. Walks in London . for when under Henry VIII. butchers werecompelled by law to sell their mutton at three farthings,beef was only a half-penny. Before reaching the moat we pass by what is called theSpur beneath the Middle Gate^ where an ancient arch witha portcullis is now built into modernised bastions. Thiswas the gate where Elizabeth, coming from Canonburybefore her coronation, on entering the fortress which hadbeen her prison, alighted from her palfrey, and falling uponher knees offered up to Almighty God, who had deliveredher from a danger so imminent, a solemn and devoutthanksgiving for
. Walks in London . for when under Henry VIII. butchers werecompelled by law to sell their mutton at three farthings,beef was only a half-penny. Before reaching the moat we pass by what is called theSpur beneath the Middle Gate^ where an ancient arch witha portcullis is now built into modernised bastions. Thiswas the gate where Elizabeth, coming from Canonburybefore her coronation, on entering the fortress which hadbeen her prison, alighted from her palfrey, and falling uponher knees offered up to Almighty God, who had deliveredher from a danger so imminent, a solemn and devoutthanksgiving for an * escape so miraculous, as she ex» 378 WALKS LV LONDON. pressed it herself, as that of Daniel out of the mouths ofthe Lions.* Adjoining the Middle Gate was the Lion Tower, with a semi-circular area, where the kings of England formerly kept theirwild beasts. The first of these were three leopards pre-sented to Henry III. by the Emperor Frederick, in allusionto the royal arms. A bear was soon added, for which the. Middle Tower. sheriffs of London were ordered to provide a muzzle and ironchain to secure him when out of the water, and a strong cordto hold him when fishing in the Thames. An elephantwas procured in the same reign, and a lion in that ofE:lward II. The wild beasts at the Tower were the mostpopular sight of London in the last and the beginning otthe present century,— Our first visit was to the lions, * See J?urnets History of the Reformation. THE TRAITORS GATE. 379 says Addison in the Freeholder. In 1834 the royaimenagerie vvas used as a foundation for the ZoologicalGardens collection. To the right is a terrace along thebank of the Thames, where we should walk to admire thewide reach of the Thames, here called the Pool, crowdedwith shipping, so that one seems to be walking through agallery of beautiful Vanderveldes. The first steps leadingto the river are the Queens Stairs (once much wider),where the sovereigns embarked for their coronations. Thewharf from which
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