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diff --git a/29787.txt b/29787.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f98cfe --- /dev/null +++ b/29787.txt @@ -0,0 +1,22897 @@ +Project Gutenberg's England, Picturesque and Descriptive, by Joel Cook + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: England, Picturesque and Descriptive + A Reminiscence of Foreign Travel + +Author: Joel Cook + +Release Date: August 24, 2009 [EBook #29787] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLAND *** + + + + +Produced by Sigal Alon, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + +[Illustration: _Frontispiece_ + +ALTON TOWERS.] + + + + + ENGLAND, + + PICTURESQUE AND DESCRIPTIVE. + + A + + REMINISCENCE OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. + + By JOEL COOK, + + AUTHOR OF "A HOLIDAY TOUR IN EUROPE," "BRIEF SUMMER RAMBLES," ETC. + + + [Illustration: OLD MILL AT SELBORNE.] + + WITH NEARLY FIVE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS. + + PHILADELPHIA; + + PORTER AND COATES. + + + Copyright + By PORTER & COATES, + 1882. + + PRESS OF HENRY B. ASHMEAD, PHILADA. + + ELECTROTYPED BY WESTCOTT & THOMSON, PHILADA. + + + + + TO + + JOHN WALTER, Esq., + + MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR BERKSHIRE, + + AND + + PROPRIETOR OF THE LONDON TIMES, + + WHO HAS DONE SO MUCH TO WELCOME AMERICANS + + WITH TRUE ENGLISH HOSPITALITY, + + AND TO + + GIVE ENGLISHMEN A MORE ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE OF, + + AND MORE INTIMATE RELATIONS WITH, + + THE UNITED STATES, + + This Work on England, + + BY AN AMERICAN, + + IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +No land possesses greater attractions for the American tourist than +England. It was the home of his forefathers; its history is to a great +extent the history of his own country; and he is bound to it by the +powerful ties of consanguinity, language, laws, and customs. When the +American treads the busy London streets, threads the intricacies of the +Liverpool docks and shipping, wanders along the green lanes of +Devonshire, climbs Alnwick's castellated walls, or floats upon the +placid bosom of the picturesque Wye, he seems almost as much at home as +in his native land. But, apart from these considerations of common +Anglo-Saxon paternity, no country in the world is more interesting to +the intelligent traveller than England. The British system of entail, +whatever may be our opinion of its political and economic merits, has +built up vast estates and preserved the stately homes, renowned castles, +and ivy-clad ruins of ancient and celebrated structures, to an extent +and variety that no other land can show. The remains of the abbeys, +castles, churches, and ancient fortresses in England and Wales that war +and time together have crumbled and scarred tell the history of +centuries, while countless legends of the olden time are revived as the +tourist passes them in review. England, too, has other charms than +these. British scenery, though not always equal in sublimity and +grandeur to that displayed in many parts of our own country, is +exceedingly beautiful, and has always been a fruitful theme of song and +story. + + "The splendor falls on castle-walls + And snowy summits old in story: + The long light shakes across the lakes. + And the wild cataract leaps in glory." + +Yet there are few satisfactory and comprehensive books about this land +that is so full of renowned memorials of the past and so generously +gifted by Nature. Such books as there are either cover a few counties or +are devoted only to local description, or else are merely guide-books. +The present work is believed to be the first attempt to give in +attractive form a book which will serve not only as a guide to those +about visiting England and Wales, but also as an agreeable reminiscence +to others, who will find that its pages treat of familiar scenes. It +would be impossible to describe everything within the brief compass of a +single book, but it is believed that nearly all the more prominent +places in England and Wales are included, with enough of their history +and legend to make the description interesting. The artist's pencil has +also been called into requisition, and the four hundred and eighty-seven +illustrations will give an idea, such as no words can convey, of the +attractions England presents to the tourist. + +The work has been arranged in eight tours, with Liverpool and London as +the two starting-points, and each route following the lines upon which +the sightseer generally advances in the respective directions taken. +Such is probably the most convenient form for the travelling reader, as +the author has found from experience, while a comprehensive index will +make reference easy to different localities and persons. Without further +introduction it is presented to the public, in the confident belief that +the interest developed in its subject will excuse any shortcomings that +may be found in its pages. + +PHILADELPHIA, July, 1882. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + I. + + _LIVERPOOL, WESTWARD TO THE WELSH COAST._ + PAGE + + Liverpool--Birkenhead--Knowsley Hall--Chester--Cheshire--Eaton + Hall--Hawarden Castle--Bidston--Congleton--Beeston Castle--The river + Dee--Llangollen--Valle-Crucis Abbey--Dinas Bran--Wynnstay--Pont + Cysylltau--Chirk Castle--Bangor-ys-Coed--Holt--Wrexham--The Sands o' + Dee--North Wales--Flint Castle--Rhuddlan Castle--Mold--Denbigh--St. + Asaph--Holywell--Powys Castle--The Menai Strait--Anglesea--Beaumaris + Castle--Bangor--Penrhyn Castle--Plas Newydd--Caernarvon + Castle--Ancient Segontium--Conway Castle--Bettws-y-Coed--Mount + Snowdon--Port Madoc--Coast of Merioneth--Barmouth--St. Patrick's + Causeway--Mawddach Vale--Cader Idris--Dolgelly--Bala + Lake--Aberystwith--Harlech Castle--Holyhead 17 + + + II. + + _LIVERPOOL, NORTHWARD TO THE SCOTTISH BORDER._ + + Lancashire--Warrington--Manchester--Furness Abbey--The + Ribble--Stonyhurst--Lancaster Castle--Isle of + Man--Castletown--Rusben Castle--Peele Castle--The Lake + Country--Windermere--Lodore Fall--Derwentwater--Keswick--Greta + Hall--Southey, Wordsworth, and Coleridge--Skiddaw---The Border + Castles--Kendal Castle--Brougham Hall--The Solway--Carlisle + Castle--Scaleby Castle--Naworth--Lord William Howard. 51 + + + III. + + _LIVERPOOL, THROUGH THE MIDLAND COUNTIES, TO LONDON._ + + The Peak of Derbyshire--Castleton--Bess of Hardwicke--Hardwicke + Hall--Bolsover Castle--The Wye and the + Derwent--Buxton--Bakewell--Haddon Hall--The King of the + Peak--Dorothy Vernon--Rowsley--The Peacock Inn--Chatsworth--The + Victoria Regia--Matlock--Dovedale--Beauchief Abbey--Stafford + Castle--Trentham Hall--Tamworth--Tutbury Castle--Chartley + Castle--Alton Towers--Shrewsbury Castle--Bridgenorth--Wenlock + Abbey--Ludlow Castle--The Feathers Inn--Lichfield Cathedral--Dr. + Samuel Johnson--Coventry--Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom--Belvoir + Castle--Charnwood Forest--Groby and Bradgate--Elizabeth Widvile and + Lady Jane Grey--Ulverscroft Priory--Grace Dien Abbey--Ashby de la + Zouche--Langley Priory--Leicester Abbey and Castle--Bosworth + Field--Edgehill--Naseby--The Land of + Shakespeare--Stratford-on-Avon--Warwick--Kenilworth--Birmingham + --Boulton and Watt--Fotheringhay Castle--Holmby House--Bedford Castle + --John Bunyan--Woburn Abbey and the Russells--Stowe--Whaddon Hall + --Great Hampden--Creslow House 70 + + + IV. + + _THE RIVER THAMES AND LONDON._ + + The Thames Head--Cotswold Hills--Seven + Springs--Cirencester--Cheltenham--Sudeley + Castle--Chavenage--Shifford--Lechlade--Stanton Harcourt--Cumnor + Hall--Fair Rosamond--Godstow Nunnery--Oxford--Oxford + Colleges--Christ Church--Corpus Christi--Merton--Oriel--All + Souls--University--Queen's--Magdalen--Brasenose--New + College--Radcliffe Library--Bodleian + Library--Lincoln--Exeter--Wadham--Keble--Trinity--Balliol--St. + John's--Pembroke--Oxford Churches--Oxford Castle--Carfax + Conduit--Banbury--Broughton + Castle--Woodstock--Marlborough--Blenheim--Minster + Lovel--Bicester--Eynsham--Abingdon--Radley--Bacon, Rich, and + Holt--Clifton-Hampden--Caversham--Reading--Maidenhead--Bisham + Abbey--Vicar of Bray--Eton College--Windsor Castle--Magna Charta + Island--Cowey Stakes--Ditton--Twickenham--London--Fire Monument--St. + Paul's Cathedral--Westminster Abbey--The Tower--Lollards and + Lambeth--Bow Church--St. Bride's--Whitehall--Horse Guards--St. James + Palace--Buckingham Palace--Kensington Palace--Houses of + Parliament--Hyde Park--Marble Arch--Albert Memorial--South + Kensington Museum--Royal Exchange--Bank of England--Mansion + House--Inns of Court--British Museum--Some London Scenes--The + Underground Railway--Holland House--Greenwich--Tilbury Fort--The + Thames Mouth 137 + + + V. + + _LONDON, NORTHWARD TO THE TWEED._ + + Harrow--St. Albans--Verulam--Hatfield House--Lord + Burleigh--Cassiobury--Knebworth--Great Bed of Ware--The River + Cam--Audley End--Saffron Walden--Newport--Nell + Gwynne--Littlebury--Winstanley--Harwich--Cambridge--Trinity and St. + John's Colleges--Caius College--Trinity Hall--The Senate + House--University Library--Clare College--Great St. Mary's + Church--King's College--Corpus Christi College--St. Catharine's + College--Queens' College--The Pitt Press--Pembroke + College--Peterhouse--Fitzwilliam Museum--Hobson's Conduit--Downing + College--Emmanuel College--Christ's College--Sidney-Sussex + College--The Round Church--Magdalene College--Jesus + College--Trumpington--The Fenland--Bury St. Edmunds--Hengrave + Hall--Ely--Peterborough--Crowland Abbey--Guthlac--Norwich Castle and + Cathedral--Stamford--Burghley House--George + Inn--Grantham--Lincoln--Nottingham--Southwell--Sherwood + Forest--Robin Hood--The Dukeries--Thoresby Hall--Clumber + Park--Welbeck Abbey--Newstead + Abbey--Newark--Hull--Wilberforce--Beverley--Sheffield--Wakefield--Leeds + --Bolton Abbey--The Strid--Ripon Cathedral--Fountains Abbey--Studley + Royal--Fountains Hall--York--Eboracum--York Minster--Clifford's + Tower--Castle Howard--Kirkham Priory--Flamborough + Head--Scarborough--Whitby Abbey--Durham Cathedral and Castle--St. + Cuthbert--The Venerable Bede--Battle of Neville's + Cross--Chester-le-Street--Lumley + Castle--Newcastle-upon-Tyne--Hexham--Alnwick Castle--Hotspur and the + Percies--St. Michael's Church--Hulne Priory--Ford Castle--Flodden + Field--The Tweed--Berwick--Holy Isle--Lindisfarne--Bamborough--Grace + Darling 224 + + + VI. + + _LONDON, WESTWARD TO MILFORD HAVEN._ + + The Cotswolds--The River Severn--Gloucester--Berkeley Castle--New + Inn--Gloucester Cathedral--Lampreys--Tewkesbury; its Mustard, Abbey, + and Battle--Worcester; its Battle--Charles II.'s Escape--Worcester + Cathedral--The Malvern Hills--Worcestershire Beacon--Herefordshire + Beacon--Great Malvern--St. Anne's Well--The River Wye--Clifford + Castle--Hereford--Old Butcher's Row--Nell Gwynne's + Birthplace--Ross--The Man of Ross--Ross Church and its Trees--Walton + Castle--Goodrich Castle--Forest of Dean--Coldwell--Symond's + Vat--The Dowards--Monmouth--Kymin Hill--Raglan Castle--Redbrook--St. + Briard Castle--Tintern Abbey--The Wyncliff--Wyntour's Leap--Chepstow + Castle--The River Monnow--The Golden Valley--The Black + Mountains--Pontrilas Court--Ewias Harold--Abbey Dore--The Scyrrid + Vawr--Wormridge--Kilpeck--Oldcastle--Kentchurch--Grosmont--The Vale + of Usk--Abergavenny--Llanthony Priory--Walter Savage + Landor--Capel-y-Ffyn--Newport--Penarth Roads--Cardiff--The + Rocking-Stone--Llandaff--Caerphilly Castle and its Leaning + Tower--Swansea--The Mumbles--Oystermouth Castle--Neath + Abbey--Caermarthen--Tenby--Manorbeer Castle--Golden + Grove--Pembroke--Milford--Haverfordwest--Milford Haven--Pictou + Castle--Carew Castle 337 + + + VII. + + _LONDON, SOUTH-WEST TO LAND'S END._ + + Virginia Water--Sunninghill--Ascot--Wokingham--Bearwood--The London + Times--White Horse Hill--Box Tunnel--Salisbury--Salisbury Plain--Old + Sarum--Stonehenge--Amesbury--Wilton House--The Earls of + Pembroke--Carpet-making--Bath--William + Beckford--Fonthill--Bristol--William + Canynge--Chatterton--Clifton--Brandon Hill--Well--The + Mendips--Jocelyn--Beckington--Ralph of Shrewsbury--Thomas Ken--The + Cheddar Cliffs--The Wookey Hole--The Black Down--The Isle of + Avelon--Glastonbury--Weary-all Hill--Sedgemoor--The Isle of + Athelney--Bridgewater--Oldmixon--Monmouth's Rebellion--Weston + Zoyland--King Alfred--Sherborne--Sir Walter Raleigh--The Coast of + Dorset--Poole--Wareham--Isle of Purbeck--Corfe Castle--The + Foreland--Swanage--St. Aldhelm's Head--Weymouth--Portland Isle and + Bill--The Channel Islands--Jersey--Corbiere Promontory--Mount + Orgueil--Alderney--Guernsey--Castle Comet--The Southern Coast of + Devon--Abbotsbury--Lyme + Regis--Axminster--Sidmouth--Exmouth--Exeter--William, Prince of + Orange--Exeter Cathedral--Bishop + Trelawney--Dawlish--Teignmouth--Hope's Nose--Babbicombe Bay--Anstis + Cove--Torbay--Torquay--Brixham--Dartmoor--The River + Dart--Totnes--Berry Pomeroy Castle--Dartmouth--The River Plym--The + Dewerstone--Plympton Priory--Sir Joshua Reynolds--Catwater + Haven--Plymouth--Stonehouse--Devonport--Eddystone + Lighthouse--Tavistock Abbey--Buckland Abbey--Lydford Castle--The + Northern Coast of Devon--Exmoor--Minehead--Dunster--Dunkery + Beacon--Porlock Bay--The River Lyn--Oare--Lorna Doone--Jan + Ridd--Lynton--Lynmouth--Castle Rock--The Devil's Cheese-Ring--Combe + Martin--Ilfracombe--Norte + Point--Morthoe--Barnstable--Bideford--Clovelly--Lundy + Island--Cornwall--Tintagel--Launceston--Liskeard--Fowey--Lizard + Peninsula--Falmouth--Pendennis Castle--Helston--Mullyon + Cove--Smuggling--Kynance Cove--The Post-Office--Old Lizard + Head--Polpeor--St. Michael's Mount--Penzance--Pilchard + Fishery--Penwith--Land's End 384 + + + VIII. + + _LONDON, TO THE SOUTH COAST._ + + The Surrey Side--The Chalk Downs--Guildford--The Hog's Back--Albury + Down--Archbishop Abbot--St. Catharine's Chapel--St. Martha's + Chapel--Albury Park--John Evelyn--Henry Drummond--Aldershot + Camp--Leith Hill--Redland's Wood--Holmwood Park--Dorking--Weller and + the Marquis of Granby Inn--Deepdene--Betchworth Castle--The River + Mole--Boxhill--The Fox and Hounds--The Denbies--Ranmore + Common--Battle of Dorking--Wotton + Church--Epsom--Reigate--Pierrepoint House--Longfield--The Weald of + Kent--Goudhurst--Bedgebury Park--Kilndown--Cranbrook--Bloody Baker's + Prison--Sissinghurst--Bayham Abbey--Tunbridge Castle--Tunbridge + Wells--Penshurst--Sir Philip Sidney--Hever Castle--Anne + Boleyn--Knole--Leeds Castle--Tenterden Steeple and the Goodwin + Sands--Rochester--Gad's Hill--Chatham--Canterbury Cathedral--St. + Thomas a Becket--Falstaff Inn--Isle of + Thanet--Ramsgate--Margate--North Foreland--The Cinque + Ports--Sandwich--Rutupiae--Ebbsfleet--Goodwin Sands--Walmer + Castle--South Foreland--Dover--Shakespeare's + Cliff--Folkestone--Hythe--Romney--Dungeness--Rye--Winchelsea--Hastings + --Pevensey--Hailsham--Hurstmonceux Castle--Beachy Head--Brighton--The + Aquarium--The South Downs--Dichling Beacon--Newhaven--Steyning--Wiston + Manor--Chanctonbury Ring--Arundel Castle--Chichester--Selsey + Bill--Goodwood--Bignor--Midhurst--Cowdray--Dunford + House--Selborne--Gilbert White; his book; his house, sun-dial, and + church--Greatham Church--Winchester--The New + Forest--Lyndhurst--Minstead Manor--Castle Malwood--Death of William + Rufus--Rufus's Stone--Beaulieu + Abbey--Brockenhurst--Ringwood--Lydington--Christchurch--Southampton + --Netley Abbey--Calshot Castle--The Solent--Portsea + Island--Portsmouth--Gosport--Spithead--The Isle of Wight--High + Down--Alum Bay--Yarmouth--Cowes--Osborne + House--Ryde--Bratling--Sandown--Shanklin Chine--Bonchurch--The + Undercliff--Ventnor--Niton--St. Lawrence Church--St. Catharine's + Down--Blackgang Chine--Carisbrooke + Castle--Newport--Freshwater--Brixton--The Needles 463 + +[Illustration: MARKET-PLACE, PETERBOROUGH.] + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + Alton Towers _Frontispiece._ + The Old Mill, Selborne _Title-Page._ + Market-place, Peterborough _After Contents._ + The Pottergate, Alnwick 16 + Perch Rock Light 17 + St. George's Hall, Liverpool 19 + Chester Cathedral, Exterior 21 + Chester Cathedral, Interior 21 + Julius Caesar's Tower, Chester 22 + Ancient Front, Chester 22 + God's Providence House, Chester 23 + Bishop Lloyd's Palace, Chester 23 + Old Lamb Row, Chester 23 + Stanley House, Front, Chester 24 + Stanley House, Rear, Chester 24 + Phoenix Tower, Chester 25 + Water Tower, Chester 25 + Abbey Gale, Chester 26 + Ruins of St. John's Chapel, Chester 26 + Plas Newydd, Llangollen 28 + Ruins of Valle-Crucis Abbey 29 + Wynnstay 30 + Pont Cysylltau 30 + Wrexham Tower 31 + The Roodee, from the Railway-bridge, Chester 32 + The "Sands o' Dee" 33 + Menai Strait 36 + Beaumaris Castle 37 + Bangor Cathedral 37 + Caernarvon Castle 39 + Conway Castle, from the Road to Llanrwst 40 + Falls of the Conway 41 + Swallow Falls 42 + Llanrwst Bridge 43 + Barmouth 44 + Barmouth Estuary 45 + Cader Idris, on the Taly-slyn Ascent 46 + Rhayadr-y-Mawddach 46 + Dolgelly 47 + Owen Glendower's Parliament House, Dolgelly 47 + Lower Bridge, Torrent Walk, Dolgelly 48 + Bala Lake 48 + Aberystwith 49 + Harlech Castle 50 + Old Market, Warrington 51 + Manchester Cathedral, from the South-east 53 + Assize Courts, Manchester 54 + Royal Exchange, Manchester 55 + Furness Abbey 56 + Castle Square, Lancaster 58 + Bradda Head, Isle of Man 59 + Kirk Bradden, Isle of Man 59 + Rhenass Waterfall, Isle of Man 60 + Castle Rushen, Isle of Man 61 + Peele Castle, Isle of Man 63 + Glimpse of Derwentwater, from Scafell 64 + Falls of Lodore, Derwentwater 65 + Road through the Cathedral Close, Carlisle 68 + View on the Torrent Walk, Dolgelly 69 + Peveril Castle, Castleton 71 + Hardwicke Hall 72 + Hardwicke Hall, Elizabethan Staircase 73 + Bolsover Castle 74 + The Crescent, Buxton 75 + Bakewell Church 76 + Haddon Hall, from the Wye 77 + Haddon Hall, Entrance to Banquet-hall 78 + Haddon Hall, the Terrace 79 + The Peacock Inn from the Road 81 + Chatsworth House, from the South-west 81 + Chatsworth House, Door to State Drawing-room 82 + Chatsworth House, State Drawing-room 82 + Chatsworth House, State Bedroom 83 + Chatsworth House, the Sculpture-gallery 84 + Chatsworth House, Gateway to Stable 85 + High Tor, Matlock 85 + The Straits, Dovedale 86 + Banks of the Dove 86 + Tissington Spires, Dovedale 87 + Trentham Hall 89 + Trentham Hall--on the Terrace 90 + Shrewsbury Castle, from the Railway-station 93 + Head-quarters of Henry VII. on his Way to Bosworth + Field, Shrewsbury 94 + On Battlefield Road, Shrewsbury 94 + Bridgenorth, from near Oldbury 95 + Bridgenorth, Keep of the Castle 95 + Bridgenorth, House where Bishop Percy was born 96 + Lodge of Much Wenlock Abbey 96 + Wenlock 97 + Ludlow Castle 98 + Ludlow Castle, Entrance to the Council-chamber 99 + The Feathers Hotel, Ludlow 100 + Lichfield Cathedral, West Front 101 + Lichfield Cathedral, Interior, looking West 101 + Lichfield Cathedral, Rear View 102 + Dr. Johnson's Birthplace, Lichfield 103 + Coventry Gateway 105 + Coventry 106 + Ruins of Bradgate House 108 + Ruins of Ulverscroft Priory 109 + Ruins of Grace Dieu Abbey 110 + Leicester Abbey 111 + Gateway, Newgate Street, Leicester 112 + Edgehill 113 + Edgehill, Mill at 115 + Church and Market-hall, Market Harborough 117 + Shakespeare's House, Stratford 118 + Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Shottery 119 + Warwick Castle 120 + Leicester's Hospital, Warwick 122 + Oblique Gables in Warwick 122 + Kenilworth Castle 123 + St. Martin's Church, Birmingham 124 + Aston Hall, Birmingham 125 + Aston Hall, the "Gallery of the Presence" 126 + The Town-hall, Birmingham 127 + Elstow, Bedford 130 + Elstow Church 130 + Elstow Church, North Door 131 + Woburn Abbey, West Front 132 + Woburn Abbey, the Sculpture-gallery 133 + Woburn Abbey, Entrance to the Puzzle garden 134 + Thames Head 138 + Dovecote, Stanton Harcourt 140 + Cumnor Churchyard 141 + Godstow Nunnery 142 + Magdalen College, Oxford, from the Cherwell 143 + Magdalen College, Stone Pulpit 144 + Magdalen College, Bow Window 144 + Gable at St. Aldate's College, Oxford 144 + Dormer Window, Merton College, Oxford 144 + Gateway of Christ Church College, Oxford 145 + Merton College Chapel, Oxford 146 + Merton College Gateway 146 + Oriel College, Oxford 147 + Magdalen College Cloisters, Oxford 148 + Magdalen College, Founders' Tower 149 + Magdalen College 150 + New College, Oxford, from the Garden 151 + New College 152 + The Radcliffe Library, from the Quadrangle of Brasenose, Oxford 152 + Dining-hall, Exeter College, Oxford 153 + Trinity College Chapel, Oxford 153 + Window in St. John's College, Garden Front, Oxford 154 + Tower St. John's College, Oxford 154 + St. Mary the Virgin, from High Street, Oxford 155 + All Saints, from High Street, Oxford 156 + Carfax Conduit 157 + Iffley Mill 157 + Iffley Church 158 + Cromwell's Parliament-house, Banbury 159 + Berks and Wilts Canal 160 + Chaucer's House, Woodstock 161 + Old Remains at Woodstock 162 + Blenheim Palace, from the Lake 163 + Bicester Priory 165 + Bicester Market 166 + Cross at Eynsham 166 + Entrance to Abingdon Abbey 167 + Radley Church 168 + The Thames at Clifton-Hampden 170 + Bray Church 171 + Eton College, from the Playing Fields 173 + Eton College, from the Cricket-ground 173 + Windsor Castle, from the Brocas 174 + Windsor Castle Round Tower, West End 175 + Windsor Castle, Queen's Rooms in South-east Tower 176 + Windsor Castle, Interior of St. George's Chapel 177 + Magna Charta Island 178 + The Monument, London 180 + St. Paul's Cathedral, London 182 + St. Paul's Cathedral, South Side 183 + St. Paul's Cathedral, the Choir 183 + St. Paul's Cathedral, Wellington Monument 184 + Westminster Abbey, London 185 + Westminster Abbey, Cloisters of 186 + Westminster Abbey, Interior of Choir 187 + Westminster Abbey, King Henry VII.'s Chapel 188 + The Tower of London, Views in 191 + The Church of St. Peter, on Tower Green 193 + The Lollards' Tower, Lambeth Palace, London 194 + St. Mary-le-Bow, London 195 + St. Bride's, Fleet Street, London. 195 + Chapel Royal, Whitehall, London 196 + Chapel Royal, Interior of (Banqueting-hall) 197 + The Horse Guards, from the Parade-ground, London 198 + Gateway of St. James Palace, London 199 + Buckingham Palace, Garden Front, London 200 + Kensington Palace, West Front, London 201 + Victoria Tower, Houses of Parliament, London 203 + Interior of the House of Commons 204 + The Marble Arch, Hyde Park, London 205 + The Albert Memorial, Hyde Park 206 + Principal Entrance New Museum of Natural History, + South Kensington, London 207 + Royal Exchange, London 208 + Bank of England, London 208 + Mansion House, London 209 + The Law Courts, London 210 + Sir Paul Finder's House, London 211 + Waterloo Bridge, London 212 + Schomberg House, London 213 + Statue of Sidney Herbert, Pall Mall, London 213 + Doorway, Beaconsfield Club, London 214 + Cavendish Square, London 214 + The "Bell Inn" at Edmonton 215 + The "Old Tabard Inn," London. 216 + Holland House, South Side 217 + Holland House, Dining-Room 218 + Holland House, the Dutch Garden 218 + Holland House, the Library 219 + Holland House, Rogers's Seat in the Dutch Garden 219 + Greenwich Hospital, from the River 221 + London, from Greenwich Park 222 + St. Albans, from Verulam 225 + Old Wall at Verulam 226 + Monastery Gate, St. Albans 226 + The Tower of the Abbey, St. Albans 227 + Staircase to Watching Gallery, St. Albans 227 + Shrine and Watching Gallery, St. Albans 228 + Clock Tower, St. Albans 229 + Barnard's Heath 229 + St. Michael's, Verulam 230 + Queen Elizabeth's Oak, Hatfield 231 + Hatfield House 232 + Hatfield House, the Corridor 233 + View through Old Gateway, Hatfield 234 + Audley End, Western Front 235 + Views in Saffron Walden 237 + Town-hall. + Church. + Entrance to the Town. + Jetties at Harwich 238 + Bridge, St. John's College, Cambridge 239 + Hall of Trinity College, Cambridge 241 + St. John's Chapel, Cambridge 242 + Back of Clare College, Cambridge 244 + King's College Chapel--Interior--Cambridge 245 + King's College Chapel, Doorway of 246 + Scenes in Cambridge 247 + The Senate House. + The Pitt Press. + Great St. Mary's. + The Fitzwilliam Museum. + The Round Church. + Gateway, Jesus College, Cambridge 249 + Hengrave Hall 250 + Road leading to Ely Close 250 + Ely Cathedral, from the Railway Bridge 251 + Old Bits in Ely 252 + Old Passage from Ely Street to Cathedral Ford. + Entrance to Prior Crawdon's Chapel. + Old Houses In High Street. + Peterborough Cathedral 253 + Peterborough Cathedral, Aisle and Choir 254 + East End of Crowland Abbey 255 + Norwich Castle 257 + Norwich Cathedral 258 + Norwich Cathedral--the Choir, looking East 259 + Norwich Market-place 260 + Burghley House 261 + Lincoln Cathedral, from the South-west 264 + "Bits" from Lincoln 265 + The Cloisters. + The Angel Choir. + The High Bridge. + Nottingham Castle 267 + Southwell Minster and Ruins of the Archbishop's Palace 268 + Southwell Minster, the Nave 269 + Clumber Hall 271 + Welbeck Abbey 272 + Newark Castle, Front 274 + Newark Castle and Dungeon 275 + Newark Market-square 276 + Newark Church, looking from the North 276 + The Humber at Hull 277 + House where Wilberforce was born, Hull 278 + Beverley, Entrance-Gate 278 + Beverley, Market-square 279 + Manor House, Sheffield 280 + Entrance to the Cutlers' Hall, Sheffield 281 + Edward IV.'s Chapel, Wakefield Bridge 282 + Wakefield 283 + Briggate, Leeds, looking North 283 + St. John's Church, Leeds 284 + Bolton Abbey, Gateway in the Priory 286 + Bolton Abbey, the Churchyard 286 + The Strid 287 + Ripon Minster 288 + Studley Royal Park 289 + Fountains Abbey, the Transept 290 + Fountains Abbey, Tower and Crypt 291 + Fountains Hall 292 + Richmond Castle 293 + The Multangular Tower and Ruins of St. Mary's Abbey, York 294 + Micklegate Bar and the Red Tower, York 297 + York Minster 298 + York Minster, the Choir 299 + York Minster, Tomb of Archbishop DeGrey 300 + Clifford's Tower, York 301 + The Shambles, York 302 + Castle Howard, South Front 303 + Castle Howard, the Obelisk 304 + Castle Howard, the Temple, with the Mausoleum in the distance 305 + Gateway, Kirkham Priory 306 + Scarborough Spa and Esplanade 308 + Scarborough, from the Sea 309 + Whitby Abbey 311 + Durham, General View of the Cathedral and Castle 312 + Durham Castle, Norman Doorway 313 + Durham Cathedral, from an old Homestead on the Wear 315 + Durham Cathedral, the Nave 316 + Durham Cathedral, the Choir, looking West 317 + Durham Cathedral, the Galilee and Tomb of Bede 318 + Lumley Castle 320 + Lumley Castle, Gateway from the Walk 321 + Hexham 322 + Alnwick Castle, from the Lion bridge 323 + Alnwick Castle, the Barbican Gate 323 + Alnwick Castle, the Barbican 324 + Alnwick Castle, the Barbican, Eastern Angle 325 + Alnwick Castle, the Percy Bedstead 326 + Alnwick Castle, the Percy Cross 326 + Alnwick Castle, Constable's Tower 327 + Alnwick Castle, Earl Hugh's Tower 328 + Alnwick Castle, Draw-Well and Norman Gateway 329 + Alnwick Castle, Gravestone in the Churchyard of St. + Michael's and All Angels 329 + Alnwick Castle, Font Lectern, St. Michael's Church 330 + Hulne Priory, Porter's Lodge 331 + Ford Tower, overlooking Flodden 331 + The Cheviots, from Ford Castle 332 + Flodden, from the King's Bedchamber, Ford Castle 333 + Ford Castle, the Crypt 335 + Grace Darling's Monument, Bamborough 336 + Gloucester Cathedral, from the South-east 338 + Gloucester, the New Inn 340 + Gloucester Cathedral, the Monks' Lavatory 342 + Tewkesbury 343 + Tewkesbury Abbey 344 + Tewkesbury Abbey, Choir 345 + Worcester Cathedral, from the Severn 346 + Worcester Cathedral, Choir 348 + Ruins of the Guesten Hall, Worcester 349 + Close in Worcester 350 + St. Anne's Well, Malvern 352 + Butchers' Row, Hereford 353 + Out-house where Nell Gwynne was born, Hereford 353 + Hereford Cathedral 354 + Hereford Cathedral, Old Nave 355 + Ross Bridge 355 + Ross, House of the "Man of Ross" 356 + Ross Market-place 357 + Ross Church 358 + Ross Church, the Tree, in 358 + Ruins of Goodrich Castle 359 + Bend in the Wye 360 + Symond's Yat, the Wye 361 + Monmouth Bridge 363 + Monmouth Bridge, Gate on 363 + Raglan Castle 364 + Tintern Abbey, from the Highroad 365 + Chepstow Castle 368 + Pontrilas Court 370 + The Scyrrid Vawr 371 + Llanthony Priory, looking down the Nave 373 + Llanthony Priory, the South Transept 374 + Swansea, North Dock 377 + Swansea Castle 378 + The Mumbles 379 + Oystermouth Castle 380 + Neath Abbey, ruins 381 + Bearwood, Berkshire, Residence of John Walter, + Esq., proprietor of _London Times_ 385 + Salisbury Cathedral 387 + Salisbury Market 388 + Stonehenge 390 + Wilton House 392 + Wilton House, Fireplace in Double Cube Room 393 + Wilton House, the Library 393 + Wilton House, the Library Window 394 + Bristol Cathedral 398 + Norman Doorway, College Green, Bristol 399 + Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol 400 + Wells Cathedral, from the Bishop's Garden 401 + Wells Cathedral, from the Swan Pool 402 + Wells Cathedral, View under Central Tower 403 + Wells, Ruins of the Old Banquet-Hall 404 + Entrance to the Cheddar Cliffs, Wells 405 + High Rocks at Cheddar, Wells 406 + Glastonbury Tribunal 408 + Sedgemoor, from Cock Hill 409 + Weston Zoyland Church 410 + The Isle of Athelney 412 + Sherbourne 413 + Corfe Castle 416 + Studland Church 418 + Ruins of Old Cross in the Churchyard 418 + St. Aldhelm's Head 419 + Portland Isle 420 + Corbiere Lighthouse, Jersey 422 + View from Devil's Hole, Jersey 423 + Exeter Cathedral, West Front 425 + Exeter, Ruins of Rougemont Castle 426 + Exeter, Old Houses in Cathedral Close 426 + Exeter Cathedral, from the North-west 427 + Exeter Cathedral, Bishop's Throne 428 + Exeter Cathedral, Minstrel Gallery 429 + Exeter, Guildhall 429 + Babbicombe Bay 430 + Austis Cove 431 + Totnes, from the river 432 + Berry Pomeroy Castle 433 + A Bend of the Dart 434 + Dartmouth Castle 434 + The Dewerstone 435 + Vale of Bickleigh 436 + Plympton Priory, Old Doorway 437 + Minehead 440 + Dunster 441 + On Porlock Moor 442 + Doone Valley 443 + Bagworthy Water 444 + Jan Ridd's Tree 444 + View on the East Lyn 445 + Castle Rock, Lynton 445 + Devil's Cheese-Ring, Lynton 446 + Tower on Beach, Lynmouth 447 + Ilfracombe 447 + Morte Point 449 + Bideford Bridge 450 + Clovelly, Main Street 450 + Clovelly, Old Houses on Beach 451 + Fowey Pier 452 + Pendennis Castle 454 + Mullyon Cove 455 + Lion Rock, with Mullyon in the distance 456 + Cave at Mullyon 456 + Pradenack Point 457 + Kynance Cove 457 + The Post-Office, Kynance 458 + Polpeor 459 + Rocks near the Lizard 459 + St. Michael's Mount 460 + Old Market, Penzance 461 + Land's End 462 + High Street, Guildford 464 + Ruins of St. Catharine's Chapel 466 + Leith Hill 467 + Old Dovecote, Holmwood Park 468 + White Horse Inn, Dorking 469 + Pierrepoint House 472 + Longfield, East Sheen 473 + Ruins of Sissinghurst 475 + Tunbridge Castle 476 + Penshurst Place 476 + Penshurst Church 477 + Hever Castle 478 + Leeds Castle, Gateway 478 + Rochester Castle 480 + Canterbury 481 + Canterbury, Falstaff Inn 483 + Sandwich, the Barbican 485 + Dover Castle, the Pharos 487 + Dover Cattle, Saluting-Battery Gate 487 + Rye, Old Houses 488 + Hurstmonceux Castle 490 + Arundel Castle 494 + Ruins of Cowdray 494 + Selborne, Gilbert White's House 495 + Selborne, Gilbert White's Sun-Dial 496 + Selborne Church 496 + Selborne, Rocky Lane to Alton 497 + Selborne, Wishing-Stone 498 + Greatham Church 499 + Winchester, Cardinal Beaufort's Gate and Brewery 500 + New Forest, from Bramble Hill 502 + New Forest, Rufus's Stone 503 + New Forest, Brockenhurst Church 505 + Christchurch, the Priory from the Quay and Place Mills 506 + Christchurch 507 + Christchurch, Old Norman House and View from Priory 508 + Portsmouth Point 510 + Portsmouth, H.M.S. "Victory" 511 + Cowes Harbor, Isle of Wight 512 + The Needles, from Alum Bay, Isle of Wight 513 + Yarmouth, Isle of Wight 513 + Osborne House, from the Sea, Isle of Wight 514 + Shanklin Chine, Isle of Wight 516 + The Undercliff, Isle of Wight 517 + Carisbrooke Castle, looking from Isle of Wight 519 + Tennyson's House, Isle of Wight 521 + The Needles, Isle of Wight 522 + + +[Illustration: THE POTTERGATE, ALNWICK.] + + + + +ENGLAND, PICTURESQUE AND DESCRIPTIVE. + +I. + +LIVERPOOL WESTWARD TO THE WELSH COAST. + + Liverpool--Birkenhead--Knowsley Hall--Chester--Cheshire--Eaton + Hall--Hawarden Castle--Bidston--Congleton--Beeston Castle--The + river Dee--Llangollen--Valle-Crucis Abbey--Dinas + Bran--Wynnstay--Pont Cysylltau--Chirk + Castle--Bangor-ys-Coed--Holt--Wrexham--The Sands o' Dee--North + Wales--Flint Castle--Rhuddlan Castle--Mold--Denbigh--St. + Asaph--Holywell--Powys Castle--The Menai + Strait--Anglesea--Beaumaris Castle--Bangor--Penrhyn Castle--Plas + Newydd--Caernarvon Castle--Ancient Segontium--Conway + Castle--Bettws-y-Coed--Mount Snowdon--Port Madoc--Coast of + Merioneth--Barmouth--St. Patrick's Causeway--Mawddach Vale--Cader + Idris--Dolgelly--Bala Lake--Aberystwith--Harlech Castle--Holyhead. + + +LIVERPOOL. + +[Illustration: THE PERCH ROCK LIGHT.] + +The American transatlantic tourist, after a week or more spent upon the +ocean, is usually glad to again see the land. After skirting the bold +Irish coast, and peeping into the pretty cove of Cork, with Queenstown +in the background, and passing the rocky headlands of Wales, the steamer +that brings him from America carefully enters the Mersey River. The +shores are low but picturesque as the tourist moves along the estuary +between the coasts of Lancashire and Cheshire, and passes the great +beacon standing up solitary and alone amid the waste of waters, the +Perch Rock Light off New Brighton on the Cheshire side. Thus he comes to +the world's greatest seaport--Liverpool--and the steamer finally drops +her anchor between the miles of docks that front the two cities, +Liverpool on the left and Birkenhead on the right. Forests of masts loom +up behind the great dock-walls, stretching far away on either bank, +while a fleet of arriving or departing steamers is anchored in a long +line in mid-channel. Odd-looking, low, black tugs, pouring out thick +smoke from double funnels, move over the water, and one of them takes +the passengers alongside the capacious structure a half mile long, built +on pontoons, so it can rise and fall with the tides, and known as the +Prince's Landing-Stage, where the customs officers perform their brief +formalities and quickly let the visitor go ashore over the fine floating +bridge into the city. + +At Liverpool most American travellers begin their view of England. It is +the great city of ships and sailors and all that appertains to the sea, +and its 550,000 population are mainly employed in mercantile life and +the myriad trades that serve the ship or deal in its cargo, for fifteen +thousand to twenty thousand of the largest vessels of modern commerce +will enter the Liverpool docks in a year, and its merchants own +7,000,000 tonnage. Fronting these docks on the Liverpool side of the +Mersey is the great sea-wall, over five miles long, behind which are +enclosed 400 acres of water-surface in the various docks, that are +bordered by sixteen miles' length of quays. On the Birkenhead side of +the river there are ten miles of quays in the docks that extend for over +two miles along the bank. These docks, which are made necessary to +accommodate the enormous commerce, have cost over $50,000,000, and are +the crowning glory of Liverpool. They are filled with the ships of all +nations, and huge storehouses line the quays, containing products from +all parts of the globe, yet chiefly the grain and cotton, provisions, +tobacco, and lumber of America. Railways run along the inner border of +the docks on a street between them and the town, and along their tracks +horses draw the freight-cars, while double-decked passenger-cars also +run upon them with broad wheels fitting the rails, yet capable of being +run off whenever the driver wishes to get ahead of the slowly-moving +freight-cars. Ordinary wagons move upon Strand street alongside, with +horses of the largest size drawing them, the huge growth of the +Liverpool horses being commensurate with the immense trucks and vans to +which these magnificent animals are harnessed. + +Liverpool is of great antiquity, but in the time of William the +Conqueror was only a fishing-village. Liverpool Castle, long since +demolished, was a fortress eight hundred years ago, and afterward the +rival families of Molineux and Stanley contended for the mastery of the +place. It was a town of slow growth, however, and did not attain full +civic dignity till the time of Charles I. It was within two hundred +years that it became a seaport of any note. The first dock was opened in +1699, and strangely enough it was the African slave-trade that gave the +Liverpool merchants their original start. The port sent out its first +slave-ship in 1709, and in 1753 had eighty-eight ships engaged in the +slave-trade, which carried over twenty-five thousand slaves from Africa +to the New World that year. Slave-auctions were frequent in Liverpool, +and one of the streets where these sales were effected was nicknamed +"Negro street." The agitation for the abolition of the trade was carried +on a long time before Liverpool submitted, and then privateering came +prominently out as the lucrative business a hundred years ago during the +French wars, that brought Liverpool great wealth. Next followed the +development of trade with the East Indies, and finally the trade with +America has grown to such enormous proportions in the present century as +to eclipse all other special branches of Liverpool commerce, large as +some of them are. This has made many princely fortunes for the merchants +and shipowners, and their wealth has been liberally expended in +beautifying their city. It has in recent years had very rapid growth, +and has greatly increased its architectural adornments. Most amazing has +been this advancement since the time in the last century when the mayor +and corporation entertained Prince William of Gloucester at dinner, and, +pleased at the appetite he developed, one of them called out, "Eat away, +Your Royal Highness; there's plenty more in the kitchen!" The mayor was +Jonas Bold, and afterwards, taking the prince to church, they were +astonished to find that the preacher had taken for his text the words, +"Behold, a greater than Jonas is here." + +[Illustration: ST. GEORGE'S HALL.] + +Liverpool has several fine buildings. Its Custom House is a large Ionic +structure of chaste design, with a tall dome that can be seen from afar, +and richly decorated within. The Town Hall and the Exchange buildings +make up the four sides of an enclosed quadrangle paved with broad +flagstones. Here, around the attractive Nelson monument in the centre, +the merchants meet and transact their business. The chief public +building is St. George's Hall, an imposing edifice, surrounded with +columns and raised high above one side of an open square, and costing +$2,000,000 to build. It is a Corinthian building, having at one end the +Great Hall, one hundred and sixty-nine feet long, where public meetings +are held, and court-rooms at the other end. Statues of Robert Peel, +Gladstone, and Stephenson, with other great men, adorn the Hall. Sir +William Brown, who amassed a princely fortune in Liverpool, has +presented the city with a splendid free library and museum, which stands +in a magnificent position on Shaw's Brow. Many of the streets are lined +with stately edifices, public and private, and most of these avenues +diverge from the square fronting St. George's Hall, opposite which is +the fine station of the London and North-western Railway, which, as is +the railroad custom in England, is also a large hotel. The suburbs of +Liverpool are filled for a wide circuit with elegant rural homes and +surrounding ornamental grounds, where the opulent merchants live. They +are generally bordered with high stone walls, interfering with the view, +and impressing the visitor strongly with the idea that an Englishman's +house is his castle. Several pretty parks with ornamental lakes among +their hills are also in the suburbs. Yet it is the vast trade that is +the glory of Liverpool, for it is but an epitome of England's commercial +greatness, and is of comparatively modern growth. "All this," not long +ago said Lord Erskine, speaking of the rapid advancement of Liverpool, +"has been created by the industry and well-disciplined management of a +handful of men since I was a boy." + + +KNOWSLEY HALL. + +A few miles out of Liverpool is the village of Prescot, where Kemble the +tragedian was born, and where the people at the present time are largely +engaged in watchmaking. Not far from Prescot is one of the famous homes +of England--Knowsley Hall, the seat of the Stanleys and of the Earls of +Derby for five hundred years. The park covers two thousand acres and is +almost ten miles in circumference. The greater portion of the famous +house was built in the time of George II. It is an extensive and +magnificent structure, and contains many art-treasures in its +picture-gallery by Rembrandt, Rubens, Correggio, Teniers, Vandyke, +Salvator Rosa, and others. The Stanleys are one of the governing +families of England, the last Earl of Derby having been premier in 1866, +and the present earl having also been a cabinet minister. The crest of +the Stanleys represents the Eagle and the Child, and is derived from the +story of a remote ancestor who, cherishing an ardent desire for a male +heir, and having only a daughter, contrived to have an infant conveyed +to the foot of a tree in the park frequented by an eagle. Here he and +his lady, taking a walk, found the child as if by accident, and the +lady, considering it a gift from Heaven brought by the eagle and +miraculously preserved, adopted the boy as her heir. From this time the +crest was assumed, but we are told that the old knight's conscience +smote him at the trick, and on his deathbed he bequeathed the chief part +of his fortune to the daughter, from whom are descended the present +family. + + +THE ANCIENT CITY OF CHESTER. + +[Illustration: EXTERIOR.--CHESTER CATHEDRAL.--INTERIOR.] + +Not far from Liverpool, and in the heart of Cheshire, we come to the +small but famous river Dee and the old and very interesting city of +Chester. It is built in the form of a quadrant, its four walls enclosing +a plot about a half mile square. The walls, which form a promenade two +miles around, over which every visitor should tramp; the quaint gates +and towers; the "Rows," or arcades along the streets, which enable the +sidewalks to pass under the upper stories of the houses by cutting away +the first-floor front rooms; and the many ancient buildings,--are all +attractive. The Chester Cathedral is a venerable building of red +sandstone, which comes down to us from the twelfth century, though it +has recently been restored. It is constructed in the Perpendicular style +of architecture, with a square and turret-surmounted central tower. This +is the Cathedral of St. Werburgh, and besides other merits of the +attractive interior, the southern transept is most striking from its +exceeding length. The choir is richly ornamented with carvings and fine +woodwork, the Bishop's Throne having originally been a pedestal for the +shrine of St. Werburgh. The cathedral contains several ancient tombs of +much interest, and the elaborate Chapter Room, with its Early English +windows and pillars, is much admired. In this gorgeous structure the +word of God is preached from a Bible whose magnificently-bound cover is +inlaid with precious stones and its markers adorned with pearls. The +book is the Duke of Westminster's gift, that nobleman being the landlord +of much of Chester. In the nave of the cathedral are two English +battle-flags that were at Bunker Hill. Chester Castle, now used as a +barrack for troops, has only one part of the ancient edifice left, +called Julius Caesar's Tower, near which the Dee is spanned by a fine +single-arch bridge. + +[Illustration: JULIUS CAESAR'S TOWER.] + +[Illustration: ANCIENT FRONT.] + +[Illustration: GOD'S PROVIDENCE HOUSE.] + +[Illustration: BISHOP LLOYD'S PALACE.] + +[Illustration: OLD LAMB ROW.] + +The quaintest part of this curious old city of Chester is no doubt the +"Rows," above referred to. These arcades, which certainly form a capital +shelter from the hot sun or rain, were, according to one authority, +originally built as a refuge for the people in case of sudden attack by +the Welsh; but according to others they originated with the Romans, and +were used as the vestibules of the houses; and this seems to be the more +popular theory with the townsfolk. Under the "Rows" are shops of all +sizes, and some of the buildings are grotesquely attractive, especially +the curious one bearing the motto of safety from the plague, "God's +providence is mine inheritance," standing on Watergate street, and known +as "God's Providence House;" and "Bishop Lloyd's Palace," which is +ornamented with quaint wood-carvings. The "Old Lamb Row," where Randall +Holme, the Chester antiquary, lived, stood by itself, obeying no rule +of regularity, and was regarded as a nuisance two hundred years ago, +though later it was highly prized. The city corporation in 1670 ordered +that "the nuisance erected by Randall Holme in his new building in +Bridge street be taken down, as it annoys his neighbors, and hinders +their prospect from their houses." But this law seems to have been +enforced no more than many others are on either side of the ocean, for +the "nuisance" stood till 1821, when the greater part of it, the timbers +having rotted, fell of its own accord. The "Dark Row" is the only one of +these strange arcades that is closed from the light, for it forms a kind +of tunnel through which the footwalk goes. Not far from this is the +famous old "Stanley House," where one unfortunate Earl of Derby spent +the last day before his execution in 1657 at Bolton. The carvings on the +front of this house are very fine, and there is told in reference to the +mournful event that marks its history the following story: Lieutenant +Smith came from the governor of Chester to notify the condemned earl to +be ready for the journey to Bolton. The earl asked, "When would you have +me go?" "To-morrow, about six in the morning," said Smith. "Well," +replied the earl, "commend me to the governor, and tell him I shall be +ready by that time." Then said Smith, "Doth your lordship know any +friend or servant that would do the thing your lordship knows of? It +would do well if you had a friend." The earl replied, "What do you mean? +to cut off my head?" Smith said, "Yes, my lord, if you could have a +friend." The earl answered, "Nay, sir, if those men that would have my +head will not find one to cut it off, let it stand where it is." + +[Illustration: THE STANLEY HOUSE, FRONT.] + +[Illustration: THE STANLEY HOUSE, REAR.] + +It is easy in this strange old city to carry back the imagination for +centuries, for it preserves its connection with the past better perhaps +than any other English town. The city holds the keys of the outlet of +the Dee, which winds around it on two sides, and is practically one of +the gates into Wales. Naturally, the Romans established a fortress here +more than a thousand years ago, and made it the head-quarters of their +twentieth legion, who impressed upon the town the formation of a Roman +camp, which it bears to this day. The very name of Chester is derived +from the Latin word for a camp. Many Roman fragments still remain, the +most notable being the Hyptocaust. This was found in Watergate street +about a century ago, together with a tessellated pavement. There have +also been exhumed Roman altars, tombs, mosaics, pottery and other +similar relics. The city is built upon a sandstone rock, and this +furnishes much of the building material, so that most of the edifices +have their exteriors disintegrated by the elements, particularly the +churches--a peculiarity that may have probably partly justified Dean +Swift's epigram, written when his bile was stirred because a rainstorm +had prevented some of the Chester clergy from dining with him: + + "Churches and clergy of this city + Are very much akin: + They're weather-beaten all without, + And empty all within." + +[Illustration: THE PHOENIX TOWER.] + +[Illustration: THE WATER TOWER.] + +The modernized suburbs of Chester, filled with busy factories, are +extending beyond the walls over a larger surface than the ancient town +itself. At the angles of the old walls stand the famous towers--the +Phoenix Tower, Bonwaldesthorne's Tower, Morgan's Mount, the Goblin +Tower, and the Water Tower, while the gates in the walls are almost +equally famous--the Eastgate, Northgate, Watergate, Bridgegate, Newgate, +and Peppergate. The ancient Abbey of St. Mary had its site near the +castle, and not far away are the picturesque ruins of St. John's Chapel, +outside the walls. According to a local legend, its neighborhood had the +honor of sheltering an illustrious fugitive. Harold, the Saxon king, we +are told, did not fall at Hastings, but, escaping, spent the remainder +of his life as a hermit, dwelling in a cell near this chapel and on a +cliff alongside the Dee. The four streets leading from the gates at the +middle of each side of the town come together in the centre at a place +formerly known as the "Pentise," where was located the bull-ring at +which was anciently carried on the refining sport of "bull-baiting" +while the mayor and corporation, clad in their gowns of office, looked +on approvingly. Prior to this sport beginning, we are told that solemn +proclamation was made for "the safety of the king and the mayor of +Chester"--that "if any man stands within twenty yards of the bull-ring, +let him take what comes." Here stood also the stocks and pillory. Amid +so much that is ancient and quaint, the new Town Hall, a beautiful +structure recently erected, is naturally most attractive, its dedication +to civic uses having been made by the present Prince of Wales, who bears +among many titles that of Earl of Chester. But this is about the only +modern attraction this interesting city possesses. At an angle of the +walls are the "Dee Mills," as old as the Norman Conquest, and famous in +song as the place where the "jolly miller once lived on the Dee." Full +of attractions within and without, it is difficult to tear one's self +away from this quaint city, and therefore we will agree, at least in one +sense, with Dr. Johnson's blunt remark to a lady friend: "I have come to +Chester, madam, I cannot tell how, and far less can I tell how to get +away from it." + +[Illustration: ABBEY GATE.] + +[Illustration: RUINS OF ST. JOHN'S CHAPEL.] + + +CHESHIRE. + +The county of Cheshire has other attractions. But a short distance from +Chester, in the valley of the Dee, is Eaton Hall, the elaborate palace +of the Duke of Westminster and one of the finest seats in England, +situated in a park of eight hundred acres that extends to the walls of +Chester. This palace has recently been almost entirely rebuilt and +modernized, and is now the most spacious and splendid example of Revived +Gothic architecture in England. The house contains many works of +art--statues by Gibson, paintings by Rubens and others--and is full of +the most costly and beautiful decorations and furniture, being +essentially one of the show-houses of Britain. In the extensive gardens +are a Roman altar found in Chester and a Greek altar brought from +Delphi. At Hawarden Castle, seven miles from Chester, is the home of +William E. Gladstone, and in its picturesque park are the ruins of the +ancient castle, dating from the time of the Tudors, and from the keep of +which there is a fine view of the Valley of the Dee. The ruins of Ewloe +Castle, six hundred years old, are not far away, but so buried in +foliage that they are difficult to find. Two miles from Chester is Hoole +House, formerly Lady Broughton's, famous for its rockwork, a lawn of +less than an acre exquisitely planted with clipped yews and other trees +being surrounded by a rockery over forty feet high. In the Wirral or +Western Cheshire are several attractive villages. At Bidston, west of +Birkenhead and on the sea-coast, is the ancient house that was once the +home of the unfortunate Earl of Derby, whose execution is mentioned +above. Congleton, in Eastern Cheshire, stands on the Dane, in a lovely +country, and is a good example of an old English country-town. Its Lion +Inn is a fine specimen of the ancient black-and-white gabled hostelrie +which novelists love so well to describe. At Nantwich is a curious old +house with a heavy octagonal bow-window in the upper story overhanging a +smaller lower one, telescope-fashion. The noble tower of Nantwich church +rises above, and the building is in excellent preservation. + +Nearly in the centre of Cheshire is the stately fortress of Beeston +Castle, standing on a sandstone rock rising some three hundred and sixty +feet from the flat country. It was built nearly seven hundred years ago +by an Earl of Cheshire, then just returned from the Crusades. Standing +in an irregular court covering about five acres, its thick walls and +deep ditch made it a place of much strength. It was ruined prior to the +time of Henry VIII., having been long contended for and finally +dismantled in the Wars of the Roses. Being then rebuilt, it became a +famous fortress in the Civil Wars, having been seized by the Roundheads, +then surprised and taken by the Royalists, alternately besieged and +defended afterward, and finally starved into surrender by the +Parliamentary troops in 1645. This was King Charles's final struggle, +though the castle did not succumb till after eighteen weeks' siege, and +its defenders were forced to eat cats and rats to satisfy hunger, and +were reduced to only sixty. Beeston Castle was then finally dismantled, +and its ruins are now an attraction to the tourist. Lea Hall, an ancient +and famous timbered mansion, surrounded by a moat, was situated about +six miles from Chester, but the moat alone remains to show where it +stood. Here lived Sir Hugh Calveley, one of Froissart's heroes, who was +governor of Calais when it was held by the English, and is buried under +a sumptuous tomb in the church of the neighboring college of Bunbury, +which he founded. His armed effigy surmounts the tomb, and the +inscription says he died on St. George's Day, 1394. + + +THE RIVER DEE. + +[Illustration: PLAS NEWYDD, LLANGOLLEN.] + +Frequent reference has been made to the river Dee, the Deva of the +Welsh, which is unquestionably one of the finest streams of Britain. It +rises in the Arran Fowddwy, one of the chief Welsh mountains, nearly +three thousand feet high, and after a winding course of about seventy +miles falls into the Irish Sea. This renowned stream has been the theme +of many a poet, and after expanding near its source into the beautiful +Bala Lake, whose bewitching surroundings are nearly all described in +polysyllabic and unpronounceable Welsh names, and are popular among +artists and anglers, it flows through Edeirnim Vale, past Corwen. Here a +pathway ascends to the eminence known as Glendower's Seat, with which +tradition has closely knit the name of the Welsh hero, the close of +whose marvellous career marked the termination of Welsh independence. +Then the romantic Dee enters the far-famed Valley of Llangollen, where +tourists love to roam, and where lived the "Ladies of Llangollen." We +are told that these two high-born dames had many lovers, but, rejecting +all and enamored only of each other, Lady Butler and Miss Ponsonby, the +latter sixteen years the junior of the former, determined on a life of +celibacy. They eloped together from Ireland, were overtaken and brought +back, and then a second time decamped--on this occasion in masquerade, +the elder dressed as a peasant and the younger as a smart groom in +top-boots. Escaping pursuit, they settled in Llangollen in 1778 at the +quaint little house called Plas Newydd, and lived there together for a +half century. Their costume was extraordinary, for they appeared in +public in blue riding-habits, men's neckcloths, and high hats, with +their hair cropped short. They had antiquarian tastes, which led to the +accumulation of a vast lot of old wood-carvings and stained glass, +gathered from all parts of the world and worked into the fittings and +adornment of their home. They were on excellent terms with all the +neighbors, and the elder died in 1829, aged ninety, and the younger two +years afterward, aged seventy-six. Their remains lie in Llangollen +churchyard. + +[Illustration: RUINS OF VALLE-CRUCIS ABBEY.] + +Within this famous valley are the ruins of Valle-Crucis Abbey, the most +picturesque abbey ruin in North Wales. An adjacent stone cross gave it +the name six hundred years ago, when it was built by the great Madoc for +the Cistercian monks. The ruins in some parts are now availed of for +farm-houses. Fine ash trees bend over the ruined arches, ivy climbs the +clustered columns, and the lancet windows with their delicate tracery +are much admired. The remains consist of the church, abbot's lodgings, +refectory, and dormitory. The church was cruciform, and is now nearly +roofless, though the east and west ends and the southern transept are +tolerably perfect, so that much of the abbey remains. It was occupied by +the Cistercians, and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The ancient +cross, of which the remains are still standing near by, is Eliseg's +Pillar, erected in the seventh century as a memorial of that Welsh +prince. It was one of the earliest lettered stones in Britain, standing +originally about twelve feet high. From this cross came the name of +Valle Crucis, which in the thirteenth century was given to the famous +abbey. The great Madoc, who lived in the neighboring castle of Dinas +Bran, built this abbey to atone for a life of violence. The ruins of his +castle stand on a hill elevated about one thousand feet above the Dee. +Bran in Welsh means _crow_, so that the English know it as Crow Castle. +From its ruins there is a beautiful view over the Valley of Llangollen. +Farther down the valley is the mansion of Wynnstay, in the midst of a +large and richly wooded park, a circle of eight miles enclosing the +superb domain, within which are herds of fallow-deer and many noble +trees. The old mansion was burnt in 1858, and an imposing structure in +Renaissance now occupies the site. Fine paintings adorn the walls by +renowned artists, and the Dee foams over its rocky bed in a sequestered +dell near the mansion. Memorial columns and tablets in the park mark +notable men and events in the Wynn family, the chief being the Waterloo +Tower, ninety feet high. Far away down the valley a noble aqueduct by +Telford carries the Ellesmere Canal over the Dee--the Pont +Cysylltau--supported on eighteen piers of masonry at an elevation of one +hundred and twenty-one feet, while a mile below is the still more +imposing viaduct carrying the Great Western Railway across. + +[Illustration: WYNNSTAY.] + +[Illustration: PONT CYSYLLTAU.] + +[Illustration: WREXHAM TOWER.] + +Not far distant is Chirk Castle, now the home of Mr. R. Myddelton +Biddulph, a combination of a feudal fortress and a modern mansion. The +ancient portion, still preserved, was built by Roger Mortimer, to whom +Edward I. granted the lordship of Chirk. It was a bone of contention +during the Civil Wars, and when they were over, $150,000 were spent in +repairing the great quadrangular fortress. It stands in a noble +situation, and on a clear day portions of seventeen counties can be seen +from the summit. Still following down the picturesque river, we come to +Bangor-ys-Coed, or "Bangor-in-the-Wood," in Flintshire, once the seat of +a famous monastery that disappeared twelve hundred years ago. Here a +pretty bridge crosses the river, and a modern church is the most +prominent structure in the village. The old monastery is said to have +been the home of twenty-four hundred monks, one half of whom were slain +in a battle near Chester by the heathen king Ethelfrith, who afterwards +sacked the monastery, but the Welsh soon gathered their forces again and +took terrible vengeance. Many ancient coffins and Roman remains have +been found here. The Dee now runs with swift current past Overton to the +ancient town of Holt, whose charter is nearly five hundred years old, +but whose importance is now much less than of yore. Holt belongs to the +debatable Powisland, the strip of territory over which the English and +Welsh fought for centuries. Holt was formerly known as Lyons, and was a +Roman outpost of Chester. Edward I. granted it to Earl Warren, who +built Holt Castle, of which only a few quaint pictures now exist, though +it was a renowned stronghold in its day. It was a five-sided structure +with a tower on each corner, enclosing an ample courtyard. After +standing several sieges in the Civil Wars of Cromwell's time, the +battered castle was dismantled. + +[Illustration: THE ROODEE, FROM THE RAILWAY-BRIDGE.] + +The famous Wrexham Church, whose tower is regarded as one of the "seven +wonders of Wales," is three miles from Holt, and is four hundred years +old. Few churches built as early as the reign of Henry VIII. can compare +with this. It is dedicated to St. Giles, and statues of him and of +twenty-nine other saints embellish niches in the tower. Alongside of St. +Giles is the hind that nourished him in the desert. The bells of Wrexham +peal melodiously over the valley, and in the vicarage the good Bishop +Heber wrote the favorite hymn, "From Greenland's Icy Mountains." Then +the Dee flows on past the ducal palace of Eaton Hall, and encircles +Chester, which has its race-course, "The Roodee"--where they hold an +annual contest in May for the "Chester Cup"--enclosed by a beautiful +semicircle of the river. Then the Dee flows on through a straight +channel for six miles to its estuary, which broadens among treacherous +sands and flats between Flintshire and Cheshire, till it falls into the +Irish Sea. Many are the tales of woe that are told of the "Sands o' +Dee," along which the railway from Chester to Holyhead skirts the edge +in Flintshire. Many a poor girl, sent for the cattle wandering on these +sands, has been lost in the mist that rises from the sea, and drowned by +the quickly rushing waters. Kingsley has plaintively told the story in +his mournful poem: + + "They rowed her in across the rolling foam-- + The cruel, crawling foam, + The cruel, hungry foam-- + To her grave beside the sea; + But still the boatmen hear her call her cattle home + Across the Sands o' Dee." + +[Illustration: THE "SANDS O' DEE."] + + +FLINT AND DENBIGH. + +Let us now journey westward from the Dee into Wales, coming first into +Flintshire. The town of Flint, it is conjectured, was originally a Roman +camp, from the design and the antiquities found there. Edward I., six +hundred years ago, built Flint Castle upon an isolated rock in a marsh +near the river, and after a checquered history it was dismantled in the +seventeenth century. From the railway between Chester and Holyhead the +ruins of this castle are visible on its low freestone rock; it is a +square, with round towers at three of the corners, and a massive keep at +the other, formed like a double tower and detached from the main castle. +This was the "dolorous castle" into which Richard II. was inveigled at +the beginning of his imprisonment, which ended with abdication, and +finally his death at Pomfret. The story is told that Richard had a fine +greyhound at Flint Castle that often caressed him, but when the Duke of +Lancaster came there the greyhound suddenly left Richard and caressed +the duke, who, not knowing the dog, asked Richard what it meant. +"Cousin," replied the king, "it means a great deal for you and very +little for me. I understand by it that this greyhound pays his court to +you as King of England, which you will surely be, and I shall be +deposed, for the natural instinct of the dog shows it to him; keep him, +therefore, by your side." Lancaster treasured this, and paid attention +to the dog, which would nevermore follow Richard, but kept by the side +of the Duke of Lancaster, "as was witnessed," says the chronicler +Froissart, "by thirty thousand men." + +Rhuddlan Castle, also in Flintshire, is a red sandstone ruin of striking +appearance, standing on the Clwyd River. When it was founded no one +knows accurately, but it was rebuilt seven hundred years ago, and was +dismantled, like many other Welsh castles, in 1646. It was at Rhuddlan +that Edward I. promised the Welsh "a native prince who never spoke a +word of English, and whose life and conversation no man could impugn;" +and this promise he fulfilled to the letter by naming as the first +English Prince of Wales his infant son, then just born at Caernarvon +Castle. Six massive towers flank the walls of this famous castle, and +are in tolerably fair preservation. Not far to the southward is the +eminence known by the Welsh as "Yr-Wyddgrug," or "a lofty hill," and +which the English call Mold. On this hill was a castle of which little +remains now but tracings of the ditches, larches and other trees +peacefully growing on the site of the ancient stronghold. Off toward +Wrexham are the ruins of another castle, known as Caergwrle, or "the +camp of the giant legion." This was of Welsh origin, and commanded the +entrance to the Vale of Alen; the English called it Hope Castle. + +Adjoining Flintshire is Denbigh, with the quiet watering-place of +Abergele out on the Irish Sea. About two miles away is St. Asaph, with +its famous cathedral, having portions dating from the thirteenth +century. The great castle of Denbigh, when in its full glory, had +fortifications one and a half miles in circumference. It stood on a +steep hill at the county-town, where scanty ruins now remain, consisting +chiefly of an immense gateway with remains of flanking towers. Above the +entrance is a statue of the Earl of Lincoln, its founder in the +thirteenth century. His only son was drowned in the castle-well, which +so affected the father that he did not finish the castle. Edward II. +gave Denbigh to Despenser; Leicester owned it in Elizabeth's time; +Charles II. dismantled it. The ruins impress the visitor with the +stupendous strength of the immense walls of this stronghold, while +extensive passages and dungeons have been explored beneath the surface +for long distances. In one chamber near the entrance-tower, which had +been walled up, a large amount of gunpowder was found. At Holywell, now +the second town in North Wales, is the shrine to which pilgrims have +been going for many centuries. At the foot of a steep hill, from an +aperture in the rock, there rushes forth a torrent of water at the rate +of eighty-four hogsheads a minute; whether the season be wet or be dry, +the sacred stream gushing forth from St. Winifrede's Well varies but +little, and around it grows the fragrant moss known as St. Winifrede's +Hair. The spring has valuable medicinal virtues, and an elegant dome +covering it supports a chapel. The little building is an exquisite +Gothic structure built by Henry VII. A second basin is provided, into +which bathers may descend. The pilgrims to this holy well have of late +years decreased in numbers; James II., who, we are told, "lost three +kingdoms for a mass," visited this well in 1686, and "received as a +reward the undergarment worn by his great-grandmother, Mary Queen of +Scots, on the day of her execution." This miraculous spring gets its +name from the pious virgin Winifrede. She having been seen by the Prince +of Wales, Caradoc, he was struck by her great beauty and attempted to +carry her off; she fled to the church, the prince pursuing, and, +overtaking her, he in rage drew his sword and struck off her head; the +severed head bounded through the church-door and rolled to the foot of +the altar. On the spot where it rested a spring of uncommon size burst +forth. The pious priest took up the head, and at his prayer it was +united to the body, and the virgin, restored to life, lived in sanctity +for fifteen years afterwards: miracles were wrought at her tomb; the +spring proved another Pool of Bethesda, and to this day we are told that +the votive crutches and chairs left by the cured remain hanging over St. +Winifrede's Well. + +South of Denbigh, in Montgomeryshire, are the ruins of Montgomery +Castle, long a frontier fortress of Wales, around which many hot +contests have raged: a fragment of a tower and portions of the walls are +all that remain. Powys Castle is at Welsh Pool, and is still +preserved--a red sandstone structure on a rocky elevation in a spacious +and well-wooded park; Sir Robert Smirke has restored it. + + +THE MENAI STRAIT. + +Still journeying westward, we come to Caernarvonshire, and reach the +remarkable estuary dividing the mainland from the island of Anglesea, +and known as the Menai Strait. This narrow stream, with its +steeply-sloping banks and winding shores, looks more like a river than a +strait, and it everywhere discloses evidence of the residence of an +almost pre-historic people in relics of nations that inhabited its banks +before the invasion of the Romans. There are hill-forts, sepulchral +mounds, pillars of stone, rude pottery, weapons of stone and bronze; and +in that early day Mona itself, as Anglesea was called, was a sacred +island. Here were fierce struggles between Roman and Briton, and Tacitus +tells of the invasion of Mona by the Romans and the desperate conflicts +that ensued as early as A.D. 60. The history of the strait is a story of +almost unending war for centuries, and renowned castles bearing the +scars of these conflicts keep watch and ward to this day. Beaumaris, +Bangor, Caernarvon, and Conway castles still remain in partial ruin to +remind us of the Welsh wars of centuries ago. On the Anglesea shore, at +the northern entrance to the strait, is the picturesque ruin of +Beaumaris Castle, built by Edward I. at a point where vessels could +conveniently land. It stands on the lowlands, and a canal connects its +ditch with the sea. It consists of a hexagonal line of outer defences +surrounding an inner square. Round towers flanked the outer walls, and +the chapel within is quite well preserved. It has not had much place in +history, and the neighboring town is now a peaceful watering-place. + +[Illustration: THE MENAI STRAIT.] + +[Illustration: BEAUMARIS CASTLE.] + +[Illustration: BANGOR CATHEDRAL.] + +Across the strait is Bangor, a rather straggling town, with a cathedral +that is not very old. We are told that its bishop once sold its peal of +bells, and, going down to the shore to see them shipped away, was +stricken blind as a punishment for the sacrilege. Of Bangor Castle, as +it originally stood, but insignificant traces remain, but Lord Penrhyn +has recently erected in the neighborhood the imposing castle of Penryhn, +a massive pile of dark limestone, in which the endeavor is made to +combine a Norman feudal castle with a modern dwelling, though with only +indifferent success, excepting in the expenditure involved. The roads +from the great suspension-bridge across the strait lead on either hand +to Bangor and Beaumaris, although the route is rather circuitous. This +bridge, crossing at the narrowest and most beautiful part of the strait, +was long regarded as the greatest triumph of bridge-engineering. It +carried the Holyhead high-road across the strait, and was built by +Telford. The bridge is five hundred and seventy-nine feet long, and +stands one hundred feet above high-water mark; it cost $600,000. Above +the bridge the strait widens, and here, amid the swift-flowing currents, +the famous whitebait are caught for the London epicures. Three-quarters +of a mile below, at another narrow place, the railway crosses the strait +through Stephenson's Britannia tubular bridge, which is more useful than +ornamental, the railway passing through two long rectangular iron tubes, +supported on plain massive pillars. From a rock in the strait the +central tower rises to a height of two hundred and thirty feet, and +other towers are built on each shore at a distance of four hundred and +sixty feet from the central one. Couchant lions carved in stone guard +the bridge-portals at each end, and this famous viaduct cost over +$2,500,000. A short distance below the Anglesea Column towers above a +dark rock on the northern shore of the strait. It was erected in honor +of the first Marquis of Anglesea, the gallant commander of the British +light cavalry at Waterloo, where his leg was carried away by one of the +last French cannon-shots. For many years after the great victory he +lived here, literally with "one foot in the grave." Plas Newydd, one and +a half miles below, the Anglesea family residence, where the marquis +lived, is a large and unattractive mansion, beautifully situated on the +sloping shore. It has in the park two ancient sepulchral monuments of +great interest to the antiquarian. + + +CAERNARVON AND CONWAY. + +[Illustration: CAERNARVON CASTLE.] + +As the famous strait widens below the bridges the shores are tamer, and +we come to the famous Caernarvon Castle, the scene of many stirring +military events, as it held the key to the valleys of Snowdon, and +behind it towers that famous peak, the highest mountain in Britain, +whose summit rises to a height of 3590 feet. This great castle also +commanded the south-western entrance to the strait, and near it the +rapid little Sciont River flows into the sea. The ancient Britons had a +fort here, and afterwards it was a Roman fortified camp, which gradually +developed into the city of Segontium. The British name, from which the +present one comes, was Caer-yn-Arvon--"the castle opposite to Mona." +Segontium had the honor of being the birthplace of the Emperor +Constantine, and many Roman remains still exist there. It was in 1284, +however, that Edward I. began building the present castle, and it took +thirty-nine years to complete. The castle plan is an irregular oval, +with one side overlooking the strait. At the end nearest the sea, where +the works come to a blunt point, is the famous Eagle Tower, which has +eagles sculptured on the battlements. There are twelve towers +altogether, and these, with the light-and dark-hued stone in the walls, +give the castle a massive yet graceful aspect as it stands on the low +ground at the mouth of the Sciont. Externally, the castle is in good +preservation, but the inner buildings are partly destroyed, as is also +the Queen's Gate, where Queen Eleanor is said to have entered before the +first English Prince of Wales was born. A corridor, with loopholes +contrived in the thickness of the walls, runs entirely around the +castle, and from this archers could fight an approaching enemy. This +great fortress has been called the "boast of North Wales" from its size +and excellent position. It was last used for defence during the Civil +Wars, having been a military stronghold for nearly four centuries. +Although Charles II. issued a warrant for its demolition, this was to a +great extent disregarded. Prynne, the sturdy Puritan, was confined here +in Charles I.'s time, and the first English Prince of Wales, afterwards +the unfortunate Edward II., is said to have been born in a little dark +room, only twelve by eight feet, in the Eagle Tower: when seventeen +years of age the prince received the homage of the Welsh barons at +Chester. The town of Caernarvon, notwithstanding its famous history and +the possession of the greatest ruin in Wales, now derives its chief +satisfaction from the lucrative but prosaic occupation of trading in +slates. + +[Illustration: CONWAY CASTLE, FROM THE ROAD TO LLANRWST.] + +At the northern extremity of Caernarvon county, and projecting into the +Irish Sea, is the promontory known as Great Orme's Head, and near it is +the mouth of the Conway River. The railway to Holyhead crosses this +river on a tubular bridge four hundred feet long, and runs almost under +the ruins of Conway Castle, another Welsh stronghold erected by Edward +I. We are told that this despotic king, when he had completed the +conquest of Wales, came to Conway, the shape of the town being something +like a Welsh harp, and he ordered all the native bards to be put to +death. Gray founded upon this his ode, "The Bard," beginning-- + + "On a rock whose lofty brow + Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming flood, + Robed in a sable garb of woe. + With haggard eyes the poet stood." + +This ode has so impressed the Conway folk that they have been at great +pains to discover the exact spot where the despairing bard plunged into +the river, and several enthusiastic persons have discovered the actual +site. The castle stands upon a high rock, and its builder soon after its +completion was besieged there by the Welsh, but before being starved +into submission was relieved by the timely arrival of a fleet with +provisions. It was in the hall of Conway Castle that Richard II. signed +his abdication. The castle was stormed and taken by Cromwell's troops in +the Civil Wars, and we are told that all the Irish found in the garrison +were tied in couples, back to back, and thrown into the river. The +castle was not dismantled, but the townsfolk in their industrious +quarrying of slates have undermined one of the towers, which, though +kept up by the solidity of the surrounding masonry, is known as the +"Broken Tower." There was none of the "bonus building" of modern times +attempted in these ponderous Welsh castles of the great King Edward. The +ruins are an oblong square, standing on the edge of a steep rock washed +on two sides by the river; the embattled walls, partly covered by ivy, +are twelve to fifteen feet thick, and are flanked by eight huge circular +towers, each forty feet in diameter; the interior is in partial ruin, +but shows traces of its former magnificence; the stately hall is one +hundred and thirty feet long. The same architect designed both +Caernarvon and Conway. A fine suspension-bridge now crosses the river +opposite the castle, its towers being built in harmony with the +architecture of the place, so that the structure looks much like a +drawbridge for the fortress. Although the Conway River was anciently a +celebrated pearl-fishery, slate-making, as at Caernarvon, is now the +chief industry of the town. + +[Illustration: FALLS OF THE CONWAY.] + +[Illustration: THE SWALLOW FALLS.] + +There are many other historic places in Caernarvonshire, and also +splendid bits of rural and coast scenery, while the attractions for the +angler as well as the artist are almost limitless. One of the prettiest +places for sketching, as well as a spot where the fisherman's skill is +often rewarded, is Bettws-y-Coed. This pretty village, which derives its +name from a religious establishment--"Bede-house in the Wood"--that was +formerly there, but long ago disappeared, is a favorite resort for +explorations of the ravines leading down from Mount Snowdon, which +towers among the clouds to the southward. Not far away are the +attractive Falls of the Conway, and from a rock above them is a good +view of the wonderful ravine of Fors Noddyn, through which the river +flows. Around it there is a noble assemblage of hills and headlands. +Here, joining with the Conway, comes through another ravine the pretty +Machno in a succession of sparkling cascades and rapids. Not far away is +the wild and lovely valley of the Lledr, another tributary of the +Conway, which comes tumbling down a romantic fissure cut into the +frowning sides of the mountain. At Dolwyddelan a solitary tower is all +that remains of the castle, once commanding from its bold perch on the +rocks the narrow pass in the valley. It is at present a little village +of slate-quarriers. The Llugwy is yet another attractive tributary of +the Conway, which boasts in its course the Rhavadr-y-Wenol, or the +Swallow Fall. This, after a spell of rainy weather, is considered the +finest cataract in Wales for the breadth and volume of the water that +descends, though not for its height. This entire region is full of +charming scenery, and of possibly what some may love even better, good +trout-fishing. Following the Conway Valley still farther up, and +crossing over the border into Denbigh, we come to the little market-town +of Llanrwst. It contains two attractive churches, the older one +containing many curious monuments and some good carvings, the latter +having been brought from Maenant Abbey. But the chief curiosity of this +little Welsh settlement is the bridge crossing the Conway. It was +constructed by Inigo Jones, and is a three-arched stone bridge, which +has the strange peculiarity that by pushing a particular portion of the +parapet it can be made to vibrate from one end to the other. Gwydyr +House, the seat of Lord Willoughby de Eresby, is in the neighborhood, a +small part of the original mansion built in 1555 remaining. Near Trefriw +lived Taliesin, the father of Welsh poetry, and a monument erected by +that nobleman on the river-bank perpetuates his memory. + +[Illustration: LLANRWST BRIDGE.] + +The recollection among the Welsh of the life and exploits of the great +chieftain of former times, Madoc, is held very dear in Caernarvonshire, +and is preserved not only in many legends, but also in the thriving and +pleasant little seaport known as Port Madoc, which has grown up out of +the slate-trade. Its wharf is a wilderness of slates, and much of the +land in the neighborhood has been recovered from the sea. The geology as +well as the scenery here is an interesting study. In fact, the whole +Caernarvon coast, which stretches away to the south-west in the long +peninsula that forms Cardigan Bay, is full of pleasant and attractive +locations for student and tourist, and entwined around all are weird +legends of the heroes and doings of the mystical days of the dim past, +when Briton and Roman contended for the mastery of this historic region. + + +THE COAST OF MERIONETH. + +[Illustration: BARMOUTH.] + +Let us make a brief excursion south of Mount Snowdon, along the coast of +the pastoral county of Merioneth, where Nature has put many crags and +stones and a little gold and wheat, but where the people's best reliance +is their flocks. At the place where the Mawddach joins the sea is +Barmouth, where a fishing-village has of late years bloomed into a +fashionable watering-place. The houses are built on a strip of sand and +the precipitous hillside beyond, and the cottages are perched wherever +they can conveniently hold on to the crags, the devious pathways and +flights of steps leading up to them presenting a quaint aspect. The +bends of the Mawddach, as it goes inland among the hills, present miles +of unique scenery, the great walls of Cader Idris closing the +background. Several hilltops in the neighborhood contain fortifications, +and are marked by the old tombs known as cromlechs and Druids' altars. +On the sea-coast curious reefs project, the chief of them being St. +Patrick's Causeway. The legend tells us that a Welsh chieftain fifteen +hundred years ago constructed these reefs to protect the lowlands from +the incursions of the sea, and on the lands thus reclaimed there stood +no less than twelve fortified Welsh cities. But, unfortunately, one +stormy night the guardian of the embankments got drunk, and, slumbering +at the critical moment, the waves rushed in, sweeping all before them. +In the morning, where had before been fortified cities and a vast +population, there was only a waste of waters. St. Patrick, we are told, +used his causeway to bear him dryshod as far as possible when he walked +the waters to Ireland. + +[Illustration: BARMOUTH ESTUARY.] + +Let us penetrate into the interior by going up the romantic valley of +the Mawddach and viewing the frowning sides of the chief Merioneth +mountain, Cader Idris, which towers on the right hand to the height of +3100 feet. It is a long ridge rather than a peak, and steep precipices +guard the upper portion. Two little lakes near the summit, enclosed by +cliffs, afford magnificent scenery. Here is "Idris's Chair," where the +grim magician, who used to make the mountain his home, sat to perform +his incantations, whilst in a hollow at the summit he had his couch. +According to Welsh tradition, whoever passed the night there would +emerge in the morning either mad or a poet. This mountain, like Snowdon, +is said to have been formerly a volcano, and legends tell of the fiery +outbursts that came from its craters, now occupied by the two little +lakes. But the truth of these legends, though interwoven into Welsh +poetry, is denied by prosaic geologists. A rough and steep track, known +as the "Fox's Path," leads to the summit, and there is a fine view +northward across the valleys to the distant summits of Snowdon and its +attendant peaks, while spread at our feet to the westward is the broad +expanse of Cardigan Bay. Lakes abound in the lowlands, and, pursuing the +road up the Mawddach we pass the "Pool of the Three Pebbles." Once upon +a time three stones got into the shoe of the giant Idris as he was +walking about his domain, and he stopped here and threw them out. Here +they still remain--three ponderous boulders--in the lake. + +[Illustration: CADER IDRIS, ON THE TALY-SLYN ASCENT.] + +[Illustration: RHAYADR-Y-MAWDDACH.] + +We leave the Mawddach and follow its tributary, the little river Wnion, +as it ripples along over its pebbly bed guarded by strips of meadow. +Soon we come to the lovely "Village of the Hazels," Dolgelly, standing +in the narrow valley, and probably the prettiest spot in Wales. Steep +hills rise on either hand, with bare craggy summits and the lower slopes +richly wooded. Deep dells running into the hills vary the scenery, and +thus the town is set in an amphitheatre of hills, up whose flanks the +houses seem to climb. There is a little old church, and in a back court +the ruins of the "Parliament House," where Owen Glendower assembled the +Welsh Parliament in 1404. The Torrent Walk, where the stream from the +mountain is spanned by picturesque bridges, is a favorite resort of the +artist, and also one of the most charming bits of scenery in the +neighborhood of this beautiful town. Pursuing the valley farther up and +crossing the watershed, we come to the largest inland water of Wales, +the beautiful Bala Lake, heretofore referred to in describing the river +Dee, which drains it. It is at an elevation of six hundred feet, +surrounded by mountain-peaks, and the possibility of making it available +as a water-supply for London has been considered. + +[Illustration: DOLGELLY.] + +[Illustration: OWEN GLENDOWER'S PARLIAMENT HOUSE.] + +[Illustration: THE LOWER BRIDGE, TORRENT WALK, DOLGELLY.] + +[Illustration: BALA LAKE.] + +There is an attractive place on the Merioneth coast to the southward of +Barmouth, at the mouth of the Rheidol, and near the estuary of the river +Dovey. A ruined tower on a low eminence guards the harbor, where now is +a fashionable watering-place, and is almost all that remains of the once +powerful Aberystwith Castle, another stronghold of King Edward I. +Portions of the entrance-gate and barbican can be traced, while the +modern houses of the town are spread to the northward along the +semicircular bay. The University College of Wales is located here, and +the town is popularly known as the "Welsh Brighton," while among its +antiquities in the suburbs is the ruined castellated mansion of Plas +Crug, said to have been Glendower's home. On the northern part of the +Merioneth coast is the entrance to the pleasant vale of Pfestiniog, +another attractive spot to tourists. Tan-y-bwlch and Maentwrog are +romantic villages adjoining each other in this pretty valley full of +waterfalls, among these being the renowned Black Cataract and the Raven +Fall. + +[Illustration: ABERYSTWITH.] + +About twelve miles north of Barmouth the picturesque Harlech Castle +stands on a promontory guarding the entrance to the Traeth. The cliff is +precipitous, with just enough level surface on the top to accommodate +the castle. The place is a quadrangle, with massive round towers at the +corners connected by lofty curtain-walls. Circular towers, protected by +a barbican, guard the entrance on the land side. Deep ditches cut in the +rock surround the castle where that defence is necessary. From this +fortress on the Rock of Harlech the view is magnificent. This crag is +said to have supported a castle as early as the third century, when Lady +Bronwen built it, and, being of most sensitive honor, died afterwards of +grief because her husband had struck her. Unhappily, she was in advance +of her age in her demonstration of woman's rights. Another castle +replaced the first one in the sixth century, and some of its ruins were +worked into the present castle, which is another achievement of the +great Welsh fortress-builder, Edward I. It has stood several sieges. +Owen Glendower held it five years against the English. When Edward IV. +became king, Harlech still held out for the Lancastrian party, the +redoubtable Welshman, David ap Ifon, being the governor. Summoned to +surrender, the brave David replied, "I held a town in France till all +the old women in Wales heard of it, and now I will hold a castle in +Wales till all the old women in France hear of it." But David was +starved into surrender, and then Edward IV. tried to break the terms of +capitulation made by Sir Richard Pembroke, the besieger. Sir Richard, +more generous, told the king, "Then, by Heaven, I will let David and his +garrison into Harlech again, and Your Highness may fetch him out by any +who can, and if you demand my life for his, take it." The song of "The +March of the Men of Harlech" is a memorial of this siege. Harlech was +the last Welsh fortress during the Civil Wars that held out for Charles +I., and since then it has been gradually falling to decay. + +[Illustration: HARLECH CASTLE.] + +We have now conducted the tourist to the chief objects in North Wales. +The railway runs on to Holyhead, built on the extreme point of Holy +Island on the western verge of Anglesea, where there is a fine harbor of +refuge, lighthouses, and an excellent port. Here comes the "Wild +Irishman," as the fast train is called that runs between London and +Ireland, and its passengers are quickly transferred to the swift +steamers that cross the Channel to Dublin harbor. Lighthouses dot the +cliffs on the coast, and at this romantic outpost we will close the +survey of North Wales. + + "There ever-dimpling Ocean's cheek + Reflects the tints of many a peak, + Caught by the laughing tides that lave + Those Edens of the Western wave." + + + + +II. + +LIVERPOOL, NORTHWARD TO THE SCOTTISH BORDER. + + Lancashire--Warrington--Manchester--Furness Abbey--The + Ribble--Stonyhurst--Lancaster Castle--Isle of + Man--Castletown--Rushen Castle--Peele Castle--The Lake + Country--Windermere--Lodore Fall--Derwentwater--Keswick--Greta + Hall--Southey, Wordsworth and Coleridge--Skiddaw--The Border + Castles--Kendal Castle--Brougham Hall--The Solway--Carlisle + Castle--Scaleby Castle--Naworth--Lord William Howard. + + +LANCASHIRE. + +[Illustration: OLD MARKET, WARRINGTON.] + +The great manufacturing county of England for cotton and woollen +spinning and weaving is Lancashire. Liverpool is the seaport for the +vast aggregation of manufacturers who own the huge mills of Manchester, +Salford, Warrington, Wigan, Oldham, Rochdale, Bolton, Blackburn, +Preston, and a score of other towns, whose operatives work into yarns +and fabrics the millions of bales of cotton and wool that come into the +Mersey. The warehouse and factory, with the spinners' cottages and the +manufacturers' villas, make up these towns, almost all of modern growth, +and the busy machinery and smoking chimneys leave little chance for +romance in Southern Lancashire. It was in this section that trade first +compelled the use of modern improvements: here were used the earliest +steam-engines; here labored Arkwright to perfect the spinning machinery, +and Stephenson to build railways. To meet the necessities of +communication between Liverpool and Manchester, the first canal was dug +in England, and this was followed afterwards by the first experimental +railway; the canal was constructed by Brindley, and was called the +"Grand Trunk Canal," being twenty-eight miles long from Manchester to +the Mersey River, at Runcorn above Liverpool, and was opened in 1767. +The railway was opened in 1830; the odd little engine, the "Rocket," +then drew an excursion-train over it, and the opening was marred by an +accident which killed Joseph Huskisson, one of the members of Parliament +for Liverpool. Let us follow this railway, which now carries an enormous +traffic out of Liverpool, eastward along the valley of the Mersey past +Warrington, with its quaint old timbered market-house, and then up its +tributary, the Irwell, thirty-one miles to Manchester. + + +MANCHESTER. + +The chief manufacturing city of England has not a striking effect upon +the visitor as he approaches it. It is scattered over a broad surface +upon a gently undulating plain, and its suburbs straggle out into the +country villages, which it is steadily absorbing in its rapid growth; +the Irwell passes in a winding course through the city, receiving a +couple of tributaries; this river divides Manchester from Salford, but a +dozen bridges unite them. No city in England has had such rapid growth +as Manchester in this century; it has increased from about seventy +thousand people at the beginning of the century to over half a million +now; and this is all the effect of the development of manufacturing +industry. Yet Manchester is one of the oldest towns in England, for +there was a Roman camp at Mancunium, as the Caesars called it, in the +first century of the Christian era; and we are also told that in the +days when giants lived in England it was the scene of a terrific combat +between Sir Launcelot of the Lake and the giant Tarquin. A ballad tells +the story, but it is easier read in prose: Sir Launcelot was travelling +near Manchester when he heard that this giant held in durance vile a +number of knights--"threescore and four" in all; a damsel conducts him +to the giant's castle-gate, "near Manchester, fair town," where a copper +basin hung to do duty as a bell; he strikes it so hard as to break it, +when out comes the giant ready for the fray; a terrific combat ensues, +and the giant, finding that he has met his match, offers to release the +captives, provided his adversary is not a certain knight that slew his +brother. Unfortunately, it happens that Sir Launcelot is the very same, +and the combat is renewed with such vigor that the giant is slain, "to +the great contentment of many persons." + +The ancient Mancunium was a little camp and city of about twelve acres, +partly bounded by a tributary of the Irwell known as the Medlock. A +ditch on the land-side was still visible in the last century, and +considerable portions of the old Roman walls also remained within two +hundred years. Many Roman relics have been discovered in the city, and +at Knott Mill, the site of the giant Tarquin's castle, a fragment of the +Roman wall is said to be still visible. The town in the early Tudor days +had a college, and then a cathedral, and it was besieged in the Civil +Wars, though it steadily grew, and in Charles II.'s time it was +described as a busy and opulent place; but it had barely six thousand +people. Cotton-spinning had then begun, the cotton coming from Cyprus +and Smyrna. In 1700 life in Manchester, as described in a local +guide-book, was noted by close application to business; the +manufacturers were in their warehouses by six in the morning, +breakfasted at seven on bowls of porridge and milk, into which masters +and apprentices dipped their spoons indiscriminately, and dined at +twelve; the ladies went out visiting at two in the afternoon, and +attended church at four. Manchester was conservative in the Jacobite +rebellion, and raised a regiment for the Pretender, but the royalist +forces defeated it, captured the officers, and beheaded them. Manchester +politics then were just the opposite of its present Liberal tendencies, +and it was Byrom, a Manchester man, who wrote the quaint epigram +regarding the Pretender and his friends which has been so often quoted: + + "God bless the King--I mean our faith's defender! + God bless (no harm in blessing) the Pretender! + But who Pretender is, or who is King-- + God bless us all!--that's quite another thing." + +[Illustration: MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL. FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.] + +It was the rapid growth of manufacturing industry in Manchester that +changed its politics, and it was here that was first conspicuously +advocated the free-trade agitation in England which triumphed in the +repeal of the Corn Laws, so as to admit food free of duty for the +operatives, and in the Reform bill that changed the representation in +Parliament. That fine building, the "Free-Trade Hall," is a monument of +this agitation in which Manchester took such prominent part. As the +city has grown in wealth, so has its architectural appearance improved; +its school-and college-buildings are very fine, particularly Owens +College, munificently endowed by a leading merchant. The Manchester +Cathedral is an ancient building overlooking the Irwell which has had to +be renewed in so many parts that it has a comparatively modern aspect. +Other English cathedrals are more imposing, but this, "the ould paroch +church" spoken of by the ancient chroniclers, is highly prized by the +townsfolk; the architecture is Perpendicular and of many dates. Until +recently this was the only parish church in Manchester, and consequently +all the marriages for the city had to be celebrated there; the number +was at times very large, especially at Easter, and not a few tales are +told of how, in the confusion, the wrong pairs were joined together, and +when the mistake was discovered respliced with little ceremony. It was +in this Manchester Cathedral that one rector is said to have generally +begun the marriage service by instructing the awaiting crowd to "sort +yourselves in the vestry." + +[Illustration: THE ASSIZE COURTS, MANCHESTER.] + +Some of the public buildings in Manchester are most sumptuous. The +Assize Courts are constructed in rich style, with lofty Pointed roofs +and a tall tower, and make one of the finest modern buildings in +England. The great hall is a grand apartment, and behind the courts is +the prison, near which the Fenians in 1867 made the celebrated rescue of +the prisoners from the van for which some of the assailants were hanged +and others transported. The Royal Exchange is a massive structure in the +Italian style, with a fine portico, dome, and towers; the hall within +is said to be probably the largest room in England, having a width of +ceiling, without supports, of one hundred and twenty feet. Here on +cotton-market days assemble the buyers and sellers from all the towns in +Lancashire, and they do an enormous traffic. The new Town-Hall is also a +fine building, where the departments of the city government are +accommodated, and where they have an apartment dear to every +Englishman's heart--"a kitchen capable of preparing a banquet for eight +hundred persons." The warehouses of Manchester are famous for their size +and solidity, and could Arkwright come back and see what his +cotton-spinning machinery has produced, he would be amazed. It was in +Manchester that the famous Dr. Dalton, the founder of the atomic theory +in chemistry, lived; he was a devout Quaker, like so many of the +townspeople, but unfortunately was color-blind; he appeared on one +occasion in a scarlet waistcoat, and when taken to task declared it +seemed to him a very quiet, unobtrusive color, just like his own coat. +Several fine parks grace the suburbs of Manchester, and King Cotton has +made this thriving community the second city in England, while for miles +along the beautifully shaded roads that lead into the suburbs the +opulent merchants and manufacturers have built their ornamental villas. + +[Illustration: THE ROYAL EXCHANGE, MANCHESTER.] + + +FURNESS AND STONYHURST + +[Illustration: FURNESS ABBEY.] + +The irregularly-shaped district of Lancashire partly cut off from the +remainder of the county by an arm of the Irish Sea is known as Furness. +It is a wild and rugged region, best known from the famous Furness Abbey +and its port of Barrow-in-Furness, one of the most remarkable examples +in England of quick city growth. Forty years ago this was an +insignificant fishing village; now Barrow has magnificent docks and a +fine harbor protected by the natural breakwater of Walney Island, great +iron-foundries and the largest jute-manufactory in the world; while it +has recently also became a favorite port for iron shipbuilding. About +two miles distant, and in a romantic glen called the Valley of Deadly +Nightshade, not far from the sea, is one of the finest examples of +mediaeval church-architecture in England, the ruins of Furness Abbey, +founded in the twelfth century by King Stephen and Maud, his queen. It +was a splendid abbey, standing high in rank and power, its income in the +reign of Edward I. being $90,000 a year, an enormous sum for that early +day. The ruins are in fine preservation, and effigies of Stephen and +Maud are on each side of the great east window. For twelve reigns the +charters of sovereigns and bulls of popes confirmed the abbots of +Furness in their extraordinary powers, which extended over the district +of Furness, while the situation of the abbey made them military +chieftains, and they erected a watch-tower on a high hill, from which +signals alarmed the coast on the approach of an enemy. The church is +three hundred and four feet long, and from the centre rose a tower, +three of the massive supporting pillars of which remain, but the tower +has fallen and lies a mass of rubbish; the stained glass from the great +east window having been removed to Bowness Church, in Westmorelandshire. +The abbey enclosure, covering eighty-five acres, was surrounded by a +wall, the ruins of which are now covered with thick foliage. This +renowned abbey was surrendered and dismantled in Henry VIII.'s reign; +the present hotel near the ruins was formerly the abbot's residence. + +The river Ribble, which flows into the Irish Sea through a wide estuary, +drains the western slopes of the Pennine Hills, which divide Lancashire +from Yorkshire. Up in the north-western portion of Lancashire, near the +bases of these hills, is a moist region known as the parish of Mitton, +where, as the poet tells us, + + "The Hodder, the Calder, Ribble, and rain + All meet together in Mitton domain." + +In Mitton parish, amid the woods along the Hodder and on the north side +of the valley of the Ribble, stands the splendid domed towers of the +baronial edifice of Stonyhurst, now the famous Jesuit College of +England, where the sons of the Catholic nobility and gentry are +educated. The present building is about three hundred years old, and +quaint gardens adjoin it, while quite an extensive park surrounds the +college. Not far away are Clytheroe Castle and the beautiful ruins of +Whalley Abbey. The Stonyhurst gardens are said to remain substantially +as their designer, Sir Nicholas Sherburne, left them. A capacious +water-basin is located in the centre, with the leaden statue of Regulus +in chains standing in the midst of the water. Summer-houses with tall +pointed roofs are at each lower extremity of the garden, while an +observatory is upon a commanding elevation. Tall screens of clipped +yews, cut square ten feet high and five feet thick, divide the beds upon +one side of the gardens, so that as you walk among them you are +enveloped in a green yet pleasant solitude. Arched doorways are cut +through the yews, and in one place, descending by broad and easy steps, +there is a solemn, cool, and twilight walk formed by the overarching +yews, the very place for religious meditation. Then, reascending, this +sombre walk opens into air and sunshine amid delicious flower-gardens. +On the opposite side of the gardens are walls hung with fruit, and +plantations of kitchen vegetables. This charming place was fixed upon by +the Jesuits for their college in 1794, when driven from Liege by the +proscriptions of the French Revolution. The old building and the +additions then erected enclose a large quadrangular court. In the front +of the college, at the southern angle, is a fine little Gothic church, +built fifty years ago. The college refectory is a splendid baronial +hall. In the Mitton village-church near by are the tombs of the +Sherburne family, the most singular monument being that to Sir Richard +and his lady, which the villagers point out as "old Fiddle o' God and +his wife"--Fiddle o' God being his customary exclamation when angry, +which tradition says was not seldom. The figures are kneeling--he in +ruff and jerkin, she in black gown and hood, with tan-leather gloves +extending up her arms. These figures, being highly colored, as was the +fashion in the olden time, have a ludicrous appearance. We are told that +when these monuments came from London they were the talk of the whole +country round. A stonemason bragged that he could cut out as good a +figure in common stone. Taken at his word, he was put to the test, and +carved the effigy of a knight in freestone which so pleased the +Sherburne family that they gave him one hundred dollars for it, and it +is now set in the wall outside the church, near the monuments. + + +LANCASTER CASTLE. + +[Illustration: CASTLE SQUARE, LANCASTER.] + +John of Gaunt, "time-honored Lancaster," was granted the Duchy of +Lancaster by his father, King Edward III., but the place which stands +upon the river Lune is of much greater antiquity. It was a Roman camp, +and hence its name. The Picts destroyed it when the Romans left; the +Saxons afterwards restored it, and ultimately it gave the name to the +county. King John gave the town a charter, and John of Gaunt rebuilt the +fortress, which became indissolubly connected with the fortunes of the +House of Lancaster. Though sometimes besieged, it was maintained more +for purposes of state than of war, and two centuries ago it still +existed in all its ancient splendor, commanding the city and the sea. +Lancaster stands on the slope of an eminence rising from the river Lune, +and the castle-towers crown the summit, the fortress being spacious, +with a large courtyard and variously-shaped towers. The keep is square, +enormously strong, and defended by two semi-octagonal towers. This keep +is known as "John of Gaunt's Chair," and commands a fine view of the +surrounding country and far away across the sea to the distant outlines +of the Isle of Man. This famous castle, partly modernized, is now used +for the county jail and courts, the prison-chapel being in the keep. In +the town several large manufactories attest the presiding genius of +Lancashire, and the inn is the comfortable and old-fashioned King's Arms +described by Dickens. + +[Illustration: BRADDA HEAD.] + + +ISLE OF MAN. + +[Illustration: KIRK BRADDEN.] + +Let us go off from the Lancashire coast to that strange island which +lies in the sea midway between England, Scotland, and Ireland, and whose +bold shores are visible from "John of Gaunt's Chair." It stretches for +thirty-three miles from its northern extremity at the point of Ayre to +the bold detached cliffs of the little islet at the southern end known +as the Calf of Man. Covering two hundred and twenty-seven square miles +area, its coasts are irregular, its shores in several places +precipitous, and a range of mountains traverses the entire island, the +highest peak being Snaefell, rising 2024 feet, with North Barrule at one +extremity and Cronk-ny-Jay Llaa, or "The Hill of the Rising Day," at the +other. Man is a miniature kingdom, with its reproduction, sometimes in +dwarf, of everything that other kingdoms have. It has four little +rivers, the Neb, Colby, Black and Gray Waters, with little gems of +cascades; has its own dialect, the Manx, and a parliament in miniature, +known as the Council, or Upper House, and the House of Keys. It is a +healthful resort, for all the winds that blow come from the sea, and its +sea-views are striking, the rugged masses of Bradda Head, the +mellow-coloring of the Calf, and the broad expanse of waters, dotted by +scores of fishing-boats, making many scenes of artistic merit. While the +want of trees makes the land-views harsh and cold, yet the glens and +coves opening into the sea are the charms of Manx scenery, the high +fuchsia-hedges surrounding many of the cottages giving bright coloring +to the landscape when the flowers are in bloom. It is a beautiful place +when once the tourist is able to land there, but the wharf arrangements +are not so good as they might be. Once landed, the visitor usually first +proceeds to solve the great zoological problem the island has long +presented to the outer world, and finds that the Isle of Man does really +possess a breed of tailless cats, whose caudal extremity is either +altogether wanting or at most is reduced to a merely rudimental +substitute. + +[Illustration: RHENASS WATERFALL.] + + +CASTLE RUSHEN. + +[Illustration: CASTLE RUSHEN.] + +Landing at the capital, Castletown, it is found that it gets its name +from the ancient castle of Rushen, around which the town is built. +Guttred the Dane is said to have built this castle nine hundred years +ago, and to be buried beneath it, although Cardinal Wolsey constructed +the surrounding stone glacis. The keep--into which the prisoners had to +be lowered by ropes--and several parts of the interior buildings remain +almost entire, but repeated sieges so wrecked the other portions that +they have had to be restored. At the castle-entrance were stone chairs +for the governor and judges. It was here that the eminent men who have +ruled the Isle of Man presided, among them being Regulus, who was King +of Man, and the famous Percy, who was attainted of high treason in 1403. +Afterwards it was ruled by the Earls of Derby, who relinquished the +title of king and took that of Lord of Man, holding their sovereignty +until they sold it and the castles and patronage of the island to the +Crown in 1764 for $350,000. With such a history it is natural that +Castle Rushen should have a weird interest attached to it, and the +ancient chroniclers tell of a mysterious apartment within "which has +never been opened in the memory of man." Tradition says that this famous +castle was first inhabited by fairies, and afterwards by the giants, +until Merlin, by his magic power, dislodged most of the giants and bound +the others in spells. In proof of this it is said there are fine +apartments underneath the ground, to explore which several venturesome +persons have gone down, only one of whom ever returned. To save the +lives of the reckless would be explorers, therefore, this mysterious +apartment, which gives entrance underground, is kept shut. The one who +returned is described as an "explorer of uncommon courage," who managed +to get back by the help of a clue of packthread which he took with him, +and was thus able to retrace his steps. He had a wondrous tale to tell. +After passing a number of vaults, and through a long, narrow passage +which descended for more than a mile, he saw a little gleam of light, +and gladly sought it out. The light came from a magnificent house, +brilliantly illuminated. Having "well fortified himself with brandy +before beginning the exploration," he courageously knocked at the door, +and at the third knock a servant appeared, demanding what was wanted. He +asked for directions how to proceed farther, as the house seemed to +block the passage. The servant, after some parley, led him through the +house and out at the back door. He walked a long distance, and then +beheld another house, more magnificent than the first, where, the +windows being open, he saw innumerable lamps burning in all the rooms. +He was about to knock, but first had the curiosity to peep through a +window into the parlor. There was a large black marble table in the +middle of the room, and on it lay at full length a giant who, the +explorer says, was "at least fourteen feet long and ten feet round the +body." The giant lay with his head pillowed on a book, as if asleep, and +there was a prodigious sword alongside him, proportioned to the hand +that was to use it. This sight was so terrifying that the explorer made +the best of his way back to the first house, where the servant told him +that if he had knocked at the giant's door he would have had company +enough, but would have never returned. He desired to know what place it +was, but was told, "These things are not to be revealed." Then he made +his way back to daylight by the aid of the clue of packthread as quickly +as possible, and we are told that no one has ventured down there since. +This is but one of the many tales of mystery surrounding the venerable +Rushen Castle. + + +PEELE CASTLE. + +[Illustration: PEELE CASTLE.] + +The Isle of Man derives its name from the ancient British word _mon_, +which means "isolated." Around this singular place there are many rocky +islets, also isolated, and upon one of the most picturesque of these, +where art and Nature have vied in adding strength to beauty, is built +the castle of Peele, off the western coast, overlooking the distant +shores of Ireland. This castle is perched upon a huge rock, rising for a +great height out of the sea, and completely inaccessible, except by the +approach which has been constructed on the side towards the Isle of Man, +where the little town of Peele is located. After crossing the arm of the +sea separating the castle from the town, the visitor, landing at the +foot of the rock, ascends about sixty steps, cut out of it, to the first +wall, which is massive and high, and built of the old red sandstone in +which the island abounds; the gates in this wall are of wood, curiously +arched and carved, and four little watch-towers on the wall overlook the +sea. Having entered, he mounts by another shorter stairway cut out of +the rock to the second wall, built like the other, and both of them full +of portholes for cannon. Passing through yet a third wall, there is +found a broad plain upon the top of the rock, where stands the castle, +surrounded by four churches, three almost entirely ruined; the other +church (St. Germain's) is kept in some repair because it has within the +bishop's chapel, while beneath is a horrible dungeon where the sea runs +in and out through hollows of the rock with a continual roar; a steep +and narrow stairway descends to the dungeon and burial-vaults, and +within are thirteen pillars supporting the chapel above. Beware, if +going down, of failing to count the pillars, for we are told that he who +neglects this is sure to do something that will occasion his confinement +in this dreadful dungeon. This famous castle of Peele even in its +partly-ruined state has several noble apartments, and here were located +some of the most interesting scenes of Scott's novel of _Peveril of the +Peak_. It was in former days a state-prison, and in it were at one time +confined Warwick the King-maker, and also Gloucester's haughty wife, +Eleanor; her discontented spectre was said to haunt the battlements in +former years, and stand motionless beside one of the watch-towers, only +disappearing when the cock crew or church-bell tolled: another +apparition, a shaggy spaniel known as the Manthe Doog, also haunted the +castle, particularly the guard-chamber, where the dog came and lay down +at candlelight; the soldiers lost much of their terror by the frequency +of the sight, but none of them liked to be left alone with him, though +he did not molest them. The dog came out by a passage through the church +where the soldiers had to go to deliver the keys to their captain, and +for moral support they never went that way alone. One of the soldiers, +we are told, on a certain night, "being much disguised in liquor" (for +spirits of various kinds appear in the Isle of Man, as most other +places), insisted upon going with the keys alone, and could not be +dissuaded; he said he was determined to discover whether the apparition +was dog or devil, and, snatching the keys, departed: soon there was a +great noise, but none ventured to ascertain the cause. When the soldier +returned he was speechless and horror-stricken, nor would he ever by +word or sign tell what had happened to him, but soon died in agony; then +the passage was walled up, and the Manthe Doog was never more seen at +Castle Peele. + + +THE LAKE COUNTRY. + +[Illustration: A GLIMPSE OF DERWENTWATER, FROM SCAFELL.] + +North of Lancashire, in the counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland, is +the famous "Lake Country" of England. It does not cover a large area--in +fact, a good pedestrian can walk from one extremity of the region to the +other in a day--but its compact beauties have a charm of rugged outline +and luxuriant detail that in a condensed form reproduce the Alpine lakes +of Northern Italy. Derwentwater is conceded to be the finest of these +English lakes, but there is also great beauty in Windermere and +Ulleswater, Buttermere and Wastwater. The Derwent runs like a thread +through the glassy bead of Derwentwater, a magnificent oval lake set +among the hills, about three miles long and half that breadth, alongside +which rises the frowning Mount Skiddaw with its pair of rounded heads. +In entering the Lake Region from the Lancashire side we first come to +the pretty Windermere Lake, the largest of these inland sheets of water, +about ten miles long and one mile broad in the widest part. From Orrest +Head, near the village of Windermere, there is a