I was
well fair. Such shalt thou be. For love of God beware by me."
Many MSS. of this period and later have hunting scenes, shooting
practice, and games.
In MS. 264, Misc., Bodl. Lib., Oxford, there are such scenes, one being
a game at "Blind Man's Buff," or as literally here "Hoodman Blind," for
the latter actually wear a hood drawn down over his head and shoulders,
and three girls are having a fine game with him. The goldfinch or linnet
looking on from the border seems to enjoy the fun. Another fine source
of similar things is the Louterell Psalter in the British Museum. In
this also are some richly diapered backgrounds and exquisite border
bands. This MS. dates about 1340. But the gem of English
fourteenth-century illumination is the Royal MS. (2 C. 7) called Queen
Mary's Psalter, not as being painted for her, since it had been painted
nearly two centuries before she ever saw it. But in the year (?) 1553,
being about to be sent abroad, it was stopped by a customs officer and
presented to Queen Mary Tudor. It is bound in what appears to be the
binding put on it by the Queen--_i.e._ crimson velvet embroidered on
each cover with a large pomegranate, and having gilt corner protections
and (once upon a time) golden clasps.
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