ll leopards in wood, which were
delivered to Master Walter, the King's painter, to be placed upon and on
either side of the chair made by him. The wardrobe account of 29th Ed. I.
shows that Master Walter was paid L1 19s. 7d. 'for making a step at the
foot of the new chair in which the Scottish stone is placed; and for the
wages of the carpenters and of the painters, and for colours and gold
employed, and for the making a covering to cover the said chair.'"

[Illustration: Coronation Chair. Westminster Abbey.]

In 1328, June 1, there is a royal writ ordering the abbot to deliver up
the stone to the Sheriff of London, to be carried to the Queen-Mother;
however, it never went. The chair has been used upon the occasion of every
coronation since that time, except in the case of Mary, who is said to
have used a chair specially sent by the Pope for the occasion.

[Illustration: Chair in the Vestry of York Minster. Late 14th century.]

The above drawing of a chair in York Minster, and the two more throne-like
seats on the full-page illustration, will serve to shew the best kind of
ornamental Ecclesiastical furniture of the fourteenth century. In the
choir of Canterbury Cathedral there is a chair which has played its part
in history, and, although earlier than the above, it may be conveniently
mentioned here. This is the Archbishop's throne, and it is also called the
chair of St. Augustine. According to legend, the Saxon kings were crowned
therein, but it is probably not earlier than the thirteenth century. It is
an excellent piece of stonework, with a shaped back and arms, relieved
from being quite plain by the back and sides being panelled with a carved
moulding.

[Illustration: Chair. In St. Mary's Hall, Coventry. Chair. From an Old
English Monastery. Period: XV. Century.]

Penshurst Place, near Tonbridge, the residence of Lord de l'Isle and
Dudley, the historic home of the Sydneys, is almost an unique example of
what a wealthy English gentleman's country house was about the time of
which we are writing, say the middle of the fourteenth century, or during
the reign of Edward III. By the courtesy of Lord de l'Isle, the writer has
been allowed to examine many objects of great interest there, and from the
careful preservation of many original fittings and articles of furniture,
one may still gain some idea of the "hall" as it then appeared, when that
part of the house was the scene of the chief events in the life of the
fam