gules. The royal habiliments were completed by a hood of the same
stuff as the surcoat, decorated like it with small embroidered garters,
and lined with white satin. From the king's neck was suspended the
collar of the Great George, composed of pieces of gold, fashioned like
garters, the ground of which was enamelled, and the letters gold.

While Henry was thus arrayed, the knights-companions, robed in their
mantles, hoods, and collars, entered the closet, and waiting till he was
ready, marched before him into the presence-chamber, where were
assembled the two provincial kings-at-arms, Clarenceux and Norroy,
the heralds, and pursuivants, wearing their coats-of-arms, together with
the band of pensioners, carrying gilt poleaxes, and drawn up in two
lines. At the king's approach, one of the gentlemen-ushers who carried
the sword of state, with the point resting upon the ground, delivered it
to the Duke of Richmond,--the latter having been appointed to bear it
before the king during all the proceedings of the feast. Meanwhile, the
knights-companions having drawn up on either side of the canopy,
Henry advanced with a slow and stately step towards it, his train borne
by the Earl of Surrey, Sir Thomas Wyat, and other nobles and knights.
As he ascended the canopy, and faced the assemblage, the Duke of
Richmond and the chief officers of the Order drew up a little on his
right. The knights-companions then made their salutation to him, which
he returned by removing his jewelled cap with infinite grace and
dignity, and as soon as he was again covered they put on their caps,
and ranging themselves in order, set forward to Saint George's Chapel.

Quitting the royal lodgings, and passing through the gateway of the
Norman Tower, the procession wound its way along the base of the
Round Tower, the battlements of which bristled with spearmen, as did
the walls on the right, and the summit of the Winchester Tower, and