[412] English wool is still used for the finest
tapestries at the Gobelins. The wool from Kent is
considered the best.

[413] "Vitae St. Alban. Abbatum," p. 40; Rock, p. cxi.
That the walls were covered with tapestry in the
thirteenth century is supposed to be proved by the
description of Hrothgar's house in the Romance of
Beowulf. We are told that the hangings were rich with
gold, and a wondrous sight to behold. "History of
Domestic Manners, &c., in England during the Middle
Ages," by Thomas Wright, p. 2.

[414] Matthew Paris, in Dugdale Monast., ed. 1819, ii.
p. 185.

[415] Quoted by Michel from MSS. in the Imperial
Library, Paris.

[416] This was a writ to the Aldermen and Sheriffs of
the City of London, principally levelled against the
dealings of "certain Frenchmen which were against the
well-being of the trade of the Tapissiarii ... by
petition of Parliament at Westminster." Calend. Rot.
Pat. Edward III., p. 148, "De Mystera Tapiciarorum,"
Lond. M. 41.

[417] Called "verdures" in French inventories.

[418] Rock's Introduction, p. lxxix.

[419] "The art of weaving tapestry was brought to
England by William Sheldon, Esq., about the end of the
reign of Henry VIII."--See Dugdale's "Warwickshire"
("Stemmata:" Sheldon), 2nd edition, folio, vol. i. p.
584; also Lloyd's "State Worthies," p. 953, quoted by
Manning and Bray, "Hist. of Surrey," vol. iii. p. 82.
But we have an earlier notice of a spirited attempt to
make fine tapestries at Kilkenny. Piers, Earl of
Ormonde, married the daughter of Fitzgerald, Earl of
Kildare, "a person of great wisdom and courage." They
brought from Flanders and the neighbouring provinces
artificers and manufacturers, whom they employed at
Kilkenny in working tapestries, diaper, Turkey carpets,
cushions, &c. Piers died 1539. Carte's Introduction to
the "Life of James, Duke of Ormonde," vol. i. p. 93
(Oxford, 1851).

[420] William Sheldon at his own expense brought workmen
from Flanders, and employed them in weaving maps of the
different counties of England. Of these, three large
maps, the earliest specimens, were purchased by the Earl
of Orford (Horace Walpole), by whom they were given to
Earl Harcourt. He had them repaired and cleaned, and
made as fresh as when out of the loom, and eventual