i;i I fM j / « FAMOVS HOMES OF GREAT BRITAIN AND TMEIfV ST0I\1ES EDITED BY A. H.' MALAN f «\ ^ % BELVOIR CASTLE BATTLE ABBEY CHARLECOTE PENSHURST BLENHEIM WARWICK CAWDOR CASTLE HOLLAND HOUSE CHATSWORTH HARDWICK ALNWICK LYME ILLUSTRATED G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, New York THE PALL MALL MAGAZINE, London MDCCCC 5SS MX^ fcJ'^ m\ TWO COPIES RECEIVED Library of Cn^ OffJce of the NOV? 7 ^^nn "'«"**' Of eepyrlghf* Copyright, 1899 - ^ G.J'^PUTNAM'S SONS 48532 SECOND COPY, ? Ube finlcfiei'bocfier ipcess, mew Jj^orli PREFACE It so materially adds to the pleasure of going over some stately Residence, to know something about its history and contents beforehand (thereby saving one the humiliating after- thought of having overlooked the more interesting details through pure ignorance), that no apology is needed for the pub- lication of the present work. For if the reader happens to have been inside a good many British Castles and Halls, it will surely have been noticed that the retainers, told off to show the people round, occasionally — from force of circumstances — lamentably fail as efficient cice- rones ; partly through too facile credence of inaccurate local hand-books, and partly through absorption of contradictory scraps of history, bewilderingly fired at them by random visit- ors who have assumed quite an air of authority in reference to the objects shown. The best sources of information on Historic Houses are County Histories, Papers in the various Antiquarian and Field- Club Societies' Transactions, and Private Family Memoirs. But these are not easily accessible ; and, supposing that they have been got at, such a mass of printed matter — much of it of the dullest description — has to be waded through, before any intelli- gent grasp of a family's history can be gained, that few ever make the attempt. The articles that follow have not been compiled without painstaking consultation of such records. In all cases they are based upon material to a large extent beyond the reach of the iv ipretace average guide-book scribe ; whether they have emanated from the pens of members of the Houses described, or have been supervised and supplemented by an owner or some erudite relative. Naturally, there will be found a difference in style and point of view ; also, more or less of that detachment which may be of service in handling a subject, as against over-famil- iarity with the theme. Blenheim, e. g., largely treats of its associations with the great Duke, as befits the gift of a nation to a man it delighted to honour. Charlecote evolves its story a good deal from its pictures. Warwick Castle shows the descriptive ability of the Chatelaine of that splendid strong- hold. Battle Abbey inevitably has a Norman and monastic flavour. But differ as they may in treatment, the writers have been at one in endeavouring to make their contributions bright, though historical, and sufficiently diversified in points touched upon to suit the palate of the general reader. For, though those beauti- ful Homes invite and merit exclusive attention to their leading features, whether in the way of Architecture, Tapestry, Sculp- ture, Armour, old Paintings, Carved Wood, or Landscape Gar- dening, the general reader is apt to fight very shy of a technical treatise, however seductive the subject, or noteworthy the examples. My thanks are due to those authors who have kindly re- vised their respective papers since their first appearance in the pages of the Pall Mall Maga:(ine; and, whatever faults there may be in the volume, as a whole, it will be found, it is hoped, at least free from the more flagrant defects of pedantry, twaddle, and gush. A. H. Malan. The Sanctuary, Altarnon, Cornwall, June, i8pp CONTENTS Belvoir Castle A. H. Malan i Situated near Grantham in Lincolnshire, and is the seat of the Dukes of Rutland. It was built by Robert de Todenci, a Norman, and originally belonged to Lord Ros. On the death of Edward, Lord Ros, on the 13th of October, 1508, it passed to his sister, Eleanor, who was married to Sir Robert Manners, one of the ancestors of the present Duke of Rutland. The house was rebuilt in 1555 by Henry Manners, the second Earl of Rutland. As regards the Rut- land family, it may be mentioned that Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward Manners, the third Earl, married the great Lord Burleigh. Katherine, the daughter of Francis, the sixth Earl, married the first Duke of Buckingham, who was assassinated by Felton. The second title of the Dukes of Rutland, "The Marquis of Granby," is im- mortalised by Dickens. Blenheim .... The Duke of Marlborough 33 Situated at Woodstock in Oxfordshire, and is the home of the Dukes of Marlborough. The history of the first Duke is the history of Eng- land during the latter part of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries. The manor of Woodstock was granted to him by Queen Anne, at the desire of Parliament, in recognition of the victory of Blenheim, and, by the Queen's orders, the mansion itself was erected. Blenheim is the most splendid residence in the world owned by a private individual, and there are not many royal palaces in Europe which can vie with it in magnificence. Hard wick Hall A. H. Malan 77 One of the seats of the Dukes of Devonshire. Situated in Derby- shire about eight or ten miles south-east of Chesterfield, near the border of Nottinghamshire. It is a beautiful example of a stately, late Tudor home, and contains countless treasures of the past. VI Contents Charlecote Richard Davey 109 The home of the Lucys. Situated in Warwickshire, near Stratford- upon-Avon, in the heart of Shakespeare's country. A tradition exists among the Lucy family, handed down from generation to generation, that Shakespeare was prosecuted by Sir Thomas Lucy, in 1592, for stealing buck out of his park at Charlecote. Holland House . . . The Hon. Caroline Roche 137 Situated at Kensington, in the West End of London, and is the town residence of the Earls of Ilchester. An absolutely unique house. A beautiful Elizabethan building, standing amidst lovely gardens and woods, almost in the heart of the greatest city in the world, a treasure house of works of art ; during a hundred years the resort of all the great literary men England produced, Holland House remains an ideal city home without rival. Cawdor Castle Viscount Emlyn 167 Situated in the County of Nairn, Scotland. It is the seat of the Earls of Cawdor. " All hail, Macbeth ! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor ! " A most interesting old Scottish fortress-dwelling in the midst of lovely scenery and full of historic interest. Battle Abbey . . . The Duchess of Cleveland 197 Situated at Battle in Sussex. It is the home of the Dukes of Cleve- land. The mansion is built in the grounds of the Benedictine Abbey, which was founded by William the Conqueror after the battle of Hastings. The site of the battle of Hastings is immediately below the windows of the Abbey. The Duchess of Cleveland, who has contributed the article, is the mother of the Earl of Rosebery. Chatsworth A. H. Malan 231 Situated in Derbyshire, and is one of the seats of the Duke of Devon- shire. The building of Chatsworth was commenced in the reign of Queen Mary by Sir William Cavendish, who was the husband of the famous Bess of Hardwick. A huge, stately palace, with cele- brated gardens, designed by Sir Joseph Paxton. Contents Vll PAGE Lyme The Dowager Lady Newton 263 Situated in the County of Cheshire. A stately Palladian house in an immense parl<, and the home of the Leghs of Lyme, a family who can trace unbroken descent for a thousand years. Mr. Legh of Lyme is now Lord Newton. Penshurst .... Lady de L'Isle and Dudley 295 Situated near Tunbridge in Kent. It is the home of the Barons de L'Isle and Dudley, to which family belonged the famous Sir Philip Sidney, the celebrated Algernon Sidney, and Dorothy, Countess of Sunderland, the "Sacharissa" of Waller. Penshurst is one of the most beautiful old houses imaginable, and a perfect example of an English feudal dwelling. Warwick Castle . . The Countess of Warwick 327 Situated in the County of Warwick, and is the home of the Earls of Warwick. Warwick Castle is one of the great historic houses of the world, and is a veritable treasure-house of precious things. Parts of the castle are of almost unknown antiquity. Alnwick Castle' A. H. Malan 367 Situated in Northumberland, and is the home of the Percys, Dukes of Northumberland. The Barony of Alnwick was purchased by Henry de Percy in 1309 from the then Bishop of Durham. The famous Hotspur was a son of the fourth Earl Percy of Alnwick (see Chevy Chace). A grand example of a feudal castle. ' Copyright 1899 by William Waldorf Astor. ILLUSTRATIONS Alnwick Castle, South Front Frontispiece Belvoir Castle From Photographs by A. H. Ma Ian Regent's Tower and Bastion . . The Castle from the " Duke's Walk " . The Marquis of Granby and his Sister . From the Painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds Belvoir Castle from the Lower Lake In the Mausoleum Great Silver Punch-Bowl The Guard-Room . King Henry Vlll. . From the Painting by Holbein The Picture Gallery Crowning of St. Catharine . From the Painting by Rubens The " Beautiful " Duchess of Rutland . After Sir Joshua Reynolds A Corner of the Elizabeth Saloon . Three Miniatures of the " Beautiful " Duchess Old Tapestry from Haddon . The Grand Corridor The Library .... A Corner of the Duke's Garden The Spring Garden 3 4 5 7 8 9 II 12 15 17 19 20 21 23 25 27 ir X miustratlons South-west Front of the Castle . . . . . Bottesford Church, near Belvoir Monument to the Sixth Earl of Rutland and his Family, in Bottesford Church PAGE 28 31 Blenheim and its Memories Blenheim Palace 35 Rosamond's Well, Woodstock 37 Angle Tower 40 The High Lodge, Woodstock .41 Sir John Vanbrugh 43 From the Painting by Kneller The Saloon 45 Sarah Jennings, Duchess of Marlborough .... 47 From the Painting by Kneller The Battle of Oudenard 49 From the Blenheim Tapestry Facsimile of a Letter written on the Day of the Battle of Mal- plaquet by the Duke to the Duchess of Marlborough . 5 1 John, Duke of Marlborough =52 From the Painting by Kneller The Entrance Hall 53 The Great Library 57 John, Duke of Marlborough 60 From a Print Sword of Honour presented to John, Duke of Marlborough, and Queen's Flag for 1894 61 Statue of Queen Anne in the Great Library .... 63 Facsimile Letters of Mr. Pope to the Duchess of Marlborough, 65, 68 Bust of John, Duke of Marlborough 69 Blenheim Palace, South Front 72 Tomb of John, Duke of Marlborough, in Blenheim Chapel . 73 and ''Spanish IfllustratioriB xi Hard wick From Photographs by A. H. Malan PAGE Hardwick Hall, showing Initials on Parapet Ruins of Old Hardwick Hall . Entrance Hall Tapestry representing the " Prodigal Son Wedding" . . . Chimneypiece in Dining-Room . . . Doll's Tea Service ; and Grand Falconer's Badge in Oak The Drawing-Room, showing Arms of the Countess of Shrewsbury "Judgment of Solomon " " Sacrifice of Isaac " Mary, Queen of Scots Portion of Bed-Curtains worked by Mary, Queen of Scots . View of the Long Gallery View of the Long Gallery The "Queen's" End of the Long Gallery, with Portrait of Queen Elizabeth The Presence Chamber, showing Arms of Queen Elizabeth over the Fireplace . . . between pages loo and loi The " Duke's " End of the Long Gallery, with Portrait of First 79 8i 8} 85 86 86 87 89 90 91 93 95 97 99 Duke in Centre and " The Library . Arabella Stuart as a Child The Green Room . Arabella Stuart, xt. \^ . Beautiful " Duchess on the Left lOI 10} 104 105 107 Charlecote Charlecote from the River Avon The Hall .... 113 115 xu ■flllustratlone The Entrance Gate, said to have been designed by John of Padua 117 Tomb of Sir Thomas and Lady Lucy, in Charlecote Church . 119 The Garden Front 121 The Drawing-Room 123 Entrance to Gardens . . 125 In the Gardens 127 Charlecote Church 129 The Library 131 Charlecote from the Front 133 Holland House Holland House, South Side 139 Holland House, North Front , .141 Holland House, from the North-west 143 In the Gardens 145 The Sir Joshua Reynolds Room 147 The Breakfast Room 149 Addison's Room, so called because Joseph Addison died in this Room isi The Library . . . 153 The West Front, from the Dutch Garden . . . .154 The Gilt Room 155 Lady Ilchester's Sitting-Room, containing Relics of Napoleon, 1 57 Elizabeth Vassall, Lady Holland . . . . . .158 From the Painting by G. Fagan Elizabeth Vassall, Lady Holland 1^9 From the Painting by Gaujfrier, A.D. 7795 Lady Sarah Lenox, Charles James Fox, and Lady Susan Strangeways . . . 160 Painted at Holland House by Sir Joshua Reynolds The Green Lane 161 Louis Philippe's Walk, in the Gardens 163 miustratione Xlll Cawdor Castle Cawdor Castle 169 Fro7n a Drawing by R. IV. Billings Facsimileof Charter granted by King Alexander II., A. D. 1236, 171 From the "Booh of Caivdor " The Dungeon, showing Hawthorn Tree and Treasure Chest, 173 From a Photograph by Valentine, Dundee The Drawbridge 175 From a Photograph by Valentine, Dundee King Duncan's Room 177 From a Photograph by Valentine, Dundee Ancient Handbell, formerly in the Chapel . . . .178 Chimneypiece in the Dining-Room 179 From a Photograph by Valentine, Dundee The Dining-Room 181 From a Photograph by Valentine, Dundee Lady Henrietta's Needle, in Achniem Burn, Cawdor Woods, 183 From a Photograph by Valentine, Dundee At the Hermitage 185 From a Photograph by Valentine, Dundee Drynachan 187 Cawdor Castle, from the Burn . . . . . .189 From a Photograph by Wilson, Aberdeen Gateway from the Middle to the Lower Court . . .190 The Drawing-Room 191 From a Photograph by Wilson, Aberdeen Curiously Carved Chimneypiece in the Blue Room . .193 Cawdor, from the Garden .194 Battle Abbey The Gateway 199 The Entrance to Battle Abbey, showing Roof of Great Hall . 201 Garden Front, showing Remains of the Cloisters . . .213 XIV miustratione The Drawing-Room . 219 The Crypt 223 Chatsworth From Photographs by A. H. Ma Ian Chatsworth, from the Park 233 Mary's Bower 235 The Oak Parlour 237 Entrance Gateway 239 Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and Child (Lady Carlisle), 241 After Sir Joshua Reynolds The Chapel 243 Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire 245 Lady Elizabeth Foster 246 Carved Chimneypiece, State Dining-Room . 247 A Ceiling in One of the State Rooms . 249 " Rending the Tomb " 250 Portrait of First Duke of Devonshire 251 Lord Pembroke and Sister 254 After Van Dyck Beer Butts in the Cellar 255 Wellington Rock 256 Views of the Temple Cascade . . . . 257 , 259 Chatsworth, West Front , , 261 Lyme From Original Drawings by the Dowager Lady Newton Lyme, North Front 265 The Italian Garden 267 The South Front 269 The Terrace 271 IfUustrationa XV The '' Lantern " 273 The Drawing-Room 275 The Drawing-Room, with the Picture-Panel open, showing the Entrance Hall 277 The Hall, with Picture-Panel open 279 The Stag Parlour 281 The Long Gallery, showing Chimneypiece with the Arms of Queen Elizabeth 285 A Corner of the Saloon . . . . . . . . 287 Gloves of King Charles 1 288 '' Lyme Cage," an Ancient Landmark 289 A Lyme Mastiff 290 After the Painting by J. T. Nettleship In the Court 291 Penshurst and its Memories Penshurst, from the Gardens • 297 The Great Hall, showing Ancient Central Hearth . • 299 Queen Elizabeth's Room . 301 The Picture Gallery ....... . 303 Sir Philip Sidney • 304 After Zucchero A Corner in the China Closet • 305 Old Clock in Dining-Room . 307 Lady Dorothy Sidney-" Sacharissa " .... . 309 After Van Dyck Old Spinet . . . . . . . . 311 The Ballroom • 313 The Vestibule . • 315 The Corridor • 317 The Panel Room, showing Algernon Sidney's Boots . • 319 Sword of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester . ■ 321 xvi miustraUons PAGE " Diana's Bath " .323 Sun-Dial in the Garden 325 In the Gardens 326 Warwick Castle Warwick Castle 329 Guy's Tower 331 Warwick Castle from the River Avon . . • . . -333 The Gateway -335 The Great Hall ,. . -337 A Corner of the Hall 341 ''Guy's Porridge-Pot" 345 Oliver Cromwell's Helmet -347 Queen Elizabeth's Violin 349 Queen Elizabeth's Saddle 351 In the Armoury -353 The Servants' Hall 357 Lady Warwick's Boudoir 359 A Corner in Lady Warwick's Room 363 Alnwick Castle From Photographs hy A. H. Malan The Keep, from Barniside . . . . The Keep Prudhoe Tower, Chapel, etc. The Barbican Draw- Well and Norman Arch in Keep Court The Ravine Tower, from the Battlements The Library The Drawing-Room 369 371 373 375 377 379 381 383 miuatrations XVll The Dining-Room Raffael's " Madonna Del Garofani " Canaletto's View of the East Front of the Castle The Castle, from the '' Dairy Ground " . Garret on Battlements of Keep A View in the " Dairy Ground " . 385 387 389 390 391 393 i Belvoir Castle f REGENT'S TOWER AND BASTION BELVOIR CASTLE BY A. H. MALAN WHETHER considered as a subject in itself, or as a standpoint for surveying the surrounding country, Belvoir eminently deserves its title — Fair View. Should you approach from Grantham, it will not be visible until quite near Woolsthorpe ; but if you alight at Sedgebrook station, it will be seen at once, rising up in the distance beyond some intervening miles of level ground. The Castle is most pictur- esquely perched aloft, standing out clearly defined against the sky, except when a smoky haze, generated it may be amid the works of Nottingham, descends without warning upon it. From the terrace, looking fenwards, about thirty miles towards and be- yond Newark, and also towards Lincoln, are included in the field. As a countryman descriptively remarked: "There's a grarncl Belvoir Castle view from yon hill ; you can see far off and a long way too ! " In fact, when the cresset blazed forth from one of Belvoir's tur- rets at the Diamond Jubilee, if the night were clear, any an- swering signals on the Cathedral were very likely visible, since the towers thereof are plainly seen by daylight. From Norman times, at any rate, Belvoir has been a stronghold, the Con- queror's standard- bearer, Todeni, hav- ing erected a fortress there. After an era of some Albinis, this passed to the De Ros family, by whom it was held until Thomas, Lord Ros, a Lancas- trian, was attainted in 1461, when it was given by Edward IV. to Lord Hastings. Given, but not enjoyed ! For up rose a friend of the late owner, and withstood the intruder. Whereupon Hastings came along with a large force, and "with a bitterness of rage scarcely intelligible, so injured the fabric that the Castle fell to ruin." The lead was ripped off, roofs left to rot, soil be- tween the walls grew elders ; and so ended the original building. Twenty years later, the estate was reconveyed to Edmund, the next Lord Ros, at whose death the barony and estates fell into abeyance among his sisters ; the succession being eventually THE CASTLE FROM THE DUKE'S WALK" Belpoir dastle determined in favour of the eldest sister, who had married Sir Robert Manners of Ethale. Then Thomas, Lord Ros, created Earl of Rutland, 1526, ad- dressed himself to rebuild- ing the Castle, the work being completed, 1555, by his heir, the second Earl ; whose younger brother, by the way, might probably have married Dorothy Ver- non of Haddon without any romantic elopement — if elopement there were — since it was a good enough match on both sides. The new Castle en- joyed a period of unevent- ful history until 1642, when it became the main object of attack of Sir Gervase Lucas and other " malignants," through the then Earl of Rutland attaching himself to the Parliamentary cause. Sir Gervase took it and held it for the King, making raids " with other vile villains and cormorants," as their opponents called them, and being in turn raided himself. Charles 1. slept there, August 5, 1645, and proceeded to Banbury ; but the convoy which conducted him was on its return set upon and routed by General Pointz, who, forthwith besieging the Castle, met with stubborn resistance for four months. At the end of that period, however, a party, of whom the Earl of Rutland was one, was sent down from London to negotiate a surrender ; the knowledge that the besieged had provisions for some months, while the besiegers' mortarpiece had exhausted all her grenades, and no additional shells were forthcoming, as purposed, from Reading, THE MARQUIS OF QRANBY AND HIS SISTER SIR J. REYNOLDS 6 Belvoir (Tastle through "the ways being impassable," prompting an offer of more generous terms than could well be looked for. The offer was accepted ; the garrison marched out, colours flying, drums beating, matches lighted ; to be immediately replaced by some Parliamentary troops. These being ordered, 1648, to quit Bel- voir, the Castle was then restored to its rightful owner ; but the following year the Commons ordered it to be demolished, and that the Earl should receive fifteen hundred pounds by way of compensation, "with which the Earl of Rutland was content." It may have saved him presently taking down weakened walls ; anyhow, he resided at Haddon till 1653, when he rebuilt Belvoir, and added gardens. A model of the building he erected is still to be seen, fashioned in wood, to scale, it represents a plain square two- storeyed block with a central court ; a causeway leading up to the principal entrance, which was set back some distance from the outside walls. Two paintings also of the same building hang in the corridor of the family wing, showing the road winding round the knoll like a corkscrew, and the Belvoir hounds in the fore- ground, apparently in the act of hunting some deer, while the real object of their pursuit is a fox, in the middle distance, flitting between the foliage of the trees like a flushed woodcock. The building of which we speak continued until 1801, when the fifth Duke ^ began replacing it by an edifice on a far grander scale. In 18 16, however, when the work was almost completed, a deplorable fire consumed the north-east and north-west fronts, and was only stayed from further ravages by a doorway in the centre of the long gallery being hastily bricked up. The de- struction of pictures on that occasion was immense : no less than nineteen Sir Joshuas perished, among them being the huge can- vas, twelve feet by eighteen feet, of "The Nativity," painted in ' The tenth Earl was created Duke. 8 Belvoir Castle 1780 as the central piece for the window in New College, and purchased by the Duke of Rutland for twelve hundred guineas. The following year the work was recommenced ; and that piety which led the builder to have inscribed on the central tower, "NISI DOMINVS ^DIFI- CAVERIT DOMVM," etC, will, we may well believe, ever safeguard this castellated pile, even as the same inscription, in English, safe- guarded Smeaton's Eddy- stone lighthouse. Though the need has passed, the idea of a strong- hold has been admirably preserved. Here are can- nons, a present from the Regent, — ultima ratio reg- um, as they attest, — mount- ed upon the bastion, to command the only road ; there is but one entrance to afford admittance, with the exception of a small door, with a porter at hand ; it is impossible to walk round the Castle, unless you get the two towers on the terrace unlocked ; or, if you should enter the subterranean passage from the outworks to the cellars, there you find another cannon at the end, all ready to rake the tunnel. As to the architecture, it is bold, massive, and of most noble pretensions. The north-east and north-west fronts, designed by Sir John Thoroton, were built after the fire : the south-east and IN THE MAUSOLEUM Belvoir Castle GREAT SILVER PUNCH-BOWL south-west fronts, designed by Wyatt, before it. Much of the exterior is in the Norman style ; the Chapel is Perpendicular ; some of the corridors, etc., have details borrowed from Lincoln Cathedral. Passing through the Decorated porch, and passage lined with flint-locks, the Guard-room, then entered, is typical of the general style of the landings and galleries : groined roof, with bosses at intersection of ribs ; pillars studded with ball-flower ; low two-centred arches. Over the fireplace are pictures of James I., Charles 1., Mary II., rescued from the fire at the expense of their frames. Two glazed recesses contain some of the effects of the Marquis of Granby, who distinguished himself in the Seven Years' War at Minden and Kirchdenkern ; afterwards becoming Commander- in-Chief, and lending his title to many an inn, like the one at Dorking, whose hostess old Weller married, in Pickwick. The basement being given up to kitchens, steward's rooms, and the accompanying adjuncts of a large house, we may pass over them, and make for another vaulted chamber at the oppos- ite end. Situated at the foot of the Staunton Tower, and now used as a wine-cellar, this is interesting as being the oldest bit — probably original Norman masonry. There are suggestive hints that the present floor is not the bottom of all things, the ribs ending prematurely, and seeming to pass down farther. The keystone has been a bone of contention among antiquarians ; possibly the visible disc is a later insertion ; the centre letter ap- lo Belvoir Castle pears to be a Longobardic M, but the designs round the border, like fleurs-de-lys, certainly look rather archaic. Returning to the main staircase, and ascending to the Guard- room Gallery, we may make our way, after a look at two old inlaid corselets on the parapet, to the Chapel. It is the height of this and the next storey — say forty feet. It contains "The Holy Family," by Murillo, as the altar-piece ; the Bible, in two vol- umes (dated 1680), on pedestals in niches ; and, displayed against the wall opposite the south-west windows, are three large bright strips of tapestry, (of Mortlake manufacture, from Raphael's car- toons,) curtailed in size, it is said, to fit the space, and arranged in proper sequence according to the suggestions of the Empress Frederick. Here prayers are said daily by the chaplain. Beyond the Chapel is the family wing, opening on to a terrace facing south, and communicating, through the detached corner tower, with another terrace below — a delectable spot this latter, where magnolias and banksias sun themselves against the batter of the rampart. But the view from the upper terrace is very beautifully sylvan. To the right, the eye traverses a long wooded ridge, capped here and there with conifers ; immediately beneath are some royal trees with plenty of room to grow in ; in front, more woodland, sloping down to lakes backed by Black- berry Hill ; to the left, the pleasant village of Woolsthorpe, with its church. Passing back to the Guard-room Gallery, and up to the Earls" Gallery (on the principal storey), where are hung portraits of the eight Earls, and of George Villiers (Felton's victim), who married Catharine, daughter of the sixth Earl of Rutland, let the tlrst room entered be the Picture Gallery. Built for the purpose, with a top light above the coving and frieze, there are happily neither reflections from windows, nor streaks of sunshine, nor other hindrances to reposeful contemplation. After breakfast is II 12 Belvoir Castle the best time to come here ; and if armed with the catalogue, and Mr. Redford's comments — so much to the point — and re- clining in one of the six elaborately carved chairs from the Bor- ghese Palace at Rome, there is every reason why a delightful and most instructive morning should be spent. The place of honour ^.-.a:-^...: . ..-«.,.,..-.., ..^....^ is given to Holbein's ' " - " Henry VIII., very highly finished, and full of richest detail — "the best of all existing full- length portraits of this monarch.'' It is flanked by two Gainsboroughs; and opposite is Sir Joshua's " Marquis of Granby and his Sister," afterwards Lady Eliza- beth Norman. Near the latter is that feast of good things, Teniers' " Proverbs" ; the easi- est of the twenty-four proverbs to be deciph- ered being the follow- ing : "Much Cry and Little Wool" — a man shearing his pig; "More Ways than One" — a cow having tumbled into a well, instead of pulling her out her owner throws in gravel to raise her; a method of procedure hardly applicable to bogs ! " Labour in Vain " — two women winding tlax in opposite directions from one spindle ; " Those Born to be Hanged will never be Drowned "—a man falls into a river, and his friend consolingly points to the gallows. Opposite the door we entered is a KING HENRY VIII. HOLBEIN THE PICTURE GALLERY BELVOIR CASTLE 13 14 15eIvolr Castle huge canvas, "Crowning of St. Catharine,"" (Rubens) — a richly dressed female, probably the second wife of Rubens, Helena Forman. Then there are the Sacraments, by Poussin, six in number, secured by Sir Joshua for Belvoir, to the annoyance of the authori- ties at Rome ; several let- ters from Sir Joshua being extant relating to this ac- quisition, which cost three thousand pounds. The "Baptism of Christ' was a gift of George the Fourth to the fourth Duke. The m/55/'//^ sacrament is " Pen- ance." Space forbids men- tion of more pictures; all are gems, there is absolutely no rubbish ; and the light is so exactly what it should be that there is no difficulty with the camera — a rather unusual experience. Let us proceed next to the Dining-room. Besides large portraits of the Marquis of Granby, and the fourth Duke in Lord- Lieutenant robes (both by Sir Joshua), and tall semicircular- headed recesses filled with plate-glass, and extending from ceiling to sideboard, there is a table apparently covered with a white cloth, fresh from the press, the folds scarcely smoothed out. You would hardly guess, unless you touched it, that the table- top is of solid marble, so truthfully has it been carved by M. Wyatt. It sometimes supports a silver punch-bowl, chased, "oval-impaled," peacock-handled, dated ibSi — a truly extensive piece of plate, weighing 1979 oz. 10 dwt. But, just as Holbein's CROWNING OF ST. CATHARINE RUBENS Belvoir Castle 15 ** Henry VIII." is not so valuable as the tiny "Birdcage" of Gerard Douw, below it, so the market value of this bowl, capa- ble of holding fifty-two gal- lons, is very far exceeded by that of a small basin (1581) and its attendant vase, seen in another part of the house. Placed here against the wall, between two windows, the punch cistern stands in its own light ; which of course does not at all signify, as arti- ficial light is much more suitable for '' splicing the main-brace." But one can imagine it set (for contrast) on a black oak table, under the beech in the garden, west of the Regent's Tower, at a garden-party. There it would indeed be a strik- ing, beautiful object ; and useful withal, since it might dispense lemonade to the assem- blage, or even refreshing draughts of claret-cup — a beverage scarcely potent enough, surely, to wound even the most sus- ceptible temperance principles. Opposite the Dining-room is the threshold of the Elizabeth Saloon, possessing a Verrio-like ceiling, satin panels on walls, Louis Quatorze decorations, furniture from a chateau of Madame de Maintenon. Here are two pictures (Sanders), hinged on easels, of the fifth Duke, in Coronation robes, and his Duchess ; THE BEAUTIFUL" DUCHESS OF RUTLAND AFTER SIR J. REYNOLDS 1 6 ISelvoir Castle several panels of valuable miniatures, arranged in chronological order by Lady Granby, and recently catalogued by Lady Victoria Manners ; the gold key of the Staunton Tower — an emblem of feudal tenure, by the presentation of which to the Sovereign, when visiting the Castle, Staunton of Staunton ^ holds his lands in the Vale. A sumptuous apartment this, for full-dress parade, after dinner ; the antithesis to it being a plain little room off the Guard-room, much affected by men, not only when the parade is over, but at other times as well. In the den in question the most conspicuous picture is a painting of a rather celebrated specimen of the Belvoir hounds, in the extremely stiff but natural attitude which that particular hound assumed when brought out to be shown off. The description of the celebrity is as follows:— "gambler, by weather-gauge — GRATITUDE. "Measurement in inches: — " Height, 23 full ; length, from extreme end of shoulder to do. of quarter, 27^ ; elbow to ground, 12 ; arm, 8^ ; below knee, ^l ; girth, 31; across quarter, 7; round thigh below stifle, 9^; neck extended, 10; head, ic^." From the Saloon we enter the Grand Corridor, part of which is also the Ball-room ; 'the soft oak floor contrasting very favour- ably with the perilously polished boards of the Picture Gallery, all too redolent of turpentine and beeswax. This corridor is one hundred and twenty feet long, in the spandrils between the bays, at either end of the Ball-room portion, are the arms of Man- ners and Howard, in glass and stone. The couches are draped in golden satin ; and among the array of life-size portraits one of the "Beautiful Duchess" arrests the eye. in all probability Sir Joshua took great pains with this picture, out of compliment ' Staunton Hall is a ciiarniinn; old house, a few miles from Belvoir. A CORNER OF THE ELIZABETH SALOON, BELVOIR CASTLE 17 ■ I Bel voir Castle 19 to his patron ; but the face is not so lovely as one of the same subject in No. 8 panel of the Saloon. The panel must needs be specified, as, amongst the miniatures, there are no less than ten portraits of this Duchess. She was Mary Isabella, daughter THREE MINIATURES OF THE BEAUTIFUL" DUCHESS of the fourth Duke of Beaufort ; and, as wife of the Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland, kept a grand Court at Dublin. There is a quaint water-colour in the Billiard-room, in which she is seen driving in a high-seated cabriolet from Dunleary to Dublin {circa 1785), while the country people fly out of her way before the six white ponies. To save space, we must pass over the Chinese suite, entered from this point, with their japanned door panels of Chinese work, furniture bedecked with silk flowers on a yellow ground, Chinese silk on such walls as are not covered with Chinese paper ; but we must notice, just beyond the Ball-room, a piece of arras from Haddon, with the old shield of England in the centre — a beau- tiful piece of work, colouring subdued and toned down by age. The device looks at the first glance like the Rutland shield, but it has one fleur-de-lys and one lion too many ; the first Earl being permitted to assume part of the Royal arms, owing to his descent from the sister of Edward IV. And this may per- haps account for the local belief that the Royal standard can be flown from the Castle when Royalty is not present ; at 20 :©eIvoir Castle any rate the Rutland chars^e on a flag might easily be mis- taken for the Royal arms, whether there is any truth in the tradition or not. A passage conducts us westward to an ante-room, on the shelves of which are the Chronicles of the Hounds of Bel- voir, duly recorded by the owners, from 1800 to the present ; and this ante -room adjoins the Library. The Library and its smaller neighbour beyond together contain about seven thousand volumes, inclusive of a Brevia- ry, and a Roman mis- sal ; Bocha's Falles of Prvnces in luglvsch, temp. Richard HI.; a vast store of works on Divinity, and some rare editions of the Classics. Over the mantelpiece is a portrait (by Sir Francis Grant) of the fifth, "the good" Duke, the builder of the Castle: and on a window-sill is a reproduction of one of Lady Granby's drawings, making it most desirable that more of her work were displayed, since, besides her well-known genius for portraiture and sculpture, she so evidently had the talent (or is it knack ?) of drawing a pretty face. OLD TAPESTRY, FROM HADDON 21 JL 2 2 3Be!\>oir (Tastle Folding doors admit to tlie small Library, amongst the pic- tures of which is one of Lord Robert Manners, the naval hero, youngest son of the famous Marquis ; a captain under Rodney, and commander of the Resolution in several actions, before that final one, off Dominica, when he was mortally wounded in breaking the French line. Here are to be found those manu- scripts and letters of which a considerable number were dis- covered, stored away in common boxes, in an attic over the stables. That was a grand find. The boxes may have come from Haddon, or have been hurriedly placed here at the tire. When lighted upon, no small share of their contents, ranging from 1440 to 1787, had formed material for rats" nests ; but sufficient remained, when weeded and sorted, to till thirty-six volumes. One of the most noteworthy letters, signed by War- wick, contains a request from the King-maker that Henry Vernon would bring all the men he could to assist him against Edward. But this the owner of Haddon failed to do, on which account his estates were subsequently not confiscated, and are there- fore at present in possession of the Duke of Rutland, as they probably otherwise would not have been. In a glazed case we observe sundry charters, one of which (between 11 89 and 1199), translated, runs thus: "John, Earl of Moreton, to his Justices, SherilTs, bailiffs, minis- ters, and all his faithful people, sends greeting. Know you that 1 have granted and given licence to Richard de Vernon to fortify his mansion of Haddon with a wall raised twelve feet high, without battlements ; and 1 forbid that any one should there- after disturb the said wall. " Warwick. " Witnessed by Robert de Mara at Clipeston. But the place to see charters (and the Todeni seal for the matter 24 Belvoir Caetle of that) is the Muniment-room, where there are some thousands — all in a muddle, till recently arranged by Mr. Carrington. Crossing the Earls' Gallery, we proceed into the Grand Gal- lery, one hundred and thirty-one feet long, eighteen feet wide, but expanding to thirty-six feet in the central bay. It was fitted up for the Regent in 1814, and named after him. It contains eight hangings of Gobelin tapestry, with high-coloured and minutely detailed scenes of the adventures of "Dom Quichotte," surrounded by wide borders of armour, flowers, and fruit ; a series of busts by Nollekins ; portraits, by Hoppner, of the Duke and Duchess — the latter unfinished ; one of Lady Tyrconnel (Reynolds), sister to the fourth Duke, in white satin, — she was divorced by Act of Parliament, and married the same year, 1777, the son of Lord Newark ; the wife of the famous Marquis, and the Duchess of Somerset (both by W. Hogarth) ; the Duchess of Buckingham, wife of George Villiers (Vandyck) ; and some intensely blue old Sevres on the chimneypieces. This being the most imperial room of all, let us content ourselves with its splendour and spaciousness, and omit the Royal rooms, just as we omitted the Wellington suite below. Gaining the entrance once more, and passing out, we shall be but following the course of almost all visitors if we go down into the Duke's Garden. Just now (early May) the beds are ablaze with tulips, aubrietias, and polyanthuses, and the borders fragrant with great patches of double Neapolitan violets, screened from the midday sun by branches overhead. Beyond the narrow plateau on which is this garden the ground falls rapidly, to form a grassy dell that loses itself in the foliage of the opposite hill running down to meet it. "The Duke's Walk" skirts this dell ; and a little way farther on we leave the walk for a few minutes, to turn up and reach the Mausoleum, completely hidden in trees, at the top of the hill. At the altar end of the mortuary chapel 25 26 tSelvolr dastle is a marble effigy of the late Duchess, consort of the fifth Duke, about to ascend to the clouds to meet four expectant children who predeceased her. The effect is more striking through the figures in the apse being lit from above with a golden radiance from coloured glass, as contrasted with the comparative gloom of the rest of the chapel. Gifted in many directions, Belvoir owes much of its interior arrangements to the architectural ability of her Grace ; and besides this, she wrought her family lasting good in the way of planting. To her are due those spreading Portugal laurels and other shrubs, so lavishly distributed through- out the grounds, especially along the drive up from Knipton. The general distribution of sheltering cover makes the at- tachment of the birds to one particular quarter the more sur- prising ; but so it is. While it would be hard to find any corner of the demesne where some blackbirds and thrushes are not performing solos or duets, in the avenue leading from the dairy to the gardens the performances morning and evening are those of massed bands, knowing no interval, — a local predilection which appears contagious ; since the summer (1897) in which this article was written, several nightingales — not common visitors, usually — were said to have turned up in the same avenue as soon as the native songsters were busy with their first broods, and so, for the time, silent. Happily all birds are given a chance for existence. Even owls and hawks are not ruthlessly shot and trapped ; and yet, observe, the game-book shows no diminishing totals from such regard to the claims of the Belvoir avi-fauna. Regaining our path — the family walk after morning service on Sundays — it threads its way between forest trees, and one or two spreading standard yews, such as can be matched 1 know not where, and presently reaches a natural amphitheatre, the Spring Garden. Cedars, oaks, ribbon-bedding, rockwork, camellias, robust bamboos, and hybrid rhododendrons, make a 27 28 3BcIvoir Caatle combination of greenery and landscape gardening pleasant to behold, showing there is shelter from all quarters except the south, and that frosts are never severe. Farther on perhaps you quit the path and descend to Frog Hollow — a peaceful scene of firs, rhododendrons, and ponds, with a backing of Granby woods. Wild duck would now be nest- ing, if the ubiquit- ous foxes allowed them ; as it is, it is here, rather than in the lakes, that the few are accounted tor in winter. Or you may, if you choose, pursue the path, and go on winding around to the opposite side of the ridge, and so back to the starting-place having traversed three miles of admirably engineered walk, on the level, under the shelter of trees the whole way. For not only are the state rooms in the Castle shown on all week-days except Christmas Day and Good Friday, but the grounds and gardens (except the kitchen garden) are throughout open to visitors all the year round. About four miles from the Castle is Bottesford Church, with many a monument from the old Priory whose site was near the Belvoir Inn. The road to Bottesford runs past green tlelds hedged by stake and bound fences, difficult to negotiate on horseback, and over the Grantham Canal — some of the best partridge-driving ground in all the estate. The wide, long chancel of the church proves to be almost filled up with monuments, of which two at least must be alluded SOUTH-WEST FRONT OF CASTLE 29 30 Belpoir dastle to. One of these is a simple little figure of marble, eighteen inches high, in armour and mantle, with shield on left arm ; it has been thought to represent the founder, Todeni, but is more plausibly assigned to the third Albini, who died 1236. The other is an elaborate altar-tomb against the south wall, commemorat- ing Francis, the sixth Earl, his two wives, and three children. The long inscription records the Earl's exploits and brilliant re- ceptions at foreign Courts, and then proceeds: "In 1608 he married the Lady Cecilia Hungerfd ... by whom he had two sonnes, both of which dyed in their infancy by wicked Practise and Sorcerye." The story is to be found set out at length in a pamphlet printed in 16 16, relating "the wonderful discoverie of the witchcrafts of Margaret and Philippa Flower." It appears that Margaret, a servant at the Castle, on being for sufficient reason dismissed, harboured a grudge against her late employers. Her mother, Joan, was "a monstrous malicious woman, full of oathes and curses and imprecations irreligious." Not content with witching cattle (though Philippa plumed her- self on having witched her lover), these three worthies were considered to have cast an evil eye on the Earl's children, Fran- cis and Henry, "because they sickened very strangely and after awhile died." Some thought this was only to be expected, as the Flowers admitted having a cat called Rutterkin ! That the trio were in some way connected with the death of the infants seems beyond doubt ; for after the demise of the woman Joan, who conveniently choked herself, the daughters were brought to trial, and made such confession as justified Sir Henry Hobart in condemning them to death. But they were not arraigned until five years after the crime was committed and two years after the publication of the pamphlet ; which seems to show that trial for witchcraft was not a matter to be taken in hand lightly or unad- visedly, but came well within the sphere of the law's delays. >fvV MONUMENT TO THE SIXTH EARL OF RUTLAND AND HIS FAMILY IN BOTTESFORD CHURCH 31 Blenbeim anb its flBemoties 33 BLENHEIM PALACE (( BLENHEIM AND ITS MEMORIES BY THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH T HERE is perhaps no one thing, which the most Polite part of mankind have more tmiver sally agreed in, than the valine they have ever set upon the Remains of distant Times. Nor amongst the severall kinds of those Antiquitys are there any so m,uch regarded as those of Buildings ; some for their magnificence or curious Workmanship ; and others, as they move more lively and pleasing Reflections (than History without their aid can do) on the Persons who have Inhabited them ; on the remarkable things which have been transacted in them, or the extraordinary occasions of erecting them. As I believe it cannot be doubted, but if Travel- lers many ages hence shall be shewn the very House in which so 35 o 6 Blenbeim anb its flDemories Grt'jt a Man Dwelt, as thcv will then read the Duke of Marl- borough in Story ; and that they shall be told, it was not only his favourite habitation, but was erected for him by the bounty of the Qjieen and with the approbation of the People, as a monument of the Greatest Services and Honours, that any subject had ever done his Country: I believe, tho' they may not find Art enough in the Builder, to make them admire the Beauty of the Fabrick, they will find won- der enough in the Story, to make 'em pleased with the sight of it. "7 hope I may be forgiven, if I make some faint application of what I say of Blenheim, to the small Remain of Ancient IVood- stock manor." With these grandiose words Sir John Vanbrugh, the architect of Blenheim Palace, prefaced his plea that the ancient manor- house of Woodstock might be saved from destruction, for the admiration of posterity. Unfortunately, the Duchess of Marl- borough at once, as we shall see, suspected him of an ulterior motive, and the house was levelled to the ground. But, though not a stone of the building remains to aid the imagination, there still lingers something of the medieval spirit among the oaks and bracken beyond the lake. Here one can at once realise what the royal demesne was : a part of the great forest of Wychwood extending far over the surrounding country, a fastness of royal authority secure against troublesome Constitutionalists, where, regardless of all law but his sovereign pleasure, the King might pursue the chase of the "tall red deer." Still earlier in Saxon times royal favour gave the town of Woodstock a certain im- portance. Ethelred held a witan here, and there is a pleasing tradition (not more improbable, possibly, than that other tra- dition which ascribes the foundation of the neighbouring Uni- versity of Oxford to him) that Alfred wrote his translation of Boethius in the cono^enial solitude of the forest. And then it J ROSAMOND'S WELL, WOODSTOCK 37 b_^ \ Blenbeim anb its fIDemorles 39 was at Woodstock that Henry 11. met fair Rosamond ; there is still a well to mark her bower. Again, serious historians will remember that it was at a council held here that the King and Becket first found themselves in serious disagreement touching the troublesome matter of the collection of Danegeld. In short, the name continually recurs in history, until with changed times the hunting-lodge would no longer contain the Court. Thus Charles 1. preferred to establish himself at Oxford, when he abandoned London to the Parliament. One other personage must not be forgotten. In the High Lodge, as it is called, the notorious Earl of Rochester spent the last years of his life as Ranger of the forest ; and there the worthy Bishop Burnet assisted at his deathbed repentance, to his great edification, as, in all seriousness, he would have the world believe. Not long after- wards the history of the ancient manor comes abruptly to an end. For it was this place, with all its associations of medi- aeval royalty, that the nation chose as the most fitting it could bestow on the General whom it delighted to honour. And now, as one stands on the bridge over the lake, the causeway leads on the one hand to the triumphal monument set in the midst of lines of elms ranged literally in order of battle (for they were planted in exactly the same positions as those occupied by the batallions on the field of Blenheim) ; on the other to the im- posing pile of the Palace itself The very name of the place was changed, to be the more suggestive of the great victory near the village on the Danube ; the railway station, built the other day, unwittingly points the moral, with its double title of "Blenheim and Woodstock." The architecture of the house itself clearly indicates the taste and training of its builder. Vanbrugh shared the enthusiasm of the day for classical work, as understood and developed, whether well or ill, by the Italians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centu- 40 3BIenbeim ant) its fiDemories ries ; but with characteristic disregard of law, he thought to com- bine classical severity with the fancifulness natural in a northerner and a playwright. Thus, while the general scheme of the south front, for instance, is distinctly severe, the massive towers at its ends are surmounted by fantastic masses of open stone-work, most quaintly fin- ished off with arrangements of can- non-balls and coro- nets. Throughout he repeatedly made use of classical mem- bers with strange disregard to their structural intention. Silvester, the French artist employed to make designs for the decoration of the sa- loon, sniffed contemptuously at Vanbrugh's Gothic tendencies. ''Je ne saurois approuver ce double rang de niches ; cela sent la fagade des eglises Gothiques." And then with savage delight he announced his discovery that much of the design was merely an unintelligent imitation of the Palazzo Farnese at Florence. Certainly, in spite of Vanbrugh's attempts to achieve at once dignity and lightness, the probable impression made by the building on the casual observer is, that it is ponderous without being stately, and irregular without being tasteful. But the final ANGLE TOWER 41 42 Blenbeim ant) its flDemories feeling of anyone whose fate it is to study it at leisure will assuredly be one of respect, even of enthusiasm, for the ability of Vanbrugh. It takes time to realise the boldness of the general design and the solidity of the masonry. In many parts there are about as many feet of solid stone as a modern architect would put inches of lath and plaster. The negative qualities of integrity and thoroughness are rare enough in work of the present day, now that the architect has delegated to the contractor the exe- cution of his design. The interior proportions of the rooms are generally admirable, and so perfectly was the work carried out that it is possible to look through the keyholes of ten doors, and see daylight at the end, over three hundred feet off. It is noticeable, further, that the whole was designed by a single man, there being no subsequent additions, as there are, for in- stance, at Chatsworth and Wentworth. Vanbrugh is responsible for good and bad qualities alike. One would imagine a priori that he had everything in his favour — unlimited money and a free hand. Far from this being the case, the stupendous work was accomplished under difficulties greater than any long-suffer- ing architect ever had to contend with. The beginning of the building was most auspicious, in lyo"), the year after Blenheim, Queen Anne, in accordance with an address of the Commons, granted Marlborough the royal estate of which Woodstock was the centre, with moneys to build a suitable house. The nation was anxious to show its gratitude to the General under whom English troops had won their first considerable victory on foreign soil since Agincourt ; the Queen was for doing all in her power for her dear Mrs. Freeman ; Marlborough saw in the scheme a dignified and le- gitimate method of perpetuating his fame ; and so Vanbrugh was commissioned to build a house which should be worthy of all three. The work was at once begun on the existing scale. Blenbelm anb its fIDemoriee 43 Difficulties sprang up when the Duchess began to lose, by her abuse of it, the power which she had always possessed over the Queen ; when, too, it was seen that the architect's estimate bore no sort of relation to the actual cost. Vanbrugh was often in the greatest straits for money, and wrote piteously to the Duchess and the Lord Treasurer Go- dolphin without the slightest effect. Things naturally grew worse when both the Duke and Duchess were dis- missed from all their posts, in 171 1 ; and at last, in 1721, the disputes culminated in a law-suit success- fully brought against the Duke by the workmen for arrears of pay, the defendant's contention being that the Treasury was liable for the whole expense. The Duchess vented her dis- pleasure on the unfortunate architect, whom she never credited with doing anything right. She carefully kept his letters, and made spiteful endorsements on them for the benefit of her counsel at the trial. We have already alluded to the question of the old manor- house, and to the Duchess's refusal to credit Vanbrugh with a disinterested wish for its preservation. Her idea may be seen SIR JOHN VANBRUGH FROM A PICTURE BY KNELLER 44 Blenbeim ant) its flDemories from the following extract from a letter from Vanbrugh to Godolphin. After demanding " ;^6ooo more out of course," he writes : "I much fear the effects of so quick a sentance as has hap- pened to pass upon the remains of the manour ; I have, how- ever, taken a goode deal of it downe ; but before 'tis gone too far, I will desire your Lordship will give yourself the trouble of looking upon a picture I have made of it ; . . . and I hope it won't be possible, that the pains 1 take in this particular shou'd be thought to proceed from a desire of providing myself an agree- able lodging. 