magnificent view of the +lake from end to end, though tourists prefer usually to go to the +village of Bowness on the bank, where steamers start at frequent +intervals and make the circuit of the pretty lake. From Bowness the +route is by Rydal Mount, where the poet Wordsworth lived, to Koswick, +about twenty-three miles distant, on Derwentwater. + +[Illustration: FALLS OF LODORE.] + +The attractive Derwent flows down through the Borrowdale Valley past +Seathwaite, where for many a year there has been worked a famous mine of +plumbago: we use it for lead-pencils, but our English ancestors, while +making it valuable for marking their sheep, prized it still more highly +as a remedy for colic and other human ills. There are several +pencil-mills in the village, which, in addition to other claims for +fame, is noted as one of the rainiest spots in England, the annual +rainfall at Seathwaite sometimes reaching one hundred and eighty-two +inches. The Derwent flows on through a gorge past the isolated pyramidal +rock known as Castle Crag, and the famous Bowder Stone, which has fallen +into the gorge from the crags above, to the hamlet of Grange, where a +picturesque bridge spans the little river. We are told that the +inhabitants once built a wall across the narrowest part of this valley: +having long noticed the coincident appearance of spring and the cuckoo, +they rashly concluded that the latter was the cause of the former, and +that if they could only retain the bird their pleasant valley would +enjoy perpetual spring; they built the wall as spring lengthened into +summer, and with the autumn came the crisis. The wall had risen to a +considerable height when the cuckoo with the approach of colder weather +was sounding its somewhat asthmatic notes as it moved from tree to tree +down the valley; it neared the wall, and as the population held their +breath it suddenly flew over, and carried the spring away with it down +the Derwent. Judge of the popular disgust when the sages of that region +complainingly remarked that, having crossed but a few inches above the +topmost stones of the wall, if the builders had only carried it a course +or two higher the cuckoo might have been kept at home, and their valley +thus have enjoyed a perennial spring. + +The Derwent flows on along its gorge, which has been slowly ground out +by a glacier in past ages, and enters the lake through the marshy, flat, +reedy delta that rather detracts from the appearance of its upper end. +Not far away a small waterfall comes tumbling over the crags among the +foliage; this miniature Niagara has a fame almost as great as the mighty +cataract of the New World, for it is the "Fall of Lodore," about which, +in answer to his little boy's question, "How does the water come down at +Lodore?" Southey wrote his well-known poem that is such a triumph of +versification, and from which this is a quotation: + + "Flying and flinging, writhing and wringing, + Eddying and whisking, spouting and frisking, + Turning and twisting + Around and around, with endless rebound, + Smiting and fighting, a sight to delight in, + Confounding, astounding. + Dizzying and deafening the ear with its sound; + All at once, and all o'er, with mighty uproar-- + And this way the water conies down at Lodore." + +Thus we reach the border of Derwentwater, nestling beneath the fells and +crags, as its miniature surrounding mountains are called. Little wooded +islets dimple the surface of the lake, in the centre being the largest, +St. Herbert's Island, where once that saint lived in a solitary cell: he +was the bosom friend of St. Cuthbert, the missionary of Northumberland, +and made an annual pilgrimage over the Pennine Hills to visit him; +loving each other in life, in death they were not divided, for +Wordsworth tells us that + + "These holy men both died in the same hour." + +Another islet is known as Lord's Island, where now the rooks are in full +possession, but where once was the home of the ill-fated Earl of +Derwentwater, who was beheaded in 1716 for espousing the Pretender's +cause. It is related that before his execution on Tower Hill he closely +viewed the block, and finding a rough place which might offend his neck, +he bade the headsman chip it off; this done, he cheerfully placed his +head upon it, gave the sign, and died: his estates were forfeited and +settled by the king on Greenwich Hospital. Castle Hill rises boldly on +the shore above Derwent Isle, where there is a pretty residence, and +every few years there is added to the other islets on the bosom of the +lake the "Floating Island," a mass of vegetable matter that becomes +detached from the marsh at the upper end. At Friar's Crag, beneath +Castle Hill, the lake begins to narrow, and at Portinscale the Derwent +flows out, receives the waters of the Greta coming from Keswick, and, +after flowing a short distance through the meadow-land, expands again +into Bassenthwaite Lake, a region of somewhat tamer yet still beautiful +scenery. + +The town of Keswick stands some distance back from the border of +Derwentwater, and is noted as having been the residence of Southey. In +Greta Hall, an unpretentious house in the town, Southey lived for forty +years, dying there in 1843. He was laid to rest in the parish church of +Crosthwaite, just outside the town. At the pretty little church there is +a marble altar-tomb, the inscription on which to Southey's memory was +written by Wordsworth. Greta Hall was also for three years the home of +Coleridge, the two families dwelling under the same roof. Behind the +modest house rises Skiddaw, the bare crags of the rounded summits being +elevated over three thousand feet, and beyond it the hills and moors of +the Skiddaw Forest stretch northward to the Solway, with the Scruffel +Hill beyond. Upon a slope of the mountain, not far from Keswick, is a +Druids' circle, whose builders scores of centuries ago watched the mists +on Skiddaw's summit, as the people there do now, to foretell a change of +weather as the clouds might rise or fall, for they tell us that + + "If Skiddaw hath a cap, + Scruffel wots full well of that." + + +THE BORDER CASTLES. + +At Kendal, in Westmorelandshire, are the ruins of Kendal Castle, a relic +of the Norman days, but long since gone to decay. Here lived the +ancestors of King Henry VIII.'s last wife, Queen Catharine Parr. +Opposite it are the ruins of Castle How, and not far away the quaint +appendage known as Castle Dairy, replete with heraldic carvings. It was +in the town of Kendal that was made the foresters' woollen cloth known +as "Kendal green," which was the uniform of Robin Hood's band. + +In the northern part of the county, on the military road to Carlisle, +are the ruins of Brougham Castle, built six hundred years ago. It was +here that the Earl of Cumberland magnificently entertained King James I. +for three days on one of his journeys out of Scotland. It is famous as +the home of the late Henry, Lord Brougham, whose ancestors held it for +many generations. The manor-house, known as Brougham Hall, has such +richness, variety, and extent of prospect from its terraces that it is +called the "Windsor of the North." Lord Brougham was much attached to +his magnificent home, and it was here in 1860 that he finished his +comprehensive work on the _British Constitution_, and wrote its famous +dedication to the queen, beginning with the memorable words, "Madame, I +presume to lay at Your Majesty's feet a work the 'result of many years' +diligent study, much calm reflection, and a long life's experience." In +close proximity to the castle is the Roman station Brocavum, founded by +Agricola in A.D. 79. Its outline is clearly defined, the camp within the +inner ditch measuring almost one thousand feet square. Various Roman +roads lead from it, and much of the materials of the outworks were built +into the original Brougham Castle. + +[Illustration: ROAD THROUGH CATHEDRAL CLOSE, CARLISLE.] + +The Solway and its firth divide England from Scotland, and this +borderland has been the scene of many deadly feuds, though happily only +in the days long agone. The castle of Carlisle was a noted border +stronghold, built of red sandstone by King William Rufus, who rebuilt +Carlisle, which had then lain in ruins two hundred years because of the +forays of the Danes. Richard III. enlarged the castle, and Henry VIII. +built the citadel. Here Mary Queen of Scots was once lodged, but in +Elizabeth's time the castle fell into decay. In the town is a fine +cathedral, which has been thoroughly restored. In a flat situation north +of Carlisle are the ruins of Scaleby Castle, once a fortress of great +strength, but almost battered to pieces when it resisted Cromwell's +forces. There are several acres enclosed within the moat, intended for +the cattle when driven in to escape the forays that came over the +border. This venerable castle is now a picturesque ruin. Twelve miles +north-east of Carlisle is Naworth Castle, near where the Roman Wall +crossed England. This is one of the finest feudal remains in Cumberland, +having been the stronghold of the Wardens of the Marches, who guarded +the border from Scottish incursions. It stands amid fine scenery, and +just to the southward is the Roman Wall, of which many remains are still +traced, while upon the high moorland in the neighborhood is the paved +Roman Road, twelve feet wide and laid with stone. At Naworth there was +always a strong garrison, for the border was rarely at peace, and + + "Stern on the angry confines Naworth rose, + In dark woods islanded; its towers looked forth + And frowned defiance on the angry North." + +Here lived, with a host of retainers, the famous "belted Will"--Lord +William Howard, son of the fourth Duke of Norfolk--who in the early part +of the seventeenth century finally brought peace to the border by his +judicious exercise for many years of the Warden's powers. It is of this +famous soldier and chivalrous knight, whose praises are even yet sung in +the borderland, that Scott has written-- + + "Howard, than whom knight + Was never dubbed more bold in fight, + Nor, when from war and armor free. + More famed for stately courtesy." + +[Illustration: VIEW ON TORRENT WALK, DOLGELLY.] + + + + +III. + +LIVERPOOL, THROUGH THE MIDLAND COUNTIES, TO LONDON. + + The Peak of Derbyshire--Castleton--Bess of Hardwicke--Hardwicke + Hall--Bolsover Castle--The Wye and the + Derwent--Buxton--Bakewell--Haddon Hall--The King of the + Peak--Dorothy Vernon--Rowsley--The Peacock Inn--Chatsworth--The + Victoria Regia--Matlock--Dovedale--Beauchief Abbey--Stafford + Castle--Trentham Hall--Tamworth--Tutbury Castle--Chartley + Castle--Alton Towers--Shrewsbury Castle--Bridgenorth--Wenlock + Abbey--Ludlow Castle--The Feathers Inn--Lichfield Cathedral--Dr. + Samuel Johnson--Coventry--Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom--Belvoir + Castle--Charnwood Forest--Groby and Bradgate--Elizabeth Widvile and + Lady Jane Grey--Ulverscroft Priory--Grace Dieu Abbey--Ashby de la + Zouche--Langley Priory--Leicester Abbey and Castle--Bosworth + Field--Edgehill--Naseby--The Land of + Shakespeare--Stratford-on-Avon--Warwick--Kenilworth--Birmingham + --Boulton and Watt--Fotheringhay Castle--Holmby House--Bedford + Castle--John Bunyan--Woburn Abbey and the Russells--Stowe--Whaddon + Hall--Great Hampden--Creslow House. + + +THE PEAK OF DERBYSHIRE. + +The river Mersey takes its sources--for it is formed by the union of +several smaller streams--in the ranges of high limestone hills east of +Liverpool, in North Derbyshire. These hills are an extension of the +Pennine range that makes the backbone of England, and in Derbyshire they +rise to a height of nearly two thousand feet, giving most picturesque +scenery. The broad top of the range at its highest part is called the +Kinderscout, or, more familiarly, "The Peak." The mountain-top is a vast +moor, abounding in deep holes and water-pools, uninhabited excepting by +the stray sportsman or tourist, and dangerous and difficult to cross. +Yet, once mounted to the top, there are good views of the wild scenery +of the Derbyshire hills, with the villages nestling in the glens, and of +the "Kinder Fall," where much of the water from the summit pours down a +cataract of some five hundred feet height, while not far away is the +"Mermaid's Pool," where, if you go at the midnight hour that ushers in +Easter Sunday, and look steadily into the water, you will see a mermaid. +The man who ventures upon that treacherous bogland by night certainly +deserves to see the best mermaid the Peak can produce. This limestone +region is a famous place. In the sheltered valley to the westward of the +Kinderscout is the village of Castleton, almost covered in by high hills +on all sides. It was here upon a bold cliff to the southward of the +village that "Peveril of the Peak" built his renowned castle at the time +of the Norman Conquest, of which only the ruins of the keep and part of +the outer walls remain. Almost inaccessible, it possessed the +extraordinary powers of defence that were necessary in those troublous +times, and here its founder gave a grand tournament, to which young +knights came from far and near, the successful knight of Lorraine being +rewarded by his daughter's hand. In the time of Edward III. this "Castle +of the Peak" reverted to the Crown, but now it is held by the Duke of +Devonshire. Under the hill on which the ruins stand is the "Cavern of +the Peak," with a fine entrance in a gloomy recess formed by a chasm in +the rocks. This entrance makes a Gothic arch over one thousand feet +wide, above which the rock towers nearly three hundred feet, and it is +chequered with colored stones. Within is a vast flat-roofed cavern, at +the farther side being a lake over which the visitors are ferried in a +boat. Other caverns are within, the entire cave extending nearly a half +mile, a little river traversing its full length. There are more and +similar caverns in the neighborhood. + +[Illustration: PEVERIL CASTLE, CASTLETON.] + + +BESS OF HARDWICKE. + +[Illustration: HARDWICKE HALL.] + +One of the great characters of the sixteenth century was Elizabeth, +Countess of Shrewsbury, familiarly known as "Bess of Hardwicke," where +she was born, and who managed to outlive four husbands, thus showing +what success is in store for a woman of tact and business talent. She +was a penniless bride at fourteen, when she married an opulent gentleman +of Derbyshire named Barley, who left her at fifteen a wealthy widow. At +the age of thirty she married another rich husband, Sir William +Cavendish, the ancestor of the Dukes of Devonshire, who died in 1557, +leaving her again a widow, but with large estates, for she had taken +good care to look after the proper marriage settlements; and in fact, +even in those early days, a pretty good fortune was necessary to provide +for the family of eight children Sir William left her. She next married +Sir William Loe, who also had large estates and was the captain of the +king's guard, the lady's business tact procuring in advance of the +wedding the settlement of these estates upon herself and her children--a +hard condition, with which, the historian tells us, "the gallant +captain, who had a family by a former marriage, felt himself constrained +to comply or forego his bride." But in time the captain died, and his +estates all went to the thrifty lady, to the exclusion of his own +family; and to the blooming widow, thus made for the third time, there +came a-courting the Earl of Shrewsbury; the earl had numerous offspring, +and therefore could hardly give Bess all his possessions, like her other +husbands, but she was clever enough to obtain her object in another way. +As a condition precedent to accepting the earl, she made him marry two +of his children to two of hers, and after seeing these two weddings +solemnized, the earl led her to the altar for the fourth time at the +age of fifty; and we are told that all four of these weddings were +actual "love-matches." But she did not get on well with the earl, whose +correspondence shows she was a little shrewish, though in most quarrels +she managed to come off ahead, having by that time acquired experience. +When the earl died in 1590, and Bess concluded not again to attempt +matrimony, she was immensely rich and was seized with a mania for +building, which has left to the present day three memorable houses: +Hardwicke Hall, where she lived, Bolsover Castle, and the palace of +Chatsworth, which she began, and on which she lavished the enormous sum, +for that day, of $400,000. The legend runs that she was told that so +long as she kept building her life would be spared--an architect's ruse +possibly; and when finally she died it was during a period of hard +frost, when the masons could not work. + +[Illustration: ELIZABETHAN STAIRCASE, HARDWICKE HALL.] + +Hardwicke Hall, near Mansfield, which the renowned Bess has left as one +of her monuments, is about three hundred years old, and approached by a +noble avenue through a spacious park; it is still among the possessions +of the Cavendish family and in the Duke of Devonshire's estates. The old +hall where Bess was born almost touches the new one that she built, and +which bears the initials of the proud and determined woman in many +places outside and in. It was here that Mary Queen of Scots was held in +captivity part of the time that she was placed by Queen Elizabeth in the +custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury, and her statue stands in the hall. +There is an extensive picture-gallery containing many historical +portraits, and also fine state-apartments. The mansion is a lofty oblong +stone structure, with tall square towers at each corner, the +architecture being one of the best specimens of the Elizabethan Period; +on the side, as viewed from the park, the hall seems all windows, which +accounts for the saying of that neighborhood: + + "Hardwicke Hall, more glass than wall." + +The ruins of the old hall, almost overgrown with ivy, are picturesque, +but from everywhere on the ancient or on the modern hall there peer out +the initials "E. S.," with which the prudent Bess was so careful to mark +all her possessions. + + +BOLSOVER CASTLE. + +[Illustration: BOLSOVER CASTLE.] + +The noted Bolsover Castle, which Bess also built, though her son +finished it after her death, stands in a magnificent position on a high +plateau not far from Chesterfield, overlooking a wide expanse of +Derbyshire. The present castle replaced an ancient structure that had +fallen into ruin, and was supposed to have been built by "Peveril of the +Peak;" it was fortified during King John's time, and traces of the +fortifications still remain; it was repeatedly besieged and taken by +assault. The present building is a square and lofty mansion of +castellated appearance, with towers at the corners built of brown stone; +in it the Earl of Newcastle, who subsequently inherited it, spent on one +occasion $75,000 in entertaining King Charles I., the entire country +round being invited to come and attend the king: Ben Jonson performed a +play for his amusement. Lord Clarendon speaks of the occasion as "such +an excess of feasting as had scarce ever been known in England before." +It now belongs to the Duke of Portland, and has fallen into partial +decay, with trees growing in some of the deserted apartments and ivy +creeping along the walls. Visitors describe it as a ghostly house, with +long vaulted passages, subterranean chambers, dungeon-like holes in the +towers, and mysterious spaces beneath the vaults whence come weird +noises. When Mr. Jennings visited Bolsover recently he described it as +like a haunted house, and after examining the apartments, in which most +things seemed going to decay, he went down stairs, guided by an old +woman, to the cellars and passages that are said to be the remains of +the original Norman castle. A chamber with a high vaulted roof was used +as a kitchen, and an ancient stone passage connected it with a crypt; +beneath this, she told him, there was a church, never opened since the +days of Peveril. Their voices had a hollow sound, and their footsteps +awakened echoes as if from a large empty space beneath: the servants, +she said, were afraid to come down where they were, excepting by twos +and threes, and she added: "Many people have seen things here besides +me: something bad has been done here, sir, and when they open that +church below they'll find it out. Just where you stand by that door I +have several times seen a lady and gentleman--only for a moment or two, +for they come like a flash; when I have been sitting in the kitchen, not +thinking of any such thing, they stood there--the gentleman with ruffles +on, the lady with a scarf round her waist; I never believed in ghosts, +but I have seen _them_. I am used to it now, and don't mind it, but we +do not like the noises, because they disturb us. Not long ago my +husband, who comes here at night, and I could not sleep at all, and we +thought at last that somebody had got shut up in the castle, for some +children had been here that day; so we lit a candle and went all over +it, but there was nothing, only the noises following us, and keeping on +worse than ever after we left the rooms, though they stopped while we +were in them." The old woman's tale shows the atmosphere there is about +this sombre and ghostly castle of Bolsover. + + +THE WYE AND THE DERWENT. + +[Illustration: THE CRESCENT, BUXTON.] + +These two noted rivers take their rise in the Derbyshire hills, and, +coming together at Rowsley near the pretty Peacock Inn, flow down to the +sea through the valleys of the Wye, the Trent, and the Humber. Rising in +the limestone hills to the north of Buxton, the Wye flows past that +celebrated bath, where the Romans first set the example of seeking its +healing waters, both hot and cold springs gushing from the rocks in +close proximity. It stands nine hundred feet above the sea, its nucleus, +"The Crescent," having been built by the Duke of Devonshire; and the +miraculous cures wrought by St. Mary's Well are noted by Charles Cotton +among the _Wonders of the Peak_. From Buxton the Wye follows a romantic +glen to Bakewell, the winding valley being availed of, by frequent +tunnels, viaducts, and embankments, as a route for the Midland Railway. +In this romantic glen is the remarkable limestone crag known as Chee +Tor, where the curving valley contracts into a narrow gorge. The gray +limestone cliffs are in many places overgrown with ivy, while trees find +rooting-places in their fissures. Tributary brooks fall into the Wye, +all flowing through miniature dales that disclose successive beauties, +and then at a point where the limestone hills recede from the river, +expanding the valley, Bakewell is reached. Here are also mineral +springs, but the most important place in the town is the parish church, +parts of which are seven hundred years old. It is a picturesque +building, cruciform, with a spire, and is rich in sepulchral remains, +containing the ancestors of the Duke of Rutland--who owns the town--in +the tombs of a long line of Vernons and Manners. In the churchyard are +several curious epitaphs, among them that of John Dale and his two +wives, the inscription concluding, + + "A period's come to all their toylsome lives; + The good man's quiet--still are both his wives." + +In this churchyard is also the well-known epitaph often quoted: + + "Beneath a sleeping infant lies, to earth whose body lent, + More glorious shall hereafter rise, tho' not more innocent. + When the archangels trump shall blow, and souls to bodies join, + Millions will wish their lives below had been as short as thine." + +[Illustration: BAKEWELL CHURCH.] + + +HADDON HALL. + +Three miles below Bakewell, near the Wye, is one of the most famous old +mansions of England--Haddon Hall. This ancient baronial home, with its +series of houses, its courtyards, towers, embattled walls, and gardens, +stands on the side of a hill sloping down to the Wye, while the railway +has pierced a tunnel through the hill almost underneath the structure. +The buildings surround two courtyards paved with large stones, and cover +a space of nearly three hundred feet square. Outside the arched +entrance-gate to the first courtyard is a low thatched cottage used as a +porter's lodge. Haddon is maintained, not as a residence, but to give as +perfect an idea as possible of a baronial hall of the Middle Ages. To +get to the entrance the visitor toils up a rather steep hill, and on the +way passes two remarkable yew trees, cut to represent the crests of the +two families whose union by a romantic marriage is one of the traditions +of this famous place. One yew represents the peacock of Manners, the +present ducal house of Rutland, and the other the boar's head of Vernon. +Parts of this house, like so many structures in the neighborhood, were +built in the time of "Peveril of the Peak," and its great hall was the +"Martindale Hall" of Scott's novel, thus coming down to us through eight +centuries, and nearly all the buildings are at least four hundred years +old. + +[Illustration: HADDON HALL, FROM THE WYE.] + +Entering the gateway, the porter's guard-room is seen on the right hand, +with the ancient "peephole" through which he scanned visitors before +admitting them. Mounting the steps to the first courtyard, which is on a +lower level than the other, the chapel and the hall are seen on either +hand, while in front are the steps leading to the state-apartments. The +buildings are not lofty, but there are second-floor rooms in almost all +parts, which were occupied by the household. There is an extensive +ball-room, while the Eagle Tower rises at one corner of the court. Many +relics of the olden time are preserved in these apartments. The ancient +chapel is entered by an arched doorway from the court, and consists of a +nave, chancel, and side aisle, with an antique Norman font and a large +high-back pew used by the family. After passing the court, the +banquet-hall is entered, thirty-five by twenty-five feet, and rising to +the full height of the building. In one of the doorways is a bracket to +which an iron ring is attached, which was used, as we are told, "to +enforce the laws of conviviality." When a guest failed to drink his +allowance of wine he was suspended by the wrist to this ring, and the +liquor he failed to pour down his throat was poured into his sleeve. A +tall screen at the end of the room formed the front of a gallery, where +on great occasions minstrels discoursed sweet music, while at the +opposite end the lord and his honored guests sat on a raised dais. Here +still stands the old table, while behind the dais a flight of stairs +leads up to the state-apartments. Stags' heads and antlers of great age +are on the walls. Another door opens out of the banquet-hall into the +dining-room, the end of which is entirely taken up with a fine Gothic +window displaying the Vernon arms and quarterings. This room is +elaborately wainscoted. The royal arms are inscribed over the fireplace, +and below them is the Vernon motto carved in Gothic letters: + + "Drede God and Honour the Kyng." + +An exquisite oriel window looks out from this room over the woods and +grounds of Haddon, the recess bearing on one of its panels the head of +Will Somers, who was Henry VIII.'s jester. The drawing-room, which is +over the dining-room, is hung with old tapestry, above which is a frieze +of ornamental mouldings. A pretty recessed window also gives from this +room a delightful view over the grounds. + +[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE BANQUET-HALL, HADDON HALL.] + +The gem of Haddon is the long gallery or ball-room, which extends over +one hundred feet along one side of the inner court: the semicircular +wooden steps leading to this apartment are said to have been cut from a +single tree that grew in the park. The gallery is wainscoted in oak in +semicircular arched panels, alternately large and small, surmounted by a +frieze and a turreted and battlemented cornice. The ceiling is +elaborately carved in geometric patterns, and the tracery contains the +alternating arms and crests of Vernon and Manners: the remains are still +visible of the rich gilding and painting of this ceiling. In the +anteroom paintings are hung, and from it a strongly-barred door opens +upon a flight of stone steps leading down to the terrace and garden: +this is "Dorothy Vernon's Door;" and across the garden another flight of +steps leading to the terrace is known as "Dorothy Vernon's Steps." It +was the gentle maiden's flight through this door and up these steps to +elope with John Manners that carried the old house and all its broad +lands into the possession of the family now owning it. The state bedroom +is hung with Gobelin tapestry, illustrating AEsop's fables: the state +bed is fourteen feet high, and furnished in green silk velvet and white +satin, embroidered by needlework, and its last occupant was George IV. +The kitchen and range of domestic offices are extensive, and show the +marvellous amount of cooking that was carried on in the hospitable days +of Haddon; the kitchen has a ceiling supported by massive beams and a +solid oak column in the centre; there are two huge fireplaces, scores of +stoves, spits, pothooks, and hangers, large chopping-blocks, dressers, +and tables, with attendant bakehouses, ovens, pantries, and larders; +among the relics is an enormous salting-trough hollowed out of one +immense block of wood. Beyond the garden or lawn, one hundred and twenty +feet square, extends the terrace, planted with ancient yews, whose +gnarled roots intertwine with and displace the stones. This terrace +extends the full width of the outer or upper garden, and gives a +charming view of the southern front of the hall. + +[Illustration: THE TERRACE, HADDON HALL.] + +More romance hangs about Haddon than probably any other old baronial +hall in England, and it has therefore been for years an endless source +of inspiration for poets, artists, and novelists. Mrs. Radcliffe here +laid some of the scenes of the _Mysteries of Udolpho_. Bennett's "King +of the Peak" was Sir George Vernon, the hospitable owner of Haddon. +Scott has written of it, a host of artists have painted its most +attractive features, and many a poet has sung of the + + "Hall of wassail which has rung + To the unquestioned baron's jest: + Dim old chapel, where were hung + Offerings of the o'erfraught breast; + Moss-clad terrace, strangely still, + Broken shaft and crumbling frieze---- + Still as lips that used to fill + With bugle-blasts the morning breeze." + +But, unlike most baronial strongholds, the history of Haddon tells only +the romance of peace, love, and hospitality. It came by marriage into +the possession of the Vernons soon after the Conquest; one of them, Sir +Henry Vernon of Haddon, was appointed governor of Prince Arthur by Henry +VII. His grandson, Sir George Vernon, lived in such princely +magnificence at Haddon that he was known as the "King of the Peak;" his +initials, "G. V.," are carved in the banquet-hall. Around his youngest +daughter, Dorothy, gathers the chief halo of romance. The story in brief +is, that her elder sister, being the affianced bride of the son of the +Earl of Derby, was petted and made much of, while Dorothy, at sweet +sixteen, was kept in the background. She formed an attachment for John +Manners, son of the Earl of Rutland, but this her family violently +opposed, keeping her almost a prisoner: her lover, disguised as a +forester, lurked for weeks in the woods around Haddon, obtaining +occasionally a stolen interview. At length on a festal night, when the +ball-room was filled with guests summoned to celebrate the approaching +nuptials of the elder sister, and every one was so wrapped up in +enjoyment that there was no time to watch Dorothy, the maiden, +unobserved, stole out of the ball-room into the anteroom, and through +the door, across the garden, and up the steps to the terrace, where her +lover had made a signal that he was waiting. In a moment she was in his +arms, and rode away with him in the moonlight all night, across the +hills of Derbyshire, and into Leicestershire, where they were married +next morning. It was the old story--an elopement, a grand row, and then +all was forgiven. Sir George Vernon had no sons, and his daughters +divided his estate, Haddon going to Dorothy, who thus by her elopement +carried the famous hall over to the family of Manners. Dorothy died in +1584, leaving four children, the oldest, Sir George Manners, living at +Haddon and maintaining its hospitable reputation. Dying in 1679, his son +John Manners, who was the ninth Earl of Rutland, became the master of +Haddon, and "kept up the good old mansion at a bountiful rate," as the +chronicler tells us. He kept one hundred and forty servants, and had so +many retainers and guests that every day the tables in the old +banquet-hall were spread as at a Christmas feast. The earl was raised to +the rank of duke, and his son John, Duke of Rutland, known as the "Old +Man of the Hill," died in 1779, since which time the family have not +used the hall as a place of residence, having gone to Belvoir in +Leicestershire. Its present owner is the sixth Duke of Rutland, Charles +Cecil Manners, and the descendant of the famous Dorothy. There are few +places, even in England, that have the fame of Haddon, and it is one of +the chief spots sought out by the tourist. The duke maintains it just as +it existed centuries ago, with the old furniture and utensils, so as to +reproduce as faithfully as possible the English baronial hall of his +ancestors. + + +CHATSWORTH. + +[Illustration: THE "PEACOCK," FROM THE ROAD.] + +[Illustration: CHATSWORTH HOUSE, FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.] + +[Illustration: MARBLE DOORWAY TO STATE DRAWING-ROOM.] + +[Illustration: STATE DRAWING-ROOM, CHATSWORTH.] + +Below Haddon Hall the valley of the Wye broadens, with yet richer +scenery, as it approaches the confluence of the Wye and Derwent at +Rowsley, where the quaint old Peacock Inn, which was the manor-house of +Haddon, bears over the door the date 1653, and the crest of the ducal +House of Rutland, a peacock with tail displayed. Ascending for a short +distance the valley of the Derwent, which washes the bases of the steep +limestone hills, we come to Chatsworth. In sharp contrast with the +ancient glories of Haddon is this modern ducal palace, for whose +magnificence Bess of Hardwicke laid the foundation. This "Palace of the +Peak" stands in a park covering over two thousand acres; the Derwent +flows in front, over which the road to the palace is carried by a fine +bridge. From the river a lawn gently slopes upward to the buildings, and +the wooded hill which rises sharply behind them is surmounted by a +hunting-tower, embosomed in trees. A herd of at least a thousand deer +roam at will over the park, and have become very tame. Chatsworth is a +brownish-yellow building, square and flat-topped, with a modern and more +ornamental wing. Its front extends fully six hundred feet, and in parts +it is of that depth. The estate was bought in the sixteenth century by +Sir William Cavendish, who built the original house, a quadrangular +building with turrets, which was greatly extended by his wife. It was +used as a fortress in the Civil Wars, and was considerably battered. The +first Duke of Devonshire about the year 1700 rebuilt the mansion, +employing the chief architects, artists, designers, and wood-carvers of +his time, among them Sir Christopher Wren. In the grounds, not far from +the bridge over the Derwent, is the "Bower of Mary Queen of Scots." +There is a small, clear lake almost concealed by foliage, in the centre +of which is a tower, and on the top a grass-grown garden, where are also +several fine trees. Here, under guard, the captive was permitted to take +the air. In those days she looked out upon a broad expanse of woods and +moorland: now all around has been converted into gardens and a park. +Entering the house through a magnificent gateway, the visitor is taken +into the entrance-hall, where the frescoes represent the life and death +of Julius Caesar; then up the grand staircase of amethyst and variegated +alabaster guarded by richly-gilded balustrades. The +gorgeously-embellished chapel is wainscoted with cedar, and has a +sculptured altar made of Derbyshire marbles. The beautiful drawing-room +opens into a series of state-apartments lined with choice woods and hung +with Gobelin tapestries representing the cartoons of Raphael. +Magnificent carvings and rare paintings adorn the walls, while the +richest decorations are everywhere displayed. Over the door of the +antechamber is a quill pen so finely carved that it almost reproduces +the real feather. In the Scarlet Room are the bed on which George II. +died and the chairs and footstools used at the coronation of George III. +On the north side of the house is another stairway of oak, also richly +gilded. In the apartments replacing those where Mary Queen of Scots +lived are her bed-hangings and tapestries. There is an extensive library +with many rare books and manuscripts, and a sculpture-gallery, lined +with Devonshire marble, containing many statues and busts, and also two +recumbent lions, each nine feet long and four feet high and weighing +four tons, and carved out of a solid block of marble. The final +enlargement of Chatsworth was completed about forty years ago, when +Queen Victoria made a state visit and was given a magnificent reception +by the Duke of Devonshire. + +[Illustration: STATE BEDROOM, CHATSWORTH.] + +[Illustration: THE SCULPTURE-GALLERY, CHATSWORTH.] + +The gardens at Chatsworth are as noted as the house, and are to many +minds the gem of the estate. They cover about one hundred and twenty-two +acres, and are so arranged as to make a beautiful view out of every +window of the palace. All things are provided that can add to rural +beauty--fountains, cascades, running streams, lakes, rockeries, +orange-groves, hothouses, woods, sylvan dells--and no labor or expense +is spared to enhance the attractions of trees, flowers, and shrubbery. +From a stone temple, which it completely covers, the great cascade flows +down among dolphins, sea-lions, and nymphs, until it disappears among +the rocks and seeks an underground outlet into the Derwent. Enormous +stones weighing several tons are nicely balanced, so as to rock at the +touch or swing open for gates. Others overhang the paths as if a gust of +wind might blow them down. In honor of the visit of the Czar Nicholas in +1844 the great "Emperor Fountain" was constructed, which throws a column +of water to an immense height. The grounds are filled with trees planted +by kings, queens, and great people on their visits to the palace. The +finest of all the trees is a noble Spanish chestnut of sixteen feet +girth. Weeping willows do not grow at Chatsworth, but they have provided +one in the form of a metal tree, contrived so as to discharge a deluge +of raindrops from its metallic leaves and boughs when a secret spring +is touched. The glory of the Chatsworth gardens, however, is the +conservatory, a beautiful structure of glass and iron covering nearly an +acre, the arched roof in the centre rising to a height of sixty-seven +feet. In this famous hot-house are the rarest palms and tropical plants. +It was designed by Joseph Paxton, the duke's head-gardener, and, +enlarging the design, Paxton constructed in the same way the London +Crystal Palace for the Exhibition of 1851, for which service he was +knighted. Besides this rare collection of hot-house plants, the famous +Victoria Regia is in a special house at Chatsworth, growing in a tank +thirty-four feet in diameter, the water being maintained at the proper +temperature and kept constantly in motion as a running stream. The seed +for this celebrated plant was brought from Guiana, and it first bloomed +here in 1849. Some fifty persons are employed in the gardens and +grounds, besides the servants in the buildings, showing the retinue +necessary to maintain this great show-palace, for that is its chief +present use, the Duke of Devonshire seldom using it as a residence, as +he prefers the less pretentious but more comfortable seat he possesses +at Bolton in Yorkshire. North of Chatsworth Park, near Baslow, on top of +a hill, is the strange mass of limestone which can be seen from afar, +and is known as the Eagle Rock. + +[Illustration: GATEWAY TO STABLE.] + + +MATLOCK AND DOVEDALE. + +[Illustration: HIGH TOR, MATLOCK.] + +[Illustration: THE STRAITS, DOVEDALE.] + +[Illustration: BANKS OF THE DOVE.] + +Retracing the Derwent to the Wye again, the valley of the latter is open +below for several miles, and then as Matlock is approached a mass of +limestone stretching across the valley seems to bar all egress, and the +river plunges through a narrow glen. The bold gray crags of the High Tor +rise steeply on the left hand, and the gorge not being wide enough for +both river and railway, the latter pierces a tunnel through the High +Tor. The river bends sharply to the right, and the village makes a long +street along the bank and rises in terraces up the steep hill behind. +These are the "Heights of Abraham," while the pretty slope below the +High Tor is the "Lovers' Walk." Matlock is beautifully situated, and its +springs are in repute, while the caves in the neighborhood give plenty +of opportunity for that kind of exploration. The Derbyshire marbles are +quarried all about, and mosaic manufacture is carried on. It was near +Matlock that Arkwright first set up his cotton-spinning machine, and +when fortune and fame had made him Sir Richard Arkwright he built +Willersley Castle for his home, on the banks of the Derwent. The valley +of the little river Dove also presents some fine scenery, especially in +the fantastic shapes of its rocks. The river runs between steep hills +fringed with ash and oak and hawthorn, and Dovedale can be pursued for +miles with interest. One of its famous resorts is the old and +comfortable Izaak Walton Inn, sacred to anglers. In Dovedale are the +rocks called the Twelve Apostles, the Tissington Spires, the Pickering +Tor, the caverns known as the Dove Holes, and Reynard's Hall, while the +entire stream is full of memories of those celebrated fishermen of two +centuries ago, Walton and his friend Cotton. + +[Illustration: TISSINGTON SPIRES.] + + +BEAUCHIEF ABBEY. + +Before leaving Derbyshire the ruin of Beauchief Abbey, which gave the +name of Abbey Dale to one of the pleasant vales on the eastern border of +the county, must not be forgotten. It was built seven hundred years ago, +and there remains but a single fragment of this famous religious house, +the arch of the great east window. Singularly enough, under the same +roof with the abbey was built an inn, and at a short distance there is a +hermitage: the hermit's cave is scooped out of a rock elevated above the +valley and overhung with foliage. We are told that a pious baker lived +in the town of Derby who was noted for his exemplary life: the Virgin +Mary, as a proof of his faith, required him to relinquish all his +worldly goods and go to Deepdale and lead a solitary life in Christ's +service. He did as he was told, departed from Derby, but had no idea +where he was to go; directing his footsteps towards the east, he passed +through a village, and heard a woman instruct a girl to drive some +calves to Deepdale. Regarding this as an interposition of Providence, +the baker, encouraged, asked where was Deepdale; the woman told the girl +to show him. Arrived there, he found it marshy land, distant from any +human habitation; but, seeking a rising ground, he cut a small dwelling +in a rock under the side of a hill, built an altar, and there spent day +and night in the Divine service, with hunger and cold, thirst and want. +Now, it happened that a person of great consequence owned this +land--Ralph, the son of Geremund--and coming to the woods to hunt, he +saw smoke rising from the hermit's cave, and was filled with +astonishment that any one should have dared to establish a dwelling +there without his permission. Going to the place, he found the hermit +clothed in old rags and skins, and, inquiring about his case, Ralph's +anger changed to pity. To show his compassion, he granted the hermit the +ground where the hermitage stood, and also for his support the tithe of +a mill not far away. The tradition further relates "that the old Enemy +of the human race" then endeavored to make the hermit dissatisfied with +his condition, but "he resolutely endured all its calamities," and +ultimately he built a cottage and oratory, and ended his days in the +service of God. After his death, Ralph's daughter prevailed upon her +husband to dedicate Deepdale to religious uses, and he inviting the +canons, they built the abbey. We are told in Howitt's _Forest Minstrel_ +of the wonder caused by the construction of the abbey, and also how in +later years the monks became corrupted by prosperity. A place is shown +to visitors where the wall between the chapel and the inn gave way to +the thirsty zeal of the monks, and through an opening their favorite +liquor was handed. The _Forest Minstrel_ tells us they + + "Forsook missal and mass + To chant o'er a bottle or shrive a lass; + No matin's bell called them up in the morn, + But the yell of the hounds and sound of the horn; + No penance the monk in his cell could stay + But a broken leg or a rainy day: + The pilgrim that came to the abbey-door, + With the feet of the fallow-deer found it nailed o'er; + The pilgrim that into the kitchen was led. + On Sir Gilbert's venison there was fed. + And saw skins and antlers hang o'er his head." + + +STAFFORD AND TRENTHAM. + +[Illustration: TRENTHAM HALL.] + +The rivers which drain the limestone hills of Derbyshire unite to form +the Trent, and this stream, after a winding and picturesque course +through Midland England towards the eastward, flows into the Humber, and +ultimately into the North Sea. Its first course after leaving Derby is +through Staffordshire, one of the great manufacturing counties of +England, celebrated for its potteries, whose product Josiah Wedgewood so +greatly improved. The county-seat is Stafford, on the Sow River, not far +from the Trent Valley, and on a high hill south-west of the town are the +remains of the castle of the Barons, of Stafford, originally built a +thousand years ago by the Saxons to keep the Danes in check. This +castle was destroyed and rebuilt by William the Conqueror; again +destroyed and again rebuilt by Ralph de Stafford in Edward III.'s reign. +In the Civil Wars this castle was one of the last strongholds of King +Charles I., but it was ultimately taken by Cromwell's troops and +demolished, excepting the keep; a massive castellated building of modern +construction now occupies its place. The river Trent, in its winding +course, forms near Trentham a fine lake, and the beautiful neighborhood +has been availed of for the establishment of the splendid residence of +the Duke of Sutherland, about a mile west of the village, and known as +Trentham Hall. The park is extensive, the gardens are laid out around +the lake, and the noble Italian building, which is of recent +construction, has a fine campanile tower one hundred feet high, and +occupies a superb situation. The old church makes part of Trentham Hall, +and contains monuments of the duke's family and ancestors, the +Leveson-Gowers, whose extensive estates cover a wide domain in +Staffordshire. Trentham, which is in the pottery district and not far +from Newcastle-under-Lyme, was originally a monastery, founded by St. +Werburgh, niece of AEthelred. She was one of the most famous of the +Anglo-Saxon saints, and some venerable yews still mark the spot where +her original house stood, it being known as Tricengham. These yews, said +to have been planted about that time, form three sides of a square. The +religious house, rebuilt in William Rufus's reign, was given, at the +dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII., to his brother-in-law, +Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and it afterwards came into possession +of the Levesons. From the marriage of a daughter of Sir John Leveson +with Sir Thomas Gower sprang the family of the present ducal house of +Sutherland, the head of it being created Marquis of Stafford in 1786 and +Duke of Sutherland in 1833. The present duke is the third who has held +the title, his mother having been the daughter of the Earl of +Carlisle--the famous Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland. The old Trentham +Hall was built in 1633, being rebuilt and enlarged by Sir Charles Barry +about fifty years ago. + +[Illustration: TRENTHAM HALL--ON THE TERRACE.] + + +TAMWORTH AND TUTBURY. + +Staffordshire contains some famous places. In the eastern part of the +county, bordering Warwick, is the ancient town of Tamworth, standing +upon the little river Tame; this was originally a fortification built +for defence against the Danes, and its castle was founded by Marmion, of +whom Scott writes, + + "They hailed Lord Marmion, + They hailed him Lord of Fontenaye, + Of Lutterward and Scrivelbaye, + Of Tamworth tower and town." + +Tamworth is also Shakespearian ground, for here Richmond halted on his +march to Bosworth Field, and made a stirring address to inspire his +forces for the coming combat. In later years Tamworth sent Sir Robert +Peel to Parliament, and his bronze statue adorns the market-square; the +ruins of the ancient castle are almost obliterated, and the present +castle is upon higher ground, its architecture being of various periods. +Tutbury Castle, of which little is left but a straggling mass of ruins, +stands on an eminence overlooking the Dove, and crowns a ridge of red +sandstone rock: it was a great stronghold, founded by John of Gaunt, +covering several acres, and was demolished after the Civil Wars. This +castle, like so many other famous places, was also one of the +prison-palaces of Mary Queen of Scots; although the castle is destroyed, +yet near by is its parish church of St. Mary, founded by Henry de +Ferrars in the reign of William Rufus, and known then as Ferrars Abbey: +its west end is one of the most perfect Norman fronts remaining in +England, and it has been carefully restored. Tutbury is known for some +of its ancient customs, among them the annual bull-running. A minstrel +band, after devotions and a long sermon in the abbey, had an excellent +dinner in the castle, and then repairing to the abbey-gate demanded the +bull; the prior let the bull out, with his horns and tail cut off, his +ears cropped, his body greased, and his nostrils filled with pepper to +make him furious. The bull being let loose, the steward proclaimed that +none were to come nearer than forty feet, nor to hinder the minstrels, +but all were to attend to their own safety. The minstrels were to +capture the bull before sunset, and on that side of the river, but if +they failed or he escaped across the stream, he remained the lord's +property. It was seldom possible to take him fairly, but if he was held +long enough to cut off some of his hair it was considered a capture, and +after a bull-baiting he was given to the minstrels. Thus originated the +Tutbury bull-running, which ultimately degenerated into a scene of wild +debauchery, often resulting in a terrible riot. The Duke of Devonshire, +when he came into possession of Tutbury, was compelled to abolish the +custom. About six miles from Stafford is Chartley Castle, dating from +the Conquest, and belonging to the Earls of Chester and Derby, and +subsequently to the famous Earl of Essex, who here entertained Queen +Elizabeth, and afterwards planned the plot for which she signed his +death-warrant. This castle has been many years in ruins: it had a +circular keep about fifty feet in diameter, and the present remains are +chiefly the fragments of two round towers and part of a wall twelve feet +thick, with loopholes constructed for shooting arrows at an attacking +force. Queen Mary was also imprisoned here, and a bed said to have been +wrought by her is shown in the village. This unfortunate queen seems to +have had more prisons and wrought more needlework than any other woman +in Britain. + + +ALTON TOWERS. + +Alton Towers, the superb home of the Earl of Shrewsbury, is also in +Staffordshire, and is one of the famous seats of England. The estate +stands on the Churnet, and the house and grounds are on one side of its +deep valley. The present mansion, a modern Gothic structure, was built +about fifty years ago on a rocky plateau overlooking the valley. An +extensive park surrounds the mansion, and there are several entrances. +Of these Quicksall Lodge ushers the visitor to a magnificent approach +known as the "Earl's Drive," extending three miles along the valley of +the Churnet, and having its natural advantages increased by the profuse +distribution along the route of statues, busts, and ornamental vases. +Another entrance is from the railway-station, where is a lodge of great +beauty, from which the road, about a mile in length, gradually ascends +to the eminence where the mansion stands. The approach by both roads is +fine, and through the intervening foliage the Towers open upon the +view--rich in spire, dome, and gable, and with their fair proportions +enhanced by the arcades that adorn the house and the antique stone +setting that brings out the majesty of the Gothic architecture. The +gardens of this fine place are beautiful, their extent being made +apparently greater than in reality by the artificially-formed terraces +and other resources of the landscape artist. The grounds are most +lavishly ornamented with statuary, vases, temples, and fountains, while +gardening is carried to perfection. There is a grand conservatory, +containing a palm-house and orangery. From the top of an elaborate +Gothic temple four stories high there is a fine view, while the Flag +Tower, a massive building with four turrets, and six stories high, is +used as an observatory. There is a delightful retreat for the weary +sightseer called the Refuge, a fine imitation of Stonehenge, and Ina's +Rock, where Ina, king of Wessex, held a parliament after his battle with +the king of Mercia. The picturesque ruins of Alton Castle and convent +are in the grounds, also the ruins of Croxden Abbey and the charming +Alton Church, which was of Norman foundation. The castle existed at the +time of the Conquest, and the domain in 1408, through the marriage of +Maude Neville to John Talbot, was brought into the possession of the +present family. Talbot having been afterwards made the first Earl of +Shrewsbury. This was the famous English warrior who was so feared in +France, where he conducted brilliant campaigns, that "with his name the +mothers stilled their babes." He was killed at the siege of Chatillon in +his eightieth year. It was the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury who married Bess +of Hardwicke and made her fourth husband. It was the fifteenth Earl of +Shrewsbury who erected the present magnificent structure, with its +varied turrets and battlements, for his summer residence, where before +stood a plain house known as Alton Lodge. Upon his tomb, in memory of +the wonderful change he wrought in the place, is the significant motto: +"He made the desert smile." The nineteenth earl is now in possession. + + +SHREWSBURY. + +[Illustration: SHREWSBURY CASTLE, FROM THE RAILWAY-STATION.] + +[Illustration: HEAD-QUARTERS OF HENRY VII. ON HIS WAY TO BOSWORTH FIELD, +SHREWSBURY.] + +[Illustration: ON BATTLEFIELD ROAD, SHREWSBURY.] + +Westward of Stafford is the land of the "proud Salopians," Shropshire, +through which flows the Severn, on whose banks stands the ancient town +from which the Earls of Shrewsbury take their title. We are told that +the Britons founded this town, and that in Edward the Confessor's time +it had five churches and two hundred and thirty houses, fifty-one of +which were cleared away to make room for the castle erected by Roger de +Montgomery, a kinsman of William the Conqueror. The Norman king created +him Earl of Shrewsbury long before the present line of earls began with +John Talbot. Wars raged around the castle: it was besieged and battered, +for it stood an outpost in the borderland of Wales. It was here that +Henry IV. assembled an army to march against Glendower, and in the +following year fought the battle of Shrewsbury against Hotspur, then +marching to join Glendower. Hotspur's death decided the battle. The +Wars of the Roses were fought around the town, and here Henry VII., then +the Earl of Richmond, slept when going to Bosworth Field; and in the +Civil Wars King Charles had Shrewsbury's support, but Cromwell's forces +captured it. The town is on a fine peninsula almost encircled by the +Severn, and the castle stands at the entrance to the peninsula. Only the +square keep and part of the inner walls remain of the original castle, +but a fine turret has been added by modern hands. In the neighborhood of +Shrewsbury are the remains of the Roman city of Uriconium, said to have +been destroyed by the Saxons in the sixth century. Shrewsbury has always +been famous for pageants, its annual show being a grand display by the +trade societies. It is also famous for its cakes, of which Shenstone +says: + + "And here each season do those cakes abide, + Whose honored names the inventive city own, + Rendering through Britain's isle Salopia's praises known." + +The great Shrewsbury cake is the "simnel," made like a pie, the crust +colored with saffron and very thick. It is a confection said to be +unsafe when eaten to excess, for an old gentleman, writing from +melancholy experience in 1595, records that "sodden bread which bee +called simnels bee verie unwholesome." The Shropshire legend about its +origin is that a happy couple got into a dispute whether they should +have for dinner a boiled pudding or a baked pie. While they disputed +they got hungry, and came to a compromise by first boiling and then +baking the dish that was prepared. To the grand result of the double +process--his name being Simon and her's Nell--the combined name of +simnel was given. And thus from their happily-settled contention has +come Shrewsbury's great cake, of which all England acknowledges the +merit. + + +BRIDGENORTH AND WENLOCK ABBEY. + +[Illustration: + + BRIDGENORTH. + + 1. From near Oldbury. + 2. Keep of the Castle. + +] + +Following down the Severn River from Shrewsbury, we come to Bridgenorth, +an ancient town planted on a steep hill, full of quaint houses, and +having an old covered market where the country-people gather on +Saturdays. The lower part is of brick, and the upper part is +black-and-white-timbered, but the human love for what is old and +familiar is shown by the way in which the people still fill up the old +market-house, though a fine new one has recently been built. The most +prized of the old houses of this venerable town is a foundry and +blacksmith shop standing by the river; it was in this house that Bishop +Percy, author of the _Reliques_, was born. On the promontory of +sandstone, which steeply rises about one hundred and eighty feet above +the river, the upper part of the town is built, and here are the ruins +of Bridgenorth Castle, which stood in an exceptionally strong situation. +The red sandstone predominates here, but not much of it remains in the +castle, there being little left excepting a huge fragment of the massive +wall of the keep, which now inclines so much on one side from the +settlement of the foundation as to be almost unsafe. This castle was +built eight hundred years ago by the third and last of the Norman Earls +of Shrewsbury: it was held for King Charles in the Civil Wars, and +underwent a month's siege before it surrendered, when the conquerors +destroyed it. Bridgenorth is the most picturesque of all the towns on +the Severn, owing to the steep promontory up which the houses extend +from the lower to the upper town and the magnificent views from the +castle. The communication with the hill is by a series of +steeply-winding alleys, each being almost a continuous stairway: they +are known as the "Steps." A bridge with projecting bastions crosses the +river and connects the higher with the lower parts of the town, thus +giving the place its name. + +[Illustration: HOUSE WHERE BISHOP PERCY WAS BORN, BRIDGENORTH.] + +[Illustration: LODGE OF MUCH WENLOCK ABBEY.] + +About twelve miles south-east of Shrewsbury is the village of Much +Wenlock, where there are remains of a magnificent abbey founded by the +Black monks, and exhibiting several of the Early English and Gothic +styles of architecture, but, like most else in these parts, it has +fallen in ruin, and many of the materials have been carried off to build +other houses. Portions of the nave, transepts, chapter-house, and +abbot's house remain, the latter being restored and making a fine +specimen of ecclesiastical domestic architecture built around a court. +An open cloister extends the entire length of the house. There are +beautiful intersecting Norman arches in the chapter-house. There are +some quaint old houses in the town--timbered structures with bold +bow-windows--and not a few of them of great age. Roger de Montgomery is +credited with founding Wenlock Abbey at the time of the Norman Conquest. +The site was previously occupied by a nunnery, said to have been the +burial-place of St. Milburgh, who was the granddaughter of King Penda of +Mercia. This was a famous religious house in its day, and it makes a +picturesque ruin, while the beauty of the neighboring scenery shows how +careful the recluses and religious men of old were to cast their lots +and build their abbeys in pleasant places. + +[Illustration: WENLOCK.] + + +LUDLOW CASTLE. + +[Illustration: LUDLOW CASTLE.] + +The most important of all the castles in the middle marches of Wales was +Ludlow, whose grand ruins, mouldered into beauty, stand upon the river +Tame, near the western border of Shropshire. It was here that the lord +president of the Council of Wales held his court. Its ruins, though +abandoned, have not fallen into complete decay, so that it gives a fine +representation of the ancient feudal border stronghold: it is of great +size, with long stretches of walls and towers, interspersed with thick +masses of foliage and stately trees, while beneath is the dark rock on +which it is founded. It was built shortly after the Conquest by Roger de +Montgomery, and after being held by the Norman Earls of Shrewsbury it +was fortified by Henry I.: then Joyce de Dinan held it, and confined +Hugh de Mortimer as prisoner in one of the towers, still known as +Mortimer's Tower. Edward IV. established it as the place of residence +for the lord president of the Council that governed Wales: here the +youthful King Edward V. was proclaimed, soon to mysteriously disappear. +From Ludlow Castle, Wales was governed for more than three centuries, +and in Queen Elizabeth's time many important additions were made to it. +The young Philip Sidney lived here, his father being the lord president; +the stone bridge, replacing the drawbridge, and the great portal were +built at that time. In 1634, Milton's "Masque of Comus" was represented +here while Earl Bridgewater was lord president, one of the scenes being +the castle and town of Ludlow: this representation was part of the +festivities attending the earl's installation on Michaelmas Night. It +was in Ludlow Castle that Butler wrote part of _Hudibras_. The castle +was held for King Charles, but was delivered up to the Parliamentary +forces in 1646. The present exterior of the castle denotes its former +magnificence. The foundations are built into a dark gray rock, and the +castle rises from the point of a headland, the northern front consisting +of square towers with high, connecting embattled walls. In the last +century trees were planted on the rock and in the deep and wide ditch +that guarded the castle. The chief entrance is by a gateway under a low, +pointed arch which bears the arms of Queen Elizabeth and of Earl +Pembroke. There are several acres enclosed, and the keep is an immense +square tower of the Early Norman, one hundred and ten feet high and +ivy-mantled to the top. On its ground floor is the dungeon, half +underground, with square openings in the floor connecting with the +apartment above. The great hall is now without roof or floor, and a +tower at the west end is called Prince Arthur's Tower, while there are +also remains of the old chapel. The ruins have an imposing aspect, the +towers being richly clustered around the keep. This famous castle is now +the property of Earl Powis. + +[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE COUNCIL-CHAMBER, LUDLOW CASTLE.] + +The town of Ludlow adjoins the castle, and on approaching it the visitor +is struck by the fine appearance of the tower of the church of St. +Lawrence. The church is said to be the finest in Shropshire, and this +tower was built in the time of Edward IV. Its chantry is six hundred +years old, and belonged to the Palmers' guild. Their ordinances are +still preserved, one of which is to the effect that "if any man wishes, +as is the custom, to keep night-watches with the dead, this may be +allowed, provided that he does not call up ghosts." The town is filled +with timber-ribbed, pargetted houses, one of the most striking of these +being the old Feathers Inn. The exterior is rich in various devices, +including the feathers of the Prince of Wales, adopted as the sign +perhaps in the days of Prince Arthur, when the inn was built. Many of +the rooms are panelled with carved oak and have quaintly moulded +ceilings. It is not often that the modern tourist has a chance to rest +under such a venerable roof, for it is still a comfortable hostelrie. +The ancient priory of Austin Friars was at Ludlow, but is obliterated. + +In the neighborhood of Ludlow are many attractive spots. From the summit +of the Vignals, about four miles away, there is a superb view over the +hills of Wales to the south and west, and the land of Shropshire to the +northward. Looking towards Ludlow, immediately at the foot of the hill +is seen the wooded valley of Hay Park: it was here that the children of +the Earl of Bridgewater were lost, an event that gave Milton occasion to +write the "Masque of Comus," and locate its scenes at and in the +neighborhood of Ludlow. Richard's Castle is at the southern end of this +wood, but there is not much of the old ruin left in the deep dingle. At +Downton Castle the romantic walks in the gardens abound in an almost +endless variety of ferns. Staunton Lacey Church, containing Romanesque +work, and supposed to be older than the Conquest, is also near Ludlow. +But the grand old castle and its quaint and venerated Feathers Inn are +the great attractions before which all others pale. What an amazing tale +of revelry, pageant, and intrigue they could tell were only the old +walls endowed with voice! + +[Illustration: THE "FEATHERS" HOTEL, LUDLOW.] + + +LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL. + +[Illustration: LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL, WEST FRONT.] + +[Illustration: INTERIOR LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL, LOOKING WEST.] + +[Illustration: LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL, REAR VIEW.] + +We are told that in Central Staffordshire churches with spires are rare. +The region of the Trent abounds in low and simple rather than lofty +church-towers, but to this rule the cathedral city of Lichfield is an +exception, having five steeples, of which three beautiful spires--often +called the "Ladies of the Vale"--adorn the cathedral itself. The town +stands in a fertile and gently undulating district without ambitious +scenery, and the cathedral, which is three hundred and seventy-five feet +long and its spires two hundred and fifty-eight feet high, is its great +and almost only glory. It is an ancient place, dating from the days of +the Romans and the Saxons, when the former slaughtered without mercy a +band of the early Christian martyrs near the present site of the town, +whence it derives its name, meaning the "Field of the Dead." This +massacre took place in the fourth century, and in memory of it the city +bears as its arms "an escutcheon of landscape, with many martyrs in it +in several ways massacred." In the seventh century a church was built +there, and the hermit St. Chad became its bishop. His cell was near the +present site of Stowe, where there was a spring of clear water rising in +the heart of a forest, and out of the woods there daily came a +snow-white doe to supply him with milk. The legend tells that the +nightingales singing in the trees distracted the hermit's prayers, so he +besought that he might be relieved from this trial; and since that time +the nightingales in the woods of Stowe have remained mute. After death +the hermit-bishop was canonized and Lichfield flourished, at least one +of his successors being an archbishop. St. Chad's Well is still pointed +out at Stowe, but his Lichfield church long ago disappeared. A Norman +church succeeded it in the eleventh century, and has also been removed, +though some of its foundations remain under the present cathedral choir. +About the year 1200 the first parts of the present cathedral were built, +and it was over a hundred years in building. Its architecture is Early +English and Decorated, the distinguishing features being the three +spires, the beautiful western front, and the Lady Chapel. The latter +terminates in a polygonal apse of unique arrangement, and the red +sandstone of which the cathedral is built gives a warm and effective +coloring. Some of the ancient bishops of Lichfield were fighting men, +and at times their cathedral was made into a castle surrounded by walls +and a moat, and occasionally besieged. The Puritans grievously battered +it, and knocked down the central spire. The cathedral was afterwards +rebuilt by Christopher Wren, and the work of restoration is at present +going on. As all the old stained glass was knocked out of the windows +during the Civil Wars, several of them have been refilled with fine +glass from the abbey at Liege. Most of the ancient monuments were also +destroyed during the sieges, but many fine tombs of more modern +construction replace them, among them being the famous tomb by Chantrey +of the "Sleeping Children." The ancient chroniclers tell bad stories of +the treatment this famous church received during the Civil Wars. When +the spire was knocked down, crushing the roof, a marksman in the church +shot Lord Brooke, the leader of the Parliamentary besiegers, through his +helmet, of which the visor was up, and he fell dead. The marksman was a +deaf and dumb man, and the event happened on St. Chad's Day, March 2d. +The loss of their leader redoubled the ardor of the besiegers; they set +a battery at work and forced a surrender in three days. Then we are told +that they demolished monuments, pulled down carvings, smashed the +windows, destroyed the records, set up guard-houses in the +cross-aisles, broke up the pavement, every day hunted a cat through the +church, so as to enjoy the echo from the vaulted roof, and baptized a +calf at the font. The Royalists, however, soon retook Lichfield, and +gave King Charles a reception after the battle of Naseby, but it finally +surrendered to Cromwell in 1646. Until the Restoration of Charles II. +the cathedral lay in ruins, even the lead having been removed from the +roof. In 1661, Bishop Hacket was consecrated, and for eight years he +steadily worked at rebuilding, having so far advanced in 1669 that the +cathedral was reconsecrated with great ceremony. His last work was to +order the bells, three of which were hung in time to toll at his +funeral; his tomb is in the south aisle of the choir. + +[Illustration: DR. JOHNSON'S BIRTHPLACE, LICHFIELD.] + +Lichfield has five steeples grouped together in most views of the town +from the Vale of Trent, the other two steeples belonging to St. Mary's +and St. Michael's churches; the churchyard of the latter is probably the +largest in England, covering seven acres, through which an avenue of +stately elms leads up to the church. The town has not much else in the +way of buildings that is remarkable. In a plain house at a corner of the +market-place, where lived one Michael Johnson, a bookseller, Dr. Samuel +Johnson, his son, was born in 1709. and in the adjacent market-place is +Dr. Johnson's statue upon a pedestal adorned with bas-reliefs: one of +these represents the "infant Samuel" sitting on his father's shoulder to +imbibe Tory principles from Dr. Sacheverel's sermons: another, the boy +carried by his schoolfellows: and a third displays him undergoing a +penance for youthful disobedience by standing up for an hour bareheaded +in the rain. The "Three Crowns Inn" is also in the market-place, where +in 1776 Boswell and Johnson stayed, and, as Boswell writes, "had a +comfortable supper and got into high spirits," when Johnson "expatiated +in praise of Lichfield and its inhabitants, who, he said, were the most +sober, decent people in England, were the genteelest in proportion to +their wealth, and spoke the purest English." David Garrick went to +school to Dr. Johnson in the suburbs of Lichfield, at Edial; Addison +lived once at Lichfield; and Selwyn was its bishop a few years ago, and +is buried in the Cathedral close; but the chief memories of the ancient +town cluster around St. Chad, Johnson, and Garrick. + + +LADY GODIVA OF COVENTRY. + +The "three spires" which have so much to do with the fame of Lichfield +are reproduced in the less pretentious but equally famous town of +Coventry, not far away in Warwickshire, but they do not all belong to +the same church. The Coventry Cathedral was long ago swept away, but the +town still has three churches of much interest, and is rich in the old +brick-and-timbered architecture of two and three centuries ago. But the +boast of Coventry is Lady Godiva, wife of the Earl of Mercia, who died +in 1057. The townsfolk suffered under heavy taxes and services, and she +besought her lord to relieve them. After steady refusals he finally +consented, but under a condition which he was sure Lady Godiva would not +accept, which was none other than that she should ride naked from one +end of the town to the other. To his astonishment she consented, and, as +Dugdale informs us, "The noble lady upon an appointed day got on +horseback naked, with her hair loose, so that it covered all her body +but the legs, and then performing her journey, she returned with joy to +her husband, who thereupon granted the inhabitants a charter of +freedom." The inhabitants deserted the streets and barred all the +windows, so that no one could see her, but, as there are exceptions to +all rules, Tennyson writes that + + "One low churl, composed of thankless earth, + The fatal byword of all years to come, + Boring a little auger-hole, in fear + Peeped; but his eyes, before they had their will, + Were shrivelled into darkness in his head, + And drop: before him. So the Powers who wait + On noble deeds cancelled a sense misused; + And she, that knew not, passed." + +Thus has "Peeping Tom of Coventry" passed into a byword, and his statue +stands in a niche on the front of a house on the High Street, as if +leaning out of a window--an ancient and battered effigy for all the +world to see. Like all other things that come down to us by tradition, +this legend is doubted, but in Coventry there are sincere believers, and +"Lady Godiva's Procession" used to be an annual display, closing with a +fair: this ceremony was opened by religious services, after which the +procession started, the troops and city authorities, with music and +banners, escorting Lady Godiva, a woman made up for the occasion in +gauzy tights and riding a cream-colored horse; representatives of the +trades and civic societies followed her. This pageant has fallen into +disuse. + +[Illustration: COVENTRY GATEWAY.] + +In this ancient city of Coventry there are some interesting memorials of +the past--the venerable gateway, the old St. Mary's Hall, with its +protruding gable fronting on the street, coming down to us from the +fourteenth century, and many other quaint brick and half-timbered and +strongly-constructed houses that link the dim past with the active +present. Its three spires surmount St. Michael's, Trinity, and Christ +churches, and while all are fine, the first is the best, being regarded +as one of the most beautiful spires in England. The ancient stone pulpit +of Trinity Church, constructed in the form of a balcony of open +stone-work, is also much admired. St. Michael's Church, which dates from +the fourteenth century, is large enough to be a cathedral, and its +steeple is said to have been the first constructed. This beautiful and +remarkably slender spire rises three hundred and three feet, its lowest +stage being an octagonal lantern supported by flying buttresses. The +supporting tower has been elaborately decorated, but much of the +sculpture has fallen into decay, being made of the rich but friable red +sandstone of this part of the country; the interior of the church has +recently been restored. The Coventry workhouse is located in an old +monastery, where a part of the cloisters remain, with the dormitory +above; in it is an oriel window where Queen Elizabeth on visiting the +town is reputed to have stood and answered a reception address in rhyme +from the "Men of Coventrie" with some doggerel of equal merit, and +concluding with the words, "Good Lord, what fools ye be!" The good Queen +Bess, we are told, liked to visit Coventry to see bull-baiting. As we +have said, Coventry formerly had a cathedral and a castle, but both have +been swept away; it was an important stronghold after the Norman +Conquest, when the Earls of Chester were lords of the place. In the +fourteenth century it was fortified with walls of great height and +thickness, three miles in circuit and strengthened by thirty-two towers, +each of the twelve gates being defended by a portcullis. A parliament +was held at Coventry by Henry VI., and Henry VII. was heartily welcomed +there after Bosworth Field; while the town was also a favorite residence +of Edward the Black Prince. Among the many places of captivity for Mary +Queen of Scots Coventry also figures; the walls were mostly knocked down +during the Civil Wars, and now only some fragments, with one of the old +gates, remain. In later years it has been chiefly celebrated in the +peaceful arts in the manufacture of silks and ribbons and the dyeing of +broad-cloth in "Coventry true blue;" at present it is the "Coventry +bicycle" that makes Lady Godiva's ancient city famous, and provides +amusement for youth who are able to balance their bodies possibly at the +expense of their minds. + +[Illustration: COVENTRY.] + + +BELVOIR CASTLE. + +In describing the ancient baronial mansion, Haddon Hall, it was +mentioned that the Dukes of Rutland had abandoned it as their residence +about a hundred years ago and gone to Belvoir in Leicestershire. Belvoir +(pronounced Beever) Castle stands on the eastern border of +Leicestershire, in a magnificent situation on a high wooded hill, and +gets its name from the beautiful view its occupants enjoy over a wide +expanse of country. In ancient times it was a priory, and it has been a +castle since the Norman Conquest. Many of the large estates attached to +Belvoir have come down by uninterrupted succession from that time to the +present Duke of Rutland. The castle itself, however, after the Conquest +belonged to the Earl of Chester, and afterwards to the family of Lord +Ros. In the sixteenth century, by a fortunate marriage, the castle +passed into the Manners family. Thomas Manners was created by Henry +VIII. the first Earl of Rutland, and he restored the castle, which had +for some time been in ruins. His son enlarged it, making a noble +residence. The sixth Earl of Rutland had two sons, we are told, who were +murdered by witchcraft at Belvoir through the sorcery of three female +servants in revenge for their dismissal. The three "witches" were tried +and committed to Lincoln jail. They were a mother and two daughters, and +the mother before going to the jail wished the bread and butter she ate +might choke her if guilty. Sure enough, the chronicler tells us, she +died on the way to jail, and the two daughters, afterwards confessing +their guilt, were executed March 11, 1618. The seventh Earl of Rutland +received Charles I. at Belvoir, and in the wars that followed the castle +was besieged and ruined. After the Restoration it was rebuilt, and in +finer style. The Dukes of Rutland began to adapt it more and more as a +family residence, and, after abandoning Haddon Hall, Belvoir was greatly +altered and made a princely mansion. It consists of a quadrangular +court, around which are castellated buildings, with towers surmounting +them, and occupying almost the entire summit of the hill. Here the duke +can look out over no less than twenty-two of his manors in the +neighboring valleys. The interior is sumptuously furnished, and has a +collection of valuable paintings. A large part of the ancient castle was +burnt in 1816. The Staunton Tower, however, still exists. It is the +stronghold of the castle, and was successfully defended by Lord Staunton +against William of Normandy. Upon every royal visit the key of this +tower is presented to the sovereign, the last occasion being a visit of +Queen Victoria. Belvoir, in the generous hands of the Dukes of Rutland, +still maintains the princely hospitality of the "King of the Peak." A +record kept of a recent period of thirteen weeks, from Christmas to +Easter, shows that two thousand persons dined at the duke's table, two +thousand four hundred and twenty-one in the steward's room, and eleven +thousand three hundred and twelve in the servants' hall. They were +blessed with good appetites too, for they devoured about $7000 worth of +provisions, including eight thousand three hundred and thirty-three +loaves of bread and twenty-two thousand nine hundred and sixty-three +pounds of meat, exclusive of game, besides drinking two thousand four +hundred bottles of wine and seventy hogsheads of ale. Thus does Belvoir +maintain the inheritance of hospitable obligation descended from Haddon +Hall. + + +CHARNWOOD FOREST. + +[Illustration: RUINS OF BRADGATE HOUSE.] + +We have now come into Leicestershire, and in that county, north of +Leicester City, is the outcropping of the earth's rocky backbone, which +has been thrust up into high wooded hills along the edge of the valley +of the Soar for several miles, and is known as Charnwood Forest. It +hardly deserves the name of a forest, however, for most of this strange +rocky region is bare of trees, and many of the patches of wood that are +there are of recent growth. Yet in ancient years there was plenty of +wood, and a tradition comes down to us that in Charnwood once upon a +time a squirrel could travel six miles on the trees without touching the +ground, and a traveller journey entirely across the forest without +seeing the sun. The district consists of two lines of irregular ridgy +hills, rising three hundred to four hundred feet above the neighboring +country. These ridges are separated by a sort of valley like a Norwegian +fjord, tilled with red marl. The rocks are generally volcanic products, +with much slate, which is extensively quarried. Granite and sienite are +also quarried, and at the chief granite-quarry--Mount Sorrel, an +eminence which projects into the valley of the Soar--was in former times +the castle of Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester. In King John's reign the +garrison of this castle so harassed the neighborhood that it was +described as the "nest of the devil and a den of thieves." In Henry +III.'s reign it was captured and demolished; the latter fate is +gradually befalling the hill on which it stood, under the operations of +the quarrymen. Near these quarries is the ancient village of Groby, +which was quite a flourishing place eight hundred years ago, and has not +grown much since. This village belonged to the Ferrars family, and an +heiress of that family was the unfortunate Queen Elizabeth Widvile. +About two miles away is Bradgate, a spot of rare beauty and interest, +the history of which is closely connected with Groby. On the end of one +of the ridges of Charnwood, just where it is sinking down to the level +of the surrounding country, stands Bradgate House. The surrounding park +is quite wild and bare, but there are fine old oaks in the lower +portions. From the ancient house a beautiful dell, called the Happy +Valley, leads to the neighboring village of Newtown Linford. Bradgate +House was destroyed in the early part of the last century by its +mistress. The Earl of Suffolk, who then owned it, brought his wife, who +had no taste for a rural life, from the metropolis to live there. Her +sister in London wrote to inquire how she was getting on. She answered, +"The house is tolerable, the country a forest, and the inhabitants all +brutes." In reply the sister advised, "Set the house on fire, and run +away by the light of it." The countess took the advice, and Bradgate +never was rebuilt. + + +ULVERSCROFT AND GRACE DIEU ABBEY. + +[Illustration: RUINS OF ULVERSCROFT PRIORY.] + +Charnwood Forest, like almost every other place in England, contains the +remains of religious houses. There was a priory at Ulverscroft, not far +from Bradgate, and some picturesque moss-grown remains still exist, said +to be the finest ruin in Leicestershire. Grace Dieu Abbey was also in +the forest, and on the dissolution of the monasteries was granted to the +Beaumonts; the ruins of this abbey were much frequented by Wordsworth, +who dedicated his poems to their owner. The Cistercians have in the +present century established the monastery of Mont St. Bernard in the +forest, and brought large tracts under cultivation as garden-land. +Bardon, the highest hill of Charnwood, which is near by, rises nine +hundred feet, an obtuse-angled triangular summit that can be seen for +miles away: not far from the forest are several famous places. The +abandoned castle of Ashby de la Zouche has been made the site of an +interesting town, deriving much prosperity from its neighboring +coal-mines: this castle was built by Lord Hastings, and here dwelt +Ivanhoe. The ruins of the tower, chapel, and great hall are objects of +much interest, and in the chapel is the "finger pillory" for the +punishment of those who were disorderly in church. Staunton Harold, the +seat of Earl Ferrars, is north of the town, while about nine miles to +the north-east of Ashby is Donington Hall, the palace of the Marquis of +Hastings: this estate is connected with Langley Priory, three miles +southward; the latter domain belonged to the Cheslyns fifty years ago, +and had an income of $40,000 a year. Between lavish hospitality and +ruinous lawsuits the entire property was eaten up, and Richard Cheslyn +became practically a pauper; but he bore ill-fortune with good grace, +and maintained his genial character to the last, being always well +received at all the noble houses where he formerly visited. Sir Bernard +Burke writes that Cheslyn "at dinner-parties, at which every portion of +his dress was the cast-off clothes of his grander friends, always looked +and was the gentleman; he made no secret of his poverty or of the +generous hands that had 'rigged him out.' 'This coat,' he has been heard +to say, 'was Radcliffe's; these pants, Granby's; this waistcoat, +Scarborough's.' His cheerfulness never forsook him; he was the victim of +others' mismanagement and profusion, not of his own." John Shakespear, +the famous linguist, whose talents were discovered by Lord Moira, who +had him educated, was a cowherd on the Langley estate. The poor cowherd +afterwards bought the estates for $700,000, and they were his home +through life. + +[Illustration: RUINS OF GRACE DIEU ABBEY.] + + +ELIZABETH WIDVILE AND LADY JANE GREY. + +Charnwood Forest is also associated in history with two unfortunate +women. Elizabeth Widvile was the wife of Sir John Grey of Groby, who +lost his life and estate in serving the House of Lancaster, leaving +Elizabeth with two sons; for their sake she sought an interview with +King Edward IV. to ask him to show them favor. Smitten by her charms, +Edward made her his queen, but he was soon driven into exile in France, +and afterwards died, while her father and brother perished in a popular +tumult. Her daughter married King Henry VII., a jealous son-in-law, who +confined Elizabeth in the monastery of Bermondsey, where she died. +Bradgate passed into the hands of her elder son by Sir John Grey of +Groby, and his grandson was the father of the second queen to which it +gave birth, whose name is better known than that of Elizabeth +Widvile--the unfortunate "ten-days' queen," Lady Jane Grey. She lived +the greater part of her short life at Bradgate, in the house whose ruins +still stand to preserve her memory. We are told by the quaint historian +Fuller that "she had the innocency of childhood, the beauty of youth, +the solidity of middle, the gravity of old age, and all at eighteen--the +birth of a princess, the learning of a clerk, the life of a saint, and +the death of a malefactor for her parents' offences." These parents +worried her into accepting the crown--they played for high stakes and +lost--and her father and father-in-law, her husband and herself, all +perished on the scaffold. We are told that this unfortunate lady still +haunts Bradgate House, and on the last night of the dying year a phantom +carriage, drawn by four gray horses, glides around the ruins with her +headless body. The old oaks have a gnarled and stunted appearance, +tradition ascribing it to the woodsmen having lopped off all the leading +shoots when their mistress perished. The remains of the house at present +are principally the broken shells of two towers, with portions of the +enclosing walls, partly covered with ivy. + + +LEICESTER ABBEY AND CASTLE. + +[Illustration: LEICESTER ABBEY.] + +The city of Leicester, which is now chiefly noted for the manufacture of +hosiery, was founded by the Britons, and was subsequently the Roman city +of Ratae. Many Roman remains still exist here, notably the ancient Jewry +wall, which is seventy-five feet long and five feet high, and which +formed part of the town-wall. Many old houses are found in Leicester, +and just north of the city are the ruins of Leicester Abbey, This noted +religious house was founded in the twelfth century, and stood on a +meadow watered by the river Soar. It was richly endowed, and was +dedicated to the Virgin Mary, but its chief fame comes from its being +the last residence of Cardinal Wolsey. This great man, once the primate +of England, has had his downfall pathetically described by Shakespeare. +The king summoned him to London to stand trial for treason, and on his +way Wolsey became so ill that he was obliged to rest at Leicester, where +he was met at the abbey-gate by the abbot and entire convent. Aware of +his approaching dissolution, the fallen cardinal said, "Father abbot, I +have come hither to lay my bones among you." The next day he died, and +to the surrounding monks, as the last sacrament was administered, he +said, "If I had served God as diligently as I have done the king, He +would not have given me over in my gray hairs." The remains were +interred by torchlight before daybreak on St. Andrew's Day, 1530, and to +show the vanity of all things earthly tradition says that after the +destruction of the abbey the stone coffin in which they were buried was +used as a horse-trough for a neighboring inn. Nothing remains of the +abbey as Wolsey saw it excepting the gate in the east wall through which +he entered. The present ruins are fragments of a house built afterwards. +The foundations that can still be traced show that it was a grand old +building. The gardens and park now raise vegetables for the Leicester +market. + +[Illustration: GATEWAY, NEWGATE STREET, LEICESTER.] + +Leicester Castle still exists only in a portion of the great hall, but +it has been enlarged and modernized, and is now used for the county +offices. The castle was built after the Norman Conquest to keep the +townspeople in check. It was afterwards a stronghold of Simon de +Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and it then became part of the Duchy of +Lancaster. The Dukes of Lancaster restored it, and lived there +frequently in great pomp, and they also built the adjoining Hospital of +the Newarke and a singular earthwork alongside, called the Mount. +Several parliaments were held here, but after the time of Edward IV. the +castle fell into decay. There are now few remains of the original +castle, excepting part of the great hall and the Mount or earthwork of +the keep, which is about thirty feet high and one hundred feet in +diameter upon its flat, circular top. Not far from Leicester was fought +the last great battle of the "Wars of the Roses," Bosworth Field, upon +Redmoor Plain, about two miles from the village now known as Market +Bosworth. It was a moor at the time of the battle in 1485, overgrown +with thistles and scutch-grass. Shakespeare has been the most popular +historian of this battle, and the well where Richard slaked his thirst +is still pointed out, with other localities of the scenes of the famous +contest that decided the kingship of England, Richard III. giving place +to Richmond, who became Henry VII. + + +THE EDGEHILL BATTLEFIELD. + +[Illustration: EDGEHILL.] + +While we are considering this locality two other famous battlefields not +far away, that together were decisive of the fate of England, must not +be overlooked. These were Edgehill and Naseby, the opening and closing +contests of the Civil War that overthrew Charles I., the scene of one +being visible from the other, though the intervening contest spread +almost all over the island. The high ground that borders Warwickshire +and Northamptonshire has various roads crossing it, and the opposing +forces meeting on these highlands made them the scenes of the +battles--practical repetitions of many hot contests there in earlier +years. The command of the Parliamentary army had been given to the Earl +of Essex, and he and all his officers were proclaimed traitors by the +king. Charles I. assembled an army at Nottingham in 1642 to chastise +them, and it was considered an evil omen that when the royal standard +was set up on the evening of the day of assemblage, a gale arose and it +was blown down. Charles moved west from Nottingham to Shrewsbury to meet +reinforcements from Wales, and then his army numbered eighteen thousand +men. Essex was at Northampton, and moved southward to Worcester. Charles +desired to march to London to break up the Parliament, but to do this +must either defeat or outflank Essex. He chose the latter plan, moved to +Kenilworth, but could not enter Coventry, because Lord Brooke, who was +afterwards killed at Lichfield, held it for the Parliament. Essex left +Worcester, and pressed the king by forced marches, but Charles turned +his flank and started for London with Essex in pursuit. In October he +reached Edgecot, near the field at Edgehill, and there in the open +country he was astonished to find a gentleman amusing himself with a +pack of hounds. He asked who it was who could hunt so merrily while his +sovereign was about to fight for his crown. Mr. Richard Shuckburgh was +accordingly introduced, and the king persuaded him to take home his +hounds and raise his tenantry. The next day he joined Charles with a +troop of horse, and was knighted on the field of Edgehill. + +Charles slept in the old house at Edgecot: the house has been superseded +by a newer one, in which is preserved the bed in which the king rested +on the night of October 22, 1642. At three o'clock next morning, Sunday, +he was aroused by a messenger from Prince Rupert, whose cavalry guarded +the rear, saying that Essex was at hand, and the king could fight at +once if he wished. He immediately ordered the march to Edgehill, a +magnificent situation for an army to occupy, for here the broken country +of the Border sinks suddenly down upon the level plain of Central +England. Essex's camp-fires on that plain the previous night had +betrayed his army to Prince Rupert, while Rupert's horsemen, appearing +upon the brow of the hill, told Essex next morning that the king was at +hand. Edgehill is a long ridge extending almost north and south, with +another ridge jutting out at right angles into the plain in front: thus +the Parliamentary troops were on low ground, bounded in front and on +their left by steep hills. On the southern side of Edgehill there had +been cut out of the red iron-stained rock of a projecting cliff a huge +red horse, as a memorial of the great Earl of Warwick, who before a +previous battle had killed his horse and vowed to share the perils of +the meanest of his soldiers. Both sides determined to give battle; the +Puritan ministers passed along the ranks exhorting the men to do their +duty, and they afterwards referred to the figure as the "Red Horse of +the wrath of the Lord which did ride about furiously to the ruin of the +enemy." Charles disposed his army along the brow of the hill, and could +overlook his foes, stretched out on the plain, as if on a map, with the +village of Kineton behind them. Essex had twelve thousand men on a +little piece of rising ground known afterwards as the "Two Battle +Farms," Battledon and Thistledon. The king was superior both in numbers +and position, with Prince Rupert and his cavalry on the right wing; Sir +Edmund Verney bore the king's standard in the centre, where his tent was +pitched, and Lord Lindsey commanded; under him was General Sir Jacob +Astley, whose prayer before the battle is famous: "O Lord, thou knowest +how busy I must be this day; if I forget thee, do not thou forget +me.--March on, boys!" The king rode along in front of his troops in the +stately figure that is familiar in Vandyke's paintings--full armor, with +the ribbon of the Garter across his breastplate and its star on his +black velvet mantle--and made a brief speech of exhortation. The young +princes Charles and James, his sons, both of them afterwards kings of +England, were present at Edgehill, while the philosopher Hervey, who +discovered the circulation of the blood, was also in attendance, and we +are told was found in the heat of the battle sitting snugly under a +hedge reading a copy of Virgil. + +[Illustration: MILL AT EDGEHILL.] + +The battle did not begin till afternoon, and the mistake the king made +was in not waiting for the attack in his strong position on the brow of +the hill; but his men were impatient and in high spirits, and he +permitted them to push forward, meeting the attack halfway. Rupert's +cavalry upon encountering the Parliamentary left wing were aided by the +desertion of part of the latter's forces, which threw them into +confusion; the wing broke and fled before the troopers, who drove them +with great slaughter into the village of Kineton, and then fell to +plundering Essex's baggage-train. This caused a delay which enabled the +Parliamentary reserves to come up, and they drove Rupert back in +confusion; and when he reached the royal lines he found them in +disorder, with Sir Edmund Verney killed and the royal standard captured. +Lord Lindsey wounded and captured, and the king in personal danger: but +darkness came, and enabled the king to hold his ground, and each side +claimed a victory. The royal standard was brought back by a courageous +Cavalier, who put on a Parliamentary orange-colored scarf, rode into the +enemy's lines, and persuaded the man who had it to let him carry it. For +this bold act he was knighted by the king on the spot and given a gold +medal. There were about fourteen hundred killed in the battle, and +buried between the two farm-houses of Battledon and Thistledon, at a +place now called the Graveyards. Lord Lindsey died on his way to Warwick +with his captors. Cromwell was not personally engaged at Edgehill, +although there as a captain of cavalry. Carlyle says that after watching +the fight he told Hampden they never would get on with a "set of poor +tapsters and town-apprentice people fighting against men of honor; to +cope with men of honor they must have men of religion." Hampden +answered, "It was a good notion if it could be executed;" and Cromwell +"set about executing a bit of it, his share of it, by and by." + + +THE BATTLE OF NASEBY. + +[Illustration: CHURCH AND MARKET-HALL, MARKET HARBOROUGH.] + +The last great contest of the Civil War, at which the fate of King +Charles was really decided, was fought nearly three years afterwards, +June 14, 1645, and but a few miles north-east of Edgehill, at Naseby, +standing on a high plateau elevated nearly seven hundred feet. The +Parliamentary forces had during the interval become by far the stronger, +and were engaged in besieging Chester. The king and Prince Rupert in May +left Oxford with their forces, and marched northward, hoping to raise +this siege. The king had gone as far north as Leicester, when, hearing +that Lord Fairfax had come from the borders of Wales and besieged +Oxford, he turned about to relieve it. His army was about ten thousand +strong, and, having reached Daventry in June, halted, while Fairfax, +leaving Oxford, marched northward to meet the king, being five miles +east of him on June 12. Being weaker than Fairfax, the king determined +on retreat, and the movement was started towards Market Harborough, just +north of Naseby. The king, a local tradition says, while sleeping at +Daventry was warned, by the apparition of Lord Strafford in a dream, not +to measure his strength with the Parliamentary army. A second night the +apparition came, assuring him that "if he kept his resolution of +fighting he was undone;" and it is added that the king was often +afterwards heard to say he wished he had taken the warning and not +fought at Naseby. Fairfax, however, was resolved to force a battle, and +pursued the king's retreating army. On June 13th he sent Harrison and +Ireton with cavalry to attack its rear. That night the king's van and +main body were at Market Harborough, and his rear-guard of horse at +Naseby, three miles southward. Ireton about midnight surprised and +captured most of the rear-guard, but a few, escaping, reached the king, +and roused him at two in the morning. Fairfax was coming up, and reached +Naseby at five in the morning. The king held a council of war in the +"King's Head Inn" at Market Harborough, and determined to face about +and give battle. The forces met on Broad Moor, just north of Naseby +village. Prince Rupert had command of the royal troops, and Sir Jacob +Astley was in command of the infantry. The king rode along the lines, +inspiriting the men with a speech, to which they gave a response of +ringing cheers. Cromwell commanded the right wing of Fairfax's line, +while Ireton led the left, which was opposed by Rupert's cavalry. The +advance was made by Fairfax, and the sequel proved that the +Parliamentary forces had improved their tactics. Rupert's troopers, as +usual, broke down the wing opposing them, and then went to plundering +the baggage-wagons in the rear. But fortune inclined the other way +elsewhere. Cromwell on the right routed the royal left wing, and after +an hour's hot struggle the royal centre was completely broken up. +Fairfax captured the royal standard, and the king with his reserve of +horse made a gallant attempt to recover the day. But it was of no use. +Fairfax formed a second line of battle, and the king's wiser friends, +seizing his horse's bridle, turned him about, telling him his charge +would lead to certain destruction. Then a panic came, and the whole body +of Royalists fled, with Fairfax's cavalry in pursuit. Cromwell and his +"Ironsides" chased the fugitives almost to Leicester, and many were +slaughtered. The king never halted till he got to Ashby de la Zouche, +twenty-eight miles from the battlefield, and he then went on to +Lichfield. There were one thousand Royalists killed and four thousand +five hundred captured, with almost all the baggage, among it being the +king's correspondence, which by disclosing his plans did almost equal +harm with the defeat. The prisoners were sent to London. A monument has +since been erected on the battlefield, with an inscription describing +the contest as "a useful lesson to British kings never to exceed the +bounds of their just prerogative; and to British subjects, never to +swerve from the allegiance due to their legitimate monarch." This is +certainly an oracular utterance, and of its injunctions the reader can +take his choice. + + +THE LAND OF SHAKESPEARE. + +[Illustration: SHAKESPEARE'S HOUSE.] + +Close to the village of Naseby rises the Avon, some of its springs being +actually within the village, where their waters are caught in little +ponds for watering cattle. The slender stream of Shakespeare's river +flows downward from the plateau through green meadows, and thence to the +classic ground of Stratford and of Warwick. It was at Stratford-on-Avon +that Shakespeare was born and died; + + "Here his first infant lays sweet Shakespeare sung, + Here the last accents faltered on his tongue." + +[Illustration: ANNE HATHAWAY'S COTTAGE.] + +The old house where he was born is on the main street of the town, and +has been taken possession of by a Trust which has restored it to its +original condition. Its walls are covered with the initials of visitors; +there is nothing to be seen in the house that has any proved connection +with Shakespeare excepting his portrait, painted when he was about +forty-five years old. The sign of the butcher who had the building +before the Trust bought it is also exhibited, and states that "The +immortal Shakespeare was born in this house." His birth took place in +this ancient but carefully preserved building on April 23, 1564, and +exactly fifty-two years later, on April 23, 1616, he died in another +house near by, known as the "New Place," on Chapel Street. Excepting the +garden and a portion of the ancient foundations nothing now remains of +the house where Shakespeare died; a green arbor in the yard, with the +initials of his name set in the front fence, being all that marks the +spot. Adjoining the remnants of this "New Place" is the "Nash House," +where the curator representing the Shakespeare Trust has his home. This +building is also indirectly connected with Shakespeare, having belonged +to and been occupied by Thomas Nash, who married Elizabeth Hall, the +poet's granddaughter, who subsequently became Lady Barnard. The church +of the Holy Trinity at Stratford contains Shakespeare's grave; five flat +stones lying in a row across the narrow chancel cover his family, the +grave of Anne Hathaway, his wife, being next to that of the poet; his +monument is on the wall, and near it is the American memorial window, +representing the Seven Ages of Man. In the chancel upon the western +side, within a Grecian niche, is the well-known half-figure monument of +Shakespeare that has been so widely copied, representing him in the act +of composition. The most imposing building in Stratford is the +"Shakespeare Memorial," a large and highly ornamental structure, +thoroughly emblematic, and containing a theatre. Stratford is full of +relics of Shakespeare and statues and portraits in his memory. There is +a life-size statue of the poet outside the Town-Hall which was presented +to the city by Garrick in the last century, while within the building is +his full-length portrait, also a present from Garrick, together with +Gainsborough's portrait of Garrick himself. At the modest hamlet of +Shottery, about a mile out of town, is the little cottage where Anne +Hathaway lived, and where the poet is said to have "won her to his +love;" a curious bedstead and other relics are shown at the cottage. +Charlecote House, the scene of Shakespeare's youthful deer-stealing +adventure that compelled him to go to London, is about four miles east +of Stratford, near the Avon: it is an ancient mansion of the Elizabethan +period. In the neighborhood are also a mineral spring known as the Royal +Victoria Spa and some ancient British intrenchments called the Dingles. + + +WARWICK + +[Illustration: WARWICK CASTLE.] + +The renowned castle of Warwick is upon the Avon, a short distance above +Stratford. Warwick was founded by the Britons at a very early period, +and is believed to be as old in some parts as the Christian era; it was +afterwards held as a Christian stronghold against the Danes. Lady +Ethelfleda, daughter of King Alfred, built the donjon-keep upon an +artificial mound of earth that can still be traced in the castle +grounds. The most ancient part of the present castle was erected in the +reign of Edward the Confessor, and in William the Conqueror's time it +received considerable additions, and he created the first Earl of +Warwick. It was a great stronghold in the subsequent wars, and an +heiress brought the castle to Richard Neville, who assumed the title in +right of his wife, and was the famous Warwick, "the King-maker." After +many changes it came to the Grevilles, who are now the Earls of Warwick. +This castle is one of the best specimens of the feudal stronghold +remaining in England, and occupies a lovely position on the river-bank, +being built on a rock about forty feet high; its modern apartments +contain a rich museum filled with almost priceless relics of the olden +time. Here are also valuable paintings and other works of art, among +them Vandyck's portrait of Charles I. and many masterpieces of +Rembrandt, Paul Veronese, Leonardo da Vinci, Rubens, Holbein, and +Salvator Rosa. In December, 1871, the great hall and suite of private +apartments at Warwick were burnt, but the valuable contents were almost +all saved with little injury. The castle was restored by a public +subscription. It is built around a large oval-shaped court; the +gatehouse tower is flanked by embattled walls covered with ivy, and +having at either extremity Caesar's Tower and Guy's Tower; the inner +court is bounded by ramparts and turrets, and has on one side an +artificial mound surmounted by an ancient tower. From the modernized +rooms of the castle, where the family live and the museum is located, +and which extend in a suite for three hundred and fifty feet, all the +windows look out upon beautiful views; many of these rooms are hung with +tapestry. Caesar's Tower, believed to be the most ancient part of the +castle and as old as the Norman Conquest, is one hundred and +seventy-four feet high; Guy's Tower, which was built in 1394, has solid +walls ten feet thick and is one hundred and twenty-eight feet high, +disclosing fine views from the turrets. The grounds are extensive, and +the magnificent marble "Warwick Vase," brought from the Emperor Adrian's +villa at Tivoli in Italy, is kept in a special greenhouse, being one of +the most completely perfect and beautiful specimens of ancient sculpture +known. St. Mary's Church at Warwick is a fine building, which in the +early part of the last century replaced the original collegiate church +of St. Mary, an edifice that had unfortunately been burnt. Thomas +Beauchamp, one of the earlier Earls of Warwick, was the founder of this +church, and his monument with recumbent effigy is in the middle of the +choir. The Beauchamp Chapel, over four hundred years old, is a beautiful +relic of the original church still remaining, and stands on the southern +side of the new building. The whole of this portion of Warwickshire is +underlaid by medicinal waters, and the baths of Leamington are in the +valley of the little river Leam, a short distance north-east of the +castle, its Jephson Gardens, a lovely park, commemorating one of the +most benevolent patrons. + +Warwick Castle, like all the others, has its romance, and this centres +in the famous giant, Guy of Warwick, who lived nearly a thousand years +ago, and was nine feet high. His staff and club and sword and armor are +exhibited in a room adjoining Caesar's Tower; and here also is Guy's +famous porridge-pot, a huge bronze caldron holding over a hundred +gallons, which is used as a punch-bowl whenever there are rejoicings in +the castle. There is nothing fabulous about the arms or the +porridge-pot, but there is a good deal that is doubtful about the giant +Guy himself and the huge dun cow that once upon a time he slew, one of +whose ribs, measuring over six feet long, is shown at Guy's Cliff. This +cliff is where the redoubtable Guy retired as a hermit after championing +the cause of England in single combat against a giant champion of the +Danes, and is about a mile from Warwick. It is a picturesque spot, and a +chantry has been founded there, while for many years a rude statue of +the giant Guy stood on the cliff, where the chisel had cut it out of +the solid rock. The town of Warwick is full of old gabled houses and of +curious relics of the time of the "King-maker" and of the famous Earl of +Leicester, who in Elizabeth's time founded there the Leicester Hospital, +where especial preference is given to pensioners who have been wounded +in the wars. It is a fine old house, with its chapel, which has been +restored nearly in the old form, stretching over the pathway, and a +flight of steps leading up to the promenade around it. The hospital +buildings are constructed around an open quadrangle, and upon the quaint +black and white building are some fine antique carvings. The old +"Malt-Shovel Inn" is a rather decayed structure in Warwick, with its +ancient porch protruding over the street, while some of the buildings, +deranged in the lower stories by the acute angles at which the streets +cross, have oblique gables above stairs that enabled the builders to +construct the upper rooms square. This is a style of construction +peculiar to Warwick, and adds to the oddity of this somnolent old town, +that seems to have been practically asleep for centuries. + +[Illustration: LEICESTER'S HOSPITAL, WARWICK.] + +[Illustration: OBLIQUE GABLES IN WARWICK.] + + +KENILWORTH. + +[Illustration: KENILWORTH CASTLE.] + +About five miles from Warwick are the ruins of Kenilworth Castle, the +magnificent home of the Earl of Leicester, which Scott has immortalized. +Geoffrey de Clinton in the reign of Henry I. built a strong castle and +founded a monastery here. It was afterwards the castle of Simon de +Montfort, and his son was besieged in it for several months, ultimately +surrendering, when the king bestowed it on his youngest son, Edward, +Earl of Lancaster and Leicester. Edward II., when taken prisoner in +Wales, was brought to Kenilworth, and signed his abdication in the +castle, being afterwards murdered in Berkeley Castle. Then it came to +John of Gaunt, and in the Wars of the Roses was alternately held by the +partisans of each side. Finally, Queen Elizabeth bestowed it upon her +ambitious favorite, Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who made splendid +additions to the buildings. It was here that Leicester gave the +magnificent entertainment to Queen Elizabeth which was a series of +pageants lasting seventeen days, and cost $5000 a day--a very large sum +for those times. The queen was attended by thirty-one barons and a host +of retainers, and four hundred servants, who were all lodged in the +fortress. The attendants were clothed in velvet, and the party drank +sixteen hogsheads of wine and forty hogsheads of beer every day, while +to feed them ten oxen were killed every morning. There was a succession +of plays and amusements provided, including the Coventry play of "Hock +Tuesday" and the "Country Bridal," with bull-and bear-baiting, of which +the queen was very fond. Scott has given a gorgeous description of these +fetes and of the great castle, and upon these and the tragic fate of Amy +Robsart has founded his romance of _Kenilworth_. The display and +hospitality of the Earl of Leicester were intended to pave the way to +marriage, but the wily queen was not to be thus entrapped. The castle is +now part of the Earl of Clarendon's estate, and he has taken great pains +to preserve the famous ruins. The great hall, ninety feet long, still +retains several of its Gothic windows, and some of the towers rise +seventy feet high. These ivy-mantled ruins stand upon an elevated rocky +site commanding a fine prospect, and their chief present use is as a +picnic-ground for tourists. Not far away are the ruins of the priory, +which was founded at the same time as the castle. A dismantled +gate-house with some rather extensive foundations are all that remain. +In a little church near by the matins and the curfew are still tolled, +one of the bells used having belonged to the priory. Few English ruins +have more romance attached to them than those of Kenilworth, for the +graphic pen of the best story-teller of Britain has interwoven them into +one of his best romances, and has thus given an idea of the splendors as +well as the dark deeds of the Elizabethan era that will exist as long as +the language endures. + + +[Illustration: ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH, BIRMINGHAM.] + +BIRMINGHAM. + +Thus far we have mainly written of the rural and historical attractions +of Warwickshire, but its great city must not be passed by without +notice. The "Homestead of the Sons of Beorm" the Saxon, while rising +from small beginnings, has had a prodigiously rapid growth since the +coal, iron, and railways have so greatly swollen the wealth and +population of manufacturing England. It was at the time of the Conquest +the manor of Bermingeham, or, as the Midland