A very large number of tombs stood in the cathedral, including many of former bishops, and we were surprised to find them in such good condition, for they did not appear to have suffered materially in the Civil War.  The very oldest were those that had been removed from Old Sarum, but the finest tomb was that of Bishop Giles de Bridport, the Bishop when the new cathedral was completed and consecrated.  He died in 1262, and eight carvings on the stone spandrel above him represented the same number of scenes in his career, beginning with his birth and ending with the ascent of his soul into heaven.  The figure of a boy in full episcopal robes, found under the seating of the choir in 1680, and named the “Boy Bishop,” was an object of special interest, but whether it was a miniature of one of the bishops or intended to represent a “choral bishop,” formerly elected annually by the choir, was unknown.

There were also tombs and effigies to the first and second Earls of Salisbury, the first, who died in 1226, being the son of Henry II and Fair Rosamond, of whom we had heard at Woodstock.  He was represented in chain armour, on which some of the beautiful ornaments in gold and colour still remained.  His son, the second Earl, who went twice to the Holy Land as a Crusader under St. Louis, was also represented in chain armour and cross-legged.

Near this was the tomb of Sir John Cheney, a man of extraordinary size and strength, his thigh-bone measuring 21 inches, whose great armour we had seen in Sir Walter Scott’s house at Abbotsford.  He was bodyguard to Henry of Richmond at the Battle of Bosworth Field, near which we passed at Atherstone.  Sir William Brandon was Richmond’s standard-bearer, and was cut down by King Richard himself, who tore his standard from him and, flinging it aside, rode at Sir John Cheney and hurled him from his horse just before he met his own fate.

[Illustration:  SALISBURY CATHEDRAL.  “The fine Cathedral, with its magnificent Decorated spire, the highest and finest in England—­perhaps the finest in Europe, for it is forty feet higher than the Dome of St. Paul’s in London.”]

There are a large number of pillars and windows in Salisbury Cathedral, but as we had no time to stay and count them, we accepted the numbers given by the local poet as being correct, when he wrote: 

  As many days as in one year there be,
  So many windows in this Church we see;
  As many marble pillars here appear
  As there are hours throughout the fleeting year; (8760)
  As many gates as moons one year does view. 
  Strange tale to tell; yet not more strange than true.