The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1883-09-06
LADY aODIYA.

LADY aoDIyA.
How She Rode Thorough the Ol.v
ofOoveneEy,-Very Light Ast,ne-A
Chat With the aeroine-A Rida
Through tho Town,
N. Y. Herald.
COVENTRY, Sun. Aug. e.-The citv al
the "rhree Tall Spires" a Tennvson
calls 1t. has rather a bad reputation
among sooiable people. To be 'sent to
Coventry" is supposed by many TO be
tantamount to being cut of from iuter-
course with ones fellows; to be, in fact.
as Land Lacquer would put il mildly.
"boycotted." The origin of the expres.
sion 10 40 obscure as most such expres.
sions, and none Of the explanations
hazarded by the Warwickshire antioua-
risns are quite satisfactory. For . good
many centuries past Coventry has been
celebrated far and wide for it's paeeanta
The most remarkable of them, and the
only one with which we have to do inst
now, was of course, the Lady Godi-
va procession. To relieve the people of
taxation by her cruel lord, Lady Godiya
rode naked through the town. Such
was the condition he had imposcd
for the remission Of their taxes. and
such the origin of the custom that was
To-day revived. -
This morning, however, a pestilent in
dividusl, signing himself a Clinical De.
ecendant Of Leofric and Godiva," writes
wretched, Querulous, unsettling, irrel.
alive letter to the London Times, main
tanning that the famous ride-the ride
9pon which Tennyson has written such
dainty verses-never took place at all
could never have taken place-because
coventry had no existence at the period
IN which the Lady" is said to have rid
den through it.
The first pageant in which we can be
tolerably sure an impersonator of the
gentle countess figured took place in the
year Of grace 1878 at Coventry fair. The
Lady Godiva OH that occasion was per-
fectly nude. For those were the times
OF the merry Monarch" and bis exam
pie had been initiated in good many
matters of morality-and i1nmorality
The exact details of the show have been
handed down to us in a handful of the
period. The various companies of Cow
entry and the corporation were repre-
sented by boys or Followers" "each
company having new strealners," Lady
Godiva rode before the mayor to 'pro-
claim the efair." For some time after
1878 the pageant was repeated annually
with slight variations. In 1926 the cor.
poration and the masters of the civic
companies took part in the fair for the
last time, and soon after the glory of the
procession began to fade, and from being
an annual event became an occasional
enc.
Long before this, need hardly say,
the practice of exhibiting a nude Godiva
to the crowd which thronged to the fes.
t1Val had been discarded as contrary to
decency and the law. In 1877 AFTER a lapse
OF several years, the show was again re-
vived, despite much yirtuOus opposition; ;
but from that time till this morning the
LADY" as they affectionately call her
down here, was seen no more in the
streets of Coventry. Public opinion
seemed dead against it and preferred tho
salvation army professions to the old
pageant: A puritanical section of the
authorities had pronounced it immoral,
and even the garrison (not generally a
stlckler for morality had refused to
countenance or take part in the process
sion. A spirited committee took the
matter in hand privately some weeks
ago. Subscriptions were invited, money
flowed in and the benevolent neutrality
Of the mayor having been secured, the
Lady Godiva show was to-day revived.
The all-important question, "Who
shall be Lady Godiva?" had been happi-
ly answered by the engagement of an
equestrian "star" from the Theatre Roy
al, Astley's-Miss Maud Forester. I
left her down stairs an hour ago. enjoy
ing well-entered chop and some bran
dy and soda. The fete was ushered in
auspiciously by satiric "leader" in this
mornings Times and clashing peals from
the beautiful steep:e OF St. Michael's.
This steeple, by 3ae bye-the highest OF
the "three tall spires"-would alone
more than repaya visit to Coventry.
The ancient city had been gaily decora.
ted over night with huttering pennons,
evergreens and devices more or less ap-
propriate. From many gable dating
back as far as the time of Queen Bess
hung waving pictures of the sweet "lady''
and her spouse, varied here and there
by design showing US the wicked tailor
and by the city arms-an elephant and
castle-the castle atop of the elephant.
The inns were crowded by the influx
of 10000 visitors (among them large
party of Americans), and it was no easy
matter, found, to geta bed when I
came down in the dead of night from
London. The procession was to start,
eereeably to immemorirl custom, from
Che courtyard of st. Mary's hall, q build
Thither repaired, and having shown
my credentials to the helmeted police
man at the door, was ushered into the
historic room, where found the custo-
mer and motley through of knights
and gentlemen busily engaged in fitting
on breastplates, that wouldn't be fitted,
and swearing at slashed velvet hose
which were somehow always little bit
too large or small for the wearers. In
another room hard by were the ladies
chosen to take part in the procession
Queen Elizabeth, represented by a rath-
er pretty girl in mulberry and green
velvet, was chatting in broad Warwick
shire to Mary, queen of Scots, and to
Margaret of ANTON, in blue and Magenta
satin.
third room, to which after some coy bnt
"lhope don't intruder" inquired tim
idly, with vague souvenir of Paul Pry
in my mind, no doubt, rs / crossed the
sacred threshold and found myself face
to face with very plump and port]y
lady"
mot at ALL" came the gracious reply
from the lips of her lightly clad but
shapely ladysllip. 'Im not quite ready
yet, as you see, but you must excuse
that"
excused her willingly, for nothing
was lost by her unreadiness. Tout au
contraire, Godiva was then standing
In front Of her glass, adding gauze to
the somewhat too scanty upper part of
her flesh colored satin corsage. But for
this garment which fitted like glove, q
pretense of satin drapery about the
waist, and the very transparent lights
which encased her symmetrical, it per-
haps exuberant legs, clothing she had
no more than the original Godiya. In