English prefer to pronounce +it, "Brummagem." It was held for many years by a family of the same +name, and had an uneventful history till the townsfolk ranged themselves +on the side of Parliament in the Civil War, in revenge for which Prince +Rupert captured and pillaged Birmingham: it was then a market-town, +built mostly along one street, and noted for its smiths and cutlers, who +were kept busy in forging pikes and swords for the king's opponents. The +great growth of the city has been in the present century, when the +population has trebled, and now approaches four hundred thousand. The +main features of its history relate to trade and manufactures, otherwise +its annals are comparatively commonplace. There is little remaining of +the old town, almost all the structures being modern. St. Martin's +Church, replacing the original parish church, or "Mother Church," as it +is called, is a fine modern structure, and contains some interesting +monuments of the Bermingeham family. There are several other attractive +churches, including the Unitarian church of the Messiah, which is +supported on massive arches, for it is built over a canal on which are +several locks: this has given cause for a favorite Birmingham witticism: + + "St. Peters world-wide diocese + Rests on the power of the keys; + Our church, a trifle heterodox, + We'll rest on a 'power of locks.'" + +[Illustration: ASTON HALL.] + +[Illustration: THE "GALLERY OF THE PRESENCE," ASTON HALL.] + +Birmingham has many fine public and private buildings and some +attractive streets, though much of the town is made up of narrow lanes +and dingy houses, with huge factories in every direction. There are +several small parks, the gifts of opulent residents, notably Aston Hall. +This was formerly the residence of the Holte family, and the fine old +mansion which still stands in the grounds was built by Sir Thomas Holte +in the reign of James I. Charles I. is said to have slept here for two +nights before the battle of Edgehill, for which offence the house was +cannonaded by the Puritans and its owners fined. The grounds, covering +about forty-two acres, are now a park, and a picturesque little church +has been built near the mansion. Some of the factories of this +metropolis of hardware are fine structures, but when their product is +spoken of, "Brummagem" is sometimes quoted as synonymous for showy sham. +Here they are said to make gods for the heathen and antiquities of the +Pharaoh age for Egypt, with all sorts of relics for all kinds of +battlefields. But Birmingham nevertheless has a reputation for more +solid wares. Its people are the true descendants of Tubal Cain, for one +of its historians attractively says that the Arab eats with a Birmingham +spoon; the Egyptian takes his bowl of sherbet from a Birmingham tray; +the American Indian shoots a Birmingham rifle; the Hindoo dines on +Birmingham plate and sees by the light of a Birmingham lamp; the South +American horsemen wear Birmingham spurs and gaudily deck their jackets +with Birmingham buttons; the West Indian cuts down the sugar-cane with +Birmingham hatchets and presses the juice into Birmingham vats and +coolers; the German lights his pipe on a Birmingham tinder-box; the +emigrant cooks his dinner in a Birmingham saucepan over a Birmingham +stove; and so on _ad infinitum_. A century ago this famous town was +known as the "toy-shop of Europe." Its glass-workers stand at the head +of their profession, and here are made the great lighthouse lenses and +the finest stained glass to be found in English windows. The Messrs. +Elkington, whose reputation is worldwide, here invented the process of +electro-plating. It is a great place for jewelry and the champion +emporium for buttons. It is also the great English workshop for swords, +guns, and other small-arms, and here are turned out by the million +Gillott's steel pens. Over all these industries presides the magnificent +Town Hall, a Grecian temple standing upon an arcade basement, and built +of hard limestone brought from the island of Anglesea. The interior is +chiefly a vast assembly-room, where concerts are given and political +meetings held, the latter usually being the more exciting, for we are +told that when party feeling runs high some of the Birmingham folk "are +a little too fond of preferring force to argument." But, although famed +for its Radical politics and the introduction of the "caucus" into +England, Birmingham will always be chiefly known by its manufactures, +and these will recall its illustrious inventors, Boulton and Watt. Their +factory was at Soho, just north of the town. Here Watt brought the +steam-engine to perfection, here gas was first used, plating was +perfected, and myriads of inventions were developed. "The labors of +Boulton and Watt at Soho," says the historian Langford, "changed the +commercial aspects of the world." Their history is, however, but an +epitome of the wonderful story of this great city of the glass and +metal-workers, whose products supply the entire globe. + +[Illustration: THE TOWN-HALL, BIRMINGHAM.] + + +FOTHERINGHAY. + +In our journey through Midland England we have paused at many of the +prison-houses of Mary Queen of Scots. In Northamptonshire, near Elton, +are the remains of the foundations of the castle of Fotheringhay, out in +a field, with the mound of the keep rising in front of them; this was +the unfortunate queen's last prison. It was a noted castle, dating from +the twelfth century, and had been a principal residence of the +Plantagenets. Here Mary was tried and beheaded, February 8, 1587. She +is said to have borne up under her great afflictions with marvellous +courage. Conducted to the scaffold after taking leave of all, she made a +short address, declaring that she had never sought the life of her +cousin Elizabeth--that she was queen-born, not subject to the laws, and +forgiving all. Her attendants in tears then assisted her to remove her +clothing, but she firmly said, "Instead of weeping, rejoice; I am very +happy to leave this world and in so good a cause." Then she knelt, and +after praying stretched out her neck to the executioner, imagining that +he would strike off her head while in an upright posture and with the +sword, as in France; they told her of her mistake, and without ceasing +to pray she laid her head on the block. There was a universal feeling of +compassion, even the headsman himself being so moved that he did his +work with unsteady hand, the axe falling on the back of her head and +wounding her; but she did not move nor utter a complaint, and, repeating +the blow, he struck off her head, which he held up, saying, "God save +Queen Elizabeth!" Her lips moved for some time after death, and few +recognized her features, they were so much changed. + + +HOLMBY HOUSE. + +Also in Northamptonshire is Holmby House, where King Charles I. was +captured by the army previous to his trial. It was built by Sir +Christopher Hatton in Queen Elizabeth's time, but only the gates and +some outbuildings remain. After the battle of Naseby the king +surrendered himself to the Scots, and they, through an arrangement with +the English Parliament, conducted him to Holmby House, where he +maintained something of sovereign state, though under the surveillance +of the Parliamentary commissioners. He devoted his time to receiving +visitors, the bowling-green, and the chess-table. This continued for +some months, when a struggle began between the army and the Parliament +to decide whose captive he was. The army subsequently, by a plot, got +possession of Holmby, and, practically making prisoners of the garrison +and the commissioners of Parliament, they abducted the king and took him +to a house near Huntingdon. Fairfax sent two regiments of troops thither +to escort him back to Holmby, but he had been treated with great +courtesy and declined to go back. Thus by his own practical consent the +king was taken possession of by Cromwell, Fairfax, and Ireton, who were +in command, although they denied it, and put the whole blame on one +Cornet Joyce who was in command of the detachment of troops that took +possession of Holmby. The king was ultimately taken to London, tried, +and executed in Whitehall. At Ashby St. Leger, near Daventry, in +Northamptonshire, is the gate-house of the ancient manor of the +Catesbys, of whom Robert Catesby was the contriver of the Gunpowder +Plot. The thirteen conspirators who framed the plot met in a room over +the gateway which the villagers call the "Plot-room," and here Guy +Fawkes was equipped for his task, which so alarmed the kingdom that to +this day the cellars of the Parliament Houses are searched before the +session begins for fear a new plot may have been hatched, while the +anniversary is kept as a solemn holiday in London. The lantern used by +Guy Fawkes is still preserved in the Oxford Museum having been given to +the University in 1641. + + +BEDFORD CASTLE. + +One of the most ancient of the strongholds of Midland England was the +Bedicanford of the Saxons, where contests took place between them and +the Britons as early as the sixth century. It stood in a fertile valley +on the Ouse, and is also mentioned in the subsequent contests with the +Danes, having been destroyed by them in the eleventh century. Finally, +William Rufus built a castle there, and its name gradually changed to +Bedford. It was for years subject to every storm of civil war--was taken +and retaken, the most famous siege lasting sixty days, when Henry III. +personally conducted the operations, being attended by the Archbishop of +Canterbury and the chief peers of the realm: this was in 1224, and the +most ingenious engines of war were used to batter down the castle-walls, +which till then had been regarded as impregnable. The stronghold was +ultimately captured, chiefly through the agency of a lofty wooden castle +higher than the walls, which gave an opportunity of seeing all that +passed within. The governor of the castle, twenty-four knights, and +eighty soldiers, making most of the garrison, were hanged. King Henry +then dismantled it and filled up the ditches, so as to "uproot this +nursery of sedition." The ruins lasted some time afterward, but now only +the site is known, located alongside the river Ouse, which runs through +the city of Bedford. This town is of great interest, though, as Camden +wrote two centuries ago, it is more eminent for its "pleasant situation +and antiquity than for anything of beauty and stateliness." Its +neighborhood has been a noted mine for antiquities, disclosing remains +of ancient races of men and of almost pre-historic animals of the Bronze +and Iron Ages. The town lies rather low on the river, with a handsome +bridge connecting the two parts, and pretty gardens fringing each shore. +This bridge is a modern structure, having succeeded the "old bridge," +which stood there several centuries with a gate-house at either end, in +the larger of which was the old jail, that had for its most +distinguished occupant that sturdy townsman of Bedford, John Bunyan. The +castle-mound, which is all that is left, and on which once stood the +keep, is on the river-shore just below the bridge, and is now used for a +bowling-green in the garden of the chief hotel. The memorials of the +author of the _Pilgrim's Progress_, first a prisoner and then a minister +of the gospel in Bedford, are probably the most prized remains of +ancient days that Bedford has, though they are now becoming scarce. + + +JOHN BUNYAN. + +[Illustration: ELSTOW, BEDFORD.] + +[Illustration: ELSTOW CHURCH.] + +Elstow, a village about one mile south of Bedford, was Bunyan's +birthplace. The house is still pointed out, though a new front has been +put into it, and it is a very small building, suitable to the tinker's +humble estate. The village-green where he played is near by, alongside +the churchyard wall; the church, which has been little changed, stands +on the farther side of the yard, with a massive tower at the +north-western angle, looking more like a fortress than a religious +edifice. The bells are still there which Bunyan used to ring, and they +also point out "Bunyan's Pew" inside, though the regularity of his +attendance is not vouched for, as he says "absenting himself from +church" was one of his offences during the greater part of his life. He +married early and in poor circumstances, the young couple "not having so +much household stuff as a dish or spoon betwixt them both," though he +considered it among his mercies that he was led "to light upon a wife of +godly parentage." He says that a marked change in his mental condition +suddenly began while playing a game of "tip-cat" on Sunday afternoon on +the village-green, having listened in the morning to a sermon upon +Sabbath-breaking. His conscience smote him; he abandoned the game, +leaving his cat upon the ground, and then began his great spiritual +struggle. He joined the Baptists, and began preaching, for at length, +after many tribulations, he says, "the burden fell from off his back." +He was persecuted, and committed to Bedford jail, where he remained +(with short intervals of parole) for about twelve years. Here he wrote +what Macaulay declares to be incomparably the finest allegory in the +English language--the _Pilgrim's Progress_. He was a voluminous author, +having written some sixty tracts and books. Finally pardoned in 1672, he +became pastor of the Bedford meeting-house, and afterwards escaped +molestation; he preached in all parts of the kingdom, especially in +London, where he died at the age of sixty, having caught cold in a heavy +storm while going upon an errand of mercy in 1688. His great work will +live as long as the Anglo-Saxon race endures. "That wonderful book," +writes Macaulay, "while it obtains admiration from the most fastidious +critics, is loved by those who are too simple to admire it.... Every +reader knows the strait and narrow path as well as he knows a road in +which he has gone backward and forward a hundred times. This is the +highest miracle of genius, that things which are not should be as though +they were--that the imaginations of one mind should become the personal +recollections of another; and this miracle the tinker has wrought." + +[Illustration: NORTH DOOR, ELSTOW CHURCH.] + + +WOBURN ABBEY. + +The county of Bedford gives the title to the dukedom held by the head of +the great family of Russell, and Francis Charles Hastings Russell, the +ninth Duke of Bedford, has his residence at the magnificent estate of +Woburn Abbey. It is about forty miles from London, and on the +Buckinghamshire border. Here the Cistercians founded an abbey in the +twelfth century, which continued until the dissolution of the religious +houses by Henry VIII., and the last abbot, Robert Hobs, was executed for +denying the king's religious supremacy, the tree on which he was hanged +being still carefully preserved in Woburn Park. The abbey and its domain +were granted by the youthful king Edward VI. to John Russell, first Earl +of Bedford, under circumstances which show how fortune sometimes smiles +upon mortals. Russell, who had been abroad and was an accomplished +linguist, had in 1506 returned, and was living with his father in +Dorsetshire at Berwick, near the sea-coast. Soon afterwards in a tempest +three foreign vessels sought refuge in the neighboring port of Weymouth. +On one of them was the Austrian archduke Philip, son-in-law of Ferdinand +and Isabella, who was on his way to Spain. The governor took the +archduke to his castle, and invited young Mr. Russell to act as +interpreter. The archduke was so delighted with him that he subsequently +invited Russell to accompany him on a visit to King Henry VII. at +Windsor. The king was also impressed with Russell, and appointed him to +an office in the court, and three years afterwards, Henry VIII. becoming +king, Russell was entrusted with many important duties, and was raised +to the peerage as Baron Russell. He enjoyed the king's favor throughout +his long reign, and was made one of the councillors of his son, Edward +VI., besides holding other high offices, and when the youthful prince +ascended the throne he made Russell an earl and gave him the magnificent +domain of Woburn Abbey. He also enjoyed the favor of Queen Mary, and +escorted her husband Philip from Spain, this being his last public act. +Dying in 1555, he was buried in the little parish church of Chenies, +near Woburn, where all the Russells rest from his time until now. He +thus founded one of the greatest houses of England, which has furnished +political leaders from that day to this, for the Dukes of Bedford and +Devonshire are the heads of the Whig party, and Lord John Russell +(afterwards an earl) was the uncle of the present duke. + +[Illustration: WOBURN ABBEY, WEST FRONT.] + +[Illustration: THE SCULPTURE-GALLERY, WOBURN ABBEY.] + +Woburn Abbey remained until the last century much in its original +condition, but in 1747 changes began which have since been continued, +and have resulted in the construction of the ducal palace now adorning +the spot. The mansion is a quadrangle enclosing a spacious court, the +chief front being towards the west and extending two hundred and thirty +feet. It is an Ionic building with a rustic basement, and within are +spacious state-apartments and ample accommodations for the family. The +rooms are filled with the best collection of portraits of great +historical characters in the kingdom, and most of them are by famous +artists. They include all the Earls and Dukes of Bedford, with their +wives and famous relatives, and also the Leicesters, Essexes, and +Sydneys of Queen Elizabeth's reign, with many others. The unfortunate +Lord William Russell and his wife Rachel are here, and over his portrait +is the walking-stick which supported him to the scaffold, while hanging +on the wall is a copy of his last address, printed within an hour after +his execution. Of another of these old portraits Horace Walpole writes: +"A pale Roman nose, a head of hair loaded with crowns and powdered with +diamonds, a vast ruff and still vaster fardingale, and a bushel of +pearls, are the features by which everybody knows at once the pictures +of Queen Elizabeth." There is a fine library, and passing out of it into +the flower-garden is seen on the lawn the stump of the yew tree which +Mr. Gladstone felled in October, 1878, as a memorial of his visit, he +being as proud of his ability as a forester as he is of his eminence as +a statesman. From the house a covered way leads to the statue-gallery, +which contains an admirable collection, and the green-house, one hundred +and fifty feet long, filled with valuable foreign plants, the family +being great horticulturists. Busts of the great Whig statesmen are in +the gallery, and it also contains the celebrated Lanti vase, brought +from Rome. The "Woburn Abbey Marbles" have long been a Mecca for +sculpture-loving pilgrims from both sides of the ocean. There are +extensive stables, and to them are attached a fine tennis-court and +riding-house, both constantly used by the younger Russells. Beyond is a +Chinese dairy kept for show, and in a distant part of the grounds a +curious puzzle-garden and rustic grotto. Woburn Park is one of the +largest private enclosures in England, covering thirty-five hundred +acres, and enclosed by a brick wall twelve miles long and eight feet +high. It is undulating in surface, containing several pretty lakes and +a large herd of deer. Its "Evergreen Drive" is noted, for in the +spring-time it attracts visitors from all quarters to see the +magnificence of the rhododendrons, which cover two hundred acres. The +state entrance to the park is through a large stone archway with +ornamental gates, called the "Golden Gates," on the road from London, +and having two drives of about a mile each leading up to the abbey. The +dukes are liberal patrons of agriculture, and their annual +"sheep-shearing" used to be one of the great festivals of this part of +England. They have also aided in the work of draining the Fen country, +which extends into Bedfordshire, and which has reclaimed a vast domain +of the best farm-land, stretching northward for fifty miles. + +[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE PUZZLE-GARDEN, WOBURN ABBEY.] + + +STOWE. + +We are now approaching London, and, crossing over the border into +Buckinghamshire, come to another ducal palace. This is the fine estate, +near the town of Buckingham, of Stowe, also originally an abbey, which +came into possession of the Temple family in the sixteenth century, and +in 1749 merged into the estate of the Grenvilles, the ancestors of the +Duke of Buckingham, its present owner. Stowe gets its chief fame from +its pleasure-gardens, which Pope has commemorated. They appear at a +distance like a vast grove, from whose luxuriant foliage emerge +obelisks, columns, and towers. They are adorned with arches, pavilions, +temples, a rotunda, hermitage, grotto, lake, and bridge. The temples are +filled with statuary. The mansion, which has been greatly enlarged, has +a frontage of nine hundred and sixteen feet, and its windows look out +over the richest possible landscape, profuse with every adornment. In +the interior the rooms, opening one into another, form a superb suite. +There is a Rembrandt Room, hung with pictures by that painter, and there +were many curiosities from Italy: old tapestry and draperies; rich +Oriental stuffs, the spoils of Tippoo Saib; furniture from the Doge's +Palace in Venice; marble pavements from Rome; fine paintings and +magnificent plate. Formerly, Stowe contained the grandest collection in +England, and in this superb palace, thus gorgeously furnished, Richard +Grenville, the first Duke of Buckingham, entertained Louis XVIII. and +Charles X. of France and their suites during their residence in England. +His hospitality was too much for him, and, burdened with debt, he was +compelled to shut up Stowe and go abroad. In 1845 his successor received +Queen Victoria at Stowe at enormous cost, and in 1848 there was a +financial crisis in the family. The sumptuous contents of the palace +were sold to pay the debts, and realized $375,000. A splendid avenue of +elms leads up from the town of Buckingham to Stowe, a distance of two +miles. + +Not far away from Buckingham is Whaddon Hall, formerly a seat of the +Dukes of Buckingham, but best known as the residence of Browne Willis, +an eccentric antiquary, whose person and dress were so singular that he +was often mistaken for a beggar, and who is said "to have written the +very worst hand of any man in England." He wore one pair of boots for +forty years, having them patched when they were worn out, and keeping +them till they had got all in wrinkles, so that he was known as "Old +Wrinkle-boots." He was great for building churches and quarrelling with +the clergy, and left behind him valuable collections of coins and +manuscripts, which he bequeathed to Oxford University. Great Hampden, +the home of the patriot, John Hampden, is also in Buckinghamshire. The +original house remains, much disfigured by stucco and whitewash, and +standing in a secluded spot in the Chiltern Hills; it is still the +property of his descendants in the seventh generation. + + +CRESLOW HOUSE. + +The manor of Creslow in Buckinghamshire, owned by Lord Clifford of +Chudleigh, is a pasture-farm of eight hundred and fifty acres, and is +said to raise some of the finest cattle in England; it was the home of +the regicide Holland. The mansion is an ancient one, spacious and +handsome, much of it, including the crypt and tower, coming down from +the time of Edward III., with enlargements in the fifteenth and +sixteenth centuries. It is a picturesque yet venerable building, with +many gables and curious chimneys, and surmounted by a square tower and +loopholed turret. But its chief interest attaches to the two ancient +cellars known as the crypt and the dungeon: the crypt is about twelve +feet square, excavated in the limestone rock, and having a Gothic +vaulted ceiling, with a single small window; the dungeon is eighteen +feet long, half as wide, and six feet high, without any windows, and +with a roof formed of massive stones. This is the "haunted chamber of +Creslow"--haunted by a lady, Rosamond Clifford, the "Fair Rosamond" of +Woodstock, often heard, but seldom seen, by those who stay at night in +the room, which she enters by a Gothic doorway leading from the crypt. +Few have ever ventured to sleep there, but not long ago a guest was +prevailed upon to do it, and next morning at breakfast he told his +story: "Having entered the room, I locked and bolted both doors, +carefully examined the whole room, and satisfied myself that there was +no living creature in it but myself, nor any entrances but those I had +secured. I got into bed, and, with the conviction that I should sleep as +usual till six in the morning, I was soon lost in a comfortable slumber. +Suddenly I was aroused, and on raising my head to listen I heard a sound +certainly resembling the light, soft tread of a lady's footstep, +accompanied with the rustling as of a silk gown. I sprang out of bed and +lighted a candle; there was nothing to be seen and nothing now to be +heard; I carefully examined the whole room, looked under the bed, into +the fireplace, up the chimney, and at both the doors, which were +fastened as I had left them; I looked at my watch, and it was a few +minutes past twelve. As all was now perfectly quiet, I extinguished the +candle and soon fell asleep. I was again aroused; the noise was now +louder than before; it appeared like the violent rustling of a stiff +silk dress. I sprang out of bed, darted to the spot where the noise was, +and tried to grasp the intruder in my arms: my arms met together, but +enclosed nothing. The noise passed to another part of the room, and I +followed it, groping near the floor to prevent anything passing under my +arms. It was in vain; I could feel nothing; the noise had passed away +through the Gothic door, and all was still as death. I lighted a candle +and examined the Gothic door, but it was shut and fastened just as I had +left it; I again examined the whole room, but could find nothing to +account for the noise. I now left the candle burning, though I never +sleep comfortably with a light in my room; I got into bed, but felt, it +must be acknowledged, not a little perplexed at not being able to detect +the cause of the noise, nor to account for its cessation when the candle +was lighted. While ruminating on these things I fell asleep, and began +to dream about murders and secret burials and all sorts of horrible +things; and just as I fancied myself knocked down by a knight templar, I +awoke and found the sun shining brightly." + +This ancient house was originally the home of a lodge of Knights +Templar, and the dungeon, which is now said to be appropriately +decorated with skulls and other human bones, was formerly their +stronghold. At this weird mansion, within a few minutes' ride of the +metropolis, we will close our descriptive journey through Midland +England, and its mystic tale will recall that passage from the _Book of +Days_ which counsels-- + + "Doubtless there are no ghosts; + Yet somehow it is better not to move, + Lest cold hands seize upon us from behind." + + + + +IV. + +THE RIVER THAMES AND LONDON. + + The Thames Head--Cotswold Hills--Seven + Springs--Cirencester--Cheltenham--Sudeley + Castle--Chavenage--Shifford--Lechlade--Stanton Harcourt--Cumnor + Hall--Fair Rosamond--Godstow Nunnery--Oxford--Oxford + Colleges--Christ Church--Corpus Christi--Merton--Oriel--All + Souls--University--Queen's--Magdalen--Brasenose--New + College--Radcliffe Library--Bodleian + Library--Lincoln--Exeter--Wadham--Keble--Trinity--Balliol--St. + John's--Pembroke--Oxford Churches--Oxford Castle--Carfax + Conduit--Banbury--Broughton + Castle--Woodstock--Marlborough--Blenheim--Minster + Lovel--Bicester--Eynsham--Abingdon--Radley--Bacon, Rich, and + Holt--Clifton Hampden--Caversham--Reading--Maidenhead--Bisham + Abbey--Vicar of Bray--Eton College--Windsor Castle--Magna Charta + Island--Cowey Stakes--Ditton--Twickenham--London--Fire + Monument--St. Paul's Cathedral--Westminster Abbey--The + Tower--Lollards and Lambeth--Bow Church--St. + Bride's--Whitehall--Horse Guards--St. James Palace--Buckingham + Palace--Kensington Palace--Houses of Parliament--Hyde Park--Marble + Arch--Albert Memorial--South Kensington Museum--Royal + Exchange--Bank of England--Mansion House--Inns of Court--British + Museum--Some London Scenes--The Underground Railway--Holland + House--Greenwich--Tilbury Fort--The Thames Mouth. + + +THE THAMES HEAD. + +[Illustration: THAMES HEAD.] + +The river Thames is the largest and most important river in England, and +carries the greatest commerce in the world. From the Cotswold Hills in +Gloucestershire it flows to the eastward past London, and after a course +of two hundred and twenty miles empties into the North Sea. The +confluence of many small streams draining the Cotswolds makes the +Thames, but its traditional source, or "The Thames Head," is in +Trewsbury Mead, about three miles from Cirencester, and at an elevation +of three hundred and seventy-six feet above the sea-level. The waters of +the infant stream are at once pressed into service for pumping into the +higher levels of a canal, which pierces the Cotswolds by a long tunnel, +and connects the Thames with the Severn River, flowing along their +western base. It receives many tiny rivulets that swell its current, +until at Cricklade the most ambitious of these affluents joins it, and +even lays claim to be the original stream. This is the Churn, rising at +the "Seven Springs," about three miles from Cheltenham, and also on the +slope of the Cotswolds. The Churn claims the honor because it is twenty +miles long, while the Thames down to Cricklade measures only ten miles. +But they come together affectionately, and journey on through rich +meadows much like other streams, until the clear waters have acquired +sufficient dignity to turn a mill. Cirencester (pronounced Cisseter), +which thus has the honor of being a near neighbor of the Thames Head, is +an ancient town, occupying the site of the Roman city of Corinium, and +is known as the "metropolis of the Cotswolds." Here four great Roman +roads met, and among the many Roman remains it has is part of the ruins +of an amphitheatre. It was a famous stronghold before the Saxons came to +England, and Polydorus tells how one Gormund, an African prince, in the +dim ages of the past, besieged it for seven long years. Then he +bethought him that if he could only set fire to the thatched roofs of +the houses he could in the commotion that would follow force an +entrance. So he set his troops at work catching sparrows, and when many +were caught fastened combustibles under their tails and let them loose. +The poor birds flew straight to their nests under the thatches, set them +in a blaze, and while the people were busy putting out the fires Gormund +got into the town. In memory of this it was afterwards called the "City +of Sparrows." The Normans built a strong castle here, and Stephen +destroyed it. The castle was rebuilt, and suffered the usual fate in the +successive civil wars, and in the Revolution of 1688 the first bloodshed +was at Cirencester. It had a magnificent abbey, built for the Black +Canons in the twelfth century, and ruled by a mitred abbot who had a +seat in Parliament. A fine gateway of this abbey remains, and also the +beautiful church with its pretty tower. It is known now as the parish +church of St. John, and has been thoroughly restored. Within are the +monuments of the Bathurst family, whose seat at Oakley Park, near the +town, has some charming scenery. Pope's Seat, a favorite resort of the +poet, is also in the park. Cheltenham, near which is the "Seven +Springs," the source of the Churn, is a popular watering-place, with the +Earl of Eldon's seat at Stowell Park not far away. Here in 1864 a Roman +villa was discovered, which has been entirely excavated. It has twenty +chambers communicating with a long corridor, and there are several +elegant tessellated pavements, while the walls are still standing to a +height of four feet. Two temples have also been found in the immediate +neighborhood. Substantial buildings have been erected to protect these +precious remains from the weather. + + +SUDELEY CASTLE AND CHAVENAGE. + +In the Cotswolds is the castle of Sudeley, its ruins being in rather +good preservation. It was an extensive work, built in the reign of Henry +VI., and was destroyed in the Civil Wars; it was a famous place in the +olden time, and was regarded as one of the most magnificent castles in +England when Queen Elizabeth made her celebrated progress thither in +1592. After the death of Henry VIII., his queen, Catharine Parr, married +Lord Seymour of Sudeley, and she died and was buried in this castle: it +is related that her leaden coffin was exhumed in 1782, two hundred and +eighty years after her death, and the remains were found in excellent +preservation. Among the records of the castle is a manuscript stating +that Catharine Parr was told by an astrologer who calculated her +nativity that she was born to sit in the "highest state of imperial +majesty," and that she had all the eminent stars and planets in her +house: this worked such lofty conceit in the lady that "her mother could +never make her sew or do any small work, saying her hands were ordained +to touch crowns and sceptres, not needles and thimbles." Near Tatbury, +and also in the Cotswolds, is the source of the classic river Avon, and +north-west of the town is the fine Elizabethan mansion of Chavenage, +with its attractive hall and chapel. The original furniture, armor, and +weapons are still preserved. This was the old manor-house of the family +of Stephens, and Nathaniel represented Gloucestershire in Parliament at +the time of the conviction of Charles I.: it is related that he was only +persuaded to agree to the condemnation by the impetuous Ireton, who came +there and sat up all night in urgent argument "to whet his almost +blunted purpose." Stephens died in May, 1649, expressing regret for +having participated in the execution of his sovereign. We are further +told in the traditions of the house that when all the relatives were +assembled for the funeral, and the courtyard was crowded with equipages, +another coach, gorgeously ornamented and drawn by black horses, solemnly +approached the porch: when it halted, the door opened, and, clad in his +shroud, the shade of Stephens glided into the carriage; the door was +closed by an unseen hand, and the coach moved off, the driver being a +beheaded man, arrayed in royal vestments and wearing the insignia of the +Star and Garter. Passing the gateway of the courtyard, the equipage +vanished in flames. Tradition maintains also that every lord of +Chavenage dying in the manor-house since has departed in the same awful +manner. + +The Thames flows on after its junction with the Churn, and receives +other pretty streams, all coming out of the Cotswolds. The Coln and the +Leche, coming in near Lechlade, swell its waters sufficiently to make it +navigable for barges, and the river sets up a towing-path, for here the +canal from the Severn joins it. The river passes in solitude out of +Gloucestershire, and then for miles becomes the boundary between +Oxfordshire on the north and Berkshire on the south. The canal has been +almost superseded by the railway, so that passing barges are rare, but +the towing-path and the locks remain, with an occasional rustic dam +thrown across the gradually widening river. In this almost deserted +region is the isolated hamlet of Shifford, where King Alfred held a +parliament a thousand years ago. Near it is the New Bridge, a solid +structure, but the oldest bridge that crosses the Thames, for it was +"new" just six hundred years ago. The Thames then receives the Windrush +and the Evenlode, and it passes over frequent weirs that have become +miniature rapids, yet not too dangerous for an expert oarsman to guide +his boat through safely. Thus the famous river comes to Bablock Hythe +Ferry, and at once enters an historic region. + + +STANTON HARCOURT AND CUMNOR HALL. + +[Illustration: DOVECOTE, STANTON HARCOURT.] + +A short distance from the ferry in Oxfordshire is Stanton Harcourt, with +its three upright sandstones, "the Devil's Coits," supposed to have been +put there to commemorate a battle between the Saxons and the Britons +more than twelve centuries ago. The village gets its name from the large +and ancient mansion of the Harcourts, of which, however, but little +remains. Pope passed the greater part of two summers in the deserted +house in a tower that bears his name, and where he wrote the fifth +volume of his translation of Homer in the topmost room: he recorded the +fact on a pane of glass in the window in 1718, and this pane has been +carefully preserved. The kitchen of the strange old house still remains, +and is a remarkable one, being described as "either a kitchen within a +chimney or a kitchen without one." In the lower part this kitchen is a +large square room; above it is octangular and ascends like a tower, the +fires being made against the walls, and the smoke climbing up them until +it reaches the conical apex, where it goes out of loopholes on any side +according to the wind. The distance from the floor to the apex is about +sixty feet, and the interior is thickly coated with soot. The fireplaces +are large enough to roast an ox whole. + +[Illustration: CUMNOR CHURCHYARD.] + +Not far from the ferry, in Berkshire, is the ancient manor-house of +Cumnor Hall, sacred to the melancholy memory of poor Amy Robsart. She +was the wife of Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and when his ambition led him +to seek Queen Elizabeth's hand it was necessary to get her out of the +way. So he sent Amy to Cumnor, where his servant Anthony Forster lived. +At first poison was tried, but she suspected it, and would not take the +potion. Then, sending all the people away, Sir Richard Varney and +Forster, with another man, strangled her, and afterwards threw her down +stairs, breaking her neck. It was at first given out that poor Amy had +fallen by accident and killed herself, but people began to suspect +differently, and the third party to the murder, being arrested for a +felony and threatening to tell, was privately made away with in prison +by Leicester's orders. Both Varney and Forster became melancholy before +their deaths, and finally a kinswoman of the earl, on her dying bed, +told the whole story. The earl had Amy buried with great pomp at Oxford, +but it is recorded that the chaplain by accident "tripped once or twice +in his speech by recommending to their memories that virtuous lady so +pitifully _murdered_, instead of saying pitifully _slain_." Sir Walter +Scott has woven her sad yet romantic story into his tale of +_Kenilworth_; and to prove how ambition overleaps itself, we find Lord +Burghley, among other reasons which he urged upon the queen why she +should not marry Leicester, saying that "he is infamed by the murder of +his wife." The queen remained a virgin sovereign, and Leicester's crime +availed only to blacken his character. + + +FAIR ROSAMOND. + +The Thames flows on past the wooded glades of Wytham Abbey, and then +revives the memory of Fair Rosamond as it skirts the scanty ruins of +Godstow Nunnery. This religious house upon the river-bank was founded in +the reign of Henry I., and the ruins are some remains of the walls and +of a small chapter-house in which Rosamond's corpse was deposited. It +was at Woodstock, in Oxfordshire, then a royal palace, that in the +twelfth century Henry II. built "Fair Rosamond's Bower" for his charmer, +who was the daughter of Lord Clifford. This bower was surrounded by a +labyrinth. Queen Eleanor, whom the king had married only from ambitious +motives, was much older than he, and he had two sons by Rosamond, whom +he is said to have first met at Godstow Nunnery. The bower consisted of +arched vaults underground. There are various legends of the discovery of +Rosamond by Eleanor, the most popular being that the queen discovered +the ball of silk the king used to thread the maze of the labyrinth, and +following it found the door and entered the bower. She is said to have +ill-treated and even poisoned Rosamond, but the belief now is that +Rosamond retired to the nunnery from sorrow at the ultimate defection of +her royal lover, and did not die for several years. The story has been +the favorite theme of the poets, and we are told that her body was +buried in the nunnery, and wax lights placed around the tomb and kept +continually burning. Subsequently, her remains were reinterred in the +chapter-house, with a Latin inscription, which is thus translated: + + "This tomb doth here enclose the world's most beauteous rose-- + Rose passing sweet erewhile, now naught but odor vile." + +[Illustration: GODSTOW NUNNERY.] + + +OXFORD. + +[Illustration: MAGDALEN COLLEGE, FROM THE CHERWELL.] + +[Illustration: DORMER WINDOW, MERTON COLLEGE.] + +[Illustration: STONE PULPIT, MAGDALEN COLLEGE.] + +[Illustration: GABLE AT ST. ALDATE'S COLLEGE.] + +[Illustration: BOW WINDOW, MAGDALEN COLLEGE.] + +As we float along the quiet Thames the stately towers and domes of the +university city of Oxford come in sight, and appear to suddenly rise +from behind a green railway embankment. Here the Cherwell flows along +the Christ Church meadows to join the great river, and we pause at the +ancient Ousenford--or the ford over the Ouse or Water--a name which time +has changed to Oxford. The origin of the famous university is involved +in obscurity. The city is mentioned as the scene of important political +and military events from the time of King Alfred, but the first +undisputed evidence that it was a seat of learning dates from the +twelfth century. Religious houses existed there in earlier years, and to +these schools were attached for the education of the clergy. From these +schools sprang the secular institutions that finally developed into +colleges, and common interest led to the association from which +ultimately came the university. The first known application of the word +to this association occurs in a statute of King John. In the thirteenth +century there were three thousand students at Oxford, and Henry III. +granted the university its first charter. In those early times the +university grew in wealth and numbers, and intense hostility was +developed between the students and townspeople, leading to the quarrels +between "Town and Gown" that existed for centuries, and caused frequent +riots and bloodshed. A penance for one of these disturbances, which +occurred in 1355 and sacrificed several lives, continued to be kept +until 1825. The religious troubles in Henry VIII.'s time reduced the +students to barely one thousand, but a small part of whom attended the +colleges, so that in 1546 only thirteen degrees were conferred. In 1603 +the university was given representation in Parliament; it was loyal to +Charles I., and melted its plate to assist him, so that after his +downfall it was plundered, and almost ceased to have an existence as an +institution of learning; it has since had a quiet and generally +prosperous history. The university comprises twenty-one colleges, the +oldest being University College, founded in 1249, and the youngest the +Keble Memorial College, founded in 1870. University College, according +to tradition, represents a school founded by King Alfred in 872, and it +celebrated its millennial anniversary in 1872. Balliol College, founded +between 1263 and 1268, admits no one who claims any privilege on account +of rank or wealth, and is regarded as having perhaps the highest +standard of scholarship at Oxford. Christ Church College is the most +extensive in buildings, numbers, and endowments, and is a cathedral +establishment as well as college. There are now about eighty-five +hundred members of the university and twenty-five hundred +undergraduates. The wealth of some of the colleges is enormous, and they +are said to own altogether nearly two hundred thousand acres of land in +different parts of the kingdom, and to have about $2,100,000 annual +revenues, of which they expend not over $1,500,000, the remainder +accumulating. They also have in their gift four hundred and forty-four +benefices, with an annual income of $950,000. It costs a student about +$1200 to $1500 a year to live at Oxford, and about $325 in university +and college fees from matriculation to graduation, when he gets his +degree of B.A., or, if inattentive, fails to pass the examination, and, +in Oxford parlance, is said to be "plucked." + + +THE OXFORD COLLEGES. + +[Illustration: GATEWAY OF CHRIST CHURCH COLLEGE.] + +The enumeration of the colleges which make up the university will +naturally begin with the greatest, Christ Church, founded by Cardinal +Wolsey, of which the principal facade extends four hundred feet along +St. Aldate's Street, and has a noble gateway in the centre surmounted by +a six-sided tower with a dome-like roof. Here hangs the great bell of +Oxford, "Old Tom," weighing seventeen thousand pounds, which every +night, just after nine o'clock, strikes one hundred and one strokes, +said to be in remembrance of the number of members the college had at +its foundation. Wolsey's statue stands in the gateway which leads into +the great quadrangle, called by the students, for short, "Tom Quad." +Here are the lodgings of the dean and canons, and also the Great Hall, +the finest in Oxford, and the room where the sovereign is received +whenever visiting the city. The ancient kitchen adjoins the hall, and +near by is the entrance to the cathedral, which has been restored, and +the ancient cloisters. From the buildings a meadow extends down to the +rivers, the Cherwell on the left and the Thames (here called the Isis) +on the right, which join at the lower part of the meadow. Beautiful +walks are laid out upon it, including the famous Oxford promenade, the +Broad Walk, a stately avenue of elms bordering one side of the meadow. +Here, on the afternoon of Show Sunday, which comes immediately before +Commemoration Day, nearly all the members of the university and the +students, in academic costume, make a promenade, presenting an animated +scene. + +[Illustration: MERTON COLLEGE CHAPEL.] + +[Illustration: GATEWAY, MERTON COLLEGE.] + +[Illustration: ORIEL COLLEGE.] + +Corpus Christi College was founded by Bishop Fox of Winchester in 1516, +and its quadrangle, which remains much as at the foundation, contains +the founder's statue, and also a remarkable dial, in the centre of which +is a perpetual calendar. This college is not very marked in +architecture. It stands at the back of Christ Church, and adjoining it +is Merton College, founded in 1264 by Walter de Merton. His idea was to +forbid the students following in after life any other pursuit than that +of parish priest. The chapel of Merton is one of the finest in Oxford, +and its massive tower is a city landmark. The entrance-gateway, +surmounted by a sculptured representation of St. John the Baptist, is +attractive, and the two college quadrangles are picturesque, the "Mob +Quad," or library quadrangle, being five hundred years old, with the +Treasury and its high-pitched ashlar roof and dormer windows above one +of the entrance-passages. St. Alban Hall, built about 1230, adjoins +Merton, and is a Gothic structure with a curious old bell-tower. Oriel +College stands opposite Corpus Christi, but the ancient buildings of the +foundation in 1324-26 have all been superseded by comparatively modern +structures of the seventeenth century: though without any striking +architectural merits, the hall and chapel of this college are extremely +picturesque. Its fame is not so much from its buildings as from some of +its fellows, Whately, Keble, Wilberforce, Newman, Pusey, and Arnold +having been among them. St. Mary's Hall, an offshoot founded in the +fourteenth century, stands near this college. All Souls College is on +the High Street, and was founded in 1437, its buildings being, however, +modern, excepting one quadrangle. In the chapel is a magnificent +reredos, presented by Lord Bathurst, who was a fellow of All Souls, and +containing figures representing most of the fellows of his time: in the +library are Wren's original designs for building St. Paul's. This +college was founded by Archbishop Chichele for "the hele of his soul" +and of the souls of all those who perished in the French wars of King +Henry V.; hence its name. We are told that the good archbishop was much +troubled where to locate his college, and there appeared to him in a +dream a "right godly personage," who advised him to build it on the High +Street, and at a certain spot where he would be sure in digging to find +a "mallard, imprisoned but well fattened, in the sewer." He hesitated, +but all whom he consulted advised him to make the trial, and +accordingly, on a fixed day after mass, with due solemnity the digging +began. They had not dug long, the story relates, before they heard "amid +the earth horrid strugglings and flutterings and violent quackings of +the distressed mallard." When he was brought out he was as big as an +ostrich, and "much wonder was thereat, for the lycke had not been seen +in this londe nor in onie odir." The Festival of the Mallard was long +held in commemoration of this event, at which was sung the "Merry Song +of the All Souls Mallard," beginning-- + + "Griffin, bustard, turkey, capon, + Let other hungry mortals gape on, + And on the bones their stomach fill hard; + But let All Souls men have their mallard. + Oh, by the blood of King Edward, + It was a wopping, wopping mallard!" + +While the festival has passed away, the song is still sung at Oxford, +and the tale has given rise to much literature, there having been +vigorous contests waged over the authenticity of the mallard. + +University College, also on the High Street, though the earliest +founded, now has no building older than the seventeenth century. It has +an imposing Gothic front with two tower-gateways, while the recently +constructed New Building is an elegant structure erected in 1850. +Queen's College, founded in 1341 by Queen Philippa's confessor, and +hence its name, is a modern building by Wren and his pupils. St. Edmund +Hall, opposite Queen's College, is a plain building, but with +magnificent ivy on its walls. + + +MAGDALEN AND BRASENOSE. + +[Illustration: MAGDALEN COLLEGE CLOISTERS.] + +Bishop Patten of Winchester, who was surnamed Waynflete, founded +Magdalen College in 1458. It stands by the side of the Cherwell, and its +graceful tower, nearly four hundred years old, rises one hundred and +forty-five feet--one of the most beautiful constructions in Oxford. Its +quadrangles are fine, especially the one known as the Cloisters, which +remains much as it was in the time of the founder, and is ornamented +with rude sandstone statues erected in honor of a visit from King James +I. In accordance with ancient custom, on the morning of the first of +May, just as five o'clock strikes, a solemn Te Deum is sung on the top +of Magdalen Tower, where the choristers assemble in surplices and with +uncovered heads. When it closes the crowd on the ground below give out +discordant blasts from myriads of tin horns, but the Magdalen chime of +bells, said to be "the most tunable and melodious ring of bells in all +these parts and beyond," soon drowns the discord, and gives a glad +welcome to the opening of spring. This custom survives from the time of +Henry VII., and the produce of two acres of land given to the college by +that king is used to pay for a feast for the choristers, spread later in +the day in the college hall. The college has a meadow and small +deer-park attached, known as the Magdalen Walks, and encircled by the +arms of the Cherwell, while avenues of trees along raised dykes +intersect it. The avenue on the north side of this meadow is known as +"Addison's Walk," and was much frequented by him when at this college. +The little deer-park, a secluded spot, abounds with magnificent elms. It +was at Magdalen that Wolsey was educated, being known as the "Boy +Bachelor," as he got his B.A. degree at the early age of fifteen. The +Botanic Garden is opposite Magdalen College, having a fine gateway with +statues of Charles I. and II. Magdalen College School, a modern +building, but an organization coeval with the college, is a short +distance to the westward. + +[Illustration: FOUNDER'S TOWER, MAGDALEN COLLEGE.] + +[Illustration: MAGDALEN COLLEGE.] + +The King's Hall, commonly known as Brasenose College, and over the +entrance of which is a prominent brazen nose, still retains its chief +buildings as originally founded by the Bishop of Lincoln and Sir Richard +Sutton in 1512. The entrance-tower was recently restored, and the rooms +occupied by Bishop Heber, who was a member of this college, are still +pointed out, with their windows looking upon a large horse-chestnut tree +in the adjoining Exeter Gardens. This famous college is said to occupy +the spot where King Alfred's palace stood, and hence its name of the +King's Hall, which the king in his laws styled his palace. The part of +the palace which was used for the brew-house, or the _brasinium_, +afterwards became the college, and as early as Edward I. this found +ocular demonstration by the fixing of a brazen nose upon the gate. This +is also a relic of Friar Bacon's brazen head. We are told that this +famous friar, who lived at Oxford in the thirteenth century, became +convinced, "after great study," that if he should succeed in making a +head of brass which could speak, "he might be able to surround all +England with a wall of brass." So, with the assistance of another friar +and the devil, he went to work and accomplished it, but with the +drawback that the brazen head when finished was "warranted to speak in +the course of one month," but it was uncertain just when it would speak, +and "if they heard it not before it had done speaking, all their labor +would be lost." They watched it three weeks, but fatigue overmastered +them, and Bacon set his servant on watch, with orders to awaken them if +the head should speak. At the end of one half hour the fellow heard the +head say, "Time is;" at the end of another, "Time was;" and at the end +of a third half hour, "Time's past," when down fell the head with a +tremendous crash. The blockhead thought his master would be angry if +disturbed by such trifles, and this ended the experiment with the brazen +head. Yet Friar Bacon was a much wiser man than would be supposed by +those who only know him from this tale. He was esteemed the most learned +man ever at the great university, and it is considered doubtful if any +there in later years surpassed him. + + +NEW COLLEGE AND RADCLIFFE LIBRARY. + +[Illustration] + +William of Wykeham founded the New College, or the College of St. Mary +Winton, in 1380. It has a noble entrance, and in a niche above the +gateway is the Virgin, to whom an angel and the founder are addressing +themselves in prayer. The chapel has a massive detached bell-tower, and +in its windows are some fine stained glass, while the silver staff of +William of Wykeham is still preserved there. The cloisters are extensive +and picturesque, the ribbed roof resembling the bottom of a boat, while +the restored hall has a fine oaken roof. The New College gardens are +enclosed on three sides by the ancient walls of the city, which are well +preserved, and the enclosure is one of the most beautiful in Oxford. +Through a door in a corner of the gardens there is a passageway opening +out of one of the bastions of the old walls into a strip of ground +called the "Slype," where a fine view is had of the bastions, with the +college bell-tower and chapel behind them. In making a recent addition +to the buildings of this college on the edge of the "Slype," the workmen +in digging for the foundations discovered the remains of a mammoth. + +[Illustration: NEW COLLEGE.] + +[Illustration: THE RADCLIFFE LIBRARY, FROM THE QUADRANGLE OF BRASENOSE.] + +New College Lane leads to Radcliffe Square, in the centre of which is +located the handsome Radcliffe Library, with colleges, churches, and +schools all around the square. Dr. Radcliffe, who was the +court-physician of King William III. and Queen Anne, founded this +library, which is in a handsome rotunda surmounted by a dome on an +octagonal base. The structure, which is one hundred feet in diameter, +rises to a height of one hundred and forty feet, and from the top there +is a fine view of the city. To the northward, at a short distance, are +the Schools, a quadrangular building, now chiefly occupied by the famous +Bodleian Library. From Radcliffe Square the entrance is through a +vaulted passage, the central gate-tower being a remarkable example of +the combination of the five orders of architecture piled one above the +other. In this building, on the lower floor, the public examinations of +the candidates for degrees are held, while above is the library which +Sir Thomas Bodley founded in the sixteenth century, and which contains +three hundred thousand volumes, including many ancient and highly-prized +works in print and manuscript. + +[Illustration: DINING-HALL, EXETER COLLEGE.] + +[Illustration: TRINITY COLLEGE CHAPEL.] + +Lincoln College was founded by Richard Flemyng, Bishop of Lincoln, in +1427. Here John Wesley was a member, and the pulpit from which he +preached is still kept as a precious relic. Opposite to Lincoln is Jesus +College, founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1571, though others assisted; it +was intended to be exclusively for Welshmen, but this has since been +changed. The chapel has a double chancel. Alongside of Lincoln is Exeter +College, founded by Walter Stapleton of Exeter in 1314: this is one of +the largest colleges, the greater part of the buildings being modern; +they are among the finest in Oxford. The hall, restored in the present +century, has a high-pitched timber roof, while the chapel, which is one +of the most remarkable edifices in Oxford, has a thin, small spire that +is conspicuous from a great distance. The Ashmolean Museum adjoins +Exeter College, and next to this is the Sheldonian Theatre, built in +1669 by Archbishop Sheldon of Canterbury, where the annual commemoration +is held and the honorary degrees are conferred. Not far away is Wadham +College, founded in 1613 by Nicholas Wadham and Dorothy his wife. It +has excellent buildings and a most beautiful garden. There is a new +Museum of Natural History in the park near by, and also Keble College, +founded in 1868 as a memorial of Rev. John Keble, the author of the +_Christian Year_. Its buildings are of variegated brick, the chapel +being the loftiest, most costly, and finest of its style in Oxford. The +building is a perfect glare of coloring. + +[Illustration: WINDOW IN ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, GARDEN FRONT.] + +Trinity College was founded in 1554 by Sir Thomas Pope. Its tower and +chapel are Grecian, and the chapel has a most beautiful carved screen +and altarpiece. The library contains a chalice that once belonged to St. +Alban's Abbey. Kettel Hall, now a private dwelling, is a picturesque +building in front of Trinity. On Broad Street, where Trinity stands, is +also Balliol College, founded in the thirteenth century by John Balliol. +None of the existing buildings are earlier than the fifteenth century, +while the south front, with its massive tower, has just been rebuilt. It +was here that the martyrs Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley were burned. A +little farther along the same street is St. John's College, which Sir +Thomas White founded in 1557. It is fronted by a terrace planted with +fine elms. Its quadrangles and cloisters are much admired, especially +the venerable oriel windows and quaint stone gables of the library. St. +John's gardens are regarded as among the most attractive in Oxford. +Opposite St. John's are the university galleries, with their display of +the Pomfret Marbles and Raphael and Michel Angelo's paintings and +drawings, and behind this building is Worcester College, founded in 1714 +by Sir Thomas Cookes. Its gardens contain a lake. Pembroke College is +opposite Christ Church, and was founded in 1624 in honor of the Earl of +Pembroke, then the chancellor of the university. While its +entrance-gateway and hall, recently built, are fine, the other buildings +are not attractive. The chief remembrance of Pembroke is of Dr. Samuel +Johnson, who occupied apartments over the original gateway, but was +compelled by poverty to leave the college before taking his degree. This +completes the description of the colleges, halls, and schools of the +great university, which presents an array of institutions of learning +unrivalled in any part of the world, and of which Englishmen are justly +proud. + +[Illustration: TOWER ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE.] + + +OXFORD CHURCHES AND CASTLE. + +[Illustration] + +There are some fine churches in Oxford, notably the university church of +St. Mary the Virgin, conspicuous from its Decorated spire rising one +hundred and eighty-eight feet, which is a memorial of Queen Eleanor of +Castile. A short distance to the westward is All Saints Church. Fronting +Christ Church is St. Aldate's Church, also with a lofty spire and +Decorated tower. Like most English towns, Oxford had a castle, but its +remains are now reduced to a solitary tower, a few fragments of wall, +and a high mound. This castle has long been the property of Christ +Church, and was used for a prison, whence Cranmer and his fellow-martyrs +went to the stake. The old tower was built in the days of William Rufus. +Beneath the ruins is a crypt known as Maud's Chapel. In the centre of +the mound is an octagonal vaulted chamber, approached by a long flight +of steps, and containing a well. It was in this castle that the empress +Maud was besieged by King Stephen in 1141, but escaped in the night, the +castle surrendering next morning. The ground was covered with snow at +the time, and the empress, with three attendants, clad in white, passed +unnoticed through the lines of the besiegers and crossed the Thames on +the ice. Just before this Maud escaped from the castle of Devizes as a +dead body drawn on a hearse. The castle of Oxford has been in a +dilapidated condition since Edward III.'s time. As an evidence of the +change of opinion, the Martyrs' Memorial stands on St. Giles Street in +honor of the martyrs who found the old tower of the castle their +prison-house until the bigots of that day were ready to burn them at the +stake in front of Balliol College. + +[Illustration: ALL SAINTS, FROM HIGH STREET.] + +The intersection of the four principal streets of old Oxford makes what +is called the Carfax (a word derived from _quatre voies_), and here in +the olden time stood a picturesque conduit. Conduits in former years +were ornaments in many English towns, and some of them still remain in +their original locations. This conduit, which stood in the way of +traffic, was presented as a nuisance as long ago as the time of Laud, +and Lord Harcourt in 1787 removed it to his park at Nuneham. One of the +curious changes that have come over some Oxford landmarks is related of +a group of statues in the entrance to the Schools, where the Bodleian +Library is located. This group represents Mater Academia giving a book +to King James I., sitting in his chair of state, while winged Fame +trumpets the gift throughout the world. When the king saw this, +embellished with appropriate mottoes, all of which were gloriously gilt, +the ancient historian says he exclaimed, "By my soul! this is too +glorious for Jeamy," and caused the gilded mottoes to be "whited out." +Originally, the statue of the king held a sceptre in his right hand, and +a book, commonly taken for the Bible, in his left. Both have +disappeared. The sceptre is said to have fallen upon the passing of the +Reform Bill, and the book came down about the time of the abolition of +the University Tests. The eastern part of Oxford is meadow-and +garden-land, extending down to the two famous rivers which unite just +below the town, and along whose shores the racing-boats in which the +students take so much interest are moored. Pretty bridges span both +streams, and we follow down the Thames again, skirting along its +picturesque shores past Iffley, with its romantic old mill and the +ancient church with its square tower rising behind, well-known landmarks +that are so familiar to boating-men, till we come to Nuneham Park, with +the old Carfax Conduit set on an eminence, and Blenheim Woods looming up +in the background, as we look towards Oxford. + +[Illustration: CARFAX CONDUIT.] + +[Illustration: IFFLEY MILL.] + +The church of Iffley is beautifully situated on the Thames, but little +is known of its origin or history. It was in existence in 1189, when +King Henry II. died, and its architecture indicates that it could +scarcely have been built much before that time. It is an unusually good +specimen of the Norman style, and is in wonderful preservation, +considering its age. This church is peculiarly rich in its doorways, +having three of great value, and each differing from the other. The +southern doorway is enriched with sculptured flowers, a style that is +almost unique in Norman architecture; it also contains rudely carved +imitations of Roman centaurs. On the south side of the church is an +ancient cross and one of the most venerable yew trees in the kingdom, in +the trunk of which time has made a hollow where a man could easily +conceal himself. There is not on all the Thames a scene more loved by +artists than that at Iffley, with its old mill and church embosomed in +foliage, and having an occasional fisherman lazily angling in the smooth +waters before them, while the Oxford oarsmen, some in fancy costumes, +paddle by. + +[Illustration: IFFLEY CHURCH.] + + +BANBURY AND BROUGHTON. + +If we go up the Cherwell towards the northern part of Oxfordshire, a +brief visit can be paid to the famous town of Banbury, noted for its +"castle, cross, and cakes." This was an ancient Roman station, and the +amphitheatre still exists just out of town. The castle was built in the +twelfth century, and many conflicts raged around it. Queen Elizabeth +granted the castle to Lord Saye and Sele, and one of his successors +first organized the revolt against Charles I. at his neighboring mansion +of Broughton. Banbury was a great Puritan stronghold, and it is related +that when a book descriptive of Banbury was being printed in those days, +it contained a sentence describing Banbury as remarkable for its cheese, +cakes, and ale. One Camden, looking at the press while the sheet was +being printed, thought this too light an expression, and changed the +word _ale_ into _zeal_, so that the town became noted for Banbury zeal +as well as cheese and cakes. The old castle, after standing several +desperate sieges, was demolished by the Puritans, and nothing now +remains excepting the moat and a small remnant of wall on which a +cottage has been built. The Banbury cakes are mentioned as early as +1686, and they are still in high repute, being sent to all parts of the +world. The Banbury cheese of which Shakespeare wrote is no longer made. +The Banbury cross has been immortalized in nursery-rhymes, but it was +taken down by the Puritans. The rhyme tells the little folk. + + "Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross, + To see a fine lady ride on a white horse; + With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, + She shall have music wherever she goes." + +[Illustration: CROMWELL'S PARLIAMENT-HOUSE, BANBURY.] + +Diligent research has developed some important information about this +fine lady. It appears that in "the Second Edward's reign a knight of +much renown, yclept Lord Herbert, chanced to live near famous Banbury +town." Now, this knight had one son left, and "fearless and brave was +he; and it raised the pride in the father's heart his gallant son to +see." The poetic tale goes on to relate "that near Lord Herbert's +ancient hall proud Banbury Castle stood, within the noble walls of which +dwelt a maiden young and good;" with much more to the same effect. There +is the usual result: the knight loves the lady, has a mortal combat with +the rival, and nearly loses his life. The fair lady nurses him with +care, but as he gradually sinks she loses hope and pines away. A holy +monk lived in the castle, and, noticing her despondency, offers to +effect a cure. He prescribes: "To-morrow, at the midnight hour, go to +the cross alone: for Edward's rash and hasty deed perhaps thou mayst +atone." She goes there, walks around the cross, and Edward is cured. +Then all rejoice, and a festival is ordered, whereat, + + "Upon a milk-white steed, a lady doth appear: + By all she's welcomed lustily in one tremendous cheer: + With rings of brilliant lustre her fingers are bedecked, + And bells upon her palfrey hung to give the whole effect." + +A noble cavalier rode beside her, and the result has been + + "That even in the present time the custom's not forgot; + But few there are who know the tale connected with the spot, + Though to each baby in the land the nursery-rhymes are told + About the lady robed in white and Banbury Cross of old." + +Broughton Castle is a fine castellated mansion a short distance +south-west of Banbury. It dates from the Elizabethan era, and its owner, +Viscount Saye and Sele, in Charles I.'s reign, thinking that his +services were not sufficiently rewarded, took the side of Parliament, in +which his son represented Banbury. When the king dissolved Parliament, +it assembled clandestinely in Broughton Castle. Here the Parliamentary +leaders met in a room with thick walls, so that no sounds could escape. +Here also were raised the earliest troops for the Parliament, and the +"Blue-coats" of the Sayes were conspicuous at the battle of Edgehill, +which was fought only a few miles away. Immediately afterwards King +Charles besieged Broughton Castle, captured and plundered it. This +famous old building witnessed in this way the earliest steps that led to +the English Revolution, and it is kept in quite good preservation. +Subsequently, when Oliver Cromwell became the leader of the +Parliamentary party, he held his Parliament in Banbury at the Roebuck +Inn, a fine piece of architecture, with a great window that lights up +one of the best rooms in England of the earlier days of the Elizabethan +era. A low door leads from the courtyard to this noted council-chamber +where Cromwell held his Parliament, and it remains in much the same +condition as then. + +[Illustration: BERKS AND WILTS CANAL.] + +Through Oxfordshire is laid out one of those picturesque water-ways of +the olden time--the Berks and Wilts Canal--which, though almost +superseded by the omnipresent railway, still exists to furnish pretty +scenery with its shady towing-paths and rustic swing-bridges. Almost the +only traffic that remains to this canal, which comes out upon the Thames +near Oxford, is carrying timber. The growth of English timber is slow, +but some is still produced by the process of thinning the woods so as to +make shapely trees, for otherwise the tall trunks would force themselves +up almost without spreading branches. + + +WOODSTOCK AND BLENHEIM. + +[Illustration: CHAUCER'S HOUSE.] + +Not far away from Oxford is the manor of Woodstock, where "Fair +Rosamond's Bower" was built by King Henry II. This manor was an early +residence of the kings of England, and Henry I. built a palace there, +adding to it a vast park. Of this palace not a sign is now to be seen, +but two sycamores have been planted to mark the spot. The poet Chaucer +lived at Woodstock, and is supposed to have taken much of the +descriptive scenery of his _Dream_ from the park. Edward the Black +Prince, son of Edward III., was born at Woodstock. Henry VII. enlarged +the palace, and put his name upon the principal gate; and this +gate-house was one of the prisons of the princess Elizabeth, where she +was detained by her sister, Queen Mary. Elizabeth is said to have +written with charcoal on a window-shutter of her apartment, in 1555, a +brief poem lamenting her imprisonment. Her room had an arched roof +formed of carved Irish oak and colored with blue and gold, and it was +preserved until taken down by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. In the +Civil War the palace was besieged, and after surrender, unlike most +similar structures, escaped demolition. Cromwell allotted it to three +persons, two of whom pulled down their portions for the sake of the +stone. Charles II. appointed the Earl of Rochester gentleman of the +bedchamber and comptroller of Woodstock Park, and it is said that he +here scribbled upon the door of the bedchamber of the king the +well-known mock epitaph: + + "Here lies our sovereign lord, the king. + Whose word no man relies on; + He never says a foolish thing, + Nor ever does a wise one." + +In Queen Anne's reign Woodstock was granted to John Churchill, Duke of +Marlborough, for his eminent military services. The condition of the +grant, which is still scrupulously performed, was that on August 2d in +every year he and his heirs should present to the reigning monarch at +Windsor Castle one stand of colors, with three fleurs-de-lis painted +thereon. The estate was named Blenheim, after the little village on the +Danube which was the scene of his greatest victory on August 2, 1704. +Ten years later, the duchess Sarah took down the remains of the old +palace of Woodstock, and Scott has woven its history into one of his +later novels. Hardly any trace remains of old Woodstock, and the only +ruin of interest is a curious chimney-shaft of the fourteenth century, +which a probably inaccurate tradition says was part of the residence of +the Black Prince. + +[Illustration: OLD REMAINS AT WOODSTOCK.] + +[Illustration: BLENHEIM PALACE, FROM THE LAKE.] + +Woodstock Park covers twenty-seven hundred acres, and is nearly twelve +miles in circuit, abounding with fine trees and having an undulating +surface, over which roam a large herd of deer and a number of kangaroos. +When the manor was granted to the Duke of Marlborough, Parliament voted +a sum of money to build him a palace "as a monument of his glorious +actions." The park is entered through a fine Corinthian gateway, built +by the duchess Sarah in memory of her husband the year after his death. +A pretty stream of water, the river Glyme, with a lake, winds through a +valley in front of the palace, and is crossed by a stately stone bridge +with a centre arch of one hundred feet span. Not far from this bridge +was Fair Rosamond's Bower, now marked by a wall; beyond the bridge, +standing on the lawn, is the Marlborough Column, a fluted Corinthian +pillar one hundred and thirty-four feet high, surmounted by the hero in +Roman dress and triumphal attitude. This monument to the great duke has +an account of his victories inscribed on one face of the pedestal, while +on the others are the acts of Parliament passed in his behalf, and an +abstract of the entail of his estates and honors upon the descendants of +his daughters. Parliament voted $2,500,000 to build Blenheim Palace, to +which the duke added $300,000 from his own resources. The duke died +seventeen years after the palace was begun, leaving it unfinished. We +are told that the trees in the park were planted according to the +position of the troops at Blenheim. The architect of the palace was +John Vanbrugh, of whom the satirical epitaph was written: + + "Lie heavy on him, Earth, for he + Laid many a heavy load on thee." + +The palace is a massive structure, with spacious portals and lofty +towers, and its principal front, which faces the north, extends three +hundred and forty-eight feet from wing to wing, with a portico and +flight of steps in the centre. The interior is very fine, with +magnificently-painted ceilings, tapestries, statuary, and a rare +collection of pictures. The tapestries represent Blenheim and other +battles, and there are one hundred and twenty copies of famous masters, +made by Teniers. A stately statue of Queen Anne stands in the library. +There are costly collections of enamels, plaques, and miniatures; on the +walls are huge paintings by Sir James Thornhill, one representing the +great duke, in a blue cuirass, kneeling before Britannia, clad in white +and holding a lance and wreath; Hercules and Mars stand by, and there +are emblem-bearing females and the usual paraphernalia. We are told that +Thornhill was paid for these at the rate of about six dollars per square +yard. The duchess Sarah also poses in the collection as Minerva, wearing +a yellow classic breastplate. Among other relics kept in the palace are +Oliver Cromwell's teapot, another teapot presented by the Duc de +Richelieu to Louis XIV., two bottles that belonged to Queen Anne, and +some Roman and Grecian pottery. The great hall, which has the battle of +Blenheim depicted on its ceiling, extends the entire height of the +building; the library is one hundred and eighty-three feet long; and in +the chapel, beneath a pompous marble monument, rest the great duke and +his proud duchess Sarah, and their two sons, who died in early years. +The pleasure-gardens extend over three hundred acres along the borders +of the lake and river, and are very attractive. They contain the Temple +of Health erected on the recovery of George III. from his illness, an +aviary, a cascade elaborately constructed of large masses of rock, a +fountain copied after one in Rome, and a temple of Diana. This great +estate was the reward of the soldier whose glories were sung by Addison +in his poem on the _Campaign_. Addison then lived in a garret up three +pair of stairs over a small shop in the Haymarket, London, whither went +the Chancellor of the Exchequer to get him to write the poem, and +afterwards gave him a place worth $1000 a year as a reward. The +Marlboroughs since have been almost too poor to keep up this magnificent +estate in its proper style, for the family of Spencer-Churchill, which +now holds the title, unlike most of the other great English houses, has +not been blessed with a princely private fortune. Not far from Woodstock +is Minster Lovel, near the village of Whitney. Some fragments of the +house remain, and it has its tale of interest, like all these old +houses. Lord Lovel was one of the supporters of the impostor Simnel +against Henry VII., and his rebellion being defeated in the decisive +battle at Stoke in Nottinghamshire, Lord Lovel escaped by unfrequented +roads and arrived home at night. He was so disguised that he was only +known by a single servant, on whose fidelity he could rely. Before +daybreak he retired to a subterranean recess, of which this servant +retained the key, and here he remained several months in safe +concealment. The king confiscated the estate, however, and dispersed the +household, so that the voluntary prisoner perished from hunger. During +the last century, when this stately house was pulled down, the vault was +discovered, with Lord Lovel seated in a chair as he had died. So +completely had rubbish excluded the air that his dress, which was +described as superb, and a prayer-book lying before him on the table, +were entire, but soon after the admission of the air the body is said to +have fallen into dust. + + +BICESTER AND EYNSHAM. + +[Illustration: BICESTER PRIORY.] + +[Illustration: BICESTER MARKET.] + +[Illustration: CROSS AT EYNSHAM.] + +A pleasant and old-fashioned town, not far away from Oxford, is +Bicester, whereof one part is known as the King's End and the other as +the Market End. Here is the famous Bicester Priory, founded in the +twelfth century through the influence of Thomas a Becket. It was +intended for a prior and eleven canons, in imitation of Christ and his +eleven disciples. The priory buildings remained for some time after the +dissolution of the religious houses, but they gradually disappeared, and +all that now exists is a small farm-house about forty feet long which +formed part of the boundary-wall of the priory, and is supposed to have +been a lodge for the accommodation of travellers. In the garden was a +well of never-failing water held in high repute by pilgrims, and which +now supplies a fish-pond. The priory and its estates have passed in +regular succession through females from its founder, Gilbert Basset, to +the Stanleys, and it is now one of the possessions of the Earl of Derby. +Bicester is an excellent specimen of an ancient English market-town, and +its curious block of market-buildings, occupied by at least twenty-five +tenements, stands alone and clear in the marketplace. There are +antique gables, one of the most youthful of which bears the date of +1698. On the top is a promenade used by the occupants in summer +weather. In the neighboring village of Eynsham is said to be the stone +coffin that once held Fair Rosamond's remains, but it has another +occupant, one Alderman Fletcher having also been buried in it in 1826. +Eynsham once had an abbey, of which still survives the shaft of a stone +cross quaintly carved with the figures of saints. It is a relic probably +of the thirteenth century, but nothing remains of the abbey beyond a few +stones that may have belonged to it. It was near Eynsham, not very long +ago, that a strange dark-green water-plant first made its appearance in +the Thames, and spread so rapidly that it soon quite choked the +navigation of the river, and from there soon extended almost all over +the kingdom. The meadows and the rivers became practically all alike, a +green expanse, in which from an eminence it was difficult to tell where +the water-courses lay. This plant was called the "American weed," the +allegation being that it came over in a cargo of timber from the St. +Lawrence. It caused great consternation, but just when matters looked +almost hopeless it gradually withered and died, bringing the navigation +welcome relief. + + +ABINGDON AND RADLEY. + +[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO ABINGDON ABBEY.] + +Crossing over into Berkshire, we find, a short distance south of Oxford, +on the bank of the Thames, the ruins of the once extensive and +magnificent Abingdon Abbey, founded in the seventh century. It was here +that Henry, the son of William the Conqueror, was educated and gained +his appellation of Beauclerc. The gatehouse still remains, and is at +present devoted to the use of fire-engines, but there is not much else +remaining of the abbey save a remarkable chimney and fireplace and some +fragments of walls. We are told that the Saxons founded this abbey, and +that the Danes destroyed it, while King Alfred deprived the monks of +their possessions, but his grandson AEdred restored them. The abbey was +then built, and became afterwards richly endowed. For six centuries it +was one of the great religious houses of this part of England; and the +Benedictines, true to their creed, toiled every day in the fields as +well as prayed in the church. They began the day by religious services; +then assembled in the chapter-house, where each was allotted his task +and tools, and after a brief prayer they silently marched out in double +file to the fields. From Easter until October they were thus occupied +from six in the morning until ten o'clock, and sometimes until noon. +Thus they promoted thrift, and as their settlement extended it became +the centre of a rich agricultural colony, for they often, as their lands +expanded, let them out to farmers. A short distance from Abingdon is +Radley, which was formerly the manor of the abbey, and contains a +beautiful little church, wealthy in its stores of rich woodwork and +stained glass; it stands in the middle of the woods in a charming +situation, with picturesque elm trees overhanging the old Tudor +building. Radley House is now a training-school for Oxford, and it has a +swimming-school attached, in which have been prepared several of the +most famous Oxford oarsmen, swimming being here regarded as a necessary +preliminary to boating. Near by is Bagley Wood, the delicious resort of +the Oxonians which Dr. Arnold loved so well. The village of Sunningwell, +not far from Radley, also has a church, and before its altar is the +grave of Dean Fell, once its rector, who died of grief on hearing of the +execution of Charles I. From the tower of this church Friar Bacon, the +hero of the story of the brazen head, is said to have made astronomical +observations: this renowned friar, Roger Bacon, has come down to us as +the most learned man that Oxford ever produced. Bacon's Study was near +the Folly Bridge, across the Thames on the road to Oxford, and it +survived until 1779, when it was taken down. Among the many legends told +of Bacon is one that he used such skill and magic in building the tower +containing this study that it would have fallen on the head of any one +more learned than himself who might pass under it. Hence, freshmen on +their arrival at Oxford are carefully warned not to walk too near the +Friar's Tower. Bacon overcame the greatest obstacles in the pursuit of +knowledge; he spent all his own money and all that he could borrow in +getting books and instruments, and then, renouncing the world, he became +a mendicant monk of the order of St. Francis. His _Opus Majus_--to +publish which he and his friends pawned their goods--was an epitome of +all the knowledge of his time. + +[Illustration: RADLEY CHURCH.] + +Other famous men came also from Abingdon. Edmund Rich, who did so much +to raise the character of Oxford in its earlier days, was born there +about the year 1200; his parents were very poor, and his father sought +refuge in Eynsham Abbey. We are told that his mother was too poor to +furnish young Rich "with any other outfit than his horsehair shirt, +which she made him promise to wear every Wednesday, and which probably +had been the cause of his father's retirement from their humble abode." +Rich went from Eynsham to Oxford, and soon became its most conspicuous +scholar; then he steadily advanced until he died the Archbishop of +Canterbury. Chief-Justice Holt, who reformed the legal procedure of +England, was also a native of Abingdon; he admitted prisoners to some +rights, protected defendants in suits, and had the irons stricken off +the accused when brought into court, for in those days of the cruel rule +of Judge Jeffreys the defendant was always considered guilty until +adjudged innocent. Holt originated the aphorism that "slaves cannot +breathe in England:" this was in the famous Somerset case, where a slave +was sold and the vendor sued for his money, laying the issues at +Mary-le-Bow in London, and describing the negro as "there sold and +delivered." The chief-justice said that the action was not maintainable, +as the status of slavery did not exist in England. If, however, the +claim had been laid in Virginia, he said he would have been obliged to +allow it; so that the decision was practically on technical grounds. +Lord Campbell sums up Holt's merits as a judge by saying that he was not +a statesman like Clarendon, or a philosopher like Bacon, or an orator +like Mansfield, yet his name is held in equal veneration with theirs, +and some think him the most venerated judge that ever was chief-justice. +There is a really good story told of him by Lord Campbell. In his +younger days Holt was travelling in Oxfordshire, and stopped at an inn +where the landlady's daughter had an illness inducing fits. She appealed +to him, and he promised to work a cure: which he did by writing some +Greek words on a piece of parchment and telling her to let her daughter +wear the charm around her neck. Partly from the fact that the malady had +spent itself, and possibly also from the effect of her imagination, the +girl entirely recovered. Years rolled on and he became the lord +chief-justice, when one day a withered old woman was brought before the +assizes for being a witch, and it was proven that she pretended to cure +all manner of cattle diseases, and with a charm that she kept carefully +wrapped in a bundle of rags. The woman told how the charm many years +before had cured her daughter, and when it was unfolded and handed to +the judge he remembered the circumstance, recognized his talisman, and +ordered her release. + + +CAVERSHAM AND READING ABBEY. + +[Illustration: THE THAMES AT CLIFTON-HAMPDEN.] + +As we continue the journey down the Thames the shores on either hand +seem cultivated like gardens, with trim hedgerows dividing them, pretty +villages, cottages gay with flowers and evergreens, spires rising among +the trees; and the bewitching scene reminds us of Ralph Waldo Emerson's +tribute to the English landscape, that "it seems to be finished with +the pencil instead of the plough." The surface of the river is broken by +numerous little "aits" or islands. We pass the little old house and the +venerable church embosomed in the rural beauties of Clifton-Hampden. We +pass Wallingford and Goring, and come to Pangbourne and Whitchurch, +where the little river Pang flows in between green hills. Each village +has the virtue that Dr. Johnson extolled when he said that "the finest +landscape in the world is improved by a good inn in the foreground." +Then we come to Mapledurham and Purley, where Warren Hastings lived, and +finally halt at Caversham, known as the port of Reading. Here the Thames +widens, and here in the olden time was the little chapel with a statue +of the Virgin known as the "Lady of Caversham," which was reputed to +have wrought many miracles and was the shrine for troops of pilgrims. In +Cromwell's day the chapel was pulled down, and the statue, which was +plated over with silver, was boxed up and sent to the Lord Protector in +London. They also had here many famous relics, among them the +spear-head that pierced the Saviour's side, which had been brought +there by a "one-winged angel." The officer who destroyed the chapel, in +writing a report of the destruction to Cromwell, expressed his regret at +having missed among the relics "a piece of the holy halter Judas was +hanged withal." Lord Cadogan subsequently built Caversham House for his +residence. Reading, which is the county-town of Berkshire, is not far +away from Caversham, and is now a thriving manufacturing city, its most +interesting relic being the hall of the ancient Reading Abbey, built +seven hundred years ago. It was one of the wealthiest in the kingdom, +and several parliaments sat in the hall. The ruins, still carefully +preserved, show its extent and fine Norman architecture. + +The Thames flows on past Sonning, where the Kennet joins it, a stream +"for silver eels renowned," as Pope tells us. Then the Lodden comes in +from the south, and we enter the fine expanse of Henley Reach, famous +for boat-racing. It is a beautiful sheet of water, though the +university race is now rowed farther down the river and nearer London, +at Putney. Our boat now drifts with the stream through one of the most +beautiful portions of the famous river, past Medmenham Abbey and +Cliefden to Maidenhead. Here for about ten miles is a succession of +beauties of scenery over wood and cliff and water that for tranquil +loveliness cannot be surpassed anywhere. Who has not heard of the +charming rocks and hanging woods of Cliefden, with the Duke of +Westminster's mansion standing on their pinnacle? + + +THE VICAR OF BRAY. + +[Illustration: BRAY CHURCH.] + +We come to Maidenhead and Taplow, with Brunel's masterpiece of +bridge-building connecting them, its elliptical brick arches being the +broadest of their kind in the kingdom. Below this, as beauties decrease, +we are compensated by scenes of greater historical interest. Near +Maidenhead is Bisham Abbey, the most interesting house in Berkshire. It +was originally a convent, and here lived Sir Thomas Russel, who at one +time was the custodian of the princess Elizabeth. He treated her so well +that she warmly welcomed him at court after becoming queen. + +Bisham is a favorite scene for artists to sketch. Bray Church, where +officiated the famous "Vicar of Bray," Symond Symonds, is below +Maidenhead. This lively and politic vicar lived in the troubled times of +King Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. Having +seen martyrs burnt at Windsor, but two miles off, he found the fires too +hot for his tender temper, and therefore changed his religion whenever +events changed his sovereign. When taxed with being a religious +changeling, his shrewd answer was, "Not so, for I always keep my +principle, which is this--to live and to die the Vicar of Bray." The old +church, nestling among the trees, is attractive, and we are told that an +ancient copy of _Fox's Book of Martyrs_, which was chained to the +reading-desk in Queen Elizabeth's time, is still preserved here for the +edification of the faithful. + + +ETON COLLEGE. + +[Illustration: 1. ETON COLLEGE FROM THE PLAYING FIELDS.] + +[Illustration: 2. THE CRICKET-GROUND.] + +Soon the famous Eton College comes into view on the northern bank of the +river--an institution dear to the memory of many English schoolboys. The +village consists of a long, narrow street which is extended across an +iron bridge to Windsor, on the southern bank of the Thames. Henry VI. +founded the "College of the Blessed Mary of Eton beside Windsor" as +early as 1440. The older parts of the buildings are of red brick, with +stone dressings and quaint, highly ornamental chimneys, and they are +clustered around two quadrangles. Here are the Lower and Upper Schools +and the Long Chamber. About thirty-five years ago fine new buildings +were erected in similar style to the old buildings, which provide a +beautiful chapel, schools, and library (though books are said to be +scarce there), and extensive dormitories. Adjoining them to the +north-east are the Playing Fields on the broad green meadows along the +river's edge, with noble elms shading them. In the Upper School of the +ancient structure high wooden panelling covers the lower part of the +walls, deeply scarred with the names of generations of Eton boys crowded +closely together. In earlier times all used to cut their names in the +wood, but now this sculpturing is only permitted to those who attain a +certain position and leave without dishonor. Thus the panelling has +become a great memorial tablet, and above it, upon brackets, are busts +of some of the more eminent Etonians, including the Duke of Wellington, +Pitt, Fox, Hallam, Fielding, and Gray. In the library are kept those +instruments of chastisement which are always considered a part of +schoolboy training, though a cupboard hides them from view--all but the +block whereon the victim kneels preliminary to punishment. More than +once have the uproarious boys made successful raids and destroyed this +block or carried it off as a trophy. But vigorous switching was more a +habit at Eton in former days than it is now. Of Head-master Keate, who +was a famous flogger a half century ago, and would frequently practise +on a score of boys at one _seance_, the scholars made a calculation to +prove that he spent twice as much time in chastisement as in church, and +it is recorded that he once flogged an entire division of eighty boys +without an intermission. On another occasion he flogged, by mistake, a +party who had been sent him for confirmation. Tall stories are also told +of Eton flogging and "rug-riding"--the latter being a process whereby a +heavy boy was dragged on a rug over the floors to polish them. Down to +1840 the Eton dinners consisted entirely of mutton, with cold mutton +served up for supper, but this regulation diet is now varied with an +occasional service of beef and other courses. Games are no +inconsiderable part of the English schoolboy's education, and the Duke +of Wellington said that in the "Playing Fields" of Eton the battle of +Waterloo was won. These fields, "where all unconscious of their doom the +little victims play," contain one of the finest cricket-grounds in +England. The boys divide themselves into "dry bobs" and "wet bobs," the +former devoted to cricket and the latter to boating. The procession of +the boats is the great feature of June 4th, the "Speech Day." Of late +years the Eton volunteer corps has attained great proficiency, being a +battalion of over three hundred of the larger boys. This famous college +is one of the preparatory schools for the universities. It is a world in +miniature, where the boy finds his own level, and is taught lessons of +endurance, patience, self-control, and independence which stand him in +good service throughout after-life. + + +WINDSOR CASTLE. + +[Illustration: WINDSOR, FROM THE BROCAS.] + +Across the Thames, on the southern bank, the antique and noble towers of +Windsor Castle now rise high above the horizon. This is the sovereign's +rural court, and is probably the best known by the world of all the +English castles. The name is given various derivations: some ascribe it +to the river's winding course; others to "Wind us over," in allusion to +a rope-ferry there in ancient times; others to "Wind is sore," as the +castle stands high and open to the weather. From the Saxon days Windsor +has been a fortress, but the present castle owes its beginning to Edward +III., who was born at Windsor and built its earliest parts, commencing +with the great Round Tower in 1315. The ransoms of two captive kings, +John of France and David of Scotland, paid for the two higher wards. It +was at Windsor that King Edward instituted the Order of the Garter, +which is the highest British order of knighthood. Being impressed with +the charms of Alice, Countess of Salisbury, but she resisting his +advances, out of the gallantries of their coquetry came the circumstance +of the king's picking up her garter dropped at a ball and presenting it +to her. Some of the nobles smiled at this, which the king noticing, +said, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" ("Evil be to him who evil thinks"), +adding that shortly they would see that garter advanced to such high +renown as to be happy to wear it. Froissart, in giving the legend +telling of this institution of the Garter, says that it arose out of the +chivalrous self-denial that leads virtue to subdue passion. Henry VI. +was born at Windsor; Edward IV. added St. George's Chapel to the castle; +Henry VII. built the Tomb House, and Henry VIII. the gateway to the +Lower Ward; Queen Elizabeth added the gallery of the north terrace; and +in Charles II.'s reign the fortress, which it had been until that time, +was converted into a sort of French palace. Thus it remained until +George IV., in 1824, thoroughly restored it at a cost of $7,500,000. The +great gateways are known as Henry VIII.'s, St. George's, and King George +IV.'s, while within is the Norman or Queen Elizabeth's Gate. The Round +Tower or Keep was built for the assemblage of a fraternity of knights +which King Edward intended to model after King Arthur's "Knights of the +Round Table," but the project was abandoned after the institution of the +Order of the Garter. + +[Illustration: ROUND TOWER, WEST END. + +(By permission of Messrs. Harper & Brothers.)] + +The Round Tower stands upon an artificial mound, and what was formerly +its surrounding ditch is now a sunken garden. From its commanding +battlements twelve counties can be seen, and the Prince of Wales is +constable of this tower, as indeed of the whole castle. This fine old +keep was the castle-prison from the time of Edward III. to that of +Charles II. The poet-king, James I. of Scotland, captured when ten years +old by Henry IV., was the first prisoner of note. Here he fell in love +with Jane Beaufort, daughter of the Duke of Somerset, and he tells in a +quaint poem the romance which ended in her becoming his queen. Henry +Howard, Earl of Surrey, brought to the block by Henry VIII., was also +confined there, and he too lamented his captivity in poetry. From the +top of the keep the dome of St. Paul's in London can be seen. The castle +was mercilessly plundered in the Civil Wars, till Cromwell interfered +for its protection. In its present condition the castle has three grand +divisions in the palatial parts--the state apartments, looking north; +the queen's private apartments, looking east; and the visitors' +apartments, looking south. The south and east sides of the quadrangle +contain over three hundred and seventy rooms. Southward of the castle is +the Windsor Great Park, to which the "Long Walk," said to be the finest +avenue of the kind in Europe, runs in a straight line for three miles +from the principal entrance of the castle to the top of a commanding +eminence in the park called Snow Hill. Double rows of stately elms +border the "Long Walk" on either hand, and it terminates at the fine +bronze equestrian statue of George III., standing on the highest part of +Snow Hill. + +[Illustration: QUEEN'S ROOMS IN SOUTH-EAST TOWER, WINDSOR CASTLE. + +(By permission of Messrs. Harper & Brothers.)] + +St. George's Chapel, a beautiful structure of the Perpendicular Gothic, +was begun four hundred years ago, and contains the tomb of Edward IV., +who built it. In 1789, more than three hundred years after his +interment, the leaden coffin of the king was found in laying a new +pavement. The skeleton is said to have been seven feet long, and Horace +Walpole got a lock of the king's hair. Here also lie Henry VI., Henry +VIII., and Charles I. The latter's coffin was opened in 1813, and the +king's remains were found in fair preservation. The close companionship +of Henry VIII. and Charles in death is thus described by Byron: + + "Famed for contemptuous breach of sacred ties, + By headless Charles see heartless Henry lies." + +The tradition of "Herne the Hunter," which Shakespeare gives in the +_Merry Wives of Windsor_, is said to be founded on the fact that Herne, +a keeper of Windsor Forest, having committed some offence, hanged +himself upon an oak tree. His ghost afterwards was to be seen, with +horns on its head, walking round about this oak in the neighborhood of +the castle. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL. + +(By permission of Messrs. Harper & Brothers.)] + + +SOME RIVER SCENES. + +[Illustration: MAGNA CHARTA ISLAND.] + +Just below Windsor the Thames passes between Runnimede, the "Meadow of +Council," where the barons encamped, and Magna Charta Island, where King +John signed the great charter of English liberty. The river sweeps in a +tranquil bend around the wooded isle, where a pretty little cottage has +been built which is said to contain the very stone whereon the charter +was signed. The river Coln falls into the Thames, and "London Stone" +marks the entrance to Middlesex and the domain of the metropolis. We +pass Staines and Chertsey, where the poet Cowley lived, and then on the +right hand the river Wey comes in at Weymouth. Many villages are passed, +and at a bend in the Thames we come to the place where Caesar with his +legions forded the river at Cowey Stakes, defeated Cassivelaunus, and +conquered Britain. In his _Commentaries_ Julius Caesar writes that he +led his army to the Thames, which could be crossed on foot at one place +only, and there with difficulty. On arriving, he perceived great forces +of the enemy drawn up on the opposite bank, which was fortified by sharp +stakes set along the margin, a similar stockade being fixed in the bed +of the river and covered by the stream. These facts being ascertained +from prisoners and deserters, Caesar sent the cavalry in front and +ordered the legions to follow immediately. The soldiers advanced with +such impetuosity, although up to their necks in the water, that the +Britons could not withstand the onset and fled. A couple of miles below, +at Hampton, Garrick lived in a mansion fronted by a rotunda with a +Grecian portico. We pass Hampton Court and Bushey Park, which revive +memories of Wolsey, Cromwell, and William III., and then on the opposite +bank see the two charming Dittons--"Thames" and "Long" Ditton--of which +Theodore Hook has written: + + "When sultry suns and dusty streets proclaim town's 'winter season,' + And rural scenes and cool retreats sound something like high treason, + I steal away to shades serene which yet no bard has hit on, + And change the bustling, heartless scene for quietude and Ditton. + + "Here, in a placid waking dream, I'm free from worldly troubles, + Calm as the rippling silver stream that in the sunshine bubbles; + And when sweet Eden's blissful bowers some abler bard has writ on, + Despairing to transcend _his_ powers, I'll _ditto_ say for Ditton." + +Then we pass Kingston, where several Saxon kings were crowned, and the +coronation-stone, marked with their names, it is said, still remains in +the market-place. Teddington Lock is the last upon the Thames, and a +mile below is Eel-Pie Island, lying off Twickenham, renowned for the +romance that surrounds its ancient ferry. Near here lived the eccentric +Horace Walpole, at Strawberry Hill, while in Twickenham Church is the +monument to the poet Pope, which states in its inscription that he would +not be buried in Westminster Abbey. Pope's villa no longer exists, and +only a relic of his famous grotto remains. The widening Thames, properly +named the Broadwater, now sweeps on to Richmond, and if that far-famed +hill is climbed, it discloses one of the finest river-views in the +world. + + +LONDON. + +Here ends the romantic portion of the Thames. The beauty of Nature is no +longer present, being overtopped by the stir and roar of the great +Babel, for the metropolis has reached out and swallowed up the suburban +villages, although some of the picturesque scenes remain. Many bridges +span the river, which on either hand gradually transforms its +garden-bordered banks into the city buildings, and the Thames itself +bears on its bosom the valuable commerce that has chiefly made the great +capital. When King James I. threatened recalcitrant London with the +removal of his court to Oxford, the lord mayor sturdily yet +sarcastically replied, "May it please Your Majesty, of your grace, not +to take away the Thames too?" This river, so beautiful in its upper +loveliness, stands alone in the far-reaching influence of the commerce +that its lower waters bear. It has borne us from the Cotswolds to +London; while to properly describe the great city would take volumes in +itself. Without attempting such a task, we will only give a brief +summary of some of the more striking objects of interest that the great +British metropolis presents. + +[Illustration: THE MONUMENT.] + +The origin of the vast city whose population now approximates four +millions is obscure. It was a British settlement before the Romans came +to England, and its name of Llyn Dyn, the "City of the Lake," was +transformed by the conquerors into Londinium. When Caesar crossed the +Thames he thought the settlement of too little importance for mention, +and it does not seem to have been occupied as a Roman station until a +century afterwards, and was not walled round until A.D. 306. The old +wall was about three miles in circumference, beginning near the present +site of the Tower, and some slight traces of it remain. The "London +Stone" on Cannon Street was the central stone or _milliarium_ from which +distances were measured and the great Roman highways started. A worn +fragment of this stone, protected by iron bars, now stands against the +wall of St. Swithin's Church. When Jack Cade entered London, Shakespeare +tells us, he struck his sword on this stone and exclaimed, "Now is +Mortimer lord of this city." Wren caused it to be encased, for +protection, with a new stone hollowed for the purpose; it now stands +very near its original position. London in the sixth century became the +capital of the Saxon kingdom of Essex, and in the ninth century the +Danes destroyed it. King Alfred a few years afterwards rebuilt London, +but it stood barely seven years when it was burned. Finally, it was +again rebuilt, and again captured by the Danes, Canute setting himself +up as king there. Some relics of these Danes remain. St. Olaf was their +saint, and Tooley Street is but a corruption of his name. They had a +church and burial-place where now St. Clement-Danes stands awry on the +Strand--a church that is of interest not only on its own account, but +for the venerable antiquity it represents. The Saxons drove out the +Danes, and the Normans in turn conquered the Saxons, the Tower of London +coming down to us as a relic of William the Conqueror, who granted the +city the charter which is still extant. Henry I. gave it a new charter, +which is said to have been the model for _Magna Charta_. In the twelfth +century London attained the dignity of having a lord mayor. It sided +with the House of York in the Wars of the Roses, and in Elizabeth's +reign had about one hundred and fifty thousand population, being then +about two miles south of Westminster, with fields between, and having +the Tower standing apart from the city farther down the Thames. The +plague devastated it in 1665, carrying off sixty thousand persons, and +next year the Great Fire occurred, which destroyed five-sixths of the +city within the walls, and burned during four days. This fire began at +Pudding Lane, Monument Yard, and ended at Pie Corner, Giltspur Street. +To commemorate the calamity the Monument was erected on Fish Street +Hill, on the site of St. Margaret's Church, which was destroyed. It is a +fluted Doric column of Portland stone, erected by Wren at a cost of +$70,000, and is two hundred and two feet high. The inscriptions on the +pedestal record the destruction and restoration of the city; and down to +the year 1831 there was also an inscription untruthfully attributing the +fire to "the treachery and malice of the popish faction;" this has been +effaced, and to it Pope's couplet alluded: + + "Where London's column, pointing to the skies, + Like a tall bully lifts its head and lies." + +A vase of flames forty two feet high, made of gilt bronze, crowns the +apex, up to which leads a winding staircase of three hundred and +forty-five steps. The structure has often been compared to a lighted +candle, and the balcony at the top, having been selected as a favorite +place for suicides to jump from, is now encaged with iron-work to +prevent this. + +London was rebuilt in four years after the Great Fire, and the first +stone of the new St. Paul's was laid in 1675, when the city had, with +the outlying parishes, a half million population. Its growth was slow +until after the American Revolution, and it began the present century +with about eight hundred thousand people. The past seventy years have +witnessed giant strides, and it has made astonishing progress in the +elegance of its parks and new streets and the growth of adornments and +improvements of all kinds. London has become, in fact, a world within +itself. + + +ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. + +[Illustration: ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.] + +Among a multitude of famous objects in London, three stand out boldly +prominent--St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and the Tower. St. +Paul's, the cathedral church of the bishops of London, is the finest +building in the Italian style in Great Britain; but, unfortunately, in +consequence of the nearness of the surrounding houses, no complete +general view is attainable. The first church was built there by King +Ethelbert in 610; it was destroyed by fire in the eleventh century, and +then old St. Paul's was built, suffering repeatedly from fire and +lightning, and being finally destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666. It was +a large church, with a spire rising five hundred and twenty feet. The +money-lenders and small dealers plied their vocations in its middle +aisle, known as Paul's Walk, while tradespeople took possession of the +vaults and cloisters, a baker made a hole in a buttress for his +bakeoven, and several buildings were planted against the outer walls, +one being used as a theatre. The ruins were not disturbed for eight +years after the fire, when Wren began rebuilding, the cathedral being +finished in thirty-five years. The architect, bishop, and master-mason +who laid the corner-stone were all living at the completion--a singular +circumstance. Wren got $1000 a year salary, and for this, said the +Duchess of Marlborough, he was content to be dragged up to the top in a +basket three or four times a week. The building cost $3,740,000, chiefly +raised by subscription. It is the fifth of the churches of Christendom +in size, being excelled by St. Peter's and the cathedrals at Florence, +Amiens, and Milan. In ground plan it is a Latin cross five hundred feet +long, with a transept of two hundred and fifty feet in length; the nave +and choir are one hundred and twenty-five feet wide and the sides one +hundred feet high. The majestic dome, which is the glory of the +cathedral, rises three hundred and sixty-five feet, and the surmounting +lantern carries a gilt copper ball and cross. The grand front towards +the west, facing Ludgate Hill, is approached by a double flight of +steps from an area which contains a statue of Queen Anne. The portico is +in two divisions, with Corinthian columns supporting the pediment, which +bears a _bas-relief_ of the conversion of St. Paul, and has a statue of +St. Paul at the apex, with statues of St. Peter at the sides. +Bell-towers rise from each side of the portico to a height of two +hundred and twenty feet, surmounted by domes. The large bell, "Great +Paul," which has just been placed in the tower, is the heaviest in +England, weighing nearly seventeen tons. Within the cathedral the cupola +has a diameter of one hundred and eight feet, and rises two hundred and +twenty-eight feet above the pavement; around it runs the famous +Whispering Gallery. Beneath the centre of the pavement lie the remains +of Lord Nelson in the crypt, for St. Paul's has been made the mausoleum +of British heroes on sea and land. Here, among others, are monuments to +Napier, Ponsonby, Cornwallis, Nelson, Howe, Collingwood, Pakenham, Sir +John Moore, Abercrombie, Rodney, St. Vincent, and also a noble porphyry +mausoleum for the Duke of Wellington. Some of the heroes of peace also +have monuments in St. Paul's, among them Dr. Johnson, Howard the +philanthropist, Sir Astley Cooper the surgeon, Bishop Middleton, Sir +Joshua Reynolds, Turner, Rennie the engineer, and also Wren. The memory +of the great architect is marked by a marble slab, with the inscription, +"Reader, do you ask his monument? Look around." + +[Illustration: ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, SOUTH SIDE.] + +[Illustration: THE CHOIR--ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL.] + +The outside elevation of the cathedral is of two orders of +architecture--the lower, Corinthian, having windows with semicircular +headings, while the upper, Composite, has niches corresponding to the +windows below. The entablature of each story is supported by coupled +pilasters, while the north and south walls are surmounted by +balustrades. Each arm of the transept is entered by an external +semicircular portico, reached by a lofty staircase. Above the dome is +the Golden Gallery, whence there is a grand view around London, if the +atmosphere permits, which it seldom does. Above the lantern is the ball, +weighing fifty-six hundred pounds; above this the cross, weighing +thirty-three hundred and sixty pounds. + +[Illustration: WELLINGTON MONUMENT, ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, LONDON.] + + +WESTMINSTER ABBEY. + +[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY.] + +This is the most renowned church in England, for in it her sovereigns +have been crowned, and many of them buried, from the days of Harold to +Victoria, and it contains the graves of her greatest men in +statesmanship, literature, science, and art. The abbey is the collegiate +church of St. Peter's, Westminster, and stands not far away from the +Thames, near Westminster Hall and the Parliament Houses. Twelve hundred +years ago its site was an island in the Thames known as Thorney Island, +and a church was commenced there by Sebert, king of Essex, but was not +completed until three centuries afterwards, in the reign of King Edgar, +when it was named the "minster west of St. Paul's," or Westminster. The +Danes destroyed it, and Edward the Confessor rebuilt it in the eleventh +century. Portions of this church remain, but the present abbey was begun +by Henry III. nearly seven hundred years ago, and it was not completed +until Edward III.'s time. Henry VII. removed the Lady Chapel, and built +the rich chapel at the east end which is named after him. Wren +ultimately made radical changes in it, and in 1714, after many changes, +the abbey finally assumed its present form and appearance. It has had a +great history, the coronations alone that it has witnessed being marked +events. They usually were followed by banquets in Westminster Hall, but +over $1,300,000 having been wasted on the display and banquet for George +IV., they were discontinued afterwards. At Queen Victoria's coronation +the crown was imposed in front of the altar before St. Edward's Chapel, +the entire nave, choir, and transepts being filled by spectators, and +the queen afterwards sitting upon a chair which, with the raised +platform bearing it, was covered with a cloth of gold. Here she received +the homage of her officers and the nobility. The ancient +coronation-chair, which is probably the greatest curiosity in the abbey, +is a most unpretentious and uncomfortable-looking old high-backed chair +with a hard wooden seat. Every sovereign of England has been crowned in +it since Edward I. There is a similar chair alongside it, the duplicate +having been made for the coronation of William and Mary, when two chairs +were necessary, as both king and queen were crowned and vested with +equal authority. Underneath the seat of the coronation-chair is fastened +the celebrated Stone of Scone, a dark-looking, old, rough, and +worn-edged rock about two feet square and six inches thick. All sorts of +legends are told of it, and it is said to have been a piece of Jacob's +Pillar. Edward I. brought it from Scotland, where many generations had +done it reverence, and the old chair was made to contain it in 1297. +These priceless accessories of the coronation ceremony, which will some +day do service for the Prince of Wales, are kept alongside the tomb of +Edward the Confessor, which for centuries has been the shrine of +pilgrims, and they are guarded by the graves of scores of England's +kings and queens and princes. + +[Illustration: CLOISTERS OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY.] + +[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY, INTERIOR OF THE CHOIR.] + +The abbey's ground-plan has the form of a Latin cross, which is apsidal, +having radiating chapels. Henry VII.'s Chapel prolongs the building +eastward from the transept almost as much as the nave extends westward. +Cloisters adjoin the nave, and the western towers, built by Wren, rise +two hundred and twenty-five feet, with a grand window beneath them. The +church is five hundred and thirty feet long. The nave is one hundred and +sixty-six feet long and one hundred and two feet high; the choir, one +hundred and fifty-five long; the transept, two hundred and three feet +long, and on the south arm one hundred and sixty-five feet high. A great +rose-window, thirty feet in diameter, is in the north end of the +transept, with a fine portico, beneath which is the beautiful gateway of +the abbey. In the interior the height of the roof is remarkable, and +also the vast number of monuments, there being hundreds of them. +Magnificent woodwork in carving and tracery adorns the choir, and its +mosaic pavement comes down to us from the thirteenth century, the stones +and workmen to construct it having been brought from Rome. The fine +stained-glass windows are chiefly modern. But the grand contemplation in +Westminster Abbey is the graves of the famous dead that have been +gathering there for nearly eight centuries. No temple in the world can +present anything like it. Wordsworth has written: + + ----"Be mine in hours of fear + Or grovelling thought to find a refuge here, + Or through the aisles of Westminster to roam, + Where bubbles burst, and folly's dancing foam + Melts if it cross the threshold--where the wreath + Of awestruck wisdom droops." + +[Illustration: KING HENRY VII.'S CHAPEL.] + +Of the nine chapels surrounding the east end of the abbey, the most +interesting are those of Edward the Confessor, beyond the altar, and of +Henry VII., at the extreme eastern end. The shrine of King Edward above +referred to occupies the centre of his chapel, and was formerly richly +inlaid with mosaics and precious stones, which, however, have been +carried off. Henry VII.'s Chapel is a fine specimen of the architecture +of his time, and the monuments of Queens Elizabeth and Mary of Scotland +are in the north and south aisles. In the south transept is the Poets' +Corner, with monuments to all the great poets, and here, as well as in +nave and choir and the north transept, are monuments of hundreds of +illustrious Englishmen. In making these burials there is a sort of +method observed. Chaucer's interment in the Poets' Corner in 1400 led +the south transept to be devoted to literary men. The north transept is +devoted to statesmen, the first distinguished burial there being the +elder Pitt in 1778. The organ is on the north side of the nave, and here +the eminent musicians repose. In the side chapels the chief nobles are +buried, and in the chancel and its adjoining chapels the sovereigns. +Isaac Newton in 1727 was the first scientist buried in the nave, and +that part has since been devoted to scientific men and philanthropists. +Probably the finest tomb in the abbey is that of the elder Pitt, which +bears the inscription, "Erected by the King and Parliament as a +testimony to the virtues and ability of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, +during whose administration, in the reigns of George II. and George +III., Divine Providence exalted Great Britain to a height of prosperity +and glory unknown to any former age." One of the finest of the +stained-glass windows in the nave is the double memorial window in +memory of the poets Herbert and Cowper, erected by an American, George +W. Childs. George III. and the British sovereigns since his reign have +their tombs at Windsor, preferring that noble castle for their last +resting-place. + +Upon the east side of the abbey is St. Margaret's, the special church of +the House of Commons. Its east window contains the celebrated +stained-glass representation of the Crucifixion, painted in Holland, +which General Monk buried to keep the Puritans from destroying. Sir +Walter Raleigh is entombed here, and an American subscription has placed +a stained-glass window in the church to his memory, inscribed with these +lines by James Russell Lowell: + + "The New World's sons, from England's breasts we drew + Such milk as bids remember whence we came. + Proud of her past, wherefrom our present grew, + This window we inscribe with Raleigh's name." + + +THE TOWER OF LONDON. + +On the northern bank of the Thames, standing in a somewhat elevated +position a short distance east of the ancient city-walls, is the +collection of buildings known as the Tower. The enclosure covers about +twelve acres, encircled by a moat now drained, and a battlemented wall +from which towers rise at intervals. Within is another line of walls +with towers, called the Inner Ballium, having various buildings +interspersed. In the enclosed space, rising high above all its +surroundings, is the great square White Tower, which was the keep of the +old fortress. Tradition assigns a very early date to this stronghold, +but the written records do not go back earlier than William the +Conqueror, who built the White Tower about 1078. It was enlarged and +strengthened by subsequent kings, and Stephen kept his court there in +the twelfth century. The moat was made about 1190. Edward II.'s daughter +was born there, and was known as Joan of the Tower. Edward III. +imprisoned Kings David of Scotland and John of France there. Richard II. +in Wat Tyler's rebellion took refuge in the Tower with his court and +nobles, numbering six hundred persons, and in 1399 was imprisoned there +and deposed. Edward IV. kept a splendid court in the Tower, and Henry +VI., after being twice a prisoner there, died in the Tower in 1471. +There also was the Duke of Clarence drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine, +and the two youthful princes, Edward V. and his brother, were murdered +at the instance of Richard III. Henry VII. made the Tower often his +residence. Henry VIII. received there in state all his wives before +their marriages, and two of them, Anne Boleyn and Catharine Howard, were +beheaded there. Here the Protector Somerset, and afterwards Lady Jane +Grey, were beheaded. The princess Elizabeth was imprisoned in the Tower, +and James I. was the last English sovereign who lived there. The palace, +having become ruinous, was ultimately taken down. The Tower during the +eight hundred years it has existed has contained a legion of famous +prisoners, and within its precincts Chaucer, who held an office there in +Richard II.'s reign, composed his poem _The Testament of Love_, and Sir +Walter Raleigh wrote his _History of the World_. + +[Illustration] + +The "Yeomen of the Guard," a corps of forty-eight warders, who are +meritorious soldiers, dressed in the uniform of Henry VIII.'s reign on +state occasions, and at other times wearing black velvet hats and +dark-blue tunics, have charge of the exhibition of the Tower. The +entrance is in a small building on the western side, where years ago the +lions were kept, though they have since been all sent to the London +Zoological Garden. From this originated the phrase "going to see the +lions." At the centre of the river-front is the "Traitor's Gate," +through which persons charged with high treason were formerly taken into +the Tower. It is a square building erected over the moat, and now +contains a steam pumping-engine. Opposite it is the Bloody Tower, where +the young princes were smothered and where Raleigh was confined. +Adjoining is the Wakefield Tower, with walls thirteen feet thick. +Passing through the Bloody Tower gateway to the interior enclosure, a +large number of curious guns are seen, and the Horse Armory at the base +of the White Tower is filled with specimens of ancient armor +artistically arranged. In this collection the systems of armor can be +traced from the time of Edward I. to that of James II., and there are +suits that were worn by several famous kings and warriors. Above, in +Queen Elizabeth's Armory, is more armor, and also trophies of Waterloo +and other battles, and a collection of every kind of weapon in the +Tower. There are also specimens of instruments of torture and many other +curiosities on exhibition. + +[Illustration: THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER, ON TOWER GREEN.] + +The White Tower, which has walls fourteen feet thick in some parts, +covers a space one hundred and sixteen by ninety-six feet, and is +ninety-two feet high, with turrets at the angles. Each floor is divided +into three rooms, with stone partitions seven feet thick. On the second +floor is St. John's Chapel, and on the third the council-chamber of the +early kings, with a dark, massive timber roof; in this chamber Richard +II. resigned his crown; it is now filled with a vast collection of arms. +The Salt Tower, which is at an angle of the enclosure, was formerly a +prison; and in another part of the grounds is the Jewel House, where the +crown jewels are kept; they are in a glass case, protected by an iron +cage, and the house was built for them in 1842. Queen Victoria's state +crown, made in 1838, after her coronation, is the chief. It consists of +diamonds, pearls, sapphires, rubies, and emeralds set in silver and +gold, and has a crimson velvet cap with carmine border, lined with white +silk. It contains the famous ruby given to Edward the Black Prince by +the King of Castile, and which is surrounded by diamonds forming a +Maltese cross. The jewels in this crown are one large ruby, one large +sapphire, sixteen other sapphires, eleven emeralds, four rubies, one +thousand three hundred and sixty-three brilliant diamonds, one thousand +two hundred and seventy-three rose diamonds, one hundred and forty-seven +table diamonds, and two hundred and seventy-seven pearls. Among the +other crowns is St. Edward's crown, of gold embellished with diamonds, +used at all coronations, when it is placed upon the sovereign's head by +the Archbishop of Canterbury. This crown was stolen from the Tower by +Blood in 1761. There are also the Prince of Wales' crown, the queen's +crown, the queen's diadem, St. Edward's Staff, four feet seven inches +long, made of beaten gold and surmounted by an orb said to contain part +of the true cross, and carried before the sovereign at coronation; the +royal sceptre (surmounted by a cross), which the archbishop places in +the sovereign's right hand at coronation; the rod of equity (surmounted +by a dove), which he places in the left hand; several other sceptres; +the pointless sword of Mercy, the swords of Justice, and the sacred +vessels used at coronation. Here is also the famous Koh-i-noor diamond, +the "Mountain of Light," which was taken at Lahore in India. The ancient +Martin or Jewel Tower, where Anne Boleyn was imprisoned, is near by; the +barracks are on the north side of the Tower, and behind them are the +Brick and Bowyer Towers, in the former of which Lady Jane Grey was +imprisoned, and in the latter the Duke of Clarence was drowned; but only +the basements of the old towers remain. The Tower Chapel, or church of +St. Peter's, was used for the cemetery of the distinguished prisoners +who were beheaded there, and in its little graveyard lie scores of +headless corpses, as well as the remains of several constables of the +Tower. In front of it was the place of execution, marked by an oval of +dark stones. The Beauchamp Tower stands at the middle of the west side +of the fortress, built in the thirteenth century and used as a prison; +there are numerous inscriptions and devices on the walls made by the +prisoners. Here Lady Jane Grey's husband carved in antique letters +"Iane." In the Bell Tower, at the south-western angle, the princess +Elizabeth was confined, and in the present century it was the prison of +Sir Francis Burdett, committed for commenting in print on the +proceedings of the House of Commons. The Tower Subway is a tunnel +constructed recently under the Thames from Tower Hill to Tooley Street +for passenger traffic. The Duke of Wellington was constable of the Tower +at one time, and its barracks are sometimes occupied by as many as eight +thousand troops. This ancient fortress always has a profound interest +for visitors, and no part of it more than the Water-Gate, leading from +the Thames, the noted "Traitor's Gate," through which have gone so many +victims of despotism and tyranny--heroes who have passed + + "On through that gate, through which before + Went Sydney, Russell, Raleigh, Cranmer, More." + + +THE LOLLARDS AND LAMBETH. + +[Illustration: THE LOLLARDS' TOWER, LAMBETH PALACE.] + +The Archbishop of Canterbury, the primate of England, who crowns the +sovereigns, has his palace at Lambeth, on the south side of the Thames, +opposite Westminster, and its most noted portion is the Lollards' Tower. +The Lollards, named from their low tone of singing at interments, were a +numerous sect exerting great influence in the fourteenth century. The +Church persecuted them, and many suffered death, and their prison was +the Lollards' Tower, built in 1435, adjoining the archiepiscopal palace. +This prison is reached by a narrow stairway, and at the entrance is a +small doorway barely sufficient for one person to pass at a time. The +palace itself was built in the days of the Tudors, and the gatehouse of +red brick in 1499. The chapel is Early English, its oldest portion built +in the thirteenth century. All the Archbishops of Canterbury since that +time have been consecrated there. There is a great hall and library, and +the history of this famous religious palace is most interesting. At the +red brick gatehouse the dole is distributed by the archbishop, as from +time immemorial, to the indigent parishioners. Thirty poor widows on +three days of the week each get a loaf, meat, and two and a half pence, +while soup is also given them and to other poor persons. The archbishops +maintain this charity carefully, and their office is the head of the +Anglican Church. + +[Illustration: ST. MARY-LE-BOW.] + +[Illustration: ST. BRIDE'S, FLEET STREET.] + +Bow Church, or St. Mary-le-Bow on Cheapside, is one of the best known +churches of London. It is surmounted by one of the most admired of +Wren's spires, which is two hundred and twenty-five feet high. There is +a dragon upon the spire nearly nine feet long. It is the sure criterion +of a London Cockney to have been born within sound of "Bow Bells." A +church stood here in very early times, said to have been built upon +arches, from which is derived the name of the Ecclesiastical Court of +Arches, the supreme court of the province of Canterbury, a tribunal +first held in Bow Church. Another of Wren's noted churches is St. +Bride's, on Fleet Street, remarkable for its beautiful steeple, +originally two hundred and thirty-four feet high. It has been much +damaged by lightning. The east window of St. Bride's is a copy on +stained glass of Rubens' painting of "The Descent from the Cross." This +church contains several famous tombs. + + +WHITEHALL. + +[Illustration: THE CHAPEL ROYAL, WHITEHALL.] + +We will now take a brief view of Westminster, the region of palaces, and +first of all pause at the most ancient and famous of them, Whitehall, of +which only the Banqueting House remains. This was originally the +residence of the Archbishops of York, and here lived Cardinal Wolsey in +great splendor until his downfall, when Henry VIII. took Whitehall for +his palace and made large additions to the buildings, entering it as a +residence with his queen, Anne Boleyn. The sovereigns of England lived +in Whitehall for nearly two centuries, and in Charles I.'s reign it +contained the finest picture-gallery in the kingdom. This unhappy king +was beheaded in front of the Banqueting House, being led to the +scaffold out of one of the windows. James II. left Whitehall when he +abandoned the kingdom, and accidental fires in the closing years of the +seventeenth century consumed the greater part of the buildings. The +Banqueting House, which is one hundred and eleven feet long and a fine +structure of Portland stone, is all that remains, and it is now used as +a royal chapel, where one of the queen's chaplains preaches every +Sunday. Rubens' paintings commemorating King James I. are still on the +ceiling. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE CHAPEL ROYAL (BANQUETING-HALL), +WHITEHALL.] + +In the district of Whitehall is also the army headquarters and office of +the commander-in-chief, the Duke of Cambridge--now known popularly as +the "Horse Guards," because in front of it two mounted horsemen stand on +duty all day in horse-boxes on either side of the entrance. The clock +surmounting the building in its central tower is said to be the standard +timekeeper of London for the West End. A carriage-way leads through the +centre of the building to St. James Park, a route which only the royal +family are permitted to use. Not far away are the other government +offices--the Admiralty Building and also "Downing Street," where resides +the premier and where the secretaries of state have their offices and +the Cabinet meets. Here are the Treasury Building and the Foreign +Office, and from this spot England may be said to be ruled. In this +neighborhood also is Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London +Metropolitan Police, where the chief commissioner sits and where lost +articles are restored to their owners when found in cabs or +omnibuses--an important branch of police duty. It obtained its name from +being the residence of the Scottish kings when they visited London. + +[Illustration: THE HORSE GUARDS, FROM THE PARADE GROUND.] + + +ST. JAMES PALACE. + +When the palace in Whitehall was destroyed the sovereigns made their +residence chiefly at St. James Palace, which stands on the north side of +St. James Park. This building is more remarkable for its historical +associations than for its architecture. It was originally a leper's +hospital, but Henry VIII., obtaining possession of it, pulled down the +old buildings and laid out an extensive park, using it as a semi-rural +residence called the Manor House. Its gatehouse and turrets were built +for him from plans by Holbein. Queen Mary died in it, and in its chapel +Charles I. attended service on the morning of his execution, and we are +told that he walked from the palace through the park, guarded by a +regiment of troops, to Whitehall to be beheaded. Here lived General Monk +when he planned the Restoration, and William III. first received the +allegiance of the English nobles here in 1688, but it was not used +regularly for state ceremonies until Whitehall was burned. From this +official use of St. James Palace comes the title of "The Court of St. +James." Queen Anne, the four Georges, and William III. resided in the +palace, and in its chapel Queen Victoria was married, but she only holds +court drawing-rooms and levees there, using Buckingham Palace for her +residence. Passing through the gateway into the quadrangle, the visitor +enters the Color Court, so called from the colors of the household +regiment on duty being placed there. The state apartments are on the +south front. The great sight of St. James is the queen's drawing-room in +the height of the season, when presentations are made at court. On such +occasions the "Yeomen of the Guard," a body instituted by Henry VII., +line the chamber, and the "Gentlemen-at-Arms," instituted by Henry +VIII., are also on duty, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold and +carrying small battle-axes covered with crimson velvet. Each body has a +captain, who is a nobleman, these offices being highly prized and +usually changed with the ministry. + +[Illustration: GATEWAY OF ST. JAMES PALACE.] + + +BUCKINGHAM PALACE. + +We have been to the queen's country-home at Windsor, and will now visit +her town-house, Buckingham Palace, which is also in St. James Park. Here +stood a plain brick mansion, built in 1703 by the Duke of Buckingham, +and in which was gathered the famous library of George III., which is +now in the British Museum. The house was described as "dull, dowdy, and +decent," but in 1825 it was greatly enlarged and improved, and Queen +Victoria took possession of the new palace in 1837, and has lived there +ever since. Her increasing family necessitated the construction of a +large addition in 1846, and a few years afterwards the Marble Arch, +which till then formed the entrance, was moved from Buckingham Palace to +Hyde Park, and a fine ball-room constructed instead. This palace +contains a gorgeously-decorated throne-room and a fine picture-gallery, +the grand staircase leading up to the state-apartments being of marble. +The gardens of Buckingham Palace cover about forty acres: in them are a +pavilion and an attractive chapel, the latter having been formerly a +conservatory. At the rear of the palace, concealed from view by a high +mound, are the queen's stables or mews, so called because the royal +stables were formerly built in a place used for keeping falcons. In +these stables is the gaudily-decorated state coach, built in 1762 at a +cost of $38,000. Marlborough House, the town-residence of the Prince of +Wales, adjoins St. James Palace, but is not very attractive. It was +originally built for the first Duke of Marlborough, who died in it, and +is said to have been designed by Wren, having afterwards been enlarged +when it became a royal residence. + +[Illustration: BUCKINGHAM PALACE, GARDEN FRONT.] + + +KENSINGTON PALACE. + +[Illustration: KENSINGTON PALACE, WEST FRONT.] + +Standing on the west side of the Kensington Gardens is the plain, +irregular red brick structure known as Kensington Palace, which was +originally Lord Chancellor Finch's house. William III bought it from his +grandson, and greatly enlarged it. Here died William and Mary, Queen +Anne, and George II., and here Victoria was born. Perhaps the most +interesting recent event that Kensington Palace has witnessed was the +notification to this princess of the death of William IV. He died on the +night of June 19, 1837, and at two o'clock the next morning the +Archbishop of Canterbury and the lord chamberlain set out to announce +the event to the young sovereign. They reached Kensington Palace about +five o'clock, early, but in broad daylight, and they knocked and rang +and made a commotion for a considerable time before they could arouse +the porter at the gate. Being admitted, they were kept waiting in the +courtyard, and then, seeming to be forgotten by everybody, they turned +into a lower room and again rang and pounded. Servants appearing, they +desired that an attendant might be sent to inform the princess that they +requested an audience on business of importance. Then there was more +delay, and another ringing to learn the cause, which ultimately brought +the attendant, who stated that the princess was in such a sweet sleep +she could not venture to disturb her. Thoroughly vexed, they said, "We +are come to the queen on business of state, and even her sleep must give +way to that." This produced a speedy result, for, to prove that it was +not she who kept them waiting, Victoria in a few minutes came into the +room in a loose white nightgown and shawl, with her hair falling upon +her shoulders and her feet in slippers, shedding tears, but perfectly +collected. She immediately summoned her council at Kensington Palace, +but most of the summonses were not received by those to whom they were +sent till after the early hour fixed for the meeting. She sat at the +head of the table, and, as a lady who was then at court writes, "she +received first the homage of the Duke of Cumberland, who was not King of +Hanover when he knelt to her; the Duke of Sussex rose to perform the +same ceremony, but the queen with admirable grace stood up, and, +preventing him from kneeling, kissed him on the forehead. The crowd was +so great, the arrangements were so ill made, that my brothers told me +the scene of swearing allegiance to their young sovereign was more like +that of the bidding at an auction than anything else." + + +THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. + +[Illustration: THE VICTORIA TOWER, HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.] + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.] + +The finest of all the public buildings of the British government in +London, the Houses of Parliament, are on the bank of the Thames in +Westminster, and are of modern construction. The old Parliament Houses +were burnt nearly fifty years ago, and Sir Charles Barry designed the +present magnificent palace, which covers nearly eight acres and cost +$20,000,000. The architecture is in the Tudor style, and the grand +facade stretches nine hundred and forty feet along a terrace fronting on +the Thames. It is richly decorated with statues of kings and queens and +heraldic devices, and has two pinnacled towers at each end and two in +the centre. At the northern end one of the finest bridges across the +Thames--the Westminster Bridge--is built, and here rises the Clock +Tower, forty feet square and three hundred and twenty feet high, copied +in great measure from a similar tower at Bruges. A splendid clock and +bells are in the tower, the largest bell, which strikes the hours, +weighing eight tons and the clock-dials being thirty feet in diameter. +The grandest feature of this palace, however, is the Victoria Tower, at +the south-western angle, eighty feet square and three hundred and forty +feet high. Here is the sovereign's entrance to the House of Peers, +through a magnificent archway sixty-five feet high and having inside the +porch statues of the patron saints of the three kingdoms--St. George, +St. Andrew, and St. Patrick--and one of Queen Victoria, between the +figures of Justice and Mercy. From the centre of the palace rises a +spire over the dome of the Central Hall three hundred feet high. In +constructing the palace the old Westminster Hall has been retained, so +that it forms a grand public entrance, leading through St. Stephen's +Porch to St. Stephen's Hall, which is ninety-five feet long and +fifty-six feet high, where statues have been placed of many of the great +statesmen and judges of England. From this a passage leads to the +Central Hall, an octagonal chamber seventy feet across and seventy-five +feet high, with a beautiful groined roof. Corridors adorned with +frescoes stretch north and south from this Central Hall to the House of +Commons and the House of Peers. The former is sixty-two feet long, and +constructed with especial attention to acoustics, but it only has seats +for a little over two-thirds of the membership of the House, and the +others must manage as they can. The Speaker's chair is at the north end, +and the ministers sit on his right hand and the opposition on the left. +Outside the House are the lobbies, where the members go on a division. +The interior of the House is plain, excepting the ceiling, which is +richly decorated. The House of Peers is most gorgeously ornamented, +having on either side six lofty stained-glass windows with portraits of +sovereigns, these windows being lighted at night from the outside. The +room is ninety-one feet long, and at each end has three frescoed +archways representing religious and allegorical subjects. Niches in the +walls contain statues of the barons who compelled King John to sign +Magna Charta. There are heraldic devices on the ceilings and walls, and +the throne stands at the southern end. The "Woolsack," where sits the +lord chancellor, who presides over the House, is a seat near the middle +of the room, covered with crimson cloth. When the sovereign comes to the +palace and enters the gateway at the Victoria Tower, she is ushered into +the Norman Porch, containing statues and frescoes representing the +Norman sovereigns, and then enters the Robing Room, splendidly decorated +and having frescoes representing the legends of King Arthur. When the +ceremony of robing is completed, she proceeds to the House of Peers +through the longest room in the palace, the Victoria Gallery, one +hundred and ten feet long and forty-five feet wide and high. Historical +frescoes adorn the walls and the ceiling is richly gilded. This gallery +leads to the Prince's Chamber, also splendidly decorated, and having two +doorways opening into the House of Peers, one on each side of the +throne. In this palace for six months in every year the British +Parliament meets. + + +HYDE PARK. + +[Illustration: THE MARBLE ARCH, HYDE PARK.] + +[Illustration: THE ALBERT MEMORIAL.] + +[Illustration: THE PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE, NEW MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, +SOUTH KENSINGTON.] + +When the Marble Arch was taken from Buckingham Palace, it was removed to +Hyde Park, of which it forms one of the chief entrances at Cumberland +Gate. This magnificent gate, which cost $400,000, leads into probably +the best known of the London parks, the ancient manor of Hyde. It was an +early resort of fashion, for the Puritans in their time complained of it +as the resort of "most shameful powdered-hair men and painted women." It +covers about three hundred and ninety acres, and has a pretty sheet of +water called the Serpentine. The fashionable drive is on the southern +side, and here also is the famous road for equestrians known as Rotten +Row, which stretches nearly a mile and a half. On a fine afternoon in +the season the display on these roads is grand. In Hyde Park are held +the great military reviews and the mass-meetings of the populace, who +occasionally display their discontent by battering down the railings. At +Hyde Park Corner is a fine entrance-gate, with the Green Park Gate +opposite, surmounted by the Wellington bronze equestrian statue. The +most magnificent decoration of Hyde Park is the Albert Memorial, +situated near the Prince's Gate on the southern side. The upper portion +is a cross, supported by three successive tiers of emblematic gilt +figures, and at the four angles are noble groups representing the four +quarters of the globe. This was the masterpiece of Sir Gilbert Scott, +and is considered the most splendid monument of modern times. It marks +the site of the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851, in which Prince +Albert took great interest: there are upon it one hundred and sixty-nine +life-size portrait figures of illustrious artists, composers, and poets, +while under the grand canopy in the centre is the seated figure of the +prince. Opposite is the Royal Albert Hall, and behind this the +magnificent buildings of the South Kensington Museum, which grew out of +the Exhibition of 1851, and the site for which was bought with the +surplus fund of that great display. This is a national museum for art +and manufactures allied to art. Its collections are becoming enormous +and of priceless value, and include many fine paintings, among them +Raphael's cartoons, with galleries of sculpture and antiquities and +museums of patent models. There are art-schools and libraries, and the +buildings, which have been constructing for several years, are of rare +architectural merit. The Royal Albert Hall is a vast amphitheatre of +great magnificence devoted to exhibitions of industry, art, and music. +It is of oval form, and its external frieze and cornice are modelled +after the Elgin Marbles. Opposite it are the gardens of the +Horticultural Society. + + +A VIEW IN THE POULTRY. + +[Illustration: ROYAL EXCHANGE.] + +[Illustration: BANK OF ENGLAND.] + +[Illustration: MANSION HOUSE.] + +Going down into the heart of the old city of London, and standing in the +street called the Poultry, the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange +are seen over on the other side, with Threadneedle Street between them, +and Lombard Street on the right hand, the region that controls the +monetary affairs of the world. Turning round, the Mansion House is +behind the observer, this being the lord mayor's residence and the +head-quarters of the city government. The Royal Exchange has been thrice +built and twice burned--first in the great fire of 1666, and afterwards +in 1838. The present Exchange, costing $900,000, was opened in 1844, and +is three hundred and eight feet long, with a fine portico on the western +front ninety-six feet wide, and supported by twelve columns, each +forty-one feet high. Within is an open area surrounded by an arcade, +while at the rear is Lloyds, the underwriters' offices, where the +business of insuring ships is transacted in a hall ninety-eight feet +long and forty feet wide. Wellington's statue stands in front of the +Exchange, and in the middle of the central area is a statue of Queen +Victoria. The Bank of England, otherwise known as the "Old Lady of +Threadneedle Street," covers a quadrangular space of about four acres, +with a street on each side. It is but one story high, and has no windows +on the outside, the architecture being unattractive. The interior is +well adapted for the bank offices, which are constructed around nine +courts. The bank has been built in bits, and gradually assumed its +present size and appearance. It was founded in 1691 by William Paterson, +but it did not remove to its present site until 1734. Its affairs are +controlled by a governor, deputy governor, and twenty-four directors, +and the bank shares of $500 par, paying about ten per cent. dividends +per annum, sell at about $1400. It regulates the discount rate, gauging +it so as to maintain its gold reserves, and it also keeps the coinage in +good order by weighing every coin that passes through the bank, and +casting out the light ones by an ingenious machine that will test +thirty-five thousand in a day. It also prints its own notes upon paper +containing its own water-mark, which is the chief reliance against +forgery. The bank transacts the government business in connection with +the British public debt of about $3,850,000,000, all in registered +stock, and requiring two hundred and fifty thousand separate accounts to +be kept. Its deposits aggregate at least $130,000,000, and its capital +is $72,765,000. The bank is the great British storehouse for gold, +keeping on deposit the reserves of the joint-stock banks and the private +bankers of London, and it will have in its vaults at one time eighty to +one hundred millions of dollars in gold in ingots, bullion, or coin, +this being the basis on which the entire banking system of England is +conducted. It keeps an accurate history of every bank-note that is +issued, redeeming each note that comes back into the bank in the course +of business, and keeping all the redeemed and cancelled notes. The +earliest notes were written with a pen, and from this they have been +improved until they have become the almost square white pieces of paper +of to-day, printed in bold German text, that are so well known, yet are +unlike any other bank-notes in existence. Around the large elliptical +table in the bank parlor the directors meet every Thursday to regulate +its affairs, and--not forgetting they are true Englishmen--eat a savory +dinner, the windows of the parlor looking out upon a little gem of a +garden in the very heart of London. The Mansion House, built in 1740, is +fronted by a Corinthian portico, with six fluted columns and a pediment +of allegorical sculpture. Within is the Egyptian Hall, where the lord +mayor fulfils what is generally regarded as his chief duty, the giving +of grand banquets. He can invite four hundred persons to the tables in +this spacious hall, which is ornamented by several statues by British +sculptors, over $40,000 having been expended for its ornamentation. The +lord mayor also has a ball-room and other apartments, including his +Venetian parlor and the justice room where he sits as a magistrate. From +the open space in front of the Mansion House diverge streets running to +all parts of London and the great bridges over the Thames. + + +THE INNS OF COURT. + +The four Inns of Court in London have been described as the palladiums +of English liberty--the Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn, and +Gray's Inn. There are over three thousand barristers members of these +Inns, and the best known is probably Lincoln's Inn, which is named after +De Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, who died in 1312, and had his house on its +site, his device, the lion rampant, being adopted by the Inn. The +ancient gatehouse, which opens from Chancery Lane, is nearly four +hundred years old. The Inn has an old hall dating from 1506, and also a +fine modern hall, the Newcastle House, one hundred and twenty feet long, +built in Tudor style, with stained-glass windows and having life-size +figures of several eminent members in canopied niches. Here is Hogarth's +celebrated picture of "Paul before Felix." The Inn has a valuable +library, and among its members has counted More, Hale, Selden, +Mansfield, and Hardwicke. + +[Illustration: THE LAW COURTS.] + +Across Fleet Street, and between it and the Thames, is the Temple, a +lane dividing it into the Inner and the Middle Temple, while obstructing +Fleet Street there was the old Temple Bar, one of the ancient city +gates, which has recently been removed. The name is derived from the +Knights Templar, who existed here seven centuries ago; and they +afterwards gave the site to certain law-students who wished to live in +the suburbs away from the noise of the city. Here in seclusion, for the +gates were locked at night, the gentlemen of these societies in a bygone +age were famous for the masques and revels given in their halls. Kings +and judges attended them, and many were the plays and songs and dances +that then enlivened the dull routine of the law. The Inner Temple has +for its device a winged horse, and the Middle Temple a lamb. Some +satirist has written of these-- + + "Their clients may infer from thence + How just is their profession: + The lamb sets forth their innocence, + The horse their expedition." + +Here is the old Templar Church of St. Mary, built in 1185 and enlarged +in 1240. Formerly, the lawyers waited for their clients in this ancient +church. During recent years England has erected magnificent buildings +for her law courts. The new Palace of Justice fronts about five hundred +feet on the Strand, near the site of Temple Bar, which was taken away +because it impeded the erection of the new courts, and they cover six +acres, with ample gardens back from the street, the wings extending +about five hundred feet northward around them. A fine clock-tower +surmounts the new courts. In this part of the Strand are many ancient +structures, above which the Palace of Justice grandly towers, and some +of them have quaint balconies overlooking the street. + +[Illustration: SIR PAUL PINDAR'S HOUSE IN BISHOPSGATE STREET.] + +While in old London the feasting that has had so much to do with the +municipal corporation cannot be forgotten, and on Bishopsgate Street we +find the scene of many of the famous public dinners, savory with +turtle-soup and whitebait--the London Tavern. Not far distant, and on +the same street, is Sir Paul Pindar's House, a quaint structure, now +falling into decay, that gives an excellent idea of mediaeval domestic +architecture. + + +THE BRITISH MUSEUM. + +Fronting upon Great Russell Street, to which various smaller streets +lead northward from Oxford Street, is that vast treasure-house of +knowledge whose renown is world-wide, the British Museum. The buildings +and their courtyards cover seven acres, and have cost nearly +$5,000,000 to construct. The front is three hundred and seventy feet +long, the entrance being under a grand portico supported by rows of +columns forty-five feet high. This vast museum originated from a +provision in the will of Sir Hans Sloane in the last century, who had +made a valuable collection and directed that it be sold to the +government for $100,000. Parliament, accepting the offer, in 1753 +created the museum to take charge of this and some other collections. +The present site, then Montagu House, was selected for the museum, but +it was not until 1828 that the present buildings were begun, and they +have only recently been finished. The reading-room, the latest addition, +is the finest structure of its kind in the world, being a circular hall +one hundred and forty feet in diameter and covered with a dome one +hundred and six feet high. It cost $750,000, and its library is believed +to be the largest in the world, containing seven hundred thousand +volumes, and increasing at the rate of twenty thousand volumes annually. +Its collection of prints is also of rare value and vast extent, and by +far the finest in the world. + + +SOME LONDON SCENES. + +[Illustration: WATERLOO BRIDGE.] + +[Illustration: SCHOMBERG HOUSE.] + +[Illustration: STATUE OF SIDNEY HERBERT.] + +Let us now take a brief glance at some well-known London sights. The two +great heroes who are commemorated in modern London are Wellington and +Nelson. Trafalgar Square commemorates Nelson's death and greatest +victory, the Nelson Column standing in the centre, with Landseer's +colossal lions reposing at its base. Passing eastward along the Strand, +beyond Charing Cross and Somerset House, we come to Wellington Street, +which leads to Waterloo Bridge across the Thames. This admirable +structure, the masterpiece of John Rennie, cost $5,000,000, and was +opened on the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo in 1817. It is of +granite, and with the approaches nearly a half mile long, crossing the +river upon nine arches, each of one hundred and twenty feet span. +Passing westward from Trafalgar Square, we enter Pall Mall, perhaps the +most striking of the London streets in point of architecture. Here are +club-houses and theatres, statues and columns, and the street swarms +with historical associations. On the south side are the Reform and +Carlton Clubs, the headquarters respectively of the Liberal and +Conservative parties, and a little beyond, on the same side, the row of +buildings of all sizes and shapes making up the War Office. Among them +is a quaint old Queen-Anne mansion of brick, with a curious pediment and +having many windows. This is Schomberg House, shorn of one wing, but +still retained among so much that is grand around it. Also in Pall Mall +is Foley's celebrated statue of Sidney Herbert, one of the most +impressive in London--the head drooped sadly and reflectively, +indicating that it is the image of a conscientious war-minister, who, +overweighted with the responsibility of his office, was cut off +prematurely. Although not one of the greatest men of England, Herbert's +fame will be better preserved by his finer statue than that of many men +who have filled a much larger space in her history. Marlborough House +has an entrance on Pall Mall, and adjoining its gate is the curious and +elaborately decorated building of the Beaconsfield Club. Over the +doorway the semicircular cornice does duty for a balcony for the +drawing-room windows above. The doorway itself is an imposing archway +strangely cut into segments, one forming a window and the other the +door. + +[Illustration: DOORWAY BEACONSFIELD CLUB.] + +[Illustration: CAVENDISH SQUARE.] + +[Illustration: THE "BELL" AT EDMONTON.] + +London contains in the West End many squares surrounded by handsome +residences, among them probably the best known being Belgrave, Russell, +Bedford, Grosvenor, Hanover, and Cavendish Squares. Eaton Square is said +to be the largest of these, Grosvenor Square the most fashionable, and +Cavendish Square the most salubrious and best cultivated. The line of +streets leading by Oxford Street to the Marble Arch entrance to Hyde +Park is London's most fashionable route of city travel, and on Tottenham +Court Road, which starts northward from Oxford Street, is the "Bell Inn" +at Edmonton. It is not a very attractive house, but is interesting +because it was here that Johnny Gilpin and his worthy spouse should have +dined when that day of sad disasters came which Cowper has chronicled in +John Gilpin's famous ride. The old house has been much changed since +then, and is shorn of its balcony, but it has capacious gardens, and is +the resort to this day of London holiday-makers. It is commonly known +as "Gilpin's Bell," and a painting of the ride is proudly placed outside +the inn. Tottenham Court Road goes through Camden Town, and here at +Euston Square is the London terminus of the greatest railway in +England--the London and North-western Company. Large hotels adjoin the +station, and the Underground Railway comes into it alongside the +platform, thus giving easy access to all parts of the metropolis. This +railway is one of the wonders of the metropolis, and it has cost about +$3,250,000 per mile to construct. The original idea seems to have been +to connect the various stations of the railways leading out of town, and +to do this, and at the same time furnish means of rapid transit from the +heart of the city to the suburbs, the railway has been constructed in +the form of an irregular ellipse, running all around the city, yet kept +far within the built-up portions. It is a double track, with trains +running all around both ways, so that the passenger goes wherever he +wishes simply by following the circuit, while branch lines extend to the +West End beyond Paddington and Kensington. It is constructed not in a +continuous tunnel, for there are frequent open spaces, but on a general +level lower than that of the greater part of London, and the routes are +pursued without regard to the street-lines on the surface above, often +passing diagonally under blocks of houses. The construction has taxed +engineering skill to the utmost, for huge buildings have had to be +shored up, sewers diverted, and, at the stations, vast spaces burrowed +underground to get enough room. In this way London has solved its +rapid-transit problem, though it could be done only at enormous cost. +The metropolis, it will be seen, has no end of attractions, and for the +traveller's accommodation the ancient inns are rapidly giving place to +modern hotels. Among London's famous hostelries is the "Old Tabard Inn" +in the Borough, which will probably soon be swept away. + +[Illustration: THE "OLD TABARD INN."] + + +HOLLAND HOUSE. + +[Illustration: HOLLAND HOUSE, SOUTH SIDE.] + +To describe London, as we said before, would fill a volume, but space +forbids lingering longer, and we will pass out of the metropolis, after +devoting brief attention to one of its historical mansions, the +well-known Holland House. This fine old building of the time of James I. +stands upon high ground in the western suburbs of London, and its +history is interwoven with several generations of arts, politics, and +literature. The house is of red brick, embellished with turrets, +gable-ends, and mullioned windows. As its park has already been partly +cut up for building-lots, the end of the celebrated mansion itself is +believed to be not far off. Built in 1607, it descended to the first +Earl of Holland, whence its name. Surviving the Civil Wars, when Fairfax +used it for his head-quarters, it is noted that plays were privately +performed here in Cromwell's time. In 1716, Addison married the dowager +Countess of Holland and Warwick, and the estate passed to him, and he +died at Holland House in 1719, having addressed to his stepson, the +dissolute Earl of Warwick, the solemn words, "I have sent for you that +you may see how a Christian can die." Two years later the young earl +himself died. In 1762 the estate was sold to Henry Vassall Fox, Baron +Holland, the famous Whig, who died there in 1774. It is related that +during his last illness George Selwyn called and left his card. Selwyn +had a fondness for seeing dead bodies, and the dying lord remarked, "If +Mr. Selwyn calls again, show him up: if I am alive I shall be delighted +to see him, and if I am dead he would like to see me." He composed his +own epitaph: "Here lies Henry Vassall Fox, Lord Holland, etc., who was +drowned while sitting in his elbow-chair." He died in his elbow-chair, +of water in the chest. Charles James Fox was his second son, and passed +his early years at Holland House. Near the mansion, on the Kensington +Road, was the Adam and Eve Inn, where it is said that Sheridan, on his +way to and from Holland House, regularly stopped for a dram, and thus +ran up a long bill, which Lord Holland ultimately paid. + +[Illustration: DINING ROOM, HOLLAND HOUSE.] + +[Illustration: THE DUTCH GARDEN, HOLLAND HOUSE.] + +The house, built like half the letter H, is of red brick with stone +finishings, and in the Elizabethan style, with Dutch gardens of a later +date. Much of the old-time decorations and furniture remains. The +library, a long gallery, forms the eastern wing, and contains a valuable +collection, including many manuscripts and autographs. There are fine +pictures and sculptures, with old clocks, vases, cabinets, and carvings, +and also a celebrated collection of miniatures. For over two centuries +it was the favorite resort of wits and beauties, painters and poets, +scholars, philosophers, and statesmen. Lord Brougham says that in the +time of Vassall, Lord Holland, it was the meeting-place of the Whig +party, his liberal hospitality being a great attractive force, and +Macaulay writes that it can boast a greater number of inmates +distinguished in political and literary history than any other private +dwelling in England. After Vassall's death his nephew maintained the +reputation of Holland House, dying in 1840, when the estates descended +to his only son, the late Lord Holland, who also kept up the character +of the mansion. But now, however, the glory of the famous old house is +slowly departing, and has chiefly become a fragrant memory. + +[Illustration: LIBRARY, HOLLAND HOUSE.] + +[Illustration: ROGERS' SEAT IN THE DUTCH GARDEN, HOLLAND HOUSE.] + +Eastward from London is the great park which the queen in May opened +with much pomp as a breathing-ground for the masses of that +densely-populated region, the east end of the metropolis--Epping Forest. +This beautiful enclosure originally consisted of nine thousand acres, +but encroachments reduced it to about one-third that size. Reclamations +were made, however, and the park now opened covers five thousand six +hundred acres--a magnificent pleasure-ground. + + +GREENWICH. + +The river Thames, steadily gathering force after sweeping through London +past the docks, and receiving upon its capacious bosom the vast commerce +of all the world, encircles the Isle of Dogs (where Henry VIII. kept his +hounds) below the city, and at the southern extremity of the reach we +come to Greenwich. Here go many holiday-parties to the famous inns, +where they get the Greenwich fish-dinners and can look back at the great +city they have left. Here the ministry at the close of the session has +its annual whitebait dinner. Greenwich was the Roman Grenovicum and the +Saxon Green Town. Here encamped the Danes when they overran England in +the eleventh century, and their fleet was anchored in the Thames. It +became a royal residence in Edward I.'s time, and Henry IV. dated his +will at the manor of Greenwich. In 1437, Greenwich Castle was built +within a park, and its tower is now used for the Observatory. Humphrey, +Duke of Gloucester, then held Greenwich, and was the regent of England +during Henry VI.'s minority. He was assassinated by rivals in 1447, and +the manor reverted to the Crown. The palace was enlarged and +embellished, and Henry VIII. was born there in 1491. He greatly improved +the palace, and made it his favorite residence, Queen Elizabeth being +born there in 1533. King Edward VI. died at Greenwich in 1553, and +Elizabeth, enlarging the palace, kept a regular court there. It was her +favorite summer home, and the chronicler of the time, writing of a visit +to the place, says, in describing the ceremonial of Elizabeth's court, +that the presence-chamber was hung with rich tapestry, and the floor, +after the then fashion, was covered with rushes. At the door stood a +gentleman in velvet with a gold chain, who introduced persons of +distinction who came to wait upon the queen. A large number of high +officials waited for the queen to appear on her way to chapel. +Ultimately she came out, attended by a gorgeous escort. She is described +as sixty-five years old, very majestic, with an oblong face, fair but +wrinkled, small black, pleasant eyes, nose a little hooked, narrow lips, +and black teeth (caused by eating too much sugar). She wore false red +hair, and had a small crown on her head and rich pearl drops in her +ears, with a necklace of fine jewels falling upon her uncovered bosom. +Her air was stately, and her manner of speech mild and obliging. She +wore a white silk dress bordered with large pearls, and over it was a +black silk mantle embroidered with silver thread. Her long train was +borne by a marchioness. She spoke graciously to those whom she passed, +occasionally giving her right hand to a favored one to kiss. Whenever +she turned her face in going along everybody fell on their knees. The +ladies of the court following her were mostly dressed in white. +Reaching the ante-chapel, petitions were presented her, she receiving +them graciously, which caused cries of "Long live Queen Elizabeth!" She +answered, "I thank you, my good people," and then went into the service. + +[Illustration: GREENWICH HOSPITAL, FROM THE RIVER.] + +King James I. put a new front in the palace, and his queen laid the +foundation of the "House of Delight," which is now the central building +of the Naval Asylum. King Charles I. resided much at Greenwich, and +finished the "House of Delight," which was the most magnificently +furnished mansion then in England. King Charles II., finding the palace +decayed, for it had fallen into neglect during the Civil Wars, had it +taken down, and began the erection of a new palace, built of freestone. +In the time of William and Mary it became the Royal Naval Asylum, the +magnificent group of buildings now there being extensions of Charles +II.'s palace, while behind rises the Observatory, and beyond is the +foliage of the park. The asylum was opened in 1705, and consists of +quadrangular buildings enclosing a square. In the south-western building +is the Painted Hall, adorned with portraits of British naval heroes and +pictures of naval victories. The asylum supports about two thousand +seven hundred in-pensioners and six thousand out-pensioners, while it +has a school with eight hundred scholars. By a recent change the +in-pensioners are permitted to reside where they please, and it has +lately been converted into a medical hospital for wounded seamen. Its +income is about $750,000 yearly. The Greenwich Observatory, besides +being the centre whence longitude is reckoned, is also charged with the +regulation of time throughout the kingdom. + +[Illustration: LONDON, FROM GREENWICH PARK.] + +The Thames, which at London Bridge is eight hundred feet wide, becomes +one thousand feet wide at Greenwich, and then it pursues its crooked +course between uninteresting shores past Woolwich dockyard, where it is +a quarter of a mile wide, and on to Gravesend, where the width is half a +mile; then it broadens into an estuary which is eighteen miles wide at +the mouth. Almost the only thing that relieves the dull prospect along +the lower Thames is Shooter's Hill, behind Woolwich, which rises four +hundred and twelve feet. Gravesend, twenty-six miles below London Bridge +by the river, is the outer boundary of the port of London, and is the +head-quarters of the Royal Thames Yacht Club. Its long piers are the +first landing-place of foreign vessels. Gravesend is the head-quarters +for shrimps, its fishermen taking them in vast numbers and London +consuming a prodigious quantity. This fishing and custom-house town, for +it is a combination of both, has its streets filled with "tea-and +shrimp-houses." + + +TILBURY FORT. + +On the opposite bank of the Thames is Tilbury Fort, the noted fortress +that commands the navigation of the river and protects the entrance to +London. It dates from Charles II.'s time, fright from De Ruyter's Dutch +incursion up the Thames in 1667 having led the government to convert +Henry VIII.'s blockhouse that stood there into a strong fortification. +It was to Tilbury that Queen Elizabeth went when she defied the Spanish +Armada. Leicester put a bridge of boats across the river to obstruct the +passage, and gathered an army of eighteen thousand men on shore. Here +the queen made her bold speech of defiance, in which she said she knew +she had the body of but a weak and feeble woman, but she also had the +heart and stomach of a king, and rather than her realm should be invaded +and dishonor grow by her, she herself would take up arms. She had then, +all told, one hundred and thirty thousand soldiers and one hundred and +eighty-one war-vessels, but the elements conquered the "Invincible +Armada," barely one-third of it getting back to Spain. + +Thus we have traced England's famous river from its source in the +Cotswolds until it falls into the North Sea at the mouth of the broad +estuary beyond Sheerness and the Nore. Knowing the tale of grandeur that +its banks unfold, Wordsworth's feelings can be understood as he halted +upon Westminster Bridge in the early morning and looked down the Thames +upon London: its mighty heart was still and its houses seemed asleep as +the tranquil scene inspired the great poet to write his sonnet: + + "Earth has not anything to show more fair; + Dull would he be of soul who could pass by + A sight so touching in its majesty: + This city now doth like a garment wear + The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, + Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie + Open unto the fields and to the sky; + All bright and glittering in the smokeless air. + Never did sun more beautifully steep + In his first splendor valley, rock, or hill; + Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep! + The river glideth at his own sweet will; + Dear God! the very houses seem asleep, + And all that mighty heart is lying still." + + + + +V. + +LONDON, NORTHWARD TO THE TWEED. + + Harrow--St. Albans--Verulam--Hatfield House--Lord + Burleigh--Cassiobury--Knebworth--Great Bed of Ware--The river + Cam--Audley End--Saffron Walden--Newport--Nell + Gwynn--Littlebury--Winstanley--Harwich--Cambridge--Trinity and St. + John's Colleges--Caius College--Trinity Hall--The Senate + House--University Library--Clare College--Great St. Mary's + Church--King's College--Corpus Christi College--St. Catharine's + College--Queen's College--The Pitt Press--Pembroke + College--Peterhouse--Fitzwilliam Museum--Hobson's Conduit--Downing + College--Emmanuel College--Christ's College--Sidney-Sussex + College--The Round Church--Magdalene College--Jesus + College--Trumpington--The Fenland--Bury St. Edmunds--Hengrave + Hall--Ely--Peterborough--Crowland Abbey--Guthlac--Norwich Castle + and Cathedral--Stamford--Burghley House--George + Inn--Grantham--Lincoln--Nottingham--Southwell--Sherwood + Forest--Robin Hood--The Dukeries--Thoresby Hall--Clumber + Park--Welbeck Abbey--Newstead Abbey--Newark--Hull--William + Wilberforce--Beverley--Sheffield--Wakefield--Leeds--Bolton + Abbey--The Strid--Ripon Cathedral--Fountains Abbey--Studley + Royal--Fountains Hall--York--Eboracum--York Minster--Clifford's + Tower--Castle Howard--Kirkham Priory--Flamborough + Head--Scarborough--Whitby Abbey--Durham Cathedral and Castle--St. + Cuthbert--The Venerable Bede--Battle of Neville's + Cross--Chester-le-Street--Lumley + Castle--Newcastle-upon-Tyne--Hexham--Alnwick Castle--Hotspur and + the Percies--St. Michael's Church--Hulne Priory--Ford + Castle--Flodden Field--The Tweed--Berwick--Holy + Isle--Lindisfarne--Bamborough--Grace Darling. + + +ST. ALBANS. + +[Illustration: ST. ALBANS, FROM VERULAM.] + +The railway running from London to Edinburgh, and on which the +celebrated fast train the "Flying Scotchman" travels between the two +capitals, is the longest in Britain. Its route northward from the +metropolis to the Scottish border, with occasional digressions, will +furnish many places of interest. On the outskirts of London, in the +north-western suburbs, is the well-known school founded three hundred +years ago by John Lyon at Harrow, standing on a hill two hundred feet +high. One of the most interesting towns north of London, for its +historical associations and antiquarian remains, is St. Albans in +Hertfordshire. Here, on the opposite slopes of a shelving valley, are +seen on the one hand the town that has clustered around the ancient +abbey of St. Albans, and on the other the ruins of the fortification of +Verulam, both relics of Roman power and magnificence. On this spot stood +the chief town of the Cassii, whose king, Cassivelaunus, vainly opposed +the inroads of Caesar. Here the victorious Roman, after crossing the +Thames, besieged and finally overthrew the Britons. The traces of the +ancient earthworks are still plainly seen on the banks of the little +river Ver, and when the Romans got possession there arose the +flourishing town of Verulam, which existed until the British +warrior-queen. Boadicea, stung by the oppressions of her race, stormed +and captured the place and ruthlessly massacred its people. But her +triumph was short lived, for the Romans, gaining reinforcements, +recaptured the city. This was in the earlier days of the Christian era, +and at a time when Christian persecutions raged. There then lived in +Verulam a prominent man named Alban, a young Roman of good family. In +the year 303 a persecuted priest named Amphibalus threw himself upon the +mercy of Alban, and sought refuge in his house. The protection was +granted, and in a few days the exhortations of Amphibalus had converted +his protector to Christianity. The officials, getting word of +Amphibalus' whereabouts, sent a guard to arrest him, whereupon Alban +dismissed his guest secretly, and, wrapping himself in the priest's robe +and hood, awaited the soldiers. They seized him, and took him before the +magistrates, when the trick was discovered. He was given the alternative +of dying or sacrificing to the gods of Rome, but, preferring the crown +of martyrdom, after cruel torments he was led to his doom. He was to be +taken across the Ver to be beheaded, but miracles appeared. The stream, +which had been a-flood, quickly dried up, so that the multitude could +pass, and this so touched the executioner that he refused to strike the +blow and declared himself also a convert. The executioner's head was +quickly stricken off, and another headsman obtained. Alban meanwhile was +athirst, and at his prayer a spring broke from the ground for his +refreshment. The new executioner struck off Alban's head, but in doing +so his eyes dropped from their sockets. On the spot where Alban died the +abbey was afterwards built. His martyrdom did not save Amphibalus, who +was soon captured and put to death at Redburn, a few miles away, where +his relics were afterwards discovered and enshrined, like those of his +pupil, in the abbey. + +[Illustration: OLD WALL AT VERULAM.] + +[Illustration: MONASTERY GATE.] + +[Illustration: THE TOWER OF THE ABBEY.] + +[Illustration: STAIRCASE TO WATCHING-GALLERY.] + +The sacrifice of the protomartyr brought its fruits. Verulam became +Christian, and within a century was paying him the honors of a saint. In +the eighth century King Offa of Mercia, having treacherously murdered +King Ethelbert, became conscience-stricken, and to propitiate Heaven +founded the abbey. He built a Benedictine monastery, which was richly +endowed, and gradually attracted the town away from Verulam and over to +its present site. This monastery existed until the Norman Conquest, when +it was rebuilt, the ruins of Verulam serving as a quarry. Thus began the +great abbey of St. Albans, which still overlooks the Ver, although it +has been materially altered since. It prospered greatly, and the close +neighborhood to London brought many pilgrims as well as royal visits. +The abbots were invested with great powers and became dictatorial and +proud, having frequent contests with the townsfolk; and it is recorded +that one young man who applied for admission to the order, being refused +on account of his ignorance, went abroad and ultimately became Pope +Adrian IV. But he bore the abbot no ill-will, afterwards granting it +many favors. Cardinal Wolsey was once the abbot, but did not actively +govern it. In 1539 its downfall came, and it surrendered to King Henry +VIII. The deed of surrender, signed by thirty-nine monks, is still +preserved, and the seal is in the British Museum. The abbey is now in +ruins; the church and gateway remain, but the great group of buildings +that composed it has mostly disappeared, so that the old monastery is +almost as completely effaced as Verulam. But the church, by being bought +for $2000 for the St. Albans parish church, is still preserved, and is +one of the most interesting ecclesiastical structures in England; yet +its great length and massive central tower are rather unfavorable to its +picturesqueness, though the tower when seen from a distance impresses by +its grandeur and simplicity. In this tower, as well as in other parts of +the church, can be detected the ancient bricks from Verulam. The +ground-plan of St. Albans Church is a Latin cross, and it is five +hundred and forty-eight feet long. The western part was erected in the +twelfth, and the greater portion of the nave and choir in the thirteenth +century. The floor of the choir is almost paved with sepulchral slabs, +though of the two hundred monuments the church once contained barely a +dozen remain. At the back of the high altar was the great treasury of +the abbey, the shrine enclosing St. Alban's relics, but this was +destroyed at the Reformation: some fragments have been since discovered, +and the shrine thus reproduced with tolerable completeness. On the side +of the chapel is a wooden gallery, with cupboards beneath and a +staircase leading up to it. In the shrine and cupboards were the abbey +treasures, and in the gallery the monks kept watch at night lest they +should be despoiled. This vigilance, we are told, was necessary, for +rival abbeys were by no means scrupulous about the means by which they +augmented their stores of relics. This quaint gallery, still preserved, +is five hundred years old. Near the shrine is the tomb of Duke Humphrey +of Gloucester, brother of King Henry V. and regent during the minority +of Henry VI., who was assassinated at Windsor. The tomb was opened in +1703, and the skeleton found buried among spices and enclosed in two +coffins, the outer of lead. The vault remained opened, and visitors +purloined good Humphrey's bones till nearly all had disappeared, when +the authorities concluded it was better to close up the vault and save +what remained. The massive gatehouse, which still exists, was built in +Richard II.'s reign, and was used for a jail until not long ago they +determined to put a school there. In front of it the martyr Tankerfield +was burnt, and buried in 1555 in a little triangular graveyard which +still exists. Fox, in his _Book of Martyrs_, relates that he endured the +pain with great constancy, and testified to the last against the errors +of his persecutors. + +[Illustration: THE SHRINE AND WATCHING-GALLERY.] + +[Illustration: CLOCK-TOWER, ST. ALBANS.] + +[Illustration: BARNARD'S HEATH.] + +In the town of St. Albans, near the abbey and at the junction of two +streets, stands the ancient clock-tower, built in the early part of the +fifteenth century, and mainly of flint. It occupies the site of an +earlier one said to have been erected by two ladies of Verulam, who, +wandering alone in the woods and becoming lost, saw a light in a house, +sought refuge there, and erected the tower on the site as a memorial of +their deliverance. The bell in this tower was in former days used to +ring the curfew. The town itself has little to show. In the church of +St. Peter, among the monumental brasses, is the one to a priest often +quoted, that reads: + + "Lo, all that here I spent, that some time had I; + All that I gave in good intent, that now have I; + That I neither gave nor lent, that now abie[A] I; + That I kept till I went, that lost I." + +Edward Strong, the mason who built St. Paul's Cathedral in London under +the direction of Wren, is also buried in this church. Its chief tenants, +however, are the slain at the second battle of St. Albans in the Wars of +the Roses. At the first of these battles, fought in 1455 on the east +side of the town, Henry of Lancaster was wounded and captured by the +Duke of York. The second battle, a much more important contest, was +fought on Shrove Tuesday, February 17, 1461, at Barnard's Heath, north +of the town, and near St. Peter's Church. Queen Margaret of Lancaster +led her forces in person, and was victorious over the Yorkists under the +Earl of Warwick, liberating the captive king, who was in the enemy's +camp, and following the battle by a ruthless execution of prisoners. +King Henry, who had gone to St. Alban's shrine in tribulation when +captured in the earlier contest, also went there again in thanksgiving +when thus liberated six years later. The town of St. Albans, by the +growth of time, has stretched across the Ver, and one straggling suburb +reaches into the north-western angle of the ruins of ancient Verulam, +where it clusters around the little church of St. Michael within the +Roman city. This is a plain church, built in patches, parts of it nearly +a thousand years old, and is the burial place of Francis Bacon, who was +Baron of Verulam and Viscount St. Albans. Within a niche on the side of +the chancel is his familiar effigy in marble, where he sits in an +arm-chair and contemplatively gazes upward. From these ruins of Verulam +is obtained the best view of St. Alban's Abbey, with the town in the +background, overlooked by its clock-tower. + +[Illustration: ST. MICHAEL'S, VERULAM.] + +[Footnote A: This word means _expiate_.] + + +HATFIELD HOUSE. + +A short distance east of St. Albans is Hatfield, and in a fine park in +the suburbs stands the magnificent mansion of the Marquis of +Salisbury--Hatfield House. The place is ancient, though the house is +completely modern. The manor was given by King Edgar to the monastery at +Ely, and, as in course of time the abbot became a bishop, the manor +afterwards became known as Bishops Hatfield, a name that it still bears. +The oldest portion of the present buildings was erected in the reign of +Henry VII., and in the time of his successor it passed into possession +of the Crown. Here lived young Edward VI., and he was escorted by the +Earl of Hertford and a cavalcade of noblemen from Hatfield to London for +his coronation. The youthful king granted Hatfield to his sister +Elizabeth, and here she was kept in Queen Mary's reign after her release +from the Tower. She was under the guardianship of Sir Thomas Pope when, +in November, 1558, Queen Mary died, and Sir William Cecil sent +messengers from London to apprise Elizabeth that the crown awaited her. +We are told that when they arrived the princess was found in the park, +sitting under a spreading oak--a noble tree then, but time has since +made sad havoc with it, though the remains are carefully preserved as +one of the most precious memorials at Hatfield. The family of Cecil, +thus introduced to Hatfield, was destined to continue associated with +its fortunes. Sir William came to the manor on the next day, and then +peers and courtiers of all ilks flocked thither to worship the rising +sun. On the following day the queen gave her first reception in the hall +and received the fealty of the leading men of every party; but she did +not forget Cecil, for her earliest act was to appoint him her chief +secretary, lord treasurer, and adviser--a tie that continued for forty +years and was only sundered by death. Cecil was afterwards made Lord +Burghley, and the confidence thus first reposed in him within the hall +that was afterwards to become the home of his descendants was most +remarkable. "No arts," writes Lord Macaulay, "could shake the confidence +which she reposed in her old and trusty servant. The courtly graces of +Leicester, the brilliant talents and accomplishments of Essex, touched +the fancy, perhaps the heart, of the woman, but no rival could deprive +the treasurer of the place which he possessed in the favor of the queen. +She sometimes chid him sharply, but he was the man whom she delighted to +honor. For Burghley she forgot her usual parsimony, both of wealth and +dignities; for Burghley she relaxed that severe etiquette to which she +was unreasonably attached. Every other person to whom she addressed her +speech, or on whom the glance of her eagle eye fell, instantly sank on +his knee. For Burghley alone a chair was set in her presence, and there +the old minister, by birth only a plain Lincolnshire esquire, took his +ease, while the haughty heirs of the Fitzalans and De Veres humbled +themselves to the dust around him. At length, having survived all his +early coadjutors and rivals, he died, full of years and honors." + +[Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH'S OAK, HATFIELD.] + +[Illustration: HATFIELD HOUSE.] + +But it was not until after his death that Hatfield came into possession +of his family. He built Burghley House near Stamford in Lincolnshire, +and left it to his younger son, Sir Robert Cecil. After Elizabeth's +death, King James I. expressed a preference for Burghley over Hatfield, +and an exchange was made by which Hatfield passed into possession of Sir +Robert, who had succeeded his father as chief minister, and, though in +weak health and of small stature, was a wise and faithful servant of the +queen and of her successor. In Elizabeth's last illness, when she +persisted in sitting propped up on a stool by pillows, he urged her to +rest herself, and inadvertently said she "must go to bed." The queen +fired up. "Must!" cried she. "Is _must_ a word to be addressed to +princes? Little man, little man, thy father if he had been alive durst +not have used that word." Sir Robert did not survive the queen many +years, and to him King James's peaceful succession to the throne is said +to have been greatly due. The king made him the Earl of Salisbury, and +the title descended for several generations, until, in 1773, the seventh +earl was promoted to the rank of marquis, and now Robert Cecil, the +third Marquis of Salisbury and one of the leaders of the Conservative +party, presides over the estates at Hatfield. The chief entrance to +Hatfield House is on the northern side, and above it rises a cupola. The +buildings form three sides of an oblong, the longer line fronting the +north and the two wings pointing towards the south. They are of brick, +with stone dressings and facings, and are admired as a faithful example +of the excellent domestic architecture of the early part of the +seventeenth century. The approach through the park from the town is of +great beauty, the grand avenue, bordered by stately trees, conducting +the visitor to a court in front of the house enclosed by a balustrade +with handsome gates. Within the building the most remarkable features +are the galleries, extending along the entire southern front. The +gallery on the ground floor was formerly a corridor, open on one side +to the air; but at a comparatively recent period this has been enclosed +with glass, and thus converted into a gallery paved with black and white +marble, and ornamented with arms and armor, some being trophies from the +Armada and others from the Crimea. Here is the rich saddle-cloth used on +the white steed that Queen Elizabeth rode at Tilbury. There are a fine +chapel and attractive state-apartments, but around the old house there +lingers a tale of sorrow. The western wing was burned in 1835, and the +dowager marchioness, the grandmother of the present marquis, then five +years old, perished in the flames, which originated in her chamber. This +wing has been finely restored, and the room in which she was burned +contains her portrait, an oval medallion let into the wall over the +fireplace. It is the sweet and sunny face of a young girl, and her +tragic fate in helpless age reminds of Solon's warning as we look at the +picture: "Count no one happy till he dies." In the gallery at Hatfield +are portraits of King Henry VIII. and all six of his wives. In the +library, which is rich in historical documents, is the pedigree of Queen +Elizabeth, emblazoned in 1559, and tracing her ancestry in a direct line +back to Adam! The state bedrooms have been occupied by King James, +Cromwell, and Queen Victoria. In the gardens, not far from the house, is +the site of the old episcopal palace of Bishops Hatfield, of which one +side remains standing, with the quaint gatehouse now used as an avenue +of approach up the hill from the town to the stables. There is a fine +view of the town through the ancient gateway. Here lived the princess +Elizabeth, and in the halls where kings have banqueted the marquis's +horses now munch their oats. Immediately below, in the town, is +Salisbury Chapel, in which repose the bones of his ancestors. + +[Illustration: THE CORRIDOR, HATFIELD.] + +Also in Hertfordshire are Cassiobury, the seat of the Earls of Essex, +whose ancestor, Lord Capel, who was beheaded in 1648 for his loyalty to +King Charles I., brought the estate into the family by his marriage with +Elizabeth Morison; and Knebworth, the home of Lord Lytton the novelist, +which has been the home of his ancestors since the time of Henry VII., +when it was bought by Sir Robert Lytton. The "Great Bed of Ware" is one +of the curiosities of the county--a vast bed twelve feet square, +originally at the Saracen's Head Inn. It was built for King Edward IV., +and was curiously carved, and has had a distinguished place in English +literary allusions. The bed still exists at Rye House in Hertfordshire, +where it was removed a few years ago. A dozen people have slept in it at +the same time. + +[Illustration: VIEW THROUGH OLD GATEWAY, HATFIELD.] + + +AUDLEY END AND SAFFRON WALDEN. + +[Illustration: AUDLEY END, WESTERN FRONT.] + +Journeying farther from London, and into the county of Essex, we come to +the little river Cam, and on the side of its valley, among the gentle +undulations of the Essex uplands, is seen the palace of Audley End, and +beyond it the village of Saffron Walden. Here in earlier times was the +abbey of Walden, which, when dissolved by Henry VIII., was granted to +Sir Thomas Audley, who then stood high in royal favor. But almost all +remains of this abbey have disappeared, and Sir Thomas, who was Speaker +of the House, got the grant because of his industry in promoting the +king's wishes for the dissolution of the religious houses, and was also +made Lord Audley of Walden. This, as Fuller tells us, was "a dainty +morsel, an excellent receipt to clear the Speaker's voice, and make him +speak clear and well for his master." But he did not live long to enjoy +it, although giving the estate his name, and it passed ultimately to the +Duke of Norfolk, after whose execution it became the property of his +son, Lord Thomas Howard, whom Queen Elizabeth made Baron Walden, and +King James appointed lord treasurer and promoted to be Earl of Suffolk. +He built the great palace of Audley End, which was intended to eclipse +every palace then existing in England. It was begun in 1603, and was +finished in 1616, the date still remaining upon one of the gateways. +King James twice visited Audley End while building, and is said to have +remarked, as he viewed its enormous proportions, that the house was too +large for a king, though it might do for a lord treasurer. It cost over +$1,000,000, but no accurate account was kept, and the earl was so +straitened by the outlay, that after being dismissed from office he was +compelled to sell out several other estates, and died nearly $200,000 in +debt. The second and third earls tried to maintain the white elephant, +but found it too heavy a burden, and the latter sold the house to King +Charles II. for $250,000, of which $100,000 remained on mortgage. It was +known as the New Palace, and became a royal residence. It consisted of a +large outer court and a smaller inner one. Around these the buildings +were constructed from one to three stories high, with towers at the +corners and centres of the fronts. The impression produced by the design +is said not to have been very favorable, it being insufficiently grand +for so vast a pile, and while it was a pleasant residence in summer, the +want of facilities for heating made it in winter little better than a +barn. When Pepys visited Audley End in 1660 and 1668, his chief +impression seems to have been of the cellars, for he writes: "Only the +gallery is good, and, above all things, the cellars, where we went down +and drank of much good liquor. And, indeed, the cellars are fine, and +here my wife and I did sing, to my great content." It was in the +following year that the house was sold to the king. In 1701, however, it +passed back to the fifth Earl of Suffolk, and about twenty years later a +large part of the structure was taken down. Three sides of the great +court, including the gallery referred to by Pepys, were demolished, and +Audley End was reduced to the buildings around the smaller quadrangle; +this was further reduced in 1749, so that the house assumed its present +appearance of three sides of a square, open towards the east, and thus +remains an excellent type of an early Jacobean mansion, its best view +being from the garden front. Within it has fine apartments, and contains +the only authentic portrait of George II. that is known. This king would +never sit for his picture, and the artist by stealth sketched his +likeness from a closet near the staircase of Kensington Palace, where he +had an excellent view of the peculiar monarch. It is, as Thackeray says, +the picture of a "red-faced, staring princeling," but is believed true +to nature nevertheless. Lady Suffolk, it seems, was one of his few +favorites. Audley End has been for a long time in possession of the +Barons of Braybrooke, and is their principal seat. Lord Cornwallis, of +American Revolutionary remembrance, was a member of this family, and his +portrait is preserved here. + +[Illustration: VIEWS IN SAFFRON WALDEN. + +1. Town-Hall. 2. Church. 3. Entrance to the Town.] + +Over the undulating surface of the park, barely a mile away, can be seen +the pretty spire of Saffron Walden Church, with the village clustering +around it. Here on a hill stand the church and the castle, originally of +Walden, but from the extensive cultivation of saffron in the +neighborhood the town came to have that prefix given it; it was grown +there from the time of Edward III., and the ancient historian Fuller +quaintly tells us "it is a most admirable cordial, and under God I owe +my life, when sick with the small-pox, to the efficacy thereof." Fuller +goes on to tell us that "the sovereign power of genuine saffron is +plainly proved by the antipathy of the crocodile thereto; for the +crocodile's tears are never true save when he is forced where saffron +groweth, whence he hath his name of croco-deilos, or the saffron-fearer, +knowing himself to be all poison, and it all antidote." Saffron attained +its highest price at Walden in Charles II.'s time, when it was as high +as twenty dollars a pound, but its disuse in medicine caused its value +to diminish, and at the close of the last century its culture had +entirely disappeared from Walden, though the prefix still clings to the +name of the town. While saffron was declining, this neighborhood became +a great producer of truffles, and the dogs were trained here to hunt the +fungus that is so dear to the epicure's palate. The church of St. Mary, +which is a fine Perpendicular structure and the most conspicuous feature +of Saffron Walden, was built about four hundred years ago, though the +slender spire crowning its western tower is of later date, having been +built in the present century. In the church are buried the six Earls of +Suffolk who lived at Audley End, and all of whom died between 1709 and +1745. The ruins of the ancient castle, consisting chiefly of a portion +of the keep and some rough arches, are not far from the church, and +little is known of its origin. There is a museum near the ruins which +contains some interesting antiquities and a fine natural-history +collection. The newly-constructed town-hall, built in antique style, +overhanging the footway and supported on arches, is one of the most +interesting buildings in Saffron Walden: the mayor and corporation +meeting here date their charter from 1549. Not far away, at Newport, +lived Nell Gwynn in a modest cottage with a royal crown over the door. +She was one of the numerous mistresses of Charles II., and is said to +have been the only one who remained faithful to him. She bore him two +sons, one dying in childhood, and the other becoming the Duke of St. +Albans, a title created in 1684, and still continued in the persons of +his descendants of the family of Beauclerc. Nell was originally an +orange-girl who developed into a variety actress, and, fascinating the +king, he bought her from Lord Buckhurst, her lover, for an earldom and a +pension. Nell is said to have cost the king over $300,000 in four years. +She had her good qualities and was very popular in England, and she +persuaded the king to found Chelsea Hospital for disabled soldiers, and +he also bore her genuine affection, for his dying words were, "Let not +poor Nelly starve." She survived him about seven years. Also in the +neighborhood, at Littlebury, was the home of Winstanley, the builder of +the first Eddystone Lighthouse, who perished in it when it was destroyed +by a terrific storm in 1703. + +[Illustration: JETTIES AT HARWICH.] + +Digressing down to the coast of Essex, on the North Sea, we find at the +confluence of the Stour and Orwell the best harbor on that side of +England, bordered by the narrow and old-fashioned streets of the ancient +seaport of Harwich. Here vast fleets seek shelter in easterly gales +behind the breakwater that is run out from the Beacon Hill. From here +sail many steamers to Rotterdam and Antwerp in connection with the +railways from London, and the harbor-entrance is protected by the +ancient Languard Fort, built by James I. on a projecting spit of land +now joined to the Suffolk coast to the northward. One of the most +interesting scenes at Harwich is a group of old wrecks that has been +utilized for a series of jetties in connection with a shipbuilder's +yard. Weather-beaten and battered, they have been moored in a placid +haven, even though it be on the unpicturesque coast of Essex. + + +CAMBRIDGE. + +[Illustration: BRIDGE, ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE.] + +Returning to the valley of the Cam, we will follow it down to the great +university city of Cambridge, fifty-eight miles north of London. It +stands in a wide and open valley, and is built on both banks of the +river, which is navigable up to this point, so that the town is +literally the "Bridge over the Cam." The situation is not so picturesque +or so favorable as that of the sister university city of Oxford, but it +is nevertheless an attractive city, the stately buildings being +admirably set off by groups and avenues of magnificent trees that +flourish nowhere to better advantage than in English scenery. The chief +colleges are ranged along the right bank of the Cam, with their fronts +away from the water, while behind each there is a sweep of deliciously +green meadowland known as the "Backs of the Colleges," surrounded by +trees, and with a leafy screen of foliage making the background beyond +the buildings. While the greater part of modern Cambridge is thus on the +right bank of the river, the oldest portion was located on a low plateau +forming the opposite shore. It is uncertain when the university was +first established there. Henry Beauclerc, the youngest son of William +the Conqueror, studied the arts and sciences at Cambridge, and when he +became king he bestowed many privileges upon the town and fixed a +regular ferry over the Cam. By the thirteenth century scholars had +assembled there and become a recognized body, according to writs issued +by Henry III. In 1270 the title of a university was formally bestowed, +and the oldest known collegiate foundation--Peterhouse, or St. Peter's +College--had been established a few years before. Cambridge has in all +seventeen colleges, and the present act of incorporation was granted by +Queen Elizabeth. The Duke of Devonshire is the chancellor. The student +graduates either "in Honors" or "in the Poll." In the former case he can +obtain a distinction in mathematics, classics, the sciences, theology, +etc. The names of the successful students are arranged in three classes +in a list called the Tripos, a name derived from the three-legged stool +whereon sat in former days one of the bachelors, who recited a set of +satirical verses at the time the degrees were conferred. In the +Mathematical Tripos the first class are called Wranglers, and the others +Senior and Junior Optimes. Thus graduate the "Dons" of Cambridge. + + +TRINITY AND ST. JOHN'S COLLEGES. + +Let us now take a brief review of the seventeen colleges of Cambridge. +In Trinity Street is Trinity College, founded in 1546 by Henry VIII. It +consists of four quadrangular courts, the Great Court being the largest +quadrangle in the university, and entered from the street by the grand +entrance-tower known as the King's Gateway. On the northern side of the +quadrangle are the chapel and King Edward's Court, and in the centre of +the southern side the Queen's Tower, with a statue of Queen Mary. In the +centre of the quadrangle is a quaint conduit. The chapel is a plain +wainscoted room, with an ante-chapel filled with busts of former members +of the college--among them Bacon and Macaulay--and also a noble statue +of Newton. Trinity College Hall is one hundred feet long and the finest +in Cambridge, its walls being adorned with several portraits. It was in +Trinity that Byron, Dryden, Cowley, Herbert, and Tennyson were all +students. There are said to be few spectacles more impressive than the +choral service on Sunday evening in term-time, when Trinity Chapel is +crowded with surpliced students. In the Master's Lodge, on the western +side of the quadrangle, are the state-apartments where royalty is lodged +when visiting Cambridge, and here also in special apartments the judges +are housed when on circuit. Through screens or passages in the hall the +second quadrangle, Neville's Court, is entered, named for a master of +the college who died in 1615. Here is the library, an attractive +apartment supported on columns, which contains Newton's telescope and +some of his manuscripts, and also a statue of Byron. The King's (or New) +Court, is a modern addition, built in the present century at a cost of +$200,000. From this the College Walks open on the western side, the view +from the gateway looking down the long avenue of lime trees being +strikingly beautiful. The Master's Court is the fourth quadrangle. + +[Illustration: HALL OF TRINITY COLLEGE.] + +Adjoining Trinity is its rival, St. John's College, also consisting of +four courts, though one of them is of modern construction and on the +opposite bank of the river. This college was founded by the countess +Margaret of Richmond, mother of Henry VII., and opened in 1516, having +been for three centuries previously a hospital. It is generally regarded +from this circumstance as being the oldest college at Cambridge. The +gateway is a tower of mingled brick and stone and one of the earliest +structures of the college. Entering it, on the opposite side of the +court is seen the New Chapel, but recently completed, a grand edifice +one hundred and seventy-two feet long and sixty-three feet high, with a +surmounting tower whose interior space is open and rises eighty-four +feet above the pavement. The roof and the windows are richly colored, +and variegated marbles have been employed in the interior decoration. +The eastern end is a five-sided apse; the ceiling is vaulted in oak, +while the chapel has a magnificent screen. Between the first and second +courts is the hall, recently enlarged and decorated, and the library is +on the northern side of the third court. It is a picturesque room of +James I.'s time, with a timbered roof, whitened walls, and carved oaken +bookcases black with age. The second court is of earlier date, and a +fine specimen of sixteenth-century brickwork. On the southern side is an +octagonal turret, at the top of which is the queer little room occupied +by Dr. Wood, whose statue is in the chapel. When he first came to +college from his humble home in the north of England he was so poor that +he studied by the light of the staircase candle, and wrapped his feet in +wisps of hay in winter to save the cost of a fire. He became the Senior +Wrangler, and in due course a Fellow, and ultimately master of the +college. To this was added the deanery of Ely. Dying, he bequeathed his +moderate fortune for the aid of poor students and the benefit of his +college. Of the third court the cloister on the western side fronts the +river. The New Court, across the Cam, is a handsome structure, faced +with stone and surmounted by a tower. A covered Gothic bridge leads to +it over the river from the older parts of the college. In the garden +along the river, known as the Wilderness, Prior the poet is said to have +laid out the walks. Here among the students who have taken recreation +have been Wordsworth and Herschel, Wilberforce and Stillingfleet. + +[Illustration: ST. JOHN'S CHAPEL.] + + +CAIUS AND CLARE COLLEGES. + +It took two founders to establish Gonville and Caius College, and both +their names are preserved in the title, though it is best known as Caius +(pronounced Keys) College. Its buildings were ancient, but have been +greatly changed in the present century, so that the chief entrance is +now beneath a lofty tower, part of the New Court and fronting the Senate +House. This New Court is a fine building, ornamented with busts of the +most conspicuous men of Caius. Beyond is the smaller or Caius Court of +this college, constructed in the sixteenth century. The "Gate of Virtue +and Wisdom" connects them, and is surmounted by an odd turret. On the +other side is the "Gate of Honor," a good specimen of the Renaissance. +The "Gate of Humility" was removed in rebuilding the New Court. Thus did +this college give its students veritable sermons in stones. The founders +of Caius were physicians, and among its most eminent members were Hervey +and Jeremy Taylor. Adjoining Caius is Trinity Hall, as noted for the law +as its neighbor is for medicine, and immediately to the south is a group +of university buildings. Among these is the Senate House, opened in +1730, where the university degrees are conferred. It has a fine +interior, especially the ceiling, and among the statues is an impressive +one of the younger Pitt. The most exciting scene in the Senate House is +when the result of the mathematical examination is announced. This for a +long time was almost the only path to distinction at Cambridge. When all +are assembled upon a certain Friday morning in January, one of the +examiners stands up in the centre of the western gallery and just as the +clock strikes nine proclaims to the crowd the name of the "Senior +Wrangler," or first student of the year, with a result of deafening +cheers; then the remainder of the list is read. On the following day the +recipients of degrees and visitors sit on the lower benches, and the +undergraduates cram the galleries. Then with much pomp the favored +student is conducted to the vice-chancellor to receive his first degree +alone. The University Library is near by, and, as it gets a copy of +every book entered for English copyright, it has become a large one. +Some of the manuscripts it contains are very valuable, particularly the +_Codex Beza_, a manuscript of the Gospels given in 1581 by Beza. + +Adjoining Trinity Hall is the beautiful court of Clare College, dating +from the time of the Civil Wars, when it replaced older structures. Its +exterior is most attractive to visitors, exhibiting the pleasing +architecture of the sixteenth century. The river-front is much admired, +while the gateway is marked by quaint lantern-like windows. In the +library is one of the rare Bibles of Sixtus V., and in the Master's +Lodge is kept the poison-cup of Clare, which is both curious and +beautiful. The gentle lady's mournful fate has been told by Scott in +_Marmion_. Tillotson and other famous divines were students at Clare, +and the college also claims Chaucer, but this is doubtful, though the +college figures in his story of the "Miller of Trumpington," and also +adjuts upon Trumpington Street. Upon the opposite side of this street is +Great St. Mary's Church, the university church, an attractive building +of Perpendicular architecture and having fine chimes of bells. Here the +vice chancellor listens to a sermon every Sunday afternoon in term-time. +Formerly, on these occasions, the "heads and doctors" of the university +sat in an enclosed gallery built like a sort of gigantic opera-box, and +profanely called the "Golgotha." A huge pulpit faced them on the other +end of the church, and the centre formed a sort of pit. Modern +improvements have, however, swept this away, replacing it with ordinary +pews. + +[Illustration: BACK OF CLARE COLLEGE.] + + +KING'S, CORPUS CHRISTI, AND QUEENS' COLLEGES. + +Trumpington Street broadens into the King's Parade, and here, entered +through a modern buttressed screen pierced with openings filled with +tracery, is King's College. It was founded by Henry VI. in 1440, and in +immediate connection with the school at Eton, from which the more +advanced scholars were to be transferred. The great King's Chapel, which +gives an idea of the grand scale on which this college was to be +constructed, is the special boast of Cambridge. It is two hundred and +eighty feet long, forty-five feet wide, and seventy-eight feet high, +with a marvellously fretted roof of stone, and large windows at the +sides and ends filled with beautiful stained glass. This is the most +imposing of all the buildings in Cambridge, and occupies the entire +northern side of the college court. Its fine doorway is regarded as the +most pleasing part of the exterior design. The stained-glass windows are +divided into an upper and lower series of pictures. The lower is a +continuous chain of gospel history, while the upper exhibits the +Old-Testament types of the subjects represented below. Although designed +on such a magnificent scale, the Wars of the Roses interfered with the +completion of King's College, and even the chapel was not finished until +Henry VIII.'s reign. The other college buildings are modern. + +[Illustration: KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL--INTERIOR.] + +Adjoining King's is Corpus Christi College, the buildings being almost +entirely modern. Of the ancient structure one small court alone remains, +a picturesque steep-roofed building almost smothered in ivy. Corpus +Christi Hall is said to have been partly designed after the great hall +of Kenilworth. In its library are the famous manuscripts rescued from +the suppressed monasteries, there being four hundred interesting and +curious volumes of these precious documents, which are most jealously +guarded. Opposite Corpus is St. Catharine's College, with a +comparatively plain hall and chapel. Behind this is Queens' College, an +antique structure, though not a very ancient foundation. Its +entrance-tower is of brick, and a quaint low cloister runs around the +interior court. Within is Erasmus's Court, where are pointed out the +rooms once occupied by that great scholar. Across the river a wooden +bridge leads to a terrace by the water-side with an overhanging border +of elms, and known as Erasmus's Walk. This college was founded by the +rival queens, Margaret of Anjou and Elizabeth Widvile, and though it is +very proud of having had the great scholar of the Reformation within its +halls, he does not seem to have entirely reciprocated the pleasure; for +he complains in a letter to a friend that while there "he was blockaded +with the plague, beset with thieves, and drugged with bad wine." +Returning to Trumpington Street, we find on the western side the +University Printing Press, named from the younger statesman the Pitt +Press. He represented the university in Parliament, and the lofty square +and pinnacled tower of this printing-office is one of the most +conspicuous objects in Cambridge. Yet even this structure has its +contrasts, for the "Cantabs" consider that its architecture is as bad as +its typography is good. + +[Illustration: DOORWAY OF KINGS COLLEGE CHAPEL.] + + +OTHER CAMBRIDGE COLLEGES. + +[Illustration: SCENES IN CAMBRIDGE. + +1. The Senate House. 2. The Pitt Press. 3. The Round Church. 