1 do assure your Lordship that I have acted in this whole business upon a more generous principle, and am much discouraged to find 1 can be suspected of so poor a con- trivance for so worthless a thing." This is the Duchess's comment : "All that Sir John says in this letter is false ; the manner house has cost near three thousand pound, and was orderd to be pulld down, and the materialls made use of for things that were necessary to be don ; the picture he drew to prevent this was false, my Ld. Treasurer went to blenheim to see the truth, all he had represented of it was false and it was orderd to be pulld down." One very piteous letter is simply endorsed — " Instead of complying with him I stopt the works in 1710 till the crown should decree money for them." Again, Vanbrugh innocently suggested the addition of a greenhouse on the west side, which was not to interfere with the view from the gallery, and would be the most pleasant sit- ting-room in the house— "for that, indeed, is what 1 take it to be, and not a magazine for a parcell of foolish plants." The Duchess did not approve: "This green-house 1 thank God I prevented being built ; nothing I think can be more mad than the proposal nor a falser description of the prospects." 45 46 Blenbeim ant) its flDemories No details of expenditure in wages or materials were too small to engage her attention. Vanbrugh had once to complain that, in consequence of the wet weather, the men refused to to cart stone from the quarry to the palace at the price he was authorised to offer. A device of his, when the Duchess wanted him to omit some detail, was to suggest that she ought not to allow herself to be outdone by Lord Carlisle, who had approved a similar detail in the building of Castle Howard. Again, he reminded the Duke that he had shown a model of the projected plan to the Queen and Prince ; and that, so far from making any exceptions, the Queen entirely approved of it, was partic- ularly pleased with the magnificent part, and expressed a great desire to have it finished soon, and that that ought to have great weight with the Treasury. One thing — a thing which nowadays is hardly noticed — Vanbrugh did which the Duchess was persuaded against herself to approve of. In the two piers of the bridge below the level of the causeway he constructed no less than thirty-three rooms, intended to be a cool retreat in the hot weather. This appealed to the eighteenth century as highly romantic. The Duchess wrote : "Four houses are to be at each corner of the bridge ; but that which makes it so much prettier than London Bridge is that you may sit in six rooms, and look out at window into the high arch, while the coaches are driving over your head." Some of the rooms must now be almost under water, for originally there was only a small stream running through the park. Hence Pope's epigram : " The minnows, as through this vast arch they pass, Cry, ' How like whales we look ! Thanks to Your Grace.' " The making of the lake as well as of the gardens was the work of "Capability" Brown. "They have drowned the epigram," said Dr. Johnson, when he saw the park in 1776. Blenbeim an^ its HDemories 47 While Sarah was perpetually involving herself in quarrels with her architect, the Duke was indirectly furthering the progress of the building by a succession of victories abroad. Without taking an active part, he was yet much interested in the house, always looking forward to the time when he should live there in peace with his wife. When on a campaign he wrote to her nearly every other day, and in almost every let- ter there is a personal touch, showing his ever-present love for her, his keen anxiety to keep her love, and to win her approval of anything he did. The following is characteristic, in the middle of a severe frost he wrote : 'M do from my soull wish there were not one unhappy creatur in the world, for I have no mallice, nor, indeed, any great ambition but that of being at quiet with you." On May 4, 1706: "1 shal make the whole campagne in this coun- try, and consequently not such a one as will please mee ; but, as I infinetly vallu your estime, for without that you can't love me, let me say for myself that there is some merit in doing rather what is good for the publick than in prefering our private satis- faction and interest, for my being here in a condition of doing SARAH JENNINGS, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH FROM A PICTURE BY KNELLER 48 Blenbeim ant) its fIDemories nothing that shal make a noise has made me able to send ten thousand men to Italie/' Again, after Ramillies : "I own to you the pains I now take ; I do it very chearfully, believing that this campagne, if the blessing of God continue with us, will go a great waye towardes the having a happy & long peace." These letters are particularly interesting, as they do not bear out the decided view expressed by historians, that Marlborough did his best to prolong the war for his own advantage ; while Lord Poulett expressed in words the virulence of a section of his con- temporaries, when he insinuated that he had fought unnecessary battles in order to be able to sell the commissions of the killed. However, if we consider that the sentiments of his letters are genuine (and the reader will probably recognise the stamp of sincerity), and if we admit that consideration for his material interests prevented him from taking steps which he might have taken to bring the war to an end, we may fairly conclude that his sense of duty overcame his inclination. The letters are none the less genuine in that they betray a certain want of sympathy be- tween husband and wife. For, though his attachment to his wife was the strongest trait in his character, Marlborough was never so sure of her reading him aright as to leave the obvious unsaid. Witness the nervous words written on the evening of Malplaquet. On page 51, at the end of a letter itself written with the greatest calmness before the battle, is a facsimile of this most interesting postscript. The unusual shakiness of the handwriting tells its own story. His love-letters written to Sarah Jennings before his mar- riage are curious examples of his blunt directness of thought. He made no attempt to give a pretty turn to his compliments, but simply indulged in clumsy eulogy of her charms in default of adequate words to express his feelings. We may, perhaps, quote the following out of many, without indiscretion : THE BATTLE OF OUDENARD FROM THE BLENHEIM TAPESTRY 49 Blenbeim ant) its flDemories 51 ''My soLill, I goe with the heaviest hart that ever man did, for by all that is good I love you with all my hart and soull, and I am shore that as long r:> 1 live you shall have noe just reason to believe the contrary. If you are unkind I love soe ^^n^srr /L^^^^Cy r^f^Cr .w^^^^^^ /^/ffZ^ FACSIMILE OF A LETTER WRITTEN ON THE DAY OF THE BATTLE OF MALPLAQUET BY THE DUKE TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH well I cannot live, for you are my life, my soull, my all that 1 hold dear in this world, therfore do not make so ungratfull a return as not to writt ; if you have charety you will not only writt but you will writt kindly, for 'tis on you that depends the quiett of my soull. Had 1 fitteing words to expresse my love it would not then be in your power to refuse what 1 beg 52 ISIenbelm anb its flDemones with tears in my eyes, that you will ever love me as I will by heavens doe you." Miss Jennings answered this ill-spelt effusion as follows : It is amusing to notice how her indignation, proved insincere by the fact of her writing at all, changes in the middle to a naive confession of weakness. n ■4 ^^- ^ Cm ' '-^ 'i ;^M*^*■■■■ 1 "'..i^^^^^l #*" \, 1 / k ■ . ■ . \ M.-- , .:! /I .r J V 'l ^iC J A W \ * ^1 ^ ' M ^Hh .- 1 ^ >, " ^ JOHN, DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH FROM A PiCTURE BY KNELLER ''As for seeing you I am resolved 1 never will in private nor in publick if I could help it, and as for the last 1 fear it will be some time before I can order it so as to be out of your way of seeing me ; but surely you must confess that you have been the falsest creature upon earth to me. 1 must own that I believe I shall suffer a great deal of trouble, but I will bear it, and give God thanks tho' too late I see my error." 53 Blenbelm anb ita fIDemoriea 55 In this way Sarah answered the affectionate utterances of her lover. She adopted an imperious tone to everybody — to no one more so than to Queen Anne ; and it was her arrogant mismanagement of affairs that more than anything cost Marl- borough his position. For he always relied implicitly on the maintenance by his wife and Godolphin of their ascendency over the Queen. From want of appreciation of the radical changes made by the Revolution of 1688, he refused to sacrifice his in- dependence by attaching himself to a party ; and if the force of circumstances led him rather to identify himself with the Whigs, he did so without abandoning the theory, shared with William 111. and Anne, that government should be carried on by the fittest men, independently of parties. And thus there could be no confidence between him and the Whigs, and when the support of the Queen failed him he had nothing to fall back on. But his public career is too well known to need further comment here. Of his character, too, various writers have at last been found to form a fair judgment, without prejudice on either side ; so that it is now as unnecessary to point out the fallacies of Macaulay as to temper the panegyrics of Coxe. I will only say that we must think his failure to excite sym- pathy was largely due to the facts that he never courted cheap popularity ; that he had no popular vices, which in the cases of many men have been found to lean toward the side of success ; while his avarice was of all vices the most cer- tain to excite indignation. He does not seem to have been very anxious to achieve distinction in domestic politics. Still he had some influence in George l.'s reign, and, if he had no true friends, he received many letters like the following, from men who had lost more than influence — men who had been his opponents in their day, but who now cringed to him to exercise in their favour what he had left of that power of which 56 Blenbeim anb Mb flDemories they themselves had done their best to rob him. Thus abjectly Stair pleaded for Bolingbroke, writing from Paris in 1716 : ''Your Grace will see what 1 have writ to Mr. Secretary Stanhope upon y^ subject of Lord Bolingbroke ; you '11 see y^ conditions he putt, these which he thinks necessary to pre- serve his reputation with his friends ; but these reserves don't reguard your Grace, he orders mee to tell you, and he will have no reserve of any kind with you, and he will tell you all he knows, he will depend upon your protection, and be entirely governed by your advice. ... In my humble opinion his intentions are very sincere to doe y^ King and his Country all y^ service he can to make amends for y^ false steps he has made." The main interest of Marlborough's later life centred in Blen- heim. The Duchess had done the lion's share of the work of superintendence ; it remained for him to arrange the many works of art he had bought and had been given during the war. There still exists an account of the prices he paid for tapestries made in Brussels, most of which are now on the walls of the house. Over the south front was placed a bust of Louis XIV., a trophy taken from the gates of Tournay. Underneath it is this line: " Europae hsec vindex geneo decora alta Britanno." A similar idea occurs in a letter of 1707. "For myself," Marl- borough wrote to his wife, "1 cou'd have agreed with you in wishing the house had been lesser, so that it might have been sooner finished ; but, as it will be a monument of the Queen's favour, and aprobation of my services, to Posterity, I can't dis- aprove of the modell." That was what Blenheim Palace implied to him : it was to be a splendid memorial of his services for all time, characteristic in its cold solidity of a man who could aflbrd to despise the popularity of the moment. THE GREAT LIBRARY, BLENHEIM PALACE 57 Blenbeim ant) Its flDemories 59 The Duchess of Marlborough survived her husband by twenty-two years, and played no small part in society as a great lady. Within a year of her husband's death the Duke of Somerset proposed marriage to her. Her dignified refusal has often been quoted, though generally inaccurately ; and so 1 will quote again from the copy made by herself with her usual care when she wrote anything of importance : " I am confident that there is very few women, (if any) that would not bee extreamly pleased with what your Grace proposes to me ; but 1 am resolved never to change my con- dition, and, if I know anything of myself, I would not marry the Emperor of the world, tho' I were but thirty years old." Nevertheless, Somerset was true to his profession that every action of his life should give the strongest proofs of his devotion. Sarah always found him a willing agent in her numerous pur- chases of property and in her legal troubles. She on her side proved herself most generous, when, in despair of winning her consent, he found a wife elsewhere. This is her letter to him : " 1 am sure your Grace will bee troubled with a great num- ber of congratulations upon a match which all the world must think so valuable as what you have made is. You cannot forget what I have said to your Grace upon this subject, nor how much I esteemed and admired the behaviour of all my Lord Notting- ham's family that 1 have had the honour to know. I will not therefore trouble you with the repetition of my thoughts upon that ; but 1 beg leave to say that I beleive the Dutches of Somer- set and your Grace will bee as hapy as 'tis possible to be in this world, and to assure you that no person that ever you honoured with your friendship wished you both a long continuence of it with more sincerity than 1 do, who am, my Lord, your Grace's most faithfull and most obliged humble servant, "S. Marlborough." 6o Blenbeim an& its flDemories To Somerset, too, as to other friends, she looked for sym- pathy in the ill-treatment she imagined herself to have suffered at the hands of the Queen. The celebrated letters from Mrs. Morley to Mrs. Freeman were circulated for inspection with due directions scribbled on the back for read- ing between the lines. In these the Queen certainly is seen in a most ridicu- lous light. As late as 1707 she ended a let- ter with the words : " I have ever had a most sincere and ten- der kindness for my dear Mrs. Freeman, soe I will preserve it to my grave ; and, oh, beleeve me, you will never find in all y^ search of Love a hart like your poor, unfortunat, faithful Morlys." Somerset, indeed, gratified the Duchess by an outburst of chivalrous indignation at the sequel ; but it may be doubted if she found anyone else to accept her point of view. Her chief occupation was to attend to the com- pletion of Blenheim, and the working up of the lawsuits which it entailed. To such matters a great lady of those days had both the ability and will to attend. There is a series of letters extant from Lord Harcourt and Lord Macclesfield which give a curious proof of the faculty she had of attaching persons of JOHN, DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH FROM A PRINT Blenbeim an^ Ue flDemoriea 6i importance to her interests by judiciously bestovv^ing on them a bucl< from the park, or by showing concern about their own troubles. She was fond of the society of literary men, and kept many of their letters, which now recall for us — "those Georgian days, Whose style still breathed a faint and fine perfume Of old-world courtliness and old-world bloom." Lord Chesterfield proposed to her — too late, she regrets — for the hand of her granddaughter, the beautiful Lady Diana Spencer. " I am sensible," he wrote, "how unworthy they " (himself and fortune) "are of her, and howsmall a chance I have of their being accepted, since I can only hope for it from an error in both your Grace's judg- ment and hers." Addison dedicated to her his play of Rosa- mond, his manuscript of which is still at Blenheim. Prior was always ready to grovel, if there was a prospect of anything to be gained. She ' A yearly tribute of a French flag is due from the owner of Blenheim to the Sovereign. — Ed. p. M. M. SWORD OF HONOUR PRESENTED TO JOHN, DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH, AND QUEEN'S FLAG FOR 1894' 62 Blenbeim anb its flOemortes appreciated the rising genius of Pitt, and rewarded his hatred of Walpole by a legacy of ^10,000. Here is a characteristic early letter of Steele's found among her papers : " Land-guard Fort, Mjj i^rd, 1702. "Madam, "You owe the Happinesse of not hearing my impertinence these last posts to my being so ill that I could not bear the sit- ting so long at a Table as to write. Yet have 1 been forced to creep up cursed Bleak Batteries at midnight, the wind being fair for french Privatiers, and not for any of our ships to come and I- Guard the road afore this Fort, so that I am obliged to visit my sentries at all hours, they are so raw and ignorant. 1 believe you laugh at my giving you any account of myself, and "tis insignificant to you my Good or 111, tho" it depends wholly on you : however 1 am here so utterly left to my own thoughts that my passion gives me double torture, and had 1 but the least grounds of hope of Mercy in another World I would end my cares by throwing myself on my sword. " Richard Steele."' The letters from Pope are more curious. Readers will re- member his vindictive lines on the Duchess, as Atossa : "Atossa, cursed with every granted prayer, Childless with all her children, wants an heir ; To heirs unknown descends the augmented store, Or wanders, heaven-directed, to the poor." Yet, as the following extracts will show, it flattered his vanity to be allowed to dance attendance on her in his life- time : STATUE OF QUEEN ANNE IN THE GREAT LIBRARY, BLENHEIM PALACE 63 Blenbelm ant) its flDemories 65 ''Saturday. " Madam, "Your letter is too Good for me to answer, but not to acknowledge. I confine myself to one particular of it. 1 don't wonder some say you are mad, you act so contrary to the rest of the world ; and it was the Madman's argument for his own y^y^(e^r^Tl-^ ^^ry*^ ^c^^^^ "^ ^ f(J-z^ /^ '^^ % co^wt^ Ai ^U?t^ i^^^^ j^.^^ . (j^^ /^^^jKl^ <^^i-u^n^ ^ r^ MR. POPE TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH being sober, that the Majority prevailed, and had locked up the few that were so. Horace (the first of that name who was no fooP) has settled this matter, and writ a whole Discourse to show, that All folks are mad (even Poets and Kings not ex- cepted) ; he only begs one Favor, ' That the Greater Madmen should spare the lesser.' Would those whom your Grace has cause to complain of, and those whom we all have cause to complain of, but do so, not only you and 1 but the whole nation might be saved. ' An allusion to Horace Walpole, whom Sarah hated. Blenbeim ant) its fIDemorles 67 ''Your present of a Buck is indeed a proper one for an Ind- ian ; one of the true Species of Indians, who seeks not for gold and silver, but only for Necessaries. But I must add to my shame I am one of that sort who at his heart loves Bawbles better, and throws away his gold and silver for shells and glit- tering stones, as you will find I have done when you see (for you must see) my Grotto. What then does your Grace think of bringing me back in your Coach about five and supping there, now the moonlight favours your return, by which means you will be tired of what you now are pleased to call good com- pany, and I happy for six or seven hours together ? In short I will put myself into your power to bring, send, or expell me back, as you please. I am most faithfully, "Madam, "Y"" Grace's most obliged & humble servant, ''A. Pope. "The friend of Lord Marchmont is yours already, and cleared of all prepossessions ; so that you can make no fresh conquest of him, as you did of me." In another letter he reproaches her for her unkindness : " But to use me thus — to have won me with some difficulty, to have bow'd down all my Pride and reduced me to take that at your hands w^^ I never took at any other ; and as soon as you have done this, to slight your conquest, and cast me away with the common Lumber of Friends in this Town, — what a girl you are ! " Again in 1743 from Bath : "I hear you live, and I hope with all ys Spirit with which you make life supportable, both to yourself and those about you. You will neither live nor die like W n, who wanted the heart to pity either his Country or his servants, & had equally no sense of the Publick or Private 68 Blenbeim anb its flDemoriee obligations. God help him (if he will) that helped nobody ! Much less had he learnt the trick some people have contrived, of making legacies in his lifetime. The Scripture has a fine ex- pression upon Charity : He that gives to the needy, lends to the Lord ; and one may say of Friendship, He that gives to the Worthy has a mortgage upon merit, the best of all worldly security." i^^ ScUC J*^9 ■ ^.n^j 7 O/m^ ^f/^rv^r ^Vsa-^c. Zi^tJC ^^TTf^ - ^^ tc^^^fr. my ^^ ^ : Lr^^^e^tr^^y /L^r^ ^ C^t^.^ JXA^ 9v r>^, ^ f com. a*«'^i-<<^,^<>>t Uf^^^'^c^s^ 7?^^ -wt^ ^ A £u^ nj) C<^i^ y$i^ y^ 4/9tL^^ . ^ / ;^L*^ ^^c^ ^^^^^ ^J ?^ ^^ BUST OF JOHN, DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH 69 3BIenbeim anb its fiDemoriee 71 Aaj}iuiy4£, . MR. POPE TO THE DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH ..^^. 72 Blenbeim ant) its flDemorieg Probably the Duchess was too* clever to be deceived by Pope's cunning, by being addressed as " Doctress in Divinity," and being told of ''Your Grace's ghostly Father, Socrates." At any rate. Pope had his revenge, and helped to perpetuate the popular opinion of a woman at whose pettiness it is as easy to laugh as it is difficult to find a parallel to her ability. Changes of fashion and of taste have left their mark on Blenheim ; and, as the old oaks recall the joyousness of the BLENHEIM PALACE. SOUTH FRONT Middle Ages, and the elms and cedars have a certain air of eighteenth-century stateliness, so perhaps the orchids, with their exotic delicacy, may be held typical of the decadent present. From the house many treasures, once part of its adornment, are now missed ; and while books, pictures, and gems have disappeared, modern ideas of comfort have suggested the in- sertion of electric lights and telephones. To regret the treasures of the past is a commonplace : it would seem fitter to make the best of the advantages of the present. " Our past," as Mr. Lau- rence puts it, "is an extension of the present, or it is no true 73 Blenbeim ant) its flDemories 75 past." To write history is to travel in the past, to see the face of it, — not merely the kings and dates and battles, which are, at best, pegs on which to hang true knowledge. And so in this excursion we have tried to look at the more intimate side of men and women whose public actions are the skeleton of history. 1 cannot help thinking that much which is the essence of the times is to be read in the stones of Blen- heim and in the letters of its builders. This must be my apol- ogy for lingering over certain people of importance in their day, and of interest perhaps in our own. Note. — Many of the letters which are quoted in this article have now been made public for the first time. Ibatbwick 77 HARDWICK HALL, SHOWING INITIALS ON PARAPETS HARDWICK BY A. H. MALAN SO different are first impressions that, whereas of all the places he had seen since his return from Dr. Wharton's, the poet Gray affirmed Hardwick pleased him most, Horace Walpole, on the contrary, declared himself pleased with nothing whatever about the place except one group of old oaks standing over a lake. Consequently it is hard to say how the exterior of the Hall would affect another. But when, after walking in a dense mist through an apparently interminable park, the writer suddenly, and without suspicion of its proximity, found himself in front of it, it seemed to him as if some gigantic hotel of very dignified appearance had gone astray, from Brighton or elsewhere, and taken up its abode where it had no business 79 8o IbarbwicF? to be. It looked such a tremendous affair looming up through the fog ! Not that it is out of proportion as between its parts ; but as if the whole thing had been placed bodily in a forcing- house, and while the walls and windows had expanded in all directions, they had more especially shot upwards. Individuality in the builder was more conspicuous than beauty in the building ; the idea presumably being that the house should outstrip all competitors, if not in area, at least in altitude : the letters " E. S." set up above the tower parapets proudly against the sky defy- ing the countryside to show initials as celebrated or as elevated. While as for the poor ruins of the older house just across the way, these have been dwarfed, by comparison, into dimensions almost ridiculous ; and yet that was, in its day, a goodly build- ing enough, "containing," says Bishop Kennet, "thirty lodging rooms, besides lower rooms for business," and being probably far more comfortable and homelike than ever was its pretentious successor, even in its palmiest days, under the regime of the great and famous — some would say, notorious — Countess. For to this personage writers in general have not been over- kind. The character of Bess of Hardwick is given very much in this style: "abundant in wealth and honour, yet unable to secure a single friend" ; "ambitious and overbearing" ; "proud, treacherous, and unfeeling " ; while one of her own sex, with feminine discrimination, polishes her off in these incisive terms : "daring, masculine, forbidding, and selfish" — a description at least a little strange considering that the subject of such strictures is all the while included in the list of eminent Englishwomen ! Doubtless there is some truth in this verdict of posterity. Yet it must be borne in mind that the Shrewsbury papers of the period have always been accessible, while the Cavendish papers have not — these latter being either non-existent, or else lying in some as yet undiscovered receptacle. Also that, from the fact Si 82 1bar^wicll of his being Garter King under Gilbert Talbot as Earl Marshal, Camden would be likely to give a biassed view of Lady Shrews- bury's character, and to lean to his patron's side ; while Lodge also can hardly be considered free from a similar prejudice. Possessed, as she was, of no beauty, so far as her portraits indicate (though early portraits do not always err on the side of attractiveness), it will be allowed that this great lady must have been a woman of surprising fascination, for one rich man after another to lay his substance at her feet if only he might have the supreme felicity of calling her his own. And yet, though living in an unscrupulous age, and being by no means unknown at Court, it seems she was quite content to reserve that fascination exclusively for her several lords, since no breath of scandal ever ventured to assail her name. Putting aside her first marriage with Mr. Barlow — at best a mere preliminary canter in double harness, if so much — she afterwards undoubtedly proved a devoted wife to her next husband (Sir William Cavendish), studying her and his children's interests to the end of her days. And when, after his death, she wedded St. Loe, who was much her senior, the motive on her part in all probability was, that those growing-up sons of hers might be better looked after, the eldest of whom was already giving her cause for considerable uneasiness. St. Loe was deeply attached to "his own sweet Bess " ; and when George Talbot took his place, he in turn was at first so highly delighted with his treasure that " of all earthly joys that had happened to him, he thanked Providence chiefest for her." Later on, we all know, he wrote nasty letters about his lady to Walsingham, declaring himself ashamed to think of his choice of " a creature with so divelish a disposition " ; and to the Queen, whining that "it were no reason that his wife should rule him, and make him the wife and her the husband," almost as if he had 83 84 Ibarbwicft been reading Knox's First blast of the Tnunpet against the Monstrous Regimen for IV omen ; and also to Leicester, saying, *' I would not have my son [Gilbert] have so hard a construction of me that 1 would have him hate his wife [Mary Cavendish], though I do deteste her mother." But for that there was a cause ! Lady Shrewsbury had not been best pleased with her lord's philandering after a woman with a past (who was not only good- looking, but her junior by twenty years), albeit she was " Royne de Scosse et Douairiere de France " ; and the Earl residing with his charge chiefly at Sheffield Castle, while the Countess was more often at Chatsworth and Hardwick, the latter did not so much consider the honour arising out of his custodianship as recognise the amount he was out of pocket by the transaction — to say nothing of his neglecting, by force of circumstances, or worse still, by choice, his more immediate ties. Accordingly, upon the Queen inquiring of her how their charge fared, she at once unburdened her mind in somewhat jealous terms. And it is in the lady's favour that Elizabeth took her part in the ensuing quarrel, peremptorily commanding Earl George to make peace with his wife : after which a sort of armed neutrality was main- tained between the pair, until in 1590, without more ado, the Earl removed himself from the scene, leaving his consort once more a widow. It is just possible that she contemplated yet another matri- monial venture. But on the whole she seems to have thought better of it, and to have devoted her remaining years to land buying, land improving, iron mining, lead mining and building — in which hobbies she continued to be engaged until, in i5o8, her last illness overtaking her, she was compelled to cease all opera- tions ; having, however, the satisfaction of feeling she had built five mansions — Worksop, Bolsover, Oldcotes, Chatsworth, Hard- wick — and well feathered the nests of all her children ; and that TAPESTRY REPRESENTING THE PRODIGAL SON" AND SPANISH WEDDING" ON THE LANDING, HARDWICK HALL 85 86 1bar&\»ich after her demise her remains would be duly embalmed, and interred in All Saints', Derby, in which church she had already thought fit to erect her shrine, " above all places where she had been verie bountifullie blessed with liberall pos- sessions."' And had her ladyship then foreseen how her character was des- tined to be criticised afterwards, and CHIMNEYPIECE IN DINING-ROOM how, a m n g the many hard things to be written of her, it would be asserted that "to amass wealth and aggrandise her family she had apparently sacrificed every prin- ciple of honour and affection," she could perhaps have afforded to regard all such as- persions with philo- sophic complacency, seeing that, in the matter of comment, the Archbishop of York was at all events to get a good start, when preaching her funeral sermon, illus- trating her numerous graces from Solomon's description of a virtuous woman, Hardwick was built more particularly with the object of DOLL'S TEA SERVICE; AND GRAND FALCONER'S BADGE IN OAK THE DRAWING ROOM, HARDWICK HALL, SHOWING ARMS OF THE COUNTESS OF SHREWSBURY 87 88 Ibarbwicl? receiving Queen Elizabeth. It was habitable, though not finished, about 1590: the old Hall was lived in for nearly another hundred years. The spacious chambers, wide staircases, and unusually large windows are at the opposite extreme from the fortress-like architecture of a previous era. Passing in under the colonnade of the west front, the entrance hall shows a transition state between the more ancient dining hall and the modern vestibule. Here is the wainscoting in dark oak, the minstrels' gallery, the long table and benches, and the buttery hatch — and thus far it is a dining hall ; but the passage at the far end, opposite the entrance, leading right and left to other parts of the house, must have rendered it too cold and draughty for the prolonged enjoyment of dinner, and made it more fitted for the simpler purpose of ingress and egress. On one of the huge frames, essaying to break it up into cosiness, in work handed down as that of Mary Stuart, the great Countess is depicted as Faith ; on another, which has gone to Bolton Abbey, she appeared in the much more befitting character of the Queen of Sheba. Against the east wall is a statue of the Queen of Scots by Westmacott senior, which was ordered for Mary's bower at Chatsworth, but which, when completed, was thought too good to serve as a medium for displaying the initials of the multitude, and accordingly was placed here. The shield is from a cast, moulded on a carving at Holyrood, the adoption of which, with the following inscription, was among the accusations brought against Mary by Elizabeth: " The armes of Mary Quene Dolphines of France, The noblest Lady in earth till advance ; Off Scotland Quene, of England also, Off Ireland als God hath proved so." On the walls hang helmets and stands of arms worn in the Civil War in the King's cause and re-used in the service of the Prince IbarbwicI? 89 of Orange, when the fourth Earl, afterwards known as "the long- armed Duke," took the field with a regiment of his retainers, etc., occupied the town of Nottingham, and practically placed the Midlands at the disposal of William ; and carefully preserved, also, is the chair on which the Earl sat at the preliminary con- ference with a few neighbours when seeking shelter in the "Cock and Pyot," on Whittington Moor. Ascending the north staircase, you arrive at the Oratory— little more than a recess on JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON " the landing — capable of holding perhaps a dozen people, but containing some almost perished fifteenth-century high-festival work. Next comes the Dining-room, with its floor of concrete spread upon oak boarding — a feature characteristic of the house and district, and an excellent precaution against fire — and the dated (1597), mottoed chimneypiece. To the right of this pargeting is a charming head of the beautiful Duchess — a work which, never pretending to be a Gainsborough, but content to be a Downman, escaped the vicissitudes which befel the more celebrated picture. 90 1barC)wick Thence, through the minstrels' gallery, into the Drawing- room, where is seen another ponderous mantelpiece, on which is emblazoned the assertion that, noble as is the stag by nature, his nobility is necessarily increased by supporting the arms of the Countess; the assertion being: Sangmne, cornii, corde, oculo, pede, cerviis, et aure, nobilis, at claro pondere iwbilior. Almost every one must be pleased with the panel head of Mary Stuart in all the bloom of her youth and beauty ; and most noteworthy SACRIFICE OF ISAAC ■ are the two large samplers executed by her hands (doubtless her maids did their share), representing the "Judgment of Solomon " and the "Sacrifice of Isaac" — in the latter of which, besides Abraham's young men, duly attired in Tudor fmery, may be observed Lady Shrewsbury herself anachronously turning aside her head from the impending tragedy. This is genuine old needlework, in excellent preservation, and happily unmanipulated by modern restorers ; as is also some part of certain bed-hangings elsewhere, with oft-recurring " M. S." in the execution of these and other pieces the Queen of Scots beguiled many a weary hour 1bart)wicft 91 at Chatsworth and Buxton and Sheffield, as she "wroughte with her nydill," brooding over the papists' plots for her escape, or compounding tirades about Bess's intrigues and jealousies for the edification of Mauvissiere — and her enemies. And, being un- manipulated, these relics retain all their interest, which can- not be said for the ordinary run of work of that date ; for such too often proves to have been trans- ferred ; and when transferring begins, the originality large- ly vanishes. The best bits of the old devices are cut out, plumped down on a gorgeous brand-new velvet ground, rear- ranged and added to according to taste, and bound round with satin stitch — and here you have what is called so-and-so's work ; whereas all the while, of the original material there may be little else but the cut-out canvas ground, with a few dilapidated threads of tent stitch attempting here and there in vain to hide its nakedness. Not that transferring is unknown here ; for abundant evidence may be seen of it in the canopy of the Presence-chamber and the chairs, and in some hexagonal medallions, all bearing Lady Shrewsbury's initials, and accompanied by those curious Latin mottoes for which she pos- MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS 92 ibar^wlcft sessed a mania : Eg. Spanish chestnut — Nequicquam sapit, quid sibi non sapit ; Botrychium — Omnia pecunice obediunt ; Plantago — Extra publicam viam ne deflectes. Omitting sundry rooms, furnished much like old rooms elsewhere, we pass out on to the grand staircase, built of wide, low, stone steps, eminently suited for slow and dignified progression, and so up to the next landing, where there is some old and excellent tapestry. The sixth Duke (known as "the King of the Peak"), who did much for Chatsworth, did a good deal, on a smaller scale, for Hardwick. He brought tapestry here in profusion from the lumber-rooms of Chatsworth, and with it not only replaced tattered remnants throughout the house, but also filled up the dreary whitewash of the vacant places. Ambassador to the Russian Court at the accession of the Emperor Nicholas, and afterwards his warm friend, "the Devonshire manner" became a current phrase to denote the "highest display of gorgeous magnificence." The tapestry in- cludes a Spanish wedding and a portrayal of the "prodigal son " in the act of kneeling before his parents, who are adorned in sixteenth-century fashion ; while a still earlier piece, with cos- tumes of the time of Henry VIII. — unfortunately for photography, but wisely for the retention of the colouring — is suspended in the worst possible light. But why specify one pictured hang- ing more than another, when the whole house is so brim-full of an unrivalled store from the looms of Paris, Brussels, Mortlake, etc., that connoisseurs would justly say that the glory of Hard- wick is its tapestry ? Those, however, who are not connoisseurs may rather feel that to them the glory of Hardwick is its Long Gallery. This is on the second floor, and extends the whole length of the building, except the space occupied by the end towers : one hundred and sixty-six feet long, twenty-six feet broad, but Ibarbwlclft 93 widening out near either extremity another fifteen feet into bays, it is surely as noble a specimen of its date as any gallery in existence. Carpeted throughout with rush matting^a material in use at the first fitting up of the house — the floor is clothed without being darkened, and the flood of light from the eighteen twenty-feet-high windows is thrown upwards till shadows seem PORTION OF BED-CURTAINS WORKED BY MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS non-existent. Here, again, the most precious tapestry (fifteenth century arras — some of the finest pieces in the kingdom, show- ing the highest efforts of the tapiser's art) is between the windows, almost hidden by pictures ; but on the opposite side is a series of no small value, which, in combined width, so exactly fills the wall as to its length that the gallery seems de- signed to take it, sufficient height being given to the pieces by the addition of a wide border, on which appear the shield of Hardwick and the Crest of Cavendish, but not the arms of Talbot. 