"
Far different was the conduct of Sir Ralph Pudsey, of Bolton Hall, where
the king was concealed for some months prior to his appearance at
Waddington. Quitting Bolton, probably from some apprehension that his
retreat was in danger of being discovered, he left behind him the
well-known relics which are still shown to the curious. These are a pair
of boots, a pair of gloves, and a spoon. The boots are of fine brown
Spanish leather, lined with deer-skin, tanned with the fur on; about the
ankles is a kind of wadding under the lining, to keep out wet. They have
been fastened by buttons from the ankle to the knee; the feet are
remarkably small (little more than eight inches long); the toes round,
and the soles, where they join to the heel, contracted to less than an
inch in diameter.
The gloves are of the same material, and have the same lining; they
reach up, like women's gloves, to the elbow; but have been occasionally
turned down, with deer-skin outward. The hands are exactly proportioned
to the feet, and not larger than those of a middle-sized woman. In an
age when the habits of the great, in peace as well as war, required
perpetual exertions of bodily strength, this unhappy prince must have
been equally contemptible from corporeal and from mental imbecility.
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