4. Great +St. Mary's. 5. Fitzwilliam Museum.] + +Pembroke College, near the Pitt Press, has a chapel designed by +Christopher Wren and recently enlarged. This was the college of Spenser +and Gray, the latter having migrated from the neighboring Peterhouse +because of the practical jokes the students played upon him. It was also +Pitt's college. Opposite Pembroke is Peterhouse, or St. Peter's College, +the most ancient foundation in Cambridge, established by Hugh de +Balsham, Bishop of Ely, in 1284. Beyond Peterhouse is the Fitzwilliam +Museum, a most successful reproduction of classic architecture, built +and maintained by a legacy of $500,000 left by Viscount Fitzwilliam in +1816. It contains an excellent art and literary collection, which was +begun by the viscount. This is regarded as probably the finest +classical building constructed in the present century in England. A +short distance beyond, at the end of a water-course, is an attractive +hexagonal structure with niched recesses and ornamental capstones. This +is Hobson's Conduit, erected in 1614 by Thomas Hobson. This benefactor +of Cambridge was a carrier between London and the university, and is +said to have been the originator of "Hobson's Choice." The youngest +foundation at Cambridge is Downing College, erected in 1807, an +unobtrusive structure, and near by is Emmanuel College, built on the +site of a Dominican convent and designed by Wren. It was founded by Sir +Walter Mildmay, the Puritan, in 1584, who on going to court was taxed by +Queen Mary with having erected a Puritan college. "No, madam," he +replied, "far be it from me to countenance anything contrary to your +established laws, but I have set an acorn, which when it becomes an oak +God alone knows what will be the fruit thereof." Sir William Temple was +educated at Emmanuel. Christ's College is near by, chiefly interesting +from its associations with Milton, whose rooms are still pointed out, +while a mulberry tree that he planted is preserved in the garden. +Latimer and Paley, with a host of other divines, were students here. +This college was founded by Queen Margaret, mother of Henry VII., and +some beautiful silver plate, her gift to the Fellows, is still +preserved. At Sidney-Sussex College Cromwell was a Fellow in 1616, and +his crayon portrait hangs in the dining-hall. Owing to want of means, he +left without taking a degree. An oriel window projecting over the street +is said to mark his chamber. Upon Bridge Street is the Round Church, or +St. Sepulchre's Church, obtaining its name from its circular Norman +nave, this being one of the four "Temple churches" still remaining in +England. Across the Cam stands Magdalene College, founded in 1519 by +Baron Thomas Audley of Walden. Within the building behind it are the +literary collections of Samuel Pepys, who was secretary to the Admiralty +in the reigns of Charles II. and James II., together with the manuscript +of his famous diary, a book of marvellous gossip, recording the +peccadilloes of its author, the jealousy of his wife, and the +corruptions of the court. He was educated at Magdalene. + +Jesus Lane leads out of Bridge Street to Jesus College, remotely placed +on the river-bank, and of which the chief building of interest is the +chapel, a fine Gothic structure. This college is upon the site of a +Benedictine nunnery founded in 1133, and is entered by a lofty brick +gate-tower which is much admired, and was constructed soon after the +foundation of the college in 1497 by the Bishop of Ely, whose successors +until this day retain the gift of the mastership. From Jesus Lane a path +leads down to the boat-houses on the river bank, where each college has +a boat-club wearing a distinctive dress. The racecourse is at the Long +Reach, just below the town. Of the ancient Cambridge Castle, built by +the Conqueror in 1068, nothing remains but the mound upon Castle Hill, +where the county courts are now located. Cambridge, however, has little +besides its university buildings to attract attention. In the suburbs +are two colleges for the instruction of lady students, and two miles +away is Trumpington, near which is the site of the mill told of in +Chaucer's Canterbury tale of the _Miller of Trumpington_. The place is +now used for gates to admit the river-water into Byron's Pool, which is +so called because the poet frequently bathed in it when he was an +undergraduate of Trinity College. + +[Illustration: GATEWAY JESUS COLLEGE.] + + +THE FENLAND. + +[Illustration: HENGRAVE HALL.] + +[Illustration: ROAD LEADING TO ELY CLOSE.] + +The river Cam below Cambridge flows through that country of reclaimed +marshland which ultimately ends in the Wash, between Norfolk and +Lincolnshire, and is known as the Fenland. This "Great Level of the +Fens" has been drained and reclaimed by the labors of successive +generations of engineers, and contains about six hundred and eighty +thousand acres of the richest lands in England, being as much the +product of engineering skill as Holland itself. Not many centuries ago +this vast surface, covering two thousand square miles, was entirely +abandoned to the waters, forming an immense estuary of the Wash, into +which various rivers discharge the rainfall of Central England. In +winter it was an inland sea and in summer a noxious swamp. The more +elevated parts were overgrown with tall reeds that in the distance +looked like fields of waving corn, and immense flocks of wild-fowl +haunted them. Into this dismal swamp the rivers brought down their +freshets, the waters mingling and winding by devious channels before +they reached the sea. The silt with which they were laden became +deposited in the basin of the Fens, and thus the river-beds were choked +up, compelling the intercepted waters to force new channels through the +ooze; hence there are numerous abandoned beds of old rivers still +traceable amid the level of the Fens. This region now is drained and +dyked, but in earlier times it was a wilderness of shallow waters and +reedy islets, with frequent "islands" of firmer and more elevated +ground. These were availed of for the monasteries of the Fenland--Ely, +Peterborough, Crowland, and others, all established by the Benedictines. +The abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, although situated some distance from the +marshland, may also be classed among the religious houses of the Fens. +This abbey, which is a short distance east of Cambridge, was built in +the eleventh century as the shrine of St. Edmund, King of East Anglia, +who was killed by the Danes about the year 870. It soon became one of +the wealthiest English monasteries, and was the chief religious centre +of that section. Only ruins remain, the chief being the abbey-gate, now +the property of the Marquis of Bristol, and the Norman tower and church, +which have recently been restored. In the suburbs of Bury is Hengrave +Hall, one of the most interesting Tudor mansions remaining in the +kingdom. Originally, it was three times its present size, and was built +by Sir Thomas Kytson about 1525. Its gate-house is rich in details, and +the many windows and projections of the southern front group +picturesquely. + +[Illustration: ELY CATHEDRAL, FROM THE RAILWAY-BRIDGE.] + +Following the Cam northward from Cambridge through the marshland, we +come to the Isle of Ely, the great "fortress of the Fens," and standing +upon its highest ground the cathedral of Ely. Here St. Etheldreda +founded a monastery in the seventh century, which ultimately became a +cathedral, Ely having been given a bishop in 1109. The present buildings +date all the way from the eleventh to the sixteenth century, so that +they give specimens of all Gothic styles. The cathedral is five hundred +and thirty-seven feet long, and from the summit of its western tower can +be gained a fine view of the spreading fens and lowlands of +Cambridgeshire, amid which stands the Isle of Ely. One of the finest +views of this tower is that obtained from the road leading to Ely Close. +Before drainage had improved the surrounding country this was one of the +strongest fortresses in England, and it was also one of the last to +yield to the Norman Conquest, its reduction causing King William heavy +loss. Afterwards he regarded it as among his most loyal strongholds. The +lofty tower, and indeed the whole cathedral, are landmarks for the +entire country round, and from the rising ground at Cambridge, fully +twenty miles to the southward, can be seen standing out against the sky. +From the dykes and fields and meadows that have replaced the marshes +along the Cam and Ouse the huge tower can be seen looming up in stately +grandeur. It is almost the sole attraction of the sleepy little country +town. The great feature of this massive cathedral is the wonderful +central octagon, with its dome-like roof crowned by a lofty lantern, +which is said to be the only Gothic dome of its kind in existence in +England or France. We are told that the original cathedral had a central +tower, which for some time showed signs of instability, until on one +winter's morning in 1321 it came down with an earthquake crash and +severed the cathedral into four arms. In reconstructing it, to ensure +security, the entire breadth of the church was taken as a base for the +octagon, so that it was more than three times as large as the original +square tower. Magnificent windows are inserted in the exterior faces of +the octagon, and the entire cathedral has been recently restored. It was +to Bishop Cox, who then presided over the see of Ely, that Queen +Elizabeth, when he objected to the alienation of certain church +property, wrote her famous letter: + + "PROUD PRELATE: You know what you were before I made you what you + are; if you do not immediately comply with my request, by God, I + will unfrock you." + + "ELIZABETH R." + + +[Illustration: OLD BITS IN ELY. + + 1. Old passage from Ely street to Cathedral Ford. + 2. Entrance to Prior Crawdon's Chapel. + 3. Old houses in High Street.] + +The bishop, it is almost unnecessary to say, surrendered. The town +contains little of interest beyond some quaint old houses. + + +PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL. + +[Illustration: PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL.] + +North-westward of Ely, and just on the border of the Fenland, Saxulf, a +thane of Mercia who had acquired great wealth, founded the first and +most powerful of the great Benedictine abbeys of this region in the year +655. Around this celebrated religious house has grown the town of +Peterborough, now one of the chief railway-junctions in Midland England. +The remains of the monastic buildings, and especially of the cathedral, +are magnificent, the great feature of the latter being its western +front, which was completed in the thirteenth century, and has three +great open arches, making probably the finest church-portico in Europe. +On the left of the cathedral is the chancel of Becket's Chapel, now a +grammar-school, while on the right is the ancient gateway of the abbot's +lodgings, which has become the entrance to the bishop's palace. The main +part of the cathedral is Norman, though portions are Early English. It +is built in the form of a cross, with a smaller transept at the western +end, while the choir terminates in an apse, and a central tower rises +from four supporting arches. Within the cathedral, over the doorway, is +a picture of old Scarlet, Peterborough's noted sexton, who buried +Catharine of Arragon and Mary Queen of Scots. The nave has an ancient +wooden roof, carefully preserved and painted with various devices. The +transept arches are fine specimens of Norman work. Queen Catharine lies +under a slab in the aisle of St. John's Chapel, but the remains of Queen +Mary were removed to Westminster Abbey by James I., to the magnificent +tomb he prepared there for his mother. + +[Illustration: AISLE AND CHOIR, PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL.] + + +CROWLAND ABBEY. + +Farther northward in the Fenland, and over the border in Lincolnshire, +was the Benedictine abbey of "courteous Crowland," though its remains +are now scanty. It derives its name from the "Land of Crows," which in +this part is drained by the Welland River and the great Bedford Level. +On one of the many islands of firmer soil abounding in this oozy region +the monks constructed their monastery, but had little space for +cultivation, and brought their food from remoter possessions. Now, +Crowland is no longer an island, for the drainage has made fast land all +about, and the ruins have attracted a straggling village. Here is the +famous "triangular bridge," a relic of the abbey. Three streams met, and +the bridge was made to accommodate the monks, who, from whatever +direction they approached, had to cross one of them. The streams now are +conveyed underground, but the bridge remains like a stranded monster +which the tide has abandoned, and gives the children a play-place. Its +steep half-arches, meeting in the centre, are climbed by rough steps. +The dissolved abbey served as a quarry for the village, and hence on +this strange bridge and on all the houses fragments of worked stone and +of sculpture everywhere appear. It was located at the eastern end of the +village, where its ruins still stand up as a guide across the fens, seen +from afar. Most of it is in complete ruin, but the north aisle of the +nave has been sufficiently preserved to serve as the parish church of +Crowland; round about the church and the ruins extends the village +graveyard. Set up in the porch beneath the tower is a memorial for +William Hill, the sexton, who died in 1792. When forty years old he was +blinded by exposure during a snowfall, yet he lived for twenty-five +years afterwards, able to find his way everywhere and to know every +grave in the churchyard. + +[Illustration: EAST END OF CROWLAND ABBEY.] + +In the earlier days of Christianity the solitudes in this Fenland had +peculiar attractions for the hermits who fled from the world to embrace +an ascetic life. Thus the islands each gradually got its hermit, and the +great monasteries grew up by degrees, starting usually in the cell of +some recluse. Guthlac, who lived in the seventh century, was of the +royal House of Mercia, and voluntarily exiled himself in the Fens. This +region was then, according to popular belief, the haunt of myriads of +evil spirits, who delighted in attacking the hermits. They assaulted +Guthlac in hosts, disturbed him by strange noises, once carried him far +away to the icy regions of the North, and not seldom took the form of +crows, the easier to torment him; but his steady prayers and penance +ultimately put them to flight, and the existence of his cell became +known to the world. Ethelbald fled to Guthlac for refuge, and the hermit +predicted he would become king, which in time came to pass. Guthlac died +at Crowland, and the grateful king built a stone church there. The +buildings increased, their great treasure being of course the tomb of +the hermit, which became a source of many miracles. The Northmen in the +ninth century plundered and destroyed Crowland, but it was restored, and +in Edward the Confessor's time was one of the five religious houses +ruled by the powerful abbot of Peterborough. It became the shrine of +Waltheof, the Earl of Northampton beheaded for opposing William the +Conqueror, and Crowland was thus made a stronghold of English feeling +against the Normans, like the other monasteries of the Fens. Its fame +declined somewhat after the Conquest, though its hospitality was fully +maintained. It had little subsequent history. The abbey was garrisoned +by the Royalists, and captured by Cromwell in 1643, after which it fell +into ruin. Such has been the fate of almost all the religious houses in +the Fens, the merits of which the people in the olden time judged +according to a local rhyme which yet survives: + + "Ramsay, the bounteous of gold and of fee; + Crowland, as courteous as courteous may be; + Spalding the rich, and Peterborough the proud; + Sawtrey, by the way, that poor abbaye, + Gave more alms in one day than all they." + + +NORWICH. + +Proceeding eastward out of the Fenland and among the hills of Norfolk, +the little river Wensum is found to have cut a broad, deep, and +trench-like valley into the chalk and gravel plateau. Upon the elevated +bank of the river is the irregularly picturesque town of Norwich, with +the castle keep rising above the undulating mass of buildings, and the +cathedral and its noble spire overtopping the lower portion of the city +on the right hand. Norwich is an ancient town, but very little is known +with certainty about it anterior to the Danish invasions. We are told +that its original location was at the more southerly castle of Caister, +whence the inhabitants migrated to the present site, for-- + + "Caister was a city when Norwich was none, + And Norwich was built of Caister stone." + +Canute held possession of Norwich and had a castle there, but the +present castle seems to date from the Norman Conquest, when it was +granted to Ralph de Quader, who turned traitor to the king, causing +Norfolk to be besieged, captured, and greatly injured. Then the castle +was granted to Roger Bigod. The town grew, and became especially +prosperous from the settlement there of numerous Flemish weavers in the +fourteenth century and of Walloons in Elizabeth's reign. It managed to +keep pretty well out of the Civil Wars, but a local historian says, "The +inhabitants have been saved from stagnation by the exceeding bitterness +with which all party and local political questions are discussed and +contested, and by the hearty way in which all classes throw themselves +into all really patriotic movements, when their party feeling +occasionally sleeps for a month or two." Norwich is pre-eminently a town +of churches, into the construction of which flint enters largely, it +being dressed with great skill into small roughened cubical blocks. + +[Illustration: NORWICH CASTLE.] + +The great attraction of Norwich is the cathedral, which stands upon a +low peninsula enclosed by a semicircular sweep of the river, much of the +ground in this region having been originally a swamp. The cathedral is +generally approached from its western side, where there is an open space +in front of the Close called Tombland, upon which two gates open from +it. These are St. Ethelbert's and the Erpingham gate. The latter, +opposite the western front of the cathedral, is named for its builder, +"old Sir Thomas Erpingham," whose "good white head," Shakespeare tells +us, was to be seen on the field of Agincourt. The cathedral is a Norman +structure, cruciform in plan, with an exceptionally long nave, an +apsidal choir, and attached chapels. The earliest parts of it were begun +in 1096, and when partially completed five years afterwards it was +handed over to the care of the Benedictine monks. Thirty years later +the nave was added, but the cathedral was not completed until about +1150. Twice it was seriously injured by fire, and it was not thoroughly +restored for a century, when in 1278 it was again consecrated with great +pomp, in the presence of Edward I. and his court, on Advent Sunday. The +spire, which is one of its most conspicuous features, was added by +Bishop Percy in the fourteenth century, though, having been seriously +injured by lightning, it had to be replaced afterwards. At the same time +the building was greatly altered, its roofs raised and vaulted, and +repairs went on until 1536. Yet, with all the changes that were made in +this famous cathedral, no other in England has managed to preserve its +original plan so nearly undisturbed. + +[Illustration: NORWICH CATHEDRAL.] + +[Illustration: NORWICH CATHEDRAL--THE CHOIR, LOOKING EAST.] + +Entering the nave from the westward, this grand apartment is found to +extend two hundred and fifty feet, and to the intersection of the +transepts comprises fourteen bays, three of them being included in the +choir. The triforium is almost as lofty as the nave-arches, and the +solidity of these, surmounted by the grandeur of the upper arcade, gives +a magnificent aspect to the nave. Above is the fine vaulted roof, the +elaborately carved bosses giving a series of scenes from sacred history +extending from the Creation to the Last Judgment. Small chapels were +originally erected against the organ-screen, one of them being dedicated +to the young St. William, a Norfolk saint who in the twelfth century was +tortured and crucified by some Jews. His body, clandestinely buried in a +wood, was found, miracles were wrought, and it was translated to the +cathedral. The Jews of Norwich were then attacked and plundered, and +these outrages were renewed a century later. But times have fortunately +changed since then. The choir extends to the eastern apse, and at the +back of the altar recent alterations have exposed an interesting relic +in a fragment of the original bishop's throne, an elevated chair of +stone placed in the middle of the apse and looking westward. On either +side are apsidal chapels. Among the monuments is that to Sir William +Boleyn, grandfather to the unfortunate Anne Boleyn. He lived at +Blickling, about thirteen miles from Norwich, where Anne is believed to +have been born. Several bishops also lie in the cathedral, and among the +later tombs is that of Dr. Moore, who died in 1779, and whose periwigged +head is in grotesque juxtaposition with a cherub making an ugly face +and appearing to be drying his eyes with his shirt. The spire of Norwich +Cathedral rises two hundred and eighty-seven feet. + +[Illustration: NORWICH MARKET-PLACE.] + +Norwich Castle is a massive block of masonry crowning the summit of a +mound. Who first built it is unknown, but he is said by popular +tradition to sit buried in his chair and full armed deep down in the +centre of this mound, and "ready for all contingencies." But the castle +has degenerated into a jail, and the great square tower or keep, +ninety-five feet square and seventy feet high, is the only part of the +original structure remaining. It has been refaced with new stone, and +the interior has also been completely changed. The moat is planted with +trees, and on the outside slope the cattle-market is held every +Saturday. Norwich has some historical structures. In its grammar school +Nelson was a scholar, and his statue stands on the green. On the edge of +Tombland stands the house of Sir John Falstaff, a brave soldier and +friend of literature, whose memory is greatly prized in Norfolk, but +whose name has been forgotten by many in the shadow of Shakespeare's +"Fat Jack." The chief centre of the town, however, is the market-place, +on the slope of a hill, where modernized buildings have replaced some of +the more antique structures. Here stands the ancient Guildhall, which in +1413 replaced the old Tolbooth where the market-dues were paid. Within +is the sword surrendered to Nelson by Admiral Winthuysen at the battle +of St. Vincent, and by him presented to the chief city of his native +county of Norfolk. In the olden time the glory of Norwich was the Duke +of Norfolk's palace, but it was destroyed at the end of the seventeenth +century by the then duke in a fit of anger because the mayor would not +permit his troop of players to march through the town with trumpets +blowing. Not a brick of it now stands, the site being covered with small +houses. Norwich was formerly famous for its trade in woollens, the Dutch +introducing them at the neighboring village of Worsted, whence the name. +Now, the coal-mines have aided the spinning-jenny, but the worsteds are +overshadowed by other Norwich manufactures. Colman's mustard-factories +cover ten acres, and Barnard's ornamental iron-work from Norwich is +world-renowned. Norwich also contains an enormous brewery, but in this +the city is not singular, for what is a Briton without his beer? + + +BURGHLEY HOUSE. + +[Illustration: BURGHLEY HOUSE.] + +On the banks of the Welland River, a short distance above Crowland, is +Stamford, in Lincolnshire, near which is located the well-known Burghley +House, the home of Lord Treasurer Cecil, whose history is referred to in +the notice of Hatfield House. This mansion, which is a short distance +south of Stamford, is now the seat of the Marquis of Exeter, William +Allayne Cecil. It is said to have furnished the text for Lord Bacon's +"Essay on Building," it having been completed but a short time +previously. The plans of this famous house are still preserved in +London. It is a parallelogram built around an open court, with a lofty +square tower projecting from the western front, and having octangular +turrets at the angles. The northern (which is the main) front is divided +into three compartments, and bears on the parapet 1587 as the date when +the house was finished. Within the building a long corridor, commanding +a view of the inner court, leads to a stone staircase which rises to the +top of the structure and is peculiarly decorated. There is a fine +chapel, and in an adjoining room was Giordano's renowned painting of +"Seneca Dying in the Bath," which was eulogized in Prior's poems, he +having seen it there, though it is now removed. One of the most +interesting pictures in the gallery is that of Henry Cecil, the tenth +Earl and the first Marquis of Exeter, his wife, and daughter. Tennyson +has woven the romance of their marriage into a poem. Cecil, before +coming into his title, was living in seclusion in Shropshire, and fell +in love with a farmer's daughter. He married her under an assumed name, +and only disclosed his true rank when, succeeding to his uncle's title +and estates, he became the lord of Burghley and took her home to +Burghley House. Tennyson tells how she received the disclosure: + + "Thus her heart rejoices greatly, till a gateway she discerns + With armorial bearings stately, and beneath the gate she turns; + Sees a mansion more majestic than all those she saw before: + Many a gallant gay domestic bows before him at the door. + And they speak in gentle murmur, when they answer to his call. + While he treads with footstep firmer, leading on from hall to hall. + And, while now she wonders blindly, nor the meaning can divine, + Proudly turns he round and kindly, 'All of this is mine and thine.' + Here he lives in state and bounty, Lord of Burghley, fair and free, + Not a lord in all the county is so great a lord as he. + All at once the color flushes her sweet face from brow to chin: + As it were with shame she blushes, and her spirit changed within. + Then her countenance all over pale again as death did prove; + But he clasp'd her like a lover, and he cheer'd her soul with love." + +The building has many attractive apartments, including a ball-room and +Queen Elizabeth's chamber, but it is doubted whether the maiden queen +ever visited it, though she did stay at Burghley's house in Stamford, +and here made the celebrated speech to her old minister in which she +said that his head and her purse could do anything. Burghley's eldest +son, Thomas, was created Earl of Exeter, and his descendants are now in +possession of the house. His younger son, Robert, as previously related, +was made Earl of Salisbury, and his descendants hold Hatfield House. The +apartments at Burghley are filled with historical portraits. The grand +staircase on the southern side of the house is finer than the other, but +is not so full of character. The gardens of Burghley were planned by +"Capability Brown," the same who laid out Kew. He imperiously overruled +King George III. in the gardening at Kew, and when he died the king is +said to have exclaimed with a sigh of relief to the under-gardener, +"Brown is dead; now you and I can do what we please here." Within St. +Martin's Church in Stamford is the canopied tomb of the lord treasurer, +constructed of alabaster, and bearing his effigy clad in armor, with the +crimson robes of the Garter; it is surrounded with the tombs of his +descendants. It was into Stamford that Nicholas Nickleby rode through +the snowstorm, and the coach stopped at the George Inn, which was a +popular hostelrie in the days of Charles II., as it still remains. + +North of Stamford, on the river Witham, is the interesting town of +Grantham, containing the quaint grammar-school founded by Bishop Fox of +Winchester in 1528 where Sir Isaac Newton was educated. It is recorded +by tradition that his career here was not very brilliant as a scholar--a +circumstance which may be told, if for nothing else, at least for the +encouragement of some of the school-boys of a later generation. + + +LINCOLN. + +[Illustration: LINCOLN CATHEDRAL, FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.] + +[Illustration: "BITS" FROM LINCOLN.] + +Continuing northward down the river Witham, we come to a point where the +stream has carved in a limestone-capped plateau a magnificent valley, +which, changing its course to the eastward, ultimately broadens on its +route to the sea into a wide tract of fenland. Here, upon a grand site +overlooking the marshes and the valley, stands the city of Lincoln, with +its cathedral crowning the top of the hill, while the town-buildings +spread down the slope to the riverbank at Brayford Pool, from which +the Witham is navigable down to Boston, near the coast, and ultimately +discharges into the Wash. The Pool is crowded with vessels and bordered +by warehouses, and it receives the ancient Fosse Dyke Canal, which was +dug by the Romans to connect the Witham with the more inland river +Trent. This was the Roman colony of Lindum, from which the present name +of Lincoln is derived, and the noble cathedral crowns the highest +ground, known as Steep Hill. William the Conqueror conferred upon Bishop +Remigius of Fecamp the see of Dorchester, and he founded in 1075 this +celebrated cathedral, which, with its three noble towers and two +transepts, is one of the finest in England. Approaching it from the +town, at the foot of the hill is encountered the Stonebow, a Gothic +gateway of the Tudor age, which serves as the guild-hall. The centre of +the western front is the oldest part of Lincoln Cathedral, and the +gateway facing it, and forming the chief entrance to the Close, is the +Exchequer Gate, an impressive structure built in the reign of Edward +III. The cathedral arcade and the lower parts of the two western towers +and the western doorway were built in the twelfth century. Subsequently +an earthquake shattered the cathedral, and in the thirteenth century it +was restored and extended by Bishop Hugh of Avelon, not being finished +until 1315. The massive central tower is supported on four grand piers +composed of twenty-four shafts, and here is hung the celebrated bell of +Lincoln, "Great Tom," which was recast about fifty years ago, and weighs +five and a half tons. The transepts have splendid rose windows, +retaining the original stained glass. Lincoln's shrine was that of St. +Hugh, and his choir is surmounted by remarkable vaulting, the eastern +end of the church being extended into the Angel Choir, a beautiful +specimen of Decorated Gothic, built in 1282 to accommodate the enormous +concourse of pilgrims attracted by St. Hugh's shrine, which stood in +this part of the building. In the cathedral is the tomb of Katherine +Swynford, wife of John of Gaunt. Adjoining the south-eastern transept +are the cloisters and chapter-house. The most ingenious piece of work of +the whole structure is the "stone beam," a bridge with a nearly flat +arch, extending between the two western towers over the nave, composed +of twenty-two stones, each eleven inches thick, and vibrating sensibly +when stepped upon. There is a grand view from the towers over the +neighboring country and far away down the Witham towards the sea. The +exterior of the cathedral is one of the finest specimens of architecture +in the kingdom, its porches, side-chapels, decorated doorways, +sculptured capitals, windows, cloisters, and towers admirably +illustrating every portion of the history of English architecture. Its +interior length is four hundred and eighty-two feet, the great transept +two hundred and fifty feet, and the lesser transept one hundred and +seventy feet. The western towers are one hundred and eighty feet high, +and the central tower two hundred and sixty feet, while the width of the +cathedral's noble western front is one hundred and seventy-four feet. +Upon the southern side of the hill, just below it, are the stately ruins +of the Bishop's Palace, of which the tower has recently been restored. +Bishop Hugh's ruined Great Hall is now overgrown with ivy, but the walls +can be climbed to disclose a glorious view of the cathedral. + +The ancient Ermine Street of the Romans enters Lincoln through the best +preserved piece of Roman masonry in England, the Newport Gate of two +arches, where on either hand may be seen fragments of the old wall. Near +the south-east corner of this originally walled area William the +Conqueror built Lincoln Castle, with its gate facing the cathedral. The +ruins are well preserved, and parts of the site are now occupied by the +jail and court-house. Within this old castle King Stephen besieged the +empress Maud, but though he captured it she escaped. Her partisans +recaptured the place, and Stephen in the second siege was made a +prisoner. It suffered many sieges in the troubled times afterwards. In +the Civil War the townspeople supported the king, but being attacked +they retreated to the castle and cathedral, which were stormed and taken +by the Parliamentary army. Afterwards the castle was dismantled. One of +the interesting remains in Lincoln is the "Jew's House," the home in the +Hebrew quarter of a Jewess who was hanged for clipping coin in the reign +of Edward I. But the noble cathedral is the crowning glory of this +interesting old city, the massive structure, with its three surmounting +towers standing on high, being visible for many miles across the country +around. + + +NOTTINGHAM. + +[Illustration: NOTTINGHAM CASTLE.] + +We will now cross over the border from Lincoln into Nottinghamshire, +and, seeking the valley of the Trent, find upon the steep brow of a +cliff by the river the ancient castle of Nottingham, which is now +surrounded by the busy machinery of the hosiery-weavers. When it was +founded no one accurately knows, but it is believed to antedate the +Roman occupation of the island. As long ago as the tenth century there +was a bridge across the Trent at Snodengahame--meaning the "dwelling +among the rocks"--as it was then called, and afterwards the town +suffered from the Danes. It is also suffered during the troubled reign +of King Stephen. The castle was built by one of the Peverils soon after +the Norman Conquest, and was frequently the abode of kings. It was here +that Roger Mortimer was seized prior to being tried and hanged in +London. King David of Scotland and Owen Glendower of Wales were held +prisoners in Nottingham Castle, and from it Richard III. advanced to +meet his fate on Bosworth Field, while Charles I. set up his standard +and gathered his army at Nottingham at the opening of the Civil Wars, +the blowing down of the standard by a gale on Castle Hill being taken as +ominous of the unfortunate termination of the conflict. The old castle, +which has fallen into ruins, subsequently passed into possession of the +Duke of Newcastle, who cleared away almost the whole of the ancient +structure and built a house upon the site. The city was noted for its +manufactures as early as the reign of King John, and the hand-knitting +of stockings was introduced in the sixteenth century. Previously to that +time hosiery had been cut out of cloth, with the seams sewed up the same +as outer clothing. As early as 1589 a machine for weaving was invented, +but failing to reap a profit from it, the inventor, a clergyman, took it +to Paris, where he afterwards died broken-hearted. Ultimately, his +apprentices brought the machines back to Nottingham, improved them, and +prospered. Many improvements followed. Jedediah Strutt produced the +"Derby ribbed hose;" then the warp-loom was invented in the last +century, and the bobbin-traverse net in 1809. The knitting-machines have +been steadily improved, and now hosiery-making is carried on in +extensive factories that give an individuality to the town. The +rapidity with which stockings are reeled off the machines is +astonishing. An ordinary stocking is made in four pieces, which are +afterwards sewed or knitted together by another machine. Some of the +looms, however, knit the legs in one piece, and may be seen working off +almost endless woollen tubes, which are afterwards divided into +convenient lengths. Fancy hosiery is knitted according to patterns, the +setting up of which requires great skill. Vast amounts of lace are +woven, and in the factories female labor preponderates. The upper town +of Nottingham, clustering around the castle on the river-crag, has a +picturesque aspect from the valley below. Among the features of the +lower town is the market-place, a triangular area of slightly over four +acres, where the market is held every Saturday, and where once a year is +also held that great event of Nottingham, the Michaelmas goose fair. +Here also disport themselves at election-times the rougher element, who, +from their propensity to bleat when expressing disapprobation, are known +as the "Nottingham lambs," and who claim to be lineal descendants from +that hero of the neighboring Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood. + + +SOUTHWELL. + +[Illustration: SOUTHWELL MINSTER AND RUINS OF THE ARCHBISHOP'S PALACE.] + +[Illustration: THE NAVE, SOUTHWELL MINSTER.] + +We will now go down the valley of the Trent below Nottingham, and, +mounting the gentle hills that border Sherwood Forest, come to the +Roman station, Ad Pontem, of which the Venerable Bede was the +historian. Here Paulinus was baptized, and it was early made the site of +an episcopal see. The name was Sudwell at the Norman Conquest, and then +it became Southwell, and the noted minster was one of the favorite +residences of the Archbishop of York. It is a quiet, old-fashioned +place, with plenty of comfortable residences, and in a large churchyard +on ground sloping away from the main street, with the ruins of the +archbishop's palace near by, is Southwell Minster. There are few finer +examples of a Norman building remaining in England, the three towers, +nave, transepts, and chapter-house forming a majestic group. An enormous +western window has been inserted by later architects, rather to the +detriment of the gable, and this produces a singular effect. The +interior of the minster is magnificent. The Norman nave is of eight bays +with semicircular arches, surmounted by a triforium of rows of arches +almost equal to those below, and rising from piers with clustered +side-columns. It is nearly three-fourths the height of the lower stage, +and this produces a grand effect. The flat roof is modern, it and the +bells having been replaced after the church was burned in the last +century. The ruins of the archiepiscopal palace, erected six hundred +years ago, have been availed of in one portion for a dwelling-house. +Wolsey built part of it, and beneath the battlemented wall enclosing the +garden there was not long ago found the skeleton of a soldier in armor, +a relic of the Civil Wars. The name of the town is derived from its +wells. The South Well is a short distance outside the limits in a little +park. The Holy Well, which was inside the minster, is now covered up. +Lady Well was just outside the church-walls, but a clergyman fell into +it one dark night and was drowned, and it too has been closed. St. +Catherine's Well was surmounted by a chapel, and is in repute as a cure +for rheumatism. The ancient inn of the Saracen's Head in Southwell, not +far from the minster on the main street, witnessed the closing scene of +the Civil War. After the battle of Naseby the Scotch had reached +Southwell, and Montreville, an agent of Cardinal Mazarin, came there to +negotiate on behalf of King Charles in 1646. The Scotch commissioners +had rooms in the archiepiscopal palace, and Montreville lodged at the +Saracen's Head. After the negotiations had proceeded for some time, the +king in disguise quitted Oxford in April, and after a devious journey by +way of Newark appeared at Montreville's lodgings on May 6th. On the +south side of the inn was an apartment divided into a dining-room and +bedroom, which the king occupied, and in the afternoon, after dining +with the Scotch commissioners, he placed himself in their hands, and was +sent a prisoner to their head-quarters. The canny Scots before leaving +stripped the lead from the roof of the palace, and it afterwards fell +into ruin, so that Cromwell, who arrived subsequently, found it +uninhabitable, and then occupied the king's room at the Saracen's Head, +his horses being stabled in Southwell Minster. Southwell since has had +an uneventful history. + + +THE DUKERIES. + +Nor far away is the well-known Sherwood Forest, wherein in the olden +time lived the famous forester and bandit Robin Hood. Roaming among its +spreading oaks with his robber band, he was not infrequently a visitor +to the bordering towns, sometimes for pleasure, but oftener for +"business." Who Robin was, or exactly when he lived, no one seems to +know. He is associated alike with the unsettled times of Kings John and +Richard, with Henry V. and with Jack Cade, but so much mystery surrounds +all reports of him that some do not hesitate to declare Robin Hood a +myth. But whoever he was, his memory and exploits live in many a ballad +sung along the banks of the Trent and in the towns and villages of +Sherwood Forest. His abiding-place is now divided up into magnificent +estates, the most famous of them being known as "The Dukeries." One of +them, near Ollerton, is Thoresby Hall, the splendid home of the Earl of +Manvers, a park that is ten miles in circumference. North of this is the +stately seat of the Duke of Newcastle--Clumber Park--charmingly situated +between Ollerton and Worksop. From the entrance-lodge a carriage-drive +of over a mile through the well-wooded grounds leads up to the elegant +yet homelike mansion. It is of modern construction, having been built in +1770 and received important additions since. Before that time the park +was a tract of wild woodland, but the then Duke of Newcastle improved +it, and constructed an extensive lake, covering ninety acres, at a cost +of $35,000. It was originally intended for a shooting-box, but this was +elaborately extended. In the centre of the west front is a colonnade, +and between the mansion and the lake are fine gardens ornamented by a +large fountain. The owner of Clumber is the lineal representative of the +family of Pelham-Clinton--which first appeared prominently in the reign +of Edward I.--and is Henry Pelham Alexander Pelham-Clinton, sixth Duke +of Newcastle. Clumber is rich in ornaments, among them being four +ancient Roman altars, but the most striking feature is the full-rigged +ship which with a consort rests upon the placid bosom of the lake. + +[Illustration: CLUMBER HALL.] + +[Illustration: WELBECK ABBEY.] + +Adjoining Clumber Park is the most celebrated of "The Dukeries," Welbeck +Abbey, which is one of the remarkable estates of England, a place +peculiar to itself. The mansion is about four miles from Worksop, and +the surrounding park contains a grand display of fine old trees, beneath +which roam extensive herds of deer. Welbeck Abbey of White Canons was +founded in the reign of Henry II., and dedicated to St. James. After the +dissolution it was granted to Richard Whalley, and subsequently passed +into possession of Sir Charles Cavendish, a son of the famous Bess of +Hardwicke, whose grandson converted the abbey into an elaborate mansion, +leaving little of the original religious building standing. The present +house was constructed in the seventeenth century, its old riding-house +being completed in 1623, and William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle, who +built it, was noted as the most accomplished horseman of his time. For +several generations Welbeck remained in possession of the Dukes of +Newcastle, until in the last century an only daughter and the heiress of +the abbey married William Bentinck, the Duke of Portland, thus carrying +the estate over to that family, which now possesses it. The founder of +this ducal house came over from Holland as a page of honor with King +William III. The present owner, who has just succeeded to the title, is +the sixth Duke of Portland. The chief feature of the original Welbeck, +the old riding-house, remains, but is no longer used for that purpose. +It is a grand hall, one hundred and seventy-seven feet long, with a +massive open-work timber roof of admirable design. The mansion is full +of fine apartments, many of them elaborately decorated, but it is not +from these that the estate gets its present fame. The late Duke of +Portland, who was unmarried, was an eccentric man, and he developed a +talent for burrowing underground that made his house one of the most +remarkable in England and consumed enormous sums of money. The libraries +of Welbeck, five superb rooms opening into each other, a spacious hall +adjoining, one hundred and fifty-nine feet long, the stables, large +gardens, hothouses, lodges, and other apartments, are all underground. +They have glass roofs of magnificent design. They are approached from +and connected with the rest of the mansion by subterranean passages, +and, being lofty rooms, the cost of this deep digging and of the +necessary drainage and other adjuncts may be imagined. The new riding +house, the finest in existence, and also underground, but lighted by an +arched glass roof, is three hundred and seventy-nine by one hundred and +six feet, and fifty feet high. It is elaborately ornamented, and at +night is lighted by nearly eight thousand gas-jets. Near it are the +extensive hunting-stables, coach-houses, and that marked feature of +Welbeck, the covered "gallop," one thousand and seventy-two feet long, +with large "hanging rooms" at either end: these too are covered with +glass, so as to get their light from the top. The whole place abounds in +subterranean apartments and passages, while above ground are extensive +gardens and dairies. In the gardens are the peach-wall, one thousand +feet long, a similar range of pine-houses, a fruit-arcade of ornamental +iron arches stretching nearly a quarter of a mile, with apple trees +trained on one side and pear trees on the other, and extensive beds of +flowers and plants. To construct and maintain all this curious +magnificence there are workshops on a grand scale. This eccentric duke, +who practically denied himself to the world, and for years devoted his +time to carrying on these remarkable works at an enormous cost, employed +over two thousand persons in burrowing out the bowels of the earth and +making these grand yet strange apartments. When finished he alone could +enjoy them, for Welbeck was for a long time a sealed book to the outer +world. But the eccentric duke died, as all men must, and his successor +opened Welbeck to view and to the astonishment of all who saw it. A few +months ago the Prince of Wales and a noble company visited the strange +yet magnificent structure, and then for the first time the amazed +assemblage explored this underground palace in Sherwood Forest, and when +their wonder was satisfied they turned on the myriads of gas-jets, and +amid a blaze of artificial light indulged in a ball--an unwonted scene +for the weird old abbey of the eccentric and solitary duke. Like the +fairies and mermaids of old in their underground palaces, the prince and +his friends at Welbeck right merrily + + "Held their courtly revels down, down below." + +Also in this neighborhood is Newstead Abbey, the ancient seat of the +Byrons. It is about eleven miles from Nottingham, and was founded by the +Augustinians in the time of Henry II. In 1540 it came into possession of +Sir John Byron, and a century later was held for King Charles. The poet +Byron's bedroom remains almost as he left it, and on the lawn is the +monument to his favorite dog, "Boatswain." The abbey also contains +several relics of Livingstone, the African explorer. Near it is Robin +Hood's Cave, and the neighborhood is full of remains of the famous +chieftain, such as his Hill and his Chair, and Fountain Dale where Robin +encountered Friar Tuck. + + +NEWARK. + +[Illustration: FRONT OF NEWARK CASTLE.] + +Descending again to the banks of the Trent, we come to the causeway +which carries over the flat meadows the Great North Road, the Roman +military route to the north of England, which made it necessary to build +a castle to hold the keys to its passage across the river. We are told +that Egbert built the earliest fortress here, but the Danes destroyed +it. Leofric, Earl of Mercia, rebuilt it, and gave the castle the name of +the "New Work." But it too fell into decay, and in 1123 the present +castle was built, which though much altered and afterwards sadly ruined, +has come down to the present time. It was here that, after his army was +swamped in the Wash, King John died, some say by poison, but the prosaic +historian attributes the sad result to over-indulgence in "unripe +peaches and new beer." In the Civil War it was a royal stronghold and +sent King Charles large numbers of recruits. Then it was besieged by +Cromwell, but stoutly resisted, and Prince Rupert by some brilliant +manoeuvres relieved it. Finally, the king sought refuge within its +walls after the defeat at Naseby, and here he was besieged by the Scotch +until his voluntary surrender to them at Southwell, when two days +afterwards, by his order, Newark capitulated to his captors. The +Parliamentary forces afterwards dismantled the castle, and it fell into +decay, but it has recently been restored as well as possible, and the +site converted into a public garden. Within the town of Newark are +several objects of interest. At the Saracen's Head Inn, which has +existed from the time of Edward III., Sir Walter Scott tells us that +Jeanie Deans slept on her journey from Midlothian to London. The most +striking part of the town is the market-square, which is very large, and +is surrounded by old and interesting houses, several of them projecting +completely over the footwalks, and having the front walls supported upon +columns--a most picturesque arrangement. One of these old houses has +windows in continuous rows in the upper stories, having between them +wooden beams and figures moulded in plaster. Through the openings +between these old houses can be seen the church, which is one of the +finest parish churches in this district, so celebrated for the +magnificence of its religious houses. Surmounting its Early English +tower is a spire of later date. The plan is cruciform, but with very +short transepts, not extending beyond the aisles, which are wide and +stretch the entire length of the church. There is a fine roof of carved +oak, and some of the stained glass and interior paintings are highly +prized. It was at Newark that Thomas Magnus lived and founded the +grammar-school at which the antiquarian Dr. Stukeley was educated, and +afterwards the famous Warburton, who became Bishop of Gloucester. + +[Illustration: NEWARK CASTLE AND DUNGEON.] + +In Newark, about three hundred years ago, there was a tavern called the +"Talbot Arms," named in honor of the Earl of Shrewsbury, whose countess +was Mary, daughter of the famous Bess of Hardwicke by her second +husband, Sir William Cavendish. Between the Talbots and the neighboring +family of Stanhopes at Shelford there was a feud, which resulted in the +Stanhopes defacing the tavern-sign. This was not taken notice of by the +Earl of Shrewsbury, but the quarrel was assumed by the imperious +countess and her brother, Sir Charles Cavendish. They despatched a +messenger to Sir Thomas Stanhope, accusing him and his son of the +insult, and declaring him a "reprobate and his son John a rascal." Then +a few days later they sent a formal defiance: the Stanhopes avoided a +duel as long as possible until they began to be posted as cowards, and +then, having gone to London, whither Cavendish followed them, a duel was +arranged with the younger Stanhope at Lambeth Bridge. They met after +several delays, when it was found that Stanhope had his doublet so +thickly quilted as to be almost impenetrable to a sword-thrust. Then +there was a new dispute, and it was proposed they should fight in their +shirts, but this Stanhope declined, pleading a cold. Cavendish offered +to lend him a waistcoat, but this too was declined; then Cavendish +waived all objections to the doublet and proposed to fight anyhow, but +the seconds interposed, and the duel was put off. Stanhope was then +again posted as a coward, and he and his adherents were hustled in the +streets of London. A few days later Stanhope and his party were attacked +in Fleet Street by the Talbots, and one of the former faction mortally +wounded. The feud went on six years, when one day, Cavendish, riding +near his home in Nottinghamshire with three attendants, was attacked by +Stanhope and twenty horsemen. He fought bravely, and was badly wounded, +but killed four and wounded two others of his opponents, when, +reinforcements appearing, the Stanhope party fled, leaving six horses +and nearly all their hats and weapons behind them. But all feuds have an +end, and this one ultimately exhausted itself, the families within a +century being united in marriage. + +[Illustration: MARKET-SQUARE.] + +[Illustration: NEWARK CHURCH, LOOKING FROM THE NORTH.] + + +HULL AND BEVERLEY. + +[Illustration: THE HUMBER AT HULL.] + +Following the Trent down to the Humber, and turning towards the sea, we +come to the noted seaport of Hull, or, as it is best known in those +parts, Kingston-upon-Hull. While not possessing great attractions for +the ordinary tourist, yet Hull ranks as the third seaport of England, +being second only to London and Liverpool. It is the great +packet-station for the north of Europe, with steam lines leading to +Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Russia, and the Baltic, most of the +English trade with those countries being centred at Hull. It is a town +of extreme activity, its docks being all the time crowded with shipping, +and its location, practically upon an island, with the river Humber on +the south, the river Hull upon the east, and docks upon the northern and +western sides, giving it every maritime convenience. The docks, though +inferior to those of Liverpool, are the chief feature of the town. The +Hull River itself forms a natural dock about a mile and a half long, and +from this a chain of other docks leads through the warehouses and the +town to the Humber. Hull possesses the Trinity House, one of the three +ancient establishments in England--the others being at London and +Newcastle--which were founded first as a religious fraternity in the +fourteenth century, and became afterwards establishments for the relief +of distressed and decayed seamen and their families. The present Trinity +House building was erected in the last century. The chief ornament of +Hull is the Wilberforce Monument, a pillar of sandstone seventy-two +feet high, erected about a half century ago, and surmounted by a statue +of the celebrated philanthropist. He was born on High Street August 24, +1759, this being the most important thoroughfare in ancient Hull, but +now a narrow and inconvenient lane following the right bank of the Hull +River. Here were in former days the houses of the great Hull merchants, +and the Wilberforce House is about halfway down the street. It is a +curious specimen of brickwork, of a style said to have been imported +from Flanders in the reign of William and Mary. It is a low, broad house +with a surmounting tower over the doorway. Hull has little else of +interest in the way of buildings. Its Holy Trinity Church, in the +market-place, is the largest parish church in England, having recently +been thoroughly restored, and the Town Hall, built in the Italian style, +with a clock-tower, is its finest edifice of modern construction. + +[Illustration: HOUSE WHERE WILBERFORCE WAS BORN.] + +[Illustration: ENTRANCE-GATE, BEVERLEY.] + +We have now come into Yorkshire, and a few minutes' ride northward by +railway along the valley of the Hull River brings the visitor to +Beverley, an old-fashioned Yorkshire town of considerable antiquity, +eight miles from the seaport. This was anciently a walled town, but of +the entrance-gates only one survives, the North Bar, of the time of +Edward III. It is a good specimen of brick architecture, with mouldings +and niches upon the surface and battlements at the top. This is a +favorite old town for the retired merchant and tradesman who wish to +pass the declining years of life in quiet, and it contains many ancient +buildings of interest. Several of these are clustered around the +picturesque market-square, which is an enclosure of about four acres, +and contains a quaint cross, a relic of the time when it was customary +to build market-crosses. These ancient crosses, which were practically +canopies erected over a raised platform, were generally used as pulpits +by the preachers when conducting religious services in the open air. +Sometimes they were memorials of the dead. We are told that there were +formerly five thousand of these crosses of various kinds in England, but +most of them were destroyed in the Civil Wars. At these old crosses +proclamations used to be read and tolls collected from the +market-people. The covered market-cross at Beverley was one of the last +that was erected. The name of this interesting town is said to be +derived from Beaver Lake, the site having at one time been surrounded by +lakes that were formed by the overflowing of the Humber, in which +beavers lived in great numbers. The Beverley Minster is an attractive +Gothic church, and from the tops of its towers there is an excellent +view over the rich and almost level valley through which the Hull River +flows. Leconfield Castle, in the suburbs, was an ancient residence of +the Percys, of which the moat alone remains. + +[Illustration: MARKET-SQUARE, BEVERLEY.] + + +SHEFFIELD. + +[Illustration: MANOR-HOUSE, SHEFFIELD.] + +Let us now ascend the estuary of the Humber, and, proceeding up its +numerous tributaries, seek out various places of interest in the West +Riding of Yorkshire. And first, ascending the river Don, we come to that +great manufacturing centre of the "Black Country," sacred to coal and +iron, Sheffield. Murray's _Guide_ tells us that while Sheffield is one +of the largest and most important towns in Yorkshire, it is "beyond all +question the blackest, dirtiest, and least respectable." Horace Walpole +in the last century wrote that Sheffield is "one of the foulest towns in +England in the most charming situation." It is a crowded city, with +narrow and badly-arranged streets, having few handsome public buildings, +but bristling with countless tall chimneys belching forth clouds of +heavy smoke that hang like a pall over the place. The Don and its +tributaries have their beds defiled, and altogether the smoky city is in +unpleasant contrast with the beauty of the surrounding country. But, +unfortunately, an omelette cannot be made without breaking eggs, nor can +Sheffield make cutlery without smoke and bad odors, all of which have +amazingly multiplied within the present century, its population having +grown from forty-five thousand in 1801 to over three hundred thousand +now. It stands at the confluence of the rivers Don and Sheaf, its name +being connected with the latter. Three smaller streams join them within +the city and are utilized for water-power. The factories spread over the +lowlands of the Don valley, and mount up its western slopes towards the +moorlands that stretch away to Derbyshire; it is therefore as hilly as +it is grimy. Sheffield at the time of the Norman Conquest was the manor +of Hallam, which has passed through various families, until, in the +seventeenth century, it became by marriage the property of the Duke of +Norfolk. The present duke is lord of the manor of Sheffield, and derives +a large income from his vast estates there. Sheffield Castle once stood +at the confluence of the two rivers, but all traces of it have +disappeared. The manor-house, which has been restored, dates from the +time of Henry VIII. It is three stories high, and a turret staircase +leads from floor to floor, and finally out upon the flat roof. + +[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE CUTLERS' HALL.] + +We are told that Sheffield manufactures of metals began in the days of +the Romans, and also that Sheffield-made arrows fell thickly at Crecy +and Agincourt. Richmond used them with effect at Bosworth Field, and in +the sixteenth century we read of Sheffield knives and whittles. Almost +the only ancient building of any note the city has is the parish church, +but it is so much patched and altered that there is difficulty in +distinguishing the newer from the older parts. The chief among the +modern buildings is the Cutlers' Hall, a Grecian structure erected for +the Cutlers Company in 1833, and enlarged a few years ago by the +addition of a handsome apartment. This company, the autocrats of +Sheffield, was founded in 1624 by act of Parliament with two express +objects--to keep a check upon the number of apprentices and to examine +into the quality of Sheffield wares, all of which were to be stamped +with the warranty of their excellence. But recently the restrictive +powers of this company have been swept away, and it is now little more +than a grantor of trade-marks and an excuse for an annual banquet. +Sheffield has extensive markets and parks, and the Duke of Norfolk is +conspicuous in his gifts of this character to the city; but overtopping +all else are the enormous works, which make everything into which iron +and steel can be converted, from armor-plating and railway-rails down to +the most delicate springs and highly-tempered cutlery. Their products go +to every part of the world, and are of enormous value and importance. + + +WAKEFIELD. + +[Illustration: EDWARD IV.'S CHAPEL, WAKEFIELD BRIDGE.] + +Upon the Calder, another tributary of the Humber, northward of the Don, +is the town of Wakefield, which, until the recent great growth of Leeds, +was the head-quarters of the Yorkshire clothing-trade. It was here that +in the Wars of the Roses the battle of Wakefield was fought on the +closing day of the year 1460. The Duke of York wished to remain at +Wakefield on the defensive against Queen Margaret's Lancastrian army of +twenty thousand men, for his forces were barely one-fourth that number. +The Earl of Salisbury, however, prevailed on him to advance to meet the +queen, and he probably had no idea of the strength she had to oppose +him. The duke was soon cut off, and was among the first to fall, his +head having afterwards been put on the Micklegate bar at York. Scenes of +great barbarity followed: the Duke of York's son, the Earl of Rutland, +was murdered with shocking cruelty after the battle on Wakefield Bridge. +Young Rutland's brother, afterwards Edward IV., erected a chapel on the +bridge on the spot where he was slain, in order that prayer might be +constantly said in it for the repose of the souls of the followers of +the White Rose who were slain in the battle. It covers thirty by +twenty-four feet, and has recently been restored by a successor of +Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield." Near the bridge the spot is pointed +out where the Duke of York was killed, now marked by two willows. There +is a fine old three-gabled house in Wakefield which was built about the +same date as the battle was fought, and is now divided into small shops. +It is a good specimen of the ancient black-and-white timbered house, +though the carved work on the front has been considerably defaced. It +stands in the Kirkgate, which runs down to the Calder, and is known +locally as the "Six Chimblies." + +[Illustration: WAKEFIELD.] + + +LEEDS. + +[Illustration: BRIGGATE, LOOKING NORTH.] + +About nine miles north of Wakefield is the great commercial capital of +Yorkshire and centre of the cloth-trade. Leeds, built in the valley of +the river Aire. Twelve hundred years ago this region, embracing the +valleys of the Aire and the Calder, was the independent kingdom of +Loidis. It was soon overrun and conquered, however, by the Anglian +hosts, and ultimately the conquerors built here the monastery that in +Bede's time was presided over by the abbot Thrydwulf. This stood on the +site of the present parish church, and in the eighth century it was +called "the monastery at Leeta." It stood at the crossing of two +important Roman roads in the midst of a forest. This was the beginning +of the great city, for soon a hamlet gathered around the monastery, +though long since the woods, and indeed all green things, were driven +away from Leeds. The village was laid waste by William the Conqueror, +and at the time of the Domesday Book it was one of one hundred and fifty +manors held by Baron Ilbert de Lacy, whose possessions stretched halfway +across Yorkshire. He built a castle at Leeds, which was afterwards a +prison of Richard II., but has long since disappeared. In 1530, Leland +described Leeds as "a pretty market-town, as large as Bradford, but not +so quick as it." Charles I. incorporated it, and the cloth-market was +then of some importance. In the Civil War it was taken by the Royalists, +and afterwards retaken by Fairfax for the Parliament in a short, sharp +struggle, in which a clergyman named Scholfield distinguished himself by +his valor, and "by his triumphant psalm-singing" as work after work was +captured from the enemy. Flemish workmen brought cloth-making into this +part of Yorkshire as early as the reign of Edward III., and two +centuries ago the cloth-makers prospered so much that they held a market +twice a week at Leeds on a long, narrow bridge crossing the Aire. They +laid their cloth on the battlements of the bridge and on benches below, +and the country clothiers could buy for four cents from the innkeepers +"a pot of ale, a noggin of porridge, and a trencher of boiled or roast +beef." This substantial supply was known as the "brigg (bridge)-shot," +and from the bridge ran the street known as the Briggate, which has +since developed into one of the finest avenues of the city. + +[Illustration: ST JOHN'S CHURCH] + +Leeds began to grow in the last century, when it became the chief mart +of the woollen clothiers, while the worsted-trade gathered about +Bradford. These still remain the centres of the two great divisions of +the woollen industry, which is the characteristic business of Yorkshire. +The factories began then to appear at Leeds, and in the present century +the city has made astonishing advances, growing from fifty-three +thousand population in 1801 until it exceeds three hundred thousand now. +The great cloth-mart to-day is for miles a region of tall chimneys and +barrack-like edifices, within which steadily roars machinery that +represents some of the most ingenious skill of the human race. Within +this hive of busy industry there still linger some memorials of the past +among its hundreds of cloth-mills. Turning out of the broad Briggate +into the quiet street of St. John, we come to the church built there by +the piety of the wealthy clothier John Harrison, and consecrated in +1634. St. John's Church, which he built and presented to the town +because the older parish church could scarce hold half the inhabitants, +consists of a long nave and chancel, with a south aisle. It is of Gothic +architecture, and much of the ancient woodwork, including the pulpit, +remains. Arabesques moulded in white plaster fill the panels between the +main roof-beams. This interesting church has undergone little historical +change excepting the recent rebuilding of the tower. John Harrison is +entombed in the church. The old parish church in Kirkgate has been +within a few years entirely rebuilt. The other churches of Leeds, like +this one, are all modern, and it also has an imposing Town Hall, opened +by the queen in 1858, in which are held the annual musical festivals, +which have attained much importance. A statue of the Duke of Wellington +stands in the open square in front. The two Cloth Halls of Leeds, the +Mixed Cloth Hall and the White Cloth Hall, where the business of selling +was at first carried on, are now little used, the trade being conducted +directly between the manufacturer and the clothier. Some of the mills +are of enormous size, and they include every operation from the raw +material to the finished fabric. But, with all their ingenious +machinery, the cloth-weavers have not yet been able to supersede the use +of the teasel, by which the loose fibres of wool are raised to the +surface to form, when cut and sheared, the pile or nap. These teasels, +which are largely grown in Yorkshire, are fastened into a cylinder, and +at least three thousand of them will be consumed in "teasling" a piece +of cloth forty yards long. + + +BOLTON ABBEY. + +[Illustration: GATEWAY IN THE PRIORY, BOLTON ABBEY.] + +[Illustration: THE CHURCHYARD, BOLTON ABBEY.] + +North of the valley of the Aire is the valley of the Wharfe River, and, +following that pleasant stream a short distance up, we come to Rumbald's +Moor and the water-cure establishments of the town of Ilkley, which is +an array of villas and terraces spreading up the hillside from the +southern bank of the river. The neighborhood is full of attractive +rock-and river-scenery. In the suburbs is the palace of Ben Rhydding, +built in the Scottish baronial style, with the Cow and Calf Rocks +overhanging the adjacent park. The Panorama Rock also commands a wide +prospect, while Rumbald's Moor itself is elevated over thirteen hundred +feet. A few miles from Ilkley are the celebrated ruins of Bolton Abbey, +standing on a patch of open ground, around which the Wharfe curves, but +with much woods clustering near the ruins and on the river-bank. Bolton +stands in a deep valley, and on the opposite side of the river rises the +steep rock of Simon's Seat, sixteen hundred feet high. The architecture +of the abbey is of various styles, the west front coming down to us from +the reign of Henry VIII., while its gateway is much older. There is no +south aisle to the abbey, and at present the nave and north aisle are +roofed in and serve as the parish church. The east end of this aisle is +divided from the rest by an ancient wooden screen so as to form a +chapel, and beneath this is the vault where the former owners of +Bolton--the Claphams and Mauleverers--were buried. Some years ago, when +the floor was being repaired, their coffins were found standing upright, +whereof the poet tells us: + + "Through the chinks in the fractured floor + Look down and see a grisly sight-- + A vault where the bodies are buried upright + There, face by face and hand by hand. + The Claphams and Mauleverers stand." + +The ruins of the north transept are in fair preservation, and the choir +has a beautiful arcade, while through the openings beneath there is a +charming view of the green-bordered river and of the hills beyond. +Bolton Hall, which was the ancient gateway of the abbey, is opposite its +western front, and is one of the favorite homes in the shooting season +of the Duke of Devonshire, its owner. + +[Illustration: THE STRID.] + +A pleasant walk of two miles along the Wharfe brings us to the famous +Strid, where the river is hemmed in between ledges of rock, and the +scene of the rushing waters is very fine, especially after a rain. +Beautiful paths wind along the hillsides and through the woods, and +here, where the ruins of Bardon Tower rise high above the valley, is a +favorite resort of artists. At the most contracted part of the rocky +river-passage the water rushes through a narrow trench cut out for about +sixty yards length, within which distance it falls ten feet. The noise +here is almost deafening, and at the narrowest part the distance across +is barely five feet. It looks easy to jump over, but from the peculiar +position of the slippery rocks and the confusing noise of the rushing +water it is a dangerous leap. + + "This striding-place is called 'the Strid.' + A name which it took of yore. + A thousand years hath it borne that name, + And shall a thousand more." + +It was here that young Romilly, the "Boy of Egremont," was drowned +several centuries ago, the story of his death being told by Wordsworth +in his poem of "The Force of Prayer." He had been ranging through Bardon +Wood, holding a greyhound in a leash, and tried to leap across the +Strid: + + "He sprang in glee; for what cared he, + That the river was strong and the rocks were steep? + But the greyhound in the leash hung back, + And checked him in his leap. + + "The boy is in the arms of Wharfe, + And strangled by a merciless force; + For nevermore was young Romilly seen + Till he rose a lifeless corse." + +It is said that his disconsolate mother built Bolton Abbey to +commemorate the death of her only son, and placed it in one of the most +picturesque spots in England. + + +RIPON AND FOUNTAINS. + +[Illustration: RIPON MINSTER.] + +Proceeding still farther northward from the charming vale of Wharfe, we +come to the valley of the Ure, which flows into the Ouse, a main +tributary of the Humber, and to the famous cathedral-town of Ripon. This +is a place of venerable antiquity, for it has been over twelve centuries +since a band of Scotch monks came from Melrose to establish a monastery +on the sloping headland above the Ure. A portion of the ancient church +then founded is incorporated in the present Ripon Minster, which was +built seven centuries ago. It was burned and partly injured by the +Scotch in the fourteenth century, and subsequently the central tower and +greater part of the nave were rebuilt. It has recently been entirely +restored. The cathedral consists of a nave, with aisles extending the +full width of the western front, and rather broad for its length; the +transepts are short. Parallel to the choir on the southern side is a +chapter-house. It is one of the smallest cathedrals in England, being +less than two hundred and ninety feet long, and other buildings so +encompass it as to prevent a good near view. There is an ample +churchyard, but the shrine of St. Wilfrid, the founder, whose relics +were the great treasure of the church, has long since disappeared. It +appears that in ancient times there was great quarrelling over the +possession of his bones, and that Archbishop Odo, declaring his grave to +be neglected, carried them off to Canterbury, but after much disputing a +small portion of the saint's remains were restored to Ripon. Beneath the +corner of the nave is the singular crypt known as Wilfrid's Needle. A +long passage leads to a cell from which a narrow window opens into +another passage. Through this window we are told that women whose virtue +was doubted were made to crawl, and if they stuck by the way were +adjudged guilty. This is the oldest part of the church, and is regarded +as the most perfect existing relic of the earliest age of Christianity +in Yorkshire. The cathedral contains some interesting monuments, one of +which demonstrates that epitaph-writing flourished in times agone at +Ripon. It commemorates, as "a faint emblem of his refined taste," +William Weddell of Newby, "in whom every virtue that ennobles the human +mind was united with every elegance that adorns it." + +[Illustration: STUDLEY ROYAL PARK.] + +[Illustration: THE TRANSEPT, FOUNTAINS ABBEY.] + +In the neighborhood of Ripon is the world-renowned Fountains Abbey, of +which the remains are in excellent preservation, and stand in a +beautiful situation on the verge of the fine estate of the Marquis of +Ripon, Studley Royal. The gates of this park are about two miles from +Ripon, the road winding among the trees, beneath which herds of deer are +browsing, and leading up to the mansion, in front of which is an +attractive scene. The little river Skell, on its way to the Ure, emerges +from a glen, and is banked up to form a lake, from which it tumbles over +a pretty cascade. The steep bank opposite is covered with trees. John +Aislabie, who had been chancellor of the exchequer, laid out this park +in 1720, and such repute did his ornamental works attain that Studley +was regarded as the most embellished spot in the North of England. +Ultimately, through heiresses, it passed into the hands of the present +owner. The pleasure-grounds were laid out in the Dutch style then in +vogue, and the slopes of the valley were terraced, planted with +evergreens, and adorned with statues. Modern landscape-gardening has +somewhat varied the details, but the original design remains. In the +gardens are the Octagon Tower, perched upon a commanding knoll, the +Temple of Piety, near the water-side, and an arbor known as Anne +Boleyn's Seat, which commands a superb view over Fountains Dale. Let us +enter this pretty glen, which gradually narrows, becomes more abrupt and +rocky, and as we go along the Skell leads us from the woods out upon a +level grassy meadow, at the end of which stand the gray ruins of the +famous Cistercian abbey. The buildings spread completely across the glen +to its craggy sides on either hand. On the right there is only room for +a road to pass between the transept and the limestone rock which rears +on high the trees rooted in its crannies, whose branches almost brush +the abbey's stately tower. On the other side is the little river, with +the conventual buildings carried across it in more than one place, the +water flowing through a vaulted tunnel. These buildings extend to the +bases of the opposite crags. The ruins are of great size, and it does +not take much imagination to restore the glen to its aspect when the +abbey was in full glory seven or eight hundred years ago. Its founders +came hither almost as exiles from York, and began building the abbey in +the twelfth century, but it was barely completed when Henry VIII. forced +the dissolution of the monasteries. It was very rich, and furnished rare +plunder when the monks were compelled to leave it. The close or +immediate grounds of the abbey contained about eighty acres, entered by +a gate-house to the westward of the church, the ruins of which can still +be seen. Near by is an old mill alongside the Skell, and a picturesque +bridge crosses the stream, while on a neighboring knoll are some ancient +yews which are believed to have sheltered the earliest settlers, and are +called the "Seven Sisters." But, unfortunately, only two now remain, +gnarled and twisted, with decaying trunks and falling limbs--ruins in +fact that are as venerable as Fountains Abbey itself. Botanists say they +are twelve hundred years old, and that they were full-grown trees when +the exiles from York first encamped alongside the Skell. + +[Illustration: FOUNTAINS TOWER AND CRYPT.] + +[Illustration: FOUNTAINS HALL.] + +Entering the close, the ruins of the abbey church are seen in better +preservation than the other buildings. The roof is gone, for its +woodwork was used to melt down the lead by zealous Reformers in the +sixteenth century, and green grass has replaced the pavement. The ruins +disclose a noble temple, the tower rising one hundred and sixty-eight +feet. In the eastern transept is the beautiful "Chapel of the Nine +Altars" with its tall and slender columns, some of the clustering shafts +having fallen. For some distance southward and eastward from the church +extend the ruins of the other convent-buildings. In former times they +were used as a stone-quarry for the neighborhood, many of the walls +being levelled to the ground, but since the last century they have been +scrupulously preserved. The plan is readily traced, for excavations have +been made to better display the ruins. South of the nave of the church +was the cloister-court. On one side was the transept and chapter-house, +and on the other a long corridor supporting the dormitory. This was one +hundred yards long, extending across the river, and abutting against the +crags on the other side. South of the cloister-court was the refectory +and other apartments. To the eastward was a group of buildings +terminating in a grand house for the abbot, which also bridged the +river. All these are now in picturesque ruin, the long corridor, with +its vaulted roof supported by a central row of columns with broad +arches, being considered one of the most impressive religious remains in +England. One of the chief uses to which the Fountains Abbey stone-quarry +was devoted was the building, in the reign of James I., of a fine +Jacobean mansion as the residence for its then owner, Sir Stephen +Proctor. This is Fountains Hall, an elaborate structure of that period +which stands near the abbey gateway, and to a great extent atones, by +its quaint attractiveness, for the vandalism that despoiled the abbey to +furnish materials for its construction. In fact, the mournful reflection +is always uppermost in viewing the remains of this famous place that it +would have been a grand old ruin could it have been preserved, but the +spoilers who plundered it for their own profit are said to have +discovered, in the fleeting character of the riches thus obtained, that +ill-gotten gains never prosper. + + +RICHMOND CASTLE. + +[Illustration: RICHMOND CASTLE.] + +Proceeding northward from Ripon, and crossing over into the valley of +the river Swale, we reach one of the most picturesquely located towns of +England--Richmond, whose great castle is among the best English remains +of the Norman era. The river flows over a broken and rocky bed around +the base of a cliff, and crowning the precipice above is the great +castle, magnificent even in decay. It was founded in the reign of +William the Conqueror by Alan the Red, who was created Earl of Richmond, +and it covers a space of about five acres on a rock projecting over the +river, the prominent tower of the venerable keep being surrounded by +walls and buildings. A lane leads up from the market-place of the town +to the castle-gate, alongside of which are Robin Hood's Tower and the +Golden Tower, the latter named from a tradition of a treasure being once +found there. The Scolland's Hall, a fine specimen of Norman work, +adjoins this tower. The keep is one hundred feet high and furnished with +walls eleven feet thick, time having had little effect upon its noble +structure, one of the most perfect Norman keep-towers remaining in +England. There is a grand view from the battlements over the romantic +valley of the Swale. In the village is an old gray tower, the only +remains of a Franciscan monastery founded in the thirteenth century, and +the ruins of Easby Abbey, dating from the twelfth century, are not far +away; its granary is still in use. The valley of the Swale may be +pursued for a long distance, furnishing constant displays of romantic +scenery, or, if that is preferred, excellent trout-fishing. + + +YORK. + +[Illustration: THE MULTANGULAR TOWER AND ST. MARY'S ABBEY.] + +From the high hills in the neighborhood of Fountains Dale there is a +magnificent view over the plain of York, and we will now proceed down +the valley of the Ouse to the venerable city that the Romans called +Eboracum, and which is the capital of a county exceeding in extent many +kingdoms and principalities of Europe. This ancient British stronghold +has given its name to the metropolis of the New World, but the modern +Babylon on the Hudson has far outstripped the little city on the equally +diminutive Ouse. It was Ebrane, the king of the Brigantes, who is said +to have founded York, but so long ago that he is believed a myth. +Whatever its origin, a settlement was there before the Christian era, +but nothing certain is known of it beyond the fact that it existed when +the Romans invaded Britain and captured York, with other strongholds, in +the first century of the Christian era. Eboracum was made the +head-quarters of their fifth legion, and soon became the chief city of a +district now rich in the relics of the Roman occupation, their dead +being still found thickly buried around the town. Portions of the walls +of Eboracum remain, among them being that remarkable relic, the tower, +polygonal in plan, which is known as the Multangular Tower, and which +marks the south-western angle of the ancient Roman city. Not far away +are the dilapidated ruins of St. Mary's Abbey, once one of the +wealthiest and proudest religious houses in the North of England, but +with little now left but portions of the foundations, a gateway, and the +north and west walls of the nave. This abbey was founded in the eleventh +century, and it was from here that the exiled monks who built Fountains +Abbey were driven out. This ruin has been in its present condition for +nearly two hundred and fifty years. + +For over three centuries Eboracum was a great Roman city. Here came the +emperor Severus and died in 211, his body being cremated and the ashes +conveyed to Rome. When the empire was divided, Britain fell to the share +of Constantius Chlorus, and he made Eboracum his home, dying there in +305. Constantine the Great, his son, was first proclaimed emperor at +Eboracum. When the Romans departed evil days fell upon York; the +barbarians destroyed it, and it was not till 627 that it reappeared in +history, when Eadwine, King of Northumbria, was baptized there by St. +Paulinus on Easter Day, a little wooden church being built for the +purpose. Then began its ecclesiastical eminence, for Paulinus was the +first Archbishop of York, beginning a line of prelates that has +continued unbroken since. In the eighth century the Northmen began their +incursions, and from spoilers ultimately became settlers. York +prospered, being thronged with Danish merchants, and in the tenth +century had thirty thousand population. In King Harold's reign the +Northmen attacked and captured the town, when Harold surprised and +defeated them, killing their leader Tostig, but no sooner had he won the +victory than he had to hasten southward to meet William the Norman, and +be in turn vanquished and slain. York resisted William, but he +ultimately conquered the city and built a castle there, but being +rebellious the people attacked the castle. He returned and chastised +them and built a second castle on the Ouse; but the discontent deepened, +and a Danish fleet appearing in the Humber there was another rebellion, +and the Norman garrison firing the houses around the castle to clear the +ground for its better defence, the greater part of the city was +consumed. While this was going on the Danes arrived, attacked and +captured both castles, slaughtered their entire garrisons of three +thousand men, and were practically unopposed by the discontented people. +Then it was that the stalwart Norman William swore "by the splendor of +God" to avenge himself on Northumbria, and, keeping his pledge, he +devastated the entire country north of the Humber. + +York continued to exist without making much history for several +centuries, till the Wars of the Roses came between the rival houses of +York and Lancaster. In this York bore its full part, but it was at first +the Lancastrian king who was most frequently found at York, and not the +duke who bore the title. But after Towton Field, on Palm Sunday, March +29, 1461, the most sanguinary battle ever fought in England, one hundred +thousand men being engaged, the news of their defeat was brought to the +Lancastrian king Henry and Queen Margaret at York, and they soon became +fugitives, and their youthful adversary, the Duke of York, was crowned +Edward IV. in York Minster. In the Civil War it was in York that Charles +I. took refuge, and from that city issued his first declaration of war +against the Parliament. For two years York was loyal to the king, and +then the fierce siege took place in which the Parliamentary forces +ruined St. Mary's Abbey by undermining and destroying its tower. Prince +Rupert raised this siege, but the respite was not long. Marston Moor saw +the king defeated, Rupert's troopers being, as the historian tells us, +made as "stubble to the swords of Cromwell's Ironsides." The king's +shattered army retreated to York, was pursued, and in a fortnight York +surrendered to the Parliamentary forces. The city languished afterwards, +losing its trade, and developing vast pride, but equal poverty. Since +the days of railways, however, it has become a very important junction, +and has thus somewhat revived its activity. + +[Illustration: MICKLEGATE BAR--THE RED TOWER] + +[Illustration: YORK MINSTER.] + +The walls of York are almost as complete as those of Chester, while its +ancient gateways are in much better preservation. The gateways, called +"bars," are among the marked features of the city, and the streets +leading to them are called "gates." The chief of these is Micklegate, +the highroad leading to the south, the most important street in York, +and Micklegate Bar is the most graceful in design of all, coming down +from Tudor days, with turrets and battlements pierced with cross-shaped +loopholes and surmounted by small stone figures of warriors. It was on +this bar that the head of the Duke of York was exposed, and the ghastly +spectacle greeted his son, Edward IV., as he rode into the town after +Towton Field. It did not take long to strike off the heads of several +distinguished prisoners and put them in his place as an expiatory +offering. Here also whitened the heads of traitors down to as late as +the last Jacobite rebellion. One of the buttresses of the walls of York +is the Red Tower, so called from the red brick of which it is built. +These walls and gates are full of interesting relics of the olden time, +and they are still preserved to show the line of circumvallation of the +ancient walled city. But the chief glory of York is its famous minster, +on which the hand of time has been lightly laid. When King Eadwine was +baptized in the little wooden church hastily erected for the purpose, he +began building at the same place, at the suggestion of Paulinus, a large +and more noble basilica of stone, wherein the little church was to be +included. But before it was completed the king was slain, and his head +was brought to York and buried in the portico of the basilica. This +church fell into decay, and was burned in the eighth century. On its +site was built a much larger minster, which was consumed in William the +Conqueror's time, when the greater part of York was burned. From its +ashes rose the present magnificent minster, portions of which were +building from the eleventh to the fifteenth century, it being completed +as we now see it in 1470, and reconsecrated as the cathedral of St. +Peter with great pomp in 1472. Its chief treasure, was the shrine of St. +William, the nephew of King Stephen, a holy man of singularly gentle +character. When he came into York it is said the pressure of the crowd +was so great that it caused the fall of a bridge over the Ouse, but the +saint by a miracle saved all their lives. The shrine was destroyed at +the Reformation, and the relics buried in the nave, where they were +found in the last century. York Minster remained almost unchanged until +1829, when a lunatic named Martin concealed himself one night in the +cathedral and set fire to the woodwork of the choir, afterwards escaping +through a transept-window. The fire destroyed the timber roofs of the +choir and nave and the great organ. Martin was arrested, and confined in +an asylum until he died. The restoration cost $350,000, and had not long +been completed when some workmen accidentally set fire to the +south-western tower, which gutted it, destroyed the bells, and burned +the roof of the nave. This mischief cost $125,000 to repair, and the +southern transept, which was considered unsafe, has since been partially +rebuilt. + +[Illustration: CHOIR OF YORK MINSTER.] + +Few English cathedrals exceed York Minster in dignity and massive +grandeur. It is the largest Gothic church in the kingdom, and contains +one of the biggest bells. "Old Peter," weighing ten and three-quarter +tons, and struck regularly every day at noon. The minster is five +hundred and twenty-four feet long, two hundred and twenty-two feet wide, +ninety-nine feet high in the nave, and its towers rise about two hundred +feet, the central tower being two hundred and twelve feet high. Its +great charms are its windows, most of them containing the original +stained glass, some of it nearly six hundred years old. The east window +is the largest stained-glass window in the world, seventy-seven by +thirty-two feet, and of exquisite design, being made by John Thornton of +Coventry in 1408, who was paid one dollar per week wages and got a +present of fifty dollars when he finished it. At the end of one transept +is the Five Sisters Window, designed by five nuns, each planning a tall, +narrow sash; and a beautiful rose-window is at the end of the other +transept. High up in the nave the statue of St. George stands on one +side defying the dragon, who pokes out his head on the other. Its tombs +are among the minster's greatest curiosities. The effigy of Archbishop +Walter de Grey, nearly six hundred and fifty years old, is stretched out +in an open coffin lying under a superb canopy, and the corpse instead of +being in the ground is overhead in the canopy. All the walls are full of +memorial tablets--a few modern ones to English soldiers, but most of +them ancient. Strange tombs are also set in the walls, bearing effigies +of the dead. Sir William Gee stands up with his two wives, one on each +side, and his six children--all eight statues having their hands folded. +Others sit up like Punch and Judy, the women dressed in hoops, +farthingales, and ruffs, the highest fashions of their age. Here is +buried Wentworth, second Earl of Strafford, and scores of archbishops. +The body of the famous Hotspur is entombed in the wall beneath the great +east window. Burke's friend Saville is buried here, that statesman +having written his epitaph. The outside of the minster has all sorts of +grotesque protuberances, which, according to the ancient style of +church-building, represent the evil spirits that religion casts out. +Adjoining the north transept, and approached through a beautiful +vestibule, is the chapter-house, an octagonal building sixty-three feet +in diameter and surmounted by a pyramidal roof. Seven of its sides are +large stained-glass windows, and the ceiling is a magnificent work. + +[Illustration: TOMB OF ARCHBISHOP WALTER DE GREY, YORK MINSTER.] + +[Illustration: CLIFFORD'S TOWER.] + +[Illustration: THE SHAMBLES.] + +York Castle occupied a peninsula between the Ouse and a branch called +the Foss. Of this Clifford's Tower is about all of the ancient work +that remains. It rises on its mound high above the surrounding +buildings, and was the keep of the ancient fortress, constructed +according to a remarkable and unique plan, consisting of parts of four +cylinders running into each other. It dates from Edward I., but the +entrance was built by Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, its governor under +Charles I. The interior of the tower was afterwards burned, and George +Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, who was imprisoned there, +planted a walnut tree within the tower which is still growing. It was in +the keep of the Norman castle, which this tower replaced, that the +massacre of the Jews, which grew out of race-jealousy at their great +wealth, occurred in 1190. On March 16th the house of Benet, the leading +Jew in York, was sacked by a mob and his wife and children murdered. +Five hundred of his countrymen then sought refuge in the castle, and +those who remained outside were killed. The mob besieged the castle, led +by a hermit from the neighborhood "famed for zeal and holiness," who was +clothed in white robes, and each morning celebrated mass and inflamed +the fury of the besiegers by his preaching. At last he ventured too near +the walls, and was brained by a stone. Battering-rams were then brought +up, and a night's carouse was indulged in before the work of knocking +down the castle began. Within was a different scene: the Jews were +without food or hope. An aged rabbi, who had come as a missionary from +the East, and was venerated almost as a prophet, exhorted his brethren +to render up freely their lives to God rather than await death at the +enemy's hands. Nearly all decided to follow his counsel; they fired the +castle, destroyed their property, killed their wives and children, and +then turned their swords upon themselves. Day broke, and the small +remnant who dared not die called from the walls of the blazing castle +that they were anxious for baptism and "the faith and peace of Christ." +They were promised everything, opened the gates, and were all massacred. +In later years York Castle has enclosed some well-known prisoners, among +them Eugene Aram, and Dick Turpin, who was hanged there. The York +elections and mass-meetings are held in the courtyard. + +Here Wilberforce, who long represented York in Parliament, spoke in +1784, when Boswell wrote of him: "I saw what seemed a mere shrimp mount +upon the table, but as I listened he grew and grew until the shrimp +became a whale." The York streets are full of old houses, many with +porches and overhanging fronts. One of the most curious rows is the +Shambles, on a narrow street and dating from the fourteenth century. A +little way out of town is the village of Holgate, which was the +residence of Lindley Murray the grammarian. Guy Fawkes is said to have +been a native of York, and this strange and antique old city, we are +also credibly assured, was in 1632 the birthplace of Robinson Crusoe. + + +CASTLE HOWARD. + +[Illustration: CASTLE HOWARD, SOUTH FRONT.] + +Starting north-east from York towards the coast, we go along the pretty +valley of the Derwent, and not far from the borders of the stream come +to that magnificent pile, the seat of the Earls of Carlisle--Castle +Howard. More than a century ago Walpole wrote of it: "Lord Strafford had +told me that I should see one of the finest places in Yorkshire, but +nobody had informed me that I should at one view see a palace, a town, a +fortified city: temples on high places; woods worthy of being each a +metropolis of the Druids; vales connected to hills by other woods; the +noblest lawn in the world, fenced by half the horizon; and a mausoleum +that would tempt one to be buried alive. In short, I have seen gigantic +places before, but never a sublimer one." Castle Howard was the work of +Vanbrugh, the designer of Blenheim, and in plan is somewhat similar, but +much more sober and simple, with a central cupola that gives it dignity. +It avoids many of the faults of Blenheim: its wings are more subdued, so +that the central colonnade stands out to greater advantage, and there +are few more imposing country-houses in England than this palace of the +Howards. This family are scions of the ducal house of Norfolk, so that +"all the blood of all the Howards," esteemed the bluest blood in the +kingdom, runs in their veins. The Earls of Carlisle are descended from +"Belted Will"--Lord William Howard, the lord warden of the Marches in +the days of the first Stuart--whose stronghold was at Naworth Castle, +twelve miles north-east of Carlisle. His grandson took an active part in +the restoration of Charles II., and in recompense was created the first +Earl of Carlisle. His bones lie in York Minster. His grandson, the third +earl, who was deputy earl-marshal at the coronation of Queen Anne, built +Castle Howard. The seventh earl, George William Frederick, was for eight +years viceroy in Ireland, resigning in 1864 on account of ill-health; +and it is said that he was one of the few English rulers who really won +the affections of the people of that unhappy country. He died soon +afterwards. + +[Illustration: THE OBELISK, CASTLE HOWARD.] + +[Illustration: THE TEMPLE, WITH THE MAUSOLEUM IN THE DISTANCE.] + +Leaving the railway-station in the valley of the Derwent, and mounting +the hills to the westward, a little village is reached on the confines +of the park. Beyond the village the road to the park-gates passes +through meadow-land, and is bordered by beautiful beech trees arranged +in clusters of about a dozen trees in each, producing an unusual but +most happy effect. The gateway is entered, a plain building in a +castellated wall--this being Walpole's "fortified city"--and, proceeding +up a slope, the fine avenue of beeches crosses another avenue of lime +trees. Here is placed an obelisk erected in honor of John Churchill, +Duke of Marlborough, which also bears an inscription telling of the +erection of Castle Howard. It recites that the house was built on the +site of the old castle of Hinderskelf, and was begun in 1702 by Charles, +the third Earl of Carlisle, who set up this inscription in 1731. The +happy earl, pleased with the grand palace and park he had created, thus +addresses posterity on the obelisk: + + "If to perfection these plantations rise, + If they agreeably my heirs surprise, + This faithful pillar will their age declare + As long as time these characters shall spare. + Here, then, with kind remembrance read his name + Who for posterity performed the same." + +The avenue then leads on past the north front of the castle, standing in +a fine situation upon a ridge between two shallow valleys. The bed of +the northern valley has been converted into a lake, while on the +southern slopes are beautiful and extensive lawns and gardens. The house +forms three sides of a hollow square, and within, it is interesting in +pictures and ornaments. It is cut up, however, into small rooms and +long, chilly corridors, which detract from its good effect. The +entrance-hall is beneath the central dome and occupies the whole height +of the structure, but it is only about thirty-five feet square, giving a +sense of smallness. Frescoes decorate the walls and ceilings. The public +apartments, which are in several suites opening into each other and +flanked by long corridors, are like a museum, so full are they of rare +works of art, china, glass, and paintings. Much of the collection came +from the Orleans Gallery. There are also many portraits in black and red +chalk by Janet, a French artist who flourished in the sixteenth century. +Some of the paintings are of great value, and are by Rubens, Caracci, +Canaletti, Tintoretto, Titian, Hogarth, Bellini, Mabuse, Holbein, Lely, +Vandyke, Reynolds, Gainsborough, and others. The Castle Howard +collection is exceptionally valuable in historical portraits. The +windows of the drawing-room look out upon extensive flower-gardens, +laid out in rather formal style with antique vases and statues. Beyond +these gardens is seen a circular temple placed upon a knoll, the +"mausoleum" which so moved Walpole. Here the former owners of the castle +are buried, a constant _memento mori_ to the tenants of the house, +though the taste certainly seems peculiar that has made the family tomb +the most prominent object in the view from the drawing-room windows. + +[Illustration: GATEWAY, KIRKHAM PRIORY.] + +Not far from Castle Howard are the ruins of Kirkham Priory. A charming +fragment of this noble church remains in a grassy valley on the margin +of the Derwent. Here, nearly eight hundred years ago, the Augustinians +established the priory, the founder being Sir Walter l'Espec, one of the +leaders of the English who drove back King David's Scottish invasion at +the battle of the Standard, near Durham. Sir Walter had an only son, who +was one day riding near the site of Kirkham when a wild boar suddenly +rushed across his path. The horse plunged and threw his rider, who, +striking head-foremost against a projecting stone, was killed. Sir +Walter, being childless, determined to devote his wealth to the service +of God, and founded three religious houses--one in Bedfordshire, another +at Rievaulx, where he sought refuge from his sorrows, and the third at +the place of his son's death at Kirkham. Legend says that the youth was +caught by his foot in the stirrup when thrown, and was dragged by his +runaway horse to the spot where the high altar was afterwards located. +Sir Walter's sister married into the family of De Ros, among the +ancestors of the Dukes of Rutland, and they were patrons of Kirkham +until the dissolution of the monasteries. Little remains of it: the +gate-house still stands, and in front is the base of a cross said to +have been made from the stone against which the boy was thrown. +Alongside this stone they hold a "bird-fair" every summer, where +jackdaws, starlings, and other birds are sold, with a few rabbits thrown +in; but the fair now is chiefly an excuse for a holiday. The church was +three hundred feet long, with the convent-buildings to the southward, +but only scant ruins remain. Beyond the ruins, at the edge of the +greensward, the river glides along under a gray stone bridge. At +Howsham, in the neighborhood, Hudson the railway king was born, and at +Foston-le-Clay Sydney Smith lived, having for his friends the Earl and +Countess of Carlisle of that day, who made their first call in a gold +coach and got stuck fast in the clay. Here the witty vicar resided, +having been presented to a living, and built himself a house, which he +described as "the ugliest in the county," but admitted by all critics to +be "one of the most comfortable," though located "twenty miles from a +lemon." Subsequently Smith left here for Somersetshire. + + +SCARBOROUGH AND WHITBY. + +The coast of Yorkshire affords the boldest and grandest scenery on the +eastern shore of England. A great protruding backbone of chalk rocks +projects far into the North Sea at Flamborough Head, and makes one of +the most prominent landmarks on all that rugged, iron-bound coast. This +is the Ocellum Promontorium of Ptolemy, and its lighthouse is three +hundred and thirty feet above the sea, while far away over the waters +the view is superb. From Flamborough Head northward beyond Whitby the +coast-line is a succession of abrupt white cliffs and bold headlands, +presenting magnificent scenery. About twenty-three miles north of +Flamborough is the "Queen of Northern Watering-places," as Scarborough +is pleased to be called, where a bold headland three hundred feet high +juts out into the North Sea for a mile, having on each side semicircular +bays, each about a mile and a quarter wide. At the extreme point of the +lozenge-shaped promontory stands the ruined castle which named the town +Scar-burgh, with the sea washing the rocky base of its foundations on +three sides. Steep cliffs run precipitously down to the narrow beach +that fringes these bays around, and on the cliffs is the town of +Scarborough, while myriads of fishing-vessels cluster about the +breakwater-piers that have been constructed to make a harbor of refuge. +It would be difficult to find a finer situation, and art has improved it +to the utmost, especially as mineral springs add the attractions of a +spa to the sea air and bathing. The old castle, battered by war and the +elements, is a striking ruin, the precipitous rock on which it stands +being a natural fortress. The Northmen when they first invaded Britain +made its site their stronghold, but the present castle was not built +until the reign of King Stephen, when its builder, William le Gros, Earl +of Albemarle, was so powerful in this part of Yorkshire that it was said +he was "in Stephen's days the more real king." But Henry II. compelled +the proud earl to submit to his authority, though "with much searching +of heart and choler," and Scarborough afterwards became one of the royal +castles, Edward I. in his earlier years keeping court there. It was +there that Edward II. was besieged and his favorite Gaveston starved +into surrender, and then beheaded on Blacklow Hill in violation of the +terms of his capitulation. Scarborough was repeatedly attacked by the +Scotch, but it subsequently enjoyed an interval of peace until the +Reformation. In Wyatt's rebellion his friends secured possession of the +castle by stratagem. A number of his men, disguised as peasants, on +market-day strolled one by one into the castle, and then at a given +signal overpowered the sentinels and admitted the rest of their band. +The castle, however, was soon recaptured from the rebels, and Thomas +Stafford, the leader in this enterprise, was beheaded. From this event +is derived the proverb of a "Scarborough warning"--a word and a blow, +but the blow first. In Elizabeth's reign Scarborough was little else but +a fishing-village, and so unfortunate that it appealed to the queen for +aid. In the Civil War the castle was held by the Royalists, and was +besieged for six months. While the guns could not reduce it, starvation +did, and the Parliamentary army took possession. Three years later the +governor declared for the king, and the castle again stood a five +months' siege, finally surrendering. Since then it has fallen into +decay, but it was a prison-house for George Fox the Quaker, who was +treated with severity there. A little way down the hill are the ruins of +the ancient church of St. Mary, which has been restored. + +[Illustration: SCARBOROUGH SPA AND ESPLANADE.] + +[Illustration: SCARBOROUGH FROM THE SEA.] + +The cliffs on the bay to the south of Castle Hill have been converted +into a beautifully-terraced garden and promenade. Here, amid flowers and +summer houses and terraced walks, is the fashionable resort, the +footpaths winding up and down the face of the cliffs or broadening into +the gardens, where music is provided and there are nightly +illuminations. Millions of money have been expended in beautifying the +front of the cliffs adjoining the Spa, which is on the seashore, and to +which Scarborough owed its original fame as a watering-place. The +springs were discovered in 1620, and by the middle of the last century +had become fashionable, but the present ornamental Spa was erected only +about forty years ago. There is a broad esplanade in front. There are +two springs, one containing more salt, lime, and magnesia sulphates than +the other. In the season, this esplanade--in fact, the entire front of +the cliffs--is full of visitors, while before it are rows of little +boxes on wheels, the bathing-houses that are drawn into the water. The +surf is usually rather gentle, however, though the North Sea can knock +things about at a lively rate in a storm. + +North of Scarborough the coast extends, a grand escarpment of cliffs and +headlands, past Robin Hood's Bay, with its rocky barriers, the North +Cheek and the South Cheek, to the little harbor of another +watering-place, Whitby. The cliffs here are more precipitous and the +situation even more picturesque than at Scarborough. The river Esk has +carved a deep glen in the Yorkshire moorland, and in this the town +nestles, climbing the steep banks on either side of the river. The ruins +of Whitby Abbey are located high up on the side of the ravine opposite +to the main part of the town, and they still present a noble if +dilapidated pile. The nave fell after a storm in the last century, and a +similar cause threw down the central tower in 1830. The choir and +northern transept are still standing, extremely beautiful Early English +work: only fragments of other portions of the abbey remain. This was in +olden times the Westminster of Northumbria, containing the tombs of +Eadwine and of Oswy, with kings and nobles grouped around them. It has +been over twelve hundred years since a religious house was founded at +Whitby, at first known as the White Homestead, an outgrowth of the +abbey, which was founded by Oswy and presided over by the sainted Hilda, +who chose the spot upon the lonely crags by the sea. The fame of Whitby +as a place of learning soon spread, and here lived the cowherd Caedmon, +the first English poet. The Danes sacked and burned it but after the +Norman Conquest, under the patronage of the Percies, the abbey grew in +wealth and fame. Fragments of the monastery yet remain, and on the hill +a little lower down is the parish church, with a long flight of steps +leading up to it from the harbor along which the people go, and when +there is a funeral the coffin has to be slung in order to be carried up +the steps. Whitby is famous for its jet, which is worked into numerous +ornaments: this is a variety of fossil wood, capable of being cut and +taking a high polish. It is also celebrated for its production of +iron-ore, which indeed is a product of all this part of Yorkshire; while +at night, along the valley of the Tees, not far north of Whitby, the +blaze of the myriads of furnaces light up the heavens like the fire of +Vesuvius in the Bay of Naples. Among the tales of the abbey is that +which + + "Whitby's nuns exulting told, + How to their house three barons bold + Must menial service do." + +[Illustration: WHITBY ABBEY.] + +It appears that three gentlemen--De Bruce, De Percy, and Allaston--were +hunting boars on the abbey-lands in 1159, and roused a fine one, which +their dogs pressed hard and chased to the hermitage, where it ran into +the chapel and dropped dead. The hermit closed the door against the +hounds, and the hunters, coming up, were enraged to find the dogs +baulked of their prey, and on the hermit's opening the door they +attacked him with their boar-spears and mortally wounded him. It was not +long before they found that this was dangerous sport, and they took +sanctuary at Scarborough. The Church, however, did not protect those who +had insulted it, and they were given up to the abbot of Whitby, who was +about to make an example of them when the dying hermit summoned the +abbot and the prisoners to his bedside and granted them their lives and +lands. But it was done upon a peculiar tenure: upon Ascension Day at +sunrise they were to come to the wood on Eskdale-side, and the abbot's +officer was to deliver to each "ten stakes, eleven stout stowers, and +eleven yethers, to be cut by you, or some of you, with a knife of one +penny price;" these they were to take on their backs to Whitby before +nine o'clock in the morning. Then said the hermit, "If it be full sea +your labor and service shall cease; and if low water, each of you shall +set your stakes to the brim, each stake one yard from the other, and so +yether them on each side with your yethers, and so stake on each side +with your stout stowers, that they may stand three tides without +removing by the force thereof. You shall faithfully do this in +remembrance that you did most cruelly slay me, and that you may the +better call to God for mercy, repent unfeignedly of your sins, and do +good works. The officer of Eskdale-side shall blow, 'Out on you, out on +you, out on you for this heinous crime!'" Failure of this strange +service was to forfeit their lands to the abbot of Whitby. + + +DURHAM. + +[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF THE CATHEDRAL AND CASTLE.] + +[Illustration: NORMAN DOORWAY IN DURHAM CASTLE.] + +We have now come into a region of coal and iron, with mines and furnaces +in abundance, and tall chimneys in all the villages pouring out black +smoke. All the country is thoroughly cultivated, and the little streams +bubbling over the stones at the bottoms of the deep valleys, past +sloping green fields and occasional patches of woods where the land is +too steep for cultivation, give picturesqueness to the scene. We have +crossed over the boundary from Yorkshire into Durham, and upon the very +crooked little river Wear there rise upon the tops of the precipitous +cliffs bordering the stream, high elevated above the red-tiled roofs of +the town, the towers of Durham Cathedral and Castle. They stand in a +remarkable position. The Wear, swinging around a curve like an elongated +horseshoe, has excavated a precipitous valley out of the rocks. At the +narrower part of the neck there is a depression, so that the promontory +around which the river sweeps appears like the wrist with the hand +clenched. The town stands at the depression, descending the slopes on +either side to the river, and also spreading upon the opposite banks. +The castle bars the access to the promontory, upon which stands the +cathedral. Thus, almost impregnably fortified, the ancient bishops of +Durham were practically sovereigns, and they made war as quickly as they +would celebrate a mass if their powers were threatened, for they bore +alike the sword and the crozier. Durham was founded to guard the relics +of the famous St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, the great ascetic of the +early English Church, distinguished above all others for the severity of +his mortifications and his abhorrence of women. At his shrine, we are +told, none of the gentler sex might worship; they were admitted to the +church, but in the priory not even a queen could lodge. Queen Philippa +was once admitted there as a guest, but a tumult arose, and she had to +flee half dressed for safety to the castle. St. Cuthbert was a hermit to +whom the sight of human beings was a weariness and the solitude of the +desert a delight. He was born in Scotland about the middle of the +seventh century, of humble origin, and passed his early years as a +shepherd near Melrose. He adopted an austere life, found a friend in the +abbot of Melrose, and ultimately sickened of an epidemic, his recovery +being despaired of. In answer, however, to the prayers of the monks, he +was restored to health as by a miracle, and became the prior of Melrose. +Afterwards he was for twelve years prior of Lindisfarne, an island off +the Northumbrian coast, but the craving for solitude was too strong to +be resisted, and he became a hermit. He went to Farne, a lonely rocky +island in the neighboring sea, and, living in a hut, spent his life in +prayer and fasting, but having time, according to the legend, to work +abundant miracles. A spring issued from the rock to give him water, the +sea laid fagots at his feet, and the birds ministered to his wants. At +first other monks had free access to him, but gradually he secluded +himself in the hut, speaking to them through the window, and ultimately +closed even that against them except in cases of emergency. Such +sanctity naturally acquired wide fame, and after long urging he +consented to become a bishop, at first at Hexham, afterwards at +Lindisfarne, thus returning to familiar scenes and an island home. But +his life was ebbing, and after two years' service he longed again for +his hermit's hut on the rock of Farne. He resigned the bishopric, and, +returning to his hut, in a few weeks died. His brethren buried him +beside his altar, where he rested eleven years; then exhuming the body, +it was found thoroughly preserved, and was buried again in a new coffin +at Lindisfarne. Almost two hundred years passed, when the Danes made an +incursion, and to escape them the monks took the body, with other +precious relics, and left Lindisfarne. During four years they wandered +about with their sacred charge, and ultimately settled near +Chester-le-Street, where the body of St. Cuthbert rested for over a +century; but another Danish invasion in 995 sent the saint's bones once +more on their travels, and they were taken to Ripon. The danger past, +the monks started on their return, transporting the coffin on a +carriage. They had arrived at the Wear, when suddenly the carriage +stopped and was found to be immovable. This event no doubt had a +meaning, and the monks prayed and fasted for three days to learn what it +was. Then the saint appeared in a vision and said he had chosen this +spot for his abode. It was a wild place, known as Dunhelm: the monks +went to the Dun, or headland, and erected a tabernacle for their ark +from the boughs of trees while they built a stone church, within which, +in the year 999, the body was enshrined. This church stood until after +the Norman Conquest, when the king made its bishop the Earl of Durham, +and his palatinate jurisdiction began. + +The present Durham Cathedral was begun in 1093, with the castle +alongside. As we look at them from the railway-station, they stand a +monument of the days when the same hand grasped the pastoral staff and +the sword--"half house of God, half castle 'gainst the Scot." Upon the +top of the rocks, which are clad in foliage to the river's edge, on the +left hand, supported by massive outworks built up from halfway down the +slope, rises the western face of the castle. Beyond this, above a fringe +of trees, rises the lofty cathedral, its high central tower forming the +apex of the group and its two western towers looking down into the +ravine. The galilee in front appears built up from the depths of the +valley, and is supported by outworks scarcely less solid than those of +the castle. Durham, more than any other place in England, is a memorial +of the temporal authority of the Church, uniting the mitre and the +coronet. The plan of Durham Cathedral is peculiar in having the closed +galilee at the western end, instead of the open porch as is usual, while +the eastern end, which is wider than the choir, terminates abruptly, +having no Lady Chapel, but being in effect cut off, with a gable in the +centre and a great rose-window. As the galilee overhangs the ravine, the +principal entrance to the cathedral is from a fine northern porch. To +the portal is affixed a large knocker of quaint design, which in former +days was a Mecca for the fugitive, for the shrine of St. Cuthbert +enjoyed the right of sanctuary. When the suppliant grasped this knocker +he was safe, for over the door two monks kept perpetual watch to open at +the first stroke. As soon as admitted the suppliant was required to +confess his crime, whatever it might be. This was written down, and a +bell in the galilee tolled to announce the fact that some one had sought +"the peace of Cuthbert;" and he was then clothed in a black gown with a +yellow cross on the shoulder. After thirty-seven days, if no pardon +could be obtained, the malefactor solemnly abjured his native land for +ever, and was conveyed to the seacoast, bearing a white wooden cross in +his hand, and was sent out of the kingdom by the first ship that sailed. + +[Illustration: DURHAM CATHEDRAL, FROM AN OLD HOMESTEAD ON THE WEAR.] + +[Illustration: THE NAVE, DURHAM CATHEDRAL.] + +The interior of Durham Cathedral is regarded as the noblest Norman +construction yet remaining in England. The arcade, triforium, and +clerestory are in fine proportion; the nave has a vaulted roof of +stone, and the alternate columns are clustered in plan, their middle +shafts extending from floor to roof. These columns are enriched with +zigzag, lattice, spiral, and vertical flutings. This cathedral, begun in +1093, was nearly two centuries building, and the Chapel of Nine Altars, +in honor of various saints, was erected at the eastern end in the +twelfth century. Some of these altars did duty for a pair of saints, St. +Cuthbert sharing the central one with St. Bede, a name only second to +his in the memories of Durham, so that the nine altars were availed of +to reverence sixteen saints. Behind the reredos a platform extends a +short distance into this chapel at a height of six feet above the floor. +A large blue flagstone is let into the platform, with shallow grooves on +either hand. Here stood St. Cuthbert's shrine, highly ornamented, and +having seats underneath for the pilgrims and cripples who came to pray +for relief. This being never wanting, we are told that the shrine came +to be so richly invested that it was esteemed one of the most sumptuous +monuments in England, so numerous were the offerings and jewels bestowed +upon it. Among the relics here accumulated was the famous Black Rood of +Scotland, the prize of the battle of Neville's Cross, fought near +Durham. There were also many relics of saints and martyrs, scraps of +clothing of the Saviour and the Virgin, pieces of the crown of thorns +and of the true cross, vials containing the milk of the Virgin Mother +and the blood of St. Thomas, besides elephants' tusks and griffins' +claws and eggs, with myriads of jewels. In 1104, St. Cuthbert's body was +deposited in this shrine with solemn ceremonies, and it rested there +undisturbed until the dissolution of the monasteries, reverentially +watched, day and night, by monks stationed in an adjoining chamber. Then +the shrine was destroyed and the treasures scattered, the coffin opened, +and St. Cuthbert buried beneath the slab, so that now the only remnants +visible are the furrows worn in the adjoining pavement by the feet of +the ancient worshippers. Tradition tells that the exact position of St. +Cuthbert's grave is known only to three Benedictine monks, of whom Scott +writes: + + "There, deep in Durham's Gothic shade, + His relics are in secret laid, + But none may know the place, + Save of his holiest servants three, + Deep sworn to solemn secrecy, + Who share that wondrous grace." + +The corpse, however, rests beneath the blue slab. In 1827 it was raised, +and, while other human remains were found, there was disclosed beneath +them, in a coffin, a skeleton vested in mouldering robes, and with it +various treasures, which, with the robes, accord with the description of +those present in St. Cuthbert's coffin when opened in 1104. The skeleton +was reinterred in a new coffin, and the relics, particularly an ancient +golden cross and a comb, were placed in the cathedral library. + +[Illustration: THE CHOIR, LOOKING WEST, DURHAM CATHEDRAL.] + +In the galilee of Durham Cathedral, near the south-eastern angle, is a +plain, low altar-tomb that marks the resting-place of St. Bede, commonly +known as "the Venerable Bede"--a title which angelic hands are said to +have supplied to the line inscribed on his tomb. He was the first +English historian, a gentle, simple scholar, who spent his life from +childhood in a monastery at Jarrow, near the mouth of the Wear, and took +his pleasure in learning, teaching, or writing. His great work was the +_Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation_, which occupied many +years in compilation, and is still the most trusted history of the +period of which it treats. His literary activity was extraordinary, and +he produced many other works. He was born near Durham in 672, and died +in 735. His devotion to literary work was such that even during his last +illness he was dictating to an amanuensis a translation of the Gospel of +St. John into Anglo-Saxon, and upon completing the last sentence +requested the assistant to place him on the floor of his cell, where he +said a short prayer, and expired as the closing words passed his lips. +He was buried where he had lived, at Jarrow, and as the centuries passed +the fame of his sanctity and learning increased. Then a certain AElfred +conceived the idea of stealing St. Bede's remains for the glorification +of Durham. Several times baffled, he at length succeeded, and carrying +the precious relics to Durham, they were for a time preserved in St. +Cuthbert's shrine, but were afterwards removed to a separate tomb, which +in 1370 was placed in the galilee, where it has since remained. At the +Reformation the shrine was destroyed, and St. Bede's bones, like St. +Cuthbert's, were buried beneath the spot on which the shrine had stood. +This tomb was opened in 1831, and many human bones were found beneath, +together with a gilt ring. The bones in all probability were St. Bede's +remains. Durham Cathedral contains few monuments, for reverence for the +solitude of St. Cuthbert whom it enshrined excluded memorials of other +men during several centuries. + +[Illustration: THE GALILEE AND TOMB OF BEDE.] + +The remains of the Benedictine monastery to which the care of these +shrines was entrusted are south of the cathedral, forming three sides of +a square, of which the cathedral nave was the fourth. Beyond is an open +green, with the castle on the farther side and old buildings on either +hand. From this green the castle is entered by a gateway with massive +doors, but, while the structure is picturesque, it is not very ancient, +excepting this gateway. It has mostly been rebuilt since the twelfth +century. This was the palace of the bishops of Durham, of whom Antony +Bek raised the power of the see to its highest point. He was prelate, +soldier, and politician, equally at home in peace or war, at the head of +his troops, celebrating a mass, or surrounded by his great officers of +state. He was the first who intruded upon the solitude of St. Cuthbert +by being buried in the cathedral. Here lived also Richard of Bury, noted +as the most learned man of his generation north of the Alps, and the +first English bibliomaniac. Bishop Hatfield also ruled at Durham, famous +both as architect and warrior. Cardinal Wolsey lived here when +Archbishop of York and his quarrel with Henry VIII. resulted in the +Durham palatinate beginning to lose part of its power, so that in the +days of his successor, Tunstall, it came to be the "peace of the king," +and not of the bishop, that was broken within its borders. Here also +ruled the baron-bishop Crewe, who was both a temporal and a spiritual +peer, and Bishop Butler, the profound thinker. But the bishops live +there no longer, their palace being moved to Auckland, while the +university is located in the castle. It is the Northern University, +first projected in Cromwell's time. About a mile to the westward of +Durham was fought the battle of Neville's Cross in October, 1346. This +was a few months after Edward had won the battle of Crecy in France, and +the King of Scotland, taking advantage of the absence of the English +king and his army, swept over the Border with forty thousand men, +devastating the entire country. His chief nobles accompanied him, and to +encourage the troops the most sacred relic of Scotland, the "Black +Rood," a crucifix of blackened silver, was present on the battlefield. +This had been mysteriously delivered to David I. on the spot in +Edinburgh where to commemorate it Holyrood Abbey was afterwards founded. +But, though King Edward was in France, Queen Philippa was equal to the +emergency. An army was quickly gathered under Earl Neville, and Durham +sent its contingent headed by the warlike bishop. The invaders drew near +the walls of Durham, and the English army, inferior in numbers, awaited +them. To confront the "Black Rood," the bishop brought into camp an "ark +of God" in obedience to a vision: this was one of the cathedral's +choicest treasures, "the holy corporax cloth wherewith St. Cuthbert +covered the chalice when he used to say mass." This, attached to the +point of a spear, was displayed in sight of the army, while the monks +upon the cathedral towers, in full view of the battlefield, prayed for +victory for the defenders of St. Cuthbert's shrine. They fought three +hours in the morning, the Scotch with axes, the English with arrows; +but, as the watching monks turned from prayer to praise, the Scottish +line wavered and broke, for the banner of St. Cuthbert proved too much +for the Black Rood. The King of Scotland was wounded and captured, and +fifteen thousand of his men were slain, including many nobles. The Black +Rood was captured, and placed in the Nine Altars Chapel. Afterwards the +"corporax cloth" was attached to a velvet banner, and became one of the +great standards of England, being carried against Scotland by Richard +II. and Henry IV., and it waved over the English army at Flodden. When +not in use it was attached to St. Cuthbert's shrine. At the Reformation +the Black Rood was lost, and St. Cuthbert's banner fell into possession +of one Dean Whittingham, whose wife, the historian lamentingly says, +"being a Frenchwoman, did most despitefully burn the same in her fire, +to the open contempt and disgrace of all ancient relics." A narrow lane, +deeply fringed with ferns, leads out of Durham over the hills to the +westward of the town, where at a cross-road stand the mutilated remains +of Earl Neville's Cross, set up to mark the battlefield, now a wide +expanse of smoky country. + + +LUMLEY CASTLE AND NEWCASTLE. + +Following the Wear northward towards its mouth, at a short distance +below Durham it passes the site of the Roman city of Conderum, which had +been the resting-place of St. Cuthbert's bones until the Danish invasion +drove them away, and it is now known as Chester-le-Street. Here, in the +old church of St. Mary and St. Cuthbert, is the rude effigy of the saint +which once surmounted his tomb, and here also is the "Aisle of Tombs," a +chain of fourteen monumental effigies of the Lumleys, dating from Queen +Elizabeth's reign. Lumley Castle, now the Earl of Scarborough's seat +(for he too is a Lumley), is a short distance outside the town, on an +eminence overlooking the Wear. It dates from the time of Edward I., but +has been much modernized, the chief apartment in the interior being the +Great Hall, sixty by thirty feet, with the Minstrel Gallery at the +western end. Here on the wall is a life-size statue of the great +ancestor of the Lumleys, Liulph the Saxon, seated