rcellus, the Abbot of Emesa, had a vision by means
of which he re-discovered (or re-invented) the head, which had in
some way been lost sight of. Following the guidance of his dream,
he repaired to a grotto, and proceeded to exhume the long-suffering
relic. After many other similar and rather disconnected episodes,
it finally came into possession of the Bishop of Amiens in 1206.

A great calamity in early times was the loss of all the valuables
of King John of England. Between Lincolnshire and Norfolk the royal
cortege was crossing the Wash: the jewels were all swept away.
Crown and all were thus lost, in 1216.

Several crowns have been through vicissitudes. When Richard III.
died, on Bosworth Field, his crown was secured by a soldier and
hidden in a bush. Sir Reginald de Bray discovered it, and restored
it to its rightful place. But to balance such cases several of the
queens have brought to the national treasury their own crowns.
In 1340 Edward III. pawned even the queen's jewels to raise money
for fighting France.

The same inventory makes mention of certain treasures deposited
at Westminster: the values are attached to each of these, crowns,
plates, bracelets, and so forth. Also, with commendable zeal, a
list was kept of other articles stored in an iron chest, among which
are the items, "one liver coloured silk robe, very old, and worth
nothing," and "an old combe of horne, worth nothing." A frivolous
scene is described by Wood, when the notorious Republican, Marten,
had access to the treasure stored in Westminster. Some of the wits
of the period assembled in the treasury, and took out of the iron
chest several of its jewels, a crown, sceptre, and robes; these
they put upon the merry poet, George Withers, "who, being thus
crowned and royally arrayed, first marched about the room with a
stately gait, and afterwards, with a thousand ridiculous and apish
actions, exposed the sacred ornaments to contempt and laughter."
No doubt the "olde comb" played a suitable part in these
pranks,--perhaps it may even have served as orchestra.

One Sir Henry Mildmay, in 1649, was responsible for dreadful vandalism,
under the Puritan regime. Among other acts which he countenanced was
the destruction and sale of the wonderful Crown of King Alfred,
to which allusion has just been made. In the Will of the Earl of
Pembroke, in 1650, is this clause showing how unpopular Sir Henry
had become: "Because I threatened Sir Henry Mildmay, but