The Tower of London, more consecrated to associations of gloom and
blood than those of gayety and splendour, was, nevertheless, during
the reign of Edward IV., the seat of a gallant and gorgeous court.
That king, from the first to the last so dear to the people of London,
made it his principal residence when in his metropolis; and its
ancient halls and towers were then the scene of many a brawl and
galliard. As Warwick's barge now approached its huge walls, rising
from the river, there was much that might either animate or awe,
according to the mood of the spectator. The king's barge, with many
lesser craft reserved for the use of the courtiers, gay with awnings
and streamers and painting and gilding, lay below the wharfs, not far
from the gate of St. Thomas, now called the Traitor's Gate. On the
walk raised above the battlemented wall of the inner ward, not only
paced the sentries, but there dames and knights were inhaling the
noonday breezes, and the gleam of their rich dresses of cloth-of-gold
glanced upon the eye at frequent intervals from tower to tower. Over
the vast round turret, behind the Traitor's Gate, now called "The
Bloody Tower," floated cheerily in the light wind the royal banner.
Near the Lion's Tower, two or three of the keepers of the menagerie,
in the king's livery, were leading forth, by a strong chain, the huge
white bear that made one of the boasts of the collection, and was an
especial favourite with the king and his brother Richard. The
sheriffs of London were bound to find this grisly minion his chain and
his cord, when he deigned to amuse himself with bathing or "fishing"
in the river; and several boats, filled with gape-mouthed passengers,
lay near the wharf, to witness the diversions of Bruin. These folks
set up a loud shout of--"A Warwick! a Warwick!" "The stout earl, and
God bless him!" as the gorgeous barge shot towards the fortress. The
earl acknowledged their greeting by vailing his plumed cap; and
passing the keepers with a merry allusion to their care of his own