94 Ibarbwlcft This stupendous apartment is entered at either end ; also near the centre by a short cut from the Library. And when— the white sheet-blinds happening to be all drawn — you sit in the toned-down, diffused light, opera-glass and Lady L s exhaustive catalogue in hand, surveying the likenesses of de- parted worthies ; and when, with noiseless movement, all un- observed, some person has passed in and appears in the middle distance, backgrounded by a portrait, it gives a creepy sensation highly suggestive of spirit-photography. Meditating thus, one cannot help marvelling at the good- nature of the Duke in throwing open such a place to the public. On an Easter Monday no less than a hundred and fifty good people have been known to swoop down in one batch. Preceded by one housemaid as shepherdess, and followed by another as whipper-in to stragglers, they parade the rooms : and just think what an appreciable amount of dust must be deposited from the three hundred boots of such a battalion ! The traffic, of course, is not often as heavy as this, though it is often infinitely heavier at Chatsworth ; but still few days pass without sundry parties presenting themselves for admission between the hours of eleven and four, during which the house is open. And in truth they have enough to repay them in the Gallery alone ! If they care for pictures of celebrities, here is Queen Eliza- beth at one end, in an outrageous costume, all snakes and lizards. At the other, the first Duke in all the bedeckment of Louis Quatorze dress; the finest gentleman of his time: — bonorum principum fidelis siLbditiis, inimicus et invisus tyrannis, accord- ing to his epitaph at Derby. In the patent of his dukedom are these words: "The King and Queen could do no less for one who deserved the best of them ; one who, in a corrupt age, retained the manners of the ancients, and never suffered himself to be moved either by the insinuations or threats of a deceitful 95 96 IbarDwich Court." His wife also (Lady Mary Butler) was distinguished by the blamelessness of her conduct in the dissolute Court of Charles II. The Duke entertained at Chatsworth Marshal Tal- lard (taken prisoner by the Duke of Marlborough, 1704), who. on departing, made that pretty speech: ''My Lord Duke, when 1 compute the time of my captivity in England, 1 shall leave out the days of my enjoyment at Chatsworth." There are three portraits of Georgiana Spencer ; but the head of Mrs. Cosway's figure of Diana was pronounced by the sixth Duke to be more like his mother than almost any other portrait of her. There are also the successive heads of the family with their wands of office as Lord Steward or Lord Chamberlain ; Sir Thomas Cavendish (the friend and colleague of Sir R. Grenville), who was so suc- cessful against the Spaniards in his own vessel, and returned to London river in triumph — "his mariners and soldiers clothed in silk, his sails of damask and gold " ; Christian Bruce, the second Earl's Countess, "who had all the good qualities of Bess of Hardwick without her faults, and, being possessed of a mag- nificent and independent spirit, yet thoroughly feminine withal, was altogether a noble creature " ; Lady Elizabeth Percy, who, as to matrimony, beat the great Countess easily in point of time — having united herself to three husbands before she was seven- teen ; one of the few authentic portraits of Mary Stuart ; one of James 1. as a boy — probably sent to his mother in her cap- tivity ; and a bewildering series of various other portraits as well. Or, if they do not care for pictures of this description, then visitors can inspect an old spinet with a curious movement connected with its pedals ; the State chair of Lady Shrewsbury, in which she received — "seated in pomp, like Scotia's captive Queen " — a doll's silver tea-service, and a host of pretty things besides. And yet, how few comparatively, take an intelligent interest 97 98 Ibarbwick in anything ! At least, so it seemed during many odd hours on different days spent by the writer in one of the bays photo- graphing some of the early portraits. The comportment of all comers was simply admirable ! The men with bared heads, their sisters and cousins speaking with bated breath — all seemed overawed by their surroundings, or else as much on their best behaviour as if they expected some exalted personage to pop out upon them unawares ; but they rarely asked any question of their guides, who were full enough of information — on the whole, strange to say, correct. One group especially actually contrived to pass right through the Gallery without uttering a single word until they reached the Queen's end, when, observ- ing their own forms in a Venetian mirror, an individual found voice to exclaim in evident delight, ''Why, here we can see ourselves ! " just showing that the ruling vice of vanity (it was a man !) was not to be suppressed even by the magnificence of Hardwick Hall ! Of the oldest portraits here, there is one of George Talbot in which he looks far too grave to do much philandering, and as if the forty troopers to be maintained out of his £')o weekly pay engaged his thoughts a good deal more than the charms of the lady he was told off to guard ; a clever, striking one of Hobbes, that strange man — the friend of Cowley and Seldon — whose one favourite book was Euclid, and, who, while affecting the true democratic contempt for all things Royal, to the last kept himself a friend at Court, not at all objecting to "make use of those ill instruments to do himself good " ; also one of Sir William Cavendish — it was his elder brother, George, by the way, who was Gentleman Usher to Cardinal Wolsey and the author of his Life ; two of Bess, taken at intervals — a very ordi- nary-looking dame, with a slim figure — whose pearls obviously went to her daughter Mary, and after that vanished — perhaps THE QUEEN'S" END OF LONG GALLERY, WITH PORTRAIT OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, HARDWICK HALL 99 loo 1bart)wlck disposed of to provide the necessary sum of ;^2o,ooo for the escape of that lady's niece from Barnet. The Countess Mary was a very formidable female indeed — an aggravated edition of her mother. It was she who called her neighbour, Sir John Stan- hope, a vile caitiff, wishing him all the evils on earth, and, for the matter of that, under the earth as well ; and who flatly re- fused to be cross-questioned by the Council as to- her cognisance of her niece's engagement with William Seymour, demanding the more open proceedings of a law-court. Masterful, over- bearing, and masculine, she was a sort of Tudoresque "new woman " ; and that is perhaps the reason why her husband, Earl Gilbert, looks altogether such a poor creature. All these pictures are duly named in their frames ; but of course it is not always wise to trust to titles. For, even as one has seen in a museum a full-sized otter mislabelled in largest letters "The British Dormouse," and the rare spotted eagle dubbed ''The Common Buzzard," so replicas of the same pic- ture have at one place and another professed to represent totally different people. Hence, in spite of their being labelled "The Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury," two figures looked, in their elevated position, as if they might well be other persons ; and when that picture had been taken down and scrutinised, it seemed evident that, the man being neither George nor Gilbert Talbot (though the lady was clearly a Cavendish), and the style being generally in keeping with the Darnley type, the pair were in all probability Charles Stuart and Elizabeth Cav- endish, the parents of Arabella. Immediately behind the Gallery is the Presence-chamber, with the arms of Elizabeth surmounting the fireplace ; the story of Ulysses depicted on the walls in very precious Brussels ; and forest-work above representing the Court of Diana and a boar- hunt. This chamber must have looked more furnished when THE PRESENCE CHAMBER HARDWICK HALL SHOWING ARMS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH OVER THE FIREPLACE THE DUKE'S" END OF LONG GALLERY, WITH PORTRAIT OF FIRST DUKE IN CENTRE AND "BEAUTIFUL" DUCHESS ON THE LEFT, HARDWICK HALL lOI I02 Ibarbwicft the ostrich-plumed state bed, with its velvet and gold thread drapery, stood in the then screened-off alcove. At present it looks gaunt and dreary, as though the buildress had waited to welcome her Queen, and, waiting in vain, had left it unfinished. Here is the eglantine table, removed from the older house ; its motto is : " The redolent smell of the aeglentyne We stagges exault to the deveyne ; " and this motto was also over the drawing-room chimneypiece in the earlier building. A piece of furniture this as instructive as ancient, showing illustrations of such contemporary instru- ments as the cittern, guittara, lute and rebech ; its top lifts off conveniently for photography, but the inlaid designs are so much of one hue that they do not show to advantage in the camera. The Countess is believed to have been indebted to Elizabeth for the alabaster entablature bearing the Royal monogram in the adjoining apartment, where there is also another wonder- ful table mounted on chimeras — this room being the Library, through which you pass, as also the Green Room, on your way to Mary Stuart's chamber. Here are to be found the before- mentioned bed-hangings, and also an oak door, window and tympanum, brought from the old house ; the inscription on the tympanum is "Marie Stewart, par le grace de Dieu, Royne de Scosse, Douairiere de France." Crest — a lion. Motto — "In my Defens." It is certain that the Queen of Scots never entered this house. But she no doubt entered the older one ; for there is a picture at Welbeck of her on which is the inscription, "Painted during her imprisonment at Hardwick " : besides, the Countess removed her best furniture, etc., including those me- morials of the Queen which she desired to preserve. But of the effects of that other unfortunate being who did spend many years in this house there is, curiously enough, not THE LIBRARY, HARDWICK HALL 103 I04 Ibarbwick a trace remaining except two portraits. One of these is in the Drawing-room, the well-known portrait of Arabella holding a doll, in Mary Stuart costume, taken when she was twenty- three months old, and probably the original from which a copy was sent to the Royal imp to whom she was at that early age more or less betrothed ; the other being a poor monochrome in the Gallery, taken when she was thirteen — a copy of a picture at Bolsover. This full- length does not give much indication of that vivacity and sprightliness, which, as her letters prove, she afterwards pos- sessed ; but it is at j least less unpleasing than the later por- ARABELLA STUART AS A CHILD trait — at Longleat — which, presuming that a faithful reproduction of it appears in Lodge's "Illustrations," and that it was a fair likeness, would seem to take some of the edge off Sir Walter Raleigh's ungal- lant remark, that of all the women he had ever seen he liked her the least. Arabella, as a part of her education, must have worked samplers and used books, written exercises, and had a bed of her own — but where are they ? It almost looks as if, piqued at the failure of her schemes, the Countess had destroyed 105 io6 Ibar^wicft everything reminding her of her grandchild, when, in 1601, she inserted a codicil in her will disinheriting "her sweet jewel." This is a date which does certainly tax the indulgence of the critic, since two years later she seems to have been glad enough to make Arabella useful. That was when Arabella was in high favour at Court, and was asked at a Royal christening what boon she would like ; upon which, being before instructed of her grandmother, she replied, ''A barony, your Majesty, for uncle William." The request was granted, and Lady Shrews- bury had the gratification of seeing her favourite son made Baron Cavendish of Hardwick ; but the codicil was never revoked. As for the Countess's conduct in this matter, just as her sentiments to Mary Stuart underwent a change at the birth of Arabella, so it happened with her sentiments to Arabella at the accession of James. Three years before that event she sent New Year's presents from herself and' her "jewel" to the Queen; while three years earlier still we find an entry — " Geven the firste of January unto my La. Arbella to her new yeare's gyfte, xx/." This entry is in one of those household account-books of the home steward, every page of which was countersigned and attested in the bold, legible hand of Lady Shrewsbury ; and, it may be remarked, it is a pity the several items were not in her writing also, as there would doubtless have been many gems of spelling, to judge by the fact that, in one of her documents, where she means horses she writes onus. From Mary's room is a convenient place to mount one of the towers. The Countess used to lodge her servants in the six turrets ; the hooks to suspend the tapestry are still visible, and all have good fireplaces. On the roof you gain a very good idea of the size of the house ; and here would be a promenade as pleasant as it is breezy if only the leads had less high and frequent ridges. To the north-west is the vale of Scarsdale Ibarbwicft 107 with the hills of the Peak beyond ; in the opposite direction Lincoln Cathedral may be seen, they say, in very clear weather. But when is the atmosphere very clear ? It took no little waiting till the clouds rolled by be- fore one could photograph the two houses from the park ; and it it is rather a feat to see Bolsover, five miles off. For at intervals all round in the near dis- tance, colliery engines ap- pear to be in a perpetual state of coaling up — their tall chimneys, peeping up between the trees and pour- ing forth black volumes of smoke, looking like the funnels of hard-driven mail boats ; producing a display of carbon which would con- siderably astonish the more economical mind of, say, a Cornish mine captain. Fuel being here practically cost- less, the mines can of course well afford to show off their powers of combustion ; but then the landscape has to suffer to a corresponding degree. Those old oaks, amongst which in her youthful days Arabella may have "taken the air, neare the house, and well attended on," all have black stems and leafless tops ; and even the hazels and willows in the covers are sadly discoloured. Down among ARABELLA STUART. /ET. 13 io8 Ibarbwicl? the ponds I know a bank where the bald coot grows ; but, barring these and a few ducks, birds seem few and far between. The herds of fallow and red deer manage to look presentable ; but as for the sheep, a white one is much rarer than a black one elsewhere ; in fact, a lamb has to be very young to be whitish, and their age may be judged less by their size than by the comparative duskiness of their coats. But one must not expect everything — even at Hardwick ; and if the trees and flocks do assume a hue never intended by nature, the activity of those engines undoubtedly means "royalties" to some land- owners, and is so far in keeping with the region that it would probably delight the eye of the ''prudent, amassing, calculating" Countess infinitely more than the unsullied beauty of a less wealth-giving scene. I i Cbarlecote 109 CHARLECOTE BY RICHARD DAVEY 'HE name of Charlecote is familiar to every student of Shakespeare, and it is one of his numerous shrines in the neighbourhood of Stratford-upon- Avon. So long as this exquisite specimen of old English domestic architecture re- mains, so long must it be associated v^ith one of the quaintest traditions in the life of the foremost Englishman. It is fortunate that this noble old mansion is owned by a family who have inherited a tender affection for its every stone and tree, and who have that high sense of honour that, come what may, through evil and through good fortune, no harm shall come to the roof which has sheltered them through ages. There are writers who would try to deprive Charlecote of its chiefest charm, and who, odious iconoclasts! would wish us III 112 Cbarlecote to believe that Shakespeare was never dragged into the presence of Sir Thomas Lucy, never charged with deer stealing, and never saved from punishment through the intercession of the Earl of Leicester. 1 am one of those, however, who are sufficiently credulous to staunchly believe the story, and here I will point out a fact which seems to be conclusive evidence of its veracity. A traditional pride in preserving the history of their race is evidently a leading characteristic in the Lucy family ; and the tradition exists among them, handed down from generation to generation, that Shakespeare was prosecuted by Sir Thomas Lucy in the year 1592 for stealing a buck out of his park at Charlecote. The tradition, moreover, asserts that Sir Thomas Lucy was induced to stay the prosecution through the interpo- sition of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, with whom he was on terms of friendship, and that, in consequence of the prosecution, Shakespeare in a fit of spite wrote a scurrilous ballad on Sir Thomas and fixed it to his park gates, which so roused the ire of the good knight that the youthful poet deemed it wise to quit Stratford and shelter himself in London. Years afterwards he caricatured Sir Thomas in the Merry Halves of l4^indsor as Justice Shallow. In the library at Charlecote has been preserved since the date of its publication, in 1619, a small volume entitled: A MOST PLEASANT AND Ex- cellent conceited comedy, of Sir John Falstaffe and the merry wives of Windsor. With the swaggering vaine of An- cient Pistoll, and Corporall Nym. Written by W. SHAKESPEARE. Printed for Arthur Johnson, 1619. o > < a: ui > ui X I- o tr UJ I- o o 111 _1 IT < I o "3 114 Cbarlecote This little volume, which is a first edition, has never left the library shelves, and is an evidence, I think, that when it became known to the Lucys that Shakespeare had turned Sir Thomas into ridicule, the family very naturally acquired the book in order to compare the character in the play with its well-known origi- nal. The part of Sir Thomas as Justice Shallow, however, is left out in this copy. There is another tradition connected with Shakespeare which Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Lucy, in her most interesting volume on Charlecote and the Lucy family, mentions with evident pride ; and that is that, "in after years Shakespeare was in friendly communications with the Lucys." May we not therefore believe that, when he retired to Stratford-upon-Avon, and had become famous and much talked of in the neighbourhood as the owner of New Place, as the prosperous "Mr." Shakespeare, he may have sauntered of an afternoon through the green lanes over to Charlecote, and rested himself by the hearth of his quondam prosecutor, who did not die till July 7, 1600? If this be the case (and 1 believe it an undoubted fact), the great hall of Charle- cote may well be described as haunted in the pleasantest manner by its association with the most fertile poet that has ever lived. To return for a moment to the famous deer-stealing tradi- tion, 1 cannot help thinking that some incident did really occur in which Shakespeare figured as having stolen or having killed a deer in the park, which was an offence in those days punish- able by death ; but this cruel law had long since fallen into dis- use, and it is not very likely that Sir Thomas would have rendered himself ridiculous among his neighbours by threatening to make a Star Chamber matter of the lad Shakespeare's esca- pade. I can readily imagine, however, that Master Shakespeare was brought into the august presence of Sir Thomas, the greatest personage in the neighbourhood, and that that gentleman made "5 ii6 Cbarlecote him feel exceedingly uncomfortable. It may have chanced, too, that the Earl of Leicester was in the house at the time, for he lived in those days at the not very distant Kenilworth ; but 1 think it more probable that the intercession for the release of the young rebel came from Jocosa or Joyce, the lady of Cbarle- cote, who has left the kindliest traces of her existence imagin- able. She must have been, from all accounts, a charming woman, and, her portraits assure us, also a very lovely one. The family still possess a miniature of Shakespeare's Sir Thomas ; and also a portrait of that celebrity's grandson (by Isaac Oliver, in oils, on copper), now in the hall — in many ways a remarkable picture ; a present from Lord Herbert of Cherbury. It is kitcat in shape and admirably painted ; the features are exceed- ingly regular and aquiline, the hair and beard and moustache golden, but the eyes have a most sinister expression. Thrown round the shoulders is a sort of drapery of black silk, magnifi- cently embroidered in gold with an elaborate Italian pattern. Sir Tracey was a great friend of Lord Herbert, and travelled on the continent with him before he settled down at Charlecote. In his autobiography, Lord Herbert says he acted twice as second to his friend, "against two cavalliers of our nation, who were got indeed to fight with us in the field where we attended them." Lord Herbert gave Sir T. Lucy the portrait of himself by Oliver, as a match to the knight's own portrait by the same artist. In the fine family picture by C. Janssen, in the Hall, Lord Herbert's friend again appears, but the expression is much pleasanter. He was evidently one who loved good clothes, for he is superbly dressed in black velvet and silk, and wears the nattiest shoes with big white rosettes that can be well imagined on his extremely small feet. Sitting opposite is his wife, Alice, Lady Lucy, a sweet-looking young woman, whose expression of combined gentleness and firmness delighted Washington Irving THE ENTRANCE GATE, CHARLECOTE ; SAID TO HAVE BEEN DESIGNED BY JOHN OF PADUA 117 ii8 (Tbarlecote when he visited Charlecote in the early part of the century. The children have a most venerable stiffness and formality of dress. A hawk is sitting on its perch in the foreground, and one of the children holds a bow, as if inheriting his father's love of archery and sport, so indispensable to a gentleman of quality in the days of good Queen Bess. But what delighted me most in this picture was Alice, the baby, in her old nurse's arms, with three cherries in her tiny plump fingers, and the fine old dog crouched at Sir Tracey's feet. Spencer, the eldest son, is seen bringing in a dish of peaches ; and Constance, the eldest daugh- ter, presents cherries to her mother. Margaret holds her father's hand and looks into his face with an odd, grave look ; whilst Robert and Richard are caressing a spaniel. This family picture is one of the most delightful 1 have ever seen, as it gives one such a thorough insight into the family life of bygone times. Before I describe the house, let me say a few words of the illustrious old English county family that has inhabited it for so many generations. The ancient house of Lucy, which has long flourished at Charlecote, in the county of Warwick, is descended from Gilbert de Gaunt, son of Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, whose sister William the Conqueror married. This Gilbert de Gaunt, assisting his uncle, William, Duke of Normandy, in the conquest of England, had, in reward for his services (besides other possessions), the lands of one Tour, a Dane ; and at that time held one lord- ship in Berkshire, two in Oxfordshire, three in Yorkshire, six in Cambridgeshire, two in Buckinghamshire, one in Huntingdon- shire, five in Northamptonshire, one in Rutland, one in Leices- tershire, one in Warwickshire, eleven in Nottinghamshire, and a hundred and thirteen in Lincolnshire, of which Folkingham was one, and the head of his barony, where he seated himself. He had by his wife Alice, daughter and heiress of Robert, son TOMB OF SIR THOMAS AND LADY LUCY IN CHARLECOTE CHURCH 119 I20 Cbarlecote of Hugh Mountford, three sons ; and from the eldest son descended the Gaunts, Earls of Lincoln, which line ended in daughters in the reign of King Edward 1. According to Dugdale's PVarwickshire, Hugh, the youngest, took to wife Adelina, daughter of the Earl of Leicester, and had two sons. Henry de Mountfort who succeeded at Beldesert, and Thurston, surnamed Cherlecote from the manor of Charlecote, the ancient possessions of the Mellents, Earls of Leicester, which, by the marriage aforesaid of Hugh de Mountfort with Adelina, accrued to Thurston, son of the said Hugh, with other large possessions belonging to the Mellents. His son, Walter, in the reign of Richard I., received by letters patent from that monarch many rights, immunities, and privileges connected with this manor, which were ratified by John in his reign. From this Walter de Cherlecote (who was a knight) the present Lucy family descend in uninterrupted line, and have dwelt at Charlecote since 1189. In 1786, there was, however, a slight interruption in this direct procession, for the Rev. John Hammond, a second cousin, took the name of Lucy by sign manual ; but he was of the old stock, and from him descend the present owners of the beautiful old English home so delightfully associated with the bard of Avon. The late Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Lucy, a lady of considerable literary ability, may be described as the annalist of the family, for, in 1862, she printed, for private circulation only, an excellent work on the family into which she had married. As is the case in almost every old English family, a vast quantity of old letters, documents, and parchments are still extant, (though unfortu- nately many have disappeared in the lapse of ages,) at Charle- cote, which throw a curious sidelight on the manners and customs of our ancestors. We have thus, amongst those quoted by Mrs. Lucy, evidences that Queen Elizabeth knighted the Sir Thomas Lucy whose name is immortalised by his legendary THE GARDEN FRONT, CHARLECOTE 121 122 Cbarlecote association with Shakespeare, on the occasion of her breakfast- ing at Charlecote on her way to her famous visit at Kenilworth. It would also seem that Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who was then living at Kenilworth in a splendour not much inferior to royalty, sent his badge of the bear and rug to Sir Thomas, requesting him to wear it. The doughty knight of Charlecote point blank refused to do so, and styled his lordship of Kenil- worth " an upstart." He was a loyal and an artistic-minded gentleman ; for, when he rebuilt the house, he caused the facade toward the garden to be designed in the shape of an E. The beautiful gateway lower down in the garden, one of the most perfect specimens of the architecture of the period in England, was designed by John of Padua, who visited England in the reign of Henry Vlll. Sir Thomas, if we may credit all the good things he says of her — and doubtless they did not Exceed the truth — was de- voted to his wife, the Lady Joyce Lucy, "who departed this mortall lyfe at Cherlecote on the lo February, 1595, being then of the age of threescore and three years, and was worshipfully brought to the church of Cherlecote aforesaid, and there buryed in the month of March following." The Lady Lucy's burial sermon was preached by Dr. Ten- nyson, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury ; and the fine monu- ment put up by her husband to her memory is of alabaster, with recumbent figures of the knight and his wife side by side and effigies of their son and daughter kneeling as in prayer. It is now in the new church at Charlecote, built by Mrs. Lucy on the site of the old one, which had fallen into ruins. Never was quainter epitaph devised ; it is so graceful as to be worthy of Shakespeare himself: " Here entombed lyeth the Lady Joyce Lucy, Wife of Sir Thomas Lucy, of Charlecote in the County of Warwick, Knight, Cbarlecote 123 daughter and heir of Thomas Acton, of Sutton in the County of Worcester, Esquire, who departed out of this wretched world to her Heavenly Kingdome, the tenth day of February in the yeare of our Lord God, 1595, of her age- LX. and 111. All the time other Lyfe a true and faithful servant other good God ; never de- tected in any crime or vice ; in religion most sound ; in love to her husband most faithfull.andtrue. in friendship most con- stant. To what was in trust committed to her most secret ; in wisdom excelling ; in governing of her House and bring up of Youth in the feare of God, that did con- verse with her, most rare and singular ; a great maintainer of hospitality ; greatly esteemed of her betters ; misliked of none unless the envious. ''When all is spoken that can be said, a Woman so fur- nished and garnished with Virtue as not to be bettered, and hardly to be equalled by any ; as she lived most virtuously, so she dyed most godly. Set down by him that best did know what hath been written to be true. "Thomas Lucy." THE DRAWINQ-ROOM 124 Cbarlecote Another name great in our literature is connected with Charlecote — that of John Foxe the martyrologist. " Forsaken by his friends and accused of heresy for professing openly the reformed religion, was left naked of all human assistance ; when God's providence began to show itself, procuring for him a safe refuge in the house of the Worshipful Knight, Sir Thomas Lucy, of Charlecote in Warwickshire, who received him into his family as tutor, and he remained there til his pupils no longer needed instruction." John Foxe married a wife during his so- journ at Charlecote, and the wedding took place in the parish church. Another very interesting Lucy was Richard, Sheriff of War- wick in 1647, and Member for the county of Warwick in 1648 ; he was a staunch loyalist, and unto him Oliver Cromwell wrote the following letter : " Forasmuch as upon the dissolution of the late Parliament it became necessary that the peace, safety and good govern- ment of this Common-wealth should be provided for. And in order thereunto diverse persons fearing God, and of approved fidelity and honesty, are by myself, with the advise of my Council of Officers, nominated, to whom the great charge and trust of so weighty affairs is to be committed. And having as- surance of your love to and courage for God and the interest of His cause and of the good People of this Common-wealth, 1, Oliver Cromwell, Captain Generall and Commander in Chief of all the Armies and Forces raised and to be raised within this Common-wealth, Doe hereby somon and require you Richard Lucie, Esqr. (being one of the persons nominated), personally to be and appear att the Councill Chamber commonly known or called by the name of the Councill Chamber in Whitehall within the Citie of West Minster, upon the fourth day of July next ensuing the date hereof, then and there to take upon you Cbarlecote 125 the said trust unto which you are hereby called, etc., and ap- pointed to serve as Member for the county of Warwick, and hereof you are not to fail. '"'' Given under my hand and seale, the sixth day of June, 16^). "O. Cromwell." This Richard Lucy married Elizabeth, sole daughter and heiress of John Urrey of Thorley in the Isle of Wight, and they had six children. There are portraits of Richard and his wife in the great hall at Charlecote : Richard Lucy is dressed in a rich black suit, with a pair of buff-coloured gloves. An open book lies on a table before him ; the lady wears the costume of the Commonwealth. Richard Lucy died in 1677, and was succeeded by Thomas Lucy, who at the time of his father's death was a captain of a troop of horse under Aubrey de Vere, Earl of Ox- ford. He married Katherine, daughter of Robert Wheatley, of Bracknel, county Berks. She, it seems, was a lady of great beauty, much addicted to play, not on the harp, but at cards. She gambled away ;^500 one morning be- fore her breakfast; and when her good husband died, in 1684, ENTRANCE TO GARDENS 126 Cbarlccote she made up her mind not to remain long a widow, but being very beautiful, captivated the Duke of Northumberland, whom she married. She must have been a very greedy lady, for she took away with her the family jewels and a great deal of plate, and indeed everything excepting the household goods. There is an exquisite portrait of this George Fitzroy, Duke of North- umberland, painted on vellum by William Wissing, in Mrs. Lucy's boudoir. The Duchess of Northumberland died on June 3, 17 14, and was buried in the Duke of Albermarle's vault in the Chapel of Henry Vll., St. Peter's, Westminster. The Duke only sur- vived her two years, and was buried by her side. She left a child by her first husband, Elizabeth Lucy, who was a ward in Chancery, and who lived with her cousin Davenport Lucy, who succeeded to the estates when his first cousin Captain Thomas Lucy died. There is a mighty quaint estimate of what was allowed for the maintenance, education and dress of the said Elizabeth Lucy still preserved at Charlecote. From an old account-book we obtain the following infor- mation as to the annual produce of the market during the life of George Lucy, who married Mary, the only daughter and sole heiress of John Bohun, of Finham, county Warwick : "From the year 1689 to 171 3 the produce of the market varied from the sum of /331 35. lod. to ^552 145. 9^., and then to ^258 25. Sd. This account is addressed to George Lucy from his most humble servant George Guy." George Lucy had his portrait painted by Dahl, and he has a splendid wig on with fine flowing curls. He had, no doubt, a great variety of them, for here is a bill for a bob wig in 1718 : "October, 17 18. "Colonell Lucy, for a bob wig bought of John Greenwood, I, 105." dbarlecotc 127 Colonel and Mrs. Lucy paid for tea /i 45. a pound for what was called finest Imperial tea, and 165. a pound for finest green tea. Colonel George Lucy died suddenly without leaving a will, so he was succeeded by his brother William Lucy, who was the possessor of the very quaint picture of Charlecote House in the seventeenth cen- tury which now hangs in the great hall. In the eighteenth century the Lucys went a good deal to London, to Bath and various other water- ing places, and, like their neighbours, lost a good deal of the quaintness of the bygone days, and as- sumed the fine man- ners which were the fashion in an age of powder and patches. When William Lucy died, in 1723, his coach in London was put into mourning, and cost with black for the servants ^^54 35. Madam Lucy's coach put into mourning cost ^^22 ; thirty-one yards of black cloth to put coach and harness in mourning, at 75. 3 J. a yard, i^ii 45. 9^. ; for colouring and varnishing the carriage and wheels and blacking the brass, £1 55. ; for black nails for the inside and out, £2 \os. ; for tufts and tassels and glass strings and holders and check string and lace, £} ; for IN THE GARDENS 128 Cbarlecote new stuffing the back and coach box seat, cloth and buttons, and putting the coach and harness and brasses in mourning, £4 8s. Then there is a bill for /81 165. 6d. for mourning for servants and dependants. Mourning for Mrs. Throckmorton (Lucy), £ij 95., and a ring left her by will, ^6 ; and for fifty- two mourning rings to friends, 52 guineas. Eight rooms in the house at Charlecote were hung with black, for which the undertaker charged /86 ; but Madam Lucy, through the steward Mr. Gilbert, made him take ^^"80, — after which we may be thank- ful that we live in the nineteenth century. In the eighteenth century, too, the Lucys, like the rest of English men and women, develop a distinct taste for letter writ- ing, and Mrs. Elizabeth Lucy has selected a great number of letters which display considerable literary ability, and make us regret that more of them have not been published (1 can scarcely say published, for Mrs. Lucy's book was intended for the strictest private circulation — possibly one day the correspondence of the Lucys will receive ampler justice, at any rate it is devoutly so to be hoped). Amongst others are two letters addressed to James, called the Pretender, by his son Charles ; one of which was written just after the battle of Pinkie. There is also a most interesting correspondence with Mrs. Hayes, a widow who lived at Charlecote from the time of George Lucy's coming into pos- session till the time of her death, when she was quite an old woman, in 1772. She seems to have been an extremely clever woman, and to have managed the household affairs to admir- ation. She was greatly beloved and respected by all who knew her, and she kept up a correspondence with Mr. Lucy which would till a volume : those letters which are preserved are ex- cellent reading. Out of the number 1 select the following, since it gives us a glimpse of Mrs. Delany, one of the social celebrities of the last century : 1 Cbarlecote 129 ''A letter from Mrs. Hayes to Mr. Lucy when he was stay- ing for his health at Cheltenham. " Charlecote, Jt^^/^^ 215/, 1749. "You are extremely good, dear Sir, to give me the pleasure of hearing from you, which I always esteem a particular favour. 1 hope the waters agree with you. The Dean of Down and Mrs. Delany are at Welsborne, and Mr. and Mrs. Dewes brought them here yesterday to see the House. They spent their whole time in walking about ; only the old lady (Mrs. Delany) gave us an anthem upon the harpsichord. She really plays and sings incomparibly ; but as to her other extraordinary quali- ties, I had not pene- tration enough to find them out, for she is a strange, disagreeable woman. Your keeper, James, bores me to death to ask you to let him kill a buck and bring it to you, as they are now in high order. 1 must now tell you a story that everybody is full of. Your good friend Mrs. Anne Brawn, who was coming somewhere this way to make a visit, met Mr. Stanley of Alveston's waggon CHARLECOTE CHURCH I30 Cbarlecote loaded with corn. She would have them turn out of the way, and they would not ; so they tried their strength who should give way, and Mrs. Anne's coach is broke all to pieces. She then took her coachman's whip and strapped the waggoner heartily, and when she got home served her coachman with the same sauce, and he is run away with his livery, and she hath sent a hue and cry after him, and hath had to order a new coach. Mr. Dighton insists upon my telling you that he would have you look out for a wife at Cheltenham, for doe all he can there is no hope for you at Clopton. Adieu ! accept all our best compliments ; and I am, dear Sir, ''Yours most sincerely, "P. Hayes." Mr. Lucy, writing to Mrs. Hayes from Bath in 1760, says: " 1 am told my picture by Gainsborough is so like that people who are unacquainted with me know it from seeing me in the rooms; and 1 like it so well myself that I shall sit for another." And he did sit for another, which now hangs on the wall of the library at Charlecote, and the following is one of Gains- borough's receipts : "February 2'jth, 1760. " Received of George Lucy, Esquire, the sum of eight guineas in full, for portrait of himself. /8 85. "Thomas Gainsborough." The replica cost exactly the same price. There is also another painting of this gentleman in a long blue velvet and gold embroidered coat and waistcoat ; and there exists, moreover, a sad-coloured suit with silver threadwork which belonged to him. In 1755, Mr. W. Lucy bought the an- cestor of those black and white spotted Spanish sheep, which are still in the park among the deer. UJ I- O o UJ a. < X o > a: < a: m UJ I 1- 132 Cbarlecote The husband of the lady to whom we are indebted for the complete history of the Lucy family was the late Mr. George Lucy, a distinguished lover and collector of the fine arts. Mary Elizabeth Lucy, his wife, and the authoress of the memorials of the family, was the daughter of Sir John Williams, Bart., of Bodlewyddan, in the parish of St. Asaph, in the county of Flint. She travelled a great deal with her husband on the Continent, and was present at the coronation of Queen Victoria. Mr. George Lucy purchased many fine works of art still preserved in the house. The prices he paid for his pictures are instructive at the present moment : take, for instance, the choice and beautiful landscape by Both, which hangs in the drawing- room, and which he bought in 1821 from Oliver for /400, a price we should consider very high for a work by this master in the present day. On the other hand, the splendid portrait of Bayard, by Se- bastian del Piombo, he purchased for only /17s at the sale of Watson Taylor in 1823 ; it is one of the noblest portraits by this master in existence, and should be of inestimable value now. Also a portrait, by Raffaelle, of the Marquis of Mantua, which George Lucy purchased from Mr. Buchanan in 181O for ^1150; this portrait once belonged to Cnarles 1. In the library is a very fine Vandyke, which is the picture alluded to by Charles I. in a letter to Colonel Whateley, writ- ten at the time he secretly withdrew himself from Whitehall, in which he says: ''There are three pictures which are not mine. My wife's picture in blue satin, sitting in a chair, you must send to Mrs. Kirk." This lady was one of the Queens dressers. This picture of Henrietta-Maria is an exquisite work, but only cost Mr. Lucy £']6 \^s. Close to it hangs a very fine portrait of Charles I. ; and over the mantelpiece in the said library is a superb Zucchero of Queen Elizabeth in all her glory, wearing Cbarlecote 133 a dark dress gorgeously embroidered and strewn with pearls and other jewels. There are several other good pictures by Vandyke in the library, and a very fine collection of books, amongst them a Natural History splendidly bound, with the arms of Diane de Poitiers on the cover. A French gentleman qui s'y connait assured me that this was one of the best specimens of French binding of the sixteenth century he had ever seen. This CHARLECOTE FROM THE FRONT library throughout gives evidence of the literary taste of the distinguished family which has preserved it so well, and modern works of merit are not wanting. Charlecote, as we now see it, dates mainly from the last years of Elizabeth's reign, and is a large red-brick mansion picked out with white stone, in that style of architecture which is so eminently suited to our climate. It stands on a terrace leading down to gardens laid out with considerable taste in the some- what stiff and formal Dutch inanner which was the fashion in the last two centuries. 134 Cbarlecote Architectually speaking, the most beautiful part of the house is the entrance gate, which, according to family tradition, was designed by John of Padua. None of the rooms in the house itself are of exceptional dimensions, excepting the hall, which has been thoroughly restored ; and although, no doubt, restora- tion was absolutely necessary, it has of course lost much of its ancient aspect in the process : Washington Irving, for instance, would scarcely recognise, in the white and yellow Italian mar- ble pavement, that broken stone — now in the passage and small entrance hall, and which paves the church at Charlecote — that so fascinated him when he visited Charlecote. The picturesque but uncomfortable state of affairs which he described has dis- appeared ; and who knows but what the hall as it is now is not more like what it was in the days of Shakespeare — for then it had only been recently built — than it was when the author of Tales of a Traveller visited it some seventy years ago ? Mr. and Mrs. George Lucy, about forty years ago, added a very handsome dining-room and library, and made several other important improvements ; but they preserved so perfectly the style of the old mansion that it is now quite impossible to dis- tinguish, externally at least, these new additions. The park, though not large, is one of the most lovely in England. Its little nooks and glades are the same as they were two centuries ago, and the same Avon flows at the foot of the quaint terraces, and winds through the green grass, and sparkles in the sunshine as brightly as when the house was first built. No more exquisitely rich woodland scenery can be imagined, and more than one old gnarled oak and beech dotted about the park were fine trees in the prime of life when that bejewelled and befarthingaled sovereign Elizabeth and her glittering train crossed the bridge and entered the gateway one memorable morning in 1583. Cbarlecote 135 In this park undoubtedly Shakespeare often strayed and watched the deer crossing the river, as I myself have often watched them in the summer of last year (1893). May not the graceful sight have inspired him with the beautiful lines in As you like it ? Surely it was in this park that he saw "A poor sequestered stag That from the hunter's aim had ta'en a hurt Did come to languish ; " and we can still see, as he saw then, "the careless herd full of the pasture " step gaily into the water and swim across in search of fresh fields under the lowering branches of the grand old trees in the outer park which leads up to the porter's lodge and the high road to Stratford-upon-Avon, two and a half miles away. IboUanb Ibouse 137 MIBIiiiHf HOLLAND HOUSE, SOUTH SIDE HOLLAND HOUSE BY CAROLINE ROCHE FEWER associations are attached to the private houses of notable people in London than to those of any capital in Europe. Englishmen love country life, and from feudal times to the present day the sports and duties attach- ing to it have absorbed the wealthier classes for the greater part of the year. The great nobles from time immemorial have built their castles on their estates, and hence the best monuments of archi- tecture, apart from churches and public buildings, are to be found outside London. The Lords of Alnwick, Raby, Hatfield, or Burghley, have been content, at all events of recent years, with unpretentious town mansions ; and until agricultural depression 139 140 IboUanD Ibouse dispersed art collections, it is probable that nine-tenths of the treasures of England were hidden from all those who had not the entree to the great country houses. Nor is this all. Eng- lishmen have no idea of society in the Continental sense. Ban- quets, balls, and parties, public and private, have always formed an accompaniment to the Parliamentary session ; but the select coteries which meet almost daily in Paris — in the informal gath- erings termed "salons," where friendships are cemented with that mixture of grave and gay conversation in which our mer- curial neighbours excel — are foreign to the English life. In its records as well as its surroundings, Holland House stands out a brilliant exception in this respect. It is unique among English homes, standing as it does in its own lovely gardens, surrounded till lately by the fields of Kensington, now in the middle of a densely populated district, and within a walk of the centre of London. It has ceased for half a century to be a country home, and though it has changed hands repeatedly, its treasures re- main intact. Its architecture is characteristic ; ^ its portraits and busts recall all the most interesting personages who have lived in it. Every room is filled with rare objects and historical relics ; it has neither been robbed to pay death duties, nor spoiled by Vandal taste. It possesses, moreover, a special interest as the centre round which revolved for nearly half a century all that was brightest and most intellectual, in an age of strength and great achievements — those whose influence so profoundly af- fected the political events of the day. Holland House dates from the beginning of the seventeenth century, and came early into the possession of the Holland family. Sir William Cope, who bought the manor in 1607, got Thorpe — the architect of the day — to build the house, which ' The cloisters, balconies, and ornamental work, and the centre turret on the south side, are of stone, standing out upon a ground-work of red brick. 141 142 Ibollant) Ibouse was finished in 1620. He left it to his daughter, wife of the first Earl Holland, younger son of Earl Warwick. His tenure of the house was cut short by his execution, a few days after that of Charles I., March 9, 1649. But during those stormy years Holland House was a Royalist centre, and the memory of that period is preserved by contemporary portraits of Charles I. and Henrietta Maria. Of the inmates of Holland House during the century which succeeded 1649, until the mansion passed into the hands of the Fox family, comparatively little is known, but among its varied fortunes it was for a few months the residence of Cromwell and Fairfax, for some years of Addison, and early in the eight- eeth century of William Penn. Its social history may be said to have begun in 1749, when the first Lord Holland, second son of Lord Ilchester, and father of Charles James Fox, became its owner. From this time forth for a hundred years, Holland House became the nursery of those Whig principles, which after many years in the wilderness, achieved their final victory in the Re- form Bill of 183 1 under Lord Grey. The history of Holland House during this period is almost the history of the nation. The first and third Lords Holland both played a prominent part in the politics of the day. Between them came Charles James Fox, whose personal qualities miade him the idol of the age. Well might Lord Holland write of himself (so expressing his joy that he had done nothing unworthy of the friend of Fox and Grey) : " Nephew of Fox, and friend of Grey, Enough my meed of fame If those who deign'd to observe me say I injured neither name." In Elizabeth Vassall he had espoused one of the most 143 144 Ibollanb Ibouse remarkable women of the century. To Lady Holland we owe the society which has rendered Holland House famous : a so- ciety in which the eloquence of Macaulay was chastened by the caustic wit of Rogers, in which Sydney Smith exercised his playfulness on prelates and peers, as well as on the aristocratic footman who disdained the omnibus straw which adhered to his evening shoes ! in which Lord Brougham bullied, and Sheridan laughed, and which, by its brilliancy, finally attracted to itself those elements of court and fashion which prudence and policy had kept away. At the very entrance to the house one is struck by the cosmopolitan taste of the various owners. The busts in the Entrance Hall include the Duke of Cum- berland, by Rysbraeck, 1754 ; Charles James Fox, by Nollekens ; the Duke of York, by Prosperi ; John Hookham Frere, by Chan- trey ; Henry Richard, third Lord Holland ; Napoleon, and Henri Quatre. But this mixture of discord is no clue to the arrange- ment of the house : the visitor passes through a succession of rooms, each having a separate artistic interest, and forming to- gether a complete historical record. Thus in the Breakfast-room the tapestries are after designs by Francois Boucher, an artist of the eighteenth century. The representations are: "Bacchus and the Bacchantes"; "Apollo with the Muses " ; " Vulcan and Venus " ; and "Vulcan Present- ing Jupiter with the Thunderbolts." The China-room, with its choice collection of Sevres, Dres- den, Berlin, and Chelsea, amongst the latter the desert service which belonged to Dr. Johnson, is a museum in itself. The five west rooms include the "Swannery," added by the present owner, and which is so called from the picture by Goddard, empanelled over the mantelpiece, of the "Swannery" at Abbotsbury Castle. In this room also hangs the " Muscipula," •^ VIEW OF HOLLAND HOUSE FROM THE GARDENS 145 146 IboUant) Ibousc by Sir Joshua Reynolds, "View of Ranelagh," and "Conquest of Mexico," by Hogarth. The four adjoining rooms are chiefly remarkable for the fine modern portraits by Watts, of Panizzi, Guizot, Thiers, Lady Holland, Countess Castiglione, Jerome Buonaparte, Luttrell, and many others, and the portrait of Canova the sculptor. The above reception-rooms, which in any other house would constitute a sufficient number, by no means exhaust the ex- ceptional resources of Holland House, for there are no less than twenty-three in all. The Journal-room is filled with the portraits of Whig states- men, and colleagues of the Lords Holland, from 1780 onwards. Here we find Sir Philip Francis, once believed to be the author of the Letters of "Junius," of whom the following anecdote is told. Sir Philip and Samuel Rogers were both staying at Holland House. One evening, after dinner, they were walking together discussing politics and literature. Sir Philip grew more communicative than usual, and so friendly and confidential towards Rogers, that the latter, much encouraged, ventured to say, "Now, Sir Philip, 1 should like to ask you a question : may I ? " Sir Philip's manner and tone at once altered ; and, suddenly stopping, he answered in a short and abrupt way, "At your peril, sir, at your peril." Rogers remained silent, and, on leaving Sir Philip muttered to himself, "If he is Junius, it must be Junius Brutus." Amongst the portraits in this room are those of Hookham Frere, the man of letters ; the two poets, Samuel Rogers, by Hoppner, and Thomas Moore, by Shee ; Francis Horner, of whom Sydney Smith said, "he had the Ten Commandments written on his face, and that he looked so virtuous he might commit any crime, and no one would believe him guilty " ; Princess Lieven, by Watts ; Earl Grey ; the Duke of Bedford ; THE SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS ROOM, HOLLAND HOUSE 147 148 IboUant) Ibouae Sir James Mackintosh ; Talleyrand, the diplomatic wit ; Eliza- beth, Lady Holland, by Pagan ; Lord Holland, by Fabre. The Library, adapted to the tastes of a generation whose mornings were free from the absorbing cares of golf and bi- cycling, is a long room, lined with bookcases, and hung with Cordova leather. Here Lord and Lady Holland were accustomed to sit, with Allen the librarian at their beck and call. Large bay windows redeem the room from the dignified darkness so char- acteristic of old libraries, and give easy access to the terrace overlooking the garden. Homage can here be paid to the genius of Addison, whose writing-table, after belonging to Sir Thomas Lawrence and Samuel Rogers, the poet, was bought by Lord Holland at the sale of Rogers' property. May 5, 1856, and so, after the lapse of many years, it returned to its former home. Macaulay, perhaps the most appreciative of Lady Holland's guests, recalls to us the special charm of that venerable cham- ber, in which all the antique gravity of a college library was so singularly blended with all that female grace and wit could devise to establish a drawing-room. He writes : "They will recollect, not unmoved, those shelves loaded with the varied learning of many lands and many ages; those portraits in which were preserved the features of the best and wisest Englishmen of two generations. They will recollect how many men who have guided the politics of Europe, who have moved great assemblies by reason and eloquence, who have put life into bronze and canvas, or who have left to posterity things so written as it shall not willingly let them die, were there mixed with all that was loveliest and gayest in the society of the most splendid of capitals. They will recollect the peculiar character which belonged to that circle, in which every talent and accomplishment, every art and science, had its place. They will remember above all the grace, and the kindness — f:n' more ^■OBa^^BB ^ I50 Ibollant) Ibouse admirable than grace — with which the princely hospitality of the ancient mansion was dispensed."