Queen Elizabeths
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l Mon mou th A . Ca l lzoto by LV. , A TON C HU C H , MONU ME NT TO B L ANC H E P A R RY I N B C R HE RE FORD S H I RE QU E EN EL IZ A BETH ’S A N D O TH E R SK E TC H E S S Y B I L C U S T “ AU THOR OF FROM A L ITTL E TOWN-GARDE N H L ’ L ONDO N ! SMIT , E DER 63 CO . 1 5 WATER LOO P LACE 1 9 1 4 !All rights reserved! P R E FA C E TH E kin d reception given to my former From a Little Town small volume of essays , Go rden ff , has encouraged me to o er another series to my readers . These sketches are obviously too miscellaneous to form a con n e cted n W work , rangi g , as ill be seen , from Fo r Queen Elizabeth to a dormouse . this ' o fier shortcoming I can no apology , but trust to the friendly indulgence o f those into Whose hands my little book may fall . L t — My special thanks are due to . Col . J . A . C B . Bradney, . , and the Rev C T Brothers , o f Rector Bacton , Herefordshire , for their kind assistance with the history of Mistress Blanche Parry, and to the Rev . H . F . Westlake f or permission to use his photo ’ o f . graph her tomb in St Margaret s , West t o a Gieseler minster . Also Fr ulein Auguste vii P REFA C E and Frau Niemoeller for their help in obtain ing for me much curious information and several rare old books bearing on the romantic and— to English people— little known history of the principality o f Lippe Detmold . SYB IL C U ST. D ATC HET 1 1 . , J uly 9 4 POSTSCRIPT w s w e e as b e T HE follo in g page ere compl t d , will e s n ef e t he w w as set o n fire in r adily ee , b or orld f s e r It is n e s n fin Augu st o thi y a . i t re ti g to d that ess P n o f L e n en r P ri n c auli e ipp , more tha a c tu y w e n her e n was in n e b e ago, h littl cou try da g r t wo n n f s se t he n n t wee n threate i g orce , cho tyra y ss o f Napoleon rath e r than that of P ru ia . I regre t that t wo mistakes have re main ed in t he O n I 1 I e s P e M r tex t . page 9 hav tated that et r a tel ed M n B n w e e s h e n e t h e climb o t la c, h r a o ly reach d f t h e Mo n tan v e rt a n d o n e 1 n e 8 glacie r o pag 4 , li , fo r ex ile r ead captiv e . t ber 1 1 . D ATCHE T, Oc o 9 4 C O N T E N T S QU EEN ELI ZAB ETH ’S G EN T LEWOMAN S OME HE ROE S OF LI P P E FU RSTI N P AU LI NE YE S TERDAY AND TO -DAY I N DETMOLD W K I C M I X A EE N HA ON . FLOWE R I NG S U NDAY AT P E NALLT C H U RCH TRAVELL I N G COMP AN I ON S T OYS FROM OLD DAY S T O NE W A L I TT LE EXP ERI ENCE OF FU RN I S H I NG T HO U G H TS I N A GAR DEN B RYAN ST ON S QU ARE I L L U S T R A T I O N S Monumen t to Blan che P arry in Bacton ' ' H Fron tzr zece Church , erefordshire fi ’ Tomb of Blan che P arry in St . Margaret s W n To a ce P a e 2 8 Church , estmi ster f g Statue of Herman n o n the G ro ten b urg Furstin P aulin e of Lippe The Castle of D etmold K D The rumme Strasse , etmold P en a llt Old Church in Mon mouthshire “ ” A Little Village G reen xi QUEEN ELIZA BETH ’S GENTLE WO M AN QU EEN ELIZA BETH ’S GENTLE WO MAN T H ER E are some who played a distinguished in part in their day, and moved great historic scen es who m so , history has strangely neglected that they now have passed almost beyond her o n e reach . Such a is Blanche Parry, a great If English lady of the sixteenth century . we turn back over the years and try to follow in She the way trod , we find that we can , at first , but just trace her faded footmarks , and o f touch the fringe her shadowy garments . Then , as we watch , we find we are not too late . Slowly she takes form and life before us she , more and more clearly stands out at last against a bright and gorgeous background , ’ o f the scene her long life s faithful service , o f the Court Queen Elizabeth . NO portrait exists with her name ; but her 3 QUEE N E LI ZA B ET H 'S face and form are known to us o n two grand contemporary monuments and in o n e stained In glass window . a picture at Hampton Court by the recently discovered painter “ Eworth o f Hans , Queen Elizabeth and the Three Goddesses , Her Majesty is seen issuing from her palace door in splendour outshining their celestial charms ; behind her stand two ladies , richly attired ; and in one , wearing a square headdress, who is evidently o f mature age , it is perhaps not entirely fanciful to trace the features of Blanche Parry . The longest and most detailed account o f her was written by George Ballard in his M emoirs of se vera l lea rned L a dies of Grea t B rita in ; yet even he , to his regret it seems , included her as an afterthought , and owns “ sa that he can y but little of her . Yet it might seem very unkind and ungrateful in a lover of antiquities not to insert this worthy gentlewoman in his catalogue of learned t o women , who appears , not only have been o f a lover antiquities herself, but likewise an o f o f encourager that kind learning in others . Q UEE N ELI Z AB ET H ’ S and shameful courtship Of the Lord High Admiral Thomas Seymour, which he pur o f sued before the very eyes his wife , the widowed Queen Catherine Parr, and resumed with increased audacity after her death ; but it is probable that to a certain extent the incident warped the child ’s precocious and impressionable mind— she was only fourteen — - and left its mark on her after life . The scandal was Spread and fostered by those among her so -called friends whom ! . she most confidently trusted Mrs Ashley, her governess , and Thomas Parry, her trea 1 surer ; but they narrowly escaped paying for their heartless treachery with their lives . They were involved as confederates in the charge brought against Seymour in that he “ did by secret and crafty means practise to achieve the purpose of marrying the Lady ” Elizabeth , and with him they were arrested and confined in the Tower . That they came ’ o ut alive was solely due to Elizabeth s earnest 1 Various writers have assumed that this m a n wa s kin s m a n n . wa s w n o n to Bla che There , ho ever, relatio ship that ca n be traced between them . GENTLEW O MAN and touching intercession with the Protector 1 Somerset . o f Sir Robert Tyrwhitt , Commissioner the Council , was appointed to ascertain how far i the Princess herself was implicated . Th s horrid task he attempted to carry o ut by means o f a written statement addressed to o f the maid honour, which he requested her to show to Elizabeth . We may be sure that Blanche Parry did her part with gentleness and discretion ; but on reading this sinister document , between her shame and perplexity and her generous desire to shield her servants, the Princess broke down and wept . “ Sir It may please your Grace , wrote Robert Tyrwhitt shortly after to the Pro tector Somerset , to be advertised that after my Lady’s Grace had seen a letter (which I devised to Mistress Blanche from a friend of hers) that both MistressAshley and her coff erer she were put into the Tower, was marvel lously abashed and did weep very tenderly a long time . 1 w n H fi in e See her letter, ritte from at eld, the Burl igh P State apers . QUEE N EL I ZA BET H ’ S Thomas Seymour paid the extreme penalty 2 0 1 on March , 54 9 . Gay, beautiful , and fascinating , bad man though he was, he kindled , we believe , the only spark Of real aff ection that the heart of Queen Elizabeth she ever knew ; for never loved again , though she flirted all her life .