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The Eglinton Tournament was a re-enactment of a medieval joust and revel held in Scotland between 28 and 30 August 1839. It was funded and organized by Archibald, Earl of Eglinton, and took place at Eglinton Castle in Ayrshire. The Queen of Beauty was Georgiana, Duchess of Somerset. Many distinguished visitors took part, including Prince Louis Napoleon, the future Emperor of the French.

The Tournament was a deliberate act of Romanticism, and drew 100,000 spectators. It is primarily known now for the ridicule poured on it by the Whigs. Problems were caused by rainstorms. At the time views were mixed: "Whatever opinion may be formed of the success of the Tournament, as an imitation of ancient manners and customs, we heard only one feeling of admiration expressed at the gorgeousness of the whole scene, considered only as a pageant. Even on Wednesday, when the procession was seen to the greatest possible disadvantage, the dullest eye glistened with delight as the lengthy and stately train swept into the marshalled lists".^[1] Participants had undergone regular training.

The preparations, and the many works of art commissioned for or inspired by the Eglinton Tournament, had an effect on public feeling and the course of 19th-century Gothic revivalism. Its ambition carried over to events such as the lavish Tournament of Brussels in 1905, and presaged the historical reenactments of the present. Features of the tournament were actually inspired by Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe: it was attempting "to be a living re-enactment of the literary romances".^[2] In Eglinton’s own words "I am aware of the manifold deficiencies in its exhibition — more perhaps than those who were not so deeply interested in it; I am aware that it was a very humble imitation of the scenes which my imagination had portrayed, but I have, at least, done something towards the revival of chivalry".^[3]

While others made a profit, Lord Eglinton had to absorb losses.^[4] The Earl's granddaughter, Viva Montgomerie recalled in her memoirs that "he had spent most of the wealth of the estate".^[5]

It is uncertain exactly why Lord Eglinton decided to hold his tournament in 1839, but historians have suggested a combination of Eglinton's family background; the influence of his half-brother, Charles Lamb; and the wider interest in the Gothic Revival during the period. (plus politics).^[6]

Lord Eglinton came from an immensely rich aristocratic family, but his father, Lord Montgomerie, died relatively young.^[7] Eglinton's mother remarried to Sir Charles Lamb, and Eglinton was initially brought up by his grandfather, Hugh Montgomerie, the 12th Earl of Eglinton.^[8] When the earl died, the earldom was left in considerable debt - over £250,000 - and five trustees were charged in his will with making the necessary economies to return the estate to financial health, a process that might have taken up to thirty years.^[9] Lord Eglinton frequently argued with them over money and allowances until he finally took back complete control of his family finances, selling off many of the earldom's lands to cover the remaining debts.^[10]

Once he was financially independent, Eglinton chose to live an extravagant lifestyle, first at Eton College, and then with his mother and step-father.^[11] The historian Mary Miller observes that he spent his late teenage years primarily engaged "in claret drinking, debauchery, and steeplechasing", while Ian Anstruther remarks that "his main accomplishment was billiards".^[12] When Eglinton turned 21, he held a parade and banquet at Eglinton Castle in Scotland to celebrate.^[13] He spent the next few years primarily engaged in sport, riding and racing horses in Britain, playing cricket in Switzerland and hunting stags in France.^[14] He continued to spend lavishly, supplementing his income by continuing to sell off some of his estates each year.^[15]

It is possible that Eglinton may have had a personal interest in medieval history - he later claimed to have read the works of Malory and Froissart in his youth - but Gothic Revivalism and Romanticism were certainly popular movements in the late 1830s.^[16] Indeed, a re-imagined medieval culture, with its romanticism of knights, castles, feasts and tournaments, was widely admired as an antidote to the difficulties of the modern and industrial age.^[17] Gothic novels, such as The Castle of Otranto, by Horace Walpole and the many works of Sir Walter Scott had popularised the idea of passionate romanticism and praise of chivalric ideals.^[18] Scott's novel Ivanhoe became a popular play, and its famous tournament scene was recreated at the Astley amphitheatre.^[19] A tournament took place during a private party at Firle Park in 1827, and in 1837 there were rumours, albeit unfounded, that Queen Victoria intended to sponsor a reenactment of a medieval tournament.^[20]

