_The peacock crown with all its eyes_.--p. 57. l.17.
According to Menestria and St. Palaye, the troubadours, or poets of
Provence, were adorned by the ladies with crowns, interwoven with
peacock's feathers; (the eyes of which expressed the universal attention
they attracted)--a plumage in great request, and equivalent to the
laurel of the academic bards. Differing, perhaps, little in intrinsic
value, but superior in beauty and permanence, and more consonant with
the decorations of chivalry. They were not restricted to the
troubadours; for such a diadem, ornamented with gold, was sent by Pope
Urban III. to Henry II. wherewith one of his sons was crowned King of
Ireland; as mentioned by Selden, under the title Lord, and by Lord
Lyttleton, under the year MCLXXXVI. _A Summary Review of Heraldry, by
Thomas Brydson, F.A.S. Edinburgh_.