^ Guests at Holland House, if specially privileged, are assigned as a sitting-room the Inner Library, a small room well furnished with books and pictures, from which is obtained a fine view of the Dutch garden, and a glimpse of the Surrey hills beyond. Here the writer or orator is inspired by portraits of the Right Honourable Thomas Winnington, born 1696, died 1746, one of the greatest wits of his day, and an intimate friend of the first Lord Holland ; of Sir Robert Walpole in the heyday of his fame ; Henry, Marquess of Lansdowne ; Lord John Russell, and Lord Macartney. There are also excellent portraits of Stephen, first Earl of llchester ; Elizabeth, Countess of llchester ; Henry, Earl Digby, by Sir Joshua Reynolds ; and many others. Adjoining is the Library Passage, which is small and narrow, but its walls are covered with objects of interest. Over the door hangs a portrait of Addison ; next comes Benjamin Franklin ; Lope de Vega, many of whose books are in the library ; Galileo, the great philosopher ; and Machiavelli, the man of whom Ma- caulay says, ''Out of his surname, they" (Englishmen) "have coined an epithet for a knave, and out of his Christian name a synonym for the devil." Hard by is the portrait of the great Whig philosopher, Locke. This portrait, being the identical one discarded by Christ Church, has found a resting-place here : and ? where could it find a more appropriate home ? Below hangs a case of firearms ornamented with silver and gold, presented to Charles James Fox by Catherine, Empress of Russia, 1785, together with a miniature portrait of nerself, and an autograph letter, with indifferent spelling, telling him that she has ordered a bust of him, and is having it placed between that of Demos- thenes and Cicero ! Here is preserved a sword of prudence ' Macaulay's Essays: "Lord Holland." ■; 1 ADDISON'S ROOM, HOLLAND HOUSE so CALLED BECAUSE JOSEPH ADDISON DIED IN THIS ROOM 151 152 Ibollanb Ibouee presented to Charles James Fox by a patriot, and with the following lines : " Consider well — weigh strictly right and wrong, Resolve not quick — but once resolved be strong." Here also, in an interesting medley of personages and periods, are to be found a letter of Voltaire to Henry Fox, first Lord Holland, with a sketch of the writer ; a photograph of the Congress of Paris, 1856, with their signatures ; a portrait of Madame de Sevigne ; a sketch of Gibbon by William Wallace ; a miniature of Robespierre endorsed on the back by C. J. Fox, "Un sceUrat, un Idche, et unfoiiV; Addison's last autograph and his will ; a miniature cast of Milton on ivory, side by side with miniatures of Edmund Burke and Napoleon ; a portrait of George Selwyn, whom George II. distinguished as "that rascal George," provoking the repartee from Selwyn that "rascal" was an he- reditary title of the Georges. On a pane of glass in one of the windows are cut the following lines by Hookham Frere, dated October, 181 1: " May neither fire destroy nor waste impair, Nor time consume thee till the twentieth heir, May taste respect thee, and may Fashion spare " — on reading which Rogers is reported to have said, "1 wonder • where he got the diamond." Tearing ourselves away from the passage, after a cursory glance, we enter the Yellow Drawing-room, where hangs a sketch of the late Lady Holland's eye by Watts, and a portrait in pastel of Charles James Fox as a child, with a spaniel. Ac- cording to the common fashion of a period in which no collection was complete without miniatures, Holland House is so richly THE LIBRARY, HOLLAND HOUSE 153 154 lboUan^ Ibouee endowed in this respect that a special room was devoted to them. Here we find specimens of Samuel Cooper, Samuel Collins, Richard Cosway, Maria Cosway, Mrs. Mee, and Andrew Plimer. In Lady llches- ter's Sitting-room the chief objects of interest are the relics of Napole- on's friendship with Lady Hol- land: a locket con- taining Napoleon's hair, a ring, and his cross of the Legion of Honour. The snuff-box, now in the British Museum, which Napoleon sent % Lady Holland, contains a slip of paper with the fol- lowing words: THE WEST FRONT, FROM THE DUTCH GARDEN ^^ r > r- » r L Empereur Na- poleon a Lady Holland, Umoignage de satisfaction et d'estime." " Gift of the Hero, on his dying day, To her whose pity watch'd for ever nigh. Oh, could he see the proud, the happy ray This relic lights up in her generous eye. Sighing, he'd feel how easy 'tis to pay A friendship, all his kingdom could not buy." Thomas Moore. 155 156 IboUanb Ibouse In the anteroom to the Gilt Room are some interesting pencil drawings, by Watts, of friends of the late Lord Holland, which include amongst others Prince N. Corsini, Cardinal Sac- coni. Count Bossi, Mr. Petre, Lord Walpole, Mr. Cotterell, Lady Normanby, and Lady Dover. The Gilt Room was originally decorated by Francis Cleyn, when Charles I. honoured Holland House by a visit ; but the decoration has since been restored by Watts, who added the figures and two mantelpieces. The room is wainscotted, sepa- rated into panels by wooden basso-relievo, and divided up into medallions bordered with blue and gold. Within the borders are painted alternately a silver fleur-de-lys on an azure shield, and a golden cross on a shield of red. These shields are en- circled by palm leaves crossing at bottom and top, where they pass through an earl's coronet. The ceiling is quite modern ; the original one, also painted by Cleyn, having collapsed during the minority of the third Lord Holland. But the Secret Chamber, opening out of this room, is inter- esting. In it the Lord Holland who was beheaded, and whose ghost, with his head under his arm, still walks these rooms, was confined prisoner (1649). Passing through a recess, we enter the Sir Joshua Room, which contains many of his masterpieces, including the far- famed picture of Lady Sarah Lennox, Charles James Fox, and Lady Susan Strangeways, painted at Holland House ; Baretti, Dr. Johnson's friend ; Miss Fox as a child ; Lord Gor- don Lennox ; Mary, Duchess of Richmond ; Thomas Conolly ; Mary, Lady Holland ; Henry, Lord Holland, of whom it is said that on receiving his picture he remarked to Sir Joshua that he thought it had been hastily executed, and asked how long he had been painting it. The artist, much offended, replied, 'All my life, my lord." And last, the well-known portrait LADY ILCHESTER'S SITTINQ-ROOM, HOLLAND HOUSE, CONTAINING RELICS OF NAPOLEON 157 158 IboUant) Ibouse of Charles James Fox, painted in 1784, when he was thirty- five. Addison's Room, so called from his having died there, was afterward used by Lady Holland as her dining-room. Let us hover a moment with the spirit of Addison round the table where were gathered a succes- sion of guests, re- markable by their variety, their tal- ents, their high station, or their distinction in various walks of life. Here oppos- ites met, and here intimacies were confirmed. Lord Grey and Princess Lieven, Sir James Mackintosh and Madame de Stael, Talleyrand and Metternich, Charles James Fox and Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, of "whose zeal for C. J. Fox in the Westminster election, having bought a butcher's vote with a kiss, the following epigram was circulated : " Arrayed in matchless beauty, Devon's fair ! . In Fox's favour takes a zealous part ; But, oh ! where'er the pilferer comes — beware ! She supplicates a vote, and steals a heart." ELIZABETH VASSALL, LADY HOLLAND BY G. FAQAN ELIZABETH VASSALL, LADY HOLLAND BY GAUFFRIER, A. D. 1795 159 i6o Ibollant) Ibouse Grattan and Samuel Rogers, "Junius" and Hookham Frere, Lord Byron and Thomas Moore, Brougham and Horner, Wal- pole and George Selwyn, Henry Luttrell and Canova. All these combined willing- ly to play their part in assemblies at which, whoever might be present, Elizabeth, Lady Holland was the guiding spirit and central figure. Hers was a most imperious nature and thoroughly unconventional. She would, in the midst of some of Macaulay's most interesting anec- dotes, tap on the table with her fan and say, "Now, Macaulay, we have had enough of this, —give us something else"; or to Sydney Smith, "Sydney, ring the bell." He answered, "Oh, yes! and shall I sweep the room?" To Lord Portchester her frankness even went further: "1 am sorry to hear you are going to publish a poem. Can't you suppress it ? " If her dinner table was too crowded, she in- stantly gave her imperious order : " Luttrell ! make room ! " LADY SARAH LENOX, CHARLES JAMES FOX, AND LADY SUSAN STRANGEWAYS PAINTED AT HOLLAND HOUSE BY SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS IboHanC) Ibouse i6r It certainly must be made," he answered, "for it does not exist." It is with reluctance that we leave this brilliant assemblage, and as we pass down the lovely old oak staircase, we can hardly fail to carry away i.-. some of the mem- ories in which Holland House is so rich. Many of us, in looking at the houses which are being built every day, may have felt that, de- spite old armour and hastily col- lected pictures, there is a certain void in places which have no past and no recol- lections. It is the converse to this which attaches so exceptional and abiding an interest to Holland House. Having taken leave of the house — one which can lay claim to having had as inmates a greater number of those distinguished in political and literary history than perhaps any other private dwelling can boast of^we must, ere we depart, walk through the lovely gardens, in which there is much to admire. And first as to the trees. The noble cedars, planted in the reign of James THE GREEN LANE 1 62 ibollanb Ibouee I., are about seventy feet high, with a girth, at five feet, of six- teen feet six. One of the horse-chestnuts is a hundred feet high ; the beeches and elms are about seventy feet. To reach the gar- dens, we pass through the large bow window in the West Room, and descending a flight of steps, we find ourselves in the Dutch Garden, which is laid out in the old-fashioned style, with flower- beds surrounded with box edging and gravel walks. In the summer-time these are gay with flowers. Here we come across a summer-house, on either side of which is a fox cut out in box trees. This is Rogers's seat ; and here Lord Holland placed the following inscription : " Here Rogers sat, and here for ever dwell With me those pleasures that he sings so well." V. L. L. H. D. 1818. Hanging below this is the commentary by his old friend Luttrell, the wit : " How happily sheltered is he who reposes In this haunt of the poet, overshadowed with roses, While the sun is rejoicing unclouded on high, And summer's full majesty reigns in the sky. Let me in, and be seated. 1 '11 try if, thus placed, 1 can catch but one spark of his feeling and taste, Can steal a sweet note from his musical strain Or a ray of his genius to kindle my brain. " Well, now I am fairly installed in the bower. How lovely the scene ! How propitious the hour ! The breeze is perfumed by the hawthorne it stirs, All is beauty around me — but nothing occurs, Not a thought, 1 protest — though I 'm here, and alone, Not a line can I hit on that Rogers would own, Though my senses are ravished, my feelings in tune, And Holland 's my host, and the season is June, i63 164 Ibollanb Ibouse The trial is ended — no garden, nor grove, Though poets amid them may linger or rove, Not a seat e'en so hallowed as this can impart The fancy and fire that must spring from the heart ; So 1 rise, since the Muses continue to frown, No more of a poet than when I sat down : While Rogers, on whom they look kindly, can strike Their lyre at all times, in all places, alike." Henry Luttrell, June, 1818. Opposite the summer-house is a small garden devoted to the dahlia, of which the third Lady Holland was the first suc- cessful importer, and which her husband commemorated in the following lines : " The dahlia you brought to our isle Your praises for ever shall speak, 'Mid gardens as sweet as your smile. And in colours as bright as your cheek." In this garden is the bronze bust of Napoleon, by Canova, with a Greek inscription from the "Odyssey," translated thus by Macaulay : " For not, be sure, within the grave Is hid that prince, the wise, the brave ; But in an islet's narrow bound. With the great ocean roaring round, The captive of a foeman base He pines to view his native place." Passing through the arches and across the old orchard, we come to the Green Lane, formerly called Nightingale Lane, which is an avenue over half a mile long, carpeted with grass. It was here that the duel took place between Lord Camelford and Cap- tain Best, resulting in the death of the former, in 1804. Turning IboIIant) Ibouee 165 to the left, we pass through the avenue of limes planted by the late Lady Holland, to the wild garden, and sub-tropical ground, and so back to the house, by the Louis Philippe Alley, so called in remembrance of the exiled King who spent many a quiet hour under the shelter of its trees during the visit he paid to Holland House in 1848. At the end of this alley is a cast of the statue of Charles James Fox, by Westmacott, with the following in- scription : " CHARLES JAMES FOX, Whom all nations unite in esteeming to have been the chief man of the people." And so we pass through the gateway designed by Inigo Jones, and down the avenue of stately elms, and looking back through the large iron gates, we bid farewell, remembering Lord Carlisle's words to " . . . . The pile to Addison so dear, Where Sully feasted, and where Rogers' song Still adds sweet music to the perfum'd air And gently leads each grace and muse along." Cawbor Castle 167 sfifii^siaaaBtaBa^Hii CAWDOR CASTLE FROM A DRAWING BY R. W. BILLINGS CAWDOR CASTLE BY VISCOUNT EMLYN CAWDOR CASTLE is situated on the edge of the valley of the river Nairn. From the lawn in front of the Castle, Ben Wyvis and the hills of Caithness can be seen across the Moray Firth, while to the south at the back of the Castle, the great woods of Cawdor extend to the edge of the moors which stretch away beyond the Findhorn. The historical interest and antiquity of the Castle must ap- peal to anyone to whom the traditions of the Highlands are dear, and a place may well be given it among the historic homes of Scotland. i6g 170 Cawt)or Castle Cawdor, with Glamis, lays claim to having been the scene of the murder of King Duncan, and a room is shown in the central tower as the spot where it took place. The present Castle, we know, was built in the year i4'^4; but there was an older castle long before that date, which, if tradition is right, may have been the scene of the murder. Such history of those times as we have, though scarcely more relia- ble than tradition, seems to indicate that King Duncan, having been beaten in a great battle on the south of the Findhorn by his cousin Thorfinn, the Norseman, on August 12, 1040, rested one night in a place called the Smith's Bothie, where he was treacherously killed by Macbeth, who thereupon went over to Thorfmn, with whom he subsequently divided the territory they had acquired, and became King of the Scots with a palace at Scone. What is the true version of this murder, which has been made so famous by Shakespeare, will never be known. Such a labyrinth of fiction and fable surrounds all the history of those ancient times that it is now impossible to discover how or when the family of Calder first settled in Nairnshire ; but neither tradition nor the most ancient records point to their property having been held by any other family, and at the end of the thirteenth century a Thane of Cawdor is first mentioned in an authentic document This is Donald, who was one "of the good and faithful men of the county, who at Nairn, on Wednesday the Feast of St. Lawrence, 1295, gave their oaths to the valuation of Kil- ravock and Ester Gedeys," the property of Hugh Rose of Kilravock. Donald was succeeded by his son William, who received from Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, a charter dated August 8, 1310, in confirmation of his hereditary thanedom. Both of i Caw&or Ca0tle 171 these documents are still kept in the charter-room at Cawdor, with many others of almost equal interest. The old writers have expended great ingenuity in devising ways of varying the spelling of the family name of Cawdor, and in the old writs it appears in every possible form, except that in which we now spell it : in the earliest documents it is Kaledor, then we have Caldor, Caudor, and Calder, and by a if , - ■ '! ^.-■■r. ■■.■^'/\ FACSIMILE OF CHARTER GRANTED BY KING ALEXANDER II., A.D. 1236 FROM THE " BOOK OF CAWDOR " stroke of genius it is sometimes twisted into Caddell ; but, however it is spelt, the derivation seems pretty clear : Cal— sound, and der = water — an appropriate name, as two burns running from the hills through narrow rocky ravines in the woods join their waters just above the Castle before they flow together into the Nairn. According to old Lachlan Shaw, the historian, the Thanes '' as constables of the King's house resided in the Castle of 172 Cawbor Castle Nairn, and had a country seat at what is now called Old Caw- dor, half a mile north from the present seat, a house on a small moat with a dry ditch and a drawbridge," the ruins of which were still visible when he wrote in 1720. William the sixth Thane in his youth was about the Court of James II., as the King calls him, in a charter which is pre- served, his own beloved squire (dilectus familiaris scutifer noster) ; in later life he was appointed Crown Chamberlain beyond Spey, and seems to have been a good scholar and man of business. In 1454, he received letters from the King allow- ing him to build his Castle of Cawdor, and to fortify it "with walls, moats, and iron portcullis, and to furnish it with turrets and other defensive armaments and apparatus, to appoint con- stables, janitors, and jailors to the Castle, provided always that the King shall have free ingress and egress to and from the Castle." Thane William, having obtained leave to build his Castle, was much perplexed as to the choice of a site, till he was warned in a dream to put all the treasure he had collected for the purpose in a coffer, to bind it on an ass, and build his castle wherever the ass should stop. This, says, tradition, he did ; and the ass, passing by two hawthorn trees, stopped at the third on the edge of the burn, and there lay down with his burden, and around this tree the Thane built his Castle. To this day there is in the lowest vault of the tower the trunk of a hawthorn tree, firm and sound, though much chipped by collectors of relics, growing out of the rock and reaching to the top of the vault, and below it lies the old treasure chest, silent witnesses to the truth of the story ; the other two trees have now disappeared — the last one as lately as the year 1836. I THE DUNGEON, CAWDOR CASTLE, SHOWING HAWTHORN TREE AND TREASURE CHEST FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY VALENTINE, DUNDEE 173 ■• 174 CawDor Castle The Castle which Thane William built stands to this day unaltered, though at subsequent dates various additions have been built around it. The basement, as would appear from the thickness of its walls and the character of its masonry, must have been built at some period anterior to its superstructure. The Castle consisted of a square keep forty-five feet in length by thirty-four feet in width ; it was surrounded by a plain wall where now the other parts of the Castle stand ; on the south side the burn formed a natural defence, and on the other three sides a dry moat made it impossible to gain en- trance except by crossing the drawbridge. This old drawbridge is now perhaps the most perfect specimen of such old entrances in existence, and is still the only means of getting into the Castle ; and a stranger within the last few years has been heard on a dark night expostulat- ing somewhat forcibly with the driver of his fly for bringing him to a bridge instead of to the door of the hospitable man- sion in which he had hoped to pass the night. In the old days when the drawbridge was up and the portcullis closed, the keep must have been well-nigh impregnable. The drawbridge leads into the central courtyard, out of which two other courts open at slightly lower levels ; in the northern one of these the front door now stands, and formerly the old keep used to open directly into it ; and, in case any unwelcome visitors should have the temerity to force their way thus far into the Castle, there was arranged on the battlements on the top of the tower a projection directly over the door from which molten lead, stones, and any other missiles which might come handy, could be thrown down on the heads of the intruders, and make their welcome a warm one. The ground floor of the tower is occupied by the dungeon, which Cawt)or Castle 175 is not used now, but kept just as it was when it was first built round the old tree. It has a vaulted roof, and the light is admitted through two little narrow slits of windows facing the drawbridge cut in the wall, which is seven feet thick. An interesting story is told about the old iron door of the dungeon. Archibald Douglas, Earl of Moray, had in 1454 for- feited his estates for fortifying his two cas- tles, Lochindorb and Darnaway, against King James 11. The King himself repaired Darnaway and used it ^ as a hunting lodge, throwing large tracts of country out of cul- tivation that he might better enjoy the sport afforded by the valley of the Findhorn ; but, considering that from its strength and situ- ation Lochindorb was dangerous, he re- solved to have it de- stroyed, and gave the Thane of Cawdor a commission for carrying out the work, agreeing to pay him for doing so the not very munificent sum of ^24. Lochindorb, which Edward III. made famous by his expe- dition to relieve the Countess of Athol in 1336, was an old Roman keep on an island in a moorland loch on the far side THE DRAWBRIDGE FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY VALENTINE, DUNDEE 176 Cawt)or Castle of the Findhorn ; but despite the distance and the rough ground to be traversed, one of the Calders, a Highland Samson, car- ried the iron door across from Lochindorb to Cawdor on his back as a proof that the Castle had been destroyed. A worn and narrow corkscrew staircase leads from the dungeon to the three storeys above, each of which originally consisted of one main apartment with small recesses cut out of the thickness of the wall to serve as sleeping-places for at- tendants ; the middle room of these three is shown as King Duncan's room, and the whitewashed walls have been adorned with charcoal sketches of scenes and characters from the Tragedy of Macbeth, done by various visitors to the Castle. There was a fire in the room some years ago, and the old bedstead was burnt, and all that remains of the original woodwork is an old charred door in one of the recesses in the wall, which is strangely burnt to the shape of a man's head and shoulders. The staircase leads out finally to the top of the tower, from which a very fine view may be seen over the Moray Firth and the surrounding country. At old Cawdor, we learn from the records, there had been a chapel called St. Mary's, and Thane William included a new one when he built his Castle. This chapel probably stood in the south court, but was removed when alterations were made, the only relic of it which remains being an old bell of hammered iron clasped with nails. Thane William, the builder of the Castle, died in 1468, and was succeeded by his son, who bore the same name, and who married Marion Sutherland of Dunbeat, whose father had made her his residuary legatee, his quaint will running : "I give and assign to my douchter Marion all the lave of my lands that I have undisponyt upon, and sa mony Ky auld and young as I have with Aytho Fourchason or with Mackay KINQ DUNCAN'S ROOM, CAWDOR CASTLE FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY VALENTJNE, DUNDEE 177 178 Caw&or Castle ANCIENT HANDBELL, FORMERLY IN THE CHAPEL Beneuth and so mony Ky as she aught to have of William Polsyni's Ky." This Thane William seems to have been very anxious to bring to an end the feud with the Roses of Kilravock, who were too near neighbours of the Calders to be good friends ; and some very old odd "bonds of amity" ''betwix honor- abill men of Wylyame Thane of Caldor and his party on the ta part, and Huchone the Ross baron e of Kilrawok with Huchone the Ross his sone and appeirande ayr on the tother part," are still preserved in the charter room. These treaties, however, were of but little avail, and the feud went on till the Thane brought it to an end by arranging a marriage "betwix his sone and ayr and Huchone the Ross his douchter." By this agreement he waste have the choice of all the daughters of Kilravock for his son, who does not seem to have been consulted or to have minded having his wife found for him by his father. Two daughters were all the family born to John Calder and Isabella Ross, and one of these died in infancy, leaving Muriel sole heiress, and, when her father died in 1498, the last of the direct line of the Calders. Naturally, it was not long before this matrimonial prize at- tracted attention ; and Archibald, second Earl of Argyll, married her when she was only twelve years old, to his third son, afterwards known as Sir John Campbell of Cawdor. In her infancy, Muriel lived with her grandfather at Kil- ravock, who probably was in hopes of marrying her to some near CHIMNEYPIECE IN THE DINING-ROOM, CAWDOR CASTLE FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY VALENTINE, DUNDEE 179 lao (^aw^or Castle relation ; but Argyll was too strong for him, and he sent Camp- bell of Inverliver one harvest to carry her away to Inverary. Mu- riel's uncles, the Calders, heard of this, and, determined to get back their heiress, set out in pursuit, and before they had gone far came up with the Campbells. Inverliver, seeing he was outnumbered, sent Muriel on with a small escort, while he faced round to stop the Calders. The fight was sharp, and eight of Inverliver's sons were killed ; but finally, when they thought the child had got out of the reach of her uncles, the Campbells retired, leaving in the hands of the Calders what, during the fight, they had fondly believed to be Muriel, but which they found to be only a sheaf of corn dressed in some of her clothes. It is said that in the skirmish Inverliver cried out in Gaelic, '' 'S fhada glaodh o Lochow" ('"Tis a far cry to Lochawe ! ") which has since become a proverb. The marriage of John Campbell and Muriel Calder is com- memorated by the stone mantelpiece in the room which is now used as the dining-room. This mantelpiece, which is one of the features of Cawdor, bears the arms of the Campbells and Calders quarterly, with their motto, "Be mindful." Below is the inscription, "Ceri mani memoneris Mane," which puzzles Latin scholars to translate, and the date, 1516. On each side of the arms the mantelpiece is ornamented with the most grotesque, carved figures: a mermaid plays on the harp — the small ancient Scottish harp, very similar to ancient Irish examples, — a monkey on the flute, a cat on the fiddle, a bird with an enormous beak sits upon a leaf, while a sportsman with horse and hound pursues the timid hare ; and a fox, undismayed by these strange sights and sounds, contentedly smokes a pipe, to the lasting confusion of archccologists who remember that tobacco was only introduced into the country some thirty years after the mantelpiece was executed ! THE DINING-ROOM, CAWDOR CASTLE FROM A PHOTOGFIAPH BY VALENTINE, DUNDEE l8l 1 82 Cawt)or Castle The Dining-room, and the Sitting-room beyond it, are hung with tapestry. The larger pieces depict scenes from " Don Quix- ote," while the smaller ones were worked by the Lady Henrietta Stuart, a daughter of James, third Earl of Moray, who married Sir Hugh Campbell in 1662, and of whom we shall hear more. It is said that when she had finished her work she determined that her needle should never be used again ; so she took it into the wood and threw it into the Achniem burn, and it fell on its end and stones collected round it forming the strange needle-shaped pin- nacle of conglomerate rock which still stands in the burn some little way above the Castle, and is called Lady Henrietta's Needle. Above the Needle the burn flows through a gorge so narrow, and with such deep pools, that no one has yet been able to make his way up it, though the attempt has been made more than once. The burn has gradually cut down through the conglomerate rock, and it is interesting to notice the places where, at the corners, the waters have in former years cut out circular hollows in the rock by their eddies, though the burn now flows many feet below them. Two bridges cross the Achniem burn over a hundred feet above the water ; and from them, and from a promontory called the Hermitage, which juts out into the middle of the ra- vine, very fine views can be seen up and down the glen. The Achendoun burn is also very beautiful, though the glen is not so narrow nor so wild, and the two join at the Lady's Pool, just above the Castle. Between the burns stretch the Cawdor woods, which, Toeing crossed in every direction by narrow footpaths, provide delightful walks on summer evenings, and endless opportunities for the stranger to lose his way. These woods are a feature of the place, and it would be difficult to find in Scotland more beautiful or varied woodland scenery than they afford. Oak and beech and holly grow near the Castle ; and then as you plunge farther into t. LADY HENRIETTA'S NEEDLE" IN ACHNIEM BURN, CAWDOR WOODS FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY VALENTINE, DUNDEE 183 1 84 Cawbor Castle the woods the scene changes, and you wander on among the graceful birch trees, where if your eyes are sharp you may catch a glimpse of a roe bounding off among the bracken, or of a wood- cock gliding along with noiseless wings between the juniper bushes ; then again, as you draw nearer the hills you pass through dark and silent fir woods, till you emerge on the edge of the moors, where, on a summer evening, the old cock grouse loves to sit on a hillock and chuckle and crow as he tells his ad- miring friends of the wiles by which he has succeeded once more in eluding the setter or avoiding the deadly line of butts. The moors stretch for some five miles without a break, and then we reach the Findhorn, the narrow valley of which shelters several farms, which in winter are sometimes cut off from the outer world by snow for six weeks at a time ; here also, on the very bank of the river, stands Drynachan, which, from little more than a cottage, has gradually grown into a comfortable shooting lodge much beloved of sportsmen, whether they be in pursuit of grouse or trout or salmon. At this point the river has a shingly bed ; but some four miles lower down, at Banchor, its character suddenly alters, and it dashes down among rocks under the narrow footbridge into the dark depths of the Grave Pool, foams through the White Stream on through Douglas till the lovely rocky glen fringed with birch trees is passed, and, flowing through the narrow throat, it spreads itself out once more, resting, as it were, in the calm and placid Cow Pool before it begins its rough-and-tumble fight again with the rocks of Glenfurness and Darnaway. But we must not linger by the Findhorn, though it is the most beautiful of Highland streams, but turn back to Cawdor once again. Shortly after his marriage, Sir John received a Crown charter uniting all the possessions of Cawdor into one thanage in his Cawbor Castle 185 favour, and thus did the line of succession pass from the Calders to the Campbells. The new thane, having received bonds of "friendship and manrent" from his neighbours in the north, occupied himself with his estates in the west, and lived in Ar- gyllshire ; and it is only fourteen years after his marriage that we find him taking up his residence per- manently at Cawdor. He came north some- what under a cloud. His sister, the Lady Elizabeth, had mar- ried McLean of Duart, who in a freak of temper took her out to sea, and left her i^ to perish on a rock which was covered at high tide, and from which she was saved by a mere chance by a passing boat. This rock is still called the Lady's Rock. At this act Sir John was naturally furious, and as it was useless to trust to the law in those days to redress just grievances, he laid waste the lands of Colonsay, which belonged to his undesirable brother-in-law, and then, following him to Edinburgh, "slew him in his bed under silence of nicht." For taking the law into his hands in this AT THE HERMITAGE FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY VALENTINE, DUNDEE 1 86 Cawdor Castle manner he was pardoned by the King (James V.), but found it better to make his visits to Argyllshire less frequent, and so Cawdor became his home. In those days life and property in the Highlands were far from secure; and Andrew Calder, Muriel's uncle, who had op- posed her succession, robbed and murdered his neighbours, while she was away in the west, to such an extent that he be- came a terror to the country; but though, according to a name- less chronicler, "they sent for the swiftest persons they could find from other quarters, they could not catch him, as he was so swift that he could run two miles for their one," so he was out- lawed, and a reward offered for him alive or dead. "In the course of his rounds," we are told, "he came down the hill by the Castle of Rait, and concealed himself behind a large stone; but a man saw him, and having a loaded gun, shot him in the forehead": hence the stone is called Calder's Stone to this day. Sir John added considerably to his possessions both in Nairn- shire and Argyllshire, and died in 1456. The Lady Muriel, how- ever, survived him and their son, and lived long enough to see her grandson Thane of Cawdor. One of the earliest letters which is preserved in the Charter-room shows that this thane did not get on very well with his wife, as his law agent at Edinburgh writes: "Your ladie findes great fault that ye ar nocht so cairful off your dewitie towart hir as ye aucht to be, lykas, I understand, she has vretin to you. Ye haw newir vretin ane letter this sax oikkes to hir." Some of the signatures of these letters are very odd, the oddest perhaps being that used by John Bishop of the Isles, who signs "J. B. of Thylis" ; very few gentlemen of the day seem to have known how to write, but though they had to put their signatures to docu- ments by the aid of the notary, they were not reduced to Bill Sykes's method of merely putting their "mark." Thus the Cawt)or Castle 187 chief of the MacGregors signs his bond of manrent : ''E wine Makgrigour with my hand at the pen led by Jhone Dinguell." Besides these let- r • " ters, a large number . of old accounts are kept in the Charter- room : they are very interesting, and throw much light on the customs of the times, but are too long to quote in full here.^ Together with all the most interesting old documents, they have been published in the book of the Thanes of Cawdor, which was printed in 1858 for the members of the Spal- dingClub. As a speci- men of quaint spelling and wording may be taken the " Purs- maister's account" for ''the xxvi of September being Sonday." " Item giffen to yourself in the morning in the Kirkhaird to put in your nepiking end to the puire. ii. s. ''Item your coUatoun [dinner] that evin upon Sonday in the same house ane point of wyne Sak. x. s. ■ "It is curious to note that though there are many detailed accounts of the expenses of house- tceeping and of clothing, there is no mention of tartans ; and where the word plaid is used it is found to mean a blanket. Tartans were, of course, in use, but in Nairnshire, at all events up to 1 700, no great interest seems to have been attached to them, or any distinctions made as to the different patterns." — From an article on Cawdor, by Lord Emlyn's cousin, Mr. C. Tumor, in Architecture, vol. i., No. 10. DRYNACHAN 1 88 (rawt)or Castle "Item ane quart aill. ii. s. "Item ane queyt braid, viii. d." This thane, John, was guardian of Argyll ; and his influence with the young man brought on him the jealousy of one Camp- bell of Ardkinlas, who murdered him, and though he confessed the crime was let off, — proving how thoroughly bad the govern- ment of Scotland was in the years immediately preceding James's accession to the English throne. The next thane was another Sir John, and a man of an am- bitious turn of mind, who had set his heart on gaining possession of the island of Isla, which was erroneously supposed to be a mine of wealth. The Macdonalds of the Isles were in a state of revolt, and Sir John received authority and assistance from the Government to reduce their stronghold of Dunyveg and take possession of the island. He succeeded in the undertaking, but the island did not turn out the gold mine he had expected, and the expense of the expedition, and of having to appear at the English Court with a retinue befitting the lord of the island, seems to have brought him within measurable distance of the bankruptcy court, had such an institution been invented in the good days of old. He sold and raised money on his estates in the north, and got rid of a good deal of plate ; and things got into such a bad way that his relations all sat in conclave to decide how to administer the estate to the best advantage, while his brother Colin wrote him a very sensible letter of advice as to his affairs, the postscript of which about his son's education is worth quoting. He writes : " I heir that ye mynd to put your sone to the college again. Sir, the best leasone that he may leirne now is to govern a brokin esteat, and the schoner that such a capabili youth leirnes it he will be the moir perfyt of it." The "capabili youth," however, when he grew up, did not CAWDOR CASTLE FROM THE BURN FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY WILSON, ABERDEEN 190 Cawdor Castle fulfil the promise of his childhood ; and though his brothers managed the property well, it remained for Sir Hugh, his nephew, -J whose wife, Lady Hen- rietta, has been already mentioned, to bring it to a thriving condition again. Sir Hugh took great interest in the church and in education, and his wife shared his tastes, and must have been a learned lady if she had thoroughly mastered the contents of her library of books, a list of which she left behind her. They seem to have been of a severely dry order, and I altogether an odd col- lection. The names of GATEWAY FROM THE MIDDLE TO THE LOWER COURT a few of her books may give an idea of the works a Scotch lady treasured in the year 1700 : Balm ofGilead, Sighs from Hell, Bun- yan's Pilgrim's Progress, Brown's Swan's Song, Hodder's Arithme- tic, Rules of Civility, Raleigh's Remains, Ruthven's Ladies' Cabinet Enlarged, Speed's Husbandry, and The Whole Duty of Man. Sir Hugh and his wife, in the intervals of reading and writing on religion and education, seem to have found time and money to make considerable alterations and additions to the Castle, and their coat of arms is engraved over the front door. They altered the " Great Hall," which is now used as the Drawing-room, and THE DRAWING-ROOM, CAWDOR CASTLE FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY WILSON, ABERDEEN 191 192 Cawbor Castle made it as it is now — a long narrow room with a fiddler's loft at one end and a very large fireplace at the other.' The win- dows look out towards the lodge, and the walls are hung with tapestry, while the uncovered beams and rafters form the ceiling. They also made the wide stone staircase which leads up from the ground floor to the rooms above the Drawing-room. On this floor there is another sitting-room, which contains a second curiously carved chimneypiece, with the date 1667 and the in- scription " Fear the Lord." It is called the Blue Room, and from it, at the corner of the outer wall, a room little larger than a cup- board is built out, overhanging the dry moat ; this is supposed to have been used by the ladies when they retired to adorn their fair faces with powder. In the same passage is the State Bed- room, the rough plaster walls of which are hung with old Flemish tapestry which Lady Henrietta bought. The colours and figures are grotesque, and the scenes represented are taken from the Bible : one subject is " Moses Striking the Rock," another is the " Crossing of the Red Sea," another represents Abraham, and a fourth the Cities of the Plain. The bill for this tapestry is still in existence : ft cost /^36y, and the freight from Flanders was no less than another /116. Another place of interest in the Castle is the Kitchen ; it is below the Dining-room, and with its thick walls and narrow windows looks as if it were intended for a second dungeon. The pretty old Upper Garden, with its apple trees, old- fashioned flowers, and gooseberry bushes, the delight of the rising generation, we owe also to Sir Hugh, who inclosed it with ' " The style of his additions may be crude or capricious, but they lend a charm to the buildings, and look in keeping ; whereas, in many cases, were tiie details more finely executed, they would clash with the exceeding roughness of the surrounding walls. A chimneypiece of this period shows the first fruits of the Renaissance in Scotland — a term which, as to secular buildings in Scotland, does not imply a reawakening to tiie beauty of a former art, but rather the first awakening to the possibility of building anything for artistic effect and not solely for purposes of defence. Sir Hugh's work is that tine dormer window in the Corbie — stepped gablet — an ornate feature gaining additional value from the immense spread of plain-wall-surface below." — C. Turnor. Cawbor Caetle 195 interest in all that was going on in Nairnshire, as is proved by his correspondence with his agent, Valentine White. For about a century and a half Cawdor was practically deserted, but after that time the family returned there and found everything just as Sir Hugh had left it ; and so it has remained ever since, unchanged and unspoiled. The tower still stands over the hawthorn tree, the drawbridge hangs as it has hung for centuries ; the stones of the Castle may be greyer and the trees round it older and more stag-headed, but no impious hand has been allowed to touch them ; and so Cawdor remains a perfect specimen of an old Highland Castle, and is very dearly loved by everyone privileged to call it home. Battle Hbbe^ 197 THE GATEWAY BATTLE ABBEY BY C. L. W. CLEVELAND THE great Benedictine Abbey of La Bataille — "the token and pledge of the Royal crown" — was founded by William the Conqueror, soon after his accession, in ful- filment of a vow. When, on his march from Hastings, he first caught sight, from the crest of Telham Hill, of the Saxon army entrenched on the opposite heights, he raised his hand to heaven, and swore that if God granted him victory, he would there raise a splendid chantry for the souls of the slain. The battlefield^ was then a rough, wild common, surrounded by forests and morasses, and only accessible by the narrow ridge of sound ' Orderic calls it ' ' the thyme-clad field of Senlac " : in the Saxon Chronicle it is only designated "by the hoar apple-tree." 199 200 Battle Ubbc^ ground still followed by the modern road. It has been generally admitted that Harold, thoroughly as he knew the country, could have selected no finer military position than this steep project- ing spur of the North Downs, so easy to defend and so difficult to approach. Had the Saxons remained within their lines, and not abandoned this vantage ground, the fortunes of the day might have been far different. In the centre floated the great Dragon of Wessex, with the Royal Standard of the Fighting Man by its side ; and here, amid his own House-carls — the flower of his army — Harold took his stand,^ surrounded by his thanes and nobles, with three generations of the House of Godwin : the aged Archbishop Elfwig ; his brothers Gyrth and Leofwyn ; and young Hakon, the son of Sweyn. He had been riding round the lines, but now dismounted, "for it was the custom of English kings to fight on foot, in token that when they fought there was no retreat," and this was the key of the position, the special post of honour and of danger, to be de- fended at all hazards to the last. Here was to be held, in the words of the old chronicler, "the great assize of God's judg- ment upon earth," and the Crown of England lost and won. And here, accordingly, the battle raged most fiercely, and the last and most desperate struggle of that hard-fought day took place. The defenders did their duty nobly, and held their ground as long as the breath was in their bodies. Not until Harold and both his brave brothers lay dead at its foot was the stand- ard won : and, like the Scottish king at Flodden, " He was keeping Royal state and semblance still," surrounded, in death as in life, by the nobles of his court. None ' " Matthew of Westminster, speaking of the early battles of this country, says, ' The King's place was between the Dragon and the standard.' Among the ensigns borne at Cressy was a burning dragon, to show that the French were to receive little mercy." — M. C. Lower. 