone to fccure 
 his new conqiieft;, and carry on the war agahift France. This 
 treaty furniflied Francis the Fiift with a favourable opportunity 
 for endeavouring to vvrei?k his revenge on Henry, on account 
 of his having taken Boulogne, and the ravages committed on the 
 French coafts by the Englifli fleet. He accordingly determined 
 to invade England, and for that purpofe [??] affembled his whole 
 fleet, confiiling of one hundred and filty large (hips, bcfides 
 twenty- five gallies, and fifty fmall vcffels and tranfports, at Havre 
 de Grace, under the command of Monfieur d' Annebaut, ad- 
 miral of France. This formidable fquadron, after having been 
 reviewed by the French King and his whole court with the 
 greateft 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 un- 
 doubted information of the defign of this great armament, ordered 
 the Englifli 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 Vifcount Lifle, high ad- 
 miral 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 Eng- 
 lifli fleet to an engagement, fent in fome of the gallies, with or- 
 ders to fire upon our (hips, whilft they were at anchor under fhel- 
 ter of the forts. Thefe orders were accordingly executed by 
 Paulin, Baron de la Garde, who had the condudt of the gallies, 
 and it is the circumftances under which the French and Englifli 
 fleets were at that particular time, that are the principal fubjed of 
 the painting now to be defcribed* 
 
 £»j Memoires de M. du Belki. 
 
 This 
 
fome ancient Englifli Paintings at Cowdry, 27 
 
 This pldure gives us a view of the harbour, town, and forti- 
 fications of Portfmouth, of Soutbfea Caftle, Spithead, the Ifle of 
 Wight, and part of the adjacent county of Hants, as alfo of the 
 French andEnglifli fleets, and of part of the Englifli camp. The 
 entrance or gate of the town of Portfmouth on the land fide is 
 placed fo as to face the fpeftator, and the other three fides appear 
 to be encompafled with a fingle wall, kernekd at the top, and 
 fortified at the angles by circular forts or baftions, probably thofe 
 which, as the great luminary of antiquity, Mr. Camden [0], tells 
 us, were begun by King Edward the Fourth, and finifhed by 
 King Henry the Seventh. 
 
 On the rampart next to the harbour is a flag flying, charged 
 with Barre of four, Or, and Argertt. 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 four guns. All the tents and pavilions are 
 paned, fome blue and white, fome red and white, and others red 
 and yellow; and the principal of them furmounted by vanes 
 charged with the arms of the refpedlive commanders to vv'hom they 
 feverally appertained. The King, mounted on a ftately courfer, 
 whofe headftall, reins, and fi:irrups, are ftudded and embofied with 
 gold, is reprefented as riding from the town of Portfmouth, and 
 jufi: entering into Southfea Caftle, in his way to the camp. He 
 wears on his head a black bonnet, ornamented with a white fea- 
 ther, and is dreffed in a jacquet of cloth of gold, and a furcoat or 
 gown of brown velvet, with breeches and hofe of white filk. His 
 countenance appears ferene and fedate. All the features of his face 
 are highly finillied, and the portrait hath by good judges been 
 efteemed to be the greateft likenefs we now have of that monarch. 
 On his right hand are three henchmen or pages on foot, dreffed in 
 
 [o] Brit, in Hampfliire. 
 
 the 
 
28 An Hijlorical Account of 
 
 the royal uniform, and bearing their bonnets in their hands; and 
 on his left handv.re two lacqneys likewife on foot, drefled in differ- 
 ent liveries. 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 drcff d in a fcar- 
 let habit, and hath a black bonnet on his head : his beard is re- 
 markably white, curled, and parted in the middle. The other is 
 Sir Anthcuy Brown, the King's mnfter of the horfe, mounted on 
 a white courfer. Thefe are followed by two demi-lancemen, 
 horfed, and complcatly harneficd. 
 
 Bp: T WREN 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 feven, Argent and Gules, 
 and the other with the crofs of St. George. Clofe to their left 
 flank is a numerous band of gunners. Both of thefe corps feem 
 to be marching from the main guard to the platform fronting 
 the fea. This platform is interfperfed with feveral perfons, fome 
 of whom appear to be foldiers, and others merely fpeftators. 
 
