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The
Eglinton Tournament: Dedicated to the Earl of Eglinton
Hodgson & Graves, Pall Mall, England: 1840 (book) & November, 30, 1839 (prints)
Moyes and Barclay, Castle Street, Leicester Square, London (text printers)
Day & Haghe, London (print lithographer)
The
events of the medieval style jousting tournament celebrating the great age of
chivalry at Eglinton Castle on August 30, 1839 are described and depicted in a
series of eight lithographs. According to Ian Anstruther, author of The
Knight and the Umbrella. An Account of the Eglinton Tournament - 1839
(London: Geoffrey Bles, 1963), it was held by the Earl of Eglinton in protest of
the disappearance of traditional ceremony. The Earl's stepfather, who had lost
his job with the ascension of the Whig party, encouraged the Earl to hold the
tournament at Ayrshire, his Gothic style country house. The "Queen of Beauty"
oversaw the tournament, the jousters dressed as knights in armor, a jester in
costume entertained, and the attendees dressed in elaborate period clothing. The
Earl assumed huge costs to hold the tournament, including the construction of a
Grand Pavilion and spectator stands and a banquet and ball following the
tournament.
The images show a view of the tournament grounds, jousting, the arrival of the
queen, the ball, and other occurrences. The prints are bound as a book, preceded
by a four-page account of the tournament.
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