201 202 Battle abbe^ had failed him, or deserted their post ; and all had sold their lives dearly. Here the last spark of resistance was trampled out, and the Conqueror, before putting off his armour, knelt down on the bloody field and returned thanks to God. Then he ordered his tent to be pitched where the standard had stood, and supped and slept among the heaps of slain. " Entre li mor^ mainga e hut," says Wace : a striking in- stance of the savage temper of the times ! This spot, so memorable in English history, was carefully marked out by the Duke's orders as the future site of the high altar of his Abbey church. He was mindful of his vow on the battlefield, for one of his first acts was to found and endow the monastery that was to be the thank-offering for his victory and the ''token and pledge" of the crown he had gained. It was dedicated to the patron of soldiers, St. Martin, and, in the words of its foundation charter, "the one great chantry for the souls' health of those who helped to win by toil and aid the kingdom for him, and especially of those who died in the battle." Its endowment was as splendid as the achievement it was to commemorate. Besides the lenga (a circuit of about three miles in diameter measured out by the line over which its jurisdiction extended), the Conqueror bestowed upon it the royal manor of Wye, considered by Lambarde to comprise a fifth part of the county of Kent, with all its liberties and royal customs, "as freely as a King could give them"; Alciston in Sussex, where the Abbots afterwards had a manor-house ; Hou in Essex, Brightwalton in Berkshire, and Crowmarsh in Oxford- shire. Within his own territory the Abbot was sole sovereign, and tolerated no interference. He alone "took cognisance of all trespasses," held a court of justice, appointed the coroner of the liberty, and punished criminals. The old "hangman's post," once in use, may still be seen projecting over the 1 I Battle Hbbe^ 203 so-called prison door in the Gate-house. Nothing could be done or attempted without his permission — no business transacted, no trade carried on— no hunting, no hawking, or sport of any kind. No plea could be maintained without his licence. His tenants owed suit and service to none but himself; and his weekly market at La Bataille was ''quit for ever from all exac- tion." The Abbey was an inviolable sanctuary. No one who had ever set foot within its threshold could be touched by the arm of the law, whatever his crime might have been. More than this: if the Abbot ''throughout the realm of England" chanced to meet any condemned criminal, he had the power of pardoning and releasing him. Walsingham mentions a case when this happened in 1363, and a felon being taken to Mar- shalsea was released by the Abbot of La Bataille. Nor was he subject to any spiritual jurisdiction, for the Conqueror had de- clared that the Abbot was to be as supreme as the Primate of Canterbury, and the monastery as free and exempt from all episcopal authorities and levies as his own royal chapel. This was the privilege most valued by the monks, and always stoutly contested by the Bishops of Chichester. Of all the quarrels, heart-burnings, bickerings and lawsuits to which it gave rise, volumes might be, and in fact have been, written. Further- more, the Abbot wore a mitre, carried a bishop's crosier, gave the episcopal benediction, and sat in Parliament as a Baron. An inn, or town house, was provided for him both in London and Winchester : the former was in St. Olave's, Southwark, near Battle Bridge, where Tooley Street now stands, and Bat- tle Bridge Stairs still preserve the name. The Abbey was to be under Benedictine rule, and four monks of Marmoutier, headed by William Faber, came over to super- intend the building. But they were disgusted on finding that its appointed site was a steep wind-swept hill, and migrated across 204 Battle abbep the western shoulder of Senlac into a sunny, sheltered hollow below, called Hurst. Here they proposed to settle ; but one day, the King happening to inquire into the progress of the work, they had to confess they had found "the hill with a parched soil, barren, and destitute of water," altogether unsuitable as a site, and been forced to choose another. The King was very wroth, and commanded them to return forthwith, and lay the founda- tions " in all haste " in the place he had appointed ; if there was no water, they should, if God spared his life, have more wine than there was water in any other abbey. Then they pleaded want of building material : the ground was wooded for miles and miles around, and how were they to build without stone ? The King replied that he would send ships to bring stone from Caen — the precious white stone of which our Norman kings were so chary — and defray the costs out of his own treasury. And so, perforce, the building was commenced in April 1067 ; ^nd soon after, a quarry was discovered close at hand. There is a legend that the King had been told in a dream "to build a minster as many feet long as he desired years of royalty for his posterity." After this cheering vision, which left the length of his dynasty to his own choice, the King rose at sunrise, and had the ground duly measured and staked out for a church five hundred feet long. But in the night invisible hands reduced the boundaries to three hundred and fifteen ; they were replaced, and twice again re- moved ; then the King gave way, and accepted the prescribed dimensions. Thus the great Abbey Minster was only three hun- dred and fifteen feet long, and yet one of the largest churches in England : longer than Rochester Cathedral or Ripon ; longer than Bath Abbey Church, Sherborne Minster, or Christchurch in Hampshire ; longer than Southwell, Manchester, or Romsey. But I am grieved to add no change of dynasty occurred at the date thus obtained — 1381. Battle abbe^ 205 The building, once commenced, dragged on very slowly ; the first Abbot was not appointed till 1076 ; and the Conqueror did not live to dedicate his Abbey himself. On his deathbed he bequeathed to it several parting gifts, and spoke some sor- rowful words, which lead us to understand how strongly he had been moved by the hope of expiation in erecting this great chantry, where unceasing prayer was to be made for the dead. " From earliest youth I have been trained to the use of arms, and I am stained with blood. No one can tell the evils 1 have caused during the sixty years I have passed in this world of bitterness. I go now to account for them before the Eternal Judge." The Conqueror's bequest to La Bataille was a fresh grant of land, his pallium or coronation robe, enriched with gold and costly gems, and loaded with three hundred gold and silver amulets, containing relics of the saints, and a portable altar, also full of relics, used for celebrating mass during his expedition. This must have been the same ''altar in form of a feretory" on which Harold is represented in the Bayeux Tapestry as taking his fatal oath. With these Rufus sent, as is believed, his father's sword, to be preserved in the church for ever. There, too, hung the bede-roll of the knights and nobles that had fought with him in the great battle, and for whom their foundation charter en- joined the monks to pray. These names were probably solemnly read out on St. Celict's Day, the anniversary of the victory. But this famous Roll of Battle was afterwards much interpolated by the monks, who added "names that the time in every age favoured," generations after the Conquest. The Abbey was dedicated with great pomp in 1095 by William Rufus. He happened to be then at Hastings, waiting for a fair wind to cross to Normandy ; and coming over the day after Candlemas with a splendid retinue, was received by Anselm, 206 Battle Bbbe^ Archbishop of Canterbury, and a great concourse of the clergy. On this occasion the great rood of the nave of the Minster is mentioned: the choir had been ready in 1076; and in 1 124 the north arm of the transept was finished ; but the building was probably not entirely completed till long after that. The first of the thirty Abbots of La Bataille died shortly after its dedication. Of his successors there is a minute account till about 1200, when the monkish chronicle abruptly comes to an end. They were, apparently, litigious and troublesome neigh- bours, and keenly set on upholding their privileges. Walter de Lucy, the fifth Abbot (a brother of the famous Justiciar), boldly said to Henry 1. : "If thou destroyest ever so small a right of our Abbey, may God grant thou no longer wear the crown of England ! " His great contest with his hereditary foe- man, the Bishop of Chichester, is amusingly described by the chr6nicler. We read how the Bishop told the King roundly he had no right to interfere in spiritual matters ; how the King, provoked past all bearing, rapped out some words — carefully erased in the manuscript — conjectured to have been " gross Nor- man oaths " ; how the Chancellor, Thomas a Becket, interfered to check the prelate with the words, "Your Prudence must be careful " ; and how the latter finally told one falsehood so as- tounding that the Archbishop of Canterbury, "knowing how matters really stood, marked himself with the cross in token of astonishment." The Abbot pleaded his cause eloquently ; his brother, Richard de Lucy, stood by him manfully ; and in the end the Bishop had to disclaim all authority over him, and the parties gave each other "the kiss of peace," at the Archbishop's request. The King declared that he was ready to kiss the Bishop, "not only once, but a hundred times," — perhaps as some compensation to him for his defeat. The most celebrated of the abbots was Wafter's successor. Battle at>be^ 207 Odo, a man renowned far and wide for his eloquence and learn- ing, the friend of the famous John of Salisbury and Thomas a Becket, and a "pattern in word and deed of a holy life to all." After his death, the people regarded him as a saint. He was fond of literary work, and some of his writings (one an Essay on the Spiritual IVings and Feathers of the Cherubim), remained in the library in Leland's time. Hamo de Offington, the nineteenth Abbot, was the hero of the local proverb, " Ware the Abbot of Battel When the Prior of Lewes is taken prisoner ; " and Fuller calls him "the Saviour of Sussex and all England." In 1377, the French having taken the Isle of Wight, and car- ried off the Prior of Lewes, coasted towards Winchilsea ; and Hamo, raising his vassals, hastened to the defence of the town, and successfully repulsed a vigorous and prolonged assault. Many royal visits were recorded during this period. King John came four times, and disappointed expectation in regard to liberality ; Henry 111. twice — before and after the battle of Lewes ; Edward I. and Edward II. both once. The Abbey had existed close upon five hundred years when it met its doom, on May 27, 1538, and passed, with all its pos- sessions, into the hands of Henry Vlll.'s commissioners. The dissolution of the smaller monasteries, two years before, had warned the monks of the impending spoliation, and they had warily disposed of all their valuables. "So beggarly a house I never se," writes Dr. Layton (one of the authors of the Black Book, and the most active and obnoxious of the monastic inquisitors): "nor so filthy stuffe ... the vestments so baysse, worn, ragged, and torne as your lordshippe would not thinke." The monks were all pensioned: of sixty (their 208 Battle abbe^ original number) sixteen only then remained; and the Abbot received the largest income ever granted to heads of houses — /loo a year ; a beggarly pittance to modern ideas ; but a penny was then, by Froude's computation, of the same value as a shilling is now, and the usual stipend of a parish priest only from ^4 to £S a year. According to the usual practice, the chapter-house, dormitory, sacristy, and cloisters were razed to the ground, and all the other buildings unroofed and disman- tled ; the Abbot's house alone being left in a habitable state. The great minster, with its campanile, was pulled down "for lucre of the leade, tymber, etc.," and the materials sold. "Church work," says old Fuller, "is a cripple in going up, but rides fast in going down"; and the beautiful "Basilica," that had been so long in building, was so rapidly and utterly demolished, that the new owner planted his garden on its site. This was Sir Anthony Browne, Master of the Horse to Henry Vlll., who, three months after the surrender, received a grant of Battle Abbey and all its lands in Sussex and Kent, with the sole exception of one manor, reserved for the Chief Commissioner, Sir John Gage. He was of high lineage, repre- senting a branch of the old Norman house of La Ferte, and the son of one of the four great Montagu heiresses, Lucy, Count- ess of Southampton ; an able and sagacious man, who had spent all his life at court, and, as "the well-guided ship that could go with the tide," always remained high in favour. The King appointed him one of the executors of his will, and guardian of his younger children, the Princess Elizabeth being placed under his special care. It was intended she should take up her abode at Battle Abbey, and he began to build a wing to the Abbot's house for her reception ; but he did not live to complete it, and she never came. His effigy with that of his first wife, Alice Gage, remains on the altar tomb in Battle Church that he is 3BattIe abbe^ 209 supposed to have erected himself, as the dates of his death and of his second marriage are both wanting. As a widower of the mature age of sixty-five, he had espoused a Court beauty of fifteen, Lady Elizabeth FitzGerald, Surrey's" peerless Gerald- ine." In 1542, he had inherited from his half-brother, William, Earl of Southampton, Cowdray and a great estate in West Sus- sex, with the spoils of four other religious houses, Eastbourne Priory, Waverley Abbey, Bayham, and Caluto. Although he professed himself through life a Roman Catholic, he seems to have had no qualms of conscience in assimilating Church prop- erty. Yet he was denounced for sacrilege on the very day when, with much festivity and rejoicing, he held his house- warming at Battle Abbey. As he sat in the Abbot's chair, in the Abbot's hall, presiding over his guests, a monk suddenly stood before him, and solemnly pronounced the Church's male- diction upon her spoliators. Unless they rendered up the possessions of which she had been robbed, this terrible anath- ema doomed them to " every curse with which God Almighty has cursed those who have said, ' Let us possess by inheritance the sanctuary of God,'" — a long and truly formidable list. But the monk foretold still another and more special calamity. " By fire and water," he declared, "thy line shall come to its end and perish out of the land." This prophecy, which appears to have been always remembered and often quoted in the country, was fulfilled to the very letter, but not until two hundred and fifty years afterwards, when Battle Abbey had long since passed into other hands. Sir Anthony's son was created Viscount Montagu by Queen Mary, and built himself a stately mansion on what is believed to have been the site of the former Guest-house of the Monas- tery. But his chief residence was at Cowdray, where he enter- tained Queen Elizabeth right royally for a week in 1591 ; and 2IO Battle Hbbe^ his successors lived there almost entirely. Battle Abbey was occa- sionally used as a dower-house, but, as time went on, it was more and more neglected and abandoned, and latterly became, in its deserted condition, the haunt of smugglers, who stored their goods in the vaults. The third Viscount, who had suffered heavily in the Civil War, disparked the "Great Park" ; his son pulled down the enormous monastic kitchen (which had been retained for use as a barn), realising a large sum by the ma- terials ; and finally, in 17 19, the sixth Lord sold the place to Sir Thomas Webster. The next Lord Montagu, who married a Methodist of Lady Huntingdon's school, was the first of the family who left the Church of Rome, and it was on his only son that the monk's curse lighted. This young man, and his friend, Mr. Sedley Burdett, while on a boating excursion on the Rhine, made a foolhardy attempt to shoot the falls of Laufenberg. The authori- ties, knowing the risk, did their best to prevent it, but in vain : they heeded neither warning, remonstrance, nor prohibition. Even at the last moment, Lord Montagu's servant took hold of his coat, crying, " My lord ! my lord ! the curse of water ! " but he wrenched himself away, and sprang into the boat. It was upset at the second wave of the Laufen, and both he and his friend were drowned : nor, though often searched for, were their bodies ever recovered. The messenger carrying home the sad tidings crossed another bringing word to the poor young Viscount that his splendid house at Cowdray had been burnt to the ground. All its contents — some very valuable — were destroyed ; and among them perished the Conqueror's sword and coronation robe (long since despoiled of its gold and gems), and the Battle Abbey Roll, which, accord- ing to family Iradftion, had been brought there at the time of the sale. . Battle W)\)c^ 211 The curse of water had, however, not yet done its work. Lord Montagu's only sister and heiress married Mr. Poyntz of Midgham, and was the mother of two sons and three daughters. One summer that they were staying at Worthing, Mr. Poyntz took his two boys, and two Miss Parrys who were on a visit to them, out in a boat. It was a very fme, calm day ; but Mrs. Poyntz, who is said to have had a horror of the water, refused to go ; and as the time of their return approached was sitting at the window watching the boat. It was already close in shore, when a sudden squall caught the sail and capsized it, and the wretched mother saw her two sons drowned literally before her eyes. Of all the party, Mr. Poyntz and the boatmen's boy alone were saved. None of the daughters had joined it : Lady Clinton, the eldest, was not with them ; and the two others, afterwards Lady Exeter and Lady Spencer, had, fortunately, not been ready in time to go. The property was divided between them ; and, by a singular fatality, one of Lady Exeter's younger sons was also drowned a few years ago. Sir Thomas Webster, " citizen and cloth-worker of London," the purchaser of Battle Abbey, was a very wealthy man, who had received a baronetcy from Queen Anne, in 1703. He not only repaired and restored the moribund buildings, but added some adjacent estates to the property and transmitted it to five generations of descendants. One of them was the first husband of the well-known Lady Holland. When she married, she found she was not to live at the Abbey, as a Dowager, who held it for life, was in possession ; and this old lady she made it her business to turn out. It suddenly became a haunted house, full of ghosts of the most aggressive kind : furniture was thrown about ; chains rattled in the gallery ; horrible groans and yells pursued the Dow- ager wherever she went ; and goblin voices spoke at her very elbow. But she was not to be daunted. She turned and 212 Battle Ubbc^ confronted her invisible persecutors. "I know well enough what you want," she told them ; "but I sha'n't go : " and she did not. Perhaps it might have been better if she had, for she lived to be nearly a centenarian, and during her thirty-one years' ten- ancy had spent next to nothing in repairs, leaving the Abbey in a most ruinous condition. The roof was in such a state that the passages were flooded after a heavy rainfall, and the old lady had to proceed to her room on pattens ! She died in 1810, and was succeeded by Lady Holland's son, Sir Godfrey, who had then just come of age. He entirely refitted and repaired the Abbey, re-roofed the Abbot's Hall, and added several new rooms, a kitchen, and some outhouses. Would he had done no more ! But he next conceived what I must call the nefarious design of using the Refectory as a stable ; and demolished the Holy Well as an eyesore ! The entrance to the Abbey was then, singularly enough, iwt through the gateway, but on the east side, across the present flower garden, by a door opposite the church. Some years later, when this was changed, the Refectory stables were found inconvenient, and he built the present stables and coachhouses. Even here he did mischief, for he cut off a great angle of Sir Anthony Browne's garden (a square old-fashioned pleasaunce enclosed with yew hedges) to make room for them. Meanwhile he had involved himself so deeply in debt that in 18 19 he was forced to shut up the place and go abroad. The usual dreary, oft-told tale of ruin and devastation followed. Much of the land was sold, and all the trees were cut down ; the park, that boasted of some of the grandest oaks in the county, was laid bare, and the fine woods destroyed. The timber is said to have realised nearly ;/; 100,000. Even the muniments were sold, and sold for an old song, though the Abbey chartulary is said to be one of the most complete in England. The Abbey was let for CO ir 111 f- ui X z < u IT C3 z ? O X CO m m < 1- < CO l-~ z o UJ Q IE < 213 Battle Hbbei? 215 many years, and in 1857 sold to the Duke of Cleveland — then Lord Harry Vane. We found it had again lapsed into a forlorn and dilapidated state. When the sale was first proposed I went to see it on one of the public days, and met there Dean Milman. We went over the house together, and 1 well remember the emphasis with which he exclaimed, ''What a miserable habitation!" It cer- tainly did not wear an encouraging aspect — bare, gloomy, empty, uncared for, and altogether cheerless. In the hall hung a gigantic picture of the Battle of Hastings, painted with an heroic disregard of the costume of the period ; for the Conqueror (a likeness, it was said, of Sir Godfrey, who was a very good-looking man) figured as an ancient Roman, in a loose white tunic, with his arms and legs bare. There used to be, I was told, a stuffed horse over the fireplace, which was shown to guileless visitors as *' William the Conqueror's horse." Everything, it appeared, required to be done to the place, and the work of restoration was an arduous undertaking. But the Duke not only restored and refitted the house from top to bot- tom, re-roofing nearly the whole, but made numerous improve- ments, built four new rooms, added new windows to the Abbot's Hall, and completed and nearly rebuilt Queen Elizabeth's wing, that had so long remained unfinished. The gateway, by far the most beautiful part of the Abbey, alone remained untouched (the defective stonework of one win- dow excepted). It was built by Abbot Retlynge in the time of Edward III., when, according to Somer, "a military /^rof seems to have prevailed among the ecclesiastics," somewhat in the style of St. Augustine's at Canterbury ; and having had the rare good fortune never to be tampered with, is a very perfect specimen of the Late Decorated period. Standing on higher ground, at the end of the little town, it rises in feudal stateliness above all its 2i6 Battle Ebbe^ surroundings: "a situation," says Walpole, "noble beyond the level of abbeys." On the open space in front, the old bull- ring, still fixed in the ground, marks where the favourite Sussex sport of bull-baiting yearly went on in Whitsun week. To the west it is joined to a much older building, which retains one of its original Norman windows ^ on the farther side : to the east is a wing added by Lord Montagu as a Market House and Court Hall, probably in 1566, when he obtained an Act of Parliament for changing the weekly market from Sunday to Thursday. Its roof — no doubt long neglected — fell in during a great storm in 1 764, and it is now a mere shell. The gateway contains a fine central hall, reached by a carefully guarded staircase, that had not only a portcullis, but open spaces in its ribbed vaulting, for pouring down boiling oil or melted lead on unwelcome visitors. There is a good view from the roof of the country round, and the several localities of the battlefield. To the right, as you pass through, the hangman's post, jut- ting out from the wall, proclaims the Abbot's droit de haute jus- tice: under it is the door of a dark vault that is called, but certainly never was, the prison. The half-effaced corbel-heads supporting the hood-mould of the inner archway are believed to represent Edward 111. (who granted "licence to castellate" in 1338) and his Queen. The present entrance to the Abbey is not that originally in use, which was on the north side, where the offices now are, but leads through a porch into the Abbot's Hall, the scene of the monk's curse. It is of noble proportions, measuring fifty-seven feet both in height and in length, and thirty-one feet wide ; with a fine timber roof, which, though modern, is a faithful copy of the ancient one taken down in 181 2, and is of walnut wood grown in the park. All the oak wainscotting and carved work, ' Note : The only Norman masonry that now survives. Battle Hbbe^ 217 as well as the great fireplace, were added by Sir Godfrey at the same time. The old windows, alas ! are no more : those we found were ''churchwarden Gothic," filled with kaleidoscopic glass — not even wind and weather-tight, and had necessarily to be replaced. This was accordingly done in 1874: the great south window being copied from one in Strasburg Cathedral, and the three looking west taken from the Percy chapel at Pet- worth. The stained glass is all heraldic : the south window showing the Duke's coats-of-arms, and some of the Paulet^ quarterings, continued in the next : the two others, twenty- four descents and intermarriages of the Vanes. Between the windows are ranged the shields and banners of the chief lead- ers in the Conqueror's army : the men whose swords won the kingdom : " Cunquise I'unt cum chevaliers Au fer tranchant e al acier," a proud array of great names, for the most part, unhappily, extinct, but unforgotten : and here, of all places in the world, to be honoured and remembered. Over the fireplace, two shields bear the arms of England and of the Abbey ; and two banners dis- play, one the two lions or leopards of Normandy, the other the gold cross on a silver field (figured in the Bayeux tapestry) of the consecrated banner sent to Duke William by the Pope, and in after times, with the addition of four cross crosslets, the arms of the Kings of Jerusalem. The coat and quarterings of the Vis- counts Montagu are over the music gallery ; and in the centre of the mantelpiece, and again on the chimney-back of wrought Sussex iron, the arms of the Websters. The two suits of armour are not genuine, nor are the trophies on the walls : but the tapes- try is good old arras, representing scenes from the Gerusalemme Liber ata. The pattern of the tile flooring I brought from the • In 1 864 the Duke had taken the name and arms of his grandfather, the last Duke of Bolton. 2i8 ^Battle abbei? ancient sacristy of Burgos Cathedral. The pictures are chiefly family portraits ; there are, besides, a full-length by Lefevre, of Napoleon I., in his absurd coronation robes, bought from one of his Marshals ; the altar-piece of the church at Savona, signed by Boccacini, and two Zurbarans of white-robed friars, from Louis Philippe's collection. The smaller one represents St. Peter Nolasco, the founder of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the redemption of Christian slaves, with its badge, the shield of King Jayme el Conquistador, on his breast. Two ancient rooms open into this hall. One, rather low- pitched, is of graceful Early English groining, divided into a double alley by three central pillars ; and is conjectured to have been the Locutory, or Parlour of the monastery. What are now windows were then doors leading into a room beyond ; and there were three windows looking north, of which one still remains. It is now fitted up as a drawing-room, with tapestry hangings ; but in the last century it was partitioned, part being used for storing faggots, and the rest tenanted by an old servant named Isaac Ingall, who, according to his epi- taph, was a hundred and twenty years old. Ninety of these years had been spent in the Webster household ; yet when, shortly before his death, his mistress found fault with him for being dirty, he was so nettled that he forthwith gave warning, left her service, and started off (on foot) to Hastings, to inquire for another situation ! The other, far smaller room, is supposed to have been the Abbot's parlour, and to have communicated with a curious tri- angular projection in the outer building, that was his oratory. It must have been very lofty, for half its original window lights the bedroom above. Now it has lapsed from its high estate into a low, panelled, cosy den, chiefly used by me, and hung with water-colour copies of pictures 1 have made abroad. THE DRAWING-ROOM, BATTLE ABBEY SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN THE LOCUTORY OF THE MONASTERY 219 2 20 Battle Ubbc^ Queen Elizabeth's wing, left incomplete by Sir Anthony Browne, is now occupied by a long and very handsome room, lighted by five great Tudor windows, three of them bays. Look- ing south and west, it is so flooded with sunshine, that we had to guard it in the summer by outer Venetian blinds. It is entered from the hall through an ante-room built by the Duke, and con- tains the great library that he had been all his life collecting. He delighted in his books, and many of them are, 1 believe, very valuable : it was not, however, his object to seek out curiosities and rarities, but rather works for everyday use, and as a library designed for study and reference it is, by all accounts, very com- plete. The family pictures over the bookcases are almost all copies : there is, however, a portrait of the Duke that is one of Frank Holl's finest works, and another of his father, by Romney. Among the copies is a half-length of the loyal Marquis of Win- chester, who defended Basing House for two whole years against the Parliament ; and on a paper weight on one of the tables are some bullets found in its ruins, that were cast from the coffins of the Duke's ancestors. The rebels had installed themselves in the Holy Ghost Chapel at Basingstoke, the burial-place of the Paulets, and furnished themselves with ammunition by completely clear- ing out the family vault. This room also contains a full-sized coloured copy of the Bayeux tapestry. There are some pictures in the ante-room, but the best are in the Dining-room, which dates from Lord Montagu's time, but is not otherwise noteworthy. Here we find Vandermeulen's " Siege of Dunkirk," with portraits of Louis XIV., Conde, Turenne, etc. ; a ''Lawyer," by Domenichino, painted with a halter round his neck ; a very pretty Greuze ; and, over the chimneypiece, the original sketch of the famous "Gloria di Tiziano," which was held up before Charles V.'s dying eyes at Yuste. This belonged to the poet Rogers. 15attle Bb\)e^ 221 On the wall of the staircase hangs a full length, by Gainsborough, of James Quin, the actor, whose epitaph Garrick wrote. It is a dark picture, and unfortunately in a very bad light. One or two stray waifs from the chartulary are also here, with drawings, old prints, and plans of the Abbey. Some other remaining portions of the monastic buildings have been unfortunately degraded into offices. One very fine vaulted room, like the one already described but of far grander proportions, has been ruthlessly cut up into five parts. Its great portal, now half destroyed, was probably once the principal entrance. Another, now the servants' hall, has been little tampered with ; and, though disfigured by three hideous mod- ern windows, is still beautiful ; it communicated by a newel stair with what is conjectured to have been the dormitory above, long since destroyed.^ A small flagged hall, called the Beggars' Hall, because, it is said, the twelve poor men whose feet the monks washed on Maundy Thursday there waited for admission, opens on the former Cloister Garth. Of this, only the internal arcading of the west alley remains along the front of the house ; all else is gone, and its site is now a garden. Here, inclosed in a square of masonry seven feet high, once stood the Holy Well (from which Ordericus probably named the place Senlac), where, in Queen Elizabeth's time, the village girls used to come on Sundays, "like a young pilgrimage," singing litanies and bringing flowers. Alas ! it was taken down as unsightly, and the water transferred to a pump ! On the south side of the Cloister Garth a magnificent room — perhaps the Chapter-house — stretched out eastwards: its inner wall now forms the outer wall of our dining-room, and its exquisite cornice and cinquefoiled arcading have been cruelly mauled in making our present windows. The jamb of one of * The King's Commissioners expressly enjoined the demolition of all "dorters." 222 Battle abbe^ the original windows — of very great size — remains in the broken south wall. To the north and east it was bounded by the nave and tran- sept of the minster ; and part of the ruined wall of the former is all that now remains above ground of the once splendid church. Even this poor remnant was excavated by Sir Godfrey, when he destroyed part of the old " pleasaunce " to build his stables. On the inner side (now the wood yard) an empty tomb, fondly believed to be that of Abbot Odo, has been brought to light. Many bones were, 1 am told, dug up, and thrown away in a heap in a corner of the yard ; it never occurred to any one to give them burial, and they gradually disappeared, in the pockets of the visitors ! The crypt under the chancel had been discovered a year or two before, in what was then the Abbey orchard. There had always been a persistent tradition, handed down from father to son, as to the place where King Harold was killed, and one particular spot on the turf was faithfully pointed out to sight-seers. At that time no one even guessed where the church had stood ; generation after generation had passed away since its demolition ; and if the waves of the sea had closed over it, it could scarcely have been more utterly lost. There were no indications of any kind to guide the ex- plorer ; but Sir Godfrey, wishing to test the truth of the tradi- tion, had the ground dug up, — and there, on the very spot it had indicated, he found the high aftar of the crypt, corre- sponding with that once in the chancel above ! No historic locality could, I suppose, be better ascertained or authenticated than this, marked out, immediately after the battle, by order of the Conqueror. This crypt consists of three converging chapels, clustered together like the leaves of a trefoil, and each forming a pentagon ; the caps from which the low vaulting sprang are still discernible, and on either side are the winding stairs that led to 223 2 24 Battle U\)bc^ the church above. In the central chapel stands the high altar, little damaged, and surrounded by its original pavement. We found the whole place choked with reeds, and half full of water — "a dark and reedy pool," as Sir Francis Palgrave describes it. *'A11 forlorn and shattered, amidst stagnant water, stands the high altar stone of Battle Abbey," in the pathetic words of Lord Lytton. The crypt has now been efficiently drained. No res- toration has ever been attempted in any part of this noble build- ing ; the crypts remain as they were when first built. To the south rises the great building known as the Refec- tory, that once adjoined the south transept of the church, and was spared from demolition in 1538, to be used as a barn or granary. Now it has been banked up at one end to admit Sir Godfrey's horses ; and it will be seen that they were magnifi- cently lodged, for this great hall measures one hundred and fifty feet by thirty feet. It is lighted by a double range of Early Eng- lish windows ; tall, graceful lancets, crossed by transoms, with slender pillars and mouldings of Caen stone. Many have, I am sorry to say, been wantonly injured ; some have lost their shafts, and others have been closed and converted into stalls. There were several small fireplaces, and of these two still remain. For many long years it has been roofless ; and a flooring of asphalt, laid under the turf, protects the three crypts beneath from the weather. These so-called crypts were never in reality under- ground ; but soil and rubbish have accumulated round them in the course of years to an almost inconceivable extent. Eight feet of earth had to be cleared away from one of the lower doors ! As the Refectory was built on the slope of a steep hill, these crypts stand on very different levels, and vary greatly in height ; but all have the same beautiful early vaulting, said to have been first suggested by a forest of stone pines ; and there can be little doubt that the blending of these graceful and Battle abbe^ 225 harmonious lines have much in common with their habit of growth. The upper, and therefore lowest of the three, is fifty-six feet long and thirty-four wide, divided by a double range of pil- lars, and has six windows, which I found half closed with ma- sonry, as it had been made into an icehouse. One antiquary christened it the Day Room used by the monks : but there is no fireplace ; and though I for one am fully convinced that men in those days were not the chilly mortals they are now, still the stone bench running round the wall would have been rather a penitential seat in cold weather. All the columns here, as else- where, are of Purbeck marble ; one has been partly re-polished by the busy fingers of the visitors. At the north end of the centre aisle, looking towards the minster, a large cross of white stone and of rather unusual form is inserted in the wall. The next crypt, divided by a passage, is small and narrow, though, of course, loftier, and again unwarmed. From this a stair in the thickness of the wall leads down to the lowest, and incomparably the finest of the three, supposed to have been the Scriptorium or library of the monastery. Here the archi- tect, no longer cramped as to height, at last had full play, and might frame his proportions on a more ambitious scale. Here he could raise his groining twenty-three feet above the floor- level, and launch forth into a bolder and wider style, with three lofty and very massive columns supporting his roof Here, too, he built a fireplace of grandiose dimensions, that would comfort the heart of even a nineteenth-century shiverer, and introduced a very beautiful window of rather later date than the rest, which are all purely Early English. I think it may, however, be a subsequent addition. At the south-east angle a stair communi- cated with another very large building to the east, of which only the wall and two arches are left. This noble Scriptorium, again, was degraded into a stable, and terribly misused : the 226 Battle Hbbei? pavement was broken up, and one of the doors destroyed, as too low and narrow for the horses ; a broad, square opening was made for them, and, for some purpose or other, a deep niche was cut in the wall. To do full justice to the great size and importance of the Refectory, it should be seen from the south side, by descending to the level of the Lower Terrace. The great gable, towering majestically aloft, here asserts its pride of place, and stands out grandly against the blue sky, which relieves the warm mellow tone of its colouring and shines through the eyeless lancet windows. This Lower Terrace — very dear to us as our sun-trap and winter walk — faces due south, and extends westwards along a heavily buttressed building that formed part of the monastery. It contains a range of eight barrel-roofed vaults that are conjec- tured to have been store-rooms, each exactly like the other, and each lighted by a narrow lancet window. One of these has been broken through to make the present entrance. It is this vault that contains the only fireplace, which a former guide always used to point out as the "place where the poor nun was walled up." On this superstructure Lord Montagu built his manor-house, of which the two stair-towers only are left standing. All we know of it is from the print in Buck's Antiquities (dated 174^), that shows a stately Elizabethan frontage, with a broad window between each buttress, lighting, as is said, a gallery one hun- dred and sixty-two feet long. It met Queen Elizabeth's wing at a right angle, and at its east end joined a tower dating from the time of the monks. The Websters never occupied it ; the Montagus had deserted it long before for Cowdray ; and hav- ing been so long uninhabited, it had fallen utterly out of repair. Its restoration would have proved very costly, and a thrifty Sir Battle Ubbc"^ 227 Whistler Webster pulled it down about the middle of the last century, converting the site into a terrace. We found it in a deplorable state : littered and dilapidated, with a yawning rift in the centre, through which one might peer down into the vault beneath. Now these vaults have been protected from rain and snow, and the Upper Terrace affords a dry and pleasant, if rather breezy walk ; and a capital point of vantage for survey- ing the battlefield. We here stand on the very crest of the hill held by the Saxons which, now cut up into terraces, then fell away steeply to the lower ground below. The topography is rather confused by the wooded mounds (often mistaken for ancient earthworks) thrown up by Sir Godfrey in making the great pond in front ; and the three stew-ponds are the work of the monks. But the principal features of the country are, of course, unchangeable. It was over yonder high hill to the left, crossed by the present road to Hastings, that the Conqueror came. There, he vowed to build his Abbey, and told off his army in the three divisions that were to make the attack ; whence, it is said, is derived its name of Telham Hill. The right wing, commanded by Roger de Montgomeri, afterwards Earl of Shrewsbury, Chichester, and Arundel, and the founder of a great English house, was composed chiefly of soldeiers (mercenaries) from Picardy, Boulogne, and Poix, and charged up the steepest part of the hill, where the houses of the Lower Lake now stand, and the road leads down to the station. The left wing, formed by the men of Brittany, and led by the son of their Count, Alain le Roux, the future Earl of Richmond, attacked farther away to the west, where the slope is easier, and the little stream of the Asten, rising near the gateway, falls into a deep gorge on the farther side of the hill. The centre, under the Duke himself, comprised the flower and pride of the invading army. There, under Neel de St. Sauveur, were arrayed the men 228 Battle abbe^ of the Cotentin, descended from the Danes of Harold Blaatand ; with the archers of Evreux and Louviers ; the Danes of Bayeux ; and ''the great company of vavassors of "Normandy, who to save their lord would have put their own bodies between him and the enemie's blows." He directed the assault against the centre of Harold's position ; and it must have been over the ground immediately below us that he led his men, and that ensued the fierce melee where he w^as twice unhorsed, and the ominous cry, ''The Duke is down! the Duke is down!" sounded over the battlefield. He was here confronted by the vanguard of the Saxon army, where the men of Kent — " A merveille se combattaient " claiming the post of honour as their birthright, for "whenever the King goes to battle, the first blow belongs to them." They bore on their banner then, as now, the Pale Charger, or White Horse of Hengist ; but their proud motto of Invicta was not earned on that day. To the right, but hidden by the trees, a mound on some rising ground in the park marks the outpost, so obstinately de- fended by the Saxons, that the Bretons there wavered and gave way ; and the hillside beyond was so hotly contested, that the ravine of the Asten was completely choked and bridged over with the dead. It was from this point that the position they had failed to storm was successfully turned, and the Normans entered the Saxon lines. On the north side of the town, crowning the highest point of the hill, stands the Watch Oak, from whence, it is said, Harold looked out, day after day, for the coming of the invaders. The present tree can, however, only be its successor and representa- tive, as it is by no means old. The famous Malfosse, or deep swamp, partly concealed by 3BattIe Hbbe^ 229 brambles, into which so many Norman horsemen plunged and lost their lives in their headlong pursuit of the enemy, lies behind the parish church, but is no longer a swamp. I think I have now fully and conscientiously discharged my duties as cicerone. No one can complain that 1 have been too brief; nor have 1, I fear, earned the well-deserved praise be- stowed upon a professional guide who used to show the place. ''The visitors think a good deal of me, my lady," he assured me. "They say 1 tell them a great many things they have never heard before." Cbatswortb 231 CHATSWORTH FROM THE PARK CHATSWORTH BY A. H. MALAN PROBABLY at some time the reader has formed one of those eighty-four thousand people computed to visit Chatsworth annually, and therefore may be presumed to be fairly familiar with the portion of the interior open to the public. But, unfortunately, those parties which, every day throughout the year except Sundays, await their turn of admit- tance have neither time nor opportunity to scrutinise very closely any of the manifold treasures of what is at once a palace and a museum. A leisurely survey is essential for any real acquaint- ance with the contents, the different departments, of sculpture, paintings, sketches, etc., all deserving to be carefully gone 233 234 Cbatswortb through ; and that, moreover, with the assistance of catalogues which appear to be as yet unwritten. As one sees it, Chatsworth is the creation of the first Duke of Devonshire, with additions and embellishments by the sixth. Not a trace now remains of that house with which Mary Stuart became so familiar, except a turned staircase in the north-east corner ; even the two rooms till recently called after her are gone ; not that that is matter for any particular regret, consider- ing that, at the time of their absorption, all their contents were a century later than the Scottish queen's day, even to the state bed on which she was supposed to have slept, but which be- lied the supposition by displaying ducal coronets on its feet. Out in the park, by the Derwent bridge, there is, of course, that moated, high-walled inclosure known as Mary's Bower ; and that may be judged to be contemporary with the older house, since, however hard it be to think such a solid affair would be constructed for just one state prisoner, it is still harder to imagine any other reason for which it would be built. But as for the house itself as it was in George Talbot's day, we are left to a representation of it in a frame of needlework upstairs ; for noticing which, when we come to it, there is this additional reason, that it is almost the only piece of old work to be seen — except the cloth of state, hailing from Hardwick, still retain- ing, though restored, enough of the original embroidery to show that the fingers that elaborated it were neither those of the Countess nor of Mary Stuart, but rather of Christian Bruce. Not having been guide-conducted, I scarcely know by what route visitors are taken round ; but from having encountered groups at sundry points, their course appears to be somewhat as follows. The vestibule entered, and a few steps mounted, you cross a corridor paved with ancient marble ; and if you 235 4 2 36 Cbatswortb are pleased to admire its smooth, variegated surface, instead of too curiously looking ahead, you will be fulfilling the very pur- pose for which it was laid down : an unavoidable but unob- trusive irregularity of lines, consequent on structural alterations, having been the cause of this novel method of beguiling the eye being here employed. Then into the Painted Hall, whose warm colouring, above and around, amply entitles it to its name ; where the mass of colour, spared from all gaudy glare, through the none-too-many windows opening only into the court, is saved from a too-religious dimness, thanks to the light, bright face of the polished marble pavement. Near the windows, on that pavement, you observe the caique, a Sultan's gift, that, having once had its home on the Bosphorus, has spurned all meaner waters since. The next move will be round to the South Corridor, pass- ing, on your left, outside of some private sitting-rooms, including one pillared and panelled with dark carved oak, in all proba- bility " made in Germany," since it came from a German mon- astery. The effect may be somewhat heavy by day, because the stone balustrade outside cuts off so much of the light ; but what matters that? A smoking-room it was predestined to become when the learned Parr, in 1813 — with all outrageous- ness, then — demanded some room to smoke in ; a smoking- room it is ; and with a big fire and lamps the old oak lights up well, especially with the help of the bits of colour in Carmi- chael's pictures. Just beyond this room is the Chapel: ''the least altered part of Chatsworth ; painted by Verrio, carved by Gibbons, what could be left for Sir Jeffry Wyatville to do ? " You may perhaps notice that Verrio's masterpiece, over the western altar, seems cleverly painted to suit its position ; the lighting of the composition, diagonally downwards .from left to right, coinciding with, but not being wholly due to, the slant- 238 Cbatewortb ing light from the end window, — an effect, however, more noticeable from the gallery above. If we now retraced our steps to gain the next floor, at the head of the main staircase we should find a Derbyshire marble doorway, through which are reached two drawing-rooms, a music-room, billiard-room, and the chapel gallery ; and if we entered, in the course of our progress we should see Canova's "Hebe," and, among other large paintings, Mary Stuart (Zuc- chero), Henry VIll. (Holbein), and "that face which seldom wore and never met a frown," "the beautiful Duchess" (by Sir Joshua), of which a faithful but more highly coloured copy, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, hangs in the gallery at Windsor Cas- tle ; also Luca Giordano's "Venus Rising out of the Sea," Rembrandt's "Jewish Rabbi," and a portrait of the seventh Duke. And if we remained here between the hours of eleven and four we should surely appreciate the excessive indulgence ac- corded the public, in being granted access to the house at all when the Duke and Duchess are in residence. For overhead happen to be the state rooms ; and the proximity of the said public is made most convincing by the tramping of heels, first p., then cresc. on to/"., and subsiding back to^., like the ani- mating measures of Michaelis's " Turkish Patrol " : to hear which performance repeated about every half-hour becomes a rather wearisome thing, if not a strain on the nerves beneath. Or if, instead of lingering here, we were allowed to pro- ceed northwards out of the first drawing-room, we should make acquaintance with that Library which contains, amongst its rari- ties, the Liher Veritatis of Claude Lorraine, the Benedictionale of S. Ethelwold, Henry VII. 's Missal, a beautifully illumined Petrarch, and such a store of reference works as scholars alone are competent to appreciate ; though, at the same time, ENTRANCE GATEWAY TO CHATSWORTH 239 240 Cbatswortb those who are content with scanning the names of books as they stand on a library shelf, without any desire to look into their interiors, have their curiosity amply gratified by a liberal assortment of such taking titles as Howe's Answer to Watt, Godolphin on Flying Fish, and Brunei's Whole Duty of Man. But all of these rooms being private, you omit them by passing along the Picture Gallery outside, where your atten- tion is requested, by a well-versed attendant, to a collection nearly all brought from Devonshire House, including two beau- tiful Watteaus, two Salvator Rosas, "The Virgin in the Tem- ple," by Bernardin von Orley, and the earliest known dated picture by Van Eyck (142 1), "The Consecration of Thomas a Becket." And it may be allowable to remark that the percep- tion of their merits will very largely depend upon that degree of skill with which you can manage to dodge those tiresome reflections from the opposite windows. At the end of this corridor, however, is a room requiring no such precautions, and decked with several conspicuous works in a small compass — to wit, the Red Velvet Room. Here are quickly recognised the originals of two familiar engravings, " Laying down the Law," and "Bolton Abbey." Besides these, portraits, about the same size, of Lady Betty Foster and the beautiful Duch- ess, — the former, perhaps, looking more bewitching than the latter, though the picture is rather faded ; also a highly finished group, by Landseer, of Mr. R. Cavendish with greyhound and goshawk. As to this, it is evident that, contrary to the prac- tice of all English falconry, the hawk is taking wing from the right instead of the left fist ; and, besides being held by a most unusual scope, it is equipped with a leash whose swivel is mani- festly at the wrong end ; but it would be too presumptuous to maintain therefrom that the great painter did not transcribe the details as he saw them before him. For, on being asked his opin- QEORQIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE AND CHILD (LADY CARLISLE) AFTER SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS 241 242 Cbatswortb ion on the matter, that practical falconer, the late Lord Lilford, replied: "I know a curious incident in connection with another of Landseer's pictures, which shows his general minute attention to detail. In the picture to which I refer, a falcon is represented as ' binding on ' to a heron, with the swivel attached to her jesses. I was mentioning this to my old Gamaliel in falconry, the late E. G. Newcome, who told me he was present when Landseer made the sketch, and that in this case the falcon was actually unhooded at the heron with the swivel attached to the jesses. 1 should guess that this was a unique instance of such carelessness." Another staircase mounted, you reach the parquet-floor of the state rooms : those lofty apartments, so sumptuous and pala- tial, and withal so devoid of usefulness and comfort. It is here, more especially, that " on ceilings you devoutly stare, Where sprawl the works of Verrio and Laguerre," and where, in less strained attitude, and probably with keener delight, you note those marvellous examples of carving in " lime- tree," representing dead game, etc., attesting the infinite skill of a master's hand, be that master Grinling Gibbons, Lobb, or Wat- son ; for Gibbons is said never to have put his name on his work ; and the architect, Talman, employed Lobb and Watson ; so that it is now difficult to distinguish. Let us suppose we enter the State Dining-room first. Over the mantelpiece are the very choicest specimens of this bird-carving, limned with marvellous fidelity to nature. One rather wonders whether Verrio showed equal fidelity to his model when, as a Fury cutting the thread of Fate, a certain aggravating person, with whom he was brought in contact, was here depicted ; one would prefer to say ''immortal- ised," did not these ceilings already show the wasting hand of Time. That rosary on the central table (resting on a piece of THE CHAPEL AT CHATSWORTH 243 Cbat0wortb 245 QEORQIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE work done by Queen Adelaide) once belonged to Henry VIII.; in finding its way here it is said to have cost as much as all the oak in the oak parlour below. Those malachite tables, and that clock with the very impossible boat, are some of the many gifts of the Tsar Nicho- las to the sixth Duke. In the contiguous room is a portrait of the first Duke, and some tapestry (old) from Raffael's car- toons ; in the next one, from out the doorway in the cuir repousse, peeps that fiddle which Verrio, so 't is said, painted to deceive Gib- bons, as Gibbons' pen was carved to deceive Verrio. The dragons on the vases in this room are very observable, since they have five claws. Still passing on, you are probably so taken up with inspecting, at a respectable distance, the cloth of state and the stamped leather and the bril- liant ceiling, as not to notice on the window-sill, just at your elbow, the plaster model of a monument at Hildelbank, with its striking conception of the rending of the tomb. In the end room of this suite, the lace-cravat, carved out of a single piece, is supposed to be Gibbons' parting gift. And then one would like to stop in the Sketch-gallery, to ex- amine that extremely valuable series of original sketches than which few things at Chatsworth are more admired ; it was brought together entirely by the second Duke, and since then has been classified according to the several schools and hung here behind protecting blinds. But perhaps this gallery is not open to visitors ; and if it be, no explanatory catalogue seems avail- able ; and so down you go again, through a bewildering course of 246 Cbatswortb corridor and staircase, to find yourself landed at last at the thres- hold of that chamber of imagery, the Sculpture Gallery. The lustreless sandstone-backing shows off the statuary to great ad- vantage in any light ; but the very best time for coming here, albeit in uncanonical hours, is about nine on a summer morning ; for then the diffused sunshine flowing in through the clerestory windows imparts a beautiful bloom and tender half-tone to the sculpture, to be met with at no other time of day, though the electric light may perhaps be an effective substitute. Ordinary epithets and comments seem too feeble for the beautiful objects that meet the eye at this point : let just one or two notes suffice, culled from the notebook of that great pa- tron of art who, in satisfying his own artistic longings by the acquisition of these things, provided at the same time a source of pleasure for others, more lasting than brass : '"The Wounded Venus' was made by Pietro Tenerani, a pupil of Thorwaldsen. "The Pedestal of Kessel's ' Discobolus ' contains a tour de force of the Swedish porphyry cutters, to show how minutely they could work these hard materials. Campbell took four- teen years to complete the statue of the Princess Pauline Borghese; she sat repeatedly to him for the bust, and gave him six casts of her hand, foot, and nose. . . . Inserted in the pedestal of this are twenty-six medallions, cast of the iron ore of Elba by the order of Na- poleon during his residence there ; they accompanied him to LADY ELIZABETH FOSTER CARVED CHIMNEY-PIECE, STATE DINING-ROOM, CHATSWORTH 247 249 250 dbatewortb St. Helena, and were left by him to his sister, who bequeathed them to me. " Canova kept the large bust of Napoleon in his bedroom till his dying day ; he finished it from the study of the colossal statue now in the pos- session of the Duke of Wellington. 