 On the back of the Ifle of Wight, off Bembridge Point, and 
 thence ftretching along fliore to St. Helen's Road, is the numerous 
 French fleet, all under their top-fails. Off that part which is 
 known by the name of No Maris hand, are feveral French gal- 
 lies ; and ftill further inward are four more of the French gallies 
 firing at the Englifli fleet, which is lying at Spithead. The four 
 lafl: mentioned gallies are undoubtedly placed here, to reprefent 
 and point out the pofition of thofe, which, as we are informed by 
 du Bellai and Florenge, the French admiral had detached from 
 his fleet, under the conduft of the Baron de la Garde, to provoke 
 the Englifli fleet, and bring on a general engagement. Be- 
 hind the Englifli fquadron, on the fliore on the Gofport fide, are 
 three large circular forts or baftions, each mounted by two tire 
 
 of 
 
Jhnie ancient Englilh Piiihri;.^^ at Cowciiy. 2.f) 
 of cannon, one over the other, and cafeniatcd in fiich manner as 
 to {ccure the r,iinners from all danger. Between the Spit and the 
 entrance into Portrmoutli Harbour, the m:»lt heads of a large mrsnof 
 war appear jnft above water; and near to them are two boats full 
 of men, feemlngly in great diftrefs, rowing towards the Englifii 
 fleet, and feveral dead bodies and parts of rigging arefeen floating 
 on the water. This fcene is intended to fhew the fate of the Mary 
 Rap, the fccond fliip in point of fize at that time belonging to 
 the Englifh navy, which (hip funk at the very beginning of the 
 cnp-a'^ement between the two fleets, by which accident Sir 
 Ov^orge Carew, her commander, together with above fix hundred 
 men then on board, except about forty, periflied in her. The 
 Englifli hiflorians afcribe this accident to her being overladen 
 with guns, her larger ones unbreeched, and her fea-ports open, 
 - fo that in tacking, the water entered, and flie funk immediately ; 
 and Mr. Burchet [^] tells us, that her lofs was occafioned by a 
 little fway, which overfet her, her ports being made within fix- 
 teen inches of the water. The French writers [5-] give a very 
 different account, and infifl that (he was funk by the terrible fire 
 of their cannon, and that no more than thirty-five of the crew 
 cfcaped. In this cafe however, we may with the greater proba- 
 bility rely on what our own countrymen tell us, not only 3s they 
 were the mofl likely to know the real fafk, but as their accoiuit 
 is in great meafure confirmed by the Cowdry pidure of v/hich I 
 am now fpeaking. The Mary Rofe is here reprefented as juft 
 funk, at a fmall diflance from the tail of the Spit : and the head- 
 mofl of the French fhips is not nearer to her than St. Helen's. Point, 
 which is far beyond the reach of their guns ; neither, are any of 
 
 [^] Naval Hiflory, p. 340. .Sir William Monfcn, in hls Naval Tra£^.-, ^^vs 
 .the fame. 
 
 \q\ Du Bellai. F. Daniel, Hift, dc la iMiiics tie I a France. Gallard, Hift. ds 
 Francois, I, .5v'c. 
 
