of the civil war, for in 1643 the Chamberlains paid 2S. 8d. "for timber and workmanshipp about the chimney at Gainsborow beinge burnt down by the soldiers."
In 1697 the peace of Ryswick was celebrated at Leicester by a bonfire made in the Marketplace near the Gainsborough, and a hogshead of ale was ordered for the people at the public expense. Again, when the news of the Duke of Marlborough's victories in 1704 reached Leicester, the Corporation ordered such a collation and treat to be made at the Gainsborough as Mr. Mayor should think fit, the charges to be paid by the Chamberlains. Bonfires and feastings and public ale drinking followed each success. After the victories in Brabant in 1706 a great public entertainment took place at the Gainsborough. In the previous year the room had been redecorated, and the Queen's arms and other coats there freshly drawn, to which were then added the Earl of Denbigh's. Indeed, the Gainsborough was largely given up to civic festivals. The coronation of George the First was observed with great rejoicing, and "so much ale and wine at night at the Gainsborough as Mr. Mayor should think fit, with bonfires and other demonstrations suitable to the occasion." A similar entertainment — with the addition of tobacco — was provided at the Gainsborough on the proclamation of Peace with Spain, and in the following year the coronation of George the Second was celebrated with equal fervour.
The last of these jubilations took place in 1747, when the naval victories of Anson and Warren were recognised in the usual manner. At the beginning of the following year the Corporation ordered that the Gainsborough and adjoining buildings should be taken down. They were at that time, as Nichols said, "miserably inconvenient." It was resolved, therefore, that "Humphrey Whorstall's house, Coker's kitchen, the Guardhouse and the Piazza, be all pulled down, and a new Gainsborough built on or near as conveniently may be to the place where those buildings stand, according to the plan delivered in by Mr. Mayor at the last Hall ; and that the shambles and shops in the Saturday Market be likewise pulled down and a
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