Note 735 — THE PREFACE (continued 3)

Randolph in his letter to Cecil, 7th December 1561, furnishes a remarkable instance of profanity at this time. Referring to the Marquis d' Elbeuf, he says, "We fell in talk of the pastimes that were the Sunday before, where the Lord Robert, the Lord John, and others rang at the ring, six against six, disguised and apparelled, the one half like women, the other like strangers, in strange masking garments. The Marquis that day did very well; but the women, whose part the Lord Robert did sustain, won the ring. The Queen herself beheld it, and as many others as listed."