Eglinton's half brother, Charlie Lamb, had certainly been heavily influenced by Gothic Revivalism and Romanticism, and would in turn influence Eglinton's thinking.^[21] As a child, Charlie had been fascinated by the medieval period, creating an elaborate medieval fantasy world centred around his pet guinea pigs, and writing an unfinished history of his family, reaching back to the early Middle Ages.^[22] He left Eton early and lived a reclusive lifestyle, focusing on his private studies.^[23] Nonetheless, he had hopes of living a more chivalrous and romantic life; he collected armour and began to build a tilt yard in order to learn to joust.^[24] In the summer of 1838, Charlie took Eglinton to see an exhibition of medieval weapons and armour in London, organised by the dealer Samuel Pratt.^[25]

The influence of national politics may also have played a factor in Eglinton's decision.^[26] In the 1830s, British politicians were divided between the Tory and Whig factions; Eglinton and his extended family were staunch Tories.^[27] In 1838, the Whig Prime Minister Lord Melbourne announced that the coronation of Queen Victoria would not feature the traditional banquet in Westminster Hall.^[28] The country was facing recession, and the Government considered the more obviously anachronistic and expensive parts of the coronation celebrations an extravagance.^[29] The more austere coronation also abandoned other rituals, including the throwing down of the gauntlet by the Queen's Champion, which by tradition would have been carried out by Sir Charles Lamb in his role as Knight Marshal of the Royal Household.^[30] Many Tories were unhappy with the Government's ceremonial approach, and it possible that Eglinton - while not very politically active - may have been seeking to contrast his own circle's approach to ancient traditions with those of the Whig government.^[31]

Against this background, in the summer of 1838 Lord Eglinton considered supplementing one of the regular events at Eglinton Castle with a medieval show.^[32] His initial plans were modest, perhaps involving a display of medieval skills or something similar to the 1827 event in Sussex.^[33] The Court Journal, however, picked up on these plans and on 4 August 1838 published a story that Eglinton was to hold a medieval tournament at the castle.^[34] Sir Charles and Charlie Lamb probably encouraged him to expand his plans, and in due course - and amid much public excitement - Eglinton confirmed the rumour, announcing that the tournament would take place the following year.^[35]

To organise the tournament, Lord Eglinton turned to Samuel Pratt, the London-based dealer in arms, armour, upholstery and packing cases, whose exhibition he had visited a few months before.^[36] Although Pratt had a strong personal interest in medieval history and chivalry, he also appears to have seen the tournament as a way to promote his business across a new group of wealthy clients.^[37]

In late autumn 1838, Eglinton held a meeting of prospective participants in Pratt's showroom in London. Around 150 people attended, including Charlie Lamb, and there was considerable debate as to what form the tournament should take, the rules and the historical period they should try to emulate.^[38] After much argument, Pratt convinced the group to agree on a tournament in the style of the 16th century.^[39] Around forty participants decided to progress and most of these put in orders for armour and costumes to Pratt.^[40] Over the winter, Pratt travelled around Europe, purchasing medieval armour.^[41] Meanwhile, public interest in the event grew considerably, with extensive discussions in the newspapers.^[42]

The tournament, originally intended, for Easter 1839, was delayed until the summer due to the range of issues that needed to be organised.^[43] Among these was the need to train the prospective knights and horses, and a sequence of rehearsals were organised by Pratt at the Eyre Arms pub in London between June and July.^[44] After much work, the knights successfully trained with a quintain and against a dummy knight on wheels and rails, although one member, John Campbell of Saddell, was injured by Eglinton while the two of them were testing the lances.^[45]

The knights involved in the rehearsals had by now either purchased or hired full sets of metal armour from Pratt, much of which were 19th-century replicas made by Thomas Grimshaw, although some were original 16th-century pieces.^[46] This had proved more expensive than originally envisaged, with the purchase of a suit of armour costing approximately £400.^[47] In addition, the knights needed to equip their retinues for the final event, many using Haigh's, a theatrical costumer in London, from whom Pratt ordered 400 medieval costumes.^[48] The total cost to each participant was therefore probably around £1,500 - and in addition, some would be have being riding horses worth several hundred pounds each.^[49]

