When the wonderful timber-house at Shrewsbury, which was slept in by the Duke of Richmond - afterwards Henry VII. - on his way to encounter the tyrant Richard, was undergoing renovation some few years ago, a very beautiful oak-traceried window of fifteenth-century work was discovered embedded in the plaster. I am imformed that this was scarcely opened out before an enterprising Yankee offered the sum of £250 for the right to transport the window across the Atlantic. To the eternal honour of those to whom the offer was made, it was refused, and the window happily remains.

* Lysons, Dugdale, and Tanner alike show a paucity of information regarding this establishment. The gossiping Hone, in his Yearbook (1832), mentions the same tradition concerning the table, but is humorously credulous concerning it.

OCTAGONAL FLAP-TABLE, TEMP. CHARLES I.

A recent correspondence carried on in the London press shows that £150 was offered for an old oak table at the cottage, at Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks, in which the poet Milton sought refuge from the Plague in 1665. In this case also the offer was refused. But an even worse fate may befall articles of antique furniture than to be gathered in by a class of small enterprising collectors. A few years ago there could be seen outside the Railway Hotel at Broxbourne a large pillar-legged Jacobean table of good proportions absolutely rotting with decay, and with its base sunk in the mud. Groups of yokels kicked their feet and carved their names upon this ill-used relic, which might have been rescued years ago, but which, when I saw it, was too far gone to be of any value.

The melon-legged table with independent top has already been spoken of. A seventeenth-century variety of table, which may have originally been suggested by this form of construction, exists in many of our old collegiate establishments. Like those of the afore-mentioned type, the legs, instead of being placed at the corners, occupy a central position down the length of the table, though in the latter Jacobean examples the legs are fixed to the top, which is not removable. The so-called 'Wycliffe' table in Lutterworth Church, which is really a production of the Elizabethan period, and possesses no connection with the great reformer, is a specimen of the type in question. It exhibits a broad band of jewel-moulding round its edge, and the principal legs - i.e., those at the ends - are boldly carved in imitation of supporting lions. A finely-designed table appertaining to this type is in the possession of Mr. Walter Withall, of 18, Bedford Row, W.C., and of this we are able to give an illustration. It is of slightly later date than the Lutterworth table, belonging, probably, to the reign of James I. At each end are three supporting pillars, the central ones being more massive than the others.

Mr. Withall's table has no jewel-moulding, but it possesses a pendant at each corner, while a simple arcade of four arches runs underneath the centre. A massive tread-bar extends all the way round the base of the table. It should be remarked that both this and the Lutterworth table have the extending leaves, which are supported by runners drawn out of the side. The object represented measures some 65 inches in length, but, with the aid of the leaves, it is capable of being extended to over 10 feet. In evidence of pedigree, it may be worth while remarking that Mr. Withall's table came originally from the Abbey Farm, Hungerford. Some good late examples of tables and forms supported by central legs may be seen in the halls of Wadham and Jesus Colleges, Oxford.

JACOBEAN TABLE WITH EXTENDING TOP.

In the possession of Walter Withall, Esq., 18, Bedford Row, W.C. Height, 33 in.; width, 32 1/2; in; length, 65 1/2 in.

A totally distinct type in itself is the gate table. This form of table is always oval in shape, the top consisting of three pieces, two of which are in the form of flaps, which may be raised or lowered by the movement of the gate-like legs, from which the type takes its name. The shapes of the legs are various. They may be pillars, spiral twists, and even the ungraceful series of connected balls, which have been described elsewhere. They are sometimes, but rarely, ornamented by a very pretty little foot, which juts out in quite a saucy manner, giving the piece a most delightful character. Gate tables are not at all rare; they may be found in numbers in old-world dwellings of every class, and there is scarcely a dealer in the kingdom who does not keep them in stock. Now and then, however, rare varieties of this type may be found, which are greatly to be prized. Some years ago, when I was engaged with friends on a sketching expedition in an out-of-the-way corner of one of the Home Counties, chance led us towards a semi-ruinous stone dwelling which lay in one of the most lovely and secluded spots imaginable. A quaintly-worded legend over the door indicated that ginger-beer and milk could be obtained within.

In the dark apartment of this abode we found an aged couple - an old man well over ninety years sitting in the picturesque chimney corner, while his daughter, an active woman of some seventy summers, was busy heaping sticks upon the open fireplace. Inside that humble dwelling were some of the most exquisite pieces of oak furniture that it has ever been my lot to see. Amongst other things was a superb gate table with bulb legs, an absolutely unique piece of its kind. The clinging of an aged and poverty-stricken couple such as these to the household gods, which they informed me had been in their family for over 200 years, exhibits an example of self-sacrificing pride and reverence that would be hard to match.

The history of antique oak tables is almost brought to a conclusion with the more ordinary specimens of the gate type. A less usual form of gate table is that in which the top consists of one piece, which the gate legs, revolving on a central leg or pivot, allow to fall quite flat on to the substructure, the whole then being capable of being stored in any small, confined space. Gate tables may have existed in Cromwellian times, or even a trifle earlier, but, probably, nearly all those which we now see belong to no date prior to the reign of Charles II., while the majority of them may be even later.

With regard to forms of this late period, an extensive variety may be seen in the halls of the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge. These have usually but four legs, the two at each end being connected by a short bar, a long, single rail running longitudinally from the centre of one short bar to the centre of the other. Some of these forms are of immense length, several of those, for instance, in the church of All Hallows, Barking, being over 12 feet long; these, however, have two central legs, making six in all. Instances are to be found in which these forms are supported by a whole series of legs, front and back, and with the deep stretchers above them cut up into arches, to which the legs act as pillars. In the last-mentioned example, which is a scarce type, the foot-rail necessarily extends all round.

A TEN-LEGGED FORM, MIDDLE OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

Amongst curiosities in the way of tables, the billiard-table at Knole House deserves special notice, as it is of great age, being attributed to the reign of James I., and said to be the first made in England. It is not certain if this interesting piece is of quite so early a date as that usually assigned to it, but it may belong to the latter half of the seventeenth century. The game of billiards was played in those days with balls which were propelled by an appliance somewhat resembling a glorified shoe-horn. Hoops were also set up towards the centre of the board, from which we gather that the game must have presented some similarity to the modern table-croquet. The 'bed' of the Knole table is of wood, which must have rendered accurate play difficult, owing to the tendency of the material to warp. An illustration of the old method of playing billiards can be seen in a book entitled 'The School of Recreation,' published in 1710, though the costumes of those taking part in the game date from some fifty or sixty years earlier.