1 know no other authentic bust of Napoleon by Canova. "The Lions give but a faint idea of the astonishing nature and effect of Canova's by the tomb of Clement XIV., in St. Peter's: the sleeping one is by Ri- naldi, the other by Francesca Benaglia. "Schadow's 'Fila- trice ' . . . was often repeated; the untouched surface of the column on which it is placed came from Trajan's Forum. " 'Madame Mere,' first acquired treasure, next to ' Endymion ' the most valued ; Canova made no repetition of it. . . . Lord H found the single word (on the pedestal), that expresses so much, in the Iliad — dvffapiffro'Heia, ' unfortuuate mother of the greatest of men.' ''Thorwaldsen's 'Venus' . . . arrived broken in three pieces ; a bracelet, hiding the fracture in the arm, is one that RENDING THE TOMB' PORTRAIT OF FIRST DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE 251 Cbatswortb 253 the Princess Pauline procured when she went into mourn- ing on the death of Napoleon, and she gave it to me for this object. "The rocchio of pale verde antico was found by Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire, in her excavations that brought to light the pedestal and history of the column of Phocas and the sur- rounding pavement in the Roman Forum. She allowed herself to ask for this. " ' Endymion ' was finished by Canova. The quality of the marble was so fine, so hard, so crystalline, that Canova would not change it on account of the stain in the arm ; that on the cheek he liked, and thought it represented the sunburnt hunt- er's hue. " 'The wounded Achilles' is by Albacini ; the granite tazza was made at Berlin from a pebble from the sands of Brandenburg." Thence through the orangery out into the open ; and having gained an offmg towards the French garden, it is well to look back and observe what an excellent finish the "temple attic" makes to the wing we have just left, and how the swifts, dashing in and out between the Corinthian columns, keenly appreciate a situation just suited to their nestling requirements. Their screams are full of hilarity, and it is so fitting that they should enjoy themselves and show the poetry of motion just here ; for beneath the open colonnade is the ball-room — that splendid room with stage, gallery, etc., all complete, but with its provoking inaccessibility to the house. It was the intention at one time to make a covered way from the orangery, or near there^ right up to the stables, and that is almost an accom- plished fact ; but it does not seem to have occurred to make direct communication between the main block and the ball-room at the level of the sculpture gallery roof, though it should not be very hard to effect this. 254 Cbatswortb Very cool and refreshing looks the Temple Cascade, if you are lucky enough to find it in action ; if not, then you pass on to the Weeping Willow, and that surprisingly natural rock- work which Sir Joseph Paxton in- troduced as one of his bold features in landscape gar- dening. He had "boundless en- thusiasm for the beautiful and mar- vellous in nature, controlled by a judgment faultless in execution, and a taste as refined as it was enterpris- He came to Chatsworth in 1826 ; in 1829, took the man- agement of the woods ; in 1832, started the arboretum ; in 1836, invented and began the large conservatory, and finished it in 1840. It had already, at the latter date, become occupied, Baron Ludwig having stripped his garden at the Cape of the rarest produce of Africa. Presently, winding down and round, you come to the great fountain in the pond opposite the south front. A fountain is a fountain, says the cynic, and not much enthusiasm is to be felt about water coming out of a pipe ; which depends much upon the size of the pipe and the velocity of the outflow. If it is good to behold anything the best of its kind — like the Times among the world's newspapers, or the last new cutter among the massed yachts at Cowes, or some splendid creature, magnificently LORD PEMBROKE AND SISTER AFTER VAN DYOK ing 256 Cbatswortb apparelled, among a throng of ordinary mortals, — then it is an impressive thing to stand near the great fountain and behold a column two hundred and sixty feet high issu- ing from a sixteen-inch pipe at a hundred miles an hour, with the impe- tus of a four-hundred- feet fall from the lake above. A difficult subject to handle photographically, for want of contrast be- tween cloud and col- umn ; if everything were favourable, the moment for exposure would be when the spherical spurts of imprisoned water shoot out from the summit and come tumbling down like the finale of a rocket, to disperse in clouds of spray. This fountain, by the way, though the connection seems remote, reminds one of those twelve great oak butts down in the cellar presented to the first Duke by William III. But the connection is this. The beer used to be brewed above the stables, and was conveyed to the cellars by a pipe underground, a thousand and fifty-nine feet long, of three-inch bore ; and the idea presented itself, not unnaturally, to make, on some great occasion, a fountain of the beverage. That could obviously have been done, at no great cost and with hardly any waste of beer ; but supposing the fountain were shown off in late summer, it WELLINGTON ROCK 257 258 Cbatswortb may be imagined that the wasps and flies would have had such a good, or bad, time, as to impart a somewhat acrid flavour to the brew. That noble line of limes, feathering to the ground, and known by the name of Dr. Johnson's Walk since that sage sat under their shade in 1784, terminates at the point where you descend to the Royal trees ; an oak planted by H.R.H. Princess Victoria, 1832 ; a Spanish chestnut planted by H.R.H. Duchess of Kent, 1832 ; a sycamore planted by H.R.H. Prince Albert, 1843. Thence it is but a few steps back to the entrance gates. And when one sees the array of cabs, waggonettes and char-d-bancs, with a coach or two thrown in, drawn up outside, you begin to realise of what very great benefit such a show-place must be to the district, and to wonder whether that advantage is adequately appreciated. But the muster of such equipages at ordinary times is as nothing to what occurs on a Bank Holiday. Then the excursionists range from four to five thousand ; light pens or folds being arranged at the gates to break up the multitude into fifties, to be admitted in sequence every few minutes and taken round the rooms, strictly on the block system. And, what is more, all comers are admitted, even children of sizes and infants of days — a veritable exuberance of even ducal good-nature and philanthropy. Possibly, when some fractious child has tum- bled down and cracked its crown, or an article of even more value than that; or when some mother with a baby in arms has signally come to grief on one of those slippery, polished floors, the porter may find his duties suddenly augmented by all children, too young to appreciate Chatsworth's glories, being required to be left in his careful charge, along with the sticks and umbrellas, while their natural custodians perambu- late within. Be that as it may, if you would perambulate without, there 259 26o Cbats worth is that stiff but pretty walk up to the Hunting Tower, where the view repays the climb, provided the atmosphere is not too thick with Sheffield smoke, or what not ; or if you stroll across to Edensor, of uncertain pronunciation, you will surely seek out and reverently look upon that simple, turf-clad mound, where a plain headstone carries the sufficient words — Frederick Charles Cavendish, May 6, 1882 ; and then perhaps you will proceed by the kitchen gardens to Baslow ; or you may make a point of seeing Haddon, which is not far off. A delightful tramp, if permission were granted, would be past Paxton's great glass house, by way of the arboretum, up into the old park. In the arboretum certain black wooden labels, stuck in the grass in front of the trees, once moved a lady of tender sympathies, who wished to say just the right thing, to exclaim to her companion and host, ''Ah! que c'est touchant ! Ce sont, sans doute, les tombeaux des plantes ! " But where they remain, such labels have use even beyond that of identifica- tion of species, as, for example, some idea of the age of these stately cedars can be gained from the fact of one of them, just above the Saracenic summer-house — by no means the largest, and apparently not yet at maturity — being labelled 1676: doubtless the date of its planting. How well those silver firs, which might be more numerous, stand out amid the lighter foliage of mag- nificent Spanish chestnuts, beeches, elms, and larches, rivalling one another in straightness of stem as in symmetry of spread ! — and how plainly the ubiquitous rhododendrons sometimes attest the biting bitterness of a May or June frost by their long black- ened shoots of new wood ! The higher one gets in this en- chanting ramble, the less become the variety and size of the trees, until, up by "the Duke's seat," the ridge is decked with little save oaks. But picturesque specimens some are, growing into and out from the joints in the sandstone, and clasping the Cbatswortb 261 protruding rocks with all manner of strange device to secure a foothold or push a way for expansion ! But where are the birds ! Are such woodlands only for pheasants and a few woodcocks ? Doubtless, when the leaves are off, as they come rocketing down over the slope, the longtails acquit themselves admirably, and the longbills tax the skill of the guns posted to stop them ; but this happens to be summer-time. WEST FRONT OF CHATSWORTH and where are those brown owls, jays, hobbies, woodpeckers, and nightjars, which should delight in all this thick leafage, oaken glade, and wilderness of bracken ? Well in keeping would it be with a palace where all classes of people are welcome, and the gilded gates are shut to none, if all birds were granted like free- dom to the woods, and no class distinction recognised among them ; if it were a standing decree that, out of the shooting season, every bird should be held harmless and sacred, save only that dashing corsair, the sparrowhawk, and that ignoble thief, the crow. %^mc 263 Wm^' jutu: ' ' 'J i|Si~i«— StSHI : ir" ■aarfiirr"*^ I'll-- 1**^ - --'^'' ■ •* NORTH FRONT OF LYME LYME BY THE DOWAGER LADY NEWTON THIS old home of the Leghs of Lyme is situated in the county of Cheshire, and stands upon a spur of land eight hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea, almost in the middle of the park, which is large and undulating, about nine miles in circumference. This park, which is really the beginning of the Peak range, Derbyshire, although nomi- nally in Cheshire, has always preserved its bold and romantic character, and was long celebrated for the herd of wild cattle which were indigenous to the place, like those of Chillingham, of which they were the exact counterpart, being white, with large spreading horns, and red inside the ears. When the pres- ent owner was a boy he remembers a herd of from thirty to 265 266 %^mc forty, and when he succeeded his uncle in 1857 there were still about fifteen or sixteen ; but from having been allowed to breed in-and-in, and from other causes, they were very much deterio- rated, and in spite of all the efforts made to restore them to their ancient form they gradually became extinct, and for several years there have been none in the park. There is, however, a fine herd of red deer, as well as fallow. The former have al- ways been famous for their size and wild nature. Many anec- dotes are told of them, which have been handed down to the present time ; and that they were renowned in the sixteenth century is shown by the following curious extract from the journal of Wilson, the historian, relative to what happened to himself when attending the Earl of Essex in a visit to Sir Peter Legh at Lyme, in the county of Cheshire, 1590. It is tran- scribed from its original authority. Peck's Desid. Car., lib. xii. 10, edit. 1732, "Sir Peter Lee of Lime, Co. Cheshire, invited my Lord one summer to hunt the stagg. And having a great stagg in chase, and many gentlemen in the pursuite the stagg took soyle ; and divers (whereof I was one) alighted and stood with swords drawn to have a cut at him at his coming out of the water. The staggs there being wonderful fierce and dangerous made us youthes more eager to be at him. And it was my misfortune to be hindered of my coming near him, the way being sliperie by a fall, which gave occasion to some one who did not know me, to speake as if 1 had fallen for feare. Which being told me, I left the stagg, and followed the gentleman who had first spake it. But 1 found him of that cold temper, that it seems his words made an escape from him as by his denial and re- pentance it appeared. But this made me more violent in pur- suit of the stagg to recover my reputation. And 1 happened to be the only horseman in when the dogs sat him up at baye, 267 268 %^mc and approaching near him on horseback, he broke through the dogs and run at me, and tore my horse's side with his horns close by my thigh. Then I quitted my horse and grew more cunning, for the dogs had set him up again, stealing behind him with my sword, and cut his hamstrings, and then got upon his back and cut his throat ; which, as I was doing, the company came in and blamed my rashness for running such a hazard." This anecdote is quoted by Sir Walter Scott in his notes to the Lady of the Lake, canto first, note iii. On the west side is a terrace, from which the ground falls about forty feet, forming a picturesque Italian garden having a fountain in the centre. The architecture of this ancient house is of several different dates, which, though in one sense adding to its interest, as show- ing the tastes as well as the alterations made by successive mem- bers of the Legh family, is in another sense unfortunate, as it makes it very difficult, in the absence of documentary evidence, to determine by whom, or exactly at what time, it was first be- gun. It is thought that the north front (which is the principal entrance) was, if not built, at any rate designed, by John of Padua, who is known to have visited England by desire of Henry VIII., and to have furnished designs for some country houses, among them, perhaps, Longleat, to which Lyme bears a certain resemblance. A view is given showing the north facade, of which the centre portion remains intact, with the exception of the windows. These, like those of the rest of the house (originally mullioned), were altered when Leoni, the architect of Chatsworth (who died in 1746), Italianised the whole exterior. There is an old bas-relief in coloured plaster in one of the rooms, called the Stag Parlour, in which these mullioned win- dows are clearly shown. m »e!r?r.T- -s^«5r"*-'"»*-5«ii?>-t THE SOUTH FRONT OF LYME 269 2 70 Xpme The house is built of a very hard stone from quarries in the park, and is of an oblong form, standing as near as possible north, south, east, and west, with a courtyard in the centre, which is paved with red and white marble. It was originally much larger, but Leoni added a covered gallery reaching to the second floor only. This forms a corridor giving access to the rooms on the first floor, which before opened one into the other only, and af- fording protection to those on the ground floor. The lower portion of the gallery (with unglazed arches), and the whole of the lower part of the exterior of the house, is of rusticated stone, after the manner of the Strozzi at Florence and other Italian palaces. The south front, the great feature of which is a fine portico projecting ten feet, reaching to the top of the house, is purely Italian in design. The roof of this portico rests on six columns of stone springing from a balcony on the first floor surrounded by a massive stone balustrade, while its lower part is supported by arches of rusticated stone. The house is ornamented by old leaden figures, which were often employed by Leoni to decorate his work, but which are now seldom to be met with, as in the early part of this century many were taken down and melted into bullets, when the fear of an invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte filled men's minds. There are three rather over life-size on this south front ; the centre one, on the point of the pediment, represents Neptune with his tri- dent, and on either side are Venus with her cestus floating in the air and Pan with his pipes. The founding of lead garden statues seems to have been a special industry in the eighteenth century ; and the original figure-yard for this kind of statue stood in Picca- dilly (now 102), and was kept by John van Nort, who came to England with William III. Besides this yard there were others — viz., Dickinson's, Manning's, and Carpenter's — in high vogue i 271 2 72 Xi?me about 1740. There has been no leaden figure manufactory since 1787, when one Cheere died. Another reason why so few are now to be seen is because many of the leaden figures in this country were exported to America during the American War of Independence, to become bullets, because the lead escaped the Customs as "works of art." A further addition was made about 18 18 by Wyatt, who built the Dining-room, on the east side of the house. On this side there are two more of the leaden figures — Diana with arrow and bow, her stag by her side, and Act^eon with his dog. From the good taste and excellent workmanship displayed in Wyatf s work at Lyme, it is thought that he must have been the J. Wyatt after- wards knighted by George IV., and made Sir Jeffrey Wyattville in 1828, the "ville" being added to distinguish him from the J. Wyatt who is proverbially said to have spoilt more country houses than any architect in England, and is better known as "The execrable James." A square tower, containing bedrooms, was also built by Wyatt, and replaced an ancient lantern of stone, which was built up after its removal on some rising ground where fir trees were planted, and which is called "The Lantern Wood." This lantern figures in the bas-relief of the house already alluded to as being over the chimneypiece of the Stag Parlour. A double flight of steps, in a purely Italian style, leads from the east end of the courtyard into the Entrance Hall, a large and lofty square room with pillars and high dado of oak. Above the dado hang family portraits and ancient armour. In this hall are two full-length portraits of the Black Prince and Edward III., at opposite ends. The portrait of the Black Prince is made to open outward at pleasure, and discloses the drawing-room, which pro- duces a curious and picturesque effect. The illustrations which fol- low show the opening from the Hall and from the Drawing-room. X^me 273 The portraits of the Black Prince and of Edward III. are specially interesting to the Legh family, because the former gave a grant of forty marks a - year to Sir Perkyn Legh after the battle of Crecy, to continue until he should provide him with an estate. The estate was given by his son, Richard II., about fifty years afterwards, and is a slice of the royal forest of Macclesfield. Lyme is the old English word for border, the estate being on the borders of Derby- shire, Lancashire, and Cheshire. Richard II. appears to have had more fol- lowers and adherents in Cheshire than in any other part of England, and was evidently on terms of great friendship with Sir Perkyn Legh, of Lyme. The following extracts from the Kenilworth Manuscripts are given in the ArchcBologia, or Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity, and in the publications of the Cheetham Society : "Cheshire abounded with bold and rapacious maintainers, many of whom were among the celebrated bowmen of the King's Guard. The men of this county were preferred for their known at- tachment to him. They made their appearance in London at that time (1397), and that it produced a strong impression is evident from the way in which they are spoken of by the early writers. THE LANTERN" 2 74 %^mc "Like all his other favourites, they obtained a complete ascendency over him, and indulged in great freedom of speech towards him, a specimen of which the ' Chronicle of Kenil- worth' gives in the original dialect. "In tantum familiaritatem domino regi annectebantur, ut idem in materna lingua audacter confabularentur : ' Dycon, slep sicury quile we wake, and dread nougt quile we lyve seftow ; ffor zif thow haddest weddet Perky n, daughter of Lye, thow mun halde alone day with any man in Chesterschire in ffaith ! ' This provincial discourse being turned into pure modern Eng- lish may stand thus : ' Richard, sleep soundly while we watch, and fear nothing while we lie beside thee ; for if thou hadst married the daughter of Perkyn of Lye ' (Sir Piers Legh of Lyme, near Macclesfield, beheaded by the Duke of Lancaster), 'thou mightest have kept Hallowtide with any man in Cheshire. " Keep Hallowtide, /. e. Be as good and substantial a man as any in Cheshire. "The head of poor Sir Perkyn (commonly called Perkyn a Legh) was ordered by Henry IV. to be set upon one of the loftiest towers of Chester." The Drawing-room is on the first floor, and is an Eliza- bethan room with a bay window to the east filled with painted glass, very old and fine in colour, and interesting. Much of it consists of the arms of the Earl of Chester; other parts contain the names and arms of the different estates acquired at various times by the Leghs, some of which have unfortunately departed from the family. There is also a symbolical series of paintings of the months of the year, and one or two are portraits of the members of the family. There are three other windows look- ing to the north, also containing good old painted glass. This room is panelled to within four feet of the ceiling with oak inlaid with satin-wood. There is a frieze in plaster, of a very THE DRAWINQ-ROOM, LYME, SHOWING THE CHIMNEYPIECE BEARING THE ARMS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 275 276 X^me elaborate pattern, running round the top, divided into panels, each one being of a different design. The ceiling is of plaster strap-work, with bosses and pendants. The chimneypiece is of stone and plaster, and reaches from the floor to the ceiling. It is coloured, and is of very elaborate design, having the arms of Queen Elizabeth (the dragon instead of the unicorn, as used before the Union) in the centre, supported by caryatides of a quaint form. The fireplace itself is a large open one, and con- tains a very beautiful grate — a basket — of cut steel, with fire- irons and fender to match. The doors and window-shutters are of delicate workmanship in inlaid oak. On the south side is the curious opening spoken of before. A part of the panelling opens at the back of the portrait of the Black Prince, and discloses a recess from which the Hall can be seen below when the picture is drawn back on the other side. No one would know of its existence unless they were told ; and this curious feature was noticed and made use of by Sir Walter Scott when he wrote IVoodstock. He visited Lyme on his way to the Peak before writing Peveril of the Peak. The portraits in this room — one Kitcat, and the two of Lord Derby and his wife (Charlotte de la Tremouille, celebrated for her defence of Lathom House, 1651), are replicas of those at Knowsley, except that they are not full-lengths. There are also portraits of Prince Rupert, Sir Steynsham, and Lady Master (Elizabeth Legh), Lady Arderne (Margaret Legh), Bertram Ash- burnham, and a portrait said by some to be Nell Gwynne, but traditionally a Miss Legh. In this room is an old settle, several interesting chairs of the period of Elizabeth, and a settee (cov- ered with old embroidery) for two people, identical with one at Ham (Lord Dysart's place near Richmond). There is also in this room a curious red lacquer clock with brass mounts, of very early English workmanship, which plays a tune every three THE DRAWING-ROOM, WITH THE PICTURE-PANEL OPEN SHOWING THE ENTRANCE HALL 277 n %^mc 279 hours. The different barrels of tunes are in a very massive old box, and are not conspicuous for the beauty of the airs. They date from the time of the Stuarts, and as the names may be in- teresting to connoisseurs of old music, they are given: ''Gigue Lelebolu,"^ "Joy to Great Caesar," ''The Eunuch's Song," "Trumpet Tune and Trumpet March," " Gavot Nameless" (spelt Gaut), "The Grenadiers' March." Here are also some curious specimens of old Jacobite wine- glasses, of those known as "fiat glasses." No doubt there was once a large number ; but now, alas ! only six remain to testify to the loyalty of the family. They are of a very graceful shape, and have the white rose engraved on one side and the word "Fiat" on the other, which by a liberal in- terpretation may be taken to mean, "Let it be." When it was forbidden to drink Charles Edward's health in public, these glasses were manufactured for the Jacobites, and the toast was drunk in silence. On the foot of one of these glasses the Prince of Wales's feathers are engraved. There are ' This air " Lilibulero " is well known in the north of Ireland as " Protestant Boys." — Ed. THE HALL, WITH PICTURE-PANEL OPEN 28o %^mc likewise several of the old heel-tap glasses with toasts en- graved round the rim, and the finger glasses to correspond with them, on which toasts are also engraved. Some of these are political, some refer to the family, but the greater number are sporting. One is decidedly amusing, having on it "Mrs. Legh's Delight." Let us hope she took her pleasures with mod- eration ! Some of the toasts are given, and one or two may perhaps be explained by my readers. They have always hitherto baffled the intelligence of the family. One is " Daming and Sinking," the other " Maria and the Otters' Potter." The politics of the Leghs may be inferred from " May Aristocracy rise on the ashes of Democracy," "The Standing Forces of Britain," and " Blood over the Face of the Earth" (a fine jingo sentiment !) ; while "Long Life to the House of Lime," "A Cellar well filled and a House full of Friends," " Long Life and Long Corks," "A Flatt Decanter and a Sprightly Landlord," " Any Toast but a Dry One," show at any rate a cheerful hospitality and an appreciation of the good things of life ! The sporting ones comprise all kinds, from "The Stagg Well Rouzed," "Bull Baiting," "Bear Bait- ing," "Falconry," "The Vermin Blood," down to "The Merry Harriers." In connection with the Drawing-room may also be mentioned some fine silver guipure lace, still fresh and well preserved, which was found by the writer, about twenty-five years ago, in an old chest, bordering two coverlets of rose-coloured satin, both very yellow and discoloured by age. These coverlets were of oblong shape, one much smaller than the other, and the lace was about ten inches wide on the larger one and eight inches on the other. It appears it was the custom to use them on the bed of the mother and the cradle of the child when caudle-cup was given to the friends and gossips in the bed-chamber, after an interesting event ; and no doubt these coverlets had assisted at many a THE STAG PARLOUR, LYME, SO-CALLED FROM THE BAS-RELIEF RUNNING AROUND THE TOP REPRESENTING VARIOUS SCENES OF THE CHASE 281 X^mc 283 cheerful scene, and adorned the beds of many grandmothers and great-grandmothers of the Legh family. This lace was made in the reign of Elizabeth, who got Flemish lace-workers over to teach the art of both thread, and gold and silver, lace-making. There is also some lace of gold and silver mixed, but it is in a dilapidated condition. In the bay window of this room are six curious little oval pictures very well painted on panel, unframed, and fastened to the oak panelling. They represent the heads of Charles I., Charles II., James I., Anne of Denmark, William 111., and Queen Anne. The Stag Parlour communicates with the Drawing-room, and is so called from an ancient coloured bas-relief in plaster running round the top of the room representing the hunting of the stag, from finding him in his lair down to his death, and even his pre- paration for the pot ! There is an oak chimneypiece, in the centre panel of which is the bas-relief of the house already mentioned, just as it was before Leoni altered it. There are stags and horsemen represented here also, which are slightly comic, as the stags are about the same size as the house. The portraits in this room are, a life-size one of Charles I., seated, and wearing a large hat and the order of the Garter ; Henrietta Maria, Charles II., and Charles Edward. In this Stag Parlour some relics are preserved. A pair of embroidered gloves belonging to Charles I., also a dagger of his with ''Carolus" on it, an old miniature in oils of Sir Peter Legh, an Agnus Dei in coloured wax, in a needle- work frame worked by Mary, Queen of Scots, and presented by her when she stayed at Lyme. When she was a captive at Fotheringay, she went to Buxton for her health and from there paid a visit of some duration to Lyme. There is also a farthing of the first copper coinage (which was in the reign of Charles II.), and which was found quite lately in the chapel of the house. 284 X^me when a part of the flooring was taken up. It is marked ''Caro- lus a Carolo." There are six chairs in the room made by Chippendale, and covered with old needlework which once formed the cloak of Charles 1., and the shape of which may be plainly seen. The monogram of the King, C. R. crossed (Carolus Rex), forms the back, and they are very good speci- mens of Chippendale work, and were no doubt thought a much greater ornament than the cloak of the poor king which was cut up to cover them. On the other side of the Drawing-room are three rooms filled with tapestry, and which are known as the Yellow State-rooms. The middle one has a bed thirteen feet high,^ in which James II. slept when he visited Lyme as Duke of York. Over the fireplace in this room is a good portrait by Jansen of the second wife of Sir Peter Legh, nee Dorothy Egerton of Ridley, and widow of Sir Richard Brereton. Another room (the most delightful in the house) is called the Saloon. It was built by Leoni, faces due south, and opens on the beautiful Portico. The walls are entirely panelled with oak, hav- ing very delicate and beautifully arranged carving by Grinling Gibbons. There are six large and two small panels. The six large contain emblematic carvings of the Four Seasons, and of Music and Painting. Of the two small ones, one has the ram s head with an olive branch in its mouth rising from a ducal coro- net (the crest of the Leghs) ; the other has a group of flowers. This room has a very fine ceiling of Italian design in white and gold, and has four shields at the four corners, with the hand and banner and seven stars (argent on a sable field), a shield of pretence given to the Leghs after the battle of Agincourt. The carvings are in pear-wood on a background of oak. This is ' High as this bed is, it is considerably second in altitude to one at Belton House, which is eighteen feet.— £<:;. THE LONQ GALLERY, LYME, SHOWING CHIMNEYPIECE WITH THE ARMS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 285 286 X^me the only house, it is said, in England in which the carvings of Grinling Gibbons are treated as large trophies in the centre, oc- cupying the entire panel. In all other instances his work forms borders and festoons only. There are Louis XV. mirrors and consoles of fine workmanship, and buhl cabinets, furniture of old Florentine mosaic, and many interesting drawings and other works of art in this room, which the writer uses as her own sitting-room. The Long Gallery (which is generally a feature of an Eliza- bethan house) is on the second floor, and is approached by a broad oak staircase leading from the Library. This gallery is one hundred and twenty feet long and eighteen feet wide, and has a bay window at each end looking east. It is panelled from fioor to ceiling, and there is a fine oak chimneypiece at the south end. From these windows both south and east there are views of the terraced garden, and the park beyond, which rises to thirteen hundred feet above the sea, and is of a very moorland character. In the middle of the Long Gallery on its east side is a large stone-and-plaster mantelpiece, very like the one in the Drawing-room, and reaching to the ceiling. It is painted, and has the arms of Queen Elizabeth in the centre. The north windows at the farther end look on the entrance gates, from which there is a widely extended view of the Vale of Cheshire, as the ground slopes from the house to the north- west. On some rising ground to the right may also be seen a tower of stone (not the original one) built as this was by Leoni, known as ''Lyme Cage," and which may be seen from almost every part of the county, and is marked in all the oldest maps. Why it was so named is not known, but it is thought that perhaps, as Lyme was part of a Royal Forest, this may have been a place of detention for deer stealers till they could be sent to Chester to be tried. X^me 287 Parallel with the Long Gallery are bedrooms, in two of which are old plaster-and-stone chimneypieces built into the wall and each filled with coats-of-arms. One of these bed- rooms, which used to be called the "Ghost Room," has a large cupboard with a trap- door which on being lifted shows a stair- case leading to a room below between the floors called "a Priest's Hole," in which the priest was hidden in persecuting days. In this was found long ago a skeleton, which has given the name of "Ghost Room." There is another room on the ground floor panelled nearly to the ceiling, called the Stone Parlour, and this has for its chim- A CORNER OF THE SALOON neypiece almost the finest one in the house. It reaches to the ceiling also, is of stone-and-plaster, coloured, and has the arms and quarterings of the Molyneux family. On the first floor is the Library, which contains for the greater part books of but little interest to the ordinary reader, but curious, and no doubt valuable, to the connoisseur of old 288 %^me GLOVES OF KING CHARLES I. and apparently musty volumes. A Caxton of very early date has been lately discovered here. There is a great deal of panelling in the house, and tw^o rooms are rather interesting, as they are panelled from floor to ceiling with Span- ish mahogany. There are many interesting family and historical por- traits, amongst them a full-length picture of an old keeper, with the following inscrip- tion : "Joseph Watson, who in the 26th year of his age Anno Domini 1674 commenced keeper of Lime Park, in whose service he continued 70 years, and a. d. 1750, in the 102nd year of his age, he hunted a buck a chase near six hours long, at which one Gentleman was present whose ancestors he had hunted with for 4 generations before, he being the 5th generation he had hunted with." With him is associated this story, which is told in the words of the chronicler : "In the reign of Queen Anne, Squire Legh was at Maccles- field with a company of gentlemen among whom was Sir Roger Mason, then one of the members for the County of Cheshire. They being merry and free. Squire Legh said his keeper should drive 12 brace of stags to Windsor as a present to the Queen. Sir Roger opposed this with a wager of 500 guineas that neither his keeper nor any other person could drive 12 brace of stags to Windsor on any occasion. Squire Legh accepted J 289 290 Xpme the wager from Sir Roger, and immediately sent a messenger for his keeper, who directly came to his master, who told him he must immediately prepare himself to drive 12 brace of stags to Windsor Forest for a wager of soo guineas. So he gave his master this answer, that he would at his command drive him 12 brace of stags to Windsor, or any other part of the kingdom by his worship's directions, or he would lose his life and for- tune. He accordingly undertook and accomplished this most A LYME MASTIFF AFTER THE PAINTING BY J. T. NETTLE8HIP astounding performance, which is in the annals of history. This keeper (Joseph Watson) was a man of low stature, not bulky, of a fresh and pleasant countenance, and he believed he had drunk a gallon of malt liquour one day with another for about 60 years of his time ; and at the latter end of his life he still drank plentifully, which was agreeable to his constitution and agreeable to himself. He was allowed by all who knew him to be as fine a keeper as any in England." As this Joseph Watson lived to the age of 104, and hunted and killed a buck in his 103d year, we must conclude that the X^me 291 blue ribbon is not the only passport to longevity. He is buried in Disley churchyard, with a long epitaph on his tombstone. There is an old en- graving called ''A View of Lyme Park, with that extraordinary custom of driving the Stags, the property of Peter Legh, Esq., 1745." The picture shows the stags swim- ming through a pond ; some already through are fighting with their front feet (the horns be- ing still in velvet), while ladies (in hoops) on their horses and gentlemen in court dress are looking on. The pond was al- ways known as the "Stag Pond," and was only done away with in 1863, when Lord Newton built new stables near it. There is a fine picture painted for Lord Newton by Mr. Net- tleship of a Lyme mastiff, a breed peculiar to the place. In Stow's Annals is to be found a reference to them which shows that they were then sufficiently highly prized to be considered worthy of forming part of a royal gift sent by James !., in 1604, to Philip 111. of Spain. The incident related by Stow is as follows (with spelling modernised) : "On the 28th March, 1604, Charles, Earl of Nottingham, Lord High Admiral of England, being accompanied and attended with one Earl, three Barons, 30 Knights, etc., etc. . . ." IN THE COURT 292 X^me (Here follows a long and particular account of the embassy, which consisted of six hundred persons besides horses and coaches, and of their reception in the various towns until the month of May, when they reached Valladolid, where the Court was ; and then the chronicler proceeds.) " At the delivery of the presents by Thomas Knoll Esq., the King and Queen came in person to view and receive them with a very kind and princely acceptation. The presents were 6 stately horses with saddles and saddlecloths very richly and curiously embroidered, that is to say, 3 for the King and 3 for the Queen ; 2 Crossbows with sheaves of arrows, 4 fowling pieces with their furniture very richly garnished and inlaid with plates of gold, and a couple of Lyme hounds of singular qualities. " These were all the presents." Here may also be mentioned some early Greek sculptures brought back from Greece by the late Mr. Legh (the uncle and predecessor of Lord Newton), and some ancient bronzes of Greek and Etruscan workmanship in the Library. There is also in the Bright Gallery a bas-relief of the Phygalion marbles in plaster, which was given to Mr. Legh by the British Museum as a mark of gratitude for the help he gave the authorities in discovering and bringing them to England. The original bas-relief is in the British Museum. This imperfect history of an ancient house shows how much remains to be known and appreciated in the ancestral homes of England, and may perhaps induce others to look more closely into their own dwellings, and so make discoveries not only in- teresting to themselves but perhaps important to the world at large. There is an old story, in a book known but little now, called Eyes or No Eyes, where the same walk taken by two boys resulted in the return of the one with his pockets full of treasures, and of the other bored and fatigued by having seen X^me 293 nothing to amuse or interest him. If the readers of this article imitate the boy with eyes and look at the relics of the past around them, they will find a new charm in their lives, perhaps a treasure hitherto undreamt of in their family records, and most certainly an interest which will go on increasing with every fresh research. Ipensburst anb its flDemones 295 ^^^^■-" PENSHURST FROM THE GARDENS PENSHURST AND ITS MEMORIES BY LADY DE L'ISLE AND DUDLEY PENSHURST ! How many ancient memories are called forth by the name ! What visions are conjured up, what fascinating dreams of brave men and fair women, of noble dames and mail-clad warriors, of courtiers, poets, statesmen, heroes ! As we gaze up at the old grey walls, or wander in the yew-hedged gardens, we can almost fancy we see them passing before us in a long and brilliant pageant. If only those walls could speak and tell us something of the lives they have wit- nessed, of the generations past and gone — of how they lived and laughed, worked and played, loved and wept ! The se- crets of that great past hold for us a strange fascination. But the walls only look down gravely upon us, just as they did well-nigh five centuries ago ; and so we turn from them and their silence to hunt for such information as we can find in the comparatively few records which are left to us. 297 298 Ipensburst ant) Its flDemoriee A considerable portion of Penshurst, as it now stands, was built towards the end of the fourteenth century by Sir John de Poulteney. He had married the heiress of the De Penchesters, who for two hundred years had occupied a fortified house on this site. \n 1341, he received from the Crown permission to "crenellate" — /. e., embattle ; and thus we have in Penshurst "a nearly perfect example of the house of a wealthy gentleman in the time of Edward III." The chief feature of the house is the great hall, sixty-four feet in height, which remains unaltered to this day. The hearth in the centre is piled with huge logs for burning. On either side run the long tables, and the "high table " stands on a dais at the upper end. Facing this is the minstrels' gallery, supported by a smoke-blackened oaken screen, a portion of which is as old as the hall itself. The hall is so little changed that we are enabled, as we pass through it and wend our way up the stone staircase to the '-' solar " or principal chamber (now called the ball-room), to realise almost exactly what life must have been like in those far-off days.^ Many were the festivities held there, and frequent visitors came and went. It has often been conjectured that among these were Edward the Black Prince and his wife Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent. Sir John Poulteney dying without male heirs, Penshurst passed to Sir John Devereux, Constable of Dover and Warden of the Cinque Ports, who began adding a long wing to the house in the time of Richard II. (afterwards finished by the Duke of Buckingham). After changing hands frequently, and being successively owned by John, Duke of Bedford, and Humphrey- Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, and his successors, Penshurst ' It would seem that the central hearth must have involved a hole in the roof, for exit of the smoke. But though there was some sort of contrivance in this direction which had to he taken down in 1840, that was apparently not earlier than 1700, and those best qualified to judge maintain that there never was any hole originally. — Ed. THE GREAT HALL, PENSHURST, SHOWING ANCIENT CENTRAL HEARTH 299 301 302 ipensburst ant) its HDemories reverted to the Crown in the reign of Henry VIII. on the at- tainder of Edward, Duke of Buckingham. It came into the pos- session of the present owner's family in 1552, when Edward VI. bestowed "the manor, park, and palace" (now shortened into "place") of Penshurst, "with the adjoining lands, mead- ows and pastures, woods and trees, on his well-beloved knight Sir William Sidney, in reward of services done to him in his father's lifetime." The services of which he speaks were ren- dered to Edward VI. from babyhood by the whole family. Sir William himself had been appointed by Henry VIII. to be chamberlain and tutor to his young son ; Lady Sidney was his governess, and a sister his nurse, while their son Henry was his constant companion and valued friend. When, on July 7, 1553, the young king's short life was ended at Greenwich, he died in Henry Sidney's arms. Sir Henry's wife was Lady Mary Dudley, eldest daughter of John, Earl of Warwick and Viscount Lisle, afterwards Duke of Northumberland. Later on, at the death of her brother Rob- ert, Earl of Leicester (Queen Elizabeth's favourite), Lady Mary became the only representative of the Dudleys, and in her were united the houses of Berkeley, Beauchamp, De I'lsle, Grey and Talbot. It was she who brought the bear and ragged staff into the family arms, and through her came the patronage of Lord Leicester's Hospital at Warwick. On his father's death Sir Henry became owner of Pens- hurst, and retired there with his young wife, thus escaping, fortunately for his own head, all suspicion of conspiracy in her father-in-law's plot for placing Lady Jane Grey on the throne. Many of Lady Mary's relations had to pay the penalty on Tower Hill, and her second brother, John, Earl of Warwick, after being released from the Tower, returned to his sister's home at Penshurst, only to die there in a few weeks. 303 304 pensbnrst ant) its fiDemories It was during this sad and anxious time that a son was born to them at Penshurst, and christened Philip, after Queen Mary's consort . Philip Sidney was to become celebrated through all ages as the type of a perfect knight and gentleman. 