On this Day in History ... 23 December

Henry Machyn's Diary. 23 Dec 1552. The xxiij day of Desember the Kynges (age 15) grace removyd from Westmynster unto Grenwyche [Map] to kepe ys Crystymas, and so he begane to kepe Halle, and ys grasse had a lord of myss-rulle, keepyng goodly pastyme, for ys grace('s) plesur, and with alle passtyme as have bene sene.

Note. The king's lord of misrule. This important officer was "a gentleman, wise and learned, named George Ferrers." (Holinshed, 1st edit. p. 1709.) He was a member of Lincoln's Inn. (Stowe's Chronicle, p. 608.) Many curious documents respecting his revels in this and subsequent years are printed in Kempe's Loseley Manuscripts, 8vo. 1835, pp. 24, et seq. George Ferrers was probably the same person who, being member of Parliament for Plymouth in 1542, was arrested for debt in the city of London, and committed to the counter: whereupon he was reclaimed by the house of commons, and the sheriffs committed to the Tower: see a long narrative in the histories of London.

The procession of the lord of misrule, or "lord of merry disports" (as he was also called), into London, which occurs subsequently in this page, is also described in Stowe's Chronicle, p. 608: "hee was received by sergeant Vawce, lord of misrule to John Mainard one of the sheriffes of London."

Times Newspaper Funerals. 24 Dec 1861. Yesterday, with little of the pomp and pageantry of a State ceremonial, but with every outward mark of respect, and with all the solemnity which befitted his high station and his public virties, the mortal remains of the husband (deceased) of our Queen (age 42) were interred in the last resting-place of England's Sovereigns-the Chapel Royal of St. George's, Windsor [Map]. By the express desire of his Royal Highness the funeral was of the plainest and most private character; but in the Chapel, to do honour to his obsequies, were assembled all the chiefest men of the State, and throughout England, by every sign of sorrow and imourning, the nation manifested its sense of the loss wlhich it has sustaiined. Windsor itself wore an aspect of the most profound gloom. Every shop was closed and every blind drawn down. The streets were silent and almost deserted, and all wvho appeared abroad were dressed in the deepest mourning. The great bell of Windsor Castle [Map] clanged out: its doleful sound at intervals from an early hour, and minute bells were tolled also at St. John's Church. At the parish church of Cleover and at St. John's there were services in the morning and: aternoon, and the day was observed throughout the Royal borough in the strictest manner. The weather was in character with the occasion, a chill, damp air, with a dull leaden sky above, increased the gloom which hung over all. There were but few visitors in the town, for the procession did not pass beyond the immediate precincts of the Chapel and Castle, and none were admitted except those connected with the Castle andi their friends. At 11 o'clock a strong force of the A division took possession of the avenues leading to the Chapel Royal, and from that time only the guests specially invited and those who were to take part in the ceremonial were allowed to pass. Shortly afterwards a of honour of the Grenadier Guards, of which regiment his Royal Highness was Colonel, with the colonrs of the regiment shrouded in crape, marched in and took up its position before the principal entrance to the Chapel Royal. Another guard of honour from the same regiment was also on duty in the Quadrangle at the entrance to the State apartments. They were speedily followed by a squadron of the 2nd Life Guards dismounted, and by two companies of the Fusileer Guards, who were drawn uip in single file along each side of the road by which the procession was to pass, from the Norman gateway to the Chapel door. The officers wore the deepest military mourning-scarves, sword-knots, and rosettes of crape. In the Rome Park was stationed a troop of Horse Artillery, which commenced firing minute guns at the end of the Long Walk, advancing slowly until it reached the Castle gates just at the close of the ceremony. The Ministers, the officers of the Queen's Household, and other distinguished personages who had been honoured with an invitation to attend the ceremonial, reached Windsor a special train from Paddington. They were met by carriages provided for them at the station, and began to arrive at the Chapel Royal soon after 11 o'clock. The Earl of Derby (age 62), the Archbishop of Canterbury (age 81), Earl Russell (age 69), and the Duke of Buccleuch were among the first to make their appearance, and as they alighted at the door of the Chapel they were received by the proper officials and conducted to the seats appointed for them in the Choir. In the Great Quadrangle were drawn up the hearse and the mourning coaches, and, all the preparations having been completed within the Castle, the procession began to be formed shortly before 12 o'clock. It had been originally intended that it should leave the Castle by the St. George's gate, and, proceeding down Castle-hill, approach the Chapel through Henry VII.'s gateway, but at a late hour this arrangement was changed, and the shorter route by the Norman gatewvay was chosen.

The crowd which had gradually collected at the foot of Castle-hill, owing to this change, saw nothing of the procession but the empty carriages as they returned to the Castle after setting down at the Chapel. The few spectators who were fortunate enough to gain admission to the Lower Ward stood in a narrow fringe along the edge of the flags in front of the houses of the Poor Knights, and their presence was the only exception to the strict privacy of the ceremonial. The Prince of Wales (age 20) and the other Royal mourners assembled in the Oak Room, but did not form part of the procession. They were conveyed to the Chapel in private carriages before the coffin was placed in the hearse, passing through St. George's gatewayinto the Lower Ward. In the first carriage were the Prince of Wales (age 20), Prince Arthur (age 11), and the Duke of Saxe Coburg (age 8). The Crown Prince of Prussia (age 30), the Duke of Brabant (age 26), and the Count of Flanders (age 24) followed in the next; and in the others were the Duke de Nemours (age 47), Prince Louis of Hesse (age 24), Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar (age 38), and the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh, with the gentlemen of their respective suites. Scarcely had they alighted at the door of Wolsey's Chapel, from which they were conducted through the Chapter Room to the door of the Chapel Royal to be in readiness to meet the coffin, when the first minute gun fired in tlhe distance, and the rattle of the troops reversing arms announced that the procession had started, and exactly at 12 o'clock the first mourning coach moved from under the Norman gateway. First came nine mourning coaches, each drawn by four horses, conveying the Physicians, Equerries, and other members of the household of the late Prince. In the last were the Lord Steward (age 63) (Earl St. Germans), the Lord Chamberlain (age 56) (Viscount Sidney), and the Master of the Horse (age 57) (the Marquis of Ailesbury). The carriages and trappings were of the plainest description; the horses had black velvet housings and feathers, but on the carriages there, were no feathers or ornaments of any kind. The mourning coaches were followed by one of the Queen's carriages, drawn by six horses, and attended by servants in State liveries, in which was the Groom of the Stole (age 26), Earl Spencer, carrying the crowvn, and a Lord of the Bedchamber, Lord George Lennox, carrying the baton, sword, and hat of his late Royal Highness. Next escorted by a troop of the 2nd Life Guards, came the hearse, drawn by six black horses, which, like the carriages, was quite plain and unornamented. On the housings of the horses and on the sides of theW hearse were emblazoned the scutcheons of Her Majesty and of the Prince, each surmounted by a, crown, the Prince's arms being in black and Her Majesty's in white. The procession was closed by four State carriages.