It may be well imagined, that among
a people that have been always punctilious about genealogy, such a
person, who had a general acquaintance with all the flaws and specks
in the shields of the proud, the pretending, and the nouveaux riches,
must have had the same scope for amusement as a monkey in a china
shop.
Note VI. p. 98.--MRS. ANNE TURNER
Mrs. Anne Turner was a dame somewhat of the occupation of Mrs.
Suddlechop in the text; that is, half milliner half procuress, and
secret agent in all manner of proceedings. She was a trafficker in the
poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury, for which so many subordinate agents
lost their lives, while, to the great scandal of justice, the Earl of
Somerset and his Countess were suffered to escape, upon a threat of
Somerset to make public some secret which nearly affected his master,
King James. Mrs. Turner introduced into England a French custom of
using yellow starch in getting up bands and cuffs, and, by Lord Coke's
orders, she appeared in that fashion at the place of execution. She
was the widow of a physician, and had been eminently beautiful, as
appears from the description of her in the poem called Overbury's
Vision. There was produced in court a parcel of dolls or puppets
belonging to this lady, some naked, some dressed, and which she used
for exhibiting fashions upon. But, greatly to the horror of the
spectators, who accounted these figures to be magical devices, there
was, on their being shown, "heard a crack from the scaffold, which
caused great fear, tumult, and confusion, among the spectators and
throughout the hall, every one fearing hurt, as if the devil had been
present, and grown angry to have his workmanship showed to such as
were not his own scholars.
Pages:
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736