a _leu_, in all about equal to L42 of
modern money, to use at the card-table." Now, as the Scottish king was
not married to the English princess until 1503, it is quite clear that
he had learned to play cards long before his courtship with Margaret;
for in 1496, when he received so much card-money from his treasurer,
the English princess was but seven years of age. James had evidently
learned to play at cards with the Scottish barons who frequented his
father's Court, and whose lawlessness led to the revolt which ended in
the defeat and melancholy fate of James III. (1488), and gave the
succession to his son, James IV., at the early age of fifteen years.
The no less tragic end of James IV. at Flodden Field, in 1513, is
strikingly depicted by Sir Walter Scott, who tells:--

"Of the stern strife, and carnage drear,
Of Flodden's fatal field,
Where shiver'd was fair Scotland's spear,
And broken was her shield."

[Illustration]

THE REIGN OF HENRY THE EIGHTH.

On the death of Henry VII., who had given England peace and
prosperity, and established firmly his own house on the English
throne, in 1509, his son Henry became king as Henry VIII. He was a
handsome and accomplished young man, and his accession was an occasion
of great rejoicing. Henry kept his first

ROYAL CHRISTMAS AT RICHMOND,

with great magnificence. Proclaimed king on the 22nd of April at the
age of eighteen, and married on the 3rd of June to Katherine of
Arragon, widow of his deceased brother Arthur, Prince of Wales, the
youthful Monarch and his Queen were afterwards crowned at Westminster
Abbey by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and spent the first Christmas
of their wedded life at Richmond. "And a very pleasant time it ought
to have been to the Queen, for every species of entertainment was
there got up by the handsome young king and his gallant company of
courtiers, for her particular gratification. There was a grand
tournament on the green, before the palace, which was rendered
brilliant with pavilions, and the other gay structures always erected
for these chivalrous ceremonies. The King and Queen took their places
in the customary elevated position, surrounded by the nobles and
beauties of the Court, to witness the feats of arms of the many
gallant knights who had thronged to display their prowess before their
sovereign; these, with their esquires, the heralds, pages, and other
attendants, mounted and on foot, clad in their gay appare