Prince was ever more ready to follow the advice of others than his own counsel (which be it said has been often profitably done by the wisest of men); he was lavish in giving, we are told, magnificent in his convivial entertainments, and "more ready to promise than to perform."

On such a nature, the vivacious, bold, clever, crafty and ambitious Gascon could easily work to bad purpose. The more easily, perhaps, after the death of his father, which event is fixed by an entry from the same register which makes record of the father's arrival in England, and which, under the date of 1302, states that "two cloths of silk were granted by the King for the ceremony of the funeral of Arnold de Gaveston, knight, deceased at Winchester."

The Day Book of the Comptroller of the Wardrobe, (published last century by the Society of Antiquaries) enables us to learn something of the every-day life of the Prince at this time. On several days he is present in the old chapel at Windsor while the oblations made for the souls of deceased men of note are being divided. On other occasions, he has what would now be called musical parties. The names of the artists are not given, but due notice is taken of the sums paid for their minstrelsy. Then, anon, there is an incident which must have made the courtiers hilarious. The King, Queen, and Prince, had each his or her particular tailor-the cissor of that day working indifferently for men or women. John, the King's tailor, had received what was due to him for making robes for the King, but the Prince, seeming to think the pay exorbitant, impounded the tailor, and compelled him to make

another set of robes for the Prince, out of the allowance Thus, the cheating of

made to John by the King!

tailors was a fashion set by a high authority.

The other entries in this book refer to the expenses of the Prince for boating on the Thames-sometimes from Windsor to London. Then there is the famous entry "To William Bookbinder, of London, for a Primer bought of him for the use of Edward the King's son, 21." Some entries show him to have been a frequent writer of letters, fuller proof of which I shall show in a succeeding page. One item of 10s. to his nurse, Lady Eleanor of Moulton, adds another name to the list of ladies to whose good keeping the Prince was, in his childhood, entrusted. I have already shown that the Prince did not forget Mary of Caernarvon, and I find in Mr. F. Devon's description of certain hitherto unexamined rolls at the Chapter House, that four years later than the date of the above wardrobe account, the Prince, then at Wye, wrote to Henry Bray and the bishop, in favour of the Prince's nurse, Alice de Leygrave, directing them to take care that no harm come to her in the grant respecting the marriage of her daughter, thanking them for their courtesies to her, and praying their continuance. The Prince, it is well known, was extravagant in many of his pastimes; and there is one of the latter which has sorely puzzled the commentators. It is named in this very Wardrobe Book, where record is made of the large sum of 100 shillings being paid to John de Leek, the Prince's chaplain, as the cost of his Highness's playing at "creag," and at other games, "per vices." Some persons have concluded that the term implied fishing, while the

grave member of the Society of Antiquaries, who edited this wardrobe account, playfully, not to say audaciously, suggests that the word creag may, perhaps, serve to show that the first Prince of Wales was acquainted with "cribbage!"

In this wise, amid the storm and its lulls by which the kingdom was affected, the life of the Prince passed, for the most part, joyously on. Often, too, it must have been spent in a tranquillity for which he has not enjoyed much credit. During a portion of this same year, 1300, for instance, Edward was residing at Langley, with his step-mother, Marguerite. The circumstance is only worth noticing for the fact that whatever the locality afforded in other respects, it did not suffice to supply the royal table with fruit. Mr. Blaauw, in one of his numerous contributions to the reports of the Sussex Archæological Institute, quotes an entry, certifying that Nicholas de Gorham, fruiterer, sent the Prince, from London, pears, apples, nuts, and other fruits, to the value of twenty-one shillings, save a

penny.

But the time was now approaching when the Prince was about to assume increase of responsibility with increase of dignity. Hitherto, he had been styled "Lord Edward," or "the King's eldest son," a title, which, like that of "Child of France," was, as Selden remarks, commonly given to the heir to the throne who had no other distinctive title. The same learned writer states that he was not acquainted with any letters of creation of a Prince of Wales earlier than the document which conferred that title and its privileges on the Black Prince. But the letters patent for the investi

ture of Edward of Caernarvon have been since discovered, and it is to that fact that I now invite the notice of my readers.

That indefatigable archæologist, Mr. Wynne, searching among the Welsh Rolls in the Tower, found the enrolment of the original letters patent, by which Edward was raised to the dignity of Prince of Wales. A copy of the patent will be found in the "Reports of the House of Lords touching the dignity of a Peer of the Realm." It is in Latin, and commences to this effect:"To the reverend the Archbishops, &c., health. Know ye that we have given, conceded, and by this charter we have confirmed to our dearly beloved son Edward all our lands of North Wales, Anglesey, and Hope; and also all our lands of West and South Wales; and, indeed, all the territory of Wales which is in our hands on the day of the completion of this deed, except the castle and town of Montgomery, with what may belong thereto, and which we assigned to our very dear consort Margaret, as her dower." The deed, which thus confirms the grant of the Principality, goes on to make equal concession of the county of Chester and some places of less note, with all rights and privileges and profits connected therewith, among which is enumerated that to be derived from wrecks at sea. So that in the olden time a wreck like that of the " Royal Charter," in October, 1859, would have been, in common parlance, a "God-send" to the Prince of Wales. It is then declared that this grant is made to the Prince and to his heirs, Kings of England, in perpetuity, as they had been heretofore held by the King himself. The King immediately claims such service for

these gifts as he rendered to his father of beloved memory, Henry III., who, it is to be remembered, conceded much which it was not in his power to grant. For what Edward of Winchester really held, he doubtless rendered the requisite homage; but he never possessed the Welsh territory completely, as his son Edward of Caernarvon did, by this deed. I refer my readers to the copy of the original document in the Lords' Reports, adding here the simple fact that it is witnessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and five other prelates, five earls, and "by others;" and that it is subscribed as given by the King's hand, at Netteham on the 7th of February," of the year 1301; the 29th of the reign of Edward.

It is observable, however, that throughout this charter, young Edward is not once styled "Prince of Wales;" the first time of the occurrence of that title in a solemn legal deed, is in that given at "Kemeseye on the 10th day of May, 1301." By that document he is made possessor of the town and castle of Montgomery, and the whole of the Principality being placed under his government, he is then, for the first time, distinctly styled, not, as before, simply our beloved son," but "our very dear son, Edward Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester." From this tenth day of May, then, 1301, may it be said, in the words of an old Welshman, that Wales was conquered for its gain and undone for its advantage.

Mr. Courthope (Somerset Herald), in his edition of "The Historic Peerage," thinks it probable that "the grant of the Principality was immediately preceded by investiture with circlet, ring, and rod for the