 thofc 
 
yy An Hljlorical Account of 
 
 thofe Hiips reprcfented as firing; a circumftance which our painter,, 
 whofe accuracy is remarkable, certainly would not have omitted, 
 had the Mary Rofe been funk by the enemy's fire. One of the 
 four gallies before-mentioned is indeed reprefented as firing her 
 prow gun towards the place where the Mary Rofe funk ; but that 
 galley lies^ at too great a diftance from it, and even in cafe fhe 
 had been actually within gun-lhot, yet the weight of metal which 
 the guns of fuch- gallies ufually carried, was not fufFicient to have 
 effbdted fucH a cataftrophe. Another of the French gallies is feen 
 firing at the Englifli Admiral's fhip, who returns that fire with her 
 bow-chaces. This fhip was the Great Harry, on board of which 
 the High Admiral Vifcount Lifle embarked. The royal ftandard 
 of England is ftying ather enfign-ftaff and jack-fiaff; and at her 
 main top-maft-head are hoifVed the colours of St. George. This 
 fHij), the only one with three mails in the whole fquadron, hath 
 her quarters and fides, according to the pradlice of thofe times, 
 fortified with targets, charged with the crofs of St. George, and 
 other heraidical devices, and is here reprefented as having all her 
 fails fet, and bearing down upon the French fleet. Of the reft of 
 the Englifli fquadron fome are underway, and others weigli- 
 ing their anchors, and their top -fails fet. A little to the right 
 of the Englifb 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^ 
 which were longer than ordinary, in proportion to their breadth, 
 and much narrower than the galliesj as the French hiftorians 
 acknowledge, vying in fwiftnefs with their gallies, and being well 
 worked with oars and fails by our Englilh failors, bore down 
 upon the French gallies with fuch impetuofity, and galled their 
 fterns in fuch manner with their guns, the gallies having no 
 
 can- 
 
fame ancient Englifii Paintings ai Covvdry. 3 1 
 
 cannon on their poops, that the French apprehended nothhig lefs 
 than their total deftruclion. 
 
 As the principal fhips in this pi£lure are reprefented with port- 
 holes for their guns, it may not be improper to obferve, that, at 
 the time of this engagement, that practice was not of a long 
 Itanding, the making of fuch embrafures in the fides of fhips for 
 putting through the muzzles of their cannon being brought into 
 life fo late as the beginning of the fixteenth century. Previous to 
 that time, they placed only a few cannon upon the deck of fuch 
 Ihips as carried any, and upon the prow or poop, as is yet done 
 in galeafTes, and upon the prow of gallies [r]. 
 
 The fubjedl of the before-defcribed painting, fo far as it is 
 therein reprefented, is evidently handled with the greateft atten- 
 tion to truth ; all is regular, circumftantial, and intelligible, no- 
 thing mifreprefented, difguifed, or confufed. The further tranf- 
 aftions of the two fleets muft be gathered from the hiflorians; and 
 they agree, that the French navy, galled by the Englifli pinnaces, 
 and unable to draw our fleet into the main, twice landed fome 
 forces on the Tfle of Wight, and on the coafl of Sullex, with- 
 out any fuccefs ; and having, during the expedition, fuflfered a 
 very confiderable lofs, retired, and flretching over to their own 
 Cpaft, never attempted to approach England again. 
 
 The fecond compartment, as before obferved, contains a bird's 
 eye view of the procefliion of King Edward the Sixth, from the 
 Tower of London, on the day before that of his coronation. 
 The proceflSon is exhibited as coming out of the Tower of Lon- 
 don, going along Eafl:cheap and Gracechurch-rftreet, thence down 
 
 [r"] The earlieft reprefexitation of (hips of war having port-holes for their 
 'guns, which I have hitherto met with, is in a very remarkable piflure preferved at 
 Cowdry, of the landing of the Emperor Charles V. at Dover, inlhe year; 1520, 
 under the convoy of the Englifh fleet, commanded by the EarLof Southampton. 
 
 E 2 Cornhill, 
 
32 An H'lf.orkal Account of 
 
 Cornhlll, and fo through Cheapfide, which h in tl:c cei^toi ofii-.f 
 piece, and then continuing as far as the Temple. 
 