The final dress rehearsal on 13 July, involving the 19 remaining participants, was hugely popular with both elite society and the general public.^[50] Pratt had issued 2,690 formal invitations, with Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel as the guest of honour, but in total around 6,000 people actually turned up to try and see the practice, causing chaos in the surrounding neighbourhood.^[51] The rehearsal went well and Eglinton announced that the tournament itself would be held at Eglinton Castle in August.^[52]

Eglinton, Pratt and the other organisers of the tournament were expecting that the event would be a substantial affair.^[53] After a few of those at the dress rehearsal dropped out, there were a total of 14 knights including Eglinton, all wealthy men, many of whom had been friends with him at Eton.^[54] There were other members of elite society attending, a total of 92 of whom could be hosted in the castle itself; 55 of these were members of the peerage, typically Tory supporters. They would be joined by Prince Louis Napoleon of France and other members of the European aristocracy. There would also be the hundreds of staff and retainers involved in the processions.

Eglinton appointed one of his agents to manage any wider public attendance, expecting perhaps at most 1,500 visitors - approximately the average size of an Eglinton race-meet - to attend.^[55] Eglinton announced that anyone from across the country would be welcome to attend and watch the event from the surrounding parkland, and that the public could apply to him for free tickets to enable them to see the tournament from the stands, encouraging those attending to wear medieval-themed fancy dress or highland clothing.^[56]

By now, however, the public were extremely excited by the news surrounding the tournament, and the national and local newspapers around the country extensively re-publicised Eglinton's announcement.^[57] In previous years it might have been awkward for travellers from England to reach Eglinton Castle, but the new railway between London and Liverpool, the anticipated opening of the railway from Ayr to Irvine, and the new iron steamships operating between Liverpool and Scotland, now made the journey much more straightforward.^[58]

As a consequence, Lord Eglinton's staff received letters from across Britain, and as far afield as Brazil and India, asking for large numbers of tickets for themselves and their friends.^[59] Although some requests were declined, for reasons including the applicants' Whiggish views, many (thousands) of invitations were issued and Eglinton began to plan for a much larger event.^[60]

The eventual number of visitors is not known with any certainty; both contemporary sources and modern historians suggest anywhere from between 40,000 and 100,000 people turned up to see the tournament at Eglinton. The influx of guests completely overwhelmed the capacity of the local infrastructure. The nearest towns, Irvine and the port of Ardrossan, had only hotel apiece, and the visitors ended up renting rooms in local houses and villages across the area, often at considerable expense.

Some visitors arrived at Irvine by steam train, the railway company having put on additional services and trebled its prices for the occasion, and then walked the remaining 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the castle. A few travelled from Ardrossan, 8 miles (13 km) away, on a horse-pulled railway line. Others came by coach, although the roads soon became blocked by the traffic, and many visitors simply made their way there entirely on foot.

The tournament was held in the park of Eglinton Castle, on a low-lying meadow in a loop in the Lugton Water. The surrounding land overlooked the tilt yard, which was reached from the castle over a narrow, cast-iron bridge,^[a] with an enclosed path for the knights and their entourage, and a separate track for the guests. Eglinton had constructed a temporary banqueting hall behind the Gothic-styled castle, and a "purple pavilion" of tents in front of it to provide overflow accommodation for his guests.

The lists, where the tournament would take place, was 650 by 250 feet (198 by 76 m), separated by a 300 feet (91 m) long barrier in the middle. A team of almost 300 carpenters had been deployed to construct seating for 4,000 people along one side, with a 50 feet (15 m) tall covered grandstand in the middle for Eglinton and his personal guests. Tents for the knights were pitched in each corner of the lists. The huge crowds of visitors who did not have tickets for the stands watched from around the park, some sitting on the top of carriages or climbing trees to get a better view. Programmes were sold for half a crown.

