ind to envelop him in her
train" (Fig. 185). Such a calamity, one would have thought, might have
been sufficient to disgust people with masquerades, but they were none the
less in favour at court for many years afterwards; and, two centuries
later, the author of the "Orchesographie" thus writes on the subject:
"Kings and princes give dances and masquerades for amusement and in order
to afford a joyful welcome to foreign nobles; we also practise the same
amusements on the celebration of marriages." In no country in the world
was dancing practised with more grace and elegance than in France. Foreign
dances of every kind were introduced, and, after being remodelled and
brought to as great perfection as possible, they were often returned to
the countries from which they had been imported under almost a new
character.

[Illustration: Fig. 186.--Musicians accompanying the Dancing.--Fac-simile
of a Wood Engraving in the "Orchesographie" of Thoinot Arbeau (Jehan
Tabourot): 4to (Langres, 1588).]

In 1548, the dances of the Bearnais, which were much admired at the court
of the Comtes de Foix, especially those called the _danse mauresque_ and
the _danse des sauvages_, were introduced at the court of France, and
excited great merriment. So popular did they become, that with a little
modification they soon were considered essentially French. The German
dances, which were distinguished by the rapidity of their movements, were
also thoroughly established at the court of France. Italian, Milanese,
Spanish, and Piedmontese dances were in fashion in France before the
expedition of Charles VIII. into Italy: and when this king, followed by
his youthful nobility, passed over the mountains to march to the conquest
of Naples, he found everywhere in the towns that welcomed him, and in
which balls and masquerades were given in honour of his visit, the dance
_a la mode de France_, which consisted of a sort of medley of the dances
of all countries. Some hundreds of these dances have been enumerated in
the fifth book of the "Pantagruel" of Rabelais, and in various humorous
works of those who succeeded him. They owed their success to the singing
with which they were generally accompanied, or to the postures,
pantomimes, or drolleries with which they were supplemented for the
amusement of the spectators. A few, and amongst others that of the _five
steps_ and that of the _three faces_, are mentioned in the "History of the
Queen of Navarre."

[Illu