on a red horse. North +of this castle, across the Wear, is the Earl of Durham's seat, Lambton +Castle, a Gothic and Tudor structure recently restored. + +[Illustration: SOUTH-EAST VIEW OF LUMLEY CASTLE.] + +[Illustration: GATEWAY, LUMLEY CASTLE, FROM THE WALK.] + +Still journeying northward, we cross the hills between the Wear and the +Tyne, and come to the New Castle which gives its name to +Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the great coal shipping port. This is a +strange-looking town, with red-tiled roofs, narrow, dingy, crooked +streets, and myriads of chimneys belching forth smoke from the many +iron-works. These mills and furnaces are numerous also in the +surrounding country, while the neighborhood is a network of railways +carrying coal from the various lines to the shipping-piers. But this +famous city is not all smoke and coal-dust: its New Castle is an ancient +structure, rather dilapidated now, coming down from the reign of Henry +II., approached by steep stairways up the rock on which the keep is +perched. It has a fine hall, which is used as a museum of Roman relics, +and from the roof is a grand view along the Tyne. This castle has a well +ninety-three feet deep bored in the rock. Newcastle in its newer parts +has some fine buildings. Grey Street, containing the theatre and +Exchange, for a space of about four hundred yards is claimed to be the +finest street in the kingdom. In Low Friars Street is the old chapel of +the Black Friars monastery, where Baliol did homage to Edward III. for +the Scottish throne. Sir William Armstrong lives at Jesmond, just +outside Newcastle, and at Elswick, west of the city, are the extensive +workshops where are made the Armstrong guns. The great High Level bridge +across the Tyne Valley, built by Stephenson, with a railway on top of a +roadway, and one thousand three hundred and thirty-seven feet long, is +one of the chief engineering works at Newcastle. George Stephenson was +born in 1781 at High Street House, Wylam, near Newcastle, while at +Frudhoe Castle is a seat of the Duke of Northumberland. At Wallsend, +three miles east of Newcastle, begins the celebrated Roman wall that +crossed Britain, and was defended by their legions against incursions by +the Scots. Its stone-and-turf walls, with the ditch on the north side, +can be distinctly traced across the island. + + +HEXHAM. + +Ascending the Tyne, we come to Hexham, an imposing town as approached by +the railway, with the Moat Hall and the abbey church occupying +commanding features in the landscape. The Moat Hall is a large and +ancient tower, notable for its narrow lights and cornice-like range of +corbels. The abbey church, formerly the cathedral of St. Andrew, is a +fine specimen of Early English architecture, of which only the transept +and some other ruins remain, surmounted by a tower rising about one +hundred feet and supported upon magnificent arches. Here is the shrine +of the ancient chronicler. Prior Richard, an attractive oratory: and the +town also produced another quaint historian of the Border troubles, John +of Hexham. It is an antique place, and almost all of its old buildings +bear testimony to the disturbed state of the Scottish frontier in the +olden time, for not far away are the Cheviot Hills that form the +boundary, and in which the Tyne takes its rise. Similar evidence is also +given in Haltwhistle, Hexham's suburb, across the narrow river. + +[Illustration: HEXHAM.] + + +ALNWICK CASTLE. + +[Illustration: ALNWICK CASTLE, FROM THE LION BRIDGE.] + +[Illustration: THE BARBICAN GATE.] + +[Illustration: THE BARBICAN.] + +Journeying northward through Northumberland, and following the +coastline--for here England narrows as the Scottish border is +approached--the road crosses the diminutive river Alne, running through +a deep valley, and standing in an imposing situation on its southern +bank is the renowned stronghold of the Percies and guardian of the +Border, Alnwick Castle. The great fortress, as we now see it, was built +as a defence against the Scots, and was protected on the northward by +the river-valley and a deep ravine, which formerly cut it off from the +village, which is as ancient as the fortress, as its quaint old +Pottergate Tower attests. Roman remains have been found on the site, +and it was also inhabited by the Saxons, the castle at the time of the +Norman Conquest being held by Gilbert Tysen, a powerful Northumbrian +chief. It was then a primitive timber fortress in a wild region, for the +earliest masonry works are Norman, and are attributed to Tysen's +descendants. Alnwick Castle is a cluster of semicircular and angular +bastions, surrounded by lofty walls, defended at intervals by towers, +and enclosing a space of about five acres. It has three courts or wards, +each defended formerly by massive gates, with portcullis, porters lodge, +and a strong guardhouse, beneath which was a dungeon. Trap-doors are the +only entrances to the latter, into which the prisoners were lowered by +ropes. From the village the entrance to the castle is through the +barbican, or outer gate, a work of gigantic strength and massive +grandeur, which has been the scene of many a brave encounter. Near by is +the Postern Tower, a sally-port adjacent to the "Bloody Gap" and +"Hotspur's Chair." The history of this famous stronghold is practically +the history of this portion of the realm, for in all the Border warfare +that continued for centuries it was conspicuous. In the reign of William +Rufus it was gallantly defended by Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, in +the memorable siege by the Scots under King Malcolm III. The garrison +were about surrendering, being almost starved, when a private soldier +undertook their deliverance. He rode out to the besiegers' camp, +carrying the keys of the castle dangling from his lance, and presented +himself a suppliant before the Scottish king, as if to deliver up the +keys. Malcolm advanced to receive them, and the soldier pierced him +through the heart. Malcolm fell dead, and in the confusion the bold +trooper sprang upon his horse, dashed across the river, and was safe. +Malcolm's eldest son, Prince Edward, advanced rashly to avenge the +king's death, and fell mortally wounded from the castle. Hammond's Ford, +named for the bold trooper, marks the spot where he and his horse swam +across the Alne, which at the time was swollen. In memory of Malcolm, a +cross stands on the spot where he was slain, and near by is Malcolm's +Well and the ruins of St. Leonard's Chapel, built for the unfortunate +king's expiation. Upon the cross the inscription states that Malcolm +fell November 13, 1093, and that the original cross, decayed by time, +was restored by his descendant, Elizabeth, Duchess of Northumberland, in +1774. Eustace de Vesci, who built St. Leonard's Chapel, lived in the +days of Henry I. and Stephen, and founded the abbey of Alnwick. King +David of Scotland captured the old timber castle there in 1135 on his +great invasion of England, and Eustace afterwards built the first +masonry work of Alnwick Castle, traces of his walls having since been +found. + +[Illustration: THE EASTERN ANGLE OF THE BARBICAN.] + +[Illustration: THE PERCY BEDSTEAD.] + +[Illustration: THE PERCY CROSS.] + +Alnwick descended to William, son of Eustace, and in 1174, William the +Lion, returning from an invasion of Cumberland, passed before the +castle, and was captured and sent a prisoner into England. Alnwick +descended to William's son Eustace, who was visited by King John in +1209, and the king there received the homage of Alexander of Scotland. +Eustace was one of the chief barons who wrested Magna Charta from John, +and in the closing year of that reign met his death from an arrow before +Barnard Castle. Henry III. visited Alnwick, and the great Edward I. was +there several times as the guest of John de Vesci near the close of the +thirteenth century. The Barons de Vesci soon afterwards became extinct, +and then the warlike bishop of Durham, Antony Bek, came in and grabbed +the castle. He sold it in 1309 to Henry de Percy, and from this dates +the rise of the great family of the northern Border, who have held +Alnwick for nearly six centuries, its present owner being his +descendant, Algernon George Percy, Duke of Northumberland, in whose +veins flows the blood of so many great families that he can use nine +hundred heraldic devices on his armorial bearings, including those of +many kings and princes. Henry de Percy became the leader of the Border +barons, and, although living at Alnwick only five years, seems to have +rebuilt most of the castle, his son completing it. The Percies became +the Earls of Northumberland, and such warlike lives did they lead (as, +for instance, young Henry Percy, "Hotspur") that it is noted that Henry +Algernon, the fifth earl, was the first of the race who died in bed. The +next of the line was executed for rebellion, and the next was beheaded +at York for conspiring against Queen Elizabeth. The eighth earl, +favoring Mary Queen of Scots, was imprisoned in the Tower, and was one +day found in his chamber shot through the heart. Henry, the ninth earl, +was implicated in the Gunpowder Plot, imprisoned in the Tower, and fined +$250,000. After his release he spent the remainder of his life at +Petworth; Alnwick was neglected; and the direct line of descent +ultimately ended with Elizabeth, daughter of the eleventh earl, who +married the Duke of Somerset in 1682. Her grandson, Algernon, became +Earl of Northumberland, and his daughter, Elizabeth Seymour, was the +ancestress of the present family, her husband being created the first +Duke of Northumberland. Alnwick was then a ruin, but he restored it, and +subsequently, under the direction of the architect Salvin, it was +completely rebuilt, everything worthy of preservation being kept, and +the new work being adapted to the days of the earlier Percies, whose +achievements gave the stronghold such world-wide renown. + +[Illustration: CONSTABLE'S TOWER.] + +[Illustration: EARL HUGH'S TOWER.] + +This famous castle is full of recollections of the great men who +formerly inhabited it. The Constable's Tower, remaining mostly in its +ancient condition, has in an upper apartment arms for fifteen hundred +men, the Percy tenantry, while in the rooms beneath is deposited the +ancient armor. "Hotspur's Chair" is the name given to a seated recess of +the Ravine Tower which was Hotspur's favorite resort, where he sat while +his troops exercised in the castle-yard beneath, and where he had an +admirable lookout to discover an approaching enemy. Through the +loopholes on either side of the seat in this commanding tower there is +an extensive prospect over the valley of the Alne and to the distant +seacoast. The "Bloody Gap," another noted site in the castle, is between +the Ravine and Round Towers. It was the name given to a breach in the +wall made by the Scots during the Border wars, although the exact time +is unknown. According to tradition, three hundred Scots fell within the +breach, and they were ultimately beaten off. Many arrows have been found +in the adjacent walls, so located as to indicate they were shot from the +battlements and windows of the keep when the assailants were making this +breach. Alnwick Castle was restored by Salvin with strict regard to the +rules of mediaeval military architecture. When it was the great Border +stronghold its governor commanded a force of no less than two thousand +men, who were employed in a complicated system of day and night watching +to guard against forays by the Scots. The day watchers began at +daylight, and blew a horn on the approach of the foe, when all men were +bound on pain of death to respond for the general defence. The great +feature of the restored castle is the Prudhoe Tower, built about +twenty-five years ago. After entering the barbican, which admits to the +outer ward, the visitor passes between the Abbot's Tower on the left and +the Corner Tower and Auditor's Tower on the right. Earl Hugh's turreted +tower also rises boldly from the battlements. Passing through the middle +gatehouse, the keep, constructed in the form of a polygon around a +court, is seen on the right hand, and in the gateway-wall is Percy's +famous draw-well, with a statue of St. James above blessing the waters. +Opposite this draw-well is a covered drive which leads to the entrance +of Prudhoe Tower. This tower is a magnificent structure, containing the +family and state-apartments, built and decorated in the Italian style, +and approached by a staircase twelve feet wide. It was built at enormous +cost, and alongside is a vaulted kitchen of ample proportions, +constructed in the baronial style, where there are sufficient facilities +to prepare dinner for six hundred persons at one time, while the +subterranean regions contain bins for three hundred tons of coal. Such +is this great baronial Border stronghold, replete with memories of the +warlike Percies. From here Hotspur sallied forth to encounter the +marauding Scottish force which under Douglas had laid waste England as +far as the gates of York, and almost within the sight of the castle is +the bloody field of Otterbourn, where Douglas fell by Hotspur's own +hand, though the English lost the day and Hotspur himself was captured. +Again, as war's fortunes change, just north of Alnwick is Humbleton +Hill, where the Scots had to fly before England's "deadly arrow-hail," +leaving their leader, Douglas, with five wounds and only one eye, a +prisoner in the hands of the Percies. It was from Alnwick's battlements +that the countess watched "the stout Earl of Northumberland" set forth, +"his pleasure in the Scottish woods three summer days to take"--an +expedition from which he never returned. Such was the history for +centuries of this renowned castle, which is regarded as presenting the +most perfect specimen now existing, perhaps in the world, of the feudal +stronghold of mediaeval days. + +[Illustration: THE DRAW-WELL AND NORMAN GATEWAY.] + +[Illustration: Gravestone in the Churchyard of St. Michael & all +Angels.] + +And now let us turn from the castle to the church. Almost alongside of +it is St. Michael's Church, built with battlements, as if prepared as +much for defence as for worship, and a watch-tower, made evidently for a +lookout and to hold a beacon to warn of the approach of forays. This was +one of the regular chain of Border beacons. Within the church an old +iron-work lectern still holds the "Book of the Homilies," while the +churchyard is full of ancient gravestones. Alnwick Abbey once existed +down alongside the river, under the protection of the castle, but it has +been long since ruined, and its remains have served as a quarry for the +village buildings until little of them remains. Its extensive domains +are now part of the Duke's Park, and another contributor to this park +was Hulne Priory, the earliest Carmelite monastery in England, founded +in 1240. It stood upon a projecting spur of rising land above the Alne, +backed by rich woods, but was neither large nor wealthy, as the +neighboring abbey eclipsed it. The discipline of the Carmelites was +rigorous. Each friar had a coffin for his cell and slept on straw, while +every morning he dug a shovelful of earth for his grave and crept on his +knees in prayer. Silence, solitude, and strict fasting were the +injunction upon all, and their buildings were sternly simple. The +porter's lodge and curtain-wall enclosing Hulne Priory still stand, and +its outline can be traced, though the ruins are scant. Yet this, like +all else at Alnwick, bears evidence of the troublous times on the +Border. The most important of its remaining buildings is an embattled +tower of refuge from the Scottish invader. Its inscription states that +it was built in 1448 by Sir Henry Percy, fourth Earl of Northumberland. +Opposite Hulne Priory is Brislee Hill, which presents the most renowned +view in Alnwick Park. A tower rises among the trees upon the crest of +the hill from which bonfires now blaze on occasions of festivity. Here, +over the park, can be seen the castle and town, and beyond, to the +eastward, the sea, with its coast-castles as far north as Bamborough. +The little Coquet Island in the distance breaks the expanse of blue +waters. To the westward beyond the moors rises the sharp outline of the +Scottish Border, the Cheviot Hills, running off towards the north-east, +and containing in their depressions the passes through which the Scots +used to pour when they harried Northern England and roused the Alnwick +warriors to defend their firesides. + +[Illustration: LECTERN, ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH.] + +[Illustration: PORTER'S LODGE, HULNE PRIORY.] + + +FORD CASTLE AND FLODDEN FIELD. + +Northward, past the extremity of the Cheviots, flows the Tweed, and one +of its tributaries on the English side is the Till, which drains the +bases of those sharp hills, that rise nearly twenty-seven hundred feet. +Here was Ford Castle, and here was fought the terrible Border battle of +Flodden in 1513. Ford Castle dated from the time of Edward I., and its +proximity to the Border made it the object of many assaults. In the +fifteenth century it was held by Sir William Heron, and a few days +before the battle of Flodden the Scots, under James IV., during Sir +William's captivity in Scotland, stormed and destroyed Ford, taking +captive Lady Heron, who had endeavored to defend it. In the last century +Ford was restored by the Marquis of Waterford, to whom it had descended, +so that it now appears as a fine baronial mansion, surmounted by towers +and battlements, and standing in a commanding situation overlooking the +valley of the Till, with the lofty Cheviots closing the view a few miles +to the south-west, their peaks affording ever-varying scenes as the +season changes. + +[Illustration: FORD TOWER, OVERLOOKING FLODDEN.] + +[Illustration: THE CHEVIOTS, FROM FORD CASTLE.] + +[Illustration: FLODDEN, FROM THE KING'S BEDCHAMBER, FORD CASTLE.] + +The great attraction of the view, however, is the famous hill of +Flodden, about a mile to the westward, crowned by a plantation of dark +fir trees, and presenting, with the different aspects of the weather, +ever-changeful scenery, recalling now the "dark Flodden" and anon the +"red Flodden" of the balladists. Across the valley from Ford Castle, and +at the foot of this fir-crowned hill, was fought one of the bitterest +contests of the Border. Now, the famous battlefield is a +highly-cultivated farm and sheep-pasture. James IV. of Scotland had +unjustly determined to make war upon England, and he set out upon it in +opposition to the real desire of his countrymen, and even against the +omens of Heaven, as the people believed. A few days before he departed +for his army the king attended St. Michael's Church, adjacent to his +stately palace at Linlithgow, when a venerable stranger entered the +aisle where the king knelt. The hair from his uncovered head flowed down +over his shoulders, and his blue robe was confined by a linen girdle. +With an air of majesty he walked up to the kneeling king, and said, +"Sire, I am sent to warn thee not to proceed in thy present undertaking, +for if thou dost it shall not fare well either with thyself or those who +go with thee." He vanished then in the awe-stricken crowd. But this was +not the only warning. At midnight, prior to the departure of the troops +for the south, it is related that a voice not mortal proclaimed a +summons from the market cross, where proclamations were usually read, +calling upon all who should march against the English to appear within +the space of forty days before the court of the Evil One. Sir Walter +Scott says that this summons, like the apparition at Linlithgow, was +probably an attempt by those averse to the war to impose upon the +superstitious temper of James IV. But the king started at the head of +the finest army, and supported by the strongest artillery-train, that +had down to that time been brought into the field by any Scottish +monarch. He entered England August 22d. without having formed any +definite plan of action. He wasted two days on the Till, besieged Norham +for a week, when it surrendered, and then besieged Ford. These delays +gave the English time to assemble. King James, as above related, +captured Lady Heron at Ford. She was beautiful and deceitful, and soon +enthralled the gay king in her spells, while all the time she was in +communication with the English. Thus James wasted his time in dalliance, +and, as Scott tells us, + + "The monarch o'er the siren hung, + And beat the measure as she sung, + And, pressing closer and more near, + He whispered praises in her ear." + +All the time the energetic Earl of Surrey was marshalling the English +hosts, and, marching with twenty-six thousand men northward through +Durham, received there the sacred banner of St. Cuthbert. On September +4th. Surrey challenged James to battle, which the king accepted against +the advice of his best councillors. The Scots had become restive under +the king's do-nothing policy, and many of them left the camp and +returned home with the booty already acquired. James selected a strong +position on Flodden Hill, with both flanks protected and having the +deep and sluggish waters of the Till flowing in front. Surrey advanced +and reconnoitred, and then sent the king a herald requesting him to +descend into the plain, as he acted ungallantly in thus practically +shutting himself up in a fortress. The king would not admit the herald. +Surrey then attempted a stratagem. Crossing the Till on the 8th, he +encamped at Barmoor Wood, about two miles from the Scottish position, +concealing his movement from the enemy. On the 9th he marched down the +Till to near its confluence with the Tweed, and recrossed to the eastern +bank. This, too, was uninterrupted by the Scots, who remained strangely +inactive, though it is recorded that the chief Scottish nobles implored +the king to attack the English. The aged Earl Angus begged him either to +assault the English or retreat. "If you are afraid, Angus," replied the +king, "you can go home." The master of artillery implored the king to +allow him to bring his guns to bear upon the English, but James returned +the reply that he would meet his antagonist on equal terms in a fair +field, and scorned to take an advantage. Then Surrey drew up his line +between James and the Border, and advanced up the valley of the Till +towards the Scots. The king set fire to the temporary huts on the +hillside where he had been encamped, and descended to the valley, the +smoke concealing the movements of each army from the other; but Surrey's +stratagem was thus successful in drawing him from his strong position. +The English van was led by Lord Thomas Howard, Surrey commanding the +main body, Sir Edward Stanley the rear, and Lord Dacre the reserves. The +Scottish advance was led by the Earls of Home and Huntley, the king +leading the centre, the Earls of Lennox and Argyle the rear, and the +reserves, consisting of the flower of the Lothians, were under the Earl +of Bothwell. The battle began at four in the afternoon, when the +Scottish advance charged upon the right wing of the English advance and +routed it. Dacre promptly galloped forward with his reserves, and +restored the fortunes of the day for the English right. The main bodies +in the mean time became engaged in a desperate contest. The Scottish +king in his ardor forgot that the duties of a commander were distinct +from the indiscriminate valor of a knight, and placed himself in front +of his spearmen, surrounded by his nobles, who, while they deplored the +gallant weakness of such conduct, disdained to leave their sovereign +unprotected. Dacre and Howard, having defeated the Scottish wing in +front of them, at this time turned their full strength against the flank +of the Scottish centre. It was a terrific combat, the Scots fighting +desperately in an unbroken ring around their king. The battle lasted +till night, and almost annihilated the Scottish forces. Of all the +splendid host, embracing the flower of the nobility and chivalry of the +kingdom, only a few haggard and wounded stragglers returned to tell the +tale. The English victors lost five thousand slain, and the Scots more +than twice that number, and among them the greatest men of the land. +They left on the field their king, two bishops, two mitred abbots, +twenty-seven peers and their sons, and there was scarcely a family of +any position in Scotland that did not lose a relative there. The young +Earl of Caithness and his entire band of three hundred followers +perished on the field. The body of the dead king, afterwards found by +Dacre, was taken to Berwick and presented to his commander, who had it +embalmed and conveyed to the monastery of Sheyne in Surrey. The poetic +instincts of the Scots were deeply moved by the woes of the fatal field +of Flodden, and innumerable poems and ballads record the sad story, the +crowning work of all being Scott's _Marmion_. + +[Illustration: THE CRYPT, FORD CASTLE.] + + +BAMBOROUGH AND GRACE DARLING. + +North of Flodden Field, and not far distant, is the Scottish Border, +which in this part is made by the river Tweed, with Berwick at its +mouth. The two kingdoms, so long in hot quarrel, are now united by a +magnificent railway-bridge, elevated one hundred and twenty-five feet +above the river and costing $600,000. For miles along the coast the +railway runs almost upon the edge of the ocean, elevated on the cliffs +high above the sea, while off the coast are Holy Isle and Lindisfarne. +Here St. Cuthbert was the bishop, and its abbey is a splendid ruin, +while on the rocky islet of Farne he lived a hermit, encompassing his +cell with a mound so high that he could see nothing but the heavens. Two +miles from Farne, on the mainland, was the royal city of Bebban Burgh, +now Bamborough, the castle standing upon an almost perpendicular rock +rising one hundred and fifty feet and overlooking the sea. This was King +Ida's castle, a Border stronghold in ancient times whose massive keep +yet stands. It is now a charity-school, a lighthouse, and a life-saving +station. Thirty beds are kept in the restored castle for shipwrecked +sailors, and Bamborough is to the mariner on that perilous coast what +the convent of St. Bernard is to the traveller in the Alps. Here, at +this Border haven, we will close this descriptive tour by recalling +Bamborough's most pleasant memory--that of Grace Darling. She was a +native of the place, and was lodged, clothed, and educated at the school +in Bamborough Castle. Her remains lie in Bamborough churchyard under an +altar-tomb bearing her recumbent figure and surmounted by a Gothic +canopy. She is represented lying on a plaited straw mattrass and holding +an oar. All this coast is beset with perils and wrecks have been +frequent. The islet of Farne and a cluster of other rocks off shore add +to the dangers, and on some of them there are lighthouses. One of these +rocks--Longstone Island--Grace Darling rendered memorable by her +intrepidity in perilling her life during the storm of September, 1838. +Her father was the keeper of Longstone Light, and on the night of +September 6 the Forfarshire steamer, proceeding from Hull to Dundee, was +wrecked there. Of fifty-three persons on board, thirty-eight perished, +and on the morning of the 7th, Grace, then about twenty-three years of +age, discovered the survivors clinging to the rocks and remnants of the +steamer, in imminent danger of being washed off by the returning tide. +With her parents' assistance, but against their remonstrance, Grace +launched a boat, and with her father succeeded in rescuing nine of them, +while six escaped by other means. Presents and demonstrations of +admiration were showered upon her from all parts of the kingdom, and a +public subscription of $3500 was raised for her benefit. Poor Grace died +four years later of consumption. A monument to her has been placed in +St. Cuthbert's Chapel on Longstone Island, and upon it is this +inscription, from Wordsworth: + + "Pious and pure, modest, and yet so brave, + Though young, so wise--though meek, so resolute. + + "Oh that winds and waves could speak + Of things which their united power called forth + From the pure depths of her humanity! + A maiden gentle, yet at duty's call + Firm and unflinching as the lighthouse reared + On the island-rock, her lonely dwelling-place; + Or, like the invincible rock itself, that braves, + Age after age, the hostile elements, + As when it guarded holy Cuthbert's cell. + + "All night the storm had raged, nor ceased, nor paused, + When, as day broke, the maid, through misty air, + Espies far off a wreck amid the surf, + Beating on one of those disastrous isles-- + Half of a vessel, half--no more; the rest + Had vanished!" + +[Illustration: GRACE DARLING'S MONUMENT.] + + + + +VI. + +LONDON, WESTWARD TO MILFORD HAVEN. + + The Cotswolds--The River Severn--Gloucester--Berkeley Castle--New + Inn--Gloucester Cathedral--Lampreys--Tewkesbury; its Mustard, + Abbey, and Battle--Wercester; its Battle--Charles II.'s + Escape--Worcester Cathedral--The Malvern Hills--Worcestershire + Beacon--Herefordshire Beacon--Great Malvern--St. Anne's Well--The + River Wye--Clifford Castle--Hereford--Old Butcher's Row--Nell + Gwynne's Birthplace--Ross--The Man of Ross--Ross Church and its + Trees--Walton Castle--Goodrich Castle--Forest of + Dean--Coldwell--Symond's Yat--The Dowards--Monmouth--Kymin + Hill--Raglan Castle--Redbrook--St. Briard Castle--Tintern + Abbey--The Wyncliff--Wyntour's Leap--Chepstow Castle--The River + Monnow--The Golden Valley--The Black Mountains--Pontrilas + Court--Ewias Harold--Abbey Dore--The Scyrrid + Vawr--Wormridge--Kilpeck--Oldcastle--Kentchurch--Grosmont--The Vale + of Usk--Abergavenny--Llanthony Priory--Walter Savage + Landor--Capel-y-Ffyn--Newport--Penarth Roads--Cardiff--The + Rocking-Stone--Llandaff--Caerphilly Castle and its Leaning + Tower--Swansea--The Mumbles--Oystermouth Castle--Neath + Abbey--Caermarthen--Tenby--Manorbeer Castle--Golden + Grove--Pembroke--Milford--Haverfordwest--Milford Haven--Pictou + Castle--Carew Castle. + + +GLOUCESTER. + +[Illustration: GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL, FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.] + +Journeying westward from the metropolis and beyond the sources of the +Thames, let us mount to the tops of the Cotswold Hills, in which they +take their rise, and look down upon the valley of the noble Severn River +beyond. We have already seen the Severn at Shrewsbury, Wenlock, and +Bridgenorth, and, uniting with the classic Avon, it drains the western +slopes of the Cotswolds, and, flowing through a deep valley between them +and the Malvern Hills, finally debouches through a broad estuary into +the British Channel. There is much of interest to the tourist along the +banks and in neighborhood of this well-known river. As we stand upon the +elevations of the Cotswolds and look over "Sabrina fair," the lower part +of its valley is seen as a broad and fertile plain, and the Severn's +"glassy, cool, translucent wave," as the poet has it, flows through a +land of meadows, orchards, and cornfields, with the hills of the Forest +of Dean rising on the western horizon. Alongside the river is the +cathedral city of Gloucester, the depot for a rich agricultural region +and for the mining wealth of Dean Forest, the Berkeley Canal leading +from its docks for sixteen miles down the Severn until the deep water of +the estuary is reached. The Romans early saw the importance of this +place as a military post, and founded Glevum here, upon their Ermine +Street road, as an outpost fortress upon the border-land of the +Silures. Fragments of tessellated pavements, coins, and other relics +from time to time exhumed attest the extent of the Roman settlement. +When the Britons succeeded the Romans, this settlement became gradually +transformed into Gleawecesore, forming part of the kingdom of Mercia, +and in the seventh century AEthelred bestowed it upon Osric, who founded +a monastery here. Athelstan died here in 941, and a few years afterwards +the Danes, who overrun and devastated almost the whole of England, +burned the town and monastery. The history of Gloucester, however, was +without stirring incidents, excepting an occasional destructive fire, +until the siege took place in the Civil War, its people devoting +themselves more to commerce than to politics, and in the early part of +the seventeenth century engaging extensively in the manufacture of pins. +Gloucester, however, gave the title to several earls and dukes, +generally men not much envied; as, for instance, Richard Crookback, who +sent from Gloucester the order for the murder of his nephews, the young +princes, in the Tower. But the town never took kindly to him, and warmly +welcomed Richmond on his avenging march to Bosworth Field. The siege of +Gloucester was made by King Charles's troops, the citizens having warmly +espoused the cause of the Parliament and strongly fortified their city, +mounting guns for its defence which they got from London. A polygonal +line of fortifications surrounded Gloucester, which was then much +smaller than now, and the bastions came down to the river, with outlying +works to defend a small suburb on the opposite bank. The Cavaliers were +in great strength in Western England, and the malignity of the +Gloucester pin-makers seriously embarrassed them. On August 10, 1643, +the siege began with a summons to surrender, which the authorities +refused. Parts of the suburbs were then burned, and next morning a +bombardment began, red-hot balls and heavy stones being plentifully +thrown into the place, knocking the houses into sad havoc, but in no +wise damping the sturdy courage of the defenders. They replied bravely +with their cannon and made repeated sorties, which inflicted serious +damage upon the besiegers. After over three weeks of this sport, the +Royalists shot an arrow into the town, September 3, with a message in +these words: "These are to let you understand your god Waller hath +forsaken you and hath retired himself to the Tower of London; Essex is +beaten like a dog: yield to the king's mercy in time; otherwise, if we +enter perforce, no quarter for such obstinate traitorly rogues.--From a +Well-wisher." This conciliatory message was defiantly answered in a +prompt reply signed "Nicholas Cudgelyouwell;" and two days later, Prince +Rupert having suffered a defeat elsewhere, the Cavaliers abandoned the +siege. Charles II., upon his restoration, took care to have himself +proclaimed with great pomp at Gloucester, and also took the precaution +to destroy its fortifications. The castle, which had stood since the +days of the Norman Conquest, then disappeared. The west gate, the last +remains of the walls, was removed, with the old bridge across the +Severn, in 1809, to make room for a fine new bridge. This structure is +chiefly known through a humorous connection that Thackeray has given it +with King George III. That monarch made a royal visit to Gloucester, and +in his lectures on the "Four Georges" Thackeray says: "One morning, +before anybody else was up, the king walked about Gloucester town, +pushed over Molly the housemaid with her pail, who was scrubbing the +doorsteps, ran up stairs and woke all the equerries in their bedrooms, +and then trotted down to the bridge, where by this time a dozen of louts +were assembled. 'What! is this Gloucester new bridge?' asked our +gracious monarch; and the people answered him, 'Yes, Your +Majesty.'--'Why, then, my boys, let's have a hurray!' After giving them +which intellectual gratification he went home to breakfast." + +The town is quaint and picturesque, but the buildings generally are +modern, most of them dating from the days of good Queen Anne, but they +exhibit great variety in design. The most noted of the older Gloucester +houses is the "New Inn," on Northgate Street. After the murder of Edward +II. at Berkeley Castle, not far from Gloucester, where he had been +imprisoned in a dungeon in the keep, in 1327, his remains were brought +to the abbey church at Gloucester for interment, a shrine being raised +over them by the monks. The king was murdered with fiendish cruelty. +Lord Berkeley at the castle would willingly have protected him, but he +fell sick; and one dark September night Edward was given over to two +villains named Gurney and Ogle. The ancient chronicler says that the +"screams and shrieks of anguish were heard even so far as the town, so +that many, being awakened therewith from their sleep, as they themselves +confessed, prayed heartily to God to receive his soul, for they +understood by those cries what the matter meant." The king's shrine in +Gloucester naturally attracted many pilgrims, and the New Inn was built +about 1450 for their accommodation. It is a brick-and-timber house, with +corridors leading to the chambers running along the sides of the inner +court and reached by outside stairways, as was the common construction +of houses of public entertainment three or four centuries ago. The inn +remains almost as it was then, having been but slightly modernized. Most +of the pilgrims to the shrine brought offerings with them, and hence the +pains taken for their accommodation. The usual tale is told about a +subterranean passage connecting this inn with the cathedral. New Inn is +enormously strong and massive, and covers a broad surface, being +constructed around two courtyards. + +[Illustration: NEW INN, GLOUCESTER.] + +Gloucester has many churches in proportion to its size--in fact, so many +that "as sure as God is in Gloucester" used to be a proverb. Oliver +Cromwell, though the city had stood sturdily by him, differed with this, +however, for a saying of his is still quoted, that "there be more +churches than godliness in Gloucester." In later days the first +Sunday-school in England was opened here, and just outside the city are +the fragmentary remains of the branch of Llanthony Priory to which the +monks migrated from the Welsh Border. The chief attraction of +Gloucester, however, is the cathedral, and the ruins of the Benedictine +monastery to which it was formerly attached. The cathedral is of +considerable size, being four hundred and twenty feet long, and is +surmounted by a much-admired central tower. The light and graceful +tracery of its parapets and pinnacles gives especial character to the +exterior of Gloucester Cathedral, and when the open-work tracery is +projected against the red glow of sunset an unrivalled effect is +produced. This tower is two hundred and twenty-five feet high, and forms +an admirable centre to the masses of buildings clustered around it. The +monastery, founded by Osric in the seventh century, stood on this site, +but after the Danes burned it a convent was built, which passed into the +hands of the Benedictines in 1022. One of these monks was the "Robert of +Gloucester" who in 1272 wrote in rhyme a chronicle of English history +from the siege of Troy to the death of Henry II. Their church was +repeatedly burned and rebuilt, but it was not until the shrine of Edward +II. was placed in it that the religious establishment throve. The rich +harvest brought by the pilgrims to this shrine led to the reconstruction +of the older church, by encasing the shell with Perpendicular work in +the lower part and completely rebuilding the upper portion. This was in +the fourteenth century, and by the close of the next century the +cathedral appeared as it is now seen. Entering the fine southern porch, +we are ushered into the splendid Norman nave bordered by exceptionally +high piers, rising thirty feet, and surmounted by a low triforium and +clerestory. The design is rather dwarfed by thus impoverishing the upper +stories. The choir has an enormous east window, made wider than the +choir itself by an ingenious arrangement of the walls; and this retains +most of the old stained glass. The choir has recently been restored, and +in the old woodwork the seat of the mayor is retained opposite the +throne of the bishop. On the floor an oblong setting of tiles marks the +grave of William the Conqueror's son Robert, who died at Cardiff, and +whose monument stands in an adjoining chapel. The Lady Chapel is east of +the choir, and has a "whispering gallery" over its entrance. Beneath the +choir is the crypt, antedating the Norman Conquest, and one of the +remains of the original church of the Benedictines. On the south side of +the choir is the monument to Edward II., standing in an archway. The +effigy is of alabaster, and is surmounted by a beautiful sculptured +canopy. The cloisters north of the nave are most attractive, the roof +being vaulted in fan-patterns of great richness. There can still be seen +along the north walk of these cloisters the lavatories for the monks, +with the troughs into which the water flowed and the recesses in the +wall above to contain the towels. Beyond the cloisters are the other +remains of the monastery, now generally incorporated into houses. +Gloucester has been a bishop's see since the reign of Henry VIII., and +one of its bishops was the zealous Reformer who was martyred in sight of +his own cathedral--John Hooper: his statue stands in St. Mary's Square, +where Queen Mary had him burned as a heretic. Gloucester also has its +Spa, a chalybeate spring recently discovered in the south-eastern +suburbs, but the town is chiefly known to fame abroad by its salmon and +lampreys. The lamprey is caught in the Severn and potted for export, +having been considered a dainty by the epicures of remote as well as +modern times. It was in great request in the time of King John, when we +are told "the men of Gloucester gave forty marks to that king to have +his good will, because they regarded him not as they ought in the matter +of their lampreys." This was the favorite dish of Henry I. (Beauclerc), +and over-indulgence in lampreys finally killed him. It was the custom +until 1836 for the corporation of Gloucester to send every Christmas to +the sovereign "a lamprey pie with a raised crust." + +[Illustration: MONKS' LAVATORY, GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL.] + + +TEWKESBURY. + +Let us ascend the valley of the Severn, and in the centre of its broad +plain, at the confluence of the Avon, find another great religious house +in the smaller but equally noted town of Tewkesbury. All around are rich +meadows, and here, away from the hills, was the ideal site for a +monastery according to the ancient notion, where the languor of the +gentle air prevented the blood flowing with too quick pulse. The Avon, +spanned by an old arched bridge, washes one side of the town; the +massive abbey-tower rises above a fringe of foliage and orchards, while +on the one hand the horizon is bounded by the steep Cotswolds, and on +the other by the broken masses of the Malverns. Close to the town, on +its western verge, flows the Severn, crossed by a fine modern iron +bridge. Tewkesbury is known to fame by its mustard, its abbey, and its +battle. The renown of the Tewkesbury mustard goes back for at least +three centuries: as "thick as Tewkesbury mustard" was a proverb of +Falstaff's. That old-time historian Fuller says of it, "The best in +England (to take no larger compass) is made at Tewkesbury. It is very +wholesome for the clearing of the head, moderately taken." But, +unfortunately, the reputation of Tewkesbury for this commodity has +declined in modern times. + +[Illustration: TEWKESBURY.] + +[Illustration: TEWKESBURY ABBEY.] + +The history of Tewkesbury Abbey comes from misty antiquity, and it is +thought by some to have been named "Dukes-borough" from two ancient +Britons, Dukes Odda and Dudda, but others say it commemorates a +missionary monk named Theoe, who founded a little church there in the +seventh century. Brictric, King of Wessex, was buried within its walls +in the ninth century, and, like Gloucester, it suffered afterwards from +the ravages of the Danes. But it flourished subsequently, and in the +days of William Rufus the manor was conferred upon Fitz-Hamon, an +influential nobleman, under whose auspices the present abbey was built. +Nothing remains of any prior building. The church was begun in 1100, but +the builder was killed in battle before it was completed. It is in the +form of a cross with short transepts, and a tower rising from the +centre. The choir was originally terminated by apses, which can still be +traced, and there were other apses on the eastern side of each transept. +While the outlines of most of the abbey are Norman, the choir is almost +all of later date. The western front has the singular feature of being +almost all occupied by an enormous and deeply-recessed Norman arch, into +which a doorway and tracery were inserted about two hundred years ago, +replacing one blown down by a storm in 1661. This abbey church was +dedicated in 1123, and the services were almost the last diocesan act of +Theulf, bishop of Worcester. One of the dedication ceremonies was +quaint. As the bishop came to the middle of the nave, we are told that +he found part of the pavement spread with white wood-ashes, upon which +he wrote the alphabet twice with his pastoral staff--first the Greek +alphabet from north-east to south-west, and then the Latin, from +south-east to north-west, thus placing them in the form of a cross. He +signified by this ceremony that all divine revelation was conveyed by +the letters of the alphabet, and that the gospel comprehended under the +shadow of the cross men of all races and all languages. The time had +been when at such consecrations three alphabets were written--the +Hebrew, Greek, and Latin--as the title on the cross had been written in +these three tongues, but the Hebrew was early discontinued, "probably," +writes Blunt, the historian of Tewkesbury Abbey, "because even bishops +might not always be able to manage their Alpha Beta in that character." +The best views of the abbey are from the south-east, and the interior is +regarded as more remarkable than the exterior. The nave is of singular +grandeur, its round Norman columns being exceptionally lofty. The +triforium is stunted, and consists merely of two pairs of small arches, +above which the ribs of a noble fretted roof expand, so that it appears +as if the roof were immediately supported by the columns of the nave. +The choir is short and hexagonal, being only sixty-six feet from the +reredos, and is surrounded by a number of polygonal chapels, as at +Westminster Abbey, with which it appears quite similar in plan. The Lady +Chapel, originally at the east end, has been entirely destroyed. There +are several monuments of great interest in these chapels, some of them +in the form of chantries--being exquisite cages in stone-work--within +which are the tombs of the founders. Here lie some of the chief nobility +of England who in the days of the Plantagenets were the lords of +Tewkesbury--the Beauchamps, Nevilles, De Clares, and Despensers. +Fitz-Hamon's tomb was not erected until the fourteenth century. Here lie +Clarence and his wife, Isabel, the daughter of Warwick the "King-maker," +and also the murdered son of Henry VI., who was "stabbed in the field by +Tewkesbury," with other victims of that fatal battle. The remains of the +cloisters lie to the south of the abbey, and beyond is the ancient +gateway, of rather unusual plan. + +[Illustration: THE CHOIR OF TEWKESBURY ABBEY.] + +The battle of Tewkesbury, which sealed the fate of the Lancastrian party +in England, was fought in 1471 upon the Bloody Meadow, then called the +Vineyard, just outside the town and to the southward of the abbey. The +Lancastrian line was soon broken, and the fight became practically a +slaughter, as the defeated party were forced back upon the town and into +the very abbey itself. Many of the fugitives sought refuge in the +church, and the Yorkists followed them, striking down their victims in +the graveyard, and even within the church-doors. The abbot, taking in +his hand the sacred Host, confronted King Edward himself in the porch +and forbade him to pollute the house of God with blood, and would not +allow him to enter until he had promised mercy to those who had sought +refuge inside. This clemency, however, was short-lived, for in the +afternoon the young Prince of Wales, Henry VI.'s son, was brought before +Edward and murdered by his attendants. Shakespeare represents Edward as +dealing the first blow with a dagger, but the truer story seems to be +that, enraged by a haughty answer from the young prince, he struck him +in the face with his gauntlet, which the bystanders accepted as a signal +for the murder. Two days afterwards a number of the chief captives were +executed. + + +WORCESTER. + +[Illustration: WORCESTER CATHEDRAL, FROM THE SEVERN.] + +[Illustration: THE CHOIR OF WORCESTER CATHEDRAL.] + +Still ascending the valley of the Severn, we come to Worcester, another +of the military stations of the Romans, established to hold this rich, +fertile, and coveted region. Its cathedral, and, in fact, much of the +town, stand upon an elevated ridge, with the river flowing at the base. +To this day Worcester retains the plan of the original Roman camp, but +it does not seem to have made at that time much mark in history. The +Britons captured it, and named the place Wigoma Ceaster, and it was +afterwards incorporated into Mercia. In the eleventh century a castle +was built near the Severn, and the earlier kings of England were +frequently its residents. King John had great veneration for St. +Wulstan, the founder of Worcester Cathedral, and he was laid to rest +beside that saint's shrine. Worcester suffered the usual penalties of +the towns in the Severn Valley: it was destroyed by the Danes and burned +by Hardicanute, and in the twelfth century town, castle, and cathedral +were all consumed by a fire supposed to be caused by the Welsh. It was +partially burned three times subsequently in that century, and in Henry +III.'s reign Simon de Montfort and his son were defeated and slain on +the neighboring hills. The final conflagration was caused by Owen +Glendower in 1401, after which quieter times came until the Civil War. +Worcester was zealous for King Charles, and suffered from two sieges, +being the last city that held out for the royal cause. It was the scene +of Charles II.'s first and unsuccessful effort to regain the English +crown. He had been acknowledged and crowned by the Scots, and attempted +the invasion of England. His army marched down through the western +counties, while Cromwell kept between him and London. He reached +Worcester, when Cromwell determined to attack him, and marched the +Parliamentary army to the outskirts of the city, encamping on Red Hill, +where he intrenched. Sending part of his troops across the Severn, on +September 3, 1651, Cromwell attacked Worcester on both sides, leading +the van of the main body in person. Young Charles held a council of war +in the cathedral-tower, and when he descended to personally lead the +defence, the fight had become hot; and it lasted several hours, Cromwell +describing the battle as being "as stiff a contest as I have ever seen." +The Scots were outnumbered and beaten, but would not surrender, and the +battle did not close till nightfall. Then it was found that, while +Cromwell had suffered inconsiderable loss, the royal forces had lost six +thousand men and all their artillery and baggage. Charles fought +bravely, and narrowly avoided capture. A handful of troops defended +Sidbury Gate, leading in from the suburb of the town where the battle +had been hottest. Charles had to dismount and creep under an overturned +hay-wagon, and, entering the gate, mounted a horse and rode to the +corn-market, where he escaped with Lord Wilmot through the back door of +a house, while some of his officers beat off Cobbett's troops who +attacked the front. Upon this house, built in 1557, is still read the +inscription, "Love God; honor the king." Then getting out of the city, +Charles escaped into the wood of Boscobel, and after a series of +romantic adventures managed to reach the seacoast in Sussex, and on +October 15th embarked at Shoreham for France. It was in this battle that +Worcester earned the motto it still bears of "Civitas fidelis." + +[Illustration: RUINS OF THE GUESTEN HALL.] + +Worcester's most conspicuous building is the cathedral, its tower being +prominently seen from miles around. Its western front overlooks the +Severn, and the ground-plan is an elongated rectangle with small double +transepts. The choir and portions of the nave are the original work, +most of the remainder being restored. St. Dunstan's successor, Bishop +Oswald, built the first cathedral here, and during the progress of the +work he met an unexpected check. The ancient chronicler tells us that a +large stone became immovable, and despite every exertion could not be +brought to its proper place. "St. Oswald," he continues, "after praying +earnestly, beheld 'Ethiopem quendam' sitting upon the stone and mocking +the builders: the sign of the cross removed him effectually." No +portion of this original building remains, the earliest parts of the +present cathedral dating from Bishop Wulstan's time, in the eleventh +century. Wulstan was a man of piety and simplicity who retained his see +after the Norman Conquest. The increasing number of monks in the +monastery compelled the removal of Oswald's church to make more room, +and Wulstan regretfully built the new cathedral, saying he was pulling +down the church of a far holier man than himself. Miracles were frequent +at Wulstan's tomb, and in 1203 he was canonized. His church was +unlucky--several times partly burned, and once the central tower fell, +and afterwards the two western towers during storms; but it was always +repaired, and in 1218, St. Wulstan's remains were removed to a shrine +near the high altar, and the cathedral rededicated in the presence of +Henry III. The interior view is striking, the arches of the nave, +triforium, and clerestory being in harmonious proportions. In the middle +of the choir is King John's monument, the effigy representing him +crowned and in royal robes, holding the sceptre and the sword, the point +of the latter inserted in the mouth of a lion on which his feet rest. We +are told that in 1797 the coffin was found beneath the tomb, with the +apparel partially mouldered, but the remains all gone. There are several +other monuments in the cathedral--one a mural slab commemorating Anne, +wife of Izaak Walton, "a woman of remarkable prudence and of the +primitive piety." The crypt beneath the choir is a remnant of Wulstan's +work, and the old doors of the cathedral, dating from the thirteenth +century, are preserved there: fragments of human skin are still seen +upon them, reputed to have been that of a man who was flayed for +stealing a holy bell. In the north walk of the cloisters is the +grave-slab famous for bearing the shortest and saddest inscription in +England, "Miserrimus:" it is said to cover one of the minor canons, +named Morris, who declined to take the oath of allegiance to William +III. and had to be supported by alms. Around the cloisters are the ruins +of the ancient monastery, the most prominent fragments being those of +the Guesten Hall, erected in 1320. Access to the cathedral close, on the +south-eastern side, is obtained through an ancient gateway called the +Edgar Tower, one of the earliest structures connected with the +cathedral, which is still fairly preserved: it was evidently intended +for defence. The bishops of Worcester present an unbroken line for +twelve centuries, including, in later days, Latimer the martyr, +Prideaux, and Stillingfleet. It was in Worcester Cathedral, on October +23, 1687, that James II. touched several persons to cure the scrofula +or king's evil; and when William III. afterwards visited Worcester he +yielded to sundry entreaties to touch sufferers, but in doing so said, +"God give you better health and more sense!" These were about the last +"touchings" known in England. Upon James II.'s visit he attended mass at +the Catholic chapel, and was waited upon to the door by the mayor and +corporation officers, but they declined to enter a Roman Catholic place +of worship. A minute in the corporation proceedings explains that they +passed the time until the service was over in smoking and drinking at +the Green Dragon Inn, loyally charging the bill to the city. Worcester +in ancient times was famous for its cloth, but other places have since +eclipsed it. It is now noted mainly for gloves, fine porcelain, and +Worcester Sauce. + +[Illustration: CLOSE IN WORCESTER.] + + +THE MALVERN HILLS. + +The broad valley of the Severn is bounded on its western side by the +boldly-rising Malvern range of hills, which are elevated so steeply and +so suddenly above the plain that they produce an impression of size and +height much greater than they really possess, and are more imposing than +many summits that far surpass them in magnitude. There is reason, +therefore, in Mrs. Browning's poetic expression: + + "Malvern Hills, for mountains counted + Not unduly, form a row." + +The Malvern range is a ridge running nearly north and south, with a +series of smooth, steep summits, the breadth of the range being barely +half a mile. Their slopes are of turf and furze, often as steep as the +pitched roof of a house, with crags projecting here and there. The +chief summits are the North Hill, rising eleven hundred and fifty-one +feet above the Severn, the Worcestershire Beacon, fourteen hundred and +forty-four feet, and the Herefordshire Beacon, thirteen hundred and +seventy feet. Their highest parts are covered with verdure, and nearly +seventeen hundred different varieties of plants have been found on the +range. These hills stand as one of Nature's bulwarks, an outwork of the +mountain-region of Wales, dividing an upland from a lowland district, +each furnishing totally different characteristics. They were the +boundary between the Romans and the Britons, and their summits present +some remarkable remains of ancient fortifications. The Worcestershire +Beacon rises directly above the town of Great Malvern, and south of it a +fissure called the Wyche sinks down to about nine hundred feet +elevation, enabling a road to be carried across the ridge. Some distance +south of this there is an even lower depression, by which the high-road +crosses from Worcester to Hereford. Then to the southward is the +Herefordshire Beacon, and beyond it several lower summits. These two +gaps or gateways in this natural wall of defence are both guarded by +ancient camps of unusual strength and still in good preservation. One of +these camps on the Herefordshire Beacon, with ditches, ramparts, and a +keep, encloses forty-four acres. Also on top of the ridge are found +traces of the ditch that was dug to mark the dividing-lines between the +hunting-grounds of the bishops who ruled on either hand in Hereford and +in Worcester. The bishops in the olden time appear to have been as keen +sportsmen as the nobles. + +The town of Great Malvern, on the eastern slope of the hills, is +elevated five hundred and twenty feet, and is in high repute as a +watering-place. It had its origin in a priory, of which there still +remains the fine old church, with a surmounting gray tower and an +entrance-gateway which have escaped the general ruin of the monastery. +Within this ancient church the ornaments of some of the old stalls in +the choir are very quaint, representing a man leading a bear, a dying +miser handing his money-bags to the priest and doctor, and three rats +solemnly hanging a cat on a gallows. The priory was the nucleus about +which gathered the town, or, properly speaking, the towns, for there are +a series of them, all well-known watering-places. Great Malvern has +North Malvern alongside it and Malvern Link on the lower hills, while to +the southward are Malvern Wells and Little Malvern, with West Malvern +over on the Hereford side of the ridge. They are aggregations of pretty +villas, and the many invalids who seek their relief are drawn about in +Bath-chairs by little donkeys. The view from the Worcestershire Beacon +is grand, extending over a broad surface in all directions, for we are +told that when the beacon-fires that were lighted upon this elevated +ridge warned England of the approach of the Spanish Armada, + + "Twelve fair counties saw the blaze + From Malvern's lonely height." + +The advantages the Malvern range offers as a sanitarium are pure air and +pure water. The towns are elevated above the fogs of the valleys, and +the rainfall is small, while both winter's cold and summer's heat are +tempered. St. Anne's Well and the Holy Well are the great sources of +pure water. The latter is at Malvern Wells, and the former on the side +of the Worcestershire Beacon, at an elevation of eight hundred and +twenty feet. Both are slightly alkaline, but St. Anne's Well is the most +famous, and is tastefully enclosed. Water-cure establishments abound +here, and with such air, such water, and such magnificent scenery it is +no wonder that the Malvern Hills are among the most popular resorts of +England. + +[Illustration: ST. ANNE'S WELL.] + + +THE RIVER WYE. + +[Illustration: BUTCHERS' ROW, HEREFORD.] + +[Illustration: OUTHOUSE WHERE NELL GWYNNE WAS BORN.] + +[Illustration: HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.] + +From the top of the Malvern Hills the western view looks down upon the +attractive valley of the river Wye, a famous stream that takes its rise +in the mountains of Wales, and after flowing through Herefordshire and +Monmouthshire falls into the Severn. Rising on the south-eastern side of +Plynlimmon, a group of three mountains elevated nearly twenty-five +hundred feet, it is one of five rivers whose sources are almost in the +same spot, but which flow in opposite directions--the Llyffnant, +Rheidol, Dyfi, Severn, and Wye. For miles it is a mountain torrent, +receiving other streams, and flowing eastward through Radnor and +Brecknock, where it is the resort of artists and anglers. It passes near +the burial-place of Llewellyn, the last native Prince of Wales, who died +in 1282, and then, bordered by railway and highway, comes down through +picturesque ravines past Hay and its ruined castle in a beautiful glen +at the base of the Black Mountains, which rise abruptly from its +southern bank. Near Hay, and overlooking the river, are the ruins of +Clifford Castle, which was the birthplace of "Fair Rosamond." Here the +Wye enters Herefordshire, the valley broadens, and the stream gradually +leads us to the ancient town of Hereford, standing chiefly on its +northern bank and in a delightful situation. This city does not lay +claim to Roman origin, but it was nevertheless one of the fortified +outposts of England on the border of Wales, and was often the scene of +warfare. It was walled and vigorously defended, while hostelries and +chapels were erected for the accommodation of pilgrims and other +visitors. Hereford contained the shrines of St. Ethelbert and St. Thomas +Cantelupe, but its chief relic of antiquity is the house that remains of +the "old Butchers' Row," which was originally a large and irregular +cluster of wooden buildings placed nearly in the middle of the locality +known as the High Town. All but one of these houses have been taken +down, and the one that remains shows window-frames, doors, stairs, and +floors all made of thick and solid masses of timber, apparently +constructed to last for ages. A shield over one of the doors bears a +boar's head and three bulls' heads, having two winged bulls for +supporters and another bull for a crest. On other parts are emblems of +the slaughter-house, such as ropes, rings, and axes. Thus did our +English ancestors caricature the imaginary dignity of heraldry. This +attractive old house is a relic of the days of James I. Nell Gwynne was +born in Hereford, and the small cottage in Pipe Lane which was her +birthplace has only recently been pulled down. It was a little +four-roomed house, and an outhouse opening on the Wye, which was +standing in poor Nelly's days, remains. Hereford Cathedral is a fine +Norman structure, begun in the eleventh century and recently restored. +The most imposing portion of the interior is the north transept, which +was built to receive the shrine of Cantelupe. The remains of the Black +Friars' monastery are in the Widemarsh suburb. They consist chiefly of +an interesting relic of that religious order, an hexagonal +preaching-cross standing on a flight of steps and open on each side. +Hereford Castle has disappeared, but its site is an attractive public +walk overlooking the Wye, called the Castle Green. + +[Illustration: OLD NAVE, HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.] + + +THE MAN OF ROSS. + +[Illustration: ROSS BRIDGE.] + +[Illustration: HOUSE OF THE "MAN OF ROSS."] + +The Wye flows on through a fairly open valley, with broad meadows +extending from the bases of the wooded hills to the river. On +approaching Ross the meadows contract, the hills come nearer together, +and the new phase of scenery in the glen which here begins makes the Wye +the most beautiful among English rivers. Ross stands at the entrance to +the glen, built upon a sloping hill which descends steeply to the Wye. +It was the Ariconium of the Romans, and has been almost without stirring +history. It has grown in all these centuries to be a town of about four +thousand five hundred population, with considerable trade, being the +centre of a rich agricultural section, and is chiefly known to fame as +the home of Pope's "Man of Ross." This was John Kyrle, who was born at +the village of Dymock, not far away, May 22, 1637. He was educated at +Balliol College, Oxford, where they still preserve a piece of plate +which he presented as a parting gift. He afterwards settled at Ross, and +lived to an advanced age, dying November 11, 1724. He was described as +"nearly six feet high, strong and lusty made, jolly and ruddy in the +face, with a large nose." His claim to immortality, which has made his +name a household word in England, cannot better be described than by +quoting some of Pope's lines: + + "Who hung with woods yon mountain's sultry brow? + From the dry soil who bade the waters flow?... + Whose causeway parts the vale with shady rows? + Whose seats the weary traveller repose? + Who taught that heaven-directed spire to rise? + 'The Man of Ross,' each lisping babe replies. + Behold the market-place with poor o'erspread! + The Man of Ross divides the weekly bread: + He feeds yon almshouse, neat, but void of state, + Where age and want sit smiling at the gate: + Him portioned maids, apprenticed orphans blest, + The young who labor, and the old who rest. + Is any sick? The Man of Ross relieves. + Prescribes, attends, the med'cine makes and gives. + Is there a variance? Enter but his door. + Balked are the courts and contest is no more.... + Thrice happy man! enabled to pursue + What all so wish, but want the power to do! + Oh say what sums that generous hand supply, + What mines to swell that boundless charity? + Of debts and taxes, wife and children, clear. + That man possessed--five hundred pounds a year!" + +[Illustration: MARKET PLACE, ROSS.] + +[Illustration: ROSS CHURCH.] + +[Illustration: THE TREES IN ROSS CHURCH.] + +It is not often that a man can do so much to benefit his townsfolk out +of the modest income of $2500 a year; and not only Pope, but Coleridge +also, has found this a theme for verse. The house in which the "Man of +Ross" lived is on the left-hand side of the market-place, and still +stands, though much changed. It is now a drug-store and a dwelling. The +floors and panelling of several of the chambers are of oak, while a +quaint opening leads to a narrow corridor and into a small room, which +tradition says was his bedroom, where he endured his last and only +illness, and died. The bedroom looks out upon his garden, divided like +the house, one-half being converted into a bowling-green. The +surrounding walls are overrun with vines and bordered by pear trees. On +the other side of the market-place is the town-hall, standing on an +eminence and facing the principal street, which comes up from the +river-bank. This hall is somewhat dilapidated, though still in daily +use, and is supported on crumbling pillars of red sandstone. Ross is +chiefly built upon the slope of a hill, terminating in a plateau, one +side of which the Wye, flowing through a horseshoe bend, has scarped out +into a river-cliff. Upon this plateau stands the little Ross Church with +its tall spire, a striking building in a singularly fortunate situation. +The churchyard, with an adjoining public garden called the Prospect, +extends to the brow of the cliff. The church is cruciform, and its spire +the landmark for the surrounding country. It was built in the fourteenth +century, but is without architectural features. The "Man of Ross" rests +within its walls, buried near the altar under a blue slab. His memory is +the most cherished remembrance of Ross, and is mellowed as the ages +pass. His fireside chair stands in the chancel, and they also show a +book containing his autograph. A tablet to his memory is inserted in the +wall, erected by a distant relative, Lady Betty Dupplin, for it is said, +as is usually the case, that his good deeds excited more enthusiasm in +strangers than among the people whom he benefited. Within the church, in +front of a window, two trees are growing, another indirect and +posthumous memorial of the "Man of Ross." They appeared about fifty +years ago, and the story is that a rector of the parish had cut down a +tree on the outside of the wall which the "Man of Ross" had originally +planted, whereupon these suckers made their appearance within the +building and asserted the vitality of the parent tree. They shot up +against the seat which is said to have been his favorite one, and though +at first objected to, the church-wardens bowed to the inevitable, and +they are now among the most prized relics within the church. The public +garden (the Prospect) adjoining the churchyard was another benefaction +of the "Man of Ross," and with some private houses and a hotel it crowns +the summit of the plateau. Here the hand of the "Man of Ross" again +appears in a row of noble elms around the churchyard which he is said to +have planted, some of them of great size. The view from the Prospect, +however, is the town's chief present glory. It stands on the brink of +the river-cliff, with the Wye sweeping at its feet around the apex of +the long horseshoe curve. Within the curve is the grassy Oak Meadow +dotted with old trees. On either hand are meadows and cornfields, with +bits of wood, and the Welsh hills rise in the distance. + + +GOODRICH CASTLE AND SYMOND'S YAT. + +[Illustration: RUINS OF GOODRICH CASTLE.] + +[Illustration: A BEND OF THE RIVER WYE.] + +The Wye flows on through its picturesque glen towards Monmouth, the +water bubbling with a strong current. A raised causeway carries the road +to Monmouth over the meadows. On the right hand are the ruins of Wilton +Castle, built in Stephen's reign, and burned in the Civil War. Tourists +go by small boats floated on the current down the Wye, and the boats are +hauled back on donkey-carts, little trains of them being seen creeping +along the Monmouth road. From Ross to Monmouth the river flows through a +region of rolling hills, with abrupt declivities where the rapid stream +has scarped the margin into cliffs and ridges. The valley narrows, and +the very crooked river flows through bewitching scenery until by another +great horseshoe bend it winds around the ruins of Goodrich Castle, +reared upon a wooded cliff, with Goodrich Court near by. The latter is a +modern imitation of a mediaeval dwelling, constructed according to the +erratic whims of a recent owner. This Court once contained the finest +collection of ancient armor in England, but most of it has been +transferred to the South Kensington Museum. Goodrich Castle was once a +formidable fortress, and it dates from the reign of Stephen. Here it was +that in the days of Edward the Confessor, "entrenched in a stockade of +wood, Goderic de Winchcomb held the ford" over the Wye, and gave the +place his name. It grew in strength until the Civil War, when Sir +Richard Lingen held it for the king. This was a memorable contest, +lasting six weeks, during which the besiegers belabored it with the best +battering-cannon they could procure, and used up eighty barrels of +gunpowder voted by Parliament for the purpose. Then the defenders +demanded a parley, but the assailants, angry at being so long baulked of +their prey, insisted upon unconditional surrender. Afterwards the castle +was demolished, but the fine old keep remains in good preservation, +commanding a grand view over the winding valley of the Wye and to the +Forest of Dean in one direction and the Malvern Hills in another. The +ruins are of a quadrangular fortress, and within the courtyard +Wordsworth once met the child whose prattle suggested his familiar poem, +"We are Seven." Little now remains of Goodrich Priory, but the parish +church of the village can be seen afar off, and contains a chalice +presented by Dean Swift, whose grandfather, Thomas Swift, was once its +rector. + +[Illustration: IN SYMOND'S YAT.] + +Below Goodrich this wayward river makes an enormous loop, wherein it +goes wandering about for eight miles and accomplishes just one mile's +distance. Here it becomes a boundary between the two Bickner +villages--Welsh Bickner and English Bickner. To the eastward is the +Forest of Dean, covering over twenty-six thousand acres, and including +extensive coal-pits and iron-works, the smoke from the latter +overhanging the valley. The river-channel is dug deeply into the +limestone rocks, whose fissured and ivy-clad cliffs rise high above the +water, varied by occasional green meadows, where cattle are feeding. The +river bends sharply to the westward past the crags at Coldwell, and then +doubles back upon its former course. This second bend is around a high +limestone plateau which is the most singular feature of the beautiful +glen. The river sweeps in an elongated loop of about five miles, and +returns to within eighteen hundred feet of its former channel, and the +plateau rises six hundred feet to the apex of the headland that mounts +guard over the grand curve--the famous Symond's Yat. On the top are the +remains of an ancient British fort, and rocks, woods, fields, and +meadows slope down to the river on almost every side, making a +bewitching scene. It was here that the Northman Vikings in 911 fortified +themselves after they landed on the Severn and penetrated through the +Forest of Dean. They were led by Eric in quest of plunder, and captured +a bishop, who was afterwards ransomed for two hundred dollars. Their +foray roused the people, who besieged the Vikings, forming a square +encampment which commanded their fortification, and remains of which are +still visible. They drove the Vikings out with their hail of arrows, and +punished them so terribly that the defile down which they fled is still +known as "The Slaughter." The remnant who escaped afterwards surrendered +on condition of being allowed to quit the country, and their experience +had such wholesome influence that no Vikings came that way afterwards. + +The Wye next bends around two bold limestone hills known as the Great +and the Little Doward, each surmounted by ancient encampments, where +arrowheads and other relics, not to forget the bones of a giant, have +been found. In fact, bones seem to be a prolific product of this region, +for the "bone-caves" of the Dowards produce the relics of many animals +long vanished from the kingdom, and also disclose rude weapons of flint, +showing that the primitive races of men were here with them. Beds of +stalagmites, sand, and gravel covered these relics, deposited by an +ancient stream which geologists say flowed three hundred feet above the +present bed of the Wye. Then we come to the richly-wooded deer-park of +the Leys with its exquisite views, and here the wildly romantic scenery +is gradually subdued into a more open valley and a straighter stream as +the Wye flows on towards Monmouth. The parts of the river just described +are not more renowned for their beauty, though considered the finest in +England, than for their salmon, and we are told that three men with a +net have been known to catch a ton of salmon in a day, while the +fishery-rights are let at over $100,000 annually. + + +MONMOUTH. + +The beautiful valley, with its picturesque scenery, expands somewhat as +the Wye approaches its junction with the river Monnow and flows through +a succession of green meadows. Here, between the two rivers on a low +spur, a prolongation of their bordering hills, stands Monmouth, its +ancient suburbs spreading across the Monnow. From the market-place, the +chief street of the town leads down to these suburbs, crossing over an +old-time bridge. The town has its church and the ruins of a priory, +while perched on a cliff overlooking the Monnow is its castle, +displaying rather extensive but not very attractive remains. John of +Monmouth is said to have built this castle in the reign of Henry III. +Here also lived at one time John of Gaunt and his son, Harry Hereford, +who afterwards became Henry IV., and the latter's son, Harry Monmouth, +was born in this old castle, growing up to become the wild "Prince Hal," +and afterwards the victor at Agincourt. They still show a narrow window, +with remains of tracery, as marking the room in which he first saw the +light. Thus has "Prince Hal" become the patron of Monmouth, and his +statue stands in front of the town-hall, representing the king in full +armor, and inscribed, "Henry V., born at Monmouth August 9, 1387," but +it is not regarded as remarkable for its artistic finish. The remains +of the old priory are utilized for a school. It was founded by the +Benedictines in the reign of Henry I., and in it lived Geoffrey of +Monmouth, a familiar author in days when books were few. He was Bishop +of St. Asaph's in the year 1152, and wrote his _History of the Britons_, +wherein he combined all the fables of the time so ingeniously with the +truth that they became alike history. Out of his imagination grew the +tale of the "Round Table" and its knights. + +[Illustration: MONMOUTH BRIDGE.] + +[Illustration: GATE ON MONMOUTH BRIDGE.] + +Upon the old bridge crossing the Monnow stands an ancient gate-house, +constructed in the style that prevailed in the thirteenth century, but +it is doubtful if this was a military work, its probable use being the +collection of tolls on the produce brought into the town. It is pierced +with postern arches for the foot-passengers, and still retains the place +for its portcullis. All around the Monmouth market-place are the old +houses where the celebrated Monmouth caps were made that were so popular +in old times, and of which Fluellen spoke when he told Henry V., "If +Your Majesty is remembered of it, the Welshmen did good service in a +garden where leeks did grow, wearing leeks in their Monmouth caps." +Monmouth is not a large town, having but six thousand inhabitants, but +it takes a mayor, four aldermen, two bailiffs, and twelve councillors to +govern them, and its massive county-jail is a solid warning to all +evil-doers. From the summit of the lofty Kymin Hill, rising seven +hundred feet on the eastern side of the town, there is a grand panorama +over the valley of the Wye. This hill is surmounted by a pavilion and +temple, built in 1800 to record the naval victories of England in the +American wars. Farther down the valley was the home of the late Lord +Raglan, and here are the ruins of Raglan Castle, built in the fifteenth +century. For ten weeks in the Civil War the venerable Marquis of +Worcester held this castle against Fairfax's siege, but the redoubtable +old hero, who was aged eighty-four, ultimately had to surrender. + +[Illustration: RAGLAN CASTLE.] + + +TINTERN ABBEY AND CHEPSTOW CASTLE. + +The Wye at Monmouth also receives the Trothy River, and the confluence +of the three valleys makes a comparatively open basin, which, however, +again narrows into another romantic glen a short distance below the +town. Wild woods border the steep hills, and the Wye flows through the +western border of the Forest of Dean, an occasional village attesting +the mineral wealth by its blackened chimneys. Here, below Redbrook, was +the home of Admiral Rooke, who captured Gibraltar in 1704, and farther +down are the ruins of the castle of St. Briard, built in the days of +Henry I. to check Welsh forays. Here lived the lord warden of the Forest +of Dean, and for three centuries every Whit-Sunday they held the annual +"scramble" in the church. It appears that a tax of one penny was levied +on every person who pastured his cattle on the common, and the amount +thus raised was expended for bread and cheese. The church was crowded, +and the clerk standing in the gallery threw out the edibles to the +struggling congregation below. The railway closely hugs the +swiftly-flowing river in its steep and narrow glen as we pass Offa's +Dyke and Chair and the Moravian village of Brockweir. Here the line of +fortifications crossed the valley which the king of Mercia constructed +to protect his dominions. The valley then slightly expands, and the +green sward is dotted by the houses of the long and scattered village of +Tintern Parva. The river sharply bends, and in the glen on the western +side stand the ruins of the far-famed Tintern Abbey in the green meadows +at the brink of the Wye. The spot is well chosen, for nowhere along this +celebrated river has Nature indicated a better place for quiet, heavenly +meditation not un-mixed with earthly comforts. + +[Illustration: TINTERN ABBEY.] + +Walter de Clare founded Tintern Abbey in 1131 for the Cistercian monks, +and dedicated it to St. Mary. It was built upon an ancient battlefield +where a Christian prince of Glamorgan had been slain by the heathen, but +of the buildings erected by De Clare none now exist, the present remains +being of later date, and the abbey church that is now in ruin was +erected by Roger Bigod, Duke of Norfolk. It is a magnificent relic of +the Decorated period. The vaulted roof and central tower are gone, but +the arches which supported the latter remain. The row of columns on the +northern side of the nave have fallen, with the clerestory above them, +but the remainder of the structure has suffered little damage. The +western front, with its noble window and exquisite tracery, is very +fine. Ivy and ferns overrun the walls and form a coping, while green +sward has replaced the pavement, so that it would be difficult to +imagine a more enchanting ruin, and as such Tintern is renowned the +world over. Lord Houghton has written: + + "The men who called their passion piety, + And wrecked this noble argosy of faith,-- + They little thought how beauteous could be death, + How fair the face of time's aye-deepening sea, + Nor arms that desolate, nor years that flee, + Nor hearts that fail, can utterly deflower + This grassy floor of sacramental power + Where we now stand communicants." + +Tintern Abbey is two hundred and twenty-eight feet long. It had no +triforium, and the clerestory windows are rather large. The great east +window was even more elaborate than the western, but all of it has +fallen excepting the central mullion and the stronger portion of the +tracery which branches out on either side from it. There yet remain in +the building a few tiles with heraldic emblems, some broken monuments, +and some heaps of choice carvings, shattered as they fell, but +afterwards collected and piled against the walls. The Duke of Beaufort, +to whose estate it belongs, has done everything possible to arrest +decay, and all is kept in perfect order. A door leads out of the +southern transept to a few fragments of buildings in the fields on that +side, but most of the convent was on the northern side, where its ruins +surround a grass-grown quadrangle. A cloister once ran around it; on the +eastern side is the chapter-house, with the dormitory above, and on the +western side the remains of the abbot's lodgings and the guest-chambers +have been converted into cottages. The refectory and guest-hall are to +the northward, with ruins of the octagonal columns that supported the +roof. Such is this magnificent relic of the Cistercians, and yet it is +but one of seventy-six abbeys that they possessed before Henry VIII. +dissolved them. From the high-road down the valley of the Wye, which +skirts the green meadows along its southern face, is the best view of +the abbey, and the ruddy gray stone ruins, with the grassy fields and +the background of wooded hills beyond the broad river, make up a picture +that cannot easily be forgotten. Yet Tintern is most beautiful of all +when the full moon rising over the eastern hills pours a flood of light +through the broken east window to the place where once stood the high +altar. + +The valley of the Wye again broadens, and the river flows in graceful +curves through the meadows, guarded on either hand by cliffs and woods. +The river is here a tidal-stream, having a rise of twelve feet, so that +it is now a strong current, flowing full and swift between grassy banks, +and anon is a shrunken creek, fringed by broad borders of mud. The +railway on the eastern bank runs over the meadows and through occasional +tunnels in the spurs of the cliffs. The high-road climbs the hill on the +western bank, known as the Wynecliff, from the top of which there is a +grand view over the valley and to the southward towards and beyond +Chepstow. This cliff rises nine hundred feet above the river, and is the +great monarch of a realm of crags that poke up their heads in all +directions. Across the Wye, on a tongue of land projecting into the +stream, Sir John Wyntour in the Civil War, with one hundred and eighty +Royalists, hastily built a fort to command the river. Before their +intrenchments were complete the enemy in superior force attacked and +completely routed them; but twenty escaped, and Wyntour, cutting his way +through the assailants' lines, took refuge in the beetling crags behind +known as the Tidenham Rocks. The cavalry pursued him, when he forced his +horse down a part somewhat less precipitous than the rest, reached the +bank in safety, and escaped by swimming his horse over the river. The +precipice is still known as Wyntour's Leap. Below, the Wye flows through +Chepstow, with iron bridges spanning it to carry the road and railway +across. The main part of the town on the western part is built upon a +slope that in places descends somewhat rapidly to the river. Parts of +the old walls are still preserved, strengthened at intervals by round +towers. Chepstow has its ruined church, once a priory, within which +Henry Marten the regicide was buried after twenty years' imprisonment in +the castle. + +[Illustration: CHEPSTOW CASTLE.] + +The great point of interest is Chepstow Castle, built here to command +the Wye, and standing in a fine situation on the edge of the river in a +naturally fortified position. Upon the land-side deep trenches and +outworks protect it, while a grassy meadow intervenes between its +gateway and the Wye, that here makes a sharp curve. To get the castle in +between the crags and the river, it was constructed upon a long and +narrow plan, and is divided into four courts. The main entrance on the +eastern side is through a ponderous gateway flanked by solid towers and +with curiously-constructed ancient wooden doors. Entering the court, +there is a massive tower on the left hand with an exterior staircase +turret, while on the right the custodian lives in a group of +comparatively modern buildings, beneath which is a vaulted chamber +communicating with the river. Within this tower, whose walls are of +great thickness, Henry Marten was imprisoned. He was one of the court +that tried King Charles, and his signature is upon the king's +death-warrant. He was a spendthrift, and afterwards had a quarrel with +Cromwell, who denounced him as an unbeliever, and even as a buffoon. +When Charles II. made the proclamation of amnesty, Marten surrendered, +but he was tried and condemned to death. He plead that he came in under +the proffer of mercy, and the sentence was commuted to a life +imprisonment; and after a short confinement in the Tower of London he +was removed to Chepstow, where he died twenty years later, in 1680. +Passing into the smaller second court, for the rocks contract it, there +is a strong tower protecting its entrance, and at the upper end are the +ruins of the great hall, relics of the fourteenth century. Two or three +windows, a door, and part of an arcade remain, but roof and floor are +gone. A still smaller court lies beyond, at the upper end of which is a +gateway defended by a moat, beyond which is the western gate and court +of the castle, so that this last enclosure forms a kind of barbican. +Chepstow was elaborately defended, and its only vulnerable points were +from the meadows on the east and the higher ground to the west; but +before the days of artillery it was regarded as impregnable, and +excellently performed its duty as a check upon the Welsh. Fitzosbern, +Earl of Hereford, built the older parts in the eleventh century, but the +most of Chepstow dates from that great epoch of castle-building on the +Welsh border, the reign of Edward I. We are told that the second +Fitzosbern was attainted and his estates forfeited, but that the king +one Easter graciously sent to him in prison his royal robes. The earl so +disdained the favor that he burned them, which made the king so angry +that he said, "Certainly this is a very proud man who hath thus abused +me, but, by the brightness of God, he shall never come out of prison so +long as I live." Whereupon, says Dugdale, who tells the tale, he +remained a prisoner until he died. Chepstow was then bestowed upon the +De Clares, who founded Tintern Abbey, and it afterwards passed by +marriage to the Bigod family. Chepstow in the Civil War was held for the +king, and surrendered to the Parliamentary troops. Soon afterwards it +was surprised at the western gate and retaken. Cromwell then besieged +it, but, the siege proving protracted, he left Colonel Ewer in charge. +The Royalist garrison of about one hundred and sixty men were reduced to +great extremity and tried to escape by a boat, but in this they were +disappointed, as one of the besiegers, watching his opportunity, swam +across the Wye with a knife in his teeth and cut the boat adrift. Then +the castle was assaulted and taken, and the commander and most of the +garrison slain. Parliament gave it to Cromwell, but after the +Restoration it was returned to the heirs of the Marquis of Worcester, +its owner, and it still belongs to his descendant, the Duke of Beaufort. +The neighborhood of Chepstow has many pleasant villas in beautiful +sites, and the broadening Wye flows a short distance beyond through the +meadow-land, and then debouches into the estuary of the Severn. + + +THE GOLDEN VALLEY. + +[Illustration: PONTRILAS COURT.] + +[Illustration: THE SCYRRID VAWR.] + +Still journeying westward beyond the beautiful valley of the Wye, we +will ascend its tributary, the Monnow, to its sources in the Black +Mountains on the borders of Wales. We skirted along the northern side of +these mountains with the Wye, while the Monnow takes us fairly into +them. The little river Dore is one of the head-waters of the Monnow, and +it flows through the picturesque region known as the Golden Valley, just +on the edge of Brecon, where the trout-fishing is as attractive as the +scenery. All its streams rise upon the flanks of the Black Mountains, +and the village of Pontrilas is its railway-station at the entrance to +the valley. This village is devoted to the manufacture of naphtha, for +which purpose mules bring wood from the neighboring forests, and it was +once honored with the presence of a hotel. This was its principal +mansion, Pontrilas Court, but it has long since been converted into a +private residence. This court is a characteristic Elizabethan mansion, +standing in a beautiful garden almost smothered in foliage and running +vines. About a mile up the valley is the pretty village of Ewias Harold, +with its church on one sloping bank of the little river and its castle +on the other. Within the church alongside the chancel there is a +recumbent female figure holding a casket in its hands. The tomb upon +which it is placed was some time ago opened, but nothing was found +within excepting a case containing a human heart. The monument probably +commemorates an unknown benefactress whose corpse lies elsewhere, but +who ordered her heart sent to the spot she loved best. The castle, +standing on an eminence, was once a strong fortress, and tradition says +it was built by Harold before he was king, but it does not occupy a +prominent place in history. Ascending a hill to the northward, a view is +obtained over the valleys of the three picturesque streams--the Dore, +Dulas, and Monnow--that afterwards unite their waters; and, proceeding +up the Dore, we come to the village of Abbey Dore, with the roofless +ruins of its abbey, a part of which is utilized for the parish church, +though scarcely anything is now left beyond fragments of the conventual +buildings. This was a Cistercian monastery founded by Robert of Ewias in +the reign of Henry I. We are now in the heart of the Golden Valley, +which seems to be excavated out of a plateau with long, terrace-like +hills bounding it on either hand, their lower parts rich in verdure, +while their summits are dark and generally bare. Every available part of +the lower surface is thoroughly cultivated, its hedgerows and copses +giving variety to the scene. As we move up the valley the Scyrrid Vawr +raises its notched and pointed summit like a peak dropped down upon the +lowlands. This mountain, nearly fifteen hundred feet high, whose name +means the "Great Fissure," is severed into an upper and lower summit by +a deep cleft due to a landslip. It is also known as the Holy Mountain, +and in its day has been the goal of many pilgrims. St. Michael, the +guardian of the hills, has a chapel there, where crowds resorted on the +eve of his festival. It used to be the custom for the Welsh farmers to +send for sackloads of earth out of the cleft in this Holy Mountain, +which they sprinkled over their houses and farm-buildings to avoid evil. +They were also especially careful to strew portions over the coffins and +graves of the dead. At the village of Wormridge, where some members of +the Clive family are buried, there is a grand old elm on the +village-green around which the people used to assemble for wrestling and +for the performance of other rural amusements. At the base of this tree +stood the stocks, that dungeon "all of wood" to which it is said there +was + + "----neither iron bar nor gate, + Portcullis, chain, nor bolt, nor grate, + And yet men durance there abide + In dungeon scarce three inches wide." + +This famous valley also contains the pretty church and scanty ruins of +the castle of Kilpeck; also the church of St. Peter at Rowlstone, where +the ornamental representations of cocks and apostolic figures all have +their heads downward, in memory of the position in which St. Peter was +crucified. Here also, on the edge of the Black Mountains, is Oldcastle, +whose ruins recall its owner, Sir John "of that ilk," the martyr who was +sentenced in 1417 to be taken from the Tower of London to St. Giles' +gallows, there to be hanged, and burned while hanging, as "a most +pernicious, detestable heretic." At Longtown, the residence of the +Lacies, there are remains of the walls and circular keep of their strong +Border fortress. Kentchurch, on the slope of Garway Hill, is a seat of +the Earl of Scudamore, where anciently lived John of Kent, a poet and +mathematician, of whom Symonds tells us in his _Records of the Rocks_ +that "he sold his soul to the devil, and constructed the bridge over the +Monnow in a single night." The ruined castle of Grosmont is about a mile +distant: it was often besieged by the Welsh, and we are told that on one +occasion "the king came with a great army to raise the siege, whereof, +as soon as the Welshmen had understanding, they saved their lives by +their legges." It was here that Henry of Monmouth defeated the Welsh, +capturing Glendower's son Griffith. + + +ABERGAVENNY AND LLANTHONY. + +[Illustration: LLANTHONY PRIORY, LOOKING DOWN THE NAVE.] + +Rounding the southern extremity of the Black Mountains, and proceeding +farther westward, we enter another beautiful region, the Vale of Usk, a +stream that flows southward into the estuary of the Severn. Here is +Abergavenny, with its ancient castle guarding the entrance to the upper +valley, and with mountains on every side. Here rises, just north of the +town, the Sugar Loaf, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two feet +high, and on the left hand the mass of old red sandstone known as the +Blorenge, one thousand seven hundred and twenty feet high. A few miles +up the tributary vale of Ewias, which discloses glorious scenery, are +the ruins of Llanthony Priory. The valley is a deep winding glen cut out +by the Hodeni between the great cliffs of the Black Mountains on the one +side and the ranges around the Sugar Loaf on the other. In places the +cliffs are precipitous, but, generally, the lower slopes furnish +pasture-land and occasional woods, while the upper parts are covered +with bracken fern, with a few trees and copses. The priory stands on a +gentle slope at the base of the Black Mountains, elevated a short +distance above the stream. Its original name was Llanhodeni, or "the +Place by the Hodeni." It was founded by two hermits in the beginning of +the twelfth century--William de Lacy, a Norman knight, and Ernisius, +chaplain to Maud, wife of Henry I. They first built a small chapel +dedicated to St. David; gifts flowed in, and they were soon enabled to +construct a grand religious house, occupied by Augustinian monks, of +whom Ernisius became the first prior. Predatory raids by the Welsh, +however, harassed the monks, and after submitting for some time to these +annoyances they migrated to Gloucester, and founded another priory +alongside the Severn. Later, however, they returned to the old place and +kept up both establishments, but in the reign of Edward IV. the older +was merged into the newer "because of the turbulence of the neighboring +people and the irregular lives of its inmates." The ruins of Llanthony +are supposed to date from about 1200, and are of a marked though simple +beauty. The convent buildings are almost all gone, excepting fragments +of the cellars and chapter-house. The prior's residence has become a +farm-house, and where the monks sat in solemn conclave is now its +outbuildings. The towers are used, one for chambers and the other for a +dairy. The main part of the church is, however, carefully preserved with +a green turf floor, and the western towers up to the level of the walls +of the nave are still quite perfect, though the west window is gone and +parts of the adjacent walls have perished. The north transept has +fallen, but the southern transept is still in fair condition, lighted at +the end by a pair of round-headed windows, with a circular one above; a +semicircular arch on its eastern side opens into a chapel. The choir is +also well preserved. These ruins exhibit semicircular with pointed +arches in indiscriminate combination, and during the present century +decay has caused much of them to fall. It was to Llanthony that Walter +Savage Landor removed in 1809, selling much of his family estates in +order to buy it. He projected grand improvements, including the +restoration of the priory, the construction of roads and bridges, and +the cultivation of extensive tracts on the mountainside, so that it +became of note among literary men as the home of one of the most +original of their guild. His biographer tells us that he imported sheep +from Segovia, and applied to Southey and other friends to furnish him +tenants who would introduce improved agricultural methods. The +inhabitants of this remote region were morose and impoverished, and he +wished to reclaim them. To clothe the bare spots on the flanks of the +mountains, he bought two thousand cones of the cedars of Lebanon, each +calculated to produce a hundred seeds, and he often exulted "in the +thought of the million cedar trees which he would thus leave for shelter +and the delight of posterity." But he met the fate of many projectors. +After four years' struggle he became disgusted with Llanthony and its +people: he was in a quarrel with almost everybody, and his genius for +punctiliousness had turned nearly the whole neighborhood against him. He +had sunk his capital in the estate and its improvements, and becoming +embarrassed, it was taken out of his hands and vested in trustees. His +half-built house was pulled down, and the disgusted Landor left England +for the Continent. At Llanthony he composed Latin verses and English +tragedy, but his best literary labor was performed after he left there. +A few miles farther up the valley is Capel-y-Ffyn, where Father Ignatius +within a few years has erected his Anglican monastery. He was Rev. Mr. +Lyne, and came from Norwich, where he was in frequent collision with the +bishop. After much pother and notoriety he took his Protestant monastic +settlement to this nook in the heart of the Black Mountains, where he +and his monks perform their orisons in peace. + +[Illustration: LLANTHONY--THE SOUTH TRANSEPT, FROM THE NAVE.] + + +NEWPORT, CARDIFF, AND LLANDAFF. + +We now follow down the Usk, and at its mouth upon the Severn estuary is +Newport, in Monmouthshire, where there are large docks and a +considerable trade. The ruins of Newport Castle stand on the western +bank of the river. In the suburbs is Caerleon, where the Romans long had +the garrison-post of the second Augustan legion. The museum here is +filled with Roman remains, and the amphitheatre, called "King Arthur's +Round Table," is alongside. Proceeding westward about twelve miles along +the shore of the Severn estuary, we come to Penarth Roads in +Glamorganshire, sheltered under a bold headland at the mouths of the Ely +and the Taff, and the flourishing Welsh seaport of Cardiff on the banks +of the latter stream. This is the outport of the Welsh coal and iron +region, and the Marquis of Bute, who is a large landowner here, has done +much to develop its enormous trade, which goes to all parts of the +world. Its name is derived from Caer Taff, the fortress on the river +Taff, and in early times the Welsh established a castle there, but the +present one was of later construction, having been built by Robert +Fitzhamon, the Anglo-Norman conqueror of Glamorgan. It was afterwards +strongly fortified, and here the unfortunate Robert, son of William the +Conqueror, was imprisoned for twenty-eight years by his brother Henry +I., his eyes being put out for his greater security. The tower where he +was confined still stands alongside the entrance gateway, and during his +long captivity we are told that he soothed his weariness by becoming a +poet. The ancient keep remains standing on its circular mound, but the +castle has been restored and modernized by the Marquis of Bute, who +occasionally resides there, and has given it a fine western front +flanked by a massive octagonal tower. The moat is filled up, and, with +the acclivities of the ramparts, is made a public walk and garden. In +the valley of the Taff, a short distance from Cardiff, is the famous +"Rocking Stone," standing on the western brink of a hill called +Coed-pen-maen, or the "Wood of the Stone Summit." It was anciently a +Druids' altar, and with a surface of about one hundred square feet is +only two to three feet thick, so that it contains about two hundred and +fifty cubic feet of stone. It is the rough argillaceous sandstone that +accompanies the coal-measures in this part of Wales, and a moderate +force gives it quite a rocking motion, which can be easily continued +with one hand. It stands nearly in equilibrium upon a pivotal rock +beneath. Two miles from Cardiff is the ancient and straggling village of +Llandaff, which was the seat of the earliest Christian bishopric in +Wales, having been founded in the fourth century. Its cathedral, for a +long time dilapidated, has within a few years been thoroughly restored. +All the valleys in the hilly region tributary to Cardiff are full of +coal and iron, the mining and smelting of which have made enormous +fortunes for their owners and developed a vast industry there within the +present century. About nine miles north of Cardiff is Caerphilly Castle, +which has the most remarkable leaning tower in Britain, it being more +inclined from the perpendicular than any other that is known. It is +about eighty feet high, and leans over a distance of eleven feet. It +rests only on a part of its southern side, and maintains its position +chiefly through the strength of the cement. This castle was built by the +De Clares in the reign of Henry III., and large additions were made to +it by Hugh Despenser, who garrisoned it for Edward II. in order to check +the Welsh. It is a large concentric castle, covering about thirty acres, +having three distinct wards, seven gate-houses, and thirty portcullises. +It was here that Edward II. and his favorites, the Despensers, were +besieged by the queen in 1326. The defence was well conducted, and the +besiegers were greatly annoyed by melted metal thrown down on them from +the walls, which was heated in furnaces still remaining at the foot of +the tower. They made a desperate assault, which was partially +successful, though it ultimately failed; and we are told that while in +the castle they let the red-hot metal run out of the furnaces, and, +throwing water on it from the moat, caused an explosion which tore the +tower from its foundations and left it in its present condition. The +fissures made by the explosion are still visible, and it has stood thus +for over five centuries. The castle ultimately surrendered, the king +having previously escaped. The Despensers were beheaded, and their +castle never regained its ancient splendor. + + +SWANSEA. + +[Illustration: NORTH DOCK, SWANSEA.] + +Journeying westward from Cardiff along the coast of Glamorganshire, upon +the Bristol Channel, we come to the Welsh Bay of Naples, where the +chimneys replace the volcano of Vesuvius as smoke-producers. This is the +Bay of Swansea, a very fine one, extending for several miles in a grand +curve from Porthcawl headland on the eastern verge around to the +Mumbles, where a bold limestone cliff runs far out into the sea and +forms a natural breakwater. Within this magnificent bay, with its wooded +and villa-lined shores, there is a spot that discloses the bare brown +hills guarding the entrance to the valley of the river Tawe, up which +the houses of Swansea climb, with a dense cloud of smoke overhanging +them that is evolved from the smelting-furnaces and collieries behind +the town. Forests of masts appear where the smoke permits them to be +visible, and then to the right hand another gap and overhanging +smoke-cloud marks the valley of the Neath. The ancient Britons called +the place Aber-tawe, from the river, and there are various derivations +of the present name. Some say it came from flocks of swans appearing in +the bay, and others from the porpoises or sea-swine, so that the reader +may take his choice of Swan-sea or Swine-sea. In the twelfth century it +was known as Sweynsey, and perhaps the best authority says the name came +from Sweyne, a Scandinavian who frequented that coast with his ships. +When the Normans invaded Glamorgan, Henry Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, +captured Swansea, and in the twelfth century built a castle there. King +John gave it a charter, and it became a town of some importance, as he +granted it extensive trading-privileges. In another charter, given by +the lord of the manor in 1305, the first allusion is made to Welsh coal, +for the people among other privileges are allowed to dig "pit-coal in +Ballywasta." Thus began the industry that has become the mainstay of +prosperity in South Wales. Warwick's Castle at Swansea has entirely +disappeared, the present ruins being those of a castle afterwards built +by Henry de Gower, who became Bishop of St. David's. What is left of it +is almost hidden by modern buildings. It has the remains of a +curtain-wall and two towers, the larger of which has an arcade beneath +the battlement--an unusual but pleasing feature. Lewellyn harassed the +town and castle, but it had not much history until the Civil War, when +there was a little fighting for its possession. A Parliamentary ship +appeared in the bay and demanded the surrender of the town, which was +refused; but in the following year the Parliamentary troops captured it. +Subsequently the castle changed hands several times--the guide-book +states "rather politically than gloriously." Cromwell ultimately took +possession in 1648, resided at Swansea for some time as lord of the +manor, and was very liberal to the town. The castle was dismantled and +partly destroyed, the keep being used as a jail. Swansea, like all the +cities in the Welsh coal and metal region, has grown greatly during the +present century. Walter Savage Landor lived here for a while, just when +the copper-works were beginning to appear in the valley of the Tawe. +Their smoke defiled the landscape, and he exclaimed, "Would to God there +was no trade upon earth!" He preferred Swansea Bay above the gulf of +Salerno or of Naples, and wrote, "Give me Swansea for scenery and +climate! If ever it should be my fortune to return to England, I would +pass the remainder of my days in the neighborhood of Swansea, between +that place and the Mumbles." + +[Illustration: SWANSEA CASTLE.] + +Swansea's earliest dock was made by walling a tidal inlet called Port +Tennant, and is still used. Its former great dock was the North Dock, +constructed in the old bed of the Tawe, a newer and more direct channel +being made for the river. It has two recently-constructed and larger +docks. Up the valley of the Tawe the town spreads several miles, and +here are the enormous copper-works and smelting-furnaces which make a +reproduction of the infernal regions, defile the air, but fill the +purses of the townsfolk. Swansea is the greatest copper-smelting depot +in the world, drawing its ores from all parts of the globe. There had +been copper-works on the Neath three centuries ago, but the first upon +the Tawe were established in 1745. From them have grown the fame and +wealth of the Cornish family of the Vivians, who have been +copper-smelters for three generations at Swansea, and in front of the +town-hall stands the statue of the "Copper King," the late John Henry +Vivian, who represented Swansea in Parliament. There are also iron, +zinc, lead, and tin-plate works, making this a great metallurgical +centre, while within forty miles there are over five hundred collieries, +some existing at the very doors of the smelting-works. It is cheap fuel +that has made the fortune of Swansea. + +[Illustration: THE MUMBLES.] + +The bold promontory of the Mumbles, which bounds Swansea Bay to the +westward, has become a popular watering-place, into which it has +gradually developed from the fishing-village nestling under Oystermouth +Castle. The bay was once a great producer of oysters, and dredging for +them was the chief industry of the inhabitants. The remains of the +castle stand upon a knoll overlooking the sea, and with higher hills +behind. The Duke of Beaufort, to whom it belongs, keeps the ruins +carefully protected, and they are in rather good preservation. The plan +is polygonal, approaching a triangle, with its apex towards the sea, +where was the only entrance, a gateway guarded by two round towers, of +which only the inner face now remains. The interior court is small, with +the keep at the north-eastern angle, having a chapel at the top. There +are some other apartments with vaulted chambers underground. Henry de +Bellamont is believed to have built this fortress at about the time of +the construction of Swansea Castle, but it has not contributed much to +history, though now a picturesque ruin. + +[Illustration: OYSTERMOUTH CASTLE.] + +On the eastern side of Swansea Bay enters the Vale of Neath, where is +also a manufacturing town of rapid growth, while within the Vale is +beautiful scenery. Neath is of great antiquity, having been the Nidum of +the days of Antoninus. At the Crumlyn Bog, where white lilies blossom on +the site of an ancient lake, legend says is entombed a primitive city, +in proof whereof strains of unearthly music may be occasionally heard +issuing from beneath the waters. In the valley on the western bank of +the river are the extensive ruins of Neath Abbey, said once to have been +the fairest in all Wales. This religious house was founded by Richard de +Granville in the twelfth century, but its present buildings are of later +date. Within its walls Edward II. took refuge when he escaped from +Caerphilly, for it had the privilege of sanctuary; but after leaving +Neath a faithless monk betrayed him, and he was put to death most +cruelly at Berkeley Castle. Only a ruined gateway remains of Neath +Castle, blackened by the smoke of smelting-works. + +[Illustration: NEATH ABBEY.] + + +CAERMARTHEN AND PEMBROKE. + +Proceeding westward along the coast of the jutting peninsula formed by +South Wales, another grand bay indents the shore, and on the bold banks +of the Towy is Caermarthen, which gives the bay its name. Here there was +a Roman station, on the site of which the castle was built, but by whom +is not accurately known. The Parliamentarians captured and dismantled +it, and it has since fallen into almost complete decay, though part was +occupied as a jail till the last century. In Caermarthen Church, Richard +Steele the essayist is buried, while from the parade is a beautiful view +up the Vale of Towy towards Merlin's Hill and Abergwili, which was the +home of that renowned sage. Around the sweeping shores of Caermarthen +Bay, about fifteen miles to the westward, is Tenby Castle, the town, now +a watering-place, being singularly situated on the eastern and southern +sides of a narrow rocky peninsula entirely surrounded by the sea, +excepting to the northward. This was the Welsh "Precipice of Fishes," +and its castle was strongly fortified. It stood a five days' siege from +Cromwell, and its shattered ruins, with the keep on the summit of the +hill, show a strong fortress. From the top there is a magnificent view +of the neighboring shores and far across the sea to the lofty coasts of +Devonshire. Manorbeer Castle, belonging to Lord Milford, is near Tenby, +and is considered the best structure of its class in Wales. It is the +carefully-preserved home of an old Norman baron, with its church, mill, +dove-house, pond, park, and grove, and "the houses of his vassals at +such distance as to be within call." The buildings have stone roofs, +most of which are perfect, and it has been tenantless, yet carefully +preserved, since the Middle Ages. Parts of it have stood for six +centuries. In the upper portion of the Vale of Towy is the Golden Grove, +a seat of the Earl of Cawdor, a modern Elizabethan structure. Here lived +Jeremy Taylor, having taken refuge there in the Civil War, and he here +wrote some of his greatest works. + +Beyond Caermarthenshire is Pembrokeshire, forming the western extremity +of the Welsh peninsula. The river Cleddan, flowing south-westward, +broadens at its mouth into the estuary known as Milford Haven. It +receives a western branch, on the side of which is the county-town, +Haverfordwest, placed on a hill where the De Clares founded a castle, of +which little now remains but the keep, used (as so many of them now are) +as the county-jail. Cromwell demolished this castle after it fell into +his hands. The great promontory of St. David's Head juts out into the +sea sixteen miles to the westward. The Cleddan flows down between the +towns of Pembroke and Milford. The ruins of Pembroke Castle upon a high +rock disclose an enormous circular keep, seventy-five feet high and one +hundred and sixty-three feet in circumference. It was begun in the +eleventh century, and was the birthplace of Henry VII. in 1456. Here +Cromwell was repulsed in 1648, but the fortress was secured for the +Parliament after six weeks' siege. The garrison were reduced to great +straits, but were only subdued by the skilful use of artillery in +battering down the stairway leading to the well where they got their +water: the spring that supplied them is still there. Pembroke has +extensive trade, and its shipbuilding dockyard covers eighty acres. +Opposite this dockyard is Milford, the harbor being a mile and a half +wide. The railway from London runs down to the pier, and passengers are +transferred to steamers for Ireland, this being the terminus of the +Great Western Railway route, two hundred and eighty-five miles from the +metropolis. Milford Haven, at which we close this descriptive journey, +stretches for ten miles inland from the sea, varying from one to two +miles in breadth, affords ample anchorage, and is strongly fortified. +The ancient Pictou Castle guards the junction of the two branches of the +Cleddan above Milford, while Carew Castle stands on a creek entering +Milford Haven on the south-eastern shore, and is an august though ruined +relic of the baronial splendors of the