[MR] History Blog: Rare Elizabeth I Scroll Sold

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Today's History Blog article is all about a manuscript, essentially a
birthday card, given to Elizabeth I in 1573on the 40th anniversary of her
birth. The manuscript accompanied a gift from Matthew Parker, Archbishop of
Canterbury. The gift described in the manuscript was an elaborate gold salt
cellar (the location of which is not mentioned in the story, so it is
presumably now lost).

The manuscript was recently sold at auction to a buyer outside the UK. It
is under a temporary export ban in the hope that some British museum will
come forward to match the purchase price. Otherwise, another national
treasure could disappear into the private collection of some rich foreigner.

The article goes on to describe Queen Elizabeth's "progress", essentially a
summer tour when Her Majesty and her huge entourage went from estate to
estate, sponging off her hosts. Hosting the Queen and her crowd of servants
and supporters sometimes bankrupted many otherwise wealthy nobles. A visit
from the Queen was pretty much a royal order, and a refusal would certainly
be met with Royal displeasure. Shades of the Downton Abbey movie! Parker
spent £2,000, plus £170 in "tips" to her servants, a fortune in those days.
It isn't clear from the blog article if this fantastic outlay included the
salt cellar and its manuscript.

The story is at http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/65035 .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Who has so far "ducked" hosting any Royals