om Scone by
Edward I., over which all the Scottish kings had been crowned since
about 800 A.D.

37. THE COURT AT WESTMINSTER.

~Star Chamber Court~, in which cases were tried before some members of
the Privy Council and two judges without a jury. This was established in
1487 to restore order because great lords and landowners used to
frighten juries from giving true verdicts.

~bear and ragged staff~: the arms of the Earl of Warwick consisted of a
bear erect and hugging a rough stake. (See pictures on pp. 111, 113.)

~arras~: tapestry for hanging; so called from Arras, in the north of
France, where it was made.

~refectory~: the hall where the monks or nuns took their meals.

38. JUSTICE AND PUNISHMENTS.

~executive officers~: those whose duty it is to enforce the law.

~contrition~: repentance.

~securities~: stocks and shares; papers which can be of no use to the
ordinary thief.

~Bridewell~: the site of a prison, now demolished. It adjoined
Whitefriars, and may be seen in the map to the west of Blackfriars.

~amende honorable~ (French): when one who has done wrong gives
satisfaction without loss of honour.

~pillory~: a framework supported by an upright pillar. In it were holes
through which the head and hands of offenders were thrust. In this
uncomfortable position they had to stand exposed to the insults of the
mob.

~cogged~: loaded so as always to fall in a certain way.

~title deeds~: writings drawn up in proper legal form to prove the
possession of property.

39. THE POLITICAL POWER OF LONDON.

~Froissart~: an early French chronicler or historian who visited England
in the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II., and died in 1401.

~besotted with~: stupidly and excessively fond of.

~commonalty~: the common people.

~Berkeley Castle~, in Gloucestershire, where Edward II. was murdered in
1327.

~a son was born~: Edward, Prince of Wales, born in 1453. After the
Yorkist victory of Northampton in 1460 Edward's claim to the throne was
set aside in favour of Richard, Duke of York, father of Edward IV. The
Prince was slain at the battle of Tewkesbury, 1471.

~benevolences~: loans of money, supposed to be voluntary, really
compulsory, made by merchants and other rich men to the king.

~charts~: papers; ~blank cheques~: orders on the bank for money with all
except the amount required filled up and properly signed.

~factor~: if 2 x 3 makes six, 2 and 3 are each factors of 6; hence it is