Middle Ages. It well represents +the condition of most of the seacoast castles in this part of Wales, of +one of which Dyer has written. + + "His sides are clothed with waving wood, + And ancient towers crown his brow. + That cast an awful look below; + Whose rugged sides the ivy creeps, + And with her arms from falling keeps. + 'Tis now the raven's bleak abode; + 'Tis now th' apartment of the toad; + And there the fox securely feeds. + And there the poisonous adder breeds, + Concealed in ruins, moss, and weeds; + While ever and anon there fall + Huge heaps of hoary, mouldered wall. + Yet time has seen, that lifts the low + And level lays the lofty brow,-- + Has seen this broken pile complete, + Big with the vanity of state;-- + But transient is the smile of fate." + + + + +VII. + +LONDON, SOUTH-WEST TO LAND'S END. + + Virginia Water--Sunninghill--Ascot--Wokingham--Bearwood--The London + _Times_--White Horse Hill--Box Tunnel--Salisbury--Salisbury + Plain--Old Sarum--Stonehenge--Amesbury--Wilton House--The Earls of + Pembroke--Carpet-making--Bath--William + Beckford--Fonthill--Bristol--William + Canynge--Chatterton--Clifton--Brandon Hill--Wells--The + Mendips--Jocelyn--Beckington--Ralph of Shrewsbury--Thomas Ken--The + Cheddar Cliffs--The Wookey Hole--The Black Down--The Isle of + Avelon-Glastonbury--Weary-all Hill--Sedgemoor--The Isle of + Athelney--Bridgewater--Oldmixon--Monmouth's Rebellion--Weston + Zoyland--King Alfred--Sherborne--Sir Walter Raleigh--The Coast of + Dorset--Poole--Wareham--Isle of Purbeck--Corfe Castle--The + Foreland--Swanage--St. Aldhelm's Head--Weymouth--Portland Isle and + Bill--The Channel Islands--Jersey--Corbiere Promontory--Mount + Orgueil--Alderney--Guernsey--Castle Cornet--The Southern Coast of + Devon--Abbotsbury--Lyme + Regis--Axminster--Sidmouth--Exmouth--Exeter--William, Prince of + Orange--Exeter Cathedral--Bishop + Trelawney--Dawlish--Teignmouth--Hope's Nose--Babbicombe Bay--Anstis + Cove--Torbay--Torquay--Brixham--Dartmoor--The River + Dart--Totnes--Berry Pomeroy Castle--Dartmouth--The River Plym--The + Dewerstone--Plympton Priory--Sir Joshua Reynolds--Catwater + Haven--Plymouth--Stonehouse--Devonport--Eddystone + Lighthouse--Tavistock Abbey--Buckland Abbey--Lydford Castle--The + Northern Coast of Devon--Exmoor--Minehead--Dunster--Dunkery + Beacon--Porlock Bay--The River Lyn--Oare--Lorna Doone--Jan + Ridd--Lynton--Lynmouth--Castle Rock--The Devil's Cheese-Ring--Combe + Martin--Ilfracombe--Morte + Point--Morthoe--Barnstaple--Bideford--Clovelly--Lundy + Island--Cornwall--Tintagel--Launceston--Liskeard--Fowey--Lizard + Peninsula--Falmouth--Pendennis Castle--Helston--Mullyon + Cove--Smuggling--Kynance Cove--The Post-Office--Old Lizard + Head--Polpeor--St. Michael's Mount--Penzance--Pilchard + Fishery--Penwith--Land's End. + + +ASCOT AND BEARWOOD. + +Leaving London by the South-western Railway, and skirting along the edge +of Windsor Park, we pass Virginia Water, the largest artificial lake in +England. Upon its bosom float miniature frigates, and its banks are +bordered by a Chinese fishing temple, and a colonnade which was brought +from the African coast near Tunis. Here also are a hermitage overlooking +the lake, and the triangular turreted building known as the Belvedere, +where a battery of guns is kept that was used in the wars of the last +century. Not far beyond is Sunninghill, near which was Pope's early +home, and in the garden of the vicarage are three trees planted by +Burke, Chesterfield, and Bolingbroke. Farther westward is the famous +Ascot race-course on Ascot Heath, where the races are run in June upon +a circular course of about two miles, the neighborhood containing many +handsome villas. Still journeying westward, the route passes Wokingham, +where Gay, Swift, Pope, and Arbuthnot were on one occasion detained at +the Rose Inn in wet weather, and whiled away the time by composing the +song of "Molly Mog." + +[Illustration: BEARWOOD.] + +Just beyond Wokingham is the fine estate of Bearwood, the seat of John +Walter, Esq., the proprietor of the London _Times_, one of the stately +rural homes of England. Here, in a large and beautiful park which +retains much of its original forest character, and standing upon the +terraced bank of a lovely lake, Bearwood House has within a few years +been entirely rebuilt, its feature being the central picture-gallery +containing a fine collection of paintings, around which clusters a suite +of grand apartments. The estate includes several thousand acres, and in +the many pleasant cottages scattered over it and the homes at Bearwood +village many of the aged and infirm employes of the _Times_ pass their +declining years. The _Times_, which was founded January 1, 1788, by the +grandfather of the present proprietor, has steadily grown in commanding +influence until it occupies the front rank in English journalism and is +the leading newspaper of the kingdom. Its proprietor has recently +entirely rebuilt its publication-offices in Printing-House Square and on +Queen Victoria Street in London, adapting all the modern appliances of +improved machinery and methods to its publication. It is at Bearwood, +however, that his philanthropic ideas also find a broad field of +usefulness in caring for those who have grown gray in the service of the +_Times_, and thither every year go the entire corps of employes to enjoy +an annual picnic under the spreading foliage of the park, while no home +in England is more frequented by Americans or extends to kin from across +sea a more generous hospitality. + + +KING ALFRED'S WHITE HORSE. + +In the chalk hills of Berkshire, beyond Reading and north of Hungerford, +there rises an eminence over nine hundred feet high, known as the White +Horse Hill. It is a famous place; upon the summit, covering a dozen +acres, and from which eleven counties can be seen, there is a +magnificent Roman camp, with gates, ditch, and mound as complete as when +the legions left it. To the westward of the hill, and under its shadow, +was the battlefield of Ashdown, where Alfred defeated the Danes and +broke their power in 871. He fought eight other battles against the +Danes that year, but they were mere skirmishes compared with the +decisive victory of Ashdown, and in memory of it he ordered his army to +carve the White Horse on the hillside as the emblem of the standard of +Hengist. It is cut out of the turf, and can be seen to a great distance, +being three hundred and seventy-four feet long. After a spell of bad +weather it gets out of condition, and can only be restored to proper +form by being scoured, this ceremony bringing a large concourse of +people from all the neighboring villages. The festival was held in 1857, +and the old White Horse was then brought back into proper form with much +pomp and great rejoicing. The ancient balladist thus quaintly describes +the festivity on these memorable occasions: + + "The owld White Harse wants zettin to rights, and the squire hev promised + good cheer, + Zo we'll gee un a scrape to kip un in zhape, and a'll last for many a + year. + A was made a lang, lang time ago, wi a good dale o' labor and pains. + By King Alferd the Great, when he spwiled their consate and caddled[B] + thay wosbirds[C] the Danes. + The Bleawin Stwun in days gone by wur King Alferd's bugle harn, + And the tharnin tree you med plainly zee as is called King Alferd's + tharn. + There'll be backsword play, and climmin the powl, and a race for a peg, + and a cheese. + And us thenks as hisn's a dummell[D] zowl as dwont care for zich spwoorts + as theze." + +Leaving London by the Great Western Railway, and passing beyond +Berkshire, we cross the boundary into Wiltshire, and go through the +longest railway-tunnel in England, the noted Box Tunnel, which is a +mile and three-quarters in length and cost over $2,500,000 to construct. +It goes through a ridge of great-oolite, from which the valuable +bath-stone is quarried, and the railway ultimately brings us to the +cathedral city that boasts the tallest church-spire in +England--Salisbury, the county-town of Wiltshire, standing in the valley +formed by the confluence of three rivers, the Avon, Bourne, and Wiley. + +[Footnote B: caddled, worried.] + +[Footnote C: wosbirds, birds of evil omen.] + +[Footnote D: dummell, stupid.] + + +SALISBURY. + +[Illustration: SALISBURY CATHEDRAL.] + +The celebrated cathedral, which in some respects may be considered the +earliest in England, is the chief object at Salisbury, and was founded +by Bishop Poore in 1220. It was the first great church built in the +Early English style, and its spire is among the most imposing Gothic +constructions in existence. The city of Salisbury is unique in having +nothing Roman, Saxon, or Norman in its origin, and in being even without +the remains of a baronial fortress. It is a purely English city, and, +though it was surrounded by walls, they were merely boundaries of the +dominions of the ecclesiastics. The see of Salisbury in 1215 was removed +from Old Sarum to its present location in consequence of the frequent +contests between the clergy and the castellans, and soon afterwards the +construction of the cathedral began. King Henry III. granted the church +a weekly market and an annual fair lasting eight days, and the +symmetrical arrangement of the streets is said to have been caused by +the original laying out of the city in spaces "seven perches each in +length and three in breadth," as the historian tells us. The cathedral +close, which is surrounded by a wall, has four gateways, and the best +view of the cathedral is from the north-eastern side of the close, but a +more distant view--say from a mile away--brings out the proportions of +the universally admired spire to much greater advantage. The chief +cathedral entrance is by the north porch, which is a fine and lofty +structure, lined with a double arcade and having an upper chamber. The +nave is beautiful, though it suffers somewhat in warmth of coloring from +lacking stained glass, and the cloisters, which are entered from the +south-western transept, are admirable, being of later date and +exhibiting a more developed style than the remainder of the cathedral. +Their graceful windows and long gray arcades contrast splendidly with +the greensward of the cloister-garth. They include an octagonal +chapter-house, fifty-eight feet in diameter and fifty-two feet high, +which has been restored in memory of a recent bishop at a cost of +$260,000. The restoration has enriched the house with magnificent +sculptures representing Old-Testament history, and the restoration of +the cathedral is also progressing. The adjoining episcopal palace is an +irregular but picturesque pile of buildings, with a gateway tower that +is a prominent feature. + +Salisbury has plenty of old houses, like most English towns, and it also +has a large square market-place, containing the Gothic Poultry Cross, a +most graceful stone structure, and also the council-house of modern +erection, in front of which is a statue of Sidney Herbert. Its ancient +banquet-hall, built four hundred years ago by John Halle, and having a +lofty timber roof and an elaborately-carved oak screen, is now used as +the show-room for a shop. + +[Illustration: SALISBURY MARKET.] + +To the northward of Salisbury is that region filled with prehistoric +relics known as Salisbury Plain. Here are ancient fortresses, barrows, +and sepulchral mounds, earthworks, dykes, and trenches, roadways of the +Roman and the Briton, and the great British stronghold, guarding the +southern entrance to the plain, which became the Old Sarum of later +times. Until within a century this plain was a solitary and almost +abandoned region, but now there are good roads crossing it and much of +the land is cultivated. It is a great triangular chalk-measure, each +side roughly estimated at twenty miles long. The Bourne, Wiley, and Avon +flow through it to meet near Salisbury, and all the bolder heights +between their valleys are marked by ancient fortifications. Wiltshire is +thus said to be divided between chalk and cheese, for the northern +district beyond the plain is a great dairy region. Let us journey +northward from Salisbury across the plain, and as we enter its southern +border there rises up almost at the edge the conical hill of Old Sarum, +crowned by intrenchments. When they were made is not known, but in 552 +they were a British defence against the Saxons, who captured them after +a bitter fight and overran the plain. Five centuries later William the +Norman reviewed his army here, and after the first Domesday survey +summoned all the landholders of England to the number of sixty thousand, +who here swore fealty to him. The Normans strengthened it with a castle, +and soon a cathedral also rose at Old Sarum, while a town grew around +them. But all have disappeared, though now there can be traced the +outlines of streets and houses and the foundations of the old cathedral. +When the clergy removed to Salisbury it is said they determined the new +site by an arrow shot from the ramparts of Old Sarum, and moving the +cathedral soon attracted the people. Old Sarum for some time remained a +strong fortress with many houses, but the cathedral was taken down in +1331 and its materials used for building the famous spire at Salisbury. +The castle decayed, the town was gradually deserted, and as long ago as +the sixteenth century we are told there was not a single house left +there. And such it is to this day. Climbing the steep face of the hill, +the summit is found fenced by a vast earthen rampart and ditch enclosing +twenty-seven acres with an irregular circle, the height from the bottom +of the ditch to the top of the rampart being over one hundred feet. A +smaller inner rampart as high as the outer one made the central citadel. +Nearly all the stone has long ago been carried off to build Salisbury, +and weeds and brushwood have overrun the remarkable fortress that has +come down to us from such venerable antiquity. Under the English +"rotten-borough" system Old Sarum enjoyed the privilege of sending two +members to Parliament for three centuries after it ceased to be +inhabited. The old tree under which the election was held still exists, +and the elder Pitt, who lived near by, was first sent to Parliament as a +representative of Old Sarum's vacant mounds. + + +STONEHENGE. + +A few miles' farther journey to the northward over the hills and +valleys, and among the sheep that also wander on Salisbury Plain, brings +us to that remarkable relic of earlier ages which is probably the +greatest curiosity in England--Stonehenge. When the gigantic stones were +put there, and what for, no man knows. Many are the unanswered questions +asked about them, for the poet says: + + "Thou noblest monument of Albion's isle! + Whether by Merlin's aid from Scythia's shore + To Amber's fatal plain Pendragon bore, + Huge frame of giant hands, the mighty pile, + To entomb his Britons slain by Hengist's guile: + Or Druid priests, sprinkled with human gore, + Taught 'mid thy massy maze their mystic lore; + Or Danish chiefs, enriched by savage spoil, + To Victory's idol vast, an unhewn shrine, + Reared the huge heap; or, in thy hallowed round, + Repose the kings of Brutus' genuine line; + Or here those kings in solemn state were crowned; + Studious to trace thy wondrous origin, + We muse on many an ancient tale renowned." + +[Illustration: STONEHENGE, FROM THE NORTH.] + +Stonehenge is about nine miles north of Salisbury, near the town of +Amesbury, where another ancient camp, known as "The Ramparts," crowns a +wooded hill, around which the Avon flows, the camp enclosing nearly +forty acres. Stonehenge stands in a bleak, bare situation on Salisbury +Plain, and in its original perfection, as nearly as can now be judged, +consisted of two concentric circles and two ellipses of upright stones, +surrounded by a bank and ditch, outside of which is a single upright +stone and traces of a hippodrome. The entrance to the cluster of circles +was from the north-east, and the avenue to it is still traceable by the +banks of earth. The outer circle at Stonehenge originally consisted of +thirty upright stones fixed in the ground at intervals of about three +and a half feet. On the top of them thirty other stones formed a +continuous ring about sixteen feet above the ground. Within this circle, +and leaving a space about nine feet wide between, was another circle of +thirty or forty unhewn stones about four to seven feet high. Within +this, again, was the grandest part of the structure--a great ellipse +formed of five triplets of stones or trilithons, each composed of two +uprights and one placed crosswise. Within these was the inner ellipse of +nineteen obelisks surrounding the altar-stone. Such was Stonehenge +originally, but its ruins now appear very differently, and are only a +confused pile of huge stones, for the most part such as are found on the +neighboring plain and known as sarsens (a siliceous sandstone), though +some of the smaller ones may be boulders brought from a distance. The +diameter of the enclosure is three hundred and thirty-six feet. On the +outer circle sixteen of the uprights and six of the surmounting stones +forming the ring remain in their original positions. Two of the inner +trilithons, the highest rising twenty-five feet, remain perfect, and +there are two single uprights, which lean considerably. The flat slab or +altar-stone is lying on the ground. The avenue of approach opens in +front of the inner ellipse and in a line with the altar-stone. In the +avenue, outside the enclosure, is a block sixteen feet high in a leaning +position, and known as the Friar's Heel. The legend tells us that when +the great Enemy of the human race was raising Stonehenge he muttered to +himself that no one would ever know how it was done. A passing friar, +hearing him, exclaimed, "That's more than thee can tell," and then fled. +The Enemy flung this great stone after him, but hit only the friar's +heel. The investigators of Stonehenge say that when standing on the +altar-stone the midsummer sun is seen to rise to the north-east directly +over the "Friar's Heel." The traces of the avenue in which it stands +are, however, soon found to divide into two smaller avenues, one running +south-east and the other north, and the latter is connected beyond with +a long enclosure called the Cursus, and marked by banks of earth +stretching east and west for about a mile and a half: there is nothing +known of its use. The whole country about Stonehenge is dotted with +groups of sepulchral barrows, and at the western end of the Cursus is a +cluster of them more prominent than the others, and known as the "Seven +Burrows." Stonehenge itself inspires with mystery and awe, the blocks +being gray with lichens and worn by centuries of storms. Reference to +them is found in the earliest chronicles of Britain, and countless +legends are told of their origin and history, they usually being traced +to mythical hands. In James I.'s reign Stonehenge was said to be a Roman +temple, dedicated to Coelus; subsequently, it was attributed to the +Danes, the Phoenicians, the Britons, and the Druids by various +writers. Sir Richard Hoare, who has studied the mystery most closely, +declines all these theories, and says the monument is grand but +"voiceless." Horace Walpole shrewdly observes that whoever examines +Stonehenge attributes it to that class of antiquity of which he is +himself most fond; and thus it remains an insoluble problem to puzzle +the investigator and impress the tourist. Michael Drayton plaintively +and quaintly confesses that no one has yet solved the mystery: + + "Dull heape, that thus thy head above the rest doest reare, + Precisely yet not know'st who first did place thee there. + Ill did those mightie men to trust thee with their storie; + Thou hast forgot their names who rear'd thee for their glorie; + For all their wondrous cost, thou that hast serv'd them so, + What 'tis to trust to tombes by thee we easily know." + + +WILTON HOUSE. + +[Illustration: SOUTH-EAST VIEW OF WILTON HOUSE.] + +[Illustration: FIRE-PLACE IN DOUBLE-CUBE ROOM.] + +[Illustration: THE LIBRARY, WILTON HOUSE.] + +Returning along the valley of the Avon past the almost lifeless town of +Amesbury, where there formerly was a grand Benedictine monastery long +since gone to decay, we cross over to the Wiley Vale, and at about three +miles distance from Salisbury come to the Earl of Pembroke's seat at +Wilton House. The ancient town of Wilton--or, as it was originally +called, Willytown--stands at the confluence of the rivers Nadder and +Wiley. The Britons established it, and it was one of the capitals of the +West Saxons. It was famous long before the Norman Conquest, and it +afterwards obtained renown from the number and importance of its +monastic establishments, having had no less than twelve parish churches, +though not a trace of its abbey now remains. Henry VIII. dissolved it, +and gave the site and buildings to Sir William Herbert, who was +afterwards created Earl of Pembroke, and from its relics Wilton House +was largely constructed. The town is now chiefly noted as the +manufactory of Axminster and Wilton carpets, dextrously woven by +operatives who use most primitive machinery. The Earl's Park adjoins the +town, and in it is Wilton House, one of the grandest palaces in England, +standing upon the site of the abbey. The buildings were designed by +Holbein, and the garden front being burned in 1648, was rebuilt soon +afterwards, while the entire structure was enlarged and remodelled +during the present century, the cloisters being then added for the +display of the fine collection of sculptures. The plan of the house is a +quadrangle, with a glazed cloister occupying the central square. Within +this cloister and the hall leading to it are the well-known Pembroke +Marbles--statues, busts, urns, vases, bassi-relievi, and fragments of +great value from Grecian and Roman works. This collection was formed +during the last century, being gathered by the then earl from various +sources. In the hall are statues, but its chief interest comes from the +numerous suits of armor with which it is adorned, chiefly memorials of +the battle of St. Quentin, fought in 1557, when the Earl of Pembroke +commanded the British forces. One of the suits was worn by the earl +himself, and two others by the Constable of France and the Duc de +Montpensier, both being taken prisoner. On either side are entrances to +various apartments containing valuable paintings. The chief of these is +the "Family Picture," regarded as Vandyke's masterpiece--seventeen feet +long and eleven feet high, and filling one end of the drawing-room. It +contains ten full-length figures--Philip, Earl of Pembroke, and his +countess and their children. Above them, hovering in the clouds, are +three other children, who died in early life. In the Double Cube-room, +which is regarded as a gem in its way and has a most magnificent +fireplace, there are some thirteen other paintings by Vandyke. Other +paintings by Italian masters are also distributed on the walls of the +various apartments, but the Vandykes are regarded as the gems of the +collection. The library is a large and lofty apartment, with an +oak-panelled ceiling, and a fine collection of volumes with appropriate +furnishing. Out of the library window the western view over the terrace +discloses charming pleasure-grounds, laid out in the Italian style from +designs by a former Countess of Pembroke, while in the background is a +beautiful porch constructed by Holbein. To the gardens, summer-houses +and conservatories add their attractions, while beyond is the valley of +the Nadder, over which a picturesque bridge leads to the park. This +bridge has an Ionic colonnade, and in the park are some of the finest +cedars to be seen in the kingdom. Here, it is said, Sir Philip Sidney +wrote _Arcadia_, and the work shows that he drew much inspiration from +these gardens and grounds, for it abounds in lifelike descriptions of +Nature. + +[Illustration: LIBRARY WINDOW.] + +At Wilton also lived George Herbert the poet, and later Sidney Herbert, +who was afterwards made Lord Herbert of Lea, and whose son is now the +thirteenth Earl of Pembroke. A statue of Sidney Herbert has already been +referred to as standing in Pall Mall, London, and another is in +Salisbury. He was secretary of war, yet was the gentle and genial +advocate of peace and charity to all mankind, and his premature death +was regarded as a public calamity. He erected in 1844 the graceful New +Church at Wilton. It was the Earls of Pembroke in the last century who +were chiefly instrumental in bringing the manufacturers of fine carpets +over from France and Flanders and laying the foundation of that trade, +in which England now far surpasses those countries. The factory at +Axminster, on the southern coast, was also afterwards transferred to +Wilton. These carpets are all hand-made, and the higher class, which are +an inch or more in thickness and of the softness of down when trod upon, +are also of the most gorgeous design and brilliancy of colors. + + +BATH. + +Crossing over the hills to the north-west of Salisbury Plain, we descend +to the attractive valley of another river Avon, and come to the "Queen +of all the Spas in the World," the city of Bath. It is the chief town of +Somersetshire, and is surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills. The abbey +and principal streets are in the valley, while above, on its northern +slope, rise terraces and crescents, tier upon tier, to a height of +nearly eight hundred feet, the most conspicuous being the Royal and the +Lansdowne Crescents. Many of the buildings are handsome, and are +constructed of the white great-oolite, known as bath-stone. To its +waters this famous resort owes its importance, but from an insignificant +place Bath has risen to the highest point of popularity as a fashionable +watering-place and in architectural magnificence through the genius of +Architect Wood and Master-of-Ceremonies Beau Nash. The legendary king +Bladud is said to have first discovered the Bath waters twenty-seven +hundred years ago, and to have built a town there and dedicated the +medicinal springs to Minerva, so that "Bladud's Well" has passed into a +proverb of sparkling inexhaustibility. The Romans, passionately attached +to the luxury of the hot springs, made Bath one of their chief stations, +and here and in the neighborhood the foundations of their extensive +buildings have been traced, with the remains of altars, baths, +tessellated pavements, and ornaments, and few British towns can produce +such a collection of Roman relics. In the height of the Roman power in +the fifth century the city extended nearly three miles along the valley, +and was surrounded by a wall twenty feet high and nine feet thick. Such +a fascinating spot was naturally selected for the foundation of a +religious house at an early period, and we consequently find that the +abbey of Bath was built by King Offa in the eighth century, and +refounded by King Edgar in the tenth century. It existed until the +dissolution in 1539. The church fell into decay in the reign of Henry +VII., and the present abbey-church was then built, being for a long time +unfinished. It has recently been restored. It stands at the southern +extremity of High Street, and is a fine specimen of Perpendicular +Gothic, the plan being a cross, with a tower at the intersection rising +one hundred and sixty-two feet and flanked by octagonal turrets. The +church is two hundred and ten feet long, and has a fan-traced, +stone-vaulted roof seventy-eight feet high, while the western front +contains a magnificent window flanked by turrets carved with angels, who +are ascending and descending, but have, unfortunately, all lost their +heads. The Pump Room, which is one of the chief buildings, is a +classical structure with a Corinthian portico bearing the motto, "Water, +best of elements!" A band plays in the spacious saloon, which also +contains a statue of the genius of Bath, Beau Nash, whose monument is in +the abbey-church. Here the waters, which are the hottest in England, +reaching a temperature of 120 deg., tumble continually from a +drinking-fountain into a serpentine basin beneath. There are numerous +other baths replete with comforts for the invalid, for this is +essentially a hospital town, and the city also contains many stately +public and private buildings, and its Victoria Park and Sydney Gardens +are beautiful and popular resorts. The wild scenery of the neighborhood +provides myriads of attractive drives and walks, while on top of +Lansdowne Hill, where Beckford is buried, is his tower, one hundred and +fifty feet high and commanding extensive views. The Bath waters, which +are alkaline-sulphurous with a slight proportion of iron, are considered +beneficial for palsy, rheumatism, gout, and scrofulous and cutaneous +affections. The chief spring discharges one hundred and twenty-eight +gallons a minute. While a hundred years ago Bath was at the height of +its celebrity, the German spas have since diverted part of the stream of +visitors. + + +FONTHILL AND BECKFORD. + +It was at Bath that Pitt and Sheridan lived, but its most eccentric +resident was William Beckford, the author of _Vathek_, who came to Bath +from Fonthill, not far from Salisbury. His father, a London alderman, +owned Fonthill, and died in 1770, leaving his son William, aged ten, +with $5,000,000 ready money and $500,000 annual income. He wrote +_Vathek_ in early life after extensive travels, but founded its scenes +and characters upon places and people at Fonthill. He then began +building Fonthill Abbey, shrouding his proceedings in the greatest +mystery and surrounding his estate with a wall twelve feet high and +seven miles long, guarded by _chevaux-de-frise_ to keep out intruders. +The building of the abbey was to him a romance pursued with wild +enthusiasm. So anxious was he to get it finished that he employed relays +of men, working day and night and throughout Sunday, keeping them +liberally supplied with liquor. The first tower was built of wood, four +hundred feet high, to see its effect, and it was then taken down and the +same form put up in wood covered with cement. This fell down, and the +third tower was built of masonry. When the idea of the abbey occurred to +Beckford he was extending a small summer-house, but he was in such a +hurry that he would not remove the summer-house to make a proper +foundation for the tower, but carried it up on the walls already +standing, the work being done in wretched style and chiefly by +semi-drunken men. He employed five hundred men day and night at the +work, and once the torches used set fire to the tower at the top, a +sight that he greatly enjoyed. Beckford lived at the abbey, practically +a hermit, for nearly twenty years, but his fortunes being impaired he +removed to Bath in 1822. Preparatory to selling Fonthill, he opened the +long-sealed place to public exhibition at a guinea a ticket, and sold +seventy-two hundred tickets. Then for thirty-seven days he conducted an +auction-sale of the treasures at Fonthill, charging a half-guinea +admission. He ultimately sold the estate for $1,750,000. In 1825 the +tower, which had been insecurely built, fell with a great crash, and so +frightened the new owner, who was an invalid, that, though unhurt by +the disaster, he died soon afterwards. The estate was again sold and the +abbey taken down, so that now only the foundations can be traced. + + +BRISTOL. + +Proceeding about twelve miles down the beautiful valley of the Avon, we +come to its junction with the Frome, where is located the ancient city +and port of Bristol, the capital of the west of England. A magnificent +suspension-bridge spans the gorge of the Avon, connecting Bristol with +its suburb of Clifton, and it is believed that the earliest settlements +by the Romans were on the heights of Clifton and the adjoining Brandon +Hill. The Saxons called it Bright-stow, or the "Illustrious City;" from +this the name changed to Bristow, as it was known in the twelfth +century, and Bristold in the reign of Henry III. When the original +owners concluded that it was time to come down from the hills, they +founded the city in the valley at the junction of the two rivers. A +market-cross was erected where the main streets joined, and Bristow +Castle was built at the eastern extremity, where the Avon makes a +right-angled bend. The town was surrounded with walls, and in the +thirteenth century the course of the Frome was diverted in order to make +a longer quay and get more room for buildings. Few traces remain of the +old castle, but portions of the ancient walls can still be seen. In the +fifteenth century the city-walls were described as lofty and massive and +protected by twenty-five embattled towers, some round and some square. +The abbey of St. Augustine was also then flourishing, having been +founded in the twelfth century. Bristol was in the Middle Ages the +second port of England, enjoying lucrative trade with all parts of the +world, and in the fifteenth century a Bristol ship carrying nine hundred +tons was looked upon with awe as a leviathan of the ocean. Sebastian +Cabot, the great explorer, was a native of Bristol, and his expeditions +were fitted out there, and it was Bristol that in 1838 built and sent +out the first English steamer that crossed the Atlantic, the Great +Western. It still enjoys a lucrative trade, and has recently opened new +docks at the mouth of the Avon, seven miles below the city, so that this +venerable port may be considered as renewing its prosperous career. It +has over two hundred thousand population, and in past times had the +honor of being represented in Parliament by Edmund Burke. When ancient +Bristol was in its heyday, Macaulay says the streets were so narrow that +a coach or cart was in danger of getting wedged between the buildings or +falling into the cellars. Therefore, goods were conveyed about the town +almost exclusively in trucks drawn by dogs, and the wealthy inhabitants +exhibited their riches not by riding in gilded carriages, but by +walking about the streets followed by a train of servants in gorgeous +liveries and by keeping tables laden with good cheer. The pomp of +christenings and funerals then far exceeded anything seen in any other +part of England, and the hospitality of the city was widely renowned. +This was especially the case with the banquets given by the guild of +sugar-refiners, where the drink was a rich beverage made of Spanish wine +and known as "Bristol milk." In 1831 the opposition of the Recorder of +Bristol to the Reform Bill resulted in serious riots, causing a great +fire that burned the Mansion House and a large number of other prominent +buildings. The troops suppressed the riots after shooting several +rioters, and four were afterwards hanged and twenty-six transported. The +city has since enjoyed a tranquil history. + +[Illustration: BRISTOL CATHEDRAL, FROM COLLEGE GREEN.] + +[Illustration: NORMAN DOORWAY, COLLEGE GREEN.] + +Bristol Cathedral was the convent-church of St. Augustine's Abbey, and +was begun in the twelfth century. It formerly consisted only of the +choir and transepts, the nave having been destroyed in the fifteenth +century, but the nave was rebuilt in uniform style with the remainder of +the church in 1876. The cathedral presents a mixture of architectural +styles, and in it are the tombs of the Earls of Berkeley, who were its +benefactors for generations. Among them was Maurice, Lord Berkeley, who +died in 1368 from wounds received at Poictiers. The abbot, John Newland, +or Nail-heart, was also a benefactor of the abbey, and is said to have +erected the magnificent Norman doorway to the west of it leading to the +college green. The most attractive portion of the interior of the +cathedral is the north aisle of the choir, known as the Berkeley Chapel, +a beautiful specimen of Early English style. The side-aisles of the +choir are of the same height as the central aisle, and in the transepts +are monuments to Bishop Butler, author of the _Analogy_, and to Robert +Southey, who was a native of Bristol. This cathedral is not yet +complete, the external ornamentation of the nave and the upper portions +of the western towers being unfinished. Forty-seven bishops have sat +upon the episcopal throne of Bristol. The old market-cross, which stood +for four centuries in Bristol, was removed in the last century, but in +1860 it was replaced by a modern one erected upon the college green. The +church of St. Mary Redcliffe, standing upon a red sandstone rock on the +south side of the Avon, is the finest church in Bristol, and Chatterton +calls it the "Pride of Bristowe and Western Londe." It is an Early +Perpendicular structure, two hundred and thirty-one feet long, with a +steeple rising over two hundred feet, founded in the twelfth century, +but enlarged and rebuilt in the fifteenth century by William Canynge, +who was then described as "the richest merchant of Bristow, and chosen +five times mayor of the said town." He and his wife Joan have their +monuments in the church, and upon his tomb is inscribed the list of his +ships. He entered holy orders in his declining years, and founded a +college at Westbury, whither he retired. It has for many years been the +custom for the mayor and corporation of Bristol to attend this church on +Whitsunday in state, when the pavement is strewn with rushes and the +building decorated with flowers. In the western entrance is suspended a +bone of a large whale, which, according to tradition, is the rib of the +dun cow that anciently supplied Bristol with her milk. Sebastian Cabot, +in all probability, presented the city with this bone after his +discovery of Newfoundland. The chief popular interest in St. Mary +Redcliffe, however, is its connection with Thomas Chatterton, born in a +neighboring street in 1752, the son of a humble schoolmaster, who +ultimately went up to London to write for the booksellers, and there +committed suicide at the early age of seventeen. A monument to this +precocious genius, who claimed to have recovered ancient manuscripts +from the church-archives, stands in the churchyard. Bristol is full of +old and quaint churches and narrow yet picturesque streets, with lofty +gabled timber-houses. + +[Illustration: CLIFTON SUSPENSION-BRIDGE, BRISTOL.] + +The great gorge of the Avon, five hundred feet deep, is, however, its +most attractive possession. The suspension-bridge, erected by the +munificence of a citizen, spans this gorge at the height of two hundred +and eighty-seven feet, and cost nearly $500,000. It is twelve hundred +and twenty feet long, and has a single span of seven hundred and three +feet crossing the ravine between St. Vincent's Rocks and the Leigh +Woods. Alongside this gorge rises Brandon Hill, which Queen Elizabeth +sold to two citizens of Bristol, who in turn sold it to the city, with a +proviso that the corporation should there "admit the drying of clothes +by the townswomen, as had been accustomed;" and to this day its western +slope is still used as a clothes-drying ground. From this the tradition +arose--which, however, Bristol denounces as a libel--"that the queen +gave the use of this hill to poor freemen's daughters as a dowry, +because she took compassion on the many plain faces which she saw in one +of her visits." Some hot springs issue out of St. Vincent's Rocks, and +these give Clifton fame as a watering-place. A fine pump-house has been +built there, and the waters are said to be useful in pulmonary +complaints. From this beginning large and ornamental suburbs have been +terraced on the rocks and hills above the springs, while on the summit +is an observatory. There is a hermitage cave of great antiquity carved +in the perpendicular face of the rock just above the river, and known as +the "Giant's Hole." The entire neighborhood is full of charming scenery, +and thus the ancient port presents varied attractions, combining +business profit with recreation, while from the hilltops there are +glorious views extending far down Bristol Channel to the dim hills of +South Wales. + + +WELLS. + +[Illustration: WELLS CATHEDRAL, FROM THE BISHOP'S GARDEN.] + +[Illustration: WELLS CATHEDRAL, FROM THE SWAN POOL.] + +Proceeding southward into Somersetshire, we arrive at the cathedral city +of Wells, which is united with Bath in the well-known bishopric of Bath +and Wells, and is considered the most completely representative +ecclesiastical city in England. It gets its name from its numerous +springs, taking their rise from the wells in the Bishop's Garden, where +they form a lake of great beauty, while bright, clear water runs through +various streets of the town. After leaving the edge of the Bristol +Channel the plain of the Somersetshire lowlands is bordered by rocky +uplands, of which the most important is the elevated plateau known as +the Mendip Hills, carved on the outside with winding valleys having +precipitous sides. Wells nestles in a wide grassy basin at the foot of +the Mendips, its entire history being ecclesiastical, and that not very +eventful. It never had a castle, and no defensive works beyond the wall +and moat enclosing the bishop's palace. It seems to have had its origin +from the Romans, who worked lead-mines among the Mendips, but the first +fact actually known about it is that the Saxon king Ina established here +a house of secular canons "near a spring dedicated to St. Andrew." It +grew in importance and privileges until it became a bishopric, there +having been fifteen bishops prior to the Norman Conquest. The double +title of Bishop of Bath and Wells was first assumed in the days of King +Stephen. In looking at the town from a distance two buildings rise +conspicuously--the belfry of St. Cuthbert's Church and the group of +triple towers crowning the cathedral. There are few aggregations of +ecclesiastical buildings in England that surpass those of Wells, with +the attractive gateways and antique houses of the close, the grand +facade of the cathedral, and the episcopal palace with its ruined +banquet-hall and surrounding moat. From the ancient market-square of the +city, stone gateways surmounted by gray towers give access, one to the +close and the other to the enclosure of the palace. Entering the close, +the western front of the cathedral is seen, the most beautiful facade of +its kind in Britain--an exquisite piece of Early English architecture, +with Perpendicular towers and unrivalled sculptures rising tier upon +tier, with architectural accompaniments such as are only to be found at +Chartres or Rheims. The old Saxon cathedral lasted until Bishop +Jocelyn's time in the thirteenth century, when he began a systematic +rebuilding, which was not finished until the days of Bishop Beckington +in the fifteenth century, who completed the gateways and cloisters. +Entering the cathedral, the strange spectacle is at once seen of +singular inverted arches under the central tower, forming a cross of +St. Andrew, to whom the building is dedicated. These arches were +inserted subsequently to the erection of the tower to strengthen its +supports--an ingenious contrivance not without a certain beauty. The +choir is peculiar and beautiful, and produces a wonderful effect, due to +its groups of arches, the Lady Chapel and retro-choir, and the rich +splendors of the stained glass. The chapter-house, north-east of the +northern transept, is built over a crypt, and is octagonal in plan, the +roof supported by a central column, while the crypt beneath has an +additional ring of columns. The cloisters are south of the cathedral, +having three walks, with galleries above the eastern and western walks, +the former being the library. Through the eastern wall of the cloisters +a door leads to a private garden, in which and in the Bishop's Garden +adjoining are the wells that name the city. The most important of these +is St. Andrew's Well, whence a spring issues into a large pool. The +water from the wells falls by two cascades into the surrounding moat, +and a conduit also takes away some of it to supply the town. From the +edge of the pool is the most striking view of the cathedral. + +[Illustration: VIEW UNDER CENTRAL TOWER, WELLS CATHEDRAL.] + +[Illustration: RUINS OF THE OLD BANQUET-HALL.] + +The close is surrounded by various ancient houses, and the embattled +wall with its bastioned towers and moat encloses about fifteen acres. +Here is the gateway known as the "Bishop's Eye," and another called the +"Dean's Eye," the deanery where Henry VII. was entertained in 1497, the +archdeanery, coming down from the thirteenth century, and the beautiful +Chain Gate in the north-east corner that connects the cathedral with the +Vicar's Close. The latter, one of the most peculiar features of Wells, +is a long and narrow court entered through an archway, and having +ancient houses with modernized fittings on either hand. Bishop Ralph of +Shrewsbury erected this close in the fourteenth century, and his +monumental inscription in the cathedral tells us he was a great +sportsman, who "destroyed by hunting all the wild beasts of the great +forest of Cheddar." The moat and wall completely surround the bishop's +palace, and its northern front overhangs the moat, where an oriel +window is pointed out as the room where Bishop Kidder and his wife were +killed by the falling of a stack of chimneys upon their bed, blown down +by the terrible gale of 1703 that swept away the Eddystone Lighthouse. +It was Bishop Ralph who made the walls and moat as a defence against the +monks of Bath, who had threatened to kill him; Bishop Jocelyn built the +palace. Adjoining it is the great banquet-hall, of which only the +northern and western walls remain, in ruins. It was a magnificent hall, +destroyed from mere greed. After the alienation of the monasteries it +fell into the hands of Sir John Gates, who tore it partly down to sell +the materials; but happily, as the antiquarian relates, Gates was +beheaded in 1553 for complicity in Lady Jane Grey's attempt to reach the +throne, and the desecration was stopped. Afterwards, Parliament sold +Wells for a nominal price to Dr. Burgess, and he renewed the spoliation, +but, fortunately again, the Restoration came; he had to give up his +spoils, and died in jail. Thus was the remnant of the ruin saved. It was +in this hall that Whiting, the last abbot of Glastonbury, was condemned, +and hanged on Tor Hill above his own abbey. The great bishops of Wells +were the episcopal Nimrod Ralph, and Beckington, who left his mark so +strongly on the cathedral and town. He was a weaver's son, born at the +village of Beckington, near the town of Frome, and from it got his name. +Hadrian de Castello, who had a romantic history, became Bishop of Wells +in 1504. Pope Alexander VI. made him a cardinal, and afterwards tried to +poison him with some others at a banquet; by mistake the pope himself +drank of the poisoned wine, and died. The bishop afterwards entered +into a conspiracy against Leo X., but, being detected, escaped from Rome +in disguise and disappeared. Wolsey was Bishop of Wells at one time, but +the most illustrious prelate who held the see after the Reformation was +Thomas Ken. He was educated at Winchester, and afterwards became a +prebend of the cathedral there. Charles II. paid a visit to Winchester, +and, bringing Nell Gwynne with him, Ken was asked to allow her to occupy +his house. He flatly refused, which had just the opposite effect upon +the king to that which would be supposed, for he actually respected Ken +for it, and when the see of Wells became vacant he offered it to "the +little fellow who would not give poor Nelly a lodging." Ken attended the +king's deathbed shortly afterwards. He was very popular in the diocese, +and after the Sedgemoor battle he succored the fugitives, and with the +Bishop of Ely gave spiritual consolation to the unfortunate Duke of +Monmouth on the scaffold. Ken was one of the six bishops committed by +James II. to the Tower, but, strangely enough, he declined to take the +oaths of allegiance to William III., and, being deprived of preferment, +retired to the home of his nephew, Izaak Walton. All reverence his +sanctity and courage, and admire his morning and evening hymns, written +in a summer-house in the Bishop's Garden. + +[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE CHEDDAR CLIFFS.] + +[Illustration: HIGH ROCKS AT CHEDDAR.] + +The Mendip Hills, with their picturesque gorges and winding valleys, +were formerly a royal forest. It was here that King Edmund was hunting +the red deer when his horse took fright and galloped towards the brow of +the highest part of the Cheddar Cliffs. Shortly before, the king had +quarrelled with Dunstan, and expelled the holy man from his court. As +the horse galloped with him to destruction, he vowed if preserved to +make amends. The horse halted on the brink as if checked by an unseen +hand, and the king immediately sought Dunstan and made him abbot of +Glastonbury. These hills were the haunt of the fiercest wild beasts in +England, and their caves still furnish relics of lions to a larger +extent than any other part of the kingdom. The most remarkable deposit +of these bones is in the Wookey Hole, on the southern edge of the +Mendips, about two miles from Wells. At the head of a short and +picturesque glen, beneath an ivy-festooned cliff, is a cavern whence the +river Axe issues and flows down the glen. The cave that disclosed the +animal bones is on the left bank of the glen, and was but recently +discovered in making a mill-race. It also contained about three hundred +old Roman coins, rude flint implements, and skeletons of a mammoth and +woolly rhinoceros. The larger cave, which is hung with fine stalactites, +can be explored for some distance. Near the entrance is a mass of rock +known as the Witch of Wookey, who was turned into stone there by a +timely prayer from a monk who opportunely arrived from Glastonbury. The +underground course of the Axe in and beyond this cave is traced for at +least two miles. The Mendips contain other pretty glens and gorges, and +from the summit of their cliffs can be seen the valley of the Axe +winding away southward, while to the westward the scene broadens into +the level plains that border the Bristol Channel, guarded on either side +by the hills of Exmoor and of Wales. Little villages cluster around the +bases of the hills, the most noted being Cheddar, famous for its cheese, +straggling about the entrance to a gorge in which caves are numerous, +each closed by a door, where an admission-fee is charged. Some of them +are lighted with gas and entered upon paved paths. Lead-and zinc-mines +are worked in the glens, and above Cheddar rises the Black Down to a +height of eleven hundred feet, the most elevated summit of the Mendips. + + +GLASTONBURY. + +About six miles south-west of Wells is the ancient Isle of Avelon, where +St. Patrick is said to have spent the closing years of his life, and +where are the ruins of one of the earliest and most extensive religious +houses in England--Glastonbury Abbey. A sixpence is charged to visit the +ruins, which adjoin the chief street, but the remnants of the vast +church, that was nearly six hundred feet long, are scanty. Of the +attendant buildings there only remain the abbot's kitchen and an +adjoining gateway, now converted into an inn. This kitchen is about +thirty-four feet square within the walls and seventy-two feet high. The +church ruins include some of the walls and tower-foundations, with a +well-preserved and exceedingly rich chapel dedicated to St. Joseph. On +the High Street is the old George Inn, which was the hostelrie for the +pilgrims, built in the reign of Edward IV. and still used. It is fronted +by a splendid mass of panelling, and the central gateway has a +bay-window alongside rising the entire height of the house. The church +of St. John the Baptist in Glastonbury has a fine tower, elevated one +hundred and forty feet and richly adorned with canopied niches, being +crowned by an open-work parapet and slender pinnacles. Almost the entire +town of Glastonbury is either constructed from spoils of the abbey or +else is made up of parts of its buildings. One of the most +characteristic of the preserved buildings is the Tribunal, now a suite +of lawyers' offices. Its deeply-recessed lower windows and the oriel +above have a venerable appearance, while beyond rises the tower of St. +John the Baptist. Behind the town is the "Weary-all Hill," from which +arose the foundation of the monastery. Tradition tells that Joseph of +Arimathea, toiling up the steep ascent, drove his thorn staff into the +ground and said to his followers that they would rest there. The thorn +budded, and still flowers, it is said, in winter. This was regarded as +an omen, and they constructed the abbey there around the chapel of St. +Joseph. The ponderous abbot's kitchen, we are told, was built by the +last abbot, who boasted, when Henry VIII. threatened to burn the +monastery, that he would have a kitchen that all the wood in Mendip +Forest could not burn down. King Arthur was buried at Glastonbury, and a +veracious historian in the twelfth century wrote that he was present at +the disinterment of the remains of the king and his wife. "The shin-bone +of the king," he says, "when placed side by side with that of a tall +man, reached three fingers above his knee, and his skull was fearfully +wounded." The remains of King Arthur's wife, which were quite perfect, +fell into dust upon exposure to the air. + +[Illustration: GLASTONBURY TRIBUNAL.] + + +SEDGEMOOR BATTLEFIELD. + +Proceeding westward towards the Bristol Channel, the low and marshy +plain of Sedgemoor is reached. Much of it is reclaimed from the sea, and +here and there the surface is broken by isolated knolls, there being +some two hundred square miles of this region, with the range of Polden +Hills extending through it and rising in some places three hundred feet +high. In earlier times this was an exact reproduction of the +Cambridgeshire fenland, and then, we are told, + + "The flood of the Severn Sea flowed over half the plain, + And a hundred capes, with huts and trees, above the flood remain; + 'Tis water here and water there, and the lordly Parrett's way + Hath never a trace on its pathless face, as in the former day." + +It is changed now, being thoroughly drained, but in the days of the +Saxons the river Parrett was the frontier of Wessex, and one of its +districts sheltered Alfred from the first onset of the Danish invasion +when he retreated to the fastnesses of the Isle of Athelney. In the +epoch of the Normans and in the Civil War there was fighting all along +the Parrett. After the defeat at Naseby the Royalists, under Lord +Goring, on July 10, 1645, met their foes on the bank of the Parrett, +near Langport, were defeated and put to flight, losing fourteen thousand +prisoners, and the king's troops never made a stand afterwards. +Bridgwater is a quiet town of about twelve thousand people on the +Parrett, a half dozen miles from the sea, and in its churchyard reposes +Oldmixon, who was made collector of customs here as a reward for his +abusive writings, in the course of which he virulently attacked Pope. +The poet retorted by giving Oldmixon a prominent place in the _Dunciad_, +where at a diving-match in the putrid waters of Fleet Ditch, which +"rolls the large tribute of dead dogs to the Thames," the heroes are +bidden to "prove who best can dash through thick and thin, and who the +most in love of dirt excel." And thus the Bridgwater collector: + + "In naked majesty Oldmixon stands, + And Milo-like surveys his arms and hands, + Then sighing thus, 'And am I now threescore? + And why ye gods should two and two make four?' + He said, and climbed a stranded lighter's height. + Shot to the black abyss, and plunged downright." + +In the Market Inn at Bridgwater Admiral Blake was born, who never held a +naval command until past the age of fifty, and then triumphed over the +Dutch and the Spaniards, disputing Van Tromp's right to hoist a broom at +his masthead, and burned the Spanish fleet in the harbor of Santa Cruz. +He was buried in Westminster Abbey, but Charles II. ejected his bones. +Bridgwater is now chiefly noted for its bath bricks, made of a mixture +of clay and sand deposited near there by the tidal currents. + +[Illustration: SEDGEMOOR, FROM COCK HILL.] + +[Illustration: WESTON ZOYLAND CHURCH.] + +It was from the Bridgwater church tower that the unfortunate son of +Charles II. and Lucy Walters, who had been proclaimed "King Monmouth," +looked out upon the grassy plains towards the eastward before venturing +the last contest for the kingdom. This view is over Sedgemoor, the scene +of the last fight deserving the name of a battle that has been fought on +British ground. It is a long tract of morass lying between the foot of +the Polden Hills and the Parrett River, but with a fringe of somewhat +higher ground along the latter, where are Weston Zoyland, Chedzoy, and +Middlezoy, each a hamlet clustering around its old church, that at +Weston Zoyland being surmounted by an attractive square tower over one +hundred feet high. Monmouth had been proclaimed king by the mayor and +corporation of Bridgwater June 21, 1685, but had been checked at Bath, +and fell back again to Bridgwater, where his army was encamped on the +Castle Field. He had been three weeks in the kingdom without marked +success, and the royal army was closing in upon him. Four thousand +troops under Lord Feversham marched westward, and on the Sunday evening +of July 5th, when Monmouth looked out from the tower, had encamped upon +Sedgemoor about three miles from Bridgwater. Monmouth had seven thousand +men to oppose them, but his forces were mostly undisciplined and badly +armed, some having only scythes fastened on poles. The moor was then +partly reclaimed and intersected by trenches, and Feversham's +headquarters was at Weston Zoyland, where the royal cavalry were +encamped, with the other troops at Middlezoy and Chedzoy beyond. +Monmouth saw that their divisions were somewhat separated, and that his +only hope was a night-attack. At midnight he started, marching his army +by a circuitous route to the royal camp, strict silence being observed +and not a drum beaten or a shot fired. Three ditches had to be crossed +to reach the camp, two of which Monmouth knew of, but he was +unfortunately ignorant of the third, called the Bussex Rhine, behind +which the camp had been made. A fog came down over the moor; the first +ditch was crossed successfully, but the guide missing his way caused +some confusion before the second was reached, during which a pistol was +discharged that aroused a sentinel, who rode off and gave the alarm. As +the royal drums beat to arms Monmouth rapidly advanced, when he suddenly +found himself checked by the Bussex Rhine, behind which the royal army +was forming in line of battle in the fog. "For whom are you?" demanded a +royal officer. "For the king," replied a voice from the rebel cavalry. +"For what king?" was demanded. The answer was a shout for "King +Monmouth," mingled with Cromwell's old war-cry of "God with us!" +Immediately the royal troops replied with a terrific volley of musketry +that sent the rebel cavalry flying in all directions. Monmouth, then +coming up with the infantry, was startled to find the broad ditch in +front of him. His troops halted on the edge, and for three quarters of +an hour the opposing forces fired volleys at each other across the +ditch. But the end was not far off. John Churchill was a subordinate in +the royal army and formed its line of battle, thus indicating the future +triumphs of the Duke of Marlborough. Then the royal cavalry came up, and +in a few minutes the rebels were routed, and Monmouth, seeing all was +lost, rode from the field. His foot-soldiers, with their scythes and +butt-ends of muskets, made a gallant stand, fighting like old soldiers, +though their ammunition was all gone. To conquer them the artillery were +brought up, for which service the Bishop of Winchester loaned his +coach-horses. The cannon were ill served, but routed the rebels, and +then the infantry poured over the ditch and put them to flight. The king +lost three hundred killed and wounded; the rebel loss was at least a +thousand slain, while there was little mercy for the survivors. The sun +rose over a field of carnage, with the king's cavalry hacking and hewing +among their fleeing foes. Monmouth, with one or two followers, was by +this time far away among the hills, but was afterwards captured in the +New Forest, and ended his life on the scaffold. The Sedgemoor carnage +went on all the morning; the fugitives poured into Bridgwater with the +pursuers at their heels; five hundred prisoners were crowded into Weston +Zoyland Church, and the next day a long row of gibbets appeared on the +road between the town and the church. Bridgwater suffered under a reign +of terror from Colonel Kirke and his "Lambs," who put a hundred +prisoners to death during the week following the battle, and treated the +others with great cruelty. Then Judge Jeffreys came there to execute +judicial tortures, and by his harsh and terrible administration of the +law, and his horrible cruelties and injustice, gained the reputation +that has ever since been execrated. + +Six miles south-east of Bridgwater is the Isle of Athelney, a peninsula +in the marsh between the Parrett and the Tone. Here King Alfred sought +refuge from the Danes until he could get time to mature the plans that +ultimately drove them from his kingdom. It was while here that the +incident of the burned cakes occurred. The king was disguised as a +peasant, and, living in a swineherd's cottage, performed various menial +offices. The good wife left him in charge of some cakes that were +baking, with instructions to turn them at the proper time. His mind +wandered in thought and he forgot his trust. The good wife returned, +found the cakes burning, and the guest dreaming by the fireside; she +lost her temper, and expressed a decided opinion about the lazy lout who +was ready enough to eat, but less ready to work. In the seventeenth +century there was found in the marshes here a jewel that Alfred had +lost: it is of gold and enamel, bearing words signifying, "Alfred had me +wrought." The following spring (878) he sallied forth, defeated the +Danes in Wiltshire, and captured their king Guthram, who was afterwards +baptized near Athelney by the name of AEthelstan; they still show his +baptismal font in Aller Church, near by. + +[Illustration: THE ISLE OF ATHELNEY.] + + +SHERBORNE. + +[Illustration: SHERBORNE.] + +Crossing over from Somersetshire into Dorsetshire, we arrive in the +northern part of that county at Sherborne, which was one of the earliest +religious establishments in this part of England, having been founded by +King Ina in the eighth century. Here was the see that was removed to Old +Sarum in the eleventh century, and subsequently to Salisbury. After the +removal, Sherborne became an abbey, and its remains are to be seen in +the parish church, which still exists, of Norman architecture, and +having a low central tower supported by massive piers. The porch is +almost all that survives of the original structure, the remainder having +been burned in 1436, but afterwards restored. Within this church are +buried the Saxon kings, AEthelbald and AEthelbert, the brothers of King +Alfred. Such of the domestic buildings of the abbey as have been +preserved are now the well-known Sherborne Grammar-School. The great +bell of the abbey was given it by Cardinal Wolsey, and weighed sixty +thousand pounds. It bears this motto: + + "By Wolsey's gift I measure time for all; + To mirth, to grief, to church, I serve to call." + +It was unfortunately cracked in 1858, but has been recast. The chief +fame of Sherborne, however, is as the home of Sir Walter Raleigh, of +whom Napier says that his "fortunes were alike remarkable for enviable +success and pitiable reverses. Raised to eminent station through the +favor of the greatest female sovereign of England, he perished on the +scaffold through the dislike and cowardly policy of the meanest of her +kings." The original castle of Sherborne was built in the reign of Henry +I., and its owner bestowed it upon the bishopric of Old Sarum with +certain lands, accompanying the gift with a perpetual curse "that +whosoever should take these lands from the bishopric, or diminish them +in great or small, should be accursed, not only in this world, but in +the world to come, unless in his lifetime he made restitution thereof." +Herein tradition says was the seed of Raleigh's misfortunes. King +Stephen dispossessed the lands, and gave them to the Montagues, who met +with grievous disasters, the estate ultimately reverting to the Church. +In Edward VI.'s reign Sherborne was conveyed to the Duke of Somerset, +but he was beheaded. Again they reverted to the Church, until one day +Raleigh, journeying from Plymouth to London, the ancient historian says, +"the castle being right in the way, he cast such an eye upon it as Ahab +did upon Naboth's vineyard, and once, above the rest, being talking of +it, of the commodiousness of the place, and of the great strength of the +seat, and how easily it might be got from the bishopric, suddenly over +and over came his horse, that his very face (which was then thought a +very good one) ploughed up the earth where he fell. This fall was +ominous, and no question he was apt to consider it so." But Raleigh did +not falter, notwithstanding the omen. He begged and obtained the grant +of the castle from Queen Elizabeth, and then married Elizabeth +Throgmorton and returned there, building himself a new house surrounded +by ornamental gardens and orchards. He settled the estate ultimately +upon his son, but his enemies got King James to take it away and give it +to a young Scotch favorite, Robert Carr, afterwards Earl of Somerset. +Lady Raleigh upon her knees, with her children, appealed to James not to +do this, but it was of no avail. The king only answered, "I mun have the +land; I mun have it for Carr." She was a woman of high spirit, and while +still on her knees she prayed God to punish those who had wrongfully +exposed her and her children to ruin. Carr met with constant +misfortunes, being ultimately implicated in a murder and imprisoned. +James's son Charles, afterwards king, aided to bring Raleigh to the +block, while the widow had the satisfaction of living long enough to be +assured that Charles would meet the same fate. The remains of the +castle are at the east end of Sherborne, covering about four acres on a +rocky eminence surrounded by a ditch. The gate-tower and portions of the +walls and buildings still exist. The house that Raleigh built is now +called the "Castle," and has since had extensive wings added to it, with +a fine lake between it and the old castle-ruins, surrounded by +attractive pleasure-grounds and a park. This famous estate fell into +possession of the Earl of Digby, and is now a home of G. D. Wingfield +Digby, Esq., being a popular resort in the hunting-season. + + +THE COAST OF DORSET. + +The river Avon upon which Salisbury stands--for there are several of +these Avon Rivers in England--flows southward between Dorsetshire and +Hampshire, and falls into the Channel. Westward from its mouth extends a +line of sandy cliffs, broken by occasional ravines or chines, past +Bournemouth to Poole Harbor, a broad estuary surrounded by low hills +which is protected by a high ridge of chalk rocks on its south-western +side running out into the sea. The sleepy town of Poole stands on the +shore, having dim recollections of its ships and commerce of centuries +ago. It was a nursery for privateersmen, and many are the exploits +recorded of them. It was also, from the intricacy of its creeks and the +roving character of its people, a notorious place for smuggling. Poole +is an old-fashioned, brick-built town, with a picturesque gateway yet +remaining as a specimen of its ancient defences. In the vale of the +Stour, which here debouches, is the ancient minster of Wimborne, founded +in the reign of King Ina by his sister, and containing the grave of the +Saxon king AEthelred. It is not remarkable excepting for its age, and for +having had for its dean Reginald Pole before he became a cardinal. The +ancient and shrunken town of Wareham is also near by, having had quite a +military history, but being almost destroyed by fire in 1762, from which +it never recovered. It has now but three churches out of the eight it +originally possessed, and of these only one is in regular use. But the +great memory of this part of the coast is connected with Corfe Castle. + +[Illustration: CORFE CASTLE.] + +The so-called Isle of Purbeck is near Poole Harbor, and the ruined +castle of Corfe stands in a narrow gap in the hills, guarding the +entrance to the southern part of this island, its name being derived +from _ceorfan_, meaning "to cut," so that it refers to the cut or gap in +the hills. Queen AElfrida in the tenth century had a hunting-lodge here. +According to the legend, her stepson, King Edward, was hunting in the +neighborhood and stopped at the door to ask for a drink. It was brought, +and as he raised the cup to his lips he was stabbed in the back--it is +said by the queen's own hand. He put spurs to his horse, galloped off, +fell, and was dragged along the road, the battered corpse being buried +at Wareham. The queen had committed this murder for the benefit of her +youngest son, and hearing him bewail his brother's death, she flew into +a passion, and, no cudgel being at hand, belabored him so stoutly with a +large wax candle that he could never afterwards bear the sight of one. +The king's remains were then translated to Shaftesbury, miracles were +wrought, and the queen, finding affairs becoming serious, founded two +nunneries in expiation of the murder, to one of which she retired. This +began the fame of the Isle of Purbeck, although the present Corfe Castle +was not built till the twelfth century. It was attacked by, but baffled, +Stephen, and King John used it as a royal residence, prison, and +treasure-house. Here he starved to death twenty-two French knights who +had been partisans of his nephew Arthur; and he also hanged a hermit +named Peter who had made rash prophecies of his downfall, this being +intended as a wholesome warning to other unwelcome prophets. Its +subsequent history was uneventful until the Civil War, when it was +greatly enlarged and strengthened, occupying the upper part of the hill +overlooking the village. Now it is ruined in every part: the +entrance-gateway leans over and is insecure, the walls are rent, and the +towers shattered, while the keep is but a broken shell, with one side +entirely gone. This destruction was done in the Civil War, when Corfe +was held for King Charles. In 1643, when the owner, Sir John Bankes, was +absent, the castle was attacked, and his lady hastily collected the +tenantry and some provisions and made the best defence she could. The +besiegers melted down the roof of the village church for bullets, and +approached the castle-walls under cover of two pent-houses called, +respectively, "the Boar" and "the Sow." So galling a fire, however, was +kept up by the defenders that they were driven off, and their commander +with difficulty rallied them for another attack, being well fortified +with "Dutch courage." This time the brave little garrison, even the +women and children taking part, hurled down upon them hot embers, +paving-stones, and whatever else came handiest, and again drove them off +when the effect of the liquor was spent; then, the king's forces coming +to the rescue, they decamped. But the fortunes of Charles waned: he was +defeated at Naseby, Sir John Bankes died, and Corfe was the only +stronghold left him between London and Exeter. Again it was attacked, +and, through treachery, captured. It was afterwards dismantled and blown +up by gunpowder, while its heroic defender, Lady Bankes, was deprived of +her dowry as penalty for her "malignity." She received it again, +however, and had the satisfaction of living until after the Restoration. + +[Illustration: 1. STUDLAND CHURCH. 2. RUINS OF OLD CROSS IN THE +CHURCHYARD.] + +Beyond the range of chalk-cliffs that here cross Dorsetshire the coast +runs several miles southward from Poole Harbor, the promontory of the +Foreland protruding into the sea and dividing the shore into two bays. +The northern one is Studland Bay, alongside which is the singular rock +of the Agglestone. The devil, we are told, was sitting one day upon one +of the Needles off the neighboring coast of the Isle of Wight, looking +about him to see what the world was doing, when he espied the towers of +Corfe Castle just rising towards completion; he seized a huge rock and +hurled it at the castle, but it fell short, and remains to this day upon +the moor. Nestling under the slopes of this moor, in a ravine leading +down to the shore, is Studland village, with its little Norman church +embosomed in foliage and surrounded by ancient gravestones and memorial +crosses. South of the Foreland, and protected by the chalk range from +the northern blasts, is Swanage Bay, bordered by its little town, which +in past times has been variously called Swanwich, Sandwich, and Swanage. +It is a quiet watering-place at the east end of Purbeck Isle, landlocked +from every rough wind, a pleasant spot for summer sea-bathing, with +huge elms growing on its beach and garden-flowers basking in the +sunshine. The Purbeck marble, which was so extensively used for +church-building a few centuries ago, and which may be seen in +Westminster Abbey, Canterbury, Salisbury, Ely, and other cathedrals, was +quarried here, though other quarries of it exist in Britain. It is an +aggregate of freshwater shells, which polishes handsomely, but is liable +to crumble, and has in later years been generally superseded by other +building-stone. The coast southward is lined with quarries, and the +lofty promontory of St. Aldhelm's Head projects into the sea, a +conspicuous headland seen from afar. It was named for the first Bishop +of Sherborne, and its summit rises nearly five hundred feet, being +crowned by an ancient chapel, where in former days a priest trimmed the +beacon-light and prayed for the mariners' safety. This cliff exhibits +sections of Portland stone, and the view is unusually fine, the entire +coast displaying vast walls of cream-colored limestone. These rocks +extend westward past Encombe, where Chancellor Eldon closed his life, +and the Vale of Kimmeridge, where they dig a dark blue clay, and +Worbarrow Bay, with its amphitheatre of crags composed of Portland stone +and breached here and there to form the gateways into interior coves. +Here are the Barndoor Cove, entered through a natural archway; the +Man-of-War Cove, its guardian rock representing a vessel; and Lulworth +Cove, with its castle-ruins, most of which have been worked into the +modern structure near by where the exiled French king, Charles X., once +lived. + +[Illustration: ST. ALDHELM'S HEAD.] + + +WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND. + +The coast next sweeps around to the southward, forming the broad expanse +of Weymouth Bay, with the precipitous headland of the White Nore on the +one hand, and the crags of Portland Isle spreading on the other far out +to sea, with the breakwater extending to the northward enclosing the bay +and making a harbor under the lee of which vast fleets can anchor in +safety. Weymouth is a popular watering-place and the point of departure +for steamers for the Channel Islands, and it was George III.'s favorite +resort. He had a house there, and on the cliffs behind the town an +ingenious soldier, by cutting away the turf and exposing the white chalk +beneath, has made a gigantic figure of the king on horseback, of clever +execution and said to be a good likeness. Weymouth has a steamboat-pier +and an attractive esplanade, and on the cliffs west of the town and +overlooking the sea are the ruins of Sandsfoot Castle, erected for +coast-defence by Henry VIII. They are of little interest, however, and +south of them is the estuary of the Fleet, which divides Portland Isle +from the mainland, but these are linked together by the Chesil Bank, a +huge mound of pebbles forming a natural breakwater. At the lower end it +is an embankment forty feet high, composed of large pebbles, some +reaching a foot in diameter. As it stretches northward it decreases +gradually in height and in the size of its pebbles, till it becomes a +low shingly beach. To this great natural embankment the value of +Portland Harbor is chiefly due, and many are the theories to account for +its formation. Near the estuary of the Fleet is Abbotsbury, where are +the ruins of an ancient church and the Earl of Ilchester's famous +swannery, where he has twelve hundred swans. + +[Illustration: PORTLAND ISLE.] + +The Isle of Portland, thus strangely linked to the mainland, is an +elevated limestone plateau guarded on all sides by steep cliffs and +about nine miles in circumference. Not far from the end of the Chesil +Bank is Portland Castle, another coast-defence erected by Henry VIII. +Near by, on the western slope, is the village of Chesilton. The highest +part of the isle is Verne Hill, four hundred and ninety-five feet high, +where there is a strong fort with casemated barracks that can +accommodate three thousand men. Other works also defend the island, +which is regarded of great strategic importance, and in the neighborhood +are the famous quarries whence the Portland stone has been excavated for +two centuries. The most esteemed is the hard, pale, cream-colored +oolite, which was introduced to the notice of London by Inigo Jones, +and has been popular ever since. With it have been built St. Paul's +Cathedral, Somerset House, the towers of Westminster Abbey, and +Whitehall, with other London buildings. Here also was quarried the stone +for the great breakwater, of which the late Prince Consort deposited the +first stone in 1849, and the Prince of Wales the last one in 1872, +making the largest artificial harbor in the world. The first portion of +this breakwater runs east from the shore eighteen hundred feet. There is +an opening four hundred feet wide, and the outer breakwater thence +extends north-east six thousand feet, terminated by a strong circular +fort guarding the harbor entrance. It cost over $5,000,000, and about +one thousand convicts were employed in its construction, which took +nearly six million tons of stone. The materials, quarried and laden on +cars by the convicts, were sent down an inclined plane and out to the +appointed place, where they were emptied into the sea. The prison of the +convicts is on the east side of the island adjoining the quarries, and +is almost a town of itself, having twenty-five hundred inmates. The +prison-garb is blue and white stripes in summer, and a brownish-gray +jacket and oilskin cap in winter. The convicts have built their own +chapels and schools, and on the Cove of Church Hope near by are the +ruins of Bow and Arrow Castle, constructed by William Rufus on a cliff +overhanging the sea, and also a modern building known as Pennsylvania +Castle, built by William Penn's grandson in a sheltered nook. The views +here are of great beauty, while at the southern end of the promontory is +the castellated mass of rocks projecting far into the sea, and +supporting two lighthouses, known as the Portland Bill. Below is the +dangerous surf called the Race of Portland, where the tide flows with +unusual swiftness, and in the bordering cliffs are many romantic caves +where the restless waves make a constant plashing. + + +THE CHANNEL ISLANDS. + +[Illustration: CORBIERE LIGHTHOUSE, JERSEY.] + +From the harbor of Portland we will make a steamer-excursion almost +across the English Channel, going about one hundred and fifteen miles to +the Channel Islands, off the north-western coast of France and within a +few miles of the shores of Normandy and Brittany. They are Jersey, +Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark, standing in a picturesque situation, with +a mild climate and fertile soil, and devoted mainly to dairying and to +fishing. These islands were known to the Romans, and their strategic +position is so valuable that England, while getting but $100,000 revenue +from them, has expended two or three millions annually in maintaining +their fortifications. It was upon the dangerous cluster of rocks west of +Alderney, and known as the Caskets, that Henry I.'s only son, Prince +William, perished in the twelfth century, and here the man-of-war +Victory was lost with eleven hundred men in 1744. Jersey is the most +remarkable of these islands for its castles and forts, and has seen many +fierce attacks. Both Henry VII. and Charles II. when in exile found +refuge in Jersey. In approaching this island the fantastic outline of +the Corbiere Promontory on the western side is striking. When first seen +through the morning haze it resembles a huge elephant supporting an +embattled tower, but the apparition vanishes on closer approach. A +lighthouse crowns the rock, and the bay of St. Aubin spreads a grand +crescent of smiling shores, in the centre of which is Elizabeth Castle, +standing on a lofty insulated rock whose jagged pinnacles are reared in +grotesque array around the battlements. Within the bay is a safe harbor, +with the villages of St. Helier and St. Aubin on the shores. Here is the +hermitage once occupied by Jersey's patron saint Elericus, and an abbey +dedicated to him anciently occupied the site of the castle. The +impregnable works of the great Regent Fort are upon a precipitous hill +commanding the harbor and castle. Upon the eastern side of the island is +another huge fortress, called the castle of Mont Orgueil, upon a lofty +conical rock forming the northern headland of Grouville Bay. The apex of +the mountain shoots up in the centre of the fortifications as high as +the flagstaff which is planted upon them. Here lived Charles II. when in +exile, and this is the most interesting part of Jersey, historically. A +part of the fortifications is said to date from Caesar's incursion into +Gaul, and the Romans in honor of their leader called the island Caesarea, +describing it at that time as a stronghold of the Druids, of whose +worship many monuments remain. It was first attached to the British +Crown at the Norman Conquest, and, though the French in the many wars +since then have sent frequent expeditions against the island, they have +never been able to hold it. The Channel Islands altogether cover about +seventy-five square miles. Alderney, which is within seven miles of the +French coast, now has an extensive harbor of refuge. Guernsey contains +the remains of two Norman castles--one almost entirely gone, and the +other called Ivy Castle, from its ruins being mantled with shrubbery. +Its great defensive work, Fort George, built in the last century, stands +in a commanding position and is of enormous strength. Upon a rocky islet +off St. Peter's Port is the chief defensive fort of that harbor, located +about a mile to seaward--Castle Cornet, a work of venerable antiquity, +parts of which were built by the Romans. In 1672, Viscount Christopher +Hatton was governor of Guernsey, and was blown up with his family in +Castle Cornet, the powder-magazine being struck by lightning at +midnight. He was in bed, was blown out of the window, and lay for some +time on the ramparts unhurt. Most of the family and attendants perished, +but his infant daughter Anne was found next day alive, and sleeping in +her cradle under a beam in the ruins, uninjured by the explosion. She +lived to marry the Earl of Winchelsea and have thirty children, of whom +thirteen survived her. + +[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE DEVIL'S HOLE, NEAR CORBIERE, JERSEY.] + + +THE SOUTHERN COAST OF DEVON. + +Westward of Portland Isle, on the southern coast near Abbotsbury, are +the ruins of a monastery built by Canute, and St. Catharine's Chapel, +perched on a steep hill overlooking the sea, while in the neighborhood +is the Earl of Ilchester's castle, surrounded by attractive gardens. +Beyond this the little river Lym flows into the sea from among grand yet +broken crags mantled with woods, and in a deep valley at the foot of the +hills is the romantic town of Lyme Regis, with a pleasant beach and good +bathing, the force of the waves being broken by a pier called the Cobb, +frequently washed away and as often restored, sometimes at great cost. +This is a semicircular breakwater eleven hundred and seventy-nine feet +long, protecting the harbor. There are grand cliffs around this little +harbor, the Golden Cap and the Rhodehorn rearing their heads on high, +the summit of the latter being cut by a passage called the Devil's +Bellows. It was near Lyme Regis that on Christmas, 1839, the Dowlands +landslip took place, an area of forty acres sliding down the cliff to a +lower level, roughly removing two cottages and an orchard in the +descent. Five miles farther west the pretty river Axe, which flows down +from the Mendips, enters the sea, and on an eminence overlooking the +stream is the town of Axminster, formerly a Saxon stronghold, and +afterwards famous for the carpet manufacture, which some time ago was +removed to Wilton. Its minster was founded in the days of AEthelstan, but +the remains are Norman work. Still farther west the little river Sid +flows down past Sidbury and Sidford, and enters the sea through a valley +in which nestles the charming watering-place of Sidmouth, celebrated for +its pebbles found among the green sand. Salcombe Hill and High Peak, +towering five hundred feet, guard the valley-entrance on either hand, +and in the church of St. Nicholas is a memorial window erected by Queen +Victoria in memory of her father, the Duke of Kent, who died here in +1820. The esplanade in front of the town is protected by a sea-wall +seventeen hundred feet long. Near here, at Hayes Barton, now an +Elizabethan farm-house, Sir Walter Raleigh was born, the room in which +he first saw the light being still shown. Beyond this, to the westward, +the river Exe falls into the sea through a broad estuary at Exmouth, +also a favorite watering-place, over which the lofty Haldon Hills keep +guard at a height of eight hundred feet, the Beacon Walks being cut on +their sloping face and tastefully planted with trees, while a broad +esplanade protected by a sea-wall fronts the town. The shores all along +are dotted with villas, and this coast is a popular resort, the villages +gradually expanding into towns as their populations increase. + + +EXETER. + +[Illustration: EXETER CATHEDRAL, WEST FRONT.] + +[Illustration: RUINS OF ROUGEMONT CASTLE.] + +[Illustration: OLD HOUSES IN THE CATHEDRAL CLOSE.] + +About eleven miles up the river Exe, before it has broadened out into +the estuary, but where it flows through a well-marked valley and washes +the bases of the cliffs, stands Exeter, a city set upon a hill. Here was +an ancient "dun," or British hill-fort, succeeded by a Roman, and then +by a Norman, castle, with the town descending upon the slope towards the +river and spreading into the suburb of St. Thomas on the other side. The +growing city now covers several neighboring hills and tributary valleys, +one of the flourishing new suburbs being named Pennsylvania. Upon the +ridge, where was located the old hill-fort, there still remain in a +grove of trees some scanty ruins of the Norman castle, while well up the +slope of the hill rise the bold and massive towers of Exeter Cathedral. +Unique among English municipalities, this is essentially a hill-city, +the ancient British name of Caerwise having been Latinized by the Romans +into Isca, and then changed to Exanceaster, which was afterwards +shortened into the modern Exeter. Nobody knows when it was founded: the +Romans almost at the beginning of the Christian era found a flourishing +British city alongside the Exe, and it is claimed to have been "a walled +city before the incarnation of Christ." Isca makes its appearance in the +Roman records without giving the date of its capture, while it is also +uncertain when the Saxons superseded the Romans and developed its name +into Exanceaster. They enclosed its hill of Rougemont, however, with a +wall of masonry, and encircled the city with ramparts built of square +stones and strengthened by towers. Here the Saxon king AEthelstan held a +meeting of the Witan of the whole realm and proclaimed his laws, and in +the first year of the eleventh century the Danes sailed up to the town +and attacked it, being, however, beaten off after a desperate struggle. +Two years later they made another attack, captured and despoiled it; but +it rose from its ruins, and the townsmen afterwards defied the Norman as +they had the Dane. William attacked and breached the walls, the city +surrendered, and then he built Rougemont Castle, whose venerable ruins +remain, to curb the stout-hearted city. It was repeatedly besieged--in +the days of Stephen, Henry VII., and Henry VIII., the last siege during +the quarrels preceding the Reformation lasting thirty four days, the +defenders being reduced to eating horse-flesh. In the Civil War the +Royalists captured it from the Parliamentarians, who held it, and it +remained in the king's possession until after the defeat at Naseby, when +Cromwell recaptured it. Charles II. was proclaimed at Exeter with +special rejoicings. When William, Prince of Orange, first landed in +England, he came to the valley of the Teign, near Newton Abbot, where +the block of granite is still preserved from which his proclamation was +read to the people. Three days later he entered Exeter, escorted by a +great crowd of the townspeople. He went in military state to the +cathedral and mounted the bishop's throne, with its lofty spire-like +canopy, rich with the carving of the fifteenth century, while the choir +sang the Te Deum, after which Bishop Burnet read his proclamation. He +remained several days in Exeter, while events ripened elsewhere for his +reception. Here many Englishmen of rank and influence joined him, and +his quarters began to display the appearance of a court. The daily show +of rich liveries and of coaches drawn by six horses among the old houses +in the cathedral close, with their protruding bow-windows and balconies, +gave the usually quiet place a palatial appearance, the king's +audience-chamber being in the deanery. He remained here two weeks, and +then left for London, the entire kingdom having risen in his favor and +James having deserted the capital for Salisbury. This ended Exeter's +stirring history. It afterwards grew in fame as a manufactory of +woollens, but this has declined, and the chief industries now consist in +the making of gloves and agricultural implements. + +[Illustration: EXETER CATHEDRAL, FROM THE NORTH-WEST.] + +Exeter Cathedral is the most conspicuous feature in the view upon +approaching the city, rising well above the surrounding houses, its two +massive gray towers giving it something of the appearance of a fortress. +This feature makes it unique among English cathedrals, especially as the +towers form its transepts. The close is contracted, and around it are +business edifices instead of ecclesiastical buildings. The exterior is +plain and simple in outline, excepting the western front, which is a +very rich example of fourteenth-century Gothic. A church is said to have +been standing on its site and dedicated to the Benedictines as early as +the seventh century, and it lasted until after the Norman Conquest. The +Normans built a new church in the twelfth century, which contained the +present towers, but the remainder of the structure was afterwards +transformed as we now see it. The rich western facade consists of three +stages, receding one behind the other; the lower is the porch, +subdivided into three enriched arcades containing figures and pierced by +three doorways. The second stage is formed above this by the ends of the +nave and side-aisles, being terminated with a battlement flanked by +small pinnacles about halfway up the nave gable. A fine window pierces +this stage, and above it the remainder of the gable forms the third +stage, also pierced by a window which opens over the battlement. The +figures in the lower stage represent the kings of England, apostles, and +saints. The interior of the nave discloses stone vaulting and Decorated +architecture, with large clerestory windows, but a small triforium. The +bosses of the roof, which presents an unbroken line, are seventy feet +above the floor. One of the bays on the north side of the triforium is a +beautiful minstrels' gallery, communicating with a chamber above the +porch. The inner walls of the towers have been cut away, completely +adapting them for transepts, the towers being supported on great pointed +arches. In the large east window the stained glass commemorates St. +Sidwell, a lady murdered in the eighth century at a well near Exeter by +a blow from a scythe at the instigation of her stepmother, who coveted +her property. The cathedral is rich in monumental relics, and it has +recently been thoroughly restored. Little remains of the ancient +convent-buildings beyond the chapter-house, which adjoins the south +transept. + +[Illustration: THE THRONE, EXETER CATHEDRAL.] + +The older parts of Exeter present a quaint and picturesque appearance, +especially along the High Street, where is located the old Guild Hall, a +ponderous stone building, with a curious front projecting over the +footway and supported by columns; it was built in the sixteenth century. +Sir Thomas Bodley, who founded the Bodleian Library of Oxford, was born +in Exeter, and also Richard Hooker the theologian. Among its famous +bishops was Trelawney (then the Bishop of Bristol), who was one of the +seven bishops committed by King James to the Tower, and whose memory +still lives in the West-Country refrain, the singing of which had so +much to do with raising the English revolt in favor of the Prince of +Orange: + + "And shall Trelawney die? + And shall Trelawney die? + There's twenty thousand Cornish lads + Will know the reason why." + +[Illustration: THE MINSTRELS' GALLERY, EXETER CATHEDRAL.] + +[Illustration: THE GUILD HALL.] + + +TEIGNMOUTH AND TORBAY. + +[Illustration: BABBICOMBE BAY.] + +[Illustration: ANSTIS COVE.] + +From the estuary of the Exe the Devonshire coast trends almost southward +towards the mouth of the Dart, being everywhere bordered by picturesque +cliffs. Nestling in a gap among the crags, under the protecting shelter +of the headlands, is the little watering-place of Dawlish, fronted by +villas and flower-gardens, and having to the southward strange pinnacles +of red rock rising from the edge of the sea, two of them forming a +fanciful resemblance to the human figure, being named the Parson and the +Clerk. A storm recently knocked off a considerable part of the Parson's +head. Upon their sides, piercing through tunnel after tunnel, runs the +railway almost over the water's edge. Soon the cliffs are breached with +a wider opening, and here flows out the river Teign, where is the larger +watering-place of Teignmouth, which has frequently suffered from Danish +and French invasions, but is now best known by having the longest wooden +bridge in England spanning the river-estuary and extending seventeen +hundred feet, with a swing-draw to permit vessels to pass. The valley is +broad, with picturesque villas on either bank. Below Teignmouth the +shores project into the sea at the bold promontory of Hope's Nose, which +has Torbay on one side and Babbicombe Bay on the other. Here, around the +shores of the bay on the southern side of the projecting cape, is the +renowned watering-place of Torquay, which has grown enormously since it +has become such a fashionable resort in recent years. Its beautiful +scenery and sheltered position have made it a favorite home for +invalids. Its name is derived from the neighboring hill of Mohun's Tor, +where there are ruins of an abbey. To the north of the headland is the +fine sweep of Babbicombe Bay, with a border of smooth sand beach backed +by steep cliffs, above which is the plateau where most of its villas are +built. To the south of the headland Torquay spreads around a fine park, +with highlands protecting it on almost all sides, while farther to the +southward the limestone cliffs are bold and lofty, one of them +presenting the singular feature of a natural arch called London Bridge, +where the sea has pierced the extremity of a headland. Upon the eastern +face of the promontory of Hope's Nose, and just below Babbicombe Bay, +another pretty cove has been hollowed out by the action of the waves, +its sides being densely clothed with foliage, while a pebbly beach +fringes the shore. This is Anstis Cove, its northern border guarded by +limestone cliffs that have been broken at their outer verge into pointed +reefs. Compton Castle, about two miles from Torbay, is a specimen, +though in ruins, of the ancient fortified mansion of the reign of Edward +III. It is of massive construction, built of the native limestone, and +part of it is now used as a farm-house. Following around the +deeply-recessed curve of Torbay, its southern boundary is found to be +the bold promontory of Berry Head, and here on the northern side is the +old fishing-port of Brixham, having Church Brixham built up on the +cliffs and Brixham Quay down on the beach. It was here that the Prince +of Orange landed in 1688, and a monument in the market-place +commemorates the event, the identical block of stone on which he first +stepped being preserved. + + +THE DART. + +[Illustration: TOTNES, FROM THE RIVER.] + +Southward of this promontory is the estuary of the Dart, a river which, +like nearly all the streams of Devonshire, rises in that great "mother +of rivers," Dartmoor, whence come the Tawe and the Teign, of which we +have already spoken, and also the Torridge, the Yealm, the Erme, the +Plym, and the Avon (still another of them). This celebrated moor covers +an area of about one hundred and thirty thousand acres, stretching +thirty-three miles in length and twenty-two miles in breadth, and its +elevation averages seventeen hundred feet, though some of its tors, the +enormous rocks of granite crowning its hills, rise considerably higher, +the loftiest of these, the Yes Tor, near Okehampton, being two thousand +and fifty feet high. The moor is composed of vast stretches of bog and +stunted heather, with plenty of places where peat is cut, and having its +streams filled with trout. Legend tells us that all manner of hill-and +water-spirits frequent this desolate yet attractive region, and that in +Cranmore Pool and its surrounding bogs, whence the Dart takes its rise, +there dwelt the "pixies" and the "kelpies." The head-fountains of both +the Dart and the Plym are surrounded with romance, as the cities at +their mouths are famous in English history, and Spenser, in the _Faerie +Queene_, announces that both Dart and Plym were present at the great +feast of the rivers which celebrated the wedding of the Thames and +Medway. The courses of the Dartmoor rivers are short, but with rapid +changes. In the moorland they run through moss and over granite; then +among woods and cultivated fields, till, with constantly broadening +stream, the river joins the estuary or tidal inlet, and thus finds its +vent in the ocean. Strangely enough, with these short streams there are +high points on the Dartmoor tors from which both source and mouth of a +river are visible at the same time. The Dart, with steadily-increasing +flow, thus runs out of the moorland, and not far from its edge passes +the antique town of Totnes, where the remains of an ivy-mantled wall +upon the hill is all that is left of Judhael's famous castle, which +dates from the Norman Conquest. The surrounding country is remarkably +picturesque, and is noted for its agricultural wealth. About two miles +to the eastward is the romantic ruin of Berry Pomeroy Castle, founded +upon a rock which rises almost perpendicularly from a narrow valley, +through which a winding brook bubbles. It is overhung with foliage and +shrubbery and mantled with moss and ivy, so that it is most attractive. +The great gate, the southern walls, part of a quadrangle, and a few +turrets are all that remain of the castle, which suffered severely in +the Civil War. Tradition states that the adjacent village was destroyed +by lightning. This castle also dates from the Norman Conquest, and +passed from its original possessors, the Pomeroys, to Protector +Somerset, the Duke of Somerset being the present owner. + +[Illustration: BERRY POMEROY CASTLE.] + +[Illustration: A BEND OF THE DART.] + +[Illustration: DARTMOUTH CASTLE.] + +The Dart, which is a rocky stream above Totnes and a favorite resort of +the fisherman and sketcher, becomes navigable below the town, and has a +soft, peculiar beauty of its own that has made it often compared to the +Rhine; but there is little comparison between them: the Dart has no +precipitous cliffs or vine-clad hills, and no castle excepting at its +mouth. From Totnes to Dartmouth is about twelve miles, through +exquisitely beautiful scenery, especially where the river passes the +woods of Sharpham, the current narrowing to about one hundred and fifty +feet, and flowing through an amphitheatre of overarching trees rising in +masses of foliage to the height of several hundred feet. The stream +makes various sharp bends--a paradise for the artist--and finally it +broadens out into an estuary like an inland lake, with a view over the +intervening neck of land to Torbay, and beyond the coast-line at Exmouth +and towards Portland. Thus we come to Dartmouth, the old houses built +tier above tier on a steep hill running up from the harbor, while at the +extreme point of the promontory, guarding the entrance to the estuary, +is the little church of St. Petrox, with its armorial gallery and ruins +of an ancient manor house, and the castle, consisting of a square and a +round tower, coming down from Henry VII.'s reign, when it was built for +coast-defence. On the opposite point of the harbor-entrance are the +foundations of another castle, evidently built about the same time. +Dartmouth in early times was a port of great importance, and Edward III. +first gave it a charter under the name of Clifton-Dartmouth-Hardness. +Its merchants were then numerous and wealthy, and Coeur de Leon's +crusaders assembled their fleet in the harbor in 1190. The French +destroyed both it and Plymouth in 1377, and in 1403 the two towns, +combining, ravaged the French coasts and burned forty ships. The French +retaliated the next year, but Dartmouth was too much for them, killing +Du Chastel, the commander, and defeating his expedition. It suffered +severely in the Civil War, and there are still traces of the +land-fastenings of the iron chain stretched across the harbor to keep +out the French. + + +THE PLYM. + +[Illustration: THE DEWERSTONE.] + +[Illustration: IN BICKLEIGH VALE.] + +[Illustration: OLD DOORWAY, AUGUSTINIAN PRIORY. PLYMPTON.] + +Westward of the valley of the Dart is the valley of the Plym, also +flowing out of Dartmoor. Two streams known as the Cad and the Mew join +to form this river, and though they are of about equal importance, the +source of the Cad is generally regarded as the true Plym head, while a +crossing upon it is known as the Plym Steps. Both are rocky, dashing +mountain-streams, and such are also the characteristics of the Plym +after the junction until it enters its estuary. The Plym Head is within +the royal forest of Dartmoor, about twelve hundred feet above the sea, +and in the wild and lonely moorland. The stream flows by the flat summit +of Sheeps Tor, one of the chief peaks on the southern border of the +moor. Here in a hollow formed by overhanging rocks one of the Royalist +Elfords, whose house was under the tor, sought refuge, and amused his +solitude by painting the walls of the cavern, which is known as the +"Pixies' House," and is regarded by the neighbors as a dangerous place +for children, to whom these little fairies sometimes take a fancy. It is +not safe, they say, to go near it without dropping a pin as an offering +between the chinks of the rock--not a very costly way of buying +immunity. In Sheeps Tor churchyard in the valley below lies Sir James +Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, who died near there in 1868. As the streams +course down the hillside they disclose frequent traces of the rude stone +relics left there by an ancient people, the chief being the settlement +at Trowlesworthy, where there is a circular hut enclosure about four +hundred feet in diameter, with stone avenues leading to it and the +entrances defended by portions of walls. The stones are nowhere large, +however, rarely exceeding five feet high. Then we come to Shaugh, where +the rivers struggle through rocky ravines and finally join their waters. +The little Shaugh church crowns the granite rocks on one side, while on +the other is the towering crag of the Dewerstone. This ivy-clad rock, +which lifts its furrowed and wrinkled battlements far above the Plym, +was the "Rock of Tiw," that powerful god of the Saxons from whom comes +the name of Tuesday. Once, we are told, in the deep snow traces of a +human foot and a cloven hoof were found ascending to the highest point +of the rock, which His Satanic Majesty seems to have claimed for his own +domain. From this lofty outpost of the moor, if he stayed there, our +all-time enemy certainly had a wide lookout. On the one hand is a grand +solitude, and on the other a hilly country stretches to the seaboard, +with the river-valley winding through woods and fields, and Plymouth +Sound and its breakwater in the distance. Here, below the junction of +the two streams, are the scant remains of the old house of Grenofen, +whose inmates lived in great state, and were the Slannings who so +ardently supported King Charles. A mossy barn with massive gables is the +prominent feature of the ruins. The river runs down through the very +beautiful vale of Bickleigh, and then under Plym Bridge, where it +becomes broader and more tranquil as it approaches the head of the +estuary. This region belonged to the priory of Plympton, and its +Augustinian owners raised at the end of the bridge a small chapel where +the traveller might pause for prayer before venturing into the solitudes +beyond. The remains of this structure, however, are now slight. At +Plympton St. Mary was the priory, and at Plympton Earl the castle of the +Earls of Devon, a brook flowing between them to the river. Both stand +near the head of the estuary, and are in ruins. The priory was the +wealthiest monastic house in Devon, but the castle was only important as +the head-quarters of Plymouth's Royalist besiegers in the Civil War. The +priory was the nurse of the noted port of Plymouth, and its earlier +beginnings can be traced to the fostering care of the Augustinians, who +developed the fishing-town that subsequently became the powerful +seaport. Plympton, the old rhyme tells us, was "a borough-town" when +Plymouth was little else than a "a furzy down." The priory was founded +in the twelfth century, and was long patronized by the neighboring Earls +of Devon. The Augustinians, legend says, were the first to cultivate the +apple in Devonshire, and the ruins still disclose the moss-grown +"apple-garth." Little remains of the monastery beyond the old refectory +doorway and walls. The town of Plympton Maurice is in the valley near +by, famous as the birthplace of Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1723, but the +house has been swept away, though the grammar-school in which his father +taught remains. Reynolds is said to have made good use of the +recollections of the grand scenery around his birthplace in furnishing +landscape backgrounds for his pictures. The town afterwards elected him +mayor, though he rarely visited his birthplace, but in lieu sent the +corporation his portrait painted by himself. Here begins the broad +estuary known as the Laira, at the mouth of which stands Plymouth, the +town covering the land between the Laira and the Hamoaze, the estuary of +the Tamar, with its adjoining suburbs of Stonehouse and Devonport. Here +are now a population of two hundred thousand, while the station is of +vast importance as a government dockyard and barracks, with a chain of +strong protecting fortifications for defence from attacks both by sea +and land. Along the southern bank of the estuary extend the woods of +Saltram, the seat of the Earl of Morley. Then we come to Catwater Haven, +crowded with merchant-ships, and the older harbor of Sutton Pool. Mount +Batten on one side and Citadel Point on the other guard the entrance to +the haven. It was here that the English fleet awaited the Armada in +1588; that Essex gathered his expedition to conquer Cadiz in 1596; and +from here sailed the _Mayflower_ with the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620. +Plymouth harbor's maritime and naval history is, however, interwoven +with that of England. + + +PLYMOUTH. + +The port of Plymouth comprises what are called the "Three +Towns"--Plymouth proper, covering about a square mile, Stonehouse, and +Devonport, where the great naval dockyard is located. Plymouth Sound is +an estuary of the English Channel, and receives the Plym at its +north-eastern border and the Tamar at its north-western, the sound being +about three miles square and protected by the great breakwater a mile +long, with a lighthouse, and defended by forts. The Plym broadens into +the Catwater, used as a haven for merchant-vessels and transports and +capable of furnishing anchorage to a thousand ships at one time. The +Tamar broadens into the Hamoaze, which is the naval harbor, and is four +miles long, with sufficient anchorage-ground for the entire British +navy. Sutton Pool is a tidal harbor now used by merchant-vessels. The +coasts of Plymouth Sound are rocky and abrupt, and strong fortresses +frown at every entrance. It is the naval dockyard that gives Plymouth +its chief importance: this is at Devonport, which is strongly fortified +by breastworks, ditches, embankments, and heavy batteries. The great +dockyard encloses an area of ninety-six acres and has thirty-five +hundred feet of water-frontage. There are here five docks and also +building-slips, where the great British war-ships are constructed. +Another enclosure of seventy-two acres at Point Keyham is used for +repairing ships, and a canal seventy feet wide runs through the yards to +facilitate the movement of materials. Immense roofs cover the docks. +East of Devonport, divided from it by a creek, and adjoining Plymouth, +is Stonehouse. Here are the great victualling yard, marine barracks, and +naval hospital. The Royal William Victualling Yard occupies fourteen +acres on a tongue of land at the mouth of the Tamar, and cost $7,500,000 +to build. Here the stores are kept and naval supplies furnished, its +great features being the vast government bakehouse, the cooperage, and +the storehouses. Its front is protected by a redoubt, and to the +eastward are the tasteful grounds of the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe's winter +villa. The marine barracks, which have the finest mess-room in England, +will accommodate fifteen hundred men; the naval hospital, northward of +Stonehouse, will furnish beds for twelve hundred. There are three +thousand men employed about these great docks and stores, and they form +the most extensive naval establishment in the world. Near Mount Wise are +the Raglan Barracks, where there is a display of cannon taken from the +Turks. + +In Plymouth Sound is a bold pyramidal rock, the Isle of St. Nicholas, +which is a formidable fortress. Mount Edgcumbe is on the western shore, +and on the eastern side is Plymouth's pretty park, known as the Hoe, +where the old Eddystone Lighthouse will be set up. Having come down the +Plym, we will now ascend the Tamar, past the huge docks and stores, and +about five miles above see the great Albert Bridge, which carries a +railway, at a height of one hundred feet, from the hills of Devon over +to those of Cornwall on the western shore. It is built on nineteen +arches, two broad ones of four hundred and fifty-five feet span each +bridging the river, the entire structure being two thousand two hundred +and forty feet long. Out in the English Channel, fourteen miles from +Plymouth, is its famous beacon--the Eddystone Lighthouse. Here +Winstanley perished in the earlier lighthouse that was swept away by the +terrible storm of 1703, and here Smeaton built his great lighthouse in +1759, one hundred feet high, which has recently been superseded by the +new lighthouse. The Eddystone Rocks consist of twenty-two gneiss reefs +extending about six hundred and fifty feet, in front of the entrance to +Plymouth Sound. Smeaton's lighthouse, modelled after the trunk of a +sturdy oak in Windsor Park, became the model for all subsequent +lighthouses. It is as firm to-day as when originally built, but the reef +on which it rests has been undermined and shattered by the joint action +of the waves and the leverage of the tall stone column, against which +the seas strike with prodigious force, causing it to vibrate like the +trunk of a tree in a storm. The foundation-stone of the new lighthouse +was laid on a reef one hundred and twenty-seven feet south of the old +one in 1878. It is built of granite and rises one hundred and +thirty-eight feet above the rock, its light being visible seventeen +miles: it was first lighted May 18, 1882. + + +TAVISTOCK. + +A short distance up the Tamar it receives its little tributary the Tavy, +running through a deep ravine, and on its banks are the ruins of +Tavistock Abbey, founded in the tenth century and dedicated to St. Mary. +Orgarius, the Earl of Devonshire, was admonished in a dream to build it, +but his son Ordulph finished it. He was of great strength and gigantic +stature, could break down gates and stride across a stream ten feet +wide. They still preserve, we are told, some of Ordulph's huge bones in +Tavistock Church. The Danes plundered and burned the abbey, but it was +rebuilt in greater splendor, and its abbot sat in the House of Peers. +When it was disestablished, like Woburn it fell to Lord Russell, and it +is now owned by the Duke of Bedford. The remains of the grand +establishment, however, are but scanty, and its best memory is that of +the printing-press set up by the monks, which was the second press +established in England. The Duke of Bedford's attractive villa of +Endsleigh is near Tavistock, and a short distance south of the town is +Buckland Abbey, built on the river-bank by the Countess of Devon in the +thirteenth century. This was the home of Sir Francis Drake, and is still +held by his descendants. Drake was born in a modest cottage on the banks +of the Tavy about the year 1539. North of Tavistock, on the little river +Lyd, are the ruins of Lydford Castle, surrounded by a village of rude +cottages. Here originated the "law of Lydford," a proverb expressive of +hasty judgment: + + "First hang and draw, + Then hear the cause by Lydford law." + +One chronicler accounts for this proverb by the wretched state of the +castle jail, in which imprisonment was worse than death. At Lydford is a +remarkable chasm where a rude arch is thrown across an abyss, at the +bottom of which, eighty feet below, the Lyd rattles along in its +contracted bed. This is a favorite place for suicides, and the tale is +still told of a benighted horseman, caught in a heavy storm, who spurred +his horse along the road at headlong speed to seek shelter in the +village. Next day it was found that the storm had swept the bridge away, +and the rider shuddered to think how his horse on that headlong ride +through the tempest had leaped over the abyss without his knowing it. + + +THE NORTHERN COAST OF DEVON. + +[Illustration: MINEHEAD.] + +[Illustration: VILLAGE AND CASTLE OF DUNSTER.] + +Exmoor is a broad strip of almost mountainous moorland extending through +the northern borders of Somerset and Devon and down to the coast of +Bristol Channel. Its hills descend precipitously to the sea, so that +only small brooks flow northward from them, excepting the Lyn, which +manages to attain the dignity of a river by flowing for some distance +among the hills parallel to the coast. It was but recently that good +roads were constructed across this lonely moor, and on its northern +edge, where the craggy headland of Greenaleigh is thrust out into the +sea, is the harbor of Minehead, with a little fishing-village skirting +its shores. A short distance inland, and seated at the bases of the +steep Brendon Hills, which rise in sharp wooded slopes above its houses, +is the little market-town of Dunster. On an outlying hill, projecting +from the mass, the original lord of Dunster built his castle, perching +it upon a rocky crag that Nature herself designed for a fortress. The +Saxons called it their "Hill-tower." Its picturesque mass of buildings +is of various dates, but much more modern than their early day, most of +the present structure having been built in Queen Elizabeth's reign. The +castle was held for King Charles in the Civil War, and besieged by the +Parliamentary troops, whose commander sent this bloodthirsty message to +its governor: "If you will deliver up the castle, you shall have fair +quarter: if not, expect no mercy: your mother shall be in front to +receive the first fury of your cannon." The governor promptly and +bravely replied, "If you do what you threaten, you do the most barbarous +and villainous act that was ever done. My mother I honor, but the cause +I fight for and the masters I serve are God and the king.