Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-12-04
FAMOUS BEDSTEADS.
SOME FACTS CUllED FROM HIS
TORY AND OBSERVATION.


GeneaIogy Superior TO That of Any
Other Piece of MISUNDERSTANDING
That Were Celebrated and Others That
Were Greatly Feared.
The first bed was OF Natures making. and
beautifully has Milton depicted its existence
in Eden, where il was prepared for our first
parents in close recess, with flowers, gar
lands and sweet smelling herbs" Hence with
such a world wide history, and possessed of a
geneaiogy to which no other article of furni-
ture can lay claim, it is not surprising that
the bedstead is crowded with associations of
the most eventful and historic character.
But, confining ourselves TO modern times,
we find numerous instances In which these
honored fabrics, apart from their domestic
use, as affording repose 10 the weary, have
been only too frequently associated with sad
memories, and been the scene of many an un-
raveled mystery. Thus, cases like the murder
of the young princes in the Tower at once
occur to US; and Shakespeare's tragic scene,
where Othello smothers Deslemona, is too
well known to need comment.
Noveists. again, like Wilkie Collins, have
used the bed TO good purpose in some of their
sensational stories, as in the case of the mys-
terious be,lstead which, after the manner of
clothes press, is made TO screw up, so as to
smother its unsuspecting occupant Then
there are beds whose surroundings have had
the reputation of being haunted, and refus-
ing sleep to any one sufficiently bold to COM
init his weary frame to such an uncanny
quarter; while fairy lore abounds in tales
and legends of those who, while seeking the
sweetness of repose in some enchanted bed,
have had visions revealed to them of won
drous unearthly joys in the land of dreams
Some idea, again, of the Importance for
merly attached TO certain bedsteads may be
gathered from old wills, where we find bed
clothes and sheets as things specially priced.
Thus an Anglo-Saxon lady gave to one of
her children her best bed curton linen and
ali the clothes belonging to it,n and to an
other child she leaves two chests and all the
bed clothes that to one belong
When Cardinal Wolsey took a lease of
Hampton Manor and manor house in the
year 1914 he received twenty ''bedsteddis" as
part of the demise Entries of this kind are
very numerous, and show in what high es-
TEEN the comfort and niceness of their beds
were held by our forefathers.
IL may be noted, too, that in DAYS gone by
many illusions occur to a smaller bedstead
,-h;cL .oli.l 49,. - -. -
s;e-nod usnaIIv ] fnr = 1t. nE so. , was 1re- ue
avarv ra,da, will rar,en,he, the VII 49,,
speech of mine host of the Garter in The
Merry Wives of Windsor" Gv, 81 who saws
of Falstaif's room, There's his chamber, his
ECn>e. his castle, his standing bed and truckle
bed" In the old manuscript of the romance
OF the ''Conte d'Artois," the count lies in the
bed under the canopy, while the truckle bed
~ re ,,,o,,,, fr,,,Ia,. ,,,s.l. t;,,. -.
a,,,,,,,,a ,,, t;s,~r;, 60, - -,
"S'uii Gu an "is'o' IL ia.ne may oe Hehtioneu
one IA Tue peii "oiIi Vi .dafS' queen Oh Scots,
at h"iyrood paiace- III Is covered with red
daihaSA' ana Is populariy stated 10 baVe been
slept III by 'he unfortunate sovereign, al
thouSh there Is considerable doubt on this
P'in'
NJ pui hieS may oe Ieinenioereu' pre-
SCI Neu 'ne peu>teal occupieu oy queen Eliza
DC %oc'h On her Nlslts 10 'ne ioro treasurer Bur
lei-n' stanos III room IN the western
irst @ moor oil the mansion, known as queen
bilzaheth bedroom, ana Is distinguished by
It's green velvet hangings. Paul Hentzner,
10 MS VISIT 20 windsor IN the year los's, no
1lees tne oeus oelotig gihs 70 former princes as
tiis e,eNen ieet SQUARE anu speaks Oh
Susei i-'I--ioe'u oei' win l's curious rlcn
eilot oideiS' As NOT 50 large as the others
n iailious oedsteau Oh the fHteenth cen
'uS was iohS pFeser rEed at Leicester ana Is
Se"ei i"ilS suPPOsed 10 nave oeen slept on oy
iticnaru III Inc under part oil II formed
iis ih'DeaiS cnes'' anu, as most reaoers are
aware, the discovery Oh the treasure cen
tury afterwards occasloned a barbarous mur-
der. But none OF the coins discovered were
Of later mint than this reign. Further
more, II Is said by Pennant that a stump bed
stead kept in Berkeley castle is the same on
which the murder of Edward ii was com
nhtted
linen there are the royal beds OF Hampton
court, with their rich hRnglngs, and the ia
nous bed OF Ware, IN Hertfordshire, has long
ago become proverbial. Nothing is known OF
the original history OF this enormous bed
stead-no less than twelve feet square-and
which, in years past, formed one Of the dis
tinguishing features Of the inn known as the
Saracen's Head. According to one popular
tradition, this gigantic piece Of furniture wa:
made by certain Jonas Forbrooke, a jour
neyman carpenter, and presented to the royal
family IN the year l463, Edward ~ reward
ing the industry Of the donor by granting
him a pension for life. Anyhow, many
strange stories have centered around this bed
and popular legend says that one Harrison
Saxby, of Lancashire-a master of the horse
| to King Henry VllI-having fallen deeply
in love with the daughter of miller residing
near Ware, swore that he would do anything
to secure the object of his affections. The
piece Of chivalry coming to the ears Of the
king, who happened to be passing through
ware on MS way 10 MS iavorlte retreat at
DtstON on MIN VINO would consent