 Our pldure reprelents it in the following or.^^r. — After an 
 undiftinguifiied cavalcade, which are paffing the conduli; in Fleet- 
 flreet, follow fix bifhops in their habits on horfcback, riding thrcq 
 and three J — fix ecclefiafticks, being the King's chaplains, wearing 
 their bonnets, and riding three and three ; — the archbifliop of Can- 
 terbury's crofs- bearer, bare-headed, and mounted on a bay horfe, 
 carrying the archieplfcopal crofs ; — the archbifliop of Canterbury, 
 in a black gown, mounted on a bay horfe, on which is a foor- 
 cloth of black velvet, with headflall and reins of the fame, itudded 
 with gold , on his right hand the Emperor's ambafiador mount, d 
 likeviife on a bay horfe; — Garter King at arms, and the Lord Ma vor 
 of London, bearing the mace j — the Lord Protestor, bare-headed, 
 drefled in a gown of cloth of gold, and riding on a black horfe, 
 fumptuoufly caparifoned ; — the King in a gown of cloth of gold, 
 wearing his hat and feather, mounted on a fl:ately courfer, richly 
 caparifoned, and under a canopy of cloth of gold, fupportcd by 
 ilaves of gold, carried by as many knights on horfeback ; — on the 
 King's fight hand five henchmen on foot, bare-headed, dreiTed in 
 doublets of fcarlet, yellow fi.ircoats, and red fiockings ; — 
 Sir Anthony Brown, mafl:er of the horfe, mounted, and leadhig a 
 horfe of ftate, richly trapped ; — a perfon in a long black cloak, 
 with a black bonnet on his head, and mounted on a black horfe j — 
 yeomen of the guard and henchmen ; — four horfemen in black, 
 riding two and two ; — and then a great number of perfons on 
 foot, who clofe the procefi^ion. 
 
 In this piece the King appears as jufi; arrived at the great con- 
 duit in Cheapfide, whereon are placed a number of emblematic 
 jftatues, the whole being richly ornamented with many elegant 
 devices. The balconico and windows of all the houfes on the left 
 
 5 hand 
 
p;ni ancient Englilh Paintings at Cowdry, 35 
 
 hand lule of ihi iircct are lillcrd with ladies, and, together with the 
 walls from tht; very rooft downwards, appear to be covered with 
 rich tapcHry, cloth of gold, carpets, arras, and hlftorlcal paintings, 
 one whereof Is evlueiuly a copy from Raphael's famous pidure of 
 St. George on horfeback, a print whereof is engraven by Volterman; 
 whliitthe ihop vv'indows are fet out with cups, vafes, creufes, be- 
 kcrs, and other elegant pieces of goldfmiths v/ork. The mafter 
 of each houfe, in his beft apparel, is flanding at his (hop door, 
 and felutlng the King. On the oppofite fide of the ftreet the fe- 
 veral crafts or companies, drefied in their livery gowns, with the 
 mafler of each at its head, form a line from the entrance of the 
 Poultry to the weft end of Chcapfide, where the aldermen are Aand- 
 ing. Over the archway of Ludgate is a band of mufic, and fun- 
 dry perfons, reprefenting by their dreffes emblematical figures* 
 Beyond Cheapfide is a beautiful view of St. Paul's church, its 
 chapter houfe, &:c. and a triumphal arch. From Ludgate-rhill to 
 the Temple, which terminates the piece, the fpace is very open, 
 ijaving only two triumphal arches, and a few houfes Interfpcrfed 
 here and there. Tiie back ground prefents a view of London 
 bridge, the church of St. Mary Overies, the bifhop of Winchef- 
 ter's palace, the fi:ews, and bankfide. 
 
 These paintings have generally been afcribed to Hans Hol- 
 bein ; but they certainly are not the work of that mafter nei- 
 ther the landlkip, drawing, or colouring, are like his ; and, upon 
 the whole, they are fomewhat inferior to any pidures now known 
 to be the produdl of his pencil. 
 
 The common opinion that they were painted by Holbein, 
 might probably arlfe from his having refided fomc time at Cow- 
 dry, where he was entertained by Sir Anthony Brown, and painted 
 feveral excellent portraits, as alfo many of thofe fine heads which 
 are now in the withdrawing-room on the ground floor next to , 
 the garden. 
 
 The 
 
34 An Hijlorical Account of 
 
 The reign of King Henry the Eighth, as I mentioned in a 
 former Memoir, furniQied us with feveral ether painters, the names 
 of many of whom are remembered in the Anecdotes of Painting in 
 England; as Anthony Toto, LucaPenne, Johannes Corvus, Jerome 
 de Trevifi, Jenet, Theodore Bernardi, Hornebrand, or Horrebout, 
 Nicholas Lyfard, Wright, Cornelli, &c. And it is moft likely, that 
 the paintings now under confideration were the work of one of 
 thefe mafters, who probably might have received fome inftrudions 
 •in regard thereto from Holbein. 
 