The knights each took a fictional name for the purposes of the tournament, often based on an aspect of their existing heraldry. The final participants comprised Eglinton himself, who fought as the Lord of the Tournament; Charlie Lamb (the Knight of the White Rose); William, the Earl of Craven (the Knight of the Griffin); Henry Beresford, Marquis of Waterford (the Knight of the Dragon); John Hume, Viscount Alford (the Knight of the Black Lion); George John, Lord Glenlyon (the Knight of the Gael); Archibald, Earl of Cassilis (the Knight of the Dolphin); Henry Gage (the Knight of the Ram); Walter Little Gilmour (the Black Knight); Edward Jerningham (the Knight of the Swan); James Fairlie (the Knight of the Golden Lion); Sir Francis Hopkins (the Knight of the Burning Tower); and R Lechmere, (the Knight of the Red Rose).

Charles Vane, Marquis of Londonderry, acted as the King of the Tournament, the most senior heraldic officer in the event; Alexander Fraser, Lord Saltoun, was the Judge of the Peace, duty to "maintain peace and decide between disputes", and Sir Charles Lamb the Knight Marshal of the Lists - in effect the umpire for the event. Jane Sheridan, Lady Seymour, was the Queen of Beauty, being known for...

The jousting took the form of tilting, in which two knights would ride towards each other, separated by a wooden barrier. Their goal was to break their lances by striking their opponents's shoulder shield; if no lance broke, the judges would give. Each joust was divided into three encounters, known as courses. Eglinton's safety measures included the compulsory wearing of full armour which had been inspected by one of Eglinton's men; the aiming of the lance blow at the shield rather than the head; and the use of blunted, weak lances made from the cross-grain of the wood, so that they would break easily and not splinter.

Eglinton's intention on the first day of the tournament had been to assemble the knights, their chosen ladies and the officials overseeing the event in the Lists for 1200. The plan called for their forty entourages of staff, musicians and supporters were to be lined up, each entourage to then ride up to the castle and collect their principal, and then the procession as a whole would ride down to the Lists, around the inside, before final ceremonies took place, the principals took their seats and the event began.

Historians agree that the opening parade took much longer to organise than expected, although they vary in the weight given to particular details.^[b] The procession, with over a hundred men and women on horseback as well as all of those on foot, was 0.5 miles (0.80 km) in length, and difficult to manage. This was made worse by there being only one entrance into and out of the castle, which slowed movement considerably. The initially good weather had given way to rain and the organisers appear to have waited for a period in the hope that it would pass.

It was not until somewhere between 1430 and 1500 that they were all ready to collect the last principal, Lady Seymour, and make their way down to the Lists. By then, however, a heavy storm had broken out. The women were taken down to the Lists in covered carriages, while the procession made its way down through the crowd in the rain. As the downpour continued, the grandstand began to leak, flooding the interior and soaking the guests. The opening ceremonies were chaotic and cut short, and the jousting began in the increasingly heavy rain.

Five courses of tilting then took place, but the inexperienced knights found it very difficult to strike each other accurately in the rain and the mud. In between the fourth and fifth rounds, a foot combat took place between a professional actor and a soldier using two-handed swords. The results of the tilting were declared as follows:

After the jousting had finished, Lord Eglinton appeared in the Lists, apologised for the rain, and announced that, weather permitting, they would try to joust again the next day or the day after. Then he announced to the special guests in the grandstand that the medieval banquet and ball that evening would have to be cancelled as banquet tent had also succumbed to the weather - a smaller dinner was instead given for 200 guests.^[61]

Meanwhile, most of the visitors began to disperse from the castle in the continuing rain, but they faced problems. Some had not been expecting to leave until midnight and their carriages were not available; for visitors' whose carriages had remained on site, they found that the Lugton Water had flooded and only Eglinton's personal coach was large enough to cross it. The roads disintegrated into mud and as the travellers arrived in the nearby villages, only the first people found any food, drink, accommodation or transport. Many had to sleep rough for the night. Trains were run out of Irvine until midnight to accommodate the surge in passengers.

