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.
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