_Was Queen Elizabeth dark or fair?_--In Vol. iii., p. 432. of "N. & Q."
there is a quotation from the _Gentleman's Magazine_, 1791, in which
Queen Elizabeth is mentioned as of a "_swarthy_ complexion." I had
always thought of her as fair. Miss Strickland speaks of her "_fair_
complexion," and cites De Maurier, who writes of her "_white_ hands:" in
addition to which, does not her "light auburn hair" betoken a light
complexion? In one of your late numbers a madrigal is given wherein she
is sung as "_fair_ Oriana." This, however, may be no allusion to colour
of complexion, but merely the poetic use of the word as synonymous with
beautiful. How does the fact stand?