The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-10-01
ANCIENT STATE BEDsrEADs.

AXN@AE<~A lAA DEA0SA E<AAh1-
The stateliest Of ancient bedsteads are.
Of course. those in the state chambers.
sometimes the haunted" ores of historic
houses. wherein they nave stood for
some three centuries at least Usually
these have been slept in-once at IN rate
In the dim and distant past, by royalty.
There ID . curious story which. after the
viii be more respectfully treated than IL
has been. of George Nv. sleeping In such
a room n doubtless such a bed at
Houghton. and seeing the Brown Lady,
who Is. we believe. the Walpole spectre
Such experiences were among the uneasy
honors Of the great. who were installed
in some of the state chambers OF the
stately homes Of England" and occa-
sionally OF the humble guests. who, from
the house being crowded. and nobody else
caring to sleep there. was Tin hlissful tg-
norance) put into the state. bus haunted.
chamber. Queen Elizabeth appears TO
have been the record-breaker. III one may
De SO fippant in this connection. In the
way Of occupying state bedsteads. for In
all directions h made those progresses
which have resulted in SO many magnin-
cent bedsteads and rooms being shown "a
having been slept in by the Tudor queen
Her successor. James. had a thrifty
taste for thus favoring his distinguished
subjects. though neither he nor n other
monarch come near to Elizabeth In this
respect. AS Hampstead Is always inter-
esting to Londoners-on aesthetic. histori-
cal. or bank holiday grounds. according to
their tastes-it may be mentioned that
there was 1--WE do not know IL there Is
now an ancient brick mansion there
known as Chicken house. and the descrip-
ton from which We quote states that
there was formerly some painted glass
in the windows, part Of which exhibited
small portraits of James and the duke OF
buckingham. Under the former was the
inscription. icy dams cette chambre
COUGHS nostre Roy Jacques. premier de
nom, lie Is mo Auost, 1919" Doubtless. the
bedstead which stood under the inscrfp-
ton matched the requirements of its po-
siticn. The romance OF the ancient four
posters Is Of mingled character. Both
grave and gay are the associations. or
all these perhaps the grimmest Is that
which is attached to the bed which stood
In the hambe that was the scene OF the
tragedy of Littlecote Hall.
There Is a bedstead of more ancient date
that has also a tragic h~istory-that in
which Richard III. slept, and which was
left behind at Leicester on his march to
Bosworth Field. After various vicissi-
tudes this fine carved structure became
the property of the landlady of an inn
none had guessed and probably none save
Richard himself had ~known-that in the
wood work was concealed a large store OF
gold coin. The find, of course. delighted
the landlady. but she did not keep the
secret of her luck to herself. The money
Of the last Plantagenet King was like
the traditional opal, unfortunate for its
possessor. The landlady was murdered by
her servants in order to obtain the trea-
sure. What became Of the bedstead ira
up for firewood, even as the stone coffin
in which Richard was laid W a 1t Is said.
ultimately used as a watering trough for
horses.-London Standard.