1 1 III H| ^^H^HHsBIIIIBBHBjK'^^wr '^^H^H^I^^^B^^^II^^l 1 BH^HB SIR PHILIP SIDNEY AFTER ZUCCHERO Penshurst was his cradle, and it was here that he spent his early childhood, roaming the woods and pleasant glades in company with his little sister Mary. There can be no doubt that it was the fair scenery of his Kentish home which im- pressed his poetical mind and inspired him later on to write the Arcadia. A CORNER IN THE CHINA CLOSET, PENSHURST 305 peneburst anb its fIDemorles 307 In 1558, Sir Henry was appointed by Queen Elizabeth to be Lord President of the Marches in Wales, and later to be Deputy of Ireland. But though he laboured long and faithfully in her service, he was ill rewarded and badly paid. The saying, "Out of sight, out of mind," seems to have been peculiarly ap- plicable to this fickle sovereign, who was apt to forget those at a distance giving their best years to her service, and listened too readily to evil tongues. In 1574, his appointment of Deputy was taken from him. By this time he was broken in health and fortune, and Lady Mary had never recovered her OLD CLOCK IN DINING-ROOM strength after an at- - tack of small-pox, caught while nursing the Queen through this deadly disease. By way of compensation for her treatment, Elizabeth offered them a peerage, which, however, they were too poor to accept, as we find from a letter written by Lady Mary Sidney at this time, entreating that "such a calamity might be averted from them in their ruinated state 1 " 3o8 ipeneburst anb its fIDemones During this period of darkness and difficulty their son Philip must have been a great comfort to them. He had just returned from travelling abroad, and on his appearing at Court he was beloved by all who came in contact with him, and grew in high favour with the Queen, who subsequently spoke of him as "the brightest jewel of her crown." But no better testimony can be found as to his goodness in private and do- mestic life than that contained in a letter from Sir Henry Sidney to his second son "Robin." "Imitate his virtues, studies, exercises and actions. He is the rare ornament of this age. . . . He hath the most rare virtues that ever I found in any man." The history of the hero of Zutphen has often been written, and is too well known to need more than a passing word. It is a curious fact that early in life he held Church prefer- ment, for among the papers at Penshurst we find the follow- ing documents : " (1564) 6 Eliz. May 7. Original Institution by the Bishop of St. Asaph, under his seal, of Philip Sydney, Scholar, to the church of Whyteford." "(1564) June 4. Copy of Indenture between Thomas, Bishop of St. Asaph, and Philip Sydney, clerk, son of Sir Henrie Sydney, Kt., and William Mostyn, of Mostyn (as surety)." Philip was then ten years old. At the age of eighteen he was sent to Paris in the train of the English Ambassador, where he was made a Baron of France by Charles IX. Thence he passed on to Frankfort, where he made the acquaintance of Hubert Languet, with whom he formed the lifelong friendship which greatly influenced his subsequent career. From there he went to Vienna and to Venice, returning to England in is 7s, after three years of foreign travel. It was while on a- visit, with the LADY DOROTHY SIDNEY ' SACHARISSA." AFTER VAN DYCK 309 o lo ipensburst an^ its flDemones X Queen, to Lord Essex at Chartley Castle that Philip first saw and loved the beautiful Penelope Devereux, and it is to his romantic passion for her that we owe the sonnets of "Astrophel and Stella." On her marriage with another and a richer suitor, Sid- ney retired to Wilton, the home of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke ; there he wrote the Arcadia, and, together with his sister, translated the Psalms into English rhyme. In 1583, he was knighted by the Queen, and in the same year married Frances, daughter of his father's old friend Sir Francis Walsingham, by whom he left an only child, Elizabeth, afterwards Countess of Rutland. At his death, at the battle of Zutphen, in is86, Pens- hurst (which he had inherited a few months before) passed to his brother Robert — the "Robin" of his early letters — created Vis- count Lisle, Baron Sidney of Penshurst, and (in 16 18) Earl of Leicester. Robert married a Welsh heiress — Barbara Gamage — whose portrait, surrounded by six of her children in the quaint dress of the period, is at Penshurst. One of her sons was made a Knight of the Bath by Charles, Prince of Wales, and was after- wards the second Earl of Leicester. Clarendon tells us that "he was a man of great parts, very conversant in books, and much addicted to the mathematics." In 1632, he went as Ambassador to Denmark, and four years later filled the same high office at the Court of France. He married Lady Dorothy Percy, daughter of the Earl of Northumberland, the lady whose excellent house- wifery Ben Jonson praises during an unexpected visit which James 1., paid to Penshurst while hunting in the neighbour- hood. Their eldest daughter, Dorothy, so celebrated for her beauty and goodness, was born at Sion House in 16 17. This fair lady is perhaps better known as the " Sacharissa " of Waller's verse. To her he addressed many of his finest poems, one of the best examples of which we quote ; it is entitled "The Banished Self." I OLD SPINET AT PENSHURST 311 312 pensburet an^ its flDemories " It is not that I love you less Than when before your feet 1 lay; But to prevent the sad increase Of hopeless love, I keep away. " In vain, alas, for everything Which I have known belong to you Your form does to my fancy bring And makes my old wounds bleed anew. " But vow'd I have, and never must Your banisht servant trouble you ; For if I break, you may mistrust The vow I made to love you too." The best-known of all these poems is the exquisite and oft-sung " Go, Lovely Rose." But the poet's plaintive verse had no effect upon the hard heart of my Lady Dorothy, who was wooed by many suitors in vain. However, she was won at length by Henry, Lord Spencer, afterwards Earl of Sunderland. There is a charming portrait of her at Penshurst, painted probably before her marriage, which took place at Penshurst in 1639. There still exists a very witty letter, written, on the occasion of her mar- riage, by Dorothy's old admirer. Waller, to her sister, Lady Lucy Sidney. Lady Sunderland's happy married life lasted but four years, for in 1643 Sunderland fell at the battle of Newbury, and the same day perished two spirits as brave as himself— Carnarvon and Falk- land. The young widow left to mourn his loss was well nigh broken-hearted, as we can tell from the tender letters of consola- tion written to her by her father at this sad time. She retired with her three children to Afthorp, and after nine years of widowhood contracted a second alliance with Sir Robert Smythe, of Boundes Park, in the neighbourhood of Penshurst, ^ THE BALL ROOM, PENSHURST 313 314 Ipensburet anb its flDemoriee whom she survived several years. She lived on to charm all who approached her by her cleverness and brilliant wit, but more than all by her kindly and ever-ready sympathy. Lady Sunder- land died at the age of sixty-seven, and lies buried at Brington, in Northamptonshire, the burial-place of the Spencers. There are two pictures at Penshurst which attract special attention — one of a sweet-faced girl leading a spaniel, the other of a handsome lad in armour : they are the Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Gloucester, children of Charles !., who were entrusted to Lord Leicester by order of the Parliament. It is interesting to know that they remained at Penshurst for more than a year, and were only removed to Carisbrook Castle because it was thought they were treated with too much respect and attention. Of Dorothy's second brother Algernon, the patriot, there are four portraits. In one, by Dobson, we see him a grave-looking boy, painted with his brothers, Philip, Lord Lisle, and Robert. Another shows him later on in life, and was painted for his father while in exile at Brussels. In it he is resting his arm on a vol- ume, on which we can trace the word Libertas, while in the background is a view of Tower Hill, put in after his execution. Early in life he joined the Parliamentary forces, and was wounded at the battle of Marston Moor. But he opposed the policy of Cromwell, and fought only for "liberty." At the Restoration, after the execution on Tower Hill of his friend and comrade Sir Harry Vane, he renounced the joys of home and country, and became a wanderer on the face of the earth. How much he loved that home, and how he yearned for it when in exile, we know from his letters to Lady Sunderland, in one of which he "longs only for a few months' quiet at Penshurst." But at the same time he preferred to stand firmly by the principles which guided his life, and from which he never for one moment swerved, it will, probably, always be a matter of opinion THE VESTIBULE, PENSHURST 315 3i6 pensburet anb its flDemoriee whether Algernon Sidney was merely obstinate in error or con- sistently honourable in precept, but there can be no doubt as to his wonderful courage, resolution and high principle. A man with his opinions, and possessing the full courage of them, was considered in those days far too dangerous a subject, and so he suffered seventeen weary years of banishment from all he held most dear. It was only on the serious illness of his father in 1667 that an assurance of safety was granted him through his nephew, Lord Sunderland ; and he returned home to Penshurst just in time to bid the old Earl a last farewell. For some time he remained in the seclusion of his boyhood's home ; but a life of inaction was not for him, and he was per- suaded by his old friend Penn to stand for Parliament. He stood first for Guilford and afterwards for the Rape of Bramber, but in both cases means were taken to prevent his election. This so much disgusted Sidney and Penn that, giving up all hope of furthering the good of their own country, they turned their thoughts to the New World across the sea, and began to make plans for what could be done there. So the two friends set about drawing up a system of administration at Worminghurst, Penn's place in Sussex. This was revised by Sidney at Pens- hurst. Thus we see that Pennsylvania owes something to Pens- hurst ! In 1652, when Penn set sail in the Welcome, he and Algernon parted never to meet again. The following year a conspiracy to murder the King, called the Rye House Plot, was discovered, and Algernon Sidney was arrested. He was given no opportunity to defend himself during his trial by Judge Jeffreys, and was thrown into prison, where he languished for many months. On a cold December morning in 1683 this great man's life was brought to an end on Tower Hill. " Are you ready, sir ? " cried the headsman. "Will you rise again ? " 31" 3i8 peneburst ant) its flDemoriee "Not till the general resurrection. Strike on," was the reply. Another brother of Lady Dorothy's, of whom there are sev- eral portraits, is Henry Sidney the youngest. His good looks and charming manners were such that De Grammont tells us he went by the name of le beau Sidney. He was many years younger than his brothers and sisters, being born the same year as Lady Sunderland's own eldest son. He was vain and pleas- ure-loving. His sister Dorothy, however, was warmly attached to him, and indeed he seems to have been a favourite with al- most everyone. Though he was once banished from Court for his intrigue with the Duchess of York, he again found favour with Charles II., who made him minister in Holland, and Wil- liam 111. afterwards created him Earl of Romney. We find him at the coronation of King James II., in attendance on the King as Master of the Robes. The crown being somewhat too large for him, Mr. Sidney put forth his hands to support it, pleasantly re- marking to the King, as he did so, "This is not the first time our family have supported the crown ! " It is recorded that Henry, Earl of Romney, died of small-pox at his house in St. James's Square, now called York House. He died unmarried, and left his large fortune to his great-nephew John, who .in his turn became the sixth Earl of Leicester, and a man of some note in his day. He was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and was created a Knight of the Bath in 1725. He was succeeded by his brother Jocelin, seventh and last of the Sidneys, Earls of Leices- ter, who died in 1742, leaving no son to succeed him. Pens- hurst passed to the daughter of his elder brother, in the hands of whose descendants it still remains. In addition to the portraits already mentioned there are many more of interest, and whichever way we turn we meet the gaze of departed Sidneys. First comes Sir William, who THE PANEL ROOM, SHOWING ALGERNON SIDNEY'S BOOTS 319 SWORD OF ROBERT DUDLEY, EARL OF LEICESTER 321 pensburst ant) its fIDemories 323 commanded the right wing of the army at Flodden Field, and to whom Penshurst was granted by Edward VI. Next we see Sir Henry and his wife, Lady Mary Dudley. Sir Philip appears as a boy of fourteen with his brother Robert, afterwards Earl of Leicester. These are in Queen Elizabeth's room, which is full of interesting relics of that period. We have here the card-table said to have been worked with her own hands, and the tapestry DIANA'S BATH " on the walls placed there by Sir Henry Sidney on the occasion of one of her visits to Penshurst. In this room also stands an ebony cabinet of seventeenth-century work, ornamented with oil paintings by eminent Dutch masters, and two landscapes by Berghem — a present from James 1. to the second Lord Leicester — and a beautiful set of carved ivory and ebony furniture of the same date. Leading from Queen Elizabeth's room is the tapestry room, where hang the crystal chandeliers given by Elizabeth to her 324 peneburet anb its fiDemories favourite, Leicester ; also some fifteenth-century tapestry, a curious specimen of Spanish work. Here, too, are a carved ebony cabinet with silver mounts, supposed to have belonged to Cardinal Wolsey, and a fine equestrian portrait of Charles 1. by old Stone. We next pass into the china closet, containing a collection of Oriental china. In the picture gallery beyond is a portrait of Queen Eliza- beth by Zucchero, in all the glory of lace and ruffles, and holding a jewelled fan — a recent bequest from Lady Strangford. Then there are pictures of Sir Philip, of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, and of Languet, his friend and tutor ; and here are preserved a pair of jack boots, once the property of Algernon Sidney. Turning back, we come through the ball-room, where hang the portraits of many generations of Sidneys, In this room is a bushel measure of the time of Queen Elizabeth, bear- ing the date of 1601, and a table of Henry Vlll.'s time. Below, in the entrance corridor, are the remains of a valu- able collection of armour, consisting of several complete suits of different periods. Besides these there are some muskets, dated 1591, probably the first made and used in England, Among other curiosities are a tilting helmet belonging to Sir William Sidney, bearing the original crest of the porcupine, and a two handed sword belonging to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leices- ter, which is mentioned in the inventory of his "wardroppe stuffe, hanginges and other furniture," made, in 1583, at Kenil- worth, and carefully preserved at Penshurst. In this part of the house are a number of pictures by old Dutch and Italian masters ; and in a frame in the drawing-room is a collection of locks of hair belonging to Sir Philip and Al- gernon Sidney and other members of the family. There, too, we see an inlaid writing-table, which is said to have once been the property of the peerless "Sacharissa" herself v- '^■• SUNDIAL IN THE GARDEN, PENSHURST 325 326 pensburst ant) its flDemoiiee Out of doors we are again reminded of this fair lady as we walk in the park under an avenue of noble limes, still called '' Sacharissa's walk." She herself must often have passed by the Sidney oak, planted to commemorate the birth of her famous kinsman, and celebrated in Ben Jonson's verse as " That taller tree, which of a nut was set At his great birth, where all the Muses met." The gardens, with their well-trimmed yew hedges and grass-grown walks, are entirely in keeping with the character of the house. ^ And when the apple trees are in bloom, and the limes bursting into leaf, there is no fairer spot in all the Kentish land than the ancient home of the Sidneys. ' It may be added, as showing how much admirable landscape gardening can be accomplished in a comparatively short time, that the beautiful grounds have been practically created since iSso. Any gardens there might have been had ceased to be, through a period of absolute neglect. The yew hedges and " Diana's Bath," that look so venerable and courtier-esque to the visitor to-day, did not exist at the date mentioned. — Ed. IN THE GARDENS MarwicI? Castle \ 327 i WARWICK CASTLE WARWICK CASTLE BY THE COUNTESS OF WARWICK THE character of ancient buildings, the various styles of architecture which they present to us, their beauties as well as their blemishes, enable any one whose darkness may be lightened by the diviner radiance of a happy power of imagination to recall the persons and the events with which these buildings have been associated. The gloomy feudal for- tress carries the mind back to the Middle Ages ; the abbey, with its cloisters and windows and all the surroundings of a dim religious light, reminds us of days when the Head of the Church was indeed Christ's Vicar here upon earth ; while the palace suggests, side by side with its stories of games played at that great game in which men are but as pawns, pictures of 329 330 TMarwick Caetle gallant gentlemen and fair ladies who, though being dead, yet live before us. England is not so rich in these varied combina- tions of palace, abbey, and tower as is France, for instance, and particularly Touraine. Many of our most famous medieval castles have been suffered to fall into decay, or, worse still, have been improved into modern shape by the rash hand of idle innovators. There is one among our castles, however, which neither Time's defacing fingers nor man's innovating hand has de- spoiled — Warwick Castle. Possibly there is no place of this sort so well known the whole English world over, situated, as it is, within that Shakes- peare country from which proceeded those melodious sounds which yet fill the world. It has always been the Mecca of the best and noblest of literary pilgrims from America. Nearly half a century ago Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote for an American magazine a series of sketches, in one of which, entitled ''About Warwick," he tells us how "through the vista of willows that droop on either side into the water we behold the grey mag- nificence of Warwick Castle uplifting itself among stately trees and rearing its turrets high above their loftiest branche-s. We can scarcely think the scene real, so completely do its machi- colated towers, the long line of battlements, the massive but- tresses, the high-windowed walls, shape out our indistinct ideas of the antique time." Forty years ago one who has been well described as the master of American prose wrote : "Warwick Castle! England, and all who speak its lan- guage, owe the successive inheritors of this great living pile of buildings more than they have ever acknowledged. It did not put on the armour of nature to help out its own. It did not take advantage of perpendicular rocks on river sides, like TKnarwicft Castle 33^ Stirling, or Edinburgh, or Chepstow. Now, in these sunny days of peace, with its venerable mane of cedar trees, it looks like a grand old lion lying down, with its paw tenderly placed over a tired lamb. Inside out, from end to end, it is the har- monious growth of many ages, and registers each age in distinctive illus- trations. It shows what can be done by a dozen generations of wealthy men, in- heriting an estate to which every man's laudable ambition is to add something to what his forefathers set there. All who have possessed the title added each to what he found, both to building and its adormnent." After all, a castle, even so famous a one as Warwick, is not so interesting in itself as the scenes which it has witnessed and the people who have lived in it or visited it. The history of Warwick Castle, for the last three hundred and fifty years at least, has been no small part of the history of England. Per- sonal and local history in England does not so much begin with the Reformation as it does in other countries ; but this one thing is certain, that between the pre-Reformation world and ourselves there is a great gulf fixed which the historian has tried in vain to bridge. Not that the place before that could have been de- void of interest : no castle in the stormy times of the Wars of GUY'S TOWER 332 TKHarwich Castle the Roses could have enjoyed the happiness of having no his- tory ; and surely, if any did, Warwick was not one of them. Its very position, situated in the heart of England, must, from the time when the Great Alfred's daughter built the keep ("the monument of the wisdom and energy of the mighty Ethelfleda "), have been such that, in all the numerous brawls and butcheries dignified by the name of civil war, the posses- sion of it must have been a matter of supreme importance. And so it was nearly four centuries before the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses that William the Conqueror had made War- wick the base of his operations for his campaign in the North. The fortress he built there has gone — not one stone left upon another, and so utterly perished that the very site of it is pure guess-work. The legendary Guy and all his feats may be dismissed from any account which makes any pretence to be historical. There is a curious account of the garrison of Warwick Castle in the time of Henry 11., when all his legitimate sons were in arms against him, and the two illegitimate sons of Fair Rosamond alone re- mained faithful. It was occupied for the King ; and the sheriff's account rendered for the victualling of the place was this : "xi. It. xiii. s. iiii. d. for 20 quarters of Bread Corn ; xx. s. for 20 quar- ters of Malt ; c. s. for 50 Biefs salted up ; xxx. s. for 90 cheeses ; and XX. 5. for salt then laid in for the victualling thereof." Of the importance of Warwick Castle in the Middle Ages we can well form an idea from Dugdale's statement : " Of what great regard it was in those times may be dis- cerned by the King's precept to the Archbishop of York, for re- quiring good security of Margery, sister and heir to Thomas, then Earl of Warwick, that she should not take to husband any per- son whatsoever in whom the said King could not repose trust as in his own self: the chief reason being given in these words, 333 334 Maiwick Castle ' Because she has a Castle of immense strength, and situated towards the Marches.'" No mention of Warwick Castle would be complete if it left out the famous Earl — "the King-Maker" and the "Last of the Barons." Never was the " Bear and Ragged Staff" held in such high esteem as between 1455 and 1470. And when, a few years after the King-Maker's death, the avaricious Henry VII. annexed his various manors to the Crown, he got possession of over a hundred of them, to say nothing of the whole of the Channel Islands. A contemporary tells us that "at the Earl's house in London six oxen were usually eaten at breakfast, and every tavern was full of his meat, for he that had any acquaintance in his family should have as much sodden — i.e. boiled — as he could carry on a long dagger." The Castle had remained for a very considerable period in the possession of the successive earls. It next passed to the ill- starred George, Duke of Clarence, and upon his death, "being seized into the King's hands, it continued in the Crown a great while." When the fam.ous John Dudley became Earl of Warwick, the Castle was granted to him, as well as divers lands which had belonged to former earls. Of his fate in connection with the unhappy Lady Jane Grey there is no need to speak here. The Castle and all his estates, upon his attainder, escheated to the Crown. Thanks to the favour with which Robert Dudley, better known as the Earl of Leicester, was regarded by Queen Elizabeth, his brother Ambrose received from that Queen a grant of War- wick Castle, together with the dignities of Earl of Warwick and Baron de I'lsle, in 1561. Three years later his brother Robert became Earl of Leicester. There were other subjects beside Lord Burghley who groaned inwardly under "the extraordinary chardg in Enterteynment of MarwicI? Castle 335 the Queen." Elizabeth had more than the ordinary passion of the time for "rich shews, pleasant devices and all manner of sports that could be devised." Notwithstanding the extent of her various pro- gresses east and west and north and south, there seemed to be always something freshly arranged for her entertainment. In 1572, on her way to Kenilworth, she stayed at Warwick, and visited the Earl of Warwick at the Castle she had grant- ed him eleven years before. She came to Warwick "on the 12th day of August, after dinner, about three of the clock, with the Countess in the same coach." The Recorder, who appears to have been elected that very day, delivered an oration of por- tentous length even for those times, and the scene that followed is best described in the Black Book, as it is called, belonging to the Corporation of Warwick : "This Oracion ended, Robart Philippes, Bailiff, rising out of the place where he knelid, approached near to the coche or chari- ott wherein her Majestie satt, and coming to the side thereof, kneeling doune, offered unto her Majestie a purse very fair wrought, and in the purse twenty pounds all in sovereigns, which her Majestie putting forth her hand received, showing withall a very benign and gracious countenance, and, smyling, THE GATEWAY )36 TKHarwick Castle said to the Erie of Leycester, ' My Lord, this is contrary to your promise.'" Her Majesty made the usual gracious reply, "and there- withal offered her hand to the Bailiff to kiss, who kissed it, and then she delivered to him again his mace, which she kept in her lappe all the tyme of the Oracion. And after the mace delivered, she called Mr. Aglionby (the newly elected Recorder) to her, and offered her hand to him to kiss, withall smyling, said, ' Come hither, little Recorder. It was told me that youe would be afraid to look upon me or to speak boldly, but youe were not so 'fraid of me as 1 was of youe ; and 1 now thank you for puttyng me in mynd of my duety, and that should be in me.'" Mr. Griffin, the preacher, approached with a view to present- ing a paper, — it turned out to be a Latin acrostic advising the Queen to marry. She, evidently not without some suspicion, said to him : "If it be any matter to be answered, we will look upon it and give you answer at my Lord of Warwick's house," and so was desirous to be going — as indeed she well might be after the "little" Recorder's "long Oracion." So they went to the Castle, the Bailiff, the Recorder, and principal burgesses, with their attendants riding two and two together before the Queen, and thus were they marshalled by the heralds and gentlemen ushers : " First, the Attendants or Assistants to the Bailief to the nomber of thirty, two and two together in coats of puke (a sort of grey) laid on with lace : then the Twelve principal burgesses, in gownes of puke, lyned with satten and damask upon foot clothes : then two Bishoppes : then the Lords of the Counsail : then next before the Queene's Majestic was placed the Bailief in a gowne of scarlet, on the right hand of the Lord Compton who then was High Shiref of this shire, who therefore would have carried up his rod into the Toune : which was forbidden him by THE GREAT HALL, WARWICK CASTLE 337 MarvpicF? Castle 339 the Heralds and Gentlemen Ushers, who therefore had placed the Bailief on the right hand with his mace." Questions of precedence were then more frequently to be settled than now. All seems to have been arranged amicably. Arriving at the Castle gate, the burgesses and the attendants formed a lane through which the Queen passed, accompanied by the Bailiff, "still carrieng his mace." That Monday night and Tuesday she stayed at the Castle, but on Wednesday was off— " leaving her household and trayne still at Warwick " — to Kenil- worth and Lord Leicester. With him she stayed, and on Satur- day night, "very late," returned to Warwick. The Puritans were not yet very troublesome ; indeed, they never were very troublesome to her. One is therefore not surprised to hear that on the Sunday afternoon "the country people, resorting to see her, daunced in the Court of the Castell : which thing, as it pleased well the country people, so it seemed her Majesty was much delighted." It was the Sunday next before St. Bartholo- mew's Day. In the time of Elizabeth, even as in our days, entertainments ended with a display of fireworks ; and on that Sunday evening August 18, 1572, the last day of her visit to Warwick Castle, supper being over, " a showe of fireworks," prepared for that pur- pose in the Temple fields, " was sett abroche." It represented a mimic siege, in which "the Erie of Oxford and his soldiers to the number of two hundred, with qualivers and harquebuyces gave dyvers assaults, they in the fort shooting again and casting out divers fyers terrible to those that had not been in like experiences, valiant to such as delighted therein, and indeed straunge to them that understood it not." Exhibitions of fireworks in those days seemed more dan- gerous than they are now. The display at the Castle, " in which the Queen's Majesty took great pleasure," seems to 340 Marwick Caatle have gone on regardless of the " comfate or safety of the ToLine," and this mimic siege seems to have been a very for- midable affair. " A ball of fyre fell on a house at the end of the bridge, and set fyre on the same house, the man and wief being both in bed and asleep, which burned so as before any reskue could be, the house and all things in it utterly perished, with much ado to save the man and woman." Other houses caught fire, but were saved through the efforts of the Earl of Oxford, Sir Fulke Greville (father then, though he did not know it, of the future Lord of Warwick Castle), and other " Gentlemen and Tounesmen." If all shows of fireworks were like this at Warwick Castle they must have been a fear- ful joy to the neighbours. ''No marvaile it was so little harme was done, for the fire balls and squibbes cast upp did so flye quite over the Castell and into the myddle of the Toune, to the great perill or else great feare of the inhabitants of this Borough, and so as, by what means is not yet known, foure houses in the Toune were on fire at once, whereof one had a ball come through both sides and made a hole as big as a man's head, and " (naively adds the MS.) "did no more harm." It would seem that the inhabitants of the Borough may not have been sorry to get free from "the fire balls and squibbes cast upp " for the Queen's delight. Any way, on the Monday "her Majesty taking that pleasure in the sport she had at Ken- ilworth would thither again." One likes to know that she sent for the old couple who had been burnt out of house and home, and by "her Grace's bounty there was given towards their losses that had been hurt, ^25. 12. 8." (equal in value to over /200 of our money). And so ended her first and last visit to Warwick Castle. MarwicF? Caetle 3^1 This Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who had enter- tained Elizabeth with the fireworks in 1572, had been struck with a poisoned bullet at the siege of Havre, and was always after more or less of an invalid. Although he was married three times, he had had only one son, who died during his father's lifetime. Consequently, when the " Good Lord War- wick," as he was popularly known, died early in 1590, after A CORNER OF THE HALL the amputation of his leg, the Castle and almost all his prop- erty reverted to the Crown, with which it rested until the second year of James 1. The connection of the present Earls of Warwick (the Gre- villes) with Warwick Castle begins with the year 1605, when James granted Sir Fulke Greville the ruined Castle in fee, at which time, as Dugdale wrote : '' It was a very ruinous thing, the strongest and securest parts thereof being only made use of for the Common Gaol of the County ; but he. Sir Fulke, bestowing more than ;^2o,ooo cost, as I have heard, made it a place not only of great strength 342 TKHarwicf? Castle but of extraordinary delight, with most pleasant gardens, walks, and thickets, such as this part of England can hardly parallel, so that now it is the most princely seat that is within these midland parts of the Realm." The Grevilles had long been settled at Milcote in Warwick- shire, but had not enjoyed more consideration than any other of the country gentry till a love match of a younger son of the Grevilles with the greatest heiress of the day raised them to the front rank. There is at Warwick Castle an account of this marriage in manuscript, written in 1644. In fhe days of King Henry VIII. I read of "Sir Edmund Grevil of Milcote, who had the wardenship of Elizabeth, one of the daughters of the Lord Brookes' son. The Knight made a motion to his ward to be married to John, his eldest son ; but she refused, saying that she did like better of Fulke, his second son. He told her that he had no estate of land to maintain her, and that he was in the King's service of warre beyond the seas and therefore his return was very doubtful. She replied and said that she had an estate sufficient both for him and for herself, and that she would pray for his safeties and wait for his coming. Upon his return home, for the worthy services he had performed he was, by King Henry, honoured with Knighthood, and then married Elizabeth the daughter of the Lord Brookes' son." It was the grandson of this noble-hearted Elizabeth (Sir Fulke Greville) who got from James I. Warwick Castle in 160s, and a peerage in 1621. This Fulke Greville, from all we know of his life, was just the man to expend /20,ooo (a sum equiva- lent to something like ^^ 160,000 now) upon restoring his ruined castle. Born in 1554, he entered Shrewsbury School the same day as Philip Sidney, with whom he formed a close friendship, which only ended with Zutphen. He was one of Queen Eliza- beth's "young men," and at once attracted her favour, and Marwicl^ Caetle 343 "had the longest lease and the smoothest time without rub of any of her favourites" ; and such was her attachment to him that, although she allowed Sidney to go to the war, she refused Greville permission. His body was buried in St. Mary's Church, Warwick, and the epitaph, which he had himself composed, was engraved upon the monument he had erected during his lifetime. It runs thus : " FULKE GREVILLE Servant to Queen Elizabeth Counsellor to King James AND Friend TO Sir Philip Sidney." Warwick Castle and its owner, Robert, second Lord Brooke, were destined to play a prominent part in the approaching Civil War. The first ten years of his possession of the title practically coincided with what has been called the Stuart dynasty. By education and connection — his only sister was married to Sir Arthur Haselrigge, one of the " Five Members " — and by dispo- sition he was strongly attached to the popular party. Soon after his accession he formed, with Lord Saye and Sele, the de- sign of emigrating to New England, and the colony of Saye- brooke was founded under a commission from them. But his fate lay not there : he was imprisoned for refusing to subscribe to the protestation of fidelity to Charles on his Scottish expe- dition of 1639; and in May, 1640, his house was entered, his papers seized, and he himself again imprisoned. At the com- mencement of the Civil War, as Lord-Lieutenant of Militia for the counties of Warwick and Stafford, he garrisoned Warwick Castle for the Parliament, and mustered train bands and volun- teers. In one of the earliest skirmishes he defeated the Earl of Northampton at Kineton, near Banbury. The defeated Earl im- mediately proceeded to lay siege to Warwick Castle ; but Sir 344 Marwick Castle Edward Peto, who was in command, held out till Lord Brooke relieved him, after a siege which had lasted three weeks. Un- der Essex, Warwick Castle became the centre and depot of military forces in the West Midlands, and Brooke was made commander-in-chief of the associated counties. But he did not hold his office long : while attacking the Close at Lichfield, he was struck in the eye by a bullet and killed on the spot. The curious in such matters observed that the day of his death (March 2d) was St. Chad's — St. Chad being the saint to whom Lichfield Cathedral is dedicated. The death of this Lord of Warwick Castle brought out a crop of elegies : Milton described him as "a right noble and pious lord"; and Harington praised him as a saint and a martyr in "An Elegy upon the Mirour of Magnanimitie." The two first — in many respects the two foremost — peers of the Greville line thus died ; though in a different way, each had a violent death. The second Lord Brooke died in the thirty-sixth year of his age, having had the satisfaction of freeing his Castle from the besieging Royalists. Of that siege a quaint account is given in a contemporary pamphlet entitled ''A Letter from a Gentleman of Warwick to his friend in London." The follow- ing are the most interesting points in it : "This day seavennight in the morning, my Lord of North- ampton came to Banbury where the Ordnance was delivered, and from thence with all speed they went to war to my Lord Brook's Castle. They were confident the Toun would be delivered up presently, but there they found a man of courage, that brave man Sir Edward Peto-Peyton, who upon the first message sent the Lords an absolute answer he would not deliver the Castle. They gave him 2 hours time and sent again. Sir Edward sent an angry answer that they might have taken his word at first. The Lords planted their ordnance against the Castle and discharged one. IKIlarwicFi Castle 345 Sir Edward in requitall discharged 2 and bid them as they liked that shoot again ; then Sir Edward made proclamation that all his friends should depart the toun, and for the rest bid them look to themselves. He hung out of the Castle a bloody flag and a flag with a cross upon it in defi- ance of the Papists, and now shoots night and day with double mus-kets that kill 20 score. He shot through the house where the Lord Compton lay, which made him remove his ^'^''^^ lodging. The Lord Compton being planting ordnance upon the Tower of the Church, Sir Edward discharged an ordnance from the Castle v/hich took off a pinnacle of the Tower and made the Cavaliers stir. Neverthelesse they discharged the ordnance, being one they took from Banbury, which broke all in pieces, whereupon they suspect all the ordnance that came from Banbury to be poisoned. A fellow of my Lord of North's going over the street with a shoulder of mutton in his hand held it up and said ' Look here, you roundheads, you would be glad of a bit,' presently fell down dead, being shot from the Castle. There are not many yet slain : the Castle stands untouched and Sir Edward now hangs out his winding sheet and Bible. Our GUY'S PORRIDGE-POT" 346 TimarvoicR Caetle Papists begin to stir, they disarm private men, and take their arms out of their houses. They have taken Sir Edward's horses out of the stable, 8 for the saddle, they kill my Lord Brooke's Deer. We expect my Lord S. (Say and Sele) or some of our Parliament men to countenance us, for we are almost borne down with great ones." Upon the death of this Lord Brooke, the Parliament, by an ordinance, settled the wardship of the young Lord Brooke, his son, upon Catherine, Lady Brooke, widow of the lord who was killed at Lichfield. With the battle of Edge Hill any close con- nection between the Civil War and Warwick Castle seems to have ceased. Lady Brooke doubtless remained here in retire- ment, looking after her five boys, three of whom ultimately suc- ceeded their father in the peerage. A few years after Lord Brooke's death, the Commons, on a message from the Lords, voted /5ooofor the use of his youngest son — a not inconsiderable portion in those days. The next important event for us in connection with Warwick Castle is a visit which John Evelyn paid, in August 1654. He gives his impression of it in these words : ''We passed next through Warwick and saw the Castle, the dwelling-house of Lord Brooke and the furniture noble. It is built on an eminent rock which gives prospect into a most goodly green, a woody and plentifully watered country ; the river run- ning so delightfully under it that it may pass for one of the most surprising seats one should meet with. The gardens are prettily disposed, but might be much improved. Here they show us Sir Guy's great two-handed sword, staff, horse-arms, pot, and other relics. Hence to Sir Guy's grot, where they say he did his penances and died, it is a squalid den made in the rock, crowned yet with venerable oaks and looking on a goodly stream, so as were it improved as it might be it were capable of Umarwicfi Castle 347 being made a most romantic and pleasant place. Near this we were showed his chapel and gigantic statue hewn out of the solid rock, out of which there were likewise divers other caves cut." Evelyn, as the author of Silva well might do, did not think much of the gardens in 1654. To bring them to perfec- tion was reserved for that most luckless of the heads of the Gre- villes, George, the second Baron, who ''planned the park by his taste and planted the trees with his hand." The second son, Robert, who became the fourth Lord Brooke, was one of the six lords sent by the House of Peers, together with twelve of the members of the House of Commons, to present to Charles 11. at the Hague "the humble invitation and suppli- cation of the Parliament ; ' That His Majesty would be pleased to return and take the government of the Kingdom into his own hands.'" He was made Recorder of Warwick, and being a great traveller, added much to the embellishment of the Castle. It was to him that the fitting up of the state apartments is due, and he worthily continued to follow in the footsteps of his pre- decessor in the title. His successors from one generation to another took pride above everything else in the adornment and beautification of their castle. In 1746, the eighth Baron was created Earl Brooke, and in the last year of the reign of George OLIVER CROMWELL'S HELMET 348 Marwick Castle II. the earldom of Warwick, which had been conferred in 1618 on the family of Rich, becoming extinct, devolved upon Lord Brooke. The son of this first Earl of Warwick was one of the most reckless of all connoisseurs, and Warwick Castle is in- debted to him for many valuable gems which his uncle. Sir William Hamilton, collected. Many of the finest specimens of artistic work at Warwick bear testimony to his taste, but the enlargement and improvement of the grounds about the Castle are his special work, and he expended over / 100,000 in beauti- fying the interior of his home. The entrance to the Castle consists of a plain embattled gate- way, leading to a picturesque winding roadway, cut, for upwards of a hundred yards, through the solid rock, and overhung with shrubs, creepers, and trees. This roadway conducts to the outer court, where a grand view of the outer walls suddenly bursts upon the visitor, the main features of which are Guy's Tower on the right, the Gateway in the middle, and Cesar's Tower on the left. Guy's Tower, so named in honour of the legendary warrior, was built by the second Thomas de Beauchamp in the reign of Richard II., being completed in 1394. It is twelve-sided, thirty feet in diameter at the base, with walls ten feet thick, and rises to a height of a hundred and twenty-eight feet. This tower con- tains five floors, each floor having a groined roof and being sub- divided into one large and two small rooms, the sides of which are pierced with numerous loopholes, commanding in various directions the curtains which the tower was intended to protect. A staircase of a hundred and thirty-three steps leads to the sum- mit, which is crowned by a machicolated parapet. The vault beneath has been constructed of great strength, apparently for the purpose of supporting on the roof some ponderous and powerful engine, calculated to annihilate anything which could IKIlarwicIi Castle 349 be brought against it. The details of the Castle can be best ob- served from this tower, and it commands a fine view of the sur- rounding countr}^, extending for many miles. The second-floor chamber, now used as a muniment room, was the place of con- finement of the Earl of Lindsey, who, with his father, was taken prisoner at the battle of Edge Hill. Caesar's Tower was erected between 1350 and 1370 by the first Thomas de Beauchamp, and it is a marvel of constructive skill. It is an irregalar polygon, a hundred and forty-seven feet in height, containing four stories, each with a groined roof, and QUEEN ELIZABETH'S VIOLIN is crowned by a boldly projecting machicolation. The part facing outwards forms three segments of a circle, the general construction being such as to constitute it a fortress of the most formidable character. It is built on the solid rock, and was therefore impervious to the miner. The loopholes through- out are most scientifically contrived, not being cut in the centre of the merlons in each instance, but being pierced in positions commanding the most advantageous situations, and being made available either for the long or cross bow. The lower edges of the loopholes are also sloped at the exact angle requisite to clear the gallery below. The archers were securely protected by wooden screens, termed mantlets, and by leather curtains, as well as by the roofs above them. The sloping base of the tower constituted another formidable medium for launching missiles 350 Marwicft Castle against the enemy, being so constructed that a stone or metal projectile, launched from the machicolation above, would re- bound with a point-blank aim into the breasts of the attacking force beneath. The Gateway was constructed in the fourteenth century, and was in ancient times approached by a drawbridge, which formerly spanned the moat, but is now replaced by a stone arch. On the inner side of this is the Barbican, projecting some fifty feet from the wall, and rising two stories in height above the archway. It is flanked by two octagonal turrets, loop- holed for the purpose of defending the bridge and its ap- proaches. Within the drawbridge is a portcullis, and behind the portcullis are four holes overhead, through which blazing pitch, hot lead, or other scarifying compounds could be poured on the heads of the assailants. Beyond the portcullis again were the doors, and passing through the archway is a small court, twenty-four feet long by eleven feet wide, into which, if the assailants penetrated, they would fmd themselves en- tirely at the mercy of the defenders above. From a gallery over the archway, on the inner side of the barbican, and from the walls and towers on all sides, a murderous discharge of missile could be maintained, the slope of the ground upwards being an additional disadvantage to the assailants. At the up- per end of this court is the Gatehouse, with a groined arch- way, which was again defended by a portcullis, loopholes, and doors, like the barbican. It is flanked by towers, the summits of which are connected by a bridge, enabling the defenders to concentrate the largest amount of destructive power on the court beneath. The outer portcullis is worked by a windlass, which still exists in the lower chamber of the south-east turret. The spacious Inner Court is nearly two acres in extent. In front stands the Mound, or Keep, studded with trees and Marwicf? Caetle 351 QUEEN ELIZABETH'S SADDLE shrubs, and crossed by the fortifications, in which the Northern Tower forms a prominent object. On the right, connected by walls of enormous strength, are two incomplete towers, termed the Bear and Clarence Towers, the former begun by Richard III., and the latter probably by his brother, George, Duke of Clarence. On the left, extend- ing to the Hill Tow- er at the base of the Mound, is the inhabited part of the Castle, altered and enlarged at various times since it was first built, but with so much skill as to be in perfect keeping with the general aspect of the whole. A fortress is said to have existed here in Roman times ; and Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred the Great, is stated to have erected a keep, or dungeon, on the Mound in the year 915. The Mound is, like many others in England and in other coun- tries, prehistoric. It represents the first idea of a fortress — a truncated cone. The flat top gave space to which large num- bers could flee for safety, while the steep sides were easily defended. The Saxons did not make earthworks— they built in stone ; and what Ethelfleda probably did was to build a keep on the top of the Mound, which was destroyed when the Cas- tle was dismantled in the eleventh century. In all probability the Mound was there in the time of the Romans, as some marble tablets now in the Castle were dug out of the foot of it about the end of the last century. 