THE BLACK PRINCE'S RUBY. 163
was
the Black Prince's Ruby for which the envoy begged, but the poor Queen
of Scots was fated never to get either the jewel or the earl.
This
ruby was pierced at the top with a small hole to enable it to be worn
suspended from the neck, a frequent occurrence with oriental gems which
are worn without setting. The hole is now filled up by a small ruby,
but this fact proves it to have been among the jewels with which James
I. adorned his state-crown. The Earl of Dorset made a careful inventory
of the royal treasures, which is signed by the King himself. The
description of the imperial crown, after reciting a bewildering number
of diamonds, pearls, rubies and sapphires, winds up thus: "and uppon
the topp a very greate ballace perced." This is manifestly the ruby in
whose fate we are concerned.
Charles
i. seems to have used his father's crown at his own coronation in 1626,
a ceremony which was marked by two incidents afterwards found to have
been ominous. There