• The Tournament
• 
  Duchess of Somerset, Queen of Beauty
• 
  Archibald, Earl of Eglinton, Lord of the Tournament
• 
  The Procession to the Lists
• 
  The Challenge
• 
  The Melée
• 
  The Joust
• 
  The Presentation

The rain continued the next morning, preventing further jousting. Eglinton consulted with the other knights, and they agreed to hold the second half of the tournament the following day. The weather cleared in the afternoon, and visitors began to gather once again, until Eglinton announced the delay. The estate staff set about repairing the damage to the site, including attempting to drain the Lists and mending the grandstand.^[62]

Meanwhile, the 7th Highlanders and the Athol Highlanders put on displays; two of the knights practised at the quintain; and Prince Louis Napoleon and Charlie Lamb fought for almost an hour with broadswords - the combat was declared a draw. A dinner was given for 150 guests in the castle, followed by a ball.

The weather for the final day of the tournament was excellent. Crowds gathered once again to watch, albeit with fewer in fancy dress, due to the damage by the rain inflicted on the 28 August; the historian Karen Watts estimates that the numbers were only a few thousand less than the first day.

The procession took place as first planned, followed by jousting. Edward Jerningham suffered an injury, and required medical attention.

which was won by James Fairlie on points, although Eglington was nominated the symbolic victor. A melée was held, during which Henry Waterford and John Alford lost their tempers and had to be separated by the marshal. The knights also competed at riding at the ring and the quintain. Although the day went well, the heavy mud in the Lists continued to cause the knights difficulties.^[63]

The formal ball concluded the day, commencing with a medieval banquet for between 400 and 500 people. The dinner was designed to follow authentic medieval recipes, and was served on gold and silver dishes specially manufactured for the occasion. The ball had 2,000 guests, most in medieval costume, who were entertained by an orchestra and the band of the 2nd Dragoon Guards. The ball lasted until five o'clock in the morning, by when heavy rain had returned, and it was agreed to formally call the tournament to a close.^[64]

• The Banquet and ball
• 
  The Banquet
• 
  The Ball

The Elington Tournament became part of English popular culture. In the immediate aftermath of the tournament, the newspapers focused on the first day and the impact of the rain. The tournament was parodied in a pantomime at Covent Garden that Christmas, and more widely in print.^[65] Eight books were published about the event, including John Richardson's The Eglinton Tournament, featuring lavish illustrations by James Nixon. A wide variety of souvenirs were produced, including "souvenir music-sheets, jigsaws, medals, jugs, plates and scent bottles (with knights' helmets for stoppers)". The event influenced painters, illustrators and photographers over the next decade.

A month later, the town of Irvine held a banquet for Eglinton - they had profited considerably from the influx of visitors. 239 of Eglinton's friends subscribed for the construction of what became known as the Eglinton Trophy. The silver trophy, a Gothic, nearly 5 feet (1.5 m) high design, cost the subscribers a total of £1,775. A BIT ON THE FATE OF ATTENDEES

In February 1840, Samuel Pratt put on an exhibition in London, based on the armour and paraphernalia at the tournament. At the end of the exhibition, he then auctioned off the items, but did not generate the revenue he had hoped for. Overall, however, Pratt had made what the historian Karen Watts describes as "a tidy profit" from the Eglinton event.

A few other tournaments were held after Eglinton's. Astley's Amphitheatre in London used the Eglinton event to promote their own medieval reenactment later that year, which proved a commercial success. Colonel Fane, who had been involved in the dress rehearsals for the Eglinton Tournament, was motivated to hold his own tournament at Wormsley Park, Oxfordshire, in 1840; the event was considered a success. The tournament inspired a successor event at Earls' Court, London, in July 1912.^[66]

In 1989, the Eglinton Country Park organised a re-enactment to mark the 150th anniversary of the tournament, which ran over three days. James Nixons' watercolours of the event, and the wooden shields that decorated the knights' tents at the tournament, were purchased for £85,100 and £7,000 by the East Ayrshire Council in XXXX, and were placed on display at Dean Castle.^[67] The Dick Institute Museum and Library held an exhibition about the tournament in 2011, including the Eglinton Trophy which was lent by Cunnninghame House for the event.^[68]

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