352 Marwich Caetle The Great Hall is sixty-two feet long, thirty-five feet broad, and nearly forty feet high. It is lighted by three large re- cessed windows, and is panelled with oak to a height of nearly nine feet. The floor is composed of red and white marble in lozenge-shaped squares, brought from the neighbourhood of Verona, and the fine hooded mantelpiece of carved stone came from Rome. The length of the suite of apartments visible from the hall is three hundred and thirty feet, and through the doorway leading to the chapel a good view used to be obtained of the fine equestrian portrait of Charles 1., by Van Dyck (now in the State Dining-room), in which the King is represented in armour, mounted on a grey horse, and attended by his equerry, either the Chevalier d'Epernon or M. de St. Antoine. In the re- cess of the centre window is a remarkably tine cauldron of bell-metal, popularly, though erroneously, styled "Guy's Por- ridge Pot." It holds about one hundred and twenty gallons, and is in reality a garrison cooking pot, used for seething tlesh rations. It was probably originally made for Sir John Talbot of Swanington, who died in 1365. There is an old couplet relat- ing to it, quoted in Nichols's History of Leicestershire, which runs thus : " There 's nothing left of Talbot's name But Talbot's pot and Talbot's lane." It possibly came to Warwick Castle through the marriage of Margaret, daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, with John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, from whom descended the Dudleys, Vis- counts De L'IsIe, afterwards Earls of Warwick. Notwithstand- ing that the existence of the ''redoubtable Guy" must be relegated to the region of myths, a suit of armour seems to have been appropriated to him at a comparatively early period, as, in the reign of Henry VIII., William Hoggeson, one of the "CXHarwicf? Caetle 353 yeomen of the King's buttery, was granted the custody of the sword, with a fee of twopence per diem. There is here an interesting collection of arms and ar- mour, including a knight in German-fluted armour, on a horse in English armour of the fifteenth century ; a fine tilting suit, with double plates ; suit of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester ; suit of Charles Graham, Marquis of Montrose ; breastplate and mori- on of Lord Brooke, killed at the siege of Lichfield, 1643 ; hel- met of a Crusader ; helmet of Sir Rich- ard Wallace ; Italian Damascene helmet ; Italian steel helmet ; helmet of Oliver Cromwell and an- other Puritan helmet; a square painted shield of the reign of Edward IV. ; a pair of large two-handed swords ; several Claymores ; a swivel arquebuse, taken from a French privateer off the west coast of Ireland in the last cen- tury. An Italian trousseau chest, and a richly carved oak bench, beautifully undercut, stand here. There is also a suit of armour with a curious shaped helmet which belonged to one of the Knights of Ravenna, an order of knighthood instituted IN THE ARMOURY 354 Marwich Castle by a Pope Gregory for the suppression of piracy in the Levant ; and there are many more interesting pieces of armour which space forbids describing. This Great Hall witnessed, in June, 13 12, the grim and im- pressive trial by torchlight of Piers Gaveston, when the Earls of Lancaster, Gloucester, Hereford, Arundel, Warwick, and others imposed sentence of death on the once haughty and in- solent favourite of Edward 11., who cowered before them with vain entreaties for his life. From the centre window, the view looking up the river, which flows at a depth of a hundred feet below, is replete with charms. Immediately above are the ruins of the old mill, bounded on the right by the timber framework and the buttress wall of the wheel ; beyond which the Avon, gliding swiftly over the weir, churns up its pale amber waters into creaming eddies, which speed gaily away to yield up their ephemeral existence. Higher up, the old bridge, with its ruined arches covered with ivy and tangled plants, throws its shadows into the placid water, picturesquely intensified by a background of tall Scotch firs, ivied to their topmost branches. Beyond this, the noble arch of the bridge above serves as a framework to complete an unmistakably beautiful picture. The Red Drawing-room contains the following portraits : "Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, in Armour" (died 1646), by Rubens; ''Dutch Burgomaster," by Rembrandt; "Wife of Sny- ders," in close cap, ruff, and embroidered bodice, by Van Dyck ; "Assumption of the Virgin," by Raffael ; " Ambrogio, Marquis de Spinola," in half armour with ruff, by Rubens. This room contains some fine specimens of Buhl, and a good cabinet of tortoise-shell and ebony, inlaid with ivory, formerly belonging to the Spinola family ; also three ebony cabinets, containing some rare and excellent specimens of Limoges enamel, a very TKIlavwick Castle 355 handsome table of Lavoro di Commesso, inlaid with flower patterns, and formerly belonging to Marie AiTtoinette. The Cedar Drawing-room is panelled and bordered with cedar, elaborately carved, and the pictures are as follows : ''Pauline Adorne, Marchesa di Brignola, and her Son," by Van Dyck ; "Duke of Newcastle," copied from Van Dyck ; "James Graham, Marquis of Montrose" (1612-50), by Van Dyck; "Queen Henrietta Maria" (full length), the bust by Van Dyck, the rest of the picture completed by Sir Joshua Reynolds; "Charles I." (half length), by Van Dyck; "Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick" (died 1658), by Old Stone; "Beatrice Cosantia, Princess di Santa Croce," by Van Dyck. In the centre of the room is a fine Florentine mosaic table. On each side of the fireplace are busts of Henry, Earl of Warwick (died 1853), by Nollekens, and Sarah, Countess of Warwick (died 185 1), by Bonelli ; also a bust of Charles I., attributed to Ber- nini, a bust of " Proserpine," by Hiram Power, and a bust from the Giustiniani "Minerva." The Gilt Drawing-room contains the three oval portraits in panels, "Francis" (died 1643), "Robert" (died 1676), and " Fulke" (died 1710), sons of Robert, Lord Brooke (killed 1643), who followed him in succession; "Algernon Percy, Earl of "Northumberland," in armour (half length) (died 1668), by Dob- son ; "Earl of Strafford," in armour (half length) (1593-1641), by Van Dyck; "A Warrior," in black velvet doublet with wide sleeves, by Moroni; "Marquis of Huntley" (died 1649), by Van Dyck; "Charles 11."; "Charles I.," in a slashed robe and laced collar, copied from Van Dyck; "A Cavalier," in armour, with a red scarf and baton, by Van Dyck; "Queen Henrietta Maria," copied from Van Dyck; "Ignatius Loyola" (1491- 1556), founder of the order of Jesuits (full length), by Rubens. This splendid example of the great Flemish painter was painted 356 "MarwicF? Caetle for the Jesuits' College at Antwerp, and brought to England at the time of the French Revolution, when it was bought by George, second Earl of Warwick. "Robert Bertie, Earl of Lind- sey," by Cornelius Janssens. The Earl commanded the Royal forces at Edge Hill, where he was wounded and taken prisoner, dying while being conveyed from the field of battle to War- wick Castle. "Marquis D'Avila," by Van Dyck ; "William, Lord Brooke" (1694-1727), by Dahl ; "Mary, Lady Brooke," by Dahl ; " Portrait of a boy," by Van Dyck ; " Prince Rupert" (half length), by Van Dyck; "The Baptism of St John," painted on root of amethyst. In the centre of the room is an exquisite table in pietra dura, from the Grimani Palace at Venice. The surface is composed of hard and precious stones, such as agate, cornelian, chalcedony, jasper, and lapis lazuli, inlaid on a slab of marble ; the arms of the Grimani family, ensigned with badges representing the honours they attained, appear on shields at each corner. On the north side of the room are two beau- tiful early Italian marriage chests, the upper panels of which are delicately painted. There is also a charming statuette of Venus, modelled in wax, by John of Bologna. The wainscot masks a secret descending staircase. The State Bedroom opens ofl" the Gilt Drawing-room, and from the windows of this room the views in each direction are lovely in the extreme. Above, the cascade rippling over the weir amidst picturesque surroundings serves to animate the syl- van beauties of the scene ; while beneath, the vast cedar trees spread out their feathery foliage in unruffled and tranquil mag- nificence. In front, the twin streams of the Avon wind grace- fully along, glittering among old elms, in the boughs of which squirrels frisk about, while rooks caw in their topmost branches. The bed is of salmon-coloured damask, with coverlets and coun- terpanes of satin, richly embroidered with crimson velvet. I I I 358 MarwicJi Caetle This, with the furniture in this room, was presented to George, second Earl of Warwick, by George III., and formerly belonged - to Queen Anne. On the north wall is some fine Brussels tap- estry, manufactured in 1604, and illustrating a garden attached to some mediaeval palace, probably the park at Brussels. The chimneypiece, executed by Westmacott, is of white marble and verd-antique. The room also contains a splendid Buhl wardrobe, a marquetry cabinet, a table inlaid with copper, brass, and steel ; and, in the window, a travelling trunk cov- ered with leather, formerly belonging to Queen Anne, and bearing her initials, A. R., surmounted by a crown. A picture by Kneller shows Queen Anne in a brocade dress with a collar and jewel of the Order of the Garter. The Boudoir stands at the end of the state apartments. The walls are panelled in white and gold, with pale-blue bro- cade, on which hang the following pictures: "Henry Vlll." (knee piece), by Hans Holbein the younger — a characteristic portrait of great power and vivid delineation, probably painted about 1540; " Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland," by Lely ; ''Boar Hunt," by Rubens; "A Duel," by Huchtenburgh ; "William Russell, First Duke of Bedford" (died 1700); "St. Stephen," by Lorenzo di Credi ; "St. John," by Lorenzo di Credi ; "Two Pictures of Saints," by Andrea del Sarto ; "Anne, First Duchess of Bedford," daughter and sole heiress of Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset ; " Pieta, or Dead Christ," by L. Car- racci ; "A Reformer" (Miles Coverdale ?), by Willem van Mieris ; "Henry IV. of France," in plain black dress (small full- length copy), by W. Patoun ; " Head of Henry Vlll. when a Boy," by Van Dyck ; "St. Sebastian," by Van Dyck ; "Old Woman eating Pottage by Lamplight," by Gerhard Douw ; "Head of St. Jerome," by Rubens; "Card Players," by Teniers; "Madonna and Child," by Baroccio ; "Anne Boleyn " (small Marwicf? Castle 359 half-length) and "Mary Boleyn," by Hans Holbein the younger; "Sketch of the Four Evangelists," by Rubens; "Two Land- scapes," by Salvator Rosa. This room also contains a curious and highly finished clock, with the twelve princi- pal events in the life of the Saviour, enamelled in silver ; and the head of a Faun in white mar- ble, which belonged to the late Sir Charles Greville. Hence, a door in the wainscot leads to the Armoury Passage, where the pictures are as follows : " George Villiers, Duke of Buck- ingham, and his broth- er Francis, as boys," by Van Dyck ; "Sir C. J. Greville and the Duke of York," by Sir G. Hayter ; "Prince Rupert," and a number of miscellaneous portraits. The objects of interest are a cast of Oliver Cromwell's face after death ; a fine collection of mediaeval arms, comprising battle-axes, cross-bows, calivers, pikes, arquebuses, daggers, swords, etc. ; a suit of chain mail, a suit of Puritan armour, a Turkish beheading knife, and an intricate lock of exquisite workmanship from a convent. The Compass-room contains several interesting pictures : LADY WARWICK'S BOUDOIR 36o MarwicI^ Castle " Head of an Old Man," by Rubens ; "St. Paul Lighting a Fire, Isle of Melita," and "St. Paul Shaking off the Viper," by Ru- bens; "Napoleon I.," by David; "Landscape," by Salvator Rosa; "Maximilian !., Emperor of Germany (1459-1519), and his Sister," by Lucas Cranach ; " A Storm and Wreck " and "A Sea-piece," by Willem Van de Velde the younger; "St. John"; "St. Peter in Prison" and "St. Peter Released from Prison," by Peter Neefs the younger ; " Bacchanalian Group," by Rubens; " Ecce Agnus Dei," by Tiepolo ; "Laughing Boy," by Murillo ; "Scene from the Merry Wives of Windsor/' by Stoddart ; "Head of an Old Man," by Rubens; "Small Coast Scene," by Willem Van de Velde the younger. In the Chapel Passage the pictures are: "Mother of Ru- bens," by Rubens; "David Ryckaert" (the painter), by Van Dyck ; " Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva " (1508-82), by Van Dyck; "Still Life," by Schaef; "Sarah, Countess of Warwick" (died 1851), by Sir G. Hayter ; "Duns Scotus," by Abraham Janssens ; " Diego Sarmiento de Acuna, Conde di Gon- domar" (Spanish Ambassador at the Court of James I.), by Van Dyck. Here are also a cleverly executed wood carving of the "Battle of the Amazons," after the painting by Rubens at Mu- nich ; and a fme bust of Edward the Black Prince (1330-76), by Chantrey. The Chapel contains a window of old painted glass, pre- sented by the Earl of Essex in 1759 ; in the west window is a headless statuette of a palmer, supposed to represent Guy, Earl of Warwick, in pilgrim's garb. The Great Dining-room was built by Francis, first Earl of Warwick, about the year 1770; it is gorgeous in carving and gilding in the taste of that period, and is lighted by a Genoese crystal chandelier. Pictures : " Large Equestrian Portrait of Charles I.," by Van Dyck; "Lions," by Rubens; "Augusta Marwicl? Castle 361 of Saxe-Coburg, Princess of Wales (1719-72), with the hifant Prince, afterwards George III," by Philips ; " Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales " (1707-51), by Richardson. The frames of these two portraits are very fine, and said to be carved by Grinling Gibbons. The Billiard-room. — Pictures: "Joanna, Queen of Naples," ascribed by some to L da Vinci, but more probably by Giulio Romano — a fine picture ; "View of the Doge's Palace at Venice, with State Barges in the Foreground," by Canaletto ; "Staircase in the Doge's Palace," by Canaletto ; "Battle Piece," by Jacopo Cortese (11 Borgognone) ; Views by Canaletto; — "The Castle from the River, looking upwards towards the Bridge" ; " Barbi- can, with Guy's and Caesar's Towers, part of the town visible on the right " ; " Barbican and Towers, from the Courtyard " ; "Residential Portion of the Castle"; "The Castle from the Park." The room also contains two fine Portuguese cabinets, and, standing on a buffet, a beautiful collection of red lustre ware — i.e., a stone ware on the surface of which a lustre is brought out by burnt metallic oxides of brilliant colours. The billiard-table has representations of the Wars of the Roses carved on its panels. Red Sitting-room. — Pictures: "Fruit," by Scheff; "Portrait of a Man," with the inscription y^tatis suce 24 fortimce," by Porbus ; " Duke of Buckingham " ; " Duke de Ferrara," by Dosso Dossi ; "Two Heads of Old Men," by Rubens ; "The late Earl of Warwick," by Watts; "Study of a Head of a Female" (Saint), by Luini ; " Don Garcias de' Medici," who, at the age of fourteen, is said to have killed his brother, Giovanni, and to have been in turn stabbed to death, as an act of retribution, by his father, Cosimo de' Medici, in the year 1562; "Madonna and Child," on panel (unknown); "Margaret, Duchess of Parma," by Paolo Veronese ; " Boy and Dog," by Romney. 362 Marwicft Castle Lord Warwick's Room. — ''Interior of a Church," by De rOrme; " Pictures of Saints," by Taddeo Gaddi; "The Saviour," in tapestry. In the chimneypiece in this room are marble me- dallions of considerable artistic merit. Inner Room.^" Louis XIV. of France on a Piebald Horse," by A. F. Van der Meulen ; " French Man-of-War," by Backhuy- sen ; " Head of a Cow," by Berghem ; " A Shipwreck," by Wil- lem Van de Velde the younger; "Small Sea-piece," by Brook- ing; "Interior of a Church," by Emanuel de Witte ; "On the Way to Market," by Jan Breughel (Velvet Breughel) ; "Guard- room," by Teniers ; "Boy in Armour," by Schalken ; "Martin Luther," by Hans Holbein the younger; "Tritons and Sea- horses," by Van Dyck. The mantelpiece is Italian, of fine workmanship. The Cedar Lobby. — Pictures: "Francis, Earl Brooke,"; "Schoolboy," by Sir J. Reynolds; "Two Portraits"; "Boy holding a Fish in one Hand and a Book in the other," by Rom- ney ; " Charles I. on Horseback" (small), by Van Dyck; "Cu- pids at Play," by Rubens. The Library was destroyed by the fire of 1871, and has since been restored. The ceiling is panelled and gilt, and the book- shelves are divided by nineteen pilasters, each of a different design, in the Renaissance style ; the principal ornamentation being medallions of very artistic execution. The sides of the doors are of exquisite Italian work, and the hooded marble chim- neypiece, from Venice, is of most graceful design. There is a small picture of Dudley, Earl of Leicester, by Van Dyck. The Shakespeare Room adjoins Cassar's Tower, and contains the following pictures : " Queen Elizabeth," by Quillim Stretes ; "Anne Russell, Eldest Daughter of Francis, Second Earl of Bed- ford, and Third Wife of Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick " ; "Robert Devereux, Second Earl of Essex" (1567— 1601); xraiarwici? Caetle 363 ''Shakespeare Writing at a Lattice Window"; "John Locke" (1632 — 1704), by Kneller ; ''Oliver Cromwell" (1599—1658), by Walker; "Robert, Second Lord Brooke," attributed to Dobson : " Fulke Greville, First Lord Brooke" (copied from the original at Compton Verney), by Cousen ; "Sir Philip Sidney" (1554-86); "Shakespeare," at- tributed to Cornells Janssens ; " Lady and Child," supposed to be Mary, Queen of Scots and James I. ; " Mrs. Siddons with the Mask of Tragedy," by Sir Joshua Rey- nolds. The basement story of the Castle, which retains its mas- sive early architecture, is occupied by the domestic offices, of which, perhaps, the Great Servants' Hall is the most pic- turesque and interesting. Among the artistic treasures which the private apartments of the Castle contain is a unique collection of Shakesperean memo- rials, the most important of which are the only known manu- scripts of Shakespeare's plays, written before the close of the seventeenth century, and were collected by the Earl of Warwick. The first of these, understood to have been written in the year 1 6 10, is the History of King Henry IV. (the two parts condensed Jh^j.'^ A CORNER IN LADY WARWICK'S ROOM 364 IMHarwicFi Castle into one), consisting of fifty-tive sheets and a fly-leaf. It is be- lieved to be in the handwriting of Sir Edward Dering, of Sur- renden, in Kent, and to have been transcribed from some other manuscript, as no printed copy is known to contain its various corrections and alterations. The next is a volume of manuscript poetical miscellanies, including a manuscript copy of the tragedy of Julius CcBsar, transcribed in the reign of Charles II. From the very numerous variations in the manuscript from all the printed editions, it is clearly transcribed from some independent version ; and, judging from a technical direction regarding the descent of Pindarus in Act V., most probably from an ancient play-house copy. Among the rich collection of the poet's plays and works, the following are the most prominently noteworthy : Shakespeare Memorials : a fine copy of the Folio Edition of 1623; Hamlet, 1607, 1637, 1676; "The Whole Contention be- tween the two Famous Houses, Lancaster and Yorke, etc.," 161Q (second part of King Henry VI.), King Lear, 1708 ; Macbeth, ex- tracted from the second folio edition (with manuscript alterations of the text in a very old hand) ; Merchant of Venice, 1600 ; Romeo and Juliet, 1599, with autograph of George Stevens. There is also a most interesting collection of wardrobe and property bills, for the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, from 171 3 to 17 16, certified for payment by Cibber, Wilks and Booth. One of the most interesting places to visit is the lowest stage of Caesar's Tower. A descent of eight steps from the inner court leads to the doorway, and from this sixteen more conduct to the fioor of the dungeon, which is four or five feet below the general basement. It is a strong stone-vaulted chamber, seventeen feet four inches long, thirteen feet three inches wide, and fourteen feet six inches high. The roof is groined in two bays. On the south side is a plain semicircular-headed opening, admitting light from a deeply splayed window, six inches wide on the exterior. Marwick Castle 365 On the north is a small square aperture to the inner court. On the south side also is a passage, separated from the prison by iron bars, so as to prevent access. On the walls near the window and door are rudely scratched letters, drawings of bows, cruci- fixes, escutcheons, etc., now nearly obliterated by damp, and the following inscriptions : " Master John Smyth Gvner to his Majestye highnes was a prisner in this place and lay here from 1642 tell . . ." " William Sidiate rote this same, and if my pen had bin bet- ter for his sake 1 would have mended every letter." Warwick Castle still stands almost by itself amongst Eng- lish castles. It not only brings before us the people whom it had witnessed itself, from William the Conqueror down to Queen Victoria, but it enables us to represent what the baronial castles — Kenilworth and a host of others, which have fallen into decay — once were : by it we can reconstruct their halls and their bowers, their chapels and their dungeons, and reproduce them to our- selves as they were when great kings and dukes and lords, who have long since crumbled into dust, filled them with their sound and fury, which now signify nothing : we can see the Beau- champs and the Nevills and the Plantagenets, and those that went before them and those that came after them, pass through its galleries in knightly procession : we can be present there with Queen Elizabeth and Lord Leicester when all was revelry and mirth ; or with the stout old Sir Edmund Peto, in that dark hour when he hung out a cross with a flag upon it in defiance of the Papists. As we walk from gallery to gallery, and from apartment to apartment, we can see, as in some splendid and stately museum, everything which has beautified and adorned the lives of seven centuries of English nobles. Over and above all this, we can see in Warwick Castle the continuity of English life, ever changing but yet ever the same ; and as we view objects which Awii 366 Marwicft Castle illustrate the arts and fashions and tastes and fancies of a bygone world, we can feel conscious of the debt we owe to those who, mindful of the responsibility bequeathed to them, have not been backward in amassing treasures to be an " everlasting possession, not a sight to be seen and then forgotten." Hlnwick Castle 367 THE KEEP FROM BARNISIDE ALNWICK CASTLE^ BY A. H. MALAN FOR two centuries after leaving Normandy, the Percies had no property at Alnwick. The first of the stock to take root in English soil was William de Perci, who ac- companied the Conqueror's nephew, the year after Hastings. Whether that was his first visit is uncertain, — unshaven as a Saxon, he seems to have been already known among his trim compatriots by the nickname of Als Gernon ; at any rate, he received from the Conqueror, in 1067, the lands of Emma de Port, "who was lady of Semer beside Skarburgh afore the Conquest " ; making her his wife, however, without delay, in order to square his conscience. After Gospatrick's rebellion, in such favour was Perci as to get thirty-eight grants in Lin- colnshire and eighty-six in Yorkshire ; among the latter being the lordship of Whitby, where he subsequently built the Abbey, on the site of St. Hilda's Priory. ' Copyright 1899 by William Waldorf Astor. 369 370 ainwicK Castle In the troublous times of Stephen, the Northern chieftains were in their element — levying forces, imposing taxes, and fili- bustering to their hearts' content ; and it seems to have been the son of that fourth Percy who took Stephen's side and helped to rout the Scots at Northallerton, in 1137, who presently, with two other barons, violated the sanctuary of Saint Hilda's chapel by rushing in after a wounded boar and slaying the protesting priest : in expiation of which outrage, later on, "Whitby's nuns exulting told, how to their house three barons bold must menial service do," by annually bringing faggots on their backs, to mend the pier. Other generations succeeded to the northern property, until, by the marriage of Agnes de Perci with Jocelyn de Lou- vaine, there came Petworth, as a wedding present from Jocelyn's half-sister (Henry the First's second wife), offering an alternative residence in the south. Subsequently, when the tenth baron nearly killed the Lord Justiciary in Westminster Hall, for giving an adverse judgment, (for which pleasantry he had to pay to the tune of ten thousand marks,) the Percy of the period gave proof of that fiery, belligerent spirit, which was to be so emi- nently serviceable to his descendants in the turbulent life of the Border. For the connection of the Percies with Alnwick began at the commencement of that protracted strife between the northern and southern kingdoms, lasting from the end of the thirteenth to the end of the fifteenth century, which served to make the marches "a savage and wylde country, full of desartes, and a ryghte pore country of everything, saving of beestis." Edward's vassal John Baliol might call himself, but the Scots would have none of such suzerainty ; and Sir Henry Percy, proving himself one of Edward's ablest assistants, was given custodianship of the Border fortresses, and made Commissioner for the submis- sion of the Border chiefs. Then vowing, at Karlaverock, "to m I ainwicli Castle 373 ride roughshod over the Scots," the Knight so well kept his vow (though finding his match in Wallace) as to be recom- pensed with the lordship of Alnwick ; at which time the Castle is believed to have covered its present area. The oldest existing portions of Alnwick were built by Eus- tace Fitzjohn, husband of Beatrix, heiress of Yvo de Vesci ; and the Castle was so far completed by him that, as early as 1135, it is spoken of as being strongly fortified. It remained in that fam- ily until William de Vesci, failing legitimate heirs, assigned it, in PRUDHOE TOWER, CHAPEL, ETC. trust for his natural son, to Beke, Bishop of Durham, by whom it was sold to Sir Henry Percy. In his brief five years' occupation, the new owner managed to reconstruct the stronghold almost throughout ; and as you approach the Castle from Narrowgate you are at once confronted by his work. For here stands the Barbican, blackened and weathered with centuries of smoke and storm, with its two turrets and archway as it was when he built it. As it was, also, when, in 1388, Hotspur and his knights sallied out under the Lion of Louvaine, to meet and fight the Douglas, (but surely not to slay him, since Hotspur was captured,) at Otterbourn ; and, again, when, in 1402, he went forth to Homildon and decimated the Scots, and then, enraged at not being allowed 374 ainwicF? Castle to ransom his prisoners according to custom, drew his rapier at his liege; — passing on "to purge the country of its oppres- sor," as he thought, but to meet his own fate at Shrewsbury — the first of a race predestined to have their heads impaled on stakes for some generations to come. Outside the Barbican, or, as some say, between it and the Gatehouse, was a drawbridge and portcullis. Within the Gatehouse, let us pause a moment, to get a general idea of things before proceeding. To the extreme left, the Abbot's Tower, and well to the right, the Auditor's Tower, are both of first Percy date {c. 1310), Between these points, the Falconer's Tower is modern, but on an old base ; in fact, the curtains, garrets and bartizans of both Courts have ubiquitous indications of early fourteenth-century masonry distributed throughout them. Facing us, and too close for a good effect, is the massive Prudhoe Tower, then the Chapel, then state-bedrooms, then private apartments ; and though most of the ashlar work of this undulating outline may be modern, the whole fafade is much the same as of yore ; an ancient ground- plan showing the grouping of towers to have been almost identi- cal : indeed, with one exception, the lower courses of them all are probably ancient. Yonder second Gatehouse, also, is of the same era ; between it and the Auditor's Tower there is a patch of one thousand one hundred and fifty curtain. What is so completely changed is, not the general arrangement of the Courts and Keep, but the life within. For three centuries Border life was one long story of burn- ing, rapine, plunder. "My lord of Northumberland hath in- dented with the King for the keeping out of the Scots and warring upon them," formed the terms on which the Warden of the Marches held his lands of the Crown ; and as the mer- cenaries cost a good deal to the English Exchequer, they were " not to lie still, but be occupied as often as may be, to the THE BARBICAN, ALNWICK CASTLE 375 376 ainwlcl? Castle damage of the enemy." Here are a few items: — At Dunbar, twenty thousand Scots were accounted for by Sir Henry Percy and Sir Hugh Spenser. In 1438, the second Earl of Northum- berland (Hotspur's son) enclosed and fortified the town of Aln- wick ; thirteen years later came the Scots and laid the town in ashes. In 1528, a Warden's Court was held at Alnwick, when nine were beheaded and five hanged for march-treason and felony, in 1570, the Scots having been extra-vexatious, Eliza- beth's troops ravaged Teviot-dale and the neighbourhood, and boasted not only of having levelled fifty castles, but of having burnt five hundred villages. And in this internecine warfare there was not a pin to choose between Scots and English ; both were like "wilde wolfis in furiositie"; the stronger pack for the time being, naturally getting the best of it. All then was bustle and animation within the ramparts. This Baly would resound with the bellowing of cattle hurriedly driven in for safety, if not reved from a raid ; with the neighing of the hoblars' ponies, or the tramp of the troopers at drill. Outside, too, every man was perforce a fighter. When the Scots were on the warpath, "the cursed thieves of the Tin- dale " were abroad, Armstrongs had left their earths, or the Liddesdale outlaws were up, then Pele would answer Pele, and beacon beacon ; and as, in response, the Castle guard rushed out to the fray, it could count on the country-side, since any laggard, who rallied not to the Azure Lion and the slogan Esperance Percy, well knew he stood the best chance, after- wards, of having his possessions forfeited, as a warning to other cravens. Always a refuge, and barracks — over three thousand men, besides horses, for example, were maintained within the walls throughout 13 14, during all which year the Scots were pressing the gates — at times the Castle would be the headquarters of the ainwicF? Castle Z11 Chief and his staff ; and since Northumbria acknowledged no Prince but a Percy, and the Percy's retinue must be as the Court of a Prince, the coming and going of Northumberland Heralds, Bannerets and their pennon-bearers, Offi- cers of arms. Esquires, and archers — ''some in velvett, others in damaske and cham- lett" — would make the whole place bright and lively enough. But in these ultra- prosaic days of ours, when such camp-life has all passed, and the garrison at full strength musters but one police- man and a watchman, some strong set-off is needed to the solemn DRAW-WELL AND NORMAN ARCH IN KEEP COURT quietude of the colour- less enceinte; and that is seductively supplied by the interior. Before making its acquaintance, however, we must go through the farther gateway, to the two octagonal towers in the inner Baly, erected by the second Percy (1350), whose prowess at Neville's Cross formed the theme of many a ballad. Beneath the string-course in the upper stage of these towers are shields of Bohun, Lancaster, Arundel, Neville, etc.; above them the old figures in stone are carved with considerable spirit and vigour : one lifts some missile to the level of his head, another strings his cross-bow with foot and hand, a third 2>7^ ainwicK Castle presents his shield, a fourth hurls down a rock. These figures are part and parcel of the merlons, not affixed to them. At the foot of these towers was another drawbridge ; and in the basement of the right-hand one is a prison, with a square hole in the floor, admitting to a dungeon beneath. Let us trust the lat- ter was used only for the solitary confinement of contumacious prisoners, and never with the ulterior purpose of an oubliette. History records one instance, at least, when this prison would have been used : namely when, in 1527, Sir William Lisle and his merry men burnt, pillaged, robbed, reved, and heried ; but at length, worn out with being hunted down by hound and horn, surrendered to the Earl of Northumberland ; meeting him, as he writes, "as I came from mass, in ther shertes with halters abowtes ther nekkes — whych persons I stryghtway comytted into prisons within my pouer Castell of Alnewyk." Released from prison by special grace of the Constable, we may now enter the Keep under De Vesci's Norman archway, pass the ancient necessary draw-well, and cross the Keep-court, dismissing all ideas of Border-warfare, preparatory to being shown round the rooms. People sometimes wonder that the kernel of Alnwick should not be in keeping with the shell. But what would they ? It was never a private residence till modern times. A Warden of the Marches had to sojourn in whichever of his fortresses circum- stances might dictate, carrying his household goods and gods along with him. Even under the regime of Henry Algernon, ''the magnificent," — Hume politely calls him a "Tartar chief," — who, when conducting Princess Margaret to the Border, "what for the ryches of his cote, being goldsmyth's worke garnyshed with perle and stone, and what for the gallant trappings of his henxmen, was esteemed more like a prince than a subject," — even under this fifth Earl, only two of the Percy castles were at ainwicft Castle ^79 all furnished : all domestic apparatus going to and fro, in the lord's equipage, from place to place. In fact, so little was Alnwick a family dwelling-place, that sixty years later we find the surveyor advising _ that, in consequence of the violence of the east winds — they certainly are bad at Alnwick — the casements should be taken out during the f lord's absence, to be put in again at his return. So that when the fourth THE RAVINE TOWER, FROM THE BATTLEMENTS Duke determined to do up the inside, he was not hampered by many interesting old fittings which ought to be preserved ; on the contrary, such Georgian Gothic decoration as had recently been introduced was far better away. Thus, in providing himself with a ducal residence, the restorer had a perfectly free hand ; and the style he chose was that of an Italian palace of the sixteenth century. The key to the situation is the Guard-room, approached from the State-entrance by a broad staircase, wainscotted with white marble relieved by red granite panels. The floor is of that mosaic known as Venetian pavement, made by taking fragments of marble, assorted as to tint, but of no particular shape, em- bedding them according to design, and then, when the uneven surface is ground smooth, colouring the cement to match the pieces. On the walls are statues, in Sicilian marble, of Britannia and Justice ; with a frieze by Gotzenberg, depicting four scenes from the ballad of Chevy Chace, some of the incidents of which may well have happened, what time Hotspur's men poached Douglas's deer, or vice versa, and retaliation followed. 38o ainwicn Castle Then comes the ante-room, where is especially observable an oak cabinet, made in the Castle studio, from some of the piles of Hadrian's Bridge duly ebonised by seventeen centuries of brackish Tyne silt. Unfortunately, among the pretty things on its trays, is neither that " rynge of gold enamel " brought to the Earl of Northumberland from Mary Stuart, at Clifford moor, " requyring him to remember his promise " ; nor that thorn from the Saviour's Crown, also her gift, which he wore on his neck in a gold cross. This cabinet well testifies to the consummate skill of the Alnwick wood-carvers, who seem equally at home on the boldest design, for massive picture-frame or ceiling in soft wood, as upon the minutest detail that tool can grave or hard wood take. For the Restorer resolved to have all carvings done locally, upon finding how cleverly his men caught on to the Italian style, and how quickly the late Mr. John Brown, after acquiring all that a Buletti could teach, became able (along with his assistants) to put into execution the most intricate quinque-cento pattern that a Montirolli could design ; the results of their labours are here everywhere visible, in shutters, doors, dados, picture-frames, furniture, and ceilings. One such ceiling is in the Library, adjoining. It is fashioned of yellow pine painted and gilded, and is constructed in four com- partments, with octagonal devices representing History, Poetry, Painting, and Physical Sciences. We can take for granted the fifteen thousand volumes on the shelves, but must stop to have a look at the huge Missal of Sherborne Abbey. The parchment leaves are twenty and one-half inches by fourteen inches ; the letters are half an inch long ; the lettering is arranged in double column ; July i8th is marked as Dedioacio Ecdesiae Sancte Ma He Schyrh ; there are portraits of some of the Bishops with their names : the date of the work being between 1396 and 1407. In- teresting to students of the Prayer-book,, as containing some ainwic?i Castle 381 variations from the Sarum Use, it is in other respects not to be compared with the smaller missals in the case beneath. One of these was made for Margaret, Queen of Scotland; and her "effigies," with the autograph of her father, Hen- ry VII., appears on the frontispiece. Another was illu- mined for William Cotton, temp. Henry VI. Anoth- er served for Anne Boleyn's devotion- al exercises ; hav- ing the text of Ecclesiastes in French, with anno- tations in English. Nothing could be more exquisite than the colouring of, say, the butterflies in these missals, and one might linger a long while without wearying of the beauty and delicacy of the illuminations. Across the ante-room is the Saloon ; than which there are finer rooms, but none more pleasing. The play of light streaming into the deep bay through those lunette-headed windows, and throwing the walnut carving on the shutters into strongest relief ; the general shape and size of the room ; the elaborate, highly THE LIBRARY o 82 Hlnwick Castle coloured ceiling, by its reflexion in the mirror supported by Nucci's Dacian slaves, showing how symmetrical are its sections with the area it has to cover; the warm frieze, and gold satin damask hangings — all combine to make this music-room alto- gether lovely. It is here that the large mural fresco, " Salutation of the Virgin," outlined by Michael Angelo and filled in by Sebastian del Piombo, is to be found, in two portions ; also "Pope Paul 111.," by Titian ; and a perishing Ferrara. The Drawing-room, next door, is a very similar state-room, but on a larger scale ; crimson and gold being the dominant colours. It contains, "The Gods enjoying the Fruits of the Earth," of which the figures are by Gian Bellini, and the landscape by his pupil, Titian ; also parts of a diptych by Raffael, and a "Sunset" of Claude, as met with in Volume I., of his Liber Veritatis. Next comes the Dining-room, occupying the site of the first Percy banquet-hall, but in other respects modern. In this ceiling neither the carvings of pine nor the grounds of cedar are coloured in any way ; but such wood-work in its natural, uncoloured state has this merit, as viewed from below, that the tone tends to grow warmer and mellower with age. The pictures here are all family portraits. The place of honour, over the chimneypiece by Tac- calozzi (ornamentation), and Nucci and Strazza (statuary), is given to the first Duke and his Duchess. The latter in all her robes and grandeur can scarcely be imagined writing to her mother in this prim, school-girl style : — " I shall proceed to tell you that Sir Hugh Smithson the other day asked me to let him speak to me, which was to inform me that he designed proposing himself to my Pappa. You will easily guess how much I was surprised and confounded at so extraordinary a compliment." Such maiden modesty was the more remarkable, considering she was the granddaughter of that " Proud Duke " of Somerset, who ainwici? Castle 383 carried his pride so far, they say, as to protest, when his second wife tapped him on the shoulder, that his first Duchess, though a Percy, never took such a liberty as that! (That first Duchess was the Lady Elizabeth Percy, previously wedded to Henry, Earl of Ogle, and to Thomas Thynne.^ Then there is a portrait of the seventh Earl, who sided with Mary Stuart, and, along with Lord West- morland, drifted from conspiracy into rebellion ; urged on to some extent by the Pope, but more particu- larly by the captive Duke of Norfolk's sister. Lady Westmor- land, who, when her husband and his ally hung back, "braste out against them with great curses " ; so that eventually they marched on Durham, expelled the Bishop, had mass in the Ca- thedral, and bonfired the Protestant prayer-books. Whereupon Elizabeth caused Northumberland's "creste, disappor, helme, and mantle to be spurned out of the Chapel and uttermost gates of Windsor," proclaimed the two Earls traitors, and ' See " Haidwick," and " Longleat." — Ed. THE DRAWINQ-ROOM 384 ainwick Castle despatched a force to the North. Alnwick Castle was seized and spoiled ; Percy, seeking refuge among the fastnesses of Lid- desdale, was at length trapped by Hector Armstrong, handed over to the Regent, and in the end beheaded at York. Another picture represents the ninth Earl, who was supposed to be betrothed to Arabella Stuart. He lived much in London ; went in for clairvoyance in a "speculative glass" ; was present with Raleigh, as a volunteer, at the siege of Ostend under Sir F. Vere ; then espoused the cause of James, to unite the two King- doms and stop Border warfare. Unjustly suspected of com- plicity in the Gunpowder Plot, he was lodged as a State prisoner in the Tower ; where his incarceration was made very bearable, what with his books, his play with Raleigh, his researches in the occult, and the company of those wise men who came to visit him, and who, no doubt, appreciated his Muscatel and Hypocras, not less than his learning. His crystal-gazing in no way interfered with his shrewd good sense, much of which he embodied in his Instructions to my Son (as if sons did not know more than their fathers) ; one of his maxims being "that you understand your estate generally better than any of your officers" ; another, "that the way to secure the necessary obedience, awe, and contented- ness of servants" is "to left them fynd that ye nede them nott, and that yf one be gone to-day ye can make another do your business to-morrow." With a supercilious contempt for women, he considered them " incapable of making progress in any learn- ing, save love, craft, and thriftiness," and blames them for their defective spelling ! All that wives are fit for, he affirmed, is "to bring up their children in their long-cote age, to obey their hus- bands, and have a care, when great personages visit them, to sit at the end of a table and carve handsomely " ; not but what he would allow them "a littell wasting of sleeve-silk, so perhaps, in two or three ages, a Bed embroidered with slippes may be 385 386 ainwick Castle finished, or in some lesse time a Purse, or a paire of Hangers." Probably the Wizard Earl was far too canny to air these senti- ments before his wife, though such a lofty tone might do for his son ; while, to belie his words, there was a very near relative of his, Lady Carlisle, at that moment "swaying the Council of Kings with a smile, and defeating the machinations of statesmen with an epigram," as an instance of what could be and was being done by a clever and fascinating woman. At the farther end of the Dining-room is a portrait of the Restorer; and in a corridor leading back to the Guard-room, amongst pictures which include Landseer's "Return from Deer- stalking," and Canaletto's view of the Castle, there is hung Lucy's " Chasing the French Fleet into Toulon " ; in which action the fourth Duke served under Admiral Lord Exmouth. Close to the Guard-room is the Chapel. It has a vaulted and groined stone roof; also a wide Alexandrine mosaic frieze, of which the component pieces, of porphyry, serpentine, giallo, and other hard stones, are faced with such extreme nicety and finish that- not a vestige of cement is to be detected between the tight joints. We are now in the other half of the Keep ; and after passing two state bedrooms reach the Duchess's Bou- doir, there to be absolutely enchanted by the chimneypiece. In this beautiful piece of work, devices of roses and fruit, with high light, half-tone, and shade exquisitely rendered in selected marbles, are let into panels of lapis lazuli, the brilliant blue of which contrasts with the snowy Carrara slabs in which these panels are themselves set ; and this admirable composition is, as it were, accentuated by Raffael's " Madonna del Garofani " and Salvati's "Holy Family," each in a boxwood frame made in Alnwick, of equal merit as to craftsmanship, though in another branch of art. Omitting other rooms, a corridor, forming a second library, ainwick Caetle 387 conducts to the Auditor's Tower, where are kept the Percy Papers, the Household Book, temp. Henry VIII., and, among other things, that vol- ume known in the Shakespeare-Bacon con- troversy as the North- umberland House MS. i.e. — Bacon's Conference of Pleasure. This is pre- ceded by a front leaf which originally formed the wrapper of a parcel then containing not only this Conference, "By Francis Bacon" (as it affirms), but also the plays Richard II. and Richard III. — which plays had vanished be- fore the volume was bound. The curious feature is the name William Shakespeare scribbled several times on the front page ; not in the hand that wrote out the contents of the parcel, but to all appearance the same hand that wrote the manuscript which follows ; while, besides this, there occurs also the word Honori- ficaUlitudino — supposed to be an anagram embodying the fact that Bacon wrote the plays within the wrapper : i.e., ab initio hi ludi F. Bacono. The Castle Museums are in the towers of the inner Baly. In the lower storey of the Postern Tower, given up to inscribed stones, is a broken slab, with characteristic interlaced work, commemorating /Edulf, who in the eighth century besieged Berchtfrid, Osred's guardian, in royal Bamburgh ; some blocks RAFFAEL'S MADONNA DEL QAROFANI " 388 ainwicF; Caetle with rock-markings ; some altars (mostly focus-less) and tomb- stones, from stations along the Roman wall ; and among the tombstones the pathetic inscription — y^miUanus annorum X may denote one of many victims to the inclement climate of the North. In the storey above is a silver copy of the Roman Lanx. The Lanx itself was found at Corbridge in 1735, and weighs one hundred and forty-nine ounces ; the material is silver, and the design — Apollo, Minerva, and Diana, interviewing the Pythian priestess, — is in low relief, partly embossed, partly finished with the graver. The miscellaneous collection, mostly from the local- ity, comprises Roman, Celtic, and Saxon objects ; there are some Celtic brooches, and a few of these Saxon fib idee in which Lord Braybrook's museum at Audley End is so rich. That the small, much thought of, Roman Caistor-bowl has on it a Labarum, is, pace the erudite Catalogue, most questionable ; though the two Swastikas on an altar downstairs are obvious enough. More interesting, perhaps, to some — considerably more valu- able as a collection — are the Egyptian antiquities in the Ravine Tower, got together by the fourth Duke ; who, in having a British frigate at his disposal for some years in Egyptian waters, and in being a personal friend of the Khedive, had quite a unique opportunity of collecting. Rings, amulets, small images of the gods as deposited in tombs, mummified cats, etc., are here in abundance ; and, conspicuous among the large objects, is an obelisk "set up by Harmachis, son of the Sun," presented to Lord Prudhoe by Mohammed Ali, Pasha. We might perhaps leave the precincts by the sally-port, and so get down to that Lion Bridge so often seen in photographs of- the Castle ; but the more usual way out is back by the Barbican into the town. And singularly fortunate are the townsfolk in having so close at hand such a splendid recreation-ground as Hulne Park. CANALETTO'S VIEW OF THE EAST FRONT OF ALNWICK CASTLE 389 390 ainwicFi Castle What could be more delightful than the breezy drive up to Brislee, and the view from the menhir when you get there ; or better still the panorama from the tower top? Westward, the wooded crown descends rapidly to stretches of undulating moors which rise in receding ridges and hollows till they culminate in the Cheviot range ; northward, more wild scenery, a loch, and the Aln winding through the vale ; eastward, the better part of the North- umberland coast, from the Fame Islands down to Warkworth, or be- yond. If the view were very beautiful on one of those east-windy days in April when the very pines were protesting in sullen moan, what must it be of a still August evening, when the sunset brushes beech and birch and fir with a golden glamour; and after that the far-extending slopes become purpled with the mystic glow of heather, and the nightjar's soothing rattle alone breaks the dewy hush of twilight ! Winding round and down, and through covers where wood- cocks breed, the drive lands you eventually at Hulne Abbey. One of the towers was erected by the fourth Earl of Northum- berland, who was murdered at Topcliff, apparently for the sole THE CASTLE FROM THE DAIRY GROUND" ainwicli Castle 391 crime of not diplomatically watering down the reply of Henry of Richmond to the men of Yorkshire and Durham, on their asking to be let off some taxes — the reply being that "the King's decrees are not to be vilipended by his rude and rusticall people." Unable to get rid of either the taxes or the King, the rusticall people got rid of the Earl instead ; the King promptly ordering a public funeral "on a scale of unprecedented magnificence," the cost of which he thought the family should feel hon- oured in defraying! On the tower in question is this inscription : " In the year Crist Ihu, MCCCC wi VIII. This Tow'r was bilded by Sir Henry Percy, the fourthe Erie of Northumberland, of gret hon' and worth, that espoused Maud y« good lady full of v'tew and bewt', daughter to Sir Wilm. Harbirt, right noble and hardy Erie of Pembrock, whose soulis God save and with his grace co'sarve y^ bilder of this Tow'r." The site for the Abbey is said to have been chosen by John de Vesci in 1265, from its resemblance to what he had seen in the Holy Land ; and whether or not the eminence opposite be like Carmel, or the Aln like that ancient Kishon, the view is certainly extremely pleasing ; so pleasing, that the plateau in front is annually used for a certain picnic from Alnwick ; when, GARRET ON BATTLEMENTS OF KEEP 392 ainwicti Castle little though the scene needs improving, a pretty frock or two may give just that Turneresque dash of colour in the foreground v^^hich arrests the eye and completes the picture. Descending to the riverside, we soon pass a limpid basin styled the Lady's Well — where surely that altar in the Museum ''dedicated to the nymphs worthy to be worshipped" should have come from ; shortly after are observed some good silver firs by the roadside ; farther on is a fine larch by the Duchess's bridge; and, at a little distance beyond that, we come to Alnwick Abbey Gateway. Founded in 1147 by Eustace Fitzjohn, for a colony of white canons, the buildings once covered a large space, as may be well seen from the opposite bank of the river. For recent excavations resulted in laying bare the foundations of the Abbey itself, with its chapels and chapter-house, and also the founda- tions of the Prater, calefactorium, etc., and the position of these has now been permanently recorded by lines of clinkers being accurately laid down flush with the turf, after the earth was again filled in. From this point to the Lion Bridge the ornamen- tal trees bespeak pleasure-grounds rather than a Park ; and the river, here broadened out and of smooth current, is enlivened by wild-duck and geese of various sorts — badly ballasted Chinese, down by the bows ; noisy Canadians, that ought to fly high in air up the reach or right away, but do not ; quaint New Hollands, like lesser bustards in build ; elegant little Brents ; and pugna- cious, cinnamon-tailed Egyptians, humping their backs, just as they are drawn on a cartouche. Did we follow the river a few miles down, we should arrive at Alnwick's little watering-place, Al-ne-mooth, or Ailmouth, as you may think fit to pronounce it ; a station or so beyond, by rail, is Warkworth. Warkworth Hermitage the visitor would be well advised to try and see. It is a small chapel situated on the brink of the lordly Coquet, singularly complete in all its ainwtck Castle 09. A VIEW IN THE DAIRY GROUND' details, but quite invisible from the river-walk, except as to its window, being excavated in the heart of the sandstone rock. From the tracery, etc., it is conjec- tured to have been fabricated — by re- moval of the sand- stone piecemeal — in the time of the third Baron Percy, {p. 1350) as a chan- try where masses should be held for his departed wife, whose recumbent effigy lies south of the altar, with her husband's figure at its feet, in bacinet, hauberk and pourpoint. In 1531, the then Earl of Northumberland assigned twenty marks annually to Sir George Lancaster for masses, granting him '* myn armytage bilded in a rock of stone " ; and certain later walling, in front of the face of the rock, is probably of the latter date. Of Warkworth Castle I am unable to say anything, though making the expedition on purpose to see it. For being taken off from the Hermitage, in the cause of Northumbrian archae- ology, to photograph some rock-markings — they proved, by the way, to be quite an exception to the usual kind of scribings, being spirals, and not concentric circles — the afternoon was so far advanced on our return that it was a question of Castle, or tea. None will doubt which choice we made ; for, in spite of his pretensions, the average antiquarian's zeal is altogether a thing of nought when his creature comforts are at stake. •?• ''> \ lhJe'08 y 1 I I I m LIBRARY ..y'' ■■<■■■ ■\r\y^:^^:f^,mm . .-^^^^V^