usty and forlorn appearance, and although the tapestry is
well set out in a long series of glazed wooden cases, one feels that the
risks of fire and other mischances are greater here than they would be were
the tapestry kept in a more modern and more fire-proof home. Queen Mathilda
or whoever may have been either the actual producer or the inspirer of the
tapestry must have used brilliant colours upon this great length of linen.
During the nine centuries that have passed since the work was completed the
linen has assumed the colour of light brown canvas, but despite this, the
greens, blues, reds, and buffs of the stitches show out plainly against the
unworked background. There is scarcely an English History without a
reproduction of one of the scenes portrayed in the long series of pictures,
and London has in the South Kensington Museum a most carefully produced
copy of the original. Even the chapter-house of Westminster Abbey has its
coloured reproductions of the tapestry, so that it is seldom that any one
goes to Bayeux without some knowledge of the historic events portrayed in
the needlework. There are fifty-eight separate scenes on the 230 feet of
linen. They commence with Harold's instructions from Edward the Confessor
to convey to William the Norman the fact that he (Harold) is to become king
of England. Then follows the whole story leading up to the flight of the
English at Senlac Hill.

Even if this wonderful piece of work finds a more secure resting-place in
Paris, Bayeux will still attract many pilgrims for its cathedral and its
domestic architecture compare favourably with many other Norman towns.

The misfortunes that attended the early years of the life of the cathedral
were so numerous and consistent that the existence of the great structure
to-day is almost a matter for surprise. It seems that the first church made
its appearance during the eleventh century, and it was in it that Harold
unwittingly took that sacred oath on the holy relics, but by some accident
the church was destroyed by fire and there is probably nothing left of this
earliest building except the crypt. Eleven years after the conquest of
England, William was present at Bayeux when a new building built by his
half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, was consecrated. Ten years after his
death, however, this second church was burnt down. They rebuilt it once
more a few years later, but a third time a fire wrought much destruction.
The portions of