Authorised Guide to the Tower of London | Page 5

fire-place, the only one till recently discovered in any Norman Keep. A second and third have of late years been found in the floor below, but the whole building was designed for security, not for comfort and in spite of the use of wooden partitions and tapestry must have been miserable as a place of residence. On leaving St. John's Chapel we enter
The Armoury.
In connection with the Armouries, it should be noted that the present collection of arms and armour had its origin in that formed at Greenwich by King Henry VIII, who received many presents of this nature from the Emperor Maximilian and others. He also obtained from the Emperor several skilled armourers, who worked in his pay and wore his livery. English iron in former days was so inferior, or the art of working it was so little known, that even as far back as the days of Richard II German and Italian armourers were the chief workmen in Europe. It should be remembered that the earlier kind of armour chiefly consisted of quilted garments, further fortified by small pieces of leather, horn, or metal. So far from the invention of gunpowder having driven out armour, if we may credit the story of the earliest employment of that explosive, it was at a date when plate armour was hardly in use, certainly not in large pieces. What actually did cause the disuse of armour was the change in ideas as to the movement of troops and the large quantity of armour which was made in the sixteenth century, and consequently the inferior make. In England the disuse of armour seems to have begun earlier than on the Continent, but at no time were the ordinary soldiers covered with metal as seen in Armouries and other places. The weight, and what was more important, the cost, prevented such a thing. It was only the rich who could afford to pay for and had horses to carry armour, who wore much of what we see now. Again, armour for war was much lighter and less complete than that used for the tilt yard, where protection to the wearer was more considered than his ability to hurt his opponent. The greater substance of such armour and its frequent enrichment with engraving and gilding no doubt led to the preservation of this class of defence. Chain mail suffered extremely by rust and neglect, and even plate armour was subject to the same deterioration. It is consequently not to be wondered at that little or no armour of a date previous to the fifteenth century is to be seen in this collection. On Henry VIII's death the first inventory of the Royal collection was made, and this includes the armour and arms at Greenwich, and arms and artillery at the Tower of London which, from the time of Henry VIII, was one of the sights for foreigners of distinction. In the troubles of the Civil War the arms were drawn out, and there is no doubt much, both of arms and armour, was used and lost. The Protector took one suit, and it was not till 1660 that the armour, which had meanwhile been brought to London, was collected, and, with the weapons still in the store, were formed into a kind of museum. It is to that period that may be traced most of the grotesque stories associated with the collection. At various subsequent periods additions were made to the collection, and it was arranged in such manner as suited the knowledge of the day. Series of figures of kings of England and famous persons were made and added to or changed on the death of the sovereign. In later times the whole has been arranged by Sir Samuel Meyrick. Mr. Hewitt, and Mr. Planché, and in 1859 Mr. Hewitt drew up the first catalogue of the contents.
The mounted figures from 1826 till 1883 stood in a long gallery adjoining the south side of the Tower, but at the latter date this was pulled down, and the figures removed to the top floor. Within the last few years the floor below has been used for the later arms, but the lighting of the rooms and their shape, with various other causes, prevent any strictly chronological arrangements of the collection, many objects of which also belong to long periods of time.
The arms and armour are now placed on the two upper floors of the White Tower, the earlier weapons and all the armour, being on the top floor, while the later weapons and the Indian arms and armour, with various personal relics, are placed on what is the third stage or second floor. To this the visitor ascends by a circular staircase in the south front of the Tower. At the foot observe