 About the year 15 19 one Theodore Bernardi painted in the 
 fouth tranfept of Chichefter cathedral the piaures of the Kings of 
 England, and bifhops of that fee, and two hiftorical pieces rela- 
 tive to the church, and afterwards fettled with his family in that 
 part of Suflex. We are likewife told, that Jerome de Trevifi, 
 who was an engineer as well as a painter, attended King Henry 
 the Eighth to the fiege of Boulogne, in the former quality, and 
 was there (lain, and that fome Iketches of that and other fieges, 
 drawn by his hand, are preferved in a book in the Cotton Library. 
 May we not then reafonably conjeaure,, that the feveral paint- 
 ings on the walls of the great dining parlour at Cowdry were 
 painted either by this Bernardi, or by one of his pupils ; and that, 
 for the painter's more accurate defcription of the fiege of Bologne, 
 he had poffeffed himfelf of fome of thofe drawings, which at the 
 time of the fiege had been made by Trevifi. 
 
 Cowdry is fituated fo near to Chichefter, which was the refi- 
 dence of Bernardi, that Sir Anthony Brown, by whofe orders thefe 
 piaures 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 fuggeft, that Sir Anthony Brown, 
 who attended the King in his expedition againfi Boulogne, was ac- 
 quainted 
 
fome ancient Engllfh Paintings at Cowdry. 3^ 
 
 quainted with Jerome de Trevifi, and had procured feme, if not 
 all the drawings which he had made of the fiege of that place, 
 and of the Englifli encampments, in order that tbofe circumftances 
 might with the greater accuracy be reprefented in the pifttires with 
 which he intended to adorn his favourite Cowdry. Whoev^er was 
 the painter, all further enquiry about him is unnccefTary. 
 
 It is very juftly remarked by the ingenious author of Anec- 
 dotes of Painting in England, that the hiflories, habits, and cuf- 
 toms, 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, difpofition, or colouring, I 
 muft diflent from him in that opinion. 
 
 In thofe hiftory pieces which are in great meafure the produdl 
 of imagination, the fubjeft may be treated, and the ftory told, in 
 whatever manner the fertile genius of the mailer may fuggeft. Alle- 
 gorical and emblematical figures may be introduced, and their form, 
 attitude, drefs, and grouping, maybe conformable to the painter's 
 fole will and pleafure ; his landflcips, buildings, and embellifh- 
 nients, may be of his own formation ; and the defign, difpofition, 
 and colouring of the whole, may be fuch as he (hall think be ft 
 adapted to produce a good effeit, and to form that, which, ac- 
 cording to the rules of his art, may juftly be pronounced a beau- 
 tiful and mafterly pifture j but when an exadt reprefentation of 
 fome inftruftive and remarkable tranfaftion that happened within 
 the knowledge of the painter, together with all its attendant cir- 
 cumftances, is intended to be recorded by his pencil, in order to 
 preferve and hand down to pofterity a juft and compleat idea of 
 the real fadt exa£lly as it happened, the cafe is different ; and he 
 is in every refpeft confined to the faithful and minute ob- 
 fervance of truth, accuracy, and exaftnefs, and that without the 
 
 lea ft 
 
50 yhi Hijhncal ^ccQWifi Sec. 
 
 Jcalt addition, diminution, or variation. It Is upon fuch plan that 
 111; d. fign mull necc/rarily be formed. His landlkip is to be the 
 real t j'-e of the country whereon the bulinefs he is reprefenting- 
 was trjnfacied ; and the buildings fuch, and fuch only, as then 
 flood thereon. The difpofition of thofe buildings, as well as of 
 lijs figures, and all other things fubfervient to the ftory, muft be 
 fuch as in fa£l they aflually 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 objed in the piece muft 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 pains of comparing 
 them with the account and defcriptlons given of the tranfaftions 
 they reprefent, by the contemporary hiftorians, and with the ap- 
 pearance of the country and buildings thefe pidures exhibit, will 
 find, that the painter's pencil hath throughout the whole been 
 guided by that drift conformity to truth and faft, which will 
 more than fufficiently atone for any other defefts in the requilitcs 
 for producing a beautiful painting. 
 
THE GETTY CENTPH