And Bells On Her Toes

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
She shall have music wherever she goes.

A lovely morning shopping in Banbury this morning, and some blipping too. This is a statue of the lady in the well known rhyme believed to be Queen Elizabeth I of England, who travelled to Banbury to see a huge stone cross which had just been erected. The 'rings on her fingers' relates to her fine jewellery and the 'bells on her toes' refer to the fashion of attaching bells to the end of the pointed toes of each shoe. Banbury was situated at the top of a steep hill and in order to help carriages up the steep incline a white cock horse (a large stallion) was made available by the town's council to help with this task. The story goes that when the Queen's carriage attempted to go up the hill a wheel broke and the Queen chose to mount the cock horse and ride to the Banbury cross. The people of the town had decorated the cock horse with ribbons and bells and provided minstrels to accompany her - "she shall have music wherever she goes.

I am not convinced this statue really reflects this story as she is semi naked, and doesn't quite have the demeanor fit for a Queen. The rest of the statue can be seen here.