--Mother, do +you forgive me, and give me your blessing, and let the rebels answer for +spilling that blood of yours, which I would save with the loss of mine +own if I had enough for both my master and yourself." The mother also +without hesitation answered him: "Son, I forgive thee, and pray God to +bless thee, for this brave resolution. If I live I shall love thee the +better for it: God's will be done!" Whether the atrocious threat would +have been put into execution was never decided, for a strong Royalist +force soon appeared, routing the besiegers, capturing a thousand of +them, and releasing the lady. But the castle was soon afterwards taken +for the Parliament by Colonel Blake, subsequently the admiral. It was +then demolished, and now the summit of the flat-topped hill, where +formerly was the keep, is devoted to the peaceful amusement of a +bowling-green, from which there are exquisite views of the Brendon Hills +and far away over the Bristol Channel to the distant coast of Wales. It +was at Dunster Castle that William Prynne was shut up a prisoner by +Cromwell. Prynne had been pilloried, shorn of his ears, and imprisoned +by King Charles I. for his denunciations of the court, and then +indulging in the same criticism of the Protector, he was confined at +Dunster. It is now the head-quarters for those who love the exciting +pleasures of stag-hunting on Exmoor. + +[Illustration: ON PORLOCK MOOR--THE ROAD TO OARE.] + +[Illustration: THE DOONE VALLEY.] + +Journeying westward over the hills from Minehead, which is just now +endeavoring, though with only partial success, to convert itself into a +fashionable watering-place, Dunkery Beacon is seen raising its head +inland--a brown, heathy moorland elevated seventeen hundred feet above +the sea. There is a grand panorama disclosed from its summit, though it +is a toilsome ascent to get up there and overlook the fifteen counties +it can display. Far below is the level shore of Porlock Bay, with the +little village set in at the base of the cliffs. Here Southey was +sheltered at its inn, and wrote a sonnet while he was "by the unwelcome +summer rain detained;" and here the village has slept ever since the +Danes harried and Harold burned it. Then the road climbs laboriously up +the hill again to Porlock Moor, and as the top is reached, far away is +seen a little grassy basin running like a streak off towards the +north-west, and enclosed by steep hills, in which it is ultimately lost. +This is the valley of the Lyn, and joining it is another little glen, +with a hamlet of white cottages at the junction: this is the Oare +valley, the centre of some of the most stirring traditions of Exmoor, +embodied in Blackmore's novel of _Lorna Doone_. Two centuries ago a +lawless clan established themselves in this lonely glen, from which +issues the Bagworthy Water not far away from the little village of Oare. +Here was Jan Ridd's farm, and near it the cataract of the Bagworthy +Water-slide, while above this cataract, in the recesses of Doone Glen, +was the robbers' home, whence they issued to plunder the neighboring +country. The novel tells how Jan Ridd, who was of herculean strength, +was standing with his bride Lorna at the altar of the little church in +Oare when a bullet wounded her. Out rushed Jan from the presence of his +wife, dead as he thought, to pursue the murderer. He was unarmed, and +rode after him over the moorland, tearing from an oak a mighty bough as +he passed under it. To this day the rent in "Jan Ridd's tree" is shown. +Then came the struggle, and an Exmoor bog swallowed up the murderer, who +was the last of the robber chieftains; and afterwards the bride +recovered and the happy pair were united. Exmoor is the only place +remaining in the kingdom where the wild stag is still hunted with +hounds, the season being in the early autumn, when all the inns are +crowded, and on the day of a "meet" all the country seems alive. + +[Illustration: BAGWORTHY WATER.] + +[Illustration: JAN RIDD'S TREE.] + + +LYNTON AND LYNMOUTH. + +[Illustration: VIEW ON THE EAST LYN.] + +[Illustration: CASTLE ROCK, LYNTON.] + +[Illustration: THE DEVIL'S CHEESE-RING.] + +[Illustration: TOWER ON THE BEACH, LYNMOUTH.] + +From Oare the valley of the Lyn can be followed down to the sea, flowing +through its wooded gorge and disclosing many pretty views. It runs +rapidly over the rocks, and, when at last seeking the sea, the little +stream manages to escape out of the hills that have so long encompassed +it, we again find coupled together an upper and a lower town--Lynton, +perched hundreds of feet above on the crags, and Lynmouth, down by the +water's edge, both in grandly picturesque locations. Crowded between the +bases of the crags and the pebbly beach is the irregular line of old +cottages beside the bubbling stream, with creeping vines climbing over +their walls and thatched roofs, while beyond is thrust out the ancient +pier that made the port of Lynmouth. Up on the crags, with houses +nestling here in nooks and perched there upon cliffs, Lynton mounts by +zigzag paths, until, on a rocky terrace above, it gets room to spread +into a straggling street. The two streams called the East and West Lyn +unite here before seeking the sea, and join their currents at the edge +of the town. Here they leap over the boulders: + + "Cool and clear, cool and clear, + By shining shingle and foaming weir, + Under the crag where the ouzel sings, + And the ivied wall where the church-bell rings." + +Southey rapturously described the East Lyn Vale as the "finest spot, +except Cintra and Arrabida, that I ever saw." It is like a miniature +glen in the Alps or the Pyrenees, and every turn in the road up to the +Waters-meet, where the Brendon joins the Lyn, discloses new beauties. It +is an exquisite combination of wood, rock, and stream that baffles all +description. Gentle flowers grow here to luxuriant perfection, protected +from all chilling blasts and with ample moisture to assist the sunshine +in their cultivation. But barely a mile east of Lynton on the coast +there is told a different story: there is a valley of rocks, where +between two ridges of hills the vale is covered with stones and almost +completely laid bare, a terrific mass of boulders, the very skeleton of +the earth. Overhanging the sea is the gigantic "Castle Rock," while +facing it from the inland side, at an elbow of the valley, is a queer +pile of crags known as the "Devil's Cheese-Ring." From the castle is a +view over the sea and of the romantic towns, with the little river +flowing alongside and the tower on Lynmouth beach, while far westward +the moorland spreads away towards those other romantic spots, Ilfracombe +and Clovelly. + + +COMBE MARTIN AND ILFRACOMBE. + +[Illustration: ILFRACOMBE.] + +Let us skirt along the precipitous Devonshire coast westward from the +Lyn, where the cliffs rise high and abruptly from the water, with +foliage on the hills above them and sheep browsing like little white +specks beyond. Thus Exmoor is prolonged westward in a broad and lofty +ridge of undulating hills, through which a stream occasionally carves +its devious course in a deep and sheltered valley that comes out to the +sea between bold, rocky headlands. Far out over the sea loom up the +coasts of Wales in purple clouds. Soon in a breach in the wall of crags +we find Combe Martin, its houses dotted among the gardens and orchards +clustering thickly around the red stone church. Here were silver-mines +long ago, and here lived Martin of Tours, to whom William the Conqueror +granted the manor which to this day bears his name. The neighboring +hills grow the best hemp in Devon, and the crags guarding the harbor are +known as the Great and Little Hangman, the former, which is the higher, +standing behind the other. The local tradition says that once a fellow +who had stolen a sheep was carrying the carcase home on his back, having +tied the hind legs together around his neck. He paused for breath at the +top of the hill, and, resting against a projecting slab, poised the +carcase on the top, when it suddenly slipped over and garroted him. He +was afterwards found dead, and thus named the hills. Near here was born, +in 1522, Bishop Jewel of Salisbury, of whom it is recorded by that +faithful biographer Fuller that he "wrote learnedly, preached painfully, +lived piously, died peacefully." To the westward are Watersmouth, with +its natural arch in the slaty rocks bordering the sea, and Hillsborough +rising boldly to guard a tiny cove. Upon this precipitous headland is an +ancient camp, and it overlooks Ilfracombe, the chief watering-place of +the northern Devonshire coast. Here a smart new town has rapidly +developed, with paths cut upon the cliffs and encroachments made along +the shore. High upon a pyramidal headland stands the ancient chapel +where in the olden time the forefathers of the village prayed to St. +Nicholas for deliverance from shipwreck. Now a lighthouse is relied on +for this service. The promontory is connected with a still bolder and +loftier headland, the Capstone Rock. The town is built on the slope of +the hills overlooking these huge round-topped crags, but its streets do +not run down to sand-beaches. There is little but rocks on the shore and +reefs in the water, worn into ridges of picturesque outline, over which +the surf breaks grandly in time of storm. We are told that in a cave +near by, Sir William Tracy, one of the murderers of St. Thomas a Becket +at Canterbury, concealed himself while waiting to escape from England. +He and his accomplices were ordered to purge themselves by a pilgrimage +to the Holy Land, but Tracy was not able to accomplish it. The winds of +heaven always drove him back whenever he tried to embark, for he had +struck the first blow at Becket. He was buried in Morthoe Church beyond +Ilfracombe. + + +MORTE POINT AND BIDEFORD. + +[Illustration: MORTE POINT.] + +A few miles westward the coast-line suddenly bends to the southward, the +angle being marked by a wild, rocky headland known as Morte Point, which +the Devonshire proverb describes as "the place on earth which Heaven +made last and the devil will take first." It is a chaos of rock-ridges, +the sea washing against it on three sides, and is a noted place for +wrecks. Far out at sea can be seen a half-submerged black rock which the +Normans christened the Morte Stone, or "Death Rock." To the southward +sweeps a fringe of yellow sand around Morte Bay, and behind the headland +is the little village of Morthoe, where Tracy is buried. Beyond the +boundary of the bay, at Baggy Point, is another and broader bay, whose +shores make a grand sweep to the westward again. This is Barnstaple Bay, +into which flows a wide estuary forming the outlet of two rivers: the +northernmost is the Taw, and at the head of its estuary is Barnstaple. +The other is the Torridge, and upon it, at about nine miles distance +from Barnstaple, is the small but prettier town of Bideford. This is +described by Kingsley as a little white town, sloping upward from its +broad tidal river, paved with yellow sands, and having a many-arched old +bridge towards the uplands to the westward. The wooded hills close in +above the town, but in front, where the rivers join, they sink into a +hazy level of marsh and low undulations of sand. The town has stood +almost as it is now since Grenvil, the cousin of William the Conqueror, +founded it. It formerly enjoyed great commercial prosperity under the +patronage of the Grenvilles, reaching its height in the seventeenth +century. The old quay remains. The ancient bridge, which is a remarkable +one, was built five hundred years ago, and is constructed on twenty-four +piers, firmly founded, yet shaking under the footstep. The superstitious +say it is of miraculous origin, for when they began to build it some +distance farther up the river, each night invisible hands removed the +stones to their present position. It is also a wealthy bridge and of +noble rank, having its heraldic coat-of-arms (a ship and a bridge proper +on a plain field) and owning broad estates, with the income of which +"the said miraculous bridge has from time to time founded chantries, +built schools, waged suits-at-law, and, finally, given yearly dinners, +and kept for that purpose the best-stocked cellar of wines in all +Devon." + +[Illustration: BIDEFORD.] + + +CLOVELLY. + +[Illustration: THE MAIN STREET, CLOVELLY.] + +[Illustration: OLD HOUSES ON THE BEACH, CLOVELLY.] + +The coast of Barnstaple Bay sweeps around to the westward again, and +here, under the precipitous crags, nestling in one of the most +picturesque nooks in all England, is Clovelly. From an inland plateau of +considerable elevation the land falls steeply to the sea, with a narrow +strip of sand or shingle sometimes interposed, whereon the surf dashes +before it reaches the rocks. Dense foliage, with here and there a +protruding crag, overhangs the cliffs. Ravines occasionally furrow the +rocky wall, and in one of these Clovelly is situated, beginning with +some scattered houses on the margin of the plateau above, descending the +cliff in one steep street, and spreading out about a miniature harbor on +the edge of the sea. There are few such streets to be seen +elsewhere--not made for wheeled vehicles, but paved in a series of broad +steps, over which the donkeys and the population plod with the produce +of the fleet of fishing-boats the village owns. It is narrow, with +strangely-shaped houses jumbled together alongside, and balconies and +bay-windows, chimneys and gables--all mixed up together. Here Kingsley +spent most of his boyhood, and hither flock the artists to paint odd +pictures for almost every British art-exhibition. Its little pier was +built in Richard II.'s time, when as now it was a landing-place for the +mackerel-and herring-boats. This quay has recently been somewhat +enlarged. Clovelly Court, the home of the Careys, is near by, with its +beautiful park extending out to the tall cliffs overhanging the sea. On +one craggy point, known as Gallantry Bower, and five hundred feet above +the waves, was an old watch-tower of the Normans, now reduced to a mere +ring of stones; and to the westward a few miles the bold rocks of +Hartland Point mark another angle in the coast as it bends southward +towards Cornwall. Eleven miles out to sea, rising four hundred feet and +guarded all around by grim precipices, is Lundy Island. Here in a little +cove are some fishermen's huts, while up on the top is a lighthouse, +and near it the ruins of the old Moresco Castle. We have already +referred to Sir Walter Raleigh's judicial murder: it was accomplished +mainly through the treachery of his near kinsman, Sir Lewis Stukely, +then vice-admiral of Devon. This and other actions caused Stukely to be +almost universally despised, and he was finally insulted by Lord Howard +of Effingham, when he complained to the king. "What should I do with +him?" asked James. "Hang him? On my sawl, mon, if I hung all that spoke +ill of thee, all the trees in the island were too few." Being soon +afterwards detected in the royal palace debasing the coin, he fled to +Devon, a ruined man. But he found no friends, and, every door being +closed against him, he sailed out to Lundy Island, and died alone in a +chamber of the ruined castle. + + +CORNWALL. + +[Illustration: FOWEY PIER.] + +Pursuing the bold shores of Cornwall southward, we pass many crags and +headlands, notably the Duke of Cornwall Harbor, protected by high +projecting cliffs, and just below find the ruins of King Arthur's castle +of Tintagel, located amid some of the most romantic scenery of this +grand line of coast. Here King Arthur is supposed to have been born, and +the fortress, built on a high rock almost surrounded by the sea, was +evidently of great strength. Here on the shore are King Arthur's Cliffs, +and their attractions, with the little church of Tintagel and the +partly-ruined fishing-town of Bossiney, make the place a popular resort +for poets and painters. Not far away in the interior, and standing near +the Tamar River on the top of a steep hill, is Launceston Castle, with +the town built on the adjacent slopes. The ruins, which are of great +antiquity, cover considerable surface, the walls being ten or twelve +feet thick, and the keep rising high upon the top of the hill, nearly +one hundred feet in diameter. This keep is said to have been an ancient +British structure. Old Roman and also leather coins have been found in +it, and it was a renowned stronghold when William the Norman came to +England and gave it to Robert, Earl of Moreton. It now belongs to the +Duchy of Cornwall. It was garrisoned for King Charles in the Civil War, +and was one of his last supports. Westward in Cornwall is Camelford, +over which frown the two Cornish mountains, Rowtor and Brown Willy, a +short distance to the southward, rising respectively thirteen hundred +and thirteen hundred and eighty feet. The Cornish range forms the +backbone of the narrow peninsula which now juts out to the +south-westward, marking the extreme point of England, and down which we +will gradually journey. Crossing the mountains, we come to Liskeard, in +a beautiful country filled with ancient Roman remains. Going down to the +southern coast, we reach Fowey with its picturesque harbor and pier, +with the Sharpitor and Kilmarth Mountains beyond, twelve hundred and +twelve hundred and seventy-seven feet high respectively. Fowey harbor, +sheltered by high hills richly clothed with green, is the "haven under +the hill" of which the balladist sings, and near its quaint old pier, +almost covered with houses, is Fowey Church, recently effectually +restored. + + +THE LIZARD PENINSULA. + +The Cornish peninsula upon approaching its termination divides into two, +with the semicircular sweep of Mount's Bay between them. To the +southward juts out the Lizard, and to the westward Land's End. While the +latter is the westernmost extremity of England, the Lizard is usually +the earliest headland that greets the mariner. The Lizard peninsula is +practically almost an island, the broad estuary of the Helford River on +one side and a strange inlet called Loo Pool on the other narrowing its +connecting isthmus to barely two miles width. To the northward of the +Helford River is the well-known port of Falmouth. Inland are the great +Cornwall tin-and copper-mines, the former having been worked for +centuries, while the latter are now probably of the greater importance. +Competition and the costlier working of the tin-mines have caused many +of them to be abandoned. These metals are mostly mined on the black +moorlands, which offer little attraction to the tourist, who gladly +avoids them for the picturesque shores of Falmouth harbor. A broad +estuary guarded by bold headlands forms Carrick Roads, and the western +one of these also guards the entrance to Falmouth harbor, which Leland +describes as being in his day "the principal haven of all Britain." +Though long frequented, however, no town stood on its shores until the +seventeenth century. When Raleigh came back from his voyage to Guiana +there was but a single house on the shore, where his crew were lodged, +and he, being impressed with the advantages of the location for a port, +laid before Queen Elizabeth a plan for the foundation of a town. But it +was a long while before anything came of it, and the place was not named +Falmouth or incorporated until the reign of Charles II. It became a +post-office packet-station for the Atlantic ports in the last century, +and Byron in his day described it as containing "many Quakers and much +salt fish." Its Cornish name is Pen-combick, meaning "the village in the +hollow of the headland," which has been corrupted by the mariner into +"Penny-come-quick," because on one occasion the landlady of the solitary +inn sold the liquor engaged for a party of visitors to a parcel of +thirsty Dutch sailors who had just landed, and, being taken to task for +it explained that the "penny come so quick" she could not deny them. +Pendennis Castle guards the entrance to Carrick Roads, and was built by +Henry VIII., being enlarged by Elizabeth. It and Raglan were the last +castles holding out for King Charles. Lightning greatly injured +Pendennis in the last century. On the opposite portal of the harbor +stands St. Mawe's Castle. The ramparts of Pendennis afford a view of +extreme beauty. + +[Illustration: PENDENNIS CASTLE.] + +[Illustration: MULLYON COVE] + +[Illustration: LION ROCK--MULLYON IN THE DISTANCE.] + +[Illustration: CAVE AT MULLYON.] + +On the narrow neck of land uniting the Lizard peninsula to the mainland +stands Helston, formerly guarded by a castle that has long since +disappeared, and named, we are told, from the great block of granite +that once formed the portal of the infernal regions. The master of those +dominions once, when he went abroad, carried his front door with him, +and was met in this neighborhood by St. Michael, whereupon there was a +"bit of a fight" between the two adversaries. His Satanic Majesty was +defeated, and, dropping his front door, fled. The great boulder, which +thus named the town, is built into a wall back of the Angel Inn, and +they hold an annual festival on May 8th to commemorate the event. Loo +Pool cuts deeply into the land to the westward of Helston, and the +district south of it is an elevated plateau, bare and treeless +generally, but containing many pretty glens, while the shore is lined +with sequestered coves. Here grow the Cornish heath-flowers, which are +most beautiful in the early autumn, while the serpentine rocks of its +grand sea-cliffs, relieved by sparkling golden crystals and veins of +green, red, and white, make fine ornaments. Upon the coast, southward +from Helston, is Mullyon Cove, a characteristic specimen of the Lizard +scenery. A glen winds down to the sea, displacing the crags to get an +outlet, and disclosing their beautiful serpentine veins. A pyramidal +rock rises on one hand, a range of serpentine cliffs on the other, and a +flat-topped island in front. In the serpentine cliffs is the portal of a +cave that can be penetrated for over two hundred feet, and was a haunt +of the smugglers in former days, the revenue officers generally winking +at them for a share of the spoils. We are told that in the last century +the smugglers here had six vessels, manned by two hundred and +thirty-four men and mounting fifty-six cannon--a formidable fleet--and +when Falmouth got a collector sufficiently resolute to try to break them +up, they actually posted handbills offering rewards for his +assassination. At one place on shore they had a battery of six-pounders, +which did not hesitate to fire on the king's ships when they became too +inquisitive. The coast is full of places about which tales are told of +the exploits of the smugglers, but the crime has long since become +extinct there because it no longer pays. South of Mullyon are the bold +headlands of Pradanack Point and Vellan Head, while beyond we come to +the most noted spot on the Lizard peninsular coast. + +[Illustration: PRADANACK POINT.] + + +KYNANCE COVE AND LIZARD HEAD. + +[Illustration: KYNANCE COVE.] + +[Illustration: THE POST-OFFICE, LIZARD POINT.] + +Kynance Cove is the opening of one of the many shallow valleys indenting +the inland plateau, with crags and skerries thrown over the sea, showing +that the cliffs on the shore have not, as usual, maintained an unbroken +front to the waves, but have been knocked about in wild confusion. +Groups of islands dot the cove; Steeple Rock rears its solitary pinnacle +aloft; the Lion Rock crouches near the southern verge. It is as wild a +place as can well be imagined, and at low water strips of sand connect +these rocks with the mainland, though the quickly-rising waters often +compel the visitor to run for it. At the water's edge, when the tide is +low, little wave-worn caverns are disclosed in the cliffs which are +known as the "Drawing-Room," the "Parlor," etc. On the smooth face of +the landward slope of one of the larger islands there are two orifices +looking like the slit of a letter-box. The upper is called the +"Post-Office," and the lower one the "Bellows." If you hold a sheet of +paper in the former a gust of air will suddenly suck it into the +aperture. Then if you look into the "Post-Office" to investigate its +secrets, a column of spray will as suddenly deluge you with a +first-class shower-bath. This is on Asparagus Island, and by climbing to +the top of the rock the mystery is solved. The rock is almost severed by +a fissure opening towards the sea: a wave surges in and spurts from the +orifices on the landward side, then recedes and sucks the air back +through them. From the cove at Kynance down to the extremity of the +Lizard the scenery is everywhere fine. Here is the southernmost +extremity of England, there being three headlands jutting into the sea +near one another, the westernmost being the Old Lizard Head. Upon the +middle one are the lighthouses that warn the mariner. Black cliffs +above, and a sea studded with reefs below, give this place a forbidding +aspect. One of the reefs is known as "Man-of-War Rock," from the wreck +of a vessel there, and the weapons cast upon the neighboring shore gave +it the name of the "Pistol Meadow." The other headland supports a +telegraph-station, and a submarine cable goes down into the sea, to +reappear again upon the distant shores of Portugal. From here the +signals are sent that give notice of arriving ships. Beneath the cliffs +rises out of the sea that strange black crag, looking like a projecting +pulpit, which is known as the Bumble Rock. In the green sward above the +cliffs a yawning gulf opens its rocky mouth, and is called the Lion's +Den. It terminates in a rocky tunnel which communicates with the sea +through a natural archway. This was a cavern, the rocky roof of which +fell in about thirty-five years ago. Nestling under the middle headland +is the tiny port of Polpeor, the little harbor of the Lizard, a +fishermen's paradise in a small way. Around on the eastern coast of the +peninsula the rocks are also fine, and here are the fishing-villages of +Lizard Town and Landewednack, the latter having a strange old church, +reputed to be the last in which a sermon was preached in the Cornish +tongue. The grave of one of the rectors tells that he lived to be one +hundred and twenty years old, for people live long in this delicious +climate. These villages are devoted to the pilchard-fishery, and during +the season the lookout-men can be seen perched on the cliffs watching +for the approach of a shoal, to warn the fishing-boats that are ready to +put to sea from the sheltered coves below. Great crags are tumbled into +the ocean, and the coast abounds in caves, with occasionally a quarry +for the serpentine. Beyond can be traced the dim outline of the +headlands guarding Falmouth entrance. This is a unique district, whose +rock-bound coast is a terror to the mariner, but a delight to the +geologist and artist, and whose recesses, where the Cornish dialect +still flourishes among the old folk, are about the only places in +England not yet penetrated by the railway, which has gridironed the +British kingdom everywhere else. + +[Illustration: POLPEOR.] + +[Illustration: ROCKS NEAR THE LIZARD.] + + +ST. MICHAEL'S MOUNT. + +[Illustration: ST. MICHAEL'S MOUNT.] + +The western peninsula of Cornwall juts far out beyond Mount's Bay, which +acquires its name from what is probably the most remarkable crag in all +this wonderful region. This was the Iktis of the ancient geographers, an +object so conspicuous as to attract attention in all ages. It is a mass +of granite rising from the sands, covering about twenty-five acres, and +the top of the church which crowns it is elevated two hundred and +thirty-eight feet. It is impossible by either pen or pencil to give an +adequate idea of St. Michael's Mount--of the shattered masses of the +rock itself, its watch-turrets and batteries, the turf and sea-plants +niched in its recesses, and the gray, lichen-covered towers that rise +from the summit. Cornish tradition says that the giant Cormoran built +the first fortress here; and he is one of those unfortunate giants whose +fate is told under the name of Corincus in the veritable history of Jack +the Giant-killer. The archangel St. Michael afterwards appeared to some +hermits on its rocks, and this gave the mount its religious character +and name. Milton has written of it in _Lycidas_: + + "Or whether thou to our moist views denied, + Sleep'st by the fable of Bellerus old, + Where the great vision of the guarded mount + Looks towards Namancos and Bayona's hold." + +It was always a strongly-defended place, and became a Benedictine +monastery--at first as an offshoot of the greater abbey of St. Michael +in Normandy, which in situation it resembles, and afterwards as an +independent establishment. It was a stronghold as well as a religious +house, however, and was notorious as the "back-door of rebellion," +frequently besieged. The crowning square tower is that of the monastic +church, and St. Michael's Chair is on the battlements--a stone beacon +which is of great importance to all newly-married couples in that +region, for it bestows the ascendency on the husband or wife who first +sits in it. It is of this chair Southey's ballad about the adventurous +Rebecca was written; and he tells that just as she was installed. + + "Merrily, merrily rang the bells, + And out Rebecca was thrown." + +The family of St. Aubyn hold the mount, and they have recently +thoroughly restored the buildings, adding some fine apartments. It is +accessible only when the receding tide leaves bare the natural causeway +that connects the island with the shore. + + +PENZANCE AND THE LAND'S END. + +[Illustration: OLD MARKET, PENZANCE.] + +[Illustration: THE LAND'S END.] + +This whole peninsula is filled with hut-villages, cromlechs, and other +prehistoric remains of its ancient people, but we have not the space to +devote to their description, however agreeable it might be. Hill-castles +and caves are also frequent, each with its traditions. The chief town is +Penzance, or the "Holy Headland," jutting out into Mount's Bay, where +once was a chapel dedicated to St. Anthony, who with St. Michael kept +guard over this favored region. Here is another prosperous seat of the +pilchard-fishery, and among its people the favorite toast is to the +three Cornish products, "tin, fish, and copper." Once, they tell us, +seventy-five millions of these fish were caught in a single day. They +rise in small shoals from the depths of the sea, then unite into larger +ones, and finally, about the end of July, combine in a mighty host, led +by the "Pilchard King" and most powerful of the tribe. The lookouts on +the crags give warning, and then begins the extraordinary migration that +calls out all the Cornish fishermen. Pursued by hordes of sea-birds and +predatory fish, the pilchards advance towards the land in such vast +numbers as to discolor the water and almost to impede the passage of +vessels. The enormous fish-army passes the Land's End, a grand +spectacle, moving along parallel to the shore, and then comes the +harvest. On the southward of the granite mass that forms the extremity +of the peninsula rises the Logan Rock, the entire headland being +defended by remains of ancient intrenchments. The Logan itself is a +granite block weighing sixty tons, and so nicely balanced that it will +oscillate. Near here, as we go out towards the western extremity of the +peninsula, are several old churches, many ancient remains that have +yielded up their chief curiosities for museums, and remarkable cliffs +projecting into the sea, the strangest of them being the "holed headland +of Penwith," a mass of columnar granite which the waves have shattered +into deep fissures. Then beyond is the Land's End itself, the most +westerly point in England, with the rocks of the Longships out in the +water with their guardian lighthouse. The extreme point of the Land's +End is about sixty feet high and pierced by a natural tunnel, but the +cliffs on each side rise to a greater elevation. The faint outlines of +the Scilly Islands are seen on the distant horizon, but all else is a +view over the boundless sea. The Land's End is a vast aggregation of +granite, which Sir Humphrey Davy, the Cornish chemist and poet, who was +born at Penzance, has thus depicted: + + "On the sea + The sunbeams tremble, and the purple light + Illumes the dark Bolerium: seat of storms; + High are his granite rocks; his frowning brow + Hangs o'er the smiling ocean. In his caves + There sleep the haggard spirits of the storm. + Wild, dreary, are the schistine rocks around, + Encircled by the wave, where to the breeze + The haggard cormorant shrieks; and far beyond, + Where the great ocean mingles with the sky, + Are seen the cloud-like islands gray in mists." + + + + +VIII. + +LONDON, TO THE SOUTH COAST. + + The Surrey Side--The Chalk Downs--Guildford--The Hog's Back--Albury + Down--Archbishop Abbot--St. Catharine's Chapel--St. Martha's + Chapel--Albury Park--John Evelyn--Henry Drummond--Aldershot + Camp--Leith Hill--Redland's Wood--Holmwood Park--Dorking--Weller + and the Marquis of Granby Inn--Deepdene--Betchworth Castle--The + River Mole--Boxhill--The Fox and Hounds--The Denbies--Ranmore + Common--Battle of Dorking--Wotton + Church--Epsom--Reigate--Pierrepoint House--Longfield--The Weald of + Kent--Goudhurst--Bedgebury Park--Kilndown--Cranbrook--Bloody + Baker's Prison--Sissinghurst--Bayham Abbey--Tunbridge + Castle--Tunbridge Wells--Penshurst--Sir Philip Sidney--Hever + Castle--Anne Boleyn--Knole--Leeds Castle--Tenterden Steeple and the + Goodwin Sands--Rochester--Gad's Hill--Chatham--Canterbury + Cathedral--St. Thomas a Becket--Falstaff Inn--Isle of + Thanet--Ramsgate--Margate--North Foreland--The Cinque + Ports--Sandwich--Rutupiae--Ebbsfleet--Goodwin Sands--Walmer + Castle--South Foreland--Dover--Shakespeare's + Cliff--Folkestone--Hythe--Romney--Dungeness--Rye--Winchelsea--Hastings + --Pevensey--Hailsham--Hurstmonceux + Castle--Beachy Head--Brighton--The Aquarium--The South + Downs--Dichling Beacon--Newhaven--Steyning--Wiston + Manor--Chanctonbury Ring--Arundel Castle--Chichester--Selsey + Bill--Goodwood--Bignor--Midhurst--Cowdray--Dunford + House--Selborne--Gilbert White; his book; his house, sun-dial, and + church--Greatham Church--Winchester--The New + Forest--Lyndhurst--Minsted Manor--Castle Malwood--Death of William + Rufus--Rufus's Stone--Beaulieu + Abbey--Brockenhurst--Ringwood--Lydington--Christchurch--Southampton + --Netley Abbey--Calshot Castle--The Solent--Portsea + Island--Portsmouth--Gosport--Spithead--The Isle of Wight--High + Down--Alum Bay--Yarmouth--Cowes--Osborne + House--Ryde--Brading--Sandown--Shanklin Chine--Bonchurch--The + Undercliff--Ventnor--Niton--St. Lawrence Church--St. Catharine's + Down--Blackgang Chine--Carisbrooke + Castle--Newport--Freshwater--Brixton--The Needles. + + +GUILDFORD. + +[Illustration: HIGH STREET, GUILDFORD.] + +Crossing over the Thames to the Surrey side, we proceed southward to +that vast chalk-measure which, like a miniature mountain-wall, divides +the watershed draining into that river from the Weald of Sussex and of +Kent. This chalky hill is here and there breached by the valley of a +stream, and through it the Wey and the Mole, to which we have heretofore +referred, flow northward to join the current of the Thames. In the gap +formed by each there is a town, Guildford standing alongside the Wey, +and Dorking on the Mole. Both develop magnificent scenery on the flanks +of the chalk-ranges that surround them; and we will now go about thirty +miles south-west from London and visit Guildford, whose origin is +involved in the mystery that surrounds the early history of so many +English towns. It was a royal manor in the days of King Alfred, being +granted to his nephew, and it was here a few years before the Norman +Conquest that the aetheling AElfred was captured. Harold, the son of +Canute, wished to destroy him to secure the succession to the throne. He +forged a letter purporting to be from his mother, Queen Emma, inviting +AElfred to come to England, and sent his minister Godwine forward, who +met and swore allegiance to AElfred, lodging him at Guildford, and most +of his comrades in separate houses there. In the night Harold's +emissaries suddenly appeared, slew his comrades, and carried AElfred off +to Ely, where he was loaded with fetters, and, being tried by some sort +of tribunal, was blinded and then put to death. The monks of Ely +enshrined his body, and of course miracles were wrought by it. The +castle was built on the Wey after the Norman Conquest, and Henry II. +made it a park and royal residence, so that it was long called the +King's Manor. In Charles I.'s time it was granted to the Earl of +Annandale. The situation of Guildford is picturesque; the chalk-range is +narrowed to a line of steep, ridgy hills almost as straight as a wall +and severed by the valley of the Wey. This pretty stream escapes from +the Weald to the southward between the Hog's Back on the west and Albury +Down on the east, the valley narrowing so as to form a natural gateway +just where the river emerges. A bridge was built here, and this +determined the site of the town, which straggles up the Hog's Back and +the Down, and also spreads out in the broadening valley of the emerging +river. High up in the hills that make the eastern slope of the valley is +the old gray castle-keep, with an ancient church-tower lower down and a +new church by the waterside. From the bridge runs straight up this hill +the chief thoroughfare of the town, High Street. The shapeless ruins of +the old castle, the keep alone being kept in good condition, are not far +away from the upper part of this street, crowning an artificial mound +encompassed by what once was a ditch, but now is chiefly a series of +gardens. The ancient church-tower, part way down the hill, is dedicated +to St. Mary, but has been shorn of its original proportions in order to +widen a street. This was done, we are told, for the convenience of +George IV., who used to pass in a coach along this street on his way +from London to Brighton. The tower is low and unassuming, and is +supposed to date from the time of King Stephen. The new church of St. +Nicholas stands by the river, and Guildford also possesses another +church built of brick. None of these churches have spires, and therefore +some local wit has written, + + "Poor Guildford, proud people; + Three churches--no steeple." + +The High Street climbs the hill past many quaint buildings, particularly +the old town-hall, where the hill is somewhat less steep. Its upper +stories project beyond the lower, being supported by carved beams, and +the town-clock hangs over the street. Abbot's Hospital, built by +Guildford's most noted townsman, George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, +is also in this street. He was born in a humble cottage, and the legend +tells us that his mother, before the event, dreamed that if she could +eat a pike she would have a son who would be a great man. She was unable +to buy the fish anywhere, but, drawing a pailful of water from the +river, to her surprise found a pike in it. When George was born the tale +was told, and several distinguished people offered to become his +sponsors. They gave him a good education, and he graduated at Balliol +College, Oxford, and was made Dean of Westminster. He was one of the +revisers of the Scriptures who prepared the revision in the seventeenth +century, was made a bishop, and in 1611 Archbishop of Canterbury. His +brother was Bishop of Salisbury, and another brother Lord Mayor of +London. He was a great hunter, as were most ecclesiastics at that time, +and in 1621, when shooting at a buck, his arrow accidentally pierced the +arm of a gatekeeper, who soon bled to death. The archbishop was +horror-stricken, settled an annuity upon the widow, and to the close of +his life observed Tuesday, the day of the accident, as a weekly fast. +This occurrence raised a hot dispute in the Church as to whether the +archbishop, by having blood on his hands, had become incapable of +discharging the duties of his sacred office. He retired to his hospital +at Guildford while the inquiry was conducted, was ultimately +exonerated, and in 1625 died. This hospital is built around a small +quadrangle, and in its gateway-tower the unfortunate "King Monmouth" was +lodged on his last journey from Sedgemoor to London. Abbot, according to +the inscription on the walls, founded this charity for "a master, twelve +brethren, and eight sisters"--all to be unmarried and not less than +sixty years of age, and chosen from Guildford, preference to be given to +"such as have borne office or been good traders in the town, or such as +have been soldiers sent, and who have ventured their lives or lost their +blood for their prince and country." The number of inmates is now +increased, the endowment having accumulated. Guildford used to maintain +the piety of its people by requiring that all should attend church and +listen to a sermon, or else be fined a shilling. Over on the other side +of the valley, on a grassy spur protruding from the Hog's Back, are the +ruins of St. Catharine's Chapel, built in the fourteenth century. The +local tradition tells that this and St. Martha's Chapel, on an adjacent +hill, were built by two sister-giantesses, who worked with a single +hammer, which they flung from hill to hill to each other as required. +St. Catharine's Chapel long since fell in ruins, and not far away on the +slope, St. Catharine's Spring flows perennially. On Albury Down is a +residence of the Duke of Northumberland, Albury Park, laid out in the +seventeenth century by John Evelyn, famous for his devotion to rural +beauties, and the residence during the present century of Henry +Drummond, the banker, politician, and theologian, the most caustic +critic of his time in Parliament, and the great promoter of the Church +of the Second Advent. + +[Illustration: RUINS OF ST. CATHARINE'S CHAPEL, FROM THE RIVER.] + + +ALDERSHOT CAMP. + +A few miles to the westward, near Farnborough, over the border in +Hampshire, is Aldershot Camp, permanently established there in 1854. The +Basingstoke Canal flows through a plateau elevated about three hundred +and twenty feet above the sea, and divides the location into a north and +south camp, the latter occupying much the larger surface and containing +most of the public buildings. On a central hillock covered by clumps of +fir trees are the headquarters of the general in command when the troops +are being exercised and going through their manoeuvres. The Long +Valley stretches to the westward, terminating in a steep hill rising six +hundred feet, from which the best view of the military movements is had +on a field-day. The two camps cover about seven square miles, and they +commonly contain about twelve thousand troops during the season for the +manoeuvres. There are long rows of wooden huts for the soldiers, and +there are also barracks, hospitals, and other necessary buildings, the +cost of the establishment of this military depot having exceeded +$7,000,000 already. The annual reviews take place from June to +September, the regiments of volunteers being detailed in turn to +co-operate with the regular troops, so as to gain a practical knowledge +of military duties. + + +DORKING. + +[Illustration: LEITH HILL.] + +[Illustration: THE OLD DOVECOTE, HOLMWOOD PARK, SURREY.] + +Proceeding eastward along the chalk-hills for about twelve miles, we +come to the breach made in them by the valley of the Mole for the +passage of that strange little river. Here, however, appears a second +and parallel range of hills, distant about four miles, the long and +generally flat-topped ridge culminating in the commanding summit of +Leith Hill. This is the highest ground in this part of England, rising +nearly one thousand feet, a broad summit sloping gradually down towards +the north, but presenting to the south a steep and, in places, a +precipitous ascent. At its foot is the residence known as Leith Hill +Place, where Mr. Hull lived in the last century, and built the tower for +an outlook that crowns its summit, leaving orders in his will that he +should be buried there. The tower was partially burned in 1877, but has +been restored. The view from the top of Leith Hill is grand, although it +takes some exertion to get there, and it discloses a panorama of typical +English scenery over the white chalk-downs, dappled with green and the +darker woodland, with the Thames lowlands far away to the north, while +to the southward the land falls abruptly to the great valley of the +Weald, a plain of rich red earth, with woods and grainfields and +hedgerows stretching away to the dim line of the South Downs at the +horizon. Pleasant little villas and old-time comfortable farm-houses are +dotted all about with their dovecotes and outbuildings. To the eastward +is the Redlands Wood, crowned by a tall silver fir, and just beyond is +Holmwood Common, whereon donkeys graze and flocks of geese patiently +await the September plucking. Here, at Holmwood Park, is one of those +ancient yet still populous dovecotes that contribute so much to enhance +the beauties of English rural scenery. + +[Illustration: THE WHITE HORSE INN, DORKING.] + +Dorking lies in the valley of the Mole, just south of the high +chalk-ranges, at the foot of wooded hills, and with its bordering +meadows stretching out to the river-bank. It is an ancient town, +appearing in the Domesday Book under the name of Dorchinges, and +standing on the route which Julius Caesar took through these hills on his +invasion of Britain. After the Norman Conquest the manor became the +property of Earl Warrenne, and as a favorite halting-place on the road +between London and the south coast in the Middle Ages it throve greatly +and was noted for the number of its inns. Its chief street--High +Street--runs parallel with the chalk-hills, and presents a picturesque +variety of old-time houses, though none are of great pretensions. Among +them is the long, low structure, with a quaint entrance-gate in the +middle, suggestive of the days before railroads, and known as the "White +Horse Inn." The ancient "Cardinal's Cap" has been transformed into the +"Red Lion Inn," and the "Old King's Head," the most famous of these +hostelries, has been removed to make room for the post-office. This +latter inn was the original of "The Marquis of Granby, Dorking," where +that substantial person, Mr. Weller, Senior, lived, and under the sway +of Mrs. Weller the veteran coachman smoked his pipe and practised +patience, while the "shepherd" imbibed hot pineapple rum and water and +dispensed spiritual consolation to the flock. An old stage-coachman who +lived years ago at Dorking is said to have been Dickens's original for +this celebrated character, and the townsfolk still talk of the venerable +horse-trough that stood in front of the inn wherein the bereaved +landlord immersed Mr. Stiggins's head after kicking him out of the bar. + +The parish church is the only public building of any pretension in +Dorking, and it is quite new, replacing another structure whose +registers go back to the sixteenth century, containing, among other +curious entries, the christening in 1562 of a child whose fate is +recorded in these words: "Who, scoffing at thunder, standing under a +beech, was stroke to death, his clothes stinking with a sulphurous +stench, being about the age of twenty years or thereabouts, at Mereden +House." The Dorking fowls all have the peculiarity of an extra claw on +each foot, being white and speckled, and a Roman origin being claimed +for the breed, which is most delicate in flavor and commands a high +price. On the southern outskirts of the town is Deepdene, a mansion +surrounded by magnificent trees and standing on the slope of a hill. It +was the home of the Hopes, its late owner, H. T. Hope, having been the +author of the novel _Anastasius_. He was a zealous patron of art, and +first brought Thorwaldsen into public notice by commissioning him to +execute his "Jason" in marble. The house contains many rare gems of +sculpture, including Canova's "Venus Rising from the Bath," with +paintings by Raphael, Paul Veronese, and others. It was here that +Disraeli wrote the greater part of _Coningsby_. A _dene_ or glade +opening near the house gives the place its name, the grounds being +extensive and displaying gardens and fine woods. The scenery of this +glade is beautiful, while from the terrace at the summit of the hill, +where there is a Doric temple, a magnificent view can be had far away +over the lowlands. Deepdene is attractive both within and without, for +its grand collection of art-treasures vies with Nature in affording +delight to the visitor. The ruins of Betchworth Castle, built four +hundred years ago, are alongside the Mole. "The soft windings of the +silent Mole" around Betchworth furnished a theme for Thomson, while +Milton calls it "the sullen Mole that runneth underneath," and Pope, +"the sullen Mole that hides his diving flood." Spenser has something to +say of the + + "----Mole, that like a nousling mole doth make + His way still underground till Thames he overtake." + +This peculiarity comes from the river hiding itself under Box Hill, +where, after disappearing for about two miles, it comes bubbling up out +of the ground again. This disappearance of streams in hilly regions is +not unusual. Box Hill, beneath whose slopes the Mole passes, is part of +the great chalk-range rising steeply on the eastern side of the gap +where the river-valley breaks through. Its summit is elevated four +hundred feet, the hill being densely wooded and containing large +plantations of box, whence its name. One of these box-groves covers two +hundred and thirty acres. On the brow of Box Hill, Major Labilliere, a +singular character, was buried in 1800. He lived in Dorking, and, +becoming convinced that the world had been turned topsy-turvy, selected +his grave, and gave instructions that he should be buried head downward, +so that at the final setting right of mundane affairs he would rise +correctly. In the Mole Valley, at the base of Box Hill, at a pretty +little house called the "Fox and Hounds," Keats finished his poem of +_Endymion_, and here Lord Nelson spent his last days in England before +leaving on the expedition that closed with his greatest victory and +death at Trafalgar. + +Upon the hill on the western side of the gap is the Denbies, from which +there is a view all the way to London. At the back of this high hill is +Ranmore Common. The Denbies are the scene of the "Battle of Dorking," +having been held by the English defensive army in that imaginary and +disastrous conflict wherein German invaders land upon the southern +coasts, destroy the British fleets by torpedoes, triumphantly march to +the base of the chalk-ranges, fight a terrific battle, force their way +through the gaps in the hills, capture London, and dethrone England from +her high place among the great powers of Europe. This was a summer-time +magazine article, written to call English attention to the necessity of +looking after the national defences; and it had a powerful effect. +Westward of Dorking there is fine scenery, amid which is the little +house known as the "Rookery," where Malthus the political economist was +born in 1766. Wotton Church stands alongside the road near by, almost +hid by aged trees--a building of various dates, with a porch and stunted +tower. Here John Evelyn was taught when a child, and the graves of his +family are in a chapel opening from the north aisle. Wotton House, where +Evelyn lived, is in the adjacent valley and at the foot of the famous +Leith Hill. His favorite pastime was climbing up the hill to see over +the dozen counties the view discloses, with the sea far away to the +southward on the Sussex coast. The house is an irregular brick building +of various dates, the earliest parts built in Elizabethan days, and it +contains many interesting relics of Evelyn, whose diary has contributed +so much to English history from the reign of Charles I. to Queen Anne. +He was a great botanist, and has left a prominent and valuable work in +_Sylva_, his treatise on trees. It was to the north-west of Wotton, on +a tract of common known as Evershed Rough, that Bishop Samuel +Wilberforce, while riding with Earl Granville in 1873, was thrown from +the saddle by his stumbling horse, and striking the ground with his head +was almost immediately killed. A cross marks the sad and lonely spot. + + +EPSOM AND REIGATE. + +[Illustration: PIERREPONT, SURREY.] + +On the northern verge of the chalk-downs, and about fifteen miles south +of London, is the famous race-course at Epsom, whither much of London +goes for a holiday on the "Derby Day." Epsom is a large and rather +rambling town located in a depression in the hills, and two hundred +years ago was a fashionable resort for its medicinal waters, so that it +soon grew from a little village to a gay watering-place. Its water was +strongly impregnated with sulphate of magnesia, making the Epsom salts +of the druggist, and also with small quantities of the chlorides of +magnesium and calcium. None of these salts are now made at Epsom, they +being manufactured artificially in large amounts at a low price. The +Epsom well, however, that produced the celebrated waters, still remains +on the common near the town. From a watering-place Epsom became +transformed into a race-ground about a hundred years ago. There is a two +days' meeting in April, but the great festival comes in May, continuing +four days from Tuesday to Friday before Whitsuntide, unless Easter is in +March, when it occurs in the week after Whitsunday. Wednesday is the +grand day, when a vast crowd gathers to witness the Derby race, +established in 1780 and named from the Earl of Derby's seat at +Woodmansterne, near by. This is a race of a mile and a half for +three-year olds. The Oaks Stakes are run for on Friday over the same +course, but for three-year-old fillies only. This race is named from +Lambert's Oaks, near the neighboring village of Banstead. The race-hill +is elevated about five hundred feet above the sea, and the grand stand, +which is the most substantial in England, affords magnificent views, +stretching far away beyond Windsor Castle and the dome of St. Paul's in +London. Epsom Downs on the Derby Day show the great annual festival of +England, but at other times the town is rather quiet, though its Spread +Eagle Inn is usually a head-quarters for the racing fraternity. + +[Illustration: LONGFIELD, EAST SHEEN, SURREY.] + +The ruins of Reigate Castle are a short distance south of Epsom, the +pretty village of Reigate standing near the head of the lovely Holmsdale +on the southern verge of the chalk-ranges. Beautiful views and an +unending variation of scenery make this an attractive resort. Surrey is +full of pleasant places, disclosing quaint old houses that bring down to +us the architecture of the time of Elizabeth and the days of the "good +Queen Anne." Some of these buildings, which so thoroughly exemplify the +attractions of the rural homes of England, are picturesque and +noteworthy. As specimens of many we present Pierrepoint House and +Longfield, East Sheen. These are the old models now being reproduced by +modern architects, combining novelty without and comfort within, and +they are just far enough from London to make them pleasant +country-houses, with all the advantage of city luxuries. + + +THE WEALD OF KENT. + +Proceeding eastward along the chalk-downs and over the border into Kent, +we reach the Wealden formation, the "wooded land" of that county--so +named by the Saxons--which stretches between the North and South Downs, +the chalk-formations bordering this primeval forest, but now almost +entirely transformed into a rich agricultural country. The Weald is a +region of great fertility and high cultivation, still bearing numerous +copses of well-grown timber, the oak being the chief, and furnishing in +times past the material for many of its substantial oaken houses. The +little streams that meander among the undulating hills of this +attractive region are nearly all gathered together to form the Medway, +which flows past Maidstone to join the Thames. It was the portions of +the Weald around Goudhurst that were memorable for the exploits of +Radford and his band, the originals of G. P. R. James's _Smugglers_. +Goudhurst church-tower, finely located on one of the highest hills of +the Wealden region, gives a grand view on all sides, especially to the +southward over Mr. Beresford Hope's seat at Bedgebury Park. In this old +church of St. Mary are buried the Bedgeburys and the Colepeppers. Their +ancient house, surrounded by a moat, has been swept away, and the +present mansion was built in the seventeenth century out of the proceeds +of a sunken Spanish treasure-ship, Sir James Hayes, who built the house, +having gone into a speculation with Lord Falkland and others to recover +the treasure. This origin of Bedgebury House is recorded on its +foundation-stone: it has been greatly enlarged by successive owners, and +is surrounded by ornamental gardens and grounds, with a park of wood, +lake, and heather covering two thousand acres. In the neighboring church +of Kilndown, Field-marshal Beresford, the former owner of Bedgebury, +reposes in a canopied sepulchre. Just to the eastward is Cranbrook, the +chief market-town of the Weald, the ancient sanctuary of the Anabaptists +and the historical centre of the Flemish cloth-trade, which used to be +carried on by the "old gray-coats of Kent." Their descendants still live +in the old-time factories, which have been converted into handsome +modern houses. Edward III. first induced the Flemings to settle in Kent +and some other parts of England, and from his reign until the last +century the broadcloth manufacture concentrated at Cranbrook. When Queen +Elizabeth once visited the town she was entertained at a manor about a +mile from Cranbrook, and walked thence into the town upon a carpet, laid +down the whole way, made of the same cloth that her loyal men of Kent +wore on their backs. In Cranbrook Church were held the fierce +theological disputes of Queen Mary's reign which resulted in the +imprisonment of the Anabaptists and other dissenters by Chancellor +Baker. Over the south porch is the chamber with grated windows known as +"Bloody Baker's Prison." Among the old customs surviving at Cranbrook is +that which strews the path of the newly-wedded couple as they leave the +church with emblems of the bridegroom's trade. The blacksmith walks upon +scraps of iron, the shoemaker on leather parings, the carpenter on +shavings, and the butcher on sheepskins. In an adjacent glen almost +surrounded by woods are the ruins of Sissinghurst, where Chancellor +Baker lived and built the stately mansion of Saxenhurst, from which the +present name of its ruins is derived. The artists Horsley and Webster +lived at Sissinghurst and Cranbrook for many years, and found there +frequent subjects of rustic study. The Sissinghurst ruins are +fragmentary, excepting the grand entrance, which is well preserved. +Baker's Cross survives to mark the spot where the Anabaptists had a +skirmish with their great enemy; and the legend is that he was killed +there, though history asserts that this theological warrior died in his +bed peaceably some time afterwards in London. + +[Illustration: RUINS OF SISSINGHURST.] + +Near Lamberhurst, on the Surrey border and on the margin of the Teise, +is the Marquis of Camden's seat at Bayham Abbey. Its ruins include a +church, a gateway, and some of the smaller buildings. It was once highly +attractive, though small, and its ruined beauty is now enhanced by the +care with which the ivy is trained over the walls and the greensward +floor is smoothed. Ralph de Dene founded this abbey about the year 1200, +and after the dissolution Queen Elizabeth granted it to Viscount +Montague. It was bought in the last century by Chief-Justice Pratt, +whose son, the chancellor, became Marquis of Camden. The modern mansion +is a fine one, and from it a five-mile walk through the woods leads to +Tunbridge on the Medway. Chief among the older remains of this +pleasantly-located and popular town is Tunbridge Castle, its keep having +stood upon a lofty mound above the river. This "Norman Mound," as it is +called, is now capped with ruined walls, and an arched passage leads +from it to the upper story of the elaborate gate-house, still in +excellent preservation. Richard Fitzgilbert built the keep, and ruled +the "League of Tunbridge," but his castle, after a long siege by Henry +III., was taken away from his successor, who assumed the name of Gilbert +de Clare. From the De Clares the stronghold passed to the Audleys and +Staffords, and it is now held by Lord Stafford. The gate-house is a fine +structure, square in form, with round towers at each corner. The ruins +are richly adorned with mouldings and other decorations, and within is a +handsome state-apartment. Tunbridge is a quiet town, standing where five +of the tributaries of the Medway come together, over which it has as +many stone bridges. One of these streams, the Tun, gives the town its +name. In St. Stephen's Church, a badly mutilated building with a fine +spire, many of the De Clares are buried, and the quaint half-timbered +building of the "Chequers Inn" helps maintain the picturesque appearance +of the Tunbridge High Street. The spa of Tunbridge Wells, with its +chalybeate springs and baths, is a few miles southward, but the days of +its greatest glory have passed away, though fashion to a moderate extent +still haunts its pump-room and parade. This famous watering-place +stands in a contracted valley enclosed by the three hills known as Mount +Ephraim, Mount Zion, and Mount Pleasant. + +[Illustration: TUNBRIDGE CASTLE.] + +[Illustration: PENSHURST PLACE.] + +[Illustration: PENSHURST CHURCH.] + +To the westward of Tunbridge, and in the Medway Valley, is Penshurst, +celebrated as the home of Sir Philip Sidney--a grand, gray old house, +built at many periods, begun in the fourteenth century and not completed +until a few years ago. It is a pretty English picture within a setting +of wooded hills and silver rivers, the pattern from which Sidney drew +his description of "Laconia" in _Arcadia_. The buildings, particularly +their window-heads, are ornamented with the tracery peculiar to Kent. +The great hall, the earliest of these buildings, has a characteristic +open-timber roof, while its minstrel-gallery, fronted by a wainscot +screen, is ornamented with the badge of the Dudleys, the "bear and +ragged staff." Within these halls are the family portraits of a noble +lineage. Of Mary, daughter of Sir Henry Sidney and heiress of Sir John +Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, Ben Jonson wrote this epitaph: + + "Underneath this sable hearse + Lies, the subject of all verse, + Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother. + Death! ere thou hast slain another + Learned and fair and good as she, + Time shall throw a dart at thee." + +Sir Philip Sidney was her brother, born at Penshurst in 1554. The estate +came through various owners, until, in the reign of Henry II., it was +granted to Sir William Sidney, who commanded a wing of the victorious +English at Flodden. Sir Philip, we are told, would have been King of +Poland had not Queen Elizabeth interposed, "lest she should lose the +jewel of her times." Algernon Sidney, beheaded on Tower Hill, was his +descendant. Penshurst is now held by Baron de l'Isle, to whom it has +descended through marriage. On the estate stands the quaint old +Penshurst Church with its ivy-covered porch. The Eden River falls into +the Medway near Penshurst, and alongside its waters is the well-known +castellated residence which still survives from the Tudor days, Hever +Castle, where, it is said, Anne Boleyn was born. Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, +her great-grandfather, who was Lord Mayor of London in the reign of +Henry VI., began Hever Castle, which was completed by his grandson, +Anne's father. It was at Hever that King Henry wooed her. The house is a +quadrangle, with high pitched roofs and gables and surrounded by a +double moat, and is now a farm-house. Here they show the visitor Anne +Boleyn's rooms, and also the chamber where her successor, Anne of +Cleves, is said to have died, though this is doubted. King Henry, +however, seized the estate of Hever from his earlier wife's family, and +granted it to his subsequently discarded consort after he separated from +her. Northward of Tunbridge, and near Sevenoaks, is Knole, the home of +the family of Hon. L. S. Sackville-West, the present British minister at +Washington. It is one of the most interesting baronial mansions in +England, enclosed by a park five miles in circumference. + +[Illustration: HEVER CASTLE.] + +[Illustration: GATEWAY OF LEEDS CASTLE.] + +Proceeding eastward towards the outskirts of the Weald, we come to Leeds +Castle, once the great central fortress of Kent. Standing in a +commanding position, it held the road leading to Canterbury and the +coast, and it dates probably from the Norman Conquest. Its moat +surrounds three islands, from which, as if from the water, rise its +walls and towers. This castle is now the residence of Mr. Wykeham Martin +and contains many valuable antiquities. Also near the eastern border of +the Weald is Tenterden, famous for its church-steeple, which Bishop +Latimer has invested with a good story. The bishop in a sermon said that +Sir Thomas More was once sent into Kent to learn the cause of the +Goodwin Sands and the obstructions to Sandwich Haven. He summoned +various persons of experience, and among others there "came in before +him an olde man with a white head, and one that was thought to be little +lesse than an hundereth yeares olde. When Maister More saw this aged man +he thought it expedient to hear him say his minde in this matter, for +being so olde a man, it was likely he knew most of any man in that +presence and company. So Maister More called this olde aged man unto +him, and sayd, 'Father, tell me if ye can what is the cause of this +great arising of the sande and shelfs here about this haven, the which +stop it up that no shippes can arrive here. Ye are the oldest man that I +can espie in all this companye, so that, if any man can tell any cause +of it, ye of likelihode can say most in it, or at leastwise more than +any man here assembled.'--'Yea, forsooth, good master,' quod this olde +man, 'for I am wellnigh an hundreth years olde, and no man here in this +companye anything neare unto mine age.'--'Well, then,' quod Maister +More, 'how say you in this matter? What think ye to be the cause of +these shelfs and flattes that stop up Sandwich Haven?'--'Forsooth, syr,' +quoth he, 'I am an olde man; I think that Tenterton Steeple is the cause +of Goodwin Sandes. For I am an olde man, syr,' quod he, 'and I may +remember the building of Tenterton Steeple, and I may remember when +there was no steeple at all there. And before that Tenterton Steeple was +a-building there was no manner of speaking of any flattes or sandes that +stopped the haven; and, therefore, I thinke that Tenterton Steeple is +the cause of the destroying and decaying of Sandwich Haven.' And even so +to my purpose," says Latimer in conclusion, "is preaching of God's worde +the cause of rebellion, as Tenterton Steeple is a cause that Sandwich +Haven is decayed." Now this "olde aged man" had some excuse for his +theory in the Kentish tradition, which says that the abbot of St. +Augustine, who built the steeple, used for it the stones collected to +strengthen the sea-wall of Goodwin Sands, then part of the main land. +The next storm submerged the district, of which the Goodwins are the +remains, and thus the steeple caused the quicksands, according to the +Kentish theory. + + +ROCHESTER AND CHATHAM. + +Proceeding down the Medway, it flows past the city of Rochester, the +river being crowded with vessels and crossed here by a bridge with a +swinging draw. Rochester has a fine old cathedral, rather dilapidated, +and in part restored, but its chief attraction is the castle towering +above the river, its Norman keep forming a tower over seventy feet +square and rising one hundred feet high, its masonry disclosing vast +strength and impressive massiveness. Cobham Hall, the residence of Earl +Darnley, is near Rochester, standing in a nobly wooded park seven miles +in circumference. Just north of Cobham Park is Gad's Hill, where Charles +Dickens lived. Beyond Rochester the powerful modern defensive work of +Fort Pitt rises over Chatham to defend the Medway entrance and that +important dockyard. The town is chiefly a bustling street about two +miles long. The dockyard is one of the largest in England, and its +defensive works, as yet incomplete, will when finished make it a +powerful fortress, there being several outlying batteries and works +still to complete. The Gun Wharf contains a large park of artillery, and +there are barracks for three thousand men extending along the river. +There is also an extensive convict-prison with two thousand inmates, who +work upon the dock extension and at making bricks for its construction. +Chatham has several military and naval hospitals. Opposite the dockyard +is Upnor Castle, used as a powder-magazine and torpedo-school. This +castle, the original defensive work of Chatham, was bombarded by Van +Tromp when he came up the Medway in Charles II.'s reign--an audacity for +which he was afterwards punished. The suburb of Brompton is completely +enveloped by the forts and buildings of the post, contains barracks and +hospitals for five thousand men, and is also the head-quarters of the +Royal Engineers. + +[Illustration: ROCHESTER CASTLE.] + + +CANTERBURY. + +[Illustration: CANTERBURY.] + +Leaving the estuary of the Medway, still farther east in Kent, in the +vale of the Stour, is the ancient cathedral city of Canterbury, whereof +Rimmer says it "is one of the most delightful cities in England for an +antiquary." Its cathedral is approached through the quaint narrow street +of Mercery Lane, where once stood the Checquers Inn that was the resort +of Chaucer's pilgrims. At the end of this lane is the principal entrance +to the cathedral close--Prior Goldsmith's Gate, commonly called Christ +Church Gate, built in 1517: it was formerly surmounted by turrets, but +these have been partly taken down. The arms of Becket are carved upon +the gateway, and beyond it rise the gray towers of the venerable +cathedral. On the east side of the close is Broad Street, where part of +the old city-walls are still preserved. This was the site of St. +Augustine's monastery, and Lanfranc, the first archbishop after the +Conquest, rebuilt the cathedral church, which was continued by his +successor, Anselm. It was in this church that Becket was murdered in +1170, and "in the glorious choir of Conrad" his corpse was watched by +the monks on the following night. This choir was burned down four years +later, but afterwards rebuilt. The present cathedral consists of work +extending from Lanfranc's time until that of Prior Goldstone in the +fifteenth century, thus exhibiting specimens of all the schools of +Gothic architecture. Canterbury Cathedral is among the largest churches +in England, being five hundred and twenty-two feet long, and its +principal entrance is by the south porch. The nave is striking, and in +the choir the eye is immediately attracted by its great length, one +hundred and eighty feet--the longest in the kingdom--and by the singular +bend with which the walls at the eastern end approach each other. The +architecture is antique, and the interior produces an impression of +great solemnity. The north-western transept is known as the Transept of +the Martyrdom, where Becket was slain just after Christmas by four +knights in 1170. A small square piece cut out of one of the flagstones +marks the spot, and there still remain the door leading from the +cloisters by which Becket and the knights entered the cathedral, and the +part of the wall in front of which the assassinated archbishop fell. +There is an attractive window in this transept, the gift of Edward IV. +The cathedral is full of monuments, and in Trinity Chapel, behind the +choir, where Becket had sung his first mass when installed as +archbishop, was the location chosen for his shrine, but it long ago +disappeared. Here is also the monument of Edward the Black Prince, with +his effigy in brass, and suspended above it his helmet, shield, +sword-scabbard, and gauntlets. Henry IV. is also buried in Canterbury, +with his second wife, Joan of Navarre; Cardinal Pole is entombed here; +and in the south-western transept is the singular tomb of Langton, +archbishop in the days of Magna Charta, the stone coffin so placed that +the head alone appears through the wall. In the crypt was Becket's tomb, +which remained there until 1220, and at it occurred the penance and +scourging of Henry II. The cathedral has two fine western towers, the +northern one, however, not having been finished until recently. The +central tower, known as "Bell Harry," rises two hundred and thirty-five +feet, and is a magnificent example of Perpendicular Gothic. In the close +are interesting remains of St. Augustine's Monastery, including its fine +entrance-gate and guest-hall, now part of St. Augustine's College, one +of the most elaborate modern structures in Canterbury. The monastery had +been a brewery, but was bought in 1844 by Mr. Beresford Hope and devoted +to its present noble object. On the hill above St. Augustine, mounted by +the Longport road, is the "mother church of England," St. Martin's, +which had been a British Christian chapel before the Saxons came into +the island, and was made over to Augustine. The present building +occupies the site of the one he erected. + +Close to the old city-wall is Canterbury Castle, its venerable Norman +keep being now used as the town gasworks. There are many old houses in +Canterbury, and its history has been traced back twenty-eight hundred +years. It was the Roman colony of Durovernum. Among its quaint houses is +the Falstaff Inn, still a comfortable and popular hostelrie, having a +sign-board supported by iron framework projecting far over the street. +Adjoining is the West Gate--the only one remaining of the six ancient +barriers of the city built by Archbishop Sudbury, who was killed in 1381 +by Wat Tyler's rebels. This gate stands on the road from London to +Dover, and guards the bridge over a little branch of the Stour; the +foundations of the lofty flanking round towers are in the river-bed. The +gate-house was long used as a city prison. It was in this weird old city +that Chaucer located many of his Canterbury Tales, that give such an +insight into the customs of his time. The landlord of the Tabard Inn in +Southwark, whose guests were of all ranks, proposed a journey to +Canterbury after dinner, he to adjudge the best story any of them told +on the road. Chaucer's characters were all cleverly drawn and lifelike, +while his innkeeper was a man of evidently high "social status," and, as +he himself said, "wise and well taught." The Stour flows on to the sea, +whose generally low shores are not far away, with the Isle of Thanet to +the northward and London's watering-place of Ramsgate on its outer +verge. Here is Pegwell Bay, noted for its shrimps, and a short distance +westward from Ramsgate is Osengal Hill, from which there is a fine view, +the summit being covered by the graves of the first Saxon settlers of +Thanet. To the northward a short distance is the sister watering-place +of Margate, near the north-eastern extremity of Thanet and ninety miles +from London: its pier is nine hundred feet long. On the extremity of +Thanet, about three miles from Margate, is the great lighthouse of the +North Foreland. + +[Illustration: FALSTAFF INN, CANTERBURY.] + + +THE CINQUE PORTS. + +Off the mouth of the Stour and the Goodwin Sands, and thence down the +coast to Dover, is the narrowest part of the strait between England and +France. This is a coast, therefore, that needed defence from the +earliest times, and the cliff-castles and earthworks still remaining +show how well it was watched. The Romans carefully fortified the entire +line of cliffs from the Goodwin Sands to Beachy Head beyond Hastings. +There were nine fortresses along the coast, which in later times were +placed under control of a high official known as the "Count of the Saxon +Shore," whose duty was to protect this part of England against the +piratical attacks of the Northern sea-rovers. These fortresses commanded +the chief harbors and landing-places, and they marked the position of +the famous Cinque Ports, whose fleet was the germ of the British navy. +They were not thus named until after the Norman Conquest, when John de +Fiennes appeared as the first warden. The Cinque Ports of later English +history were Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, Romney, and Hastings, each of which +had its minor ports or "limbs," such as Deal, Walmer, Folkestone, Rye, +Winchelsea, and Pevensey, that paid tribute to the head port and enjoyed +part of its franchises. The duty of the Cinque Ports was to furnish +fifty-seven ships whenever the king needed them, and he supplied part of +the force to man them. In return the ports were given great freedom and +privileges; their people were known as "barons," were represented in +Parliament, and at every coronation bore the canopy over the sovereign, +carrying it on silver staves having small silver bells attached. The +canopy was usually afterwards presented to Becket's shrine at +Canterbury, and its bearers after the coronation dined in Westminster +Hall at the king's right hand. But the glory of these redoubtable Cinque +Ports has departed. Dover is the only one remaining in active service; +Sandwich, Hythe, and Romney are no longer ports at all; while Hastings +is in little better condition. The tides have gradually filled their +shallow harbors with silt. Of the "limbs," or lesser ports, two, +Winchelsea and Pevensey, are now actually inland towns, the sea having +completely retired from them. Such has also been the fate of Sandwich, +which in the time of Canute was described as the most famous harbor of +England. The coast has greatly changed, the shallow bays beyond the old +shore-line, which is still visible, being raised into green meadows. In +this way the water-course that made Thanet an island has been closed. + + +SANDWICH. + +[Illustration: THE BARBICAN, SANDWICH.] + +This silting up began at a remote era, closing one port after another, +and Sandwich rose upon their decline. It is the most ancient of the +Cinque Ports, and existed as a great harbor until about the year 1500, +when it too began to silt up. In a century it was quite closed, traffic +had passed away, and the town had assumed the fossilized appearance +which is now chiefly remarked about it. Sandwich lingers as it existed +in the Plantagenet days, time having mouldered it into quaint condition. +Trees grow from the tops of the old walls, and also intrude upon the +deep ditch with its round towers at the angles. Large open spaces, +gardens, and orchards lie between the houses within the walls of the +city. Going through the old gateway leading to the bridge crossing the +Stour, a little church is found, with its roof tinted with yellowish +lichens, and a bunch of houses below it covered with red, time-worn +tiles, and the still and sleepy river near by. This was the very gate of +that busy harbor which four centuries ago was the greatest in England +and the resort of ships from all parts of the then known world. Its +customs dues yielded $100,000 annually at the small rates imposed, and +the great change that has been wrought can be imagined, as the visitor +looks out over the once famous harbor to find it a mass of green meadows +with venerable trees growing here and there. Sandwich has no main +street, its winding, narrow and irregular passage-ways being left +apparently to chance to seek out their routes, while a mass of houses is +crushed together within the ancient walls, with church-towers as the +only landmarks. These churches give the best testimony to the former +wealth and importance of the town, the oldest being that of St. Clement, +who was the patron of the seafarers. This church is rather large, with a +central tower, while the pavement contains many memorials of the rich +Sandwich merchants in times long agone. St. Peter's Church remains only +as a fragment; its tower has fallen and destroyed the south aisle. It +contains a beautiful tomb erected to one of the former wardens of the +Cinque Ports. The old code of laws of Sandwich, which still survives, +shows close pattern after the Baltic towns of the Hanseatic League. +Female criminals were drowned in the Guestling Brook, which falls into +the Stour; others were buried alive in the "thief duns" near that +stream. Close by the old water-gate of Sandwich is the Barbican, and +from it a short view across the marshes discloses the ancient Roman town +of Rutupiae and the closed-up port of Ebbsfleet, where Hengist and Horsa +are said to have first landed. Here was the oyster-ground of the Romans, +who loved the bivalves as well as their successors of to-day. Of the +walls of the Roman town there still remain extensive traces, disclosing +solid masonry of great thickness, composed of layers of rough boulders +encased externally with regular courses of squared Portland stone. There +are square towers at intervals along these walls, with loopholed +apartments for the sentinels. Vast numbers of Roman coins have been +found in and around this ancient city, over one hundred and forty +thousand, it is said, having come to light, belonging to the decade +between 287 and 297, when Britain was an independent Roman island. +Passing southward along the coast, we skirt the natural harbor of the +Downs, a haven of refuge embracing about twenty square miles of safe +anchorage, and bounded on the east by the treacherous Goodwin Sands, +where Shakespeare tells us "the carcase of many a tall ship lies +buried." It is possible at low water to visit and walk over portions of +these shoals. They are quicksands of such character that if a ship +strikes upon them she will in a few days be completely swallowed up. +Modern precautions, however, have rendered them less formidable than +formerly. The great storm of 1703, that destroyed the Eddystone +Lighthouse, wrecked thirteen war-ships on the Goodwins, nearly all their +crews perishing. As we look out over them from the low shores at Deal +and Walmer below Sandwich, or the chalk-cliffs of Dover beyond, a fringe +of breakers marks their line, while nearer the coast merchant-ships at +anchor usually crowd the Downs. In Walmer Castle was the official +residence of the lord warden of the Cinque Ports, an office that is soon +to be abolished, and which many famous men have held. Here lived Pitt, +and here died the Duke of Wellington, closing his great career. + + +DOVER. + +Beyond, the coast rises up from the low sandy level, and rounding the +South Foreland, on which is a fine electric lighthouse of modern +construction, we come to the chalk-cliffs, on top of which are the dark +towers of Dover Castle, from whose battlements the road descends to the +town along the water's edge and in the valley of the little stream that +gives the place its name--the Dour, which the Celts called the Dwr or +"water," and the Romans the Dubrae. The great keep of Dover dates from +William Rufus's reign, and is one of the many badges left in England of +the Norman Conquest. There are earthworks at Dover, however, of much +earlier origin, built for protection by the Celts and Romans, and +forming part of the chain that guarded this celebrated coast, of which +Dover, being at the narrowest part of the strait, was considered the +key. But no such Norman castle rises elsewhere on these shores. "It was +built by evil spirits," writes a Bohemian traveller in the fifteenth +century, "and is so strong that in no other part of Christendom can +anything be found like it." The northern turret on the keep rises four +hundred and sixty-eight feet above the sea at the base of the hill, and +from it can be had a complete observation of both the English and French +coasts for many miles. Within the castle is the ancient Pharos, or +watch-tower, a Roman work. Over upon the opposite side of the harbor is +Shakespeare's Cliff, + + "----whose high and bending head + Looks fearfully on the confined deep." + +[Illustration: THE PHAROS, DOVER CASTLE.] + +There is no more impressive view in England than that from the Castle +Hill of Dover, with the green fields and white chalk headlands +stretching far away on either hand fringed by the breakers, the hills +and harbors faintly seen across the strait in France, and the busy town +of Dover lying at the foot of the cliff. This is half watering-place and +half port of transit to the opposite coast. Its harbor is almost +entirely artificial, and there has been much difficulty in keeping it +open. That there is any port there now at all is due mainly to Raleigh's +advice, and there is at present a well-protected harbor of refuge, with +a fine pier extending nearly a half mile into the sea, with a fort at +the outer end. From the top of the hill there looks down upon this pier +the Saluting-Battery Gate of the castle, within which is kept that +curious specimen of ancient gunnery known as "Queen Elizabeth's Pocket +Pistol." + +[Illustration: SALUTING BATTERY.] + +Farther down the coast is the ancient "limb" of Dover, which has grown +into the rival port of Folkestone. This modern port, created to aid the +necessities of travel across the Channel, stands at the north-eastern +corner of the Romney Marsh, a district that has been raised out of the +sea and is steadily increasing in front of the older coast-line, shown +by a range of hills stretching westward from Folkestone. This marsh has +made the sea retreat fully three miles from Hythe, whose name signifies +"the harbor," though it is now an inland village, with a big church +dedicated to St. Leonard, the deliverer of captives, who was always +much reverenced in the Cinque Ports, their warlike sailors being +frequently taken prisoner. In a crypt under its chancel is a large +collection of skulls and bones, many of them bearing weapon scars and +cuts, showing them to be relics of the wars. Beyond Hythe the Rother +originally flowed into the Channel, but a great storm in the reign of +Edward I. silted up its outlet, and the river changed its course over +towards Rye, so as to avoid the Cinque port of Romney that was +established on the western edge of the marshes to which it gave the +name. Romney is now simply a village without any harbor, and of the five +churches it formerly had, only the church of St. Nicholas remains as a +landmark among the fens that have grown up around it, an almost treeless +plain intersected by dykes and ditches. + + +RYE AND WINCHELSEA. + +[Illustration: OLD HOUSES, RYE.] + +The unpicturesque coast is thrust out into the sea to the point at +Dungeness where the lighthouse stands a beacon in a region full of peril +to the navigator; and then the coast again recedes to the cove wherein +is found the quaint old town of Rye, formerly an important "limb" of the +Cinque port of Hastings. It has about the narrowest and crookedest +streets in England, and the sea is two miles away from the line of steep +and broken rock along which "Old Rye" stretches. The ancient houses, +however, have a sort of harbor, formed by the junction of the three +rivers, the Rother, Brede, and Tillingham, and thus Rye supports quite a +fleet of fishing-craft. Thackeray has completely reproduced in _Denis +Duval_ the ancient character of this place, with its smuggling +atmosphere varied with French touches given by the neighborhood of the +Continent. Rye stands on one side of a marshy lowland, and Winchelsea +about three miles distant on the other side. The original Winchelsea, we +are told, was on lower ground, and, after frequent floodings, was +finally destroyed by an inundation in 1287. King Edward I. founded the +new town upon the hill above. It enjoyed a lucrative trade until the +fifteenth century, when, like most of the others, its prosperity was +blighted by the sea's retiring. The harbor then became useless, the +inhabitants left, the houses gradually disappeared, and, the historian +says, the more massive buildings remaining "have a strangely spectral +character, like owls seen by daylight." Three old gates remain, +including the Strand Gate, where King Edward nearly lost his life soon +after the town was built. It appears that the horse on which he was +riding, frightened by a windmill, leaped over the town-wall, and all +gave up the king for dead. Luckily, however, he kept his saddle, and the +horse, after slipping some distance down the incline, was checked, and +Edward rode safely back through the gate. There is a fine church in +Winchelsea--St. Thomas of Canterbury--within which are the tombs of +Gervase Alard and his grandson Stephen. They were the most noted sailors +of their time, and Gervase in 1300 was admiral of the fleet of the +Cinque Ports, his grandson Stephen appearing as admiral in 1324. These +were the earliest admirals known in England, the title, derived from the +Arabic _amir_, having been imported from Sicily. Gervase was paid two +shillings a day. At the house in Winchelsea called the "Friars" lived +the noted highwaymen George and Joseph Weston, who during the last +century plundered in all directions, and then atoned for it by the +exercise of extensive charity in that town: one of them actually became +a churchwarden. + + +HASTINGS AND PEVENSEY. + +The cliffs come out to the edge of the sea at Winchelsea, and it is a +pleasant walk along them to Hastings, with its ruined castle, the last +of the Cinque Ports. This was never as important a port as the others, +but the neighboring Sussex forests made it a convenient place for +shipbuilding. The castle ruins are the only antiques at Hastings, which +has been gradually transformed into a modern watering-place in a pretty +situation. Its eastern end, however, has undergone little transition, +and is still filled with the old-fashioned black-timber houses of the +fishermen. The battle of Hastings, whereby William the Conqueror planted +his standard on English soil, was fought about seven miles inland. His +ships debarked their troops all along this coast, while St. Valery +harbor in France, from which he sailed, is visible in clear weather +across the Channel. William himself landed at Pevensey, farther +westward, where there is an old fortress of Roman origin located in the +walls of the ancient British-Roman town that the heathen Saxons had +long before attacked, massacring the entire population. Pevensey still +presents within these walls the Norman castle of the Eagle Honour, named +from the powerful house of Aquila once possessing it. The Bayeux +Tapestry depicts the landing of William at Pevensey, which was a "limb" +of Hastings. Its Roman name was Anderida, the walls enclosing an +irregular oval, the castle within being a pentagon, with towers at the +angles. Beyond it the Sussex coast juts out at the bold white chalk +promontory of Beachy Head. + +[Illustration: HURSTMONCEUX CASTLE.] + +A short distance inland from Pevensey is the great Sussex cattle-market +at Hailsham, where the old Michelham Priory is used as a farm-house and +its crypt as a dairy. Not far away is Hurstmonceux Castle, a relic of +the times of Henry VI., and built entirely of brick, being probably the +largest English structure of that material constructed since the Roman +epoch. Only the shell of the castle remains, an interesting and +picturesque specimen of the half fortress, half mansion of the latter +days of feudalism. The main gateway on the southern front has flanking +towers over eighty feet high, surmounted by watch-turrets from which the +sea is visible. The walls are magnificently overgrown with ivy, +contrasting beautifully with the red brick. Great trunks of ivy grow up +from the dining-room, and all the inner courts are carpeted with green +turf, with hazel-bushes appearing here and there among the ruined walls. +A fine row of old chestnuts stands beyond the moat, and from the towers +are distant views of Beachy Head, its white chalk-cliffs making one of +the most prominent landmarks of the southern coast. + + +BRIGHTON. + +Westward of Beachy Head is the noted watering-place of this southern +coast, Brighton, the favorite resort of the Londoners, it being but +fifty-one miles south of the metropolis. This was scarcely known as a +fashionable resort until about 1780, when George IV., then the Prince of +Wales, became its patron. Taken altogether, its large size, fine +buildings, excellent situation, and elaborate decorations make Brighton +probably the greatest sea-coast watering-place in Europe. It stretches +for over three miles along the Channel upon a rather low shore, though +in some places the cliffs rise considerably above the beach. Almost the +entire sea-front, especially to the eastward, is protected by a strong +sea-wall of an average height of sixty feet and twenty-three feet thick +at the base. This wall cost $500,000 to build, and it supports a +succession of terraces available for promenade and roadway. In front the +surf rolls in upon a rather steep pebbly beach, upon which are the +bathing-machines and boats. Along the beach, and behind the sea-wall, +Brighton has a grand drive, the Marine Parade, sixty feet wide, +extending for three miles along the shore and in front of the buildings, +with broad promenades on the sea-side ornamented with lawns and gardens, +and on the other side a succession of houses of such grand construction +as to resemble rows of palaces, built of the cream-colored Portland +stone. The houses of the town extend far back on the hillsides and into +the valleys, and the permanent population of 130,000 is largely +augmented during the height of the season--October, November, and +December. Enormous sums have been expended upon the decoration of this +great resort, and its Marine Parade, when fashion goes there in the +autumn, presents a grand scene. From this parade two great piers extend +out into the water, and are used for promenades, being, like the entire +city front, brilliantly illuminated at night. The eastern one is the +Chain Pier, built in 1823 at a cost of $150,000, and extending eleven +hundred and thirty-six feet into the sea. The West Pier, constructed +about fifteen years ago, is somewhat broader, and stretches out eleven +hundred and fifteen feet. Each of the piers expands into a wide platform +at the outer end, that of the West Pier being one hundred and forty feet +wide, and here bands play and there are brilliant illuminations. Both +piers are of great strength, and only four cents admission is charged to +them. Prince George built at Brighton a royal pavilion in imitation of +the pagodas of the Indies, embosomed in trees and surrounded by gardens. +This was originally the royal residence, but in 1850 the city bought it +for $265,000 as a public assembly-room. The great attraction of +Brighton, however, is the aquarium, the largest in the world, opened in +1872. It is constructed in front of the Parade, and, sunken below its +level, stretches some fourteen hundred feet along the shore, and is one +hundred feet wide, being surmounted by gardens and footwalks. It is +set at this low level to facilitate the movement of the sea-water, and +its design is to represent the fishes and marine animals as nearly as +possible in their native haunts and habits, to do which, and not startle +the fish, the visitors go through darkened passages, and are thus +concealed from them, all the light coming in by refraction through the +water. Their actions are thus natural, and they move about with perfect +freedom, some of the tanks being of enormous size. Here swim schools of +herring, mackerel, and porpoises as they do out at sea, the octopus +gyrates his arms, and almost every fish that is known to the waters of +that temperature is exhibited in thoroughly natural action. The tanks +have been prepared most elaborately. The porpoises and larger fish have +a range of at least one hundred feet, and rocks, savannahs, and +everything else they are accustomed to are reproduced. The visitors walk +through vaulted passages artistically decorated, and there is music to +gladden the ear. This aquarium also shows the processes of +fish-hatching, and has greatly increased the world's stock of knowledge +as to fish-habits. The tanks hold five hundred thousand gallons of fresh +and salt water. + +Back of Brighton are the famous South Downs, the chalk-hills of Sussex, +which stretch over fifty miles parallel to the coast, and have a breadth +of four or five miles, while they rise to an average height of five +hundred feet, their highest point being Ditchling Beacon, north of +Brighton, rising eight hundred and fifty-eight feet. They disclose +picturesque scenery, and the railways from London wind through their +valleys and dart into the tunnels under their hills, whose tops disclose +the gyrating sails of an army of windmills, while over their slopes roam +the flocks of well-tended sheep that ultimately become the the +much-prized South Down mutton. The chalk-cliffs bordering the Downs +slope to the sea, and in front are numerous little towns, for the whole +coast is dotted with watering-places. A few miles east of Brighton is +the port of New Haven on a much-travelled route across the Channel to +Dieppe. + + +WISTON PARK. + +To the westward of Brighton and in the South Downs is the antique +village of Steyning, near which is Rev. John Goring's home at Wiston +Manor, an Elizabethan mansion of much historical interest and commanding +views of extreme beauty. This is one of the most attractive places in +the South Downs, a grand park with noble trees, herds of deer wandering +over the grass, and the great ring of trees on top of Chanctonbury Hill, +planted in 1760. Charles Goring, the father of the present owner, +planted these trees in his early life, and sixty-eight years +afterwards, in 1828, he then being eighty-five years old, addressed +these lines to the hill: + + "How oft around thy Ring, sweet Hill, a boy I used to play, + And form my plans to plant thy top on some auspicious day! + How oft among thy broken turf with what delight I trod! + With what delight I placed those twigs beneath thy maiden sod! + And then an almost hopeless wish would creep within my breast: + 'Oh, could I live to see thy top in all its beauty dressed!' + That time's arrived; I've had my wish, and lived to eighty-five; + I'll thank my God, who gave such grace, as long as e'er I live; + Still when the morning sun in spring, whilst I enjoy my sight, + Shall gild thy new clothed Beech and sides, I'll view thee with delight." + +The house originally belonged to Earl Godwine, and has had a strange +history. One of its lords was starved to death at Windsor by King John; +Llewellyn murdered another at a banquet; a third fell from his horse and +was killed. Later, it belonged to the Shirleys, one of whom married a +Persian princess; it has been held by the Gorings for a long period. +This interesting old mansion has a venerable church adjoining it, +surmounted by an ivy-clad tower. Chanctonbury Hill rises eight hundred +and fourteen feet, and its ring of trees, which can be seen for many +miles, is planted on a circular mound surrounded by a trench, an ancient +fortification. From it there is a grand view over Surrey and Sussex and +to the sea beyond--a view stretching from Windsor Castle to Portsmouth, +a panorama of rural beauty that cannot be excelled. + + +ARUNDEL CASTLE. + +[Illustration: ARUNDEL CASTLE.] + +[Illustration: RUINS OF COWDRAY.] + +The little river Arun flows from the South Downs into the sea, and +standing upon its banks is Arundel Castle, which gives the title of earl +to the unfortunate infant son and heir of the Duke of Norfolk, whose +blindness shows that even the greatest wealth and highest rank do not +command all things in this world. A village of two steep streets mounts +up the hill from the river-bank to the castle, which has unusual +interest from its striking position and the long line of its noble +owners--the Fitzalans and Howards. The extensive ramparts surround a +ponderous keep and there are fine views in all directions. This is a +favorite home of the Duke of Norfolk, and is surrounded by an extensive +park. The tombs of his ancestors are in the old parish church of St. +Nicholas, built in the fourteenth century, alongside which the duke has +recently constructed a magnificent Roman Catholic church in Decorated +Gothic at a cost of $500,000. The architect of this church was Mr. +Hansom, who invented for the benefit of London the Hansom cab. Westward +of Arundel is Chichester, distinguished for its cathedral and cross, +the ancient Regnum of the Romans. The cathedral, recently restored, is +peculiar from having five aisles with a long and narrow choir. Here is +buried Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel in the fourteenth century. This +cathedral has a consistory court over the southern porch, reached by a +spiral staircase, from which a sliding door opens into the Lollards' +Dungeon. It has a detached campanile or bell-tower rising on the +north-western side, the only example in England of such an attachment to +a cathedral. The Chichester market-cross, standing at the intersection +of four streets in the centre of the town, is four hundred years old. In +front of Chichester, but nine miles away, the low peninsula of Selsey +Bill projects into the sea and is the resort of innumerable wild-fowl. +Three miles out of town is Goodwood, where the races are held. Goodwood +is the seat of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, who has a fine park, and +a valuable picture-gallery particularly rich in historical portraits. At +Bigner, twelve miles from Chichester over the chalk-downs, are the +remains of an extensive Roman villa, the buildings and pavements having +been exhumed for a space of six hundred by three hundred and fifty feet. +The Rother, a tributary of the Arun, flows down from Midhurst, where are +the ruins of Cowdray, an ancient Tudor stronghold that was burned in +1793, its walls being now finely overgrown with ivy. Dunford House, near +Midhurst, was the estate presented to Richard Cobden by the "Anti-Corn +Law League." + + +SELBORNE. + +[Illustration: GILBERT WHITE'S HOUSE.] + +Crossing from Midhurst over the border into Hampshire, the village of +Selborne is reached, one of the smallest but best known places in +England from the care and minuteness with which Rev. Gilbert White has +described it in his _Natural History of Selborne_. It is a short +distance south-east of Alton and about fifty miles south-west of London, +while beyond the village the chalk-hills rise to a height of three +hundred feet, having a long hanging wood on the brow, known as the +Hanger, made up mainly of beech trees. The village is a single +straggling street three-quarters of a mile in length, in a sheltered +valley and running parallel with the Hanger. At each end of Selborne +there rises a small rivulet, the one to the south becoming a branch of +the Arun and flowing into the Channel, while the other is a branch of +the Wey, which falls into the Thames. This is the pleasant little place, +located in a broad parish, that Gilbert White has made famous, writing +of everything concerning it, but more especially of its natural history +and peculiarities of soil, its trees, fruits, and animal life. He was +born at Selborne in 1720, and died there in 1793, in his seventy-third +year. He was the father of English natural history, for much of what he +wrote was equally applicable to other parts of the kingdom. His modest +house, now overgrown with ivy, is one of the most interesting buildings +in the village, and in it they still keep his study about as he left it, +with the close-fronted bookcase protected by brass wire-netting, to +which hangs his thermometer just where he originally placed it. The +house has been little if any altered since he was carried to his last +resting-place. He is described by those who knew him as "a little thin, +prim, upright man," a quiet, unassuming, but very observing country +parson, who occupied his time in watching and recording the habits of +his parishioners, quadruped as well as feathered. At the end of the +garden is still kept his sun-dial, the lawn around which is one of the +softest and most perfect grass carpets in England. + +[Illustration: SUN-DIAL IN GILBERT WHITE'S GARDEN.] + +[Illustration: SELBORNE CHURCH, FROM THE ALTON ROAD.] + +The pleasant little church over which White presided is as modest and +almost as attractive as his house. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, +and measures fifty-four by forty-seven feet, being almost as broad as it +is long, consisting of three aisles, and making no pretensions, he says, +to antiquity. It was built in Henry VII.'s reign, is perfectly plain +and unadorned, and without painted glass, carved work, sculpture, or +tracery. Within it, however, are low, squat, thick pillars supporting +the roof, which he thinks are Saxon and upheld the roof of a former +church, which, falling into decay, was rebuilt on these massive props +because their strength had preserved them from the injuries of time. +They support blunt Gothic arches. He writes that he remembers when the +beams of the middle aisle were hung with garlands in honor of young +women of the parish who died virgins. Within the chancel is his memorial +on the wall, and he rests in an unassuming grave in the churchyard. The +belfry is a square embattled tower forty-five feet high, built at the +western end, and he tells pleasantly how the three old bells were cast +into four in 1735, and a parishioner added a fifth one at his own +expense, marking its arrival by a high festival in the village, +"rendered more joyous by an order from the donor that the treble bell +should be fixed bottom upward in the ground and filled with punch, of +which all present were permitted to partake." The porch of the church to +the southward is modern and shelters a fine Gothic doorway, whose +folding doors are evidently of ancient construction. The vicarage stands +alongside to the westward, an old Elizabethan house. + +[Illustration: ROCKY LANE LEADING TO ALTON.] + +[Illustration: THE WISHING STONE.] + +Among the singular things in Selborne to which White calls attention are +two rocky hollow lanes, one of which leads to Alton. These roads have, +by the traffic of ages and the running of water, been worn down through +the first stratum of freestone and partly through the second, so that +they look more like water-courses than roads. In many places they have +thus been sunken as much as eighteen feet beneath the level of the +fields alongside, so that torrents rush along them in rainy weather, +with miniature cascades on either hand that are frozen into icicles in +winter. These lanes, thus rugged and gloomy, affright the timid, but, +gladly writes our author, they "delight the naturalist with their +various botany." The old mill at Selborne, with its dilapidated +windsails, presents a picturesque appearance, and up on the +chalk-hills, where there is a far-away view over the pleasant vale +beyond, is the Wishing Stone, erected on a little mound among the trees. +All these things attracted our author's close attention, and as his +parish was over thirty miles in circumference, as may be supposed his +investigations covered a good deal of ground. His work is chiefly +written in the form of a series of letters to friends, and he +occasionally digresses over the border into the neighboring parishes to +speak of their peculiarities or attractions. They all had in his day +little churches, and the parish church of Greatham, not far from +Selborne, is a specimen of the antique construction of the diminutive +chapels that his ancestors handed down to their children for places of +worship, each surrounded by its setting of ancient gravestones. The +_History of Selborne_ shows how the country parson in the olden time, +whose flock was small, parish isolated, and visitors few, amused +himself; but he has left an enduring monument that grows the more +valuable as the years advance. In fact, it is a text-book of natural +history; and so complete have been his observations that he not only +describes all the plants and animals, birds, rocks, soils, and +buildings, but he also has space to devote to the cats of Selborne, and +to tell how they prowl in the roadway and mount the tiled roofs to +capture the chimney swallows. How he loved his home is shown in the poem +with which his work begins. We quote the opening stanza, and also some +other characteristic portions of this ode, which describes the +attractions of Selborne in the last century: + + "See Selborne spreads her boldest beauties round, + The varied valley, and the mountain ground + Wildly majestic: what is all the pride + Of flats with loads of ornament supplied? + Unpleasing, tasteless, impotent expense, + Compared with Nature's rude magnificence. + Oft on some evening, sunny, soft, and still, + The Muse shall hand thee to the beech-grown hill, + To spend in tea the cool, refreshful hour, + Where nods in air the pensile, nest-like bower; + Or where the Hermit hangs his straw-clad cell, + Emerging gently from the leafy dell: + Romantic spot! from whence in prospect lies + Whate'er of landscape charms our feasting eyes; + The pointed spire, the hall, the pasture-plain, + The russet fallow, and the golden grain; + The breezy lake that sheds a gleaming light, + Till all the fading picture fails the sight.... + Now climb the steep, drop now your eye below, + Where round the verdurous village orchards blow; + There, like a picture, lies my lowly seat, + A rural, sheltered, unobserved retreat. + Me far above the rest, Selbornian scenes. + The pendant forest and the mountain-greens, + Strike with delight: ... There spreads the distant view + That gradual fades, till sunk in misty blue." + +[Illustration: GREATHAM CHURCH.] + + +WINCHESTER. + +[Illustration: CARDINAL BEAUFORT'S GATE AND ANCIENT BREWERY.] + +About sixteen miles south-west of Selborne is the chief city of +Hampshire and one of the great historical cities of the +realm--Winchester--built on the side of a chalk-hill rising from the +valley of the Itchen, a stream that was Izaak Walton's favorite +fishing-ground. This was the Roman Venta Belgarum, and was made an +episcopal see in the seventh century. Nothing remains of the earlier +cathedral, which was replaced by the present structure, begun in the +eleventh century, but not finished until the fifteenth. Winchester +Cathedral is five hundred and sixty feet long, and its nave is in the +highest degree impressive, being the longest in England, extending two +hundred and sixty-five feet. The western front has recently been +restored. Within the cathedral are many noted tombs, including that of +William Rufus, and above the altar is West's painting of the "Raising of +Lazarus." In the presbytery are six mortuary chests containing the +remains of kings and bishops of the ancient Saxon kingdom of Wessex. St. +Swithin's shrine was the treasure of Winchester: he was bishop in the +ninth century and the especial patron of the city and cathedral. +Originally interred in the churchyard, his remains were removed to the +golden shrine given by King Edgar, though tradition says this was +delayed by forty days of rain, which is the foundation of the popular +belief in the continuance of wet weather after St. Swithin's Day, July +15. In the Lady Chapel, Queen Mary was married to Philip of Spain in +1554, and the chair on which she sat is still preserved there. The +cathedral close is extremely picturesque, surrounded by houses of +considerable antiquity. Among the prelates of Winchester were William of +Wykeham and Cardinal Beaufort: the former founded St. Mary's College +there in the fourteenth century--a fine structure, with the picturesque +ruins of the old palace of the bishops, Wolvesey Castle, near by; the +latter, in the fifteenth century, built Cardinal Beaufort's Tower and +Gateway in the southern suburbs, on the Southampton road, when he +revived the foundation of St. Cross. This noble gateway, when approached +from the city, is seen through the foliage, with a background of quaint +high chimneys, church, and green leaves. The river Itchen flows +alongside the road, half hidden among the trees. The St. Cross Hospital, +with the thirteen brethren still living there in their black gowns and +silver crosses, gives a vivid picture of ancient England. Adjoining the +gateway on the left hand is the brewery, formerly known as the "Hundred +Men's Hall," because a hundred of the poorest men in Winchester were +daily entertained there at dinner, and, as the repast was provided on a +bountiful scale, the guests always had ample provisions to carry home to +their families. The tower and surrounding buildings are excellent +examples of the domestic architecture of the fifteenth century. In this +hospital the custom still prevails of giving the wayfarer a horn of ale +and dole of bread, the ale being brewed on the premises and of the same +kind made there centuries ago. The old West Gate of Winchester, the only +survivor of the city's four gates, is a well-preserved specimen of the +military architecture of the time of Henry III. Winchester Castle was +originally built by William the Norman, and continued a residence of +the kings until Henry III., but of it little remains beyond the hall and +some subterranean fragments. Here hangs on the wall what is said to be +the top of King Arthur's round table. There is a beautiful cross in +Winchester, recently restored, and originally erected on the High Street +by Cardinal Beaufort, who seems to have spent much of his vast and +ill-gotten wealth in splendid architectural works. Shakespeare +introduces him in _Henry VI._, and in the scene that closes his career +truthfully depicts him: + + "If thou be'st death, I'll give thee England's treasure, + Enough to purchase such another island. + So thou wilt let me live and feel no pain." + + +THE NEW FOREST. + +The Itchen flows into the estuary of Southampton Water, and from its +western shores spreads far away the domain of the New Forest, stretching +down into the south-western part of Hampshire. This is a remnant of the +forests that once covered the greater part of the island, and is the +most extensive left in the English lowlands. It was made a royal forest +by William the Norman, and thus continues to the present time, the +largest tract of uncultivated land and one of the finest examples of +woodland scenery in the kingdom. It covers almost the whole surface +between Southampton Water and the Avon, which is the western border of +Hampshire, but in recent years its area has been gradually curtailed, +though its extent has never been accurately measured. Stretching about +fifteen miles from east to west and twenty miles from north-west to +south-east, it includes about ninety-one thousand acres, of which +twenty-six thousand belong to private landowners, two thousand are the +absolute property of the Crown, and the remaining sixty-three thousand +acres have common and other rights due to a large number of tenants, +though the title is in the Crown. About twenty-five thousand acres are +covered with timber, but only five thousand acres of this is old timber, +the remainder having been planted with trees within the last two hundred +years. The surface is gently undulating, becoming hilly in the northern +parts; the soil is usually arid, and the scenery discloses wide expanses +of heathery moor, often marshy in the lower grounds, with here and there +copses that gradually thicken into woodland as the true forest district +is approached. The chief trees are oak and beech, which attain to noble +proportions, while there are occasional tufts of holly and undergrowth. + +[Illustration: NEW FOREST, FROM BRAMBLE HILL.] + +[Illustration: RUFUS'S STONE.] + +Almost in the centre of the forest is the village of Lyndhurst, regarded +as the best point of departure for its survey--a hamlet with one long +street and houses dotted about on the flanks of a hill, the summit of +which is adorned by a newly-built church of red brick with bath-stone +dressings. Within this church is Sir Frederick Leighton's fresco of the +"Wise and Foolish Virgins." In the ponderous "Queen's House," near the +church, lives the chief official of the forest, and here are held the +courts. Formerly, this official was always a prince royal and known as +the lord warden, but now his powers are vested in the "First +Commissioner of Woods and Forests:" here the poacher was in former days +severely punished. The New Forest was originally not only a place for +the king's pleasure in the chase, but it also furnished timber for the +royal navy, though this fell into disuse in the Civil War. Subsequently +parts were replanted, and William III. planted by degrees six thousand +acres with trees. The great storm of 1703 uprooted four thousand fine +trees, and then again there was partial neglect, and it was not until +within a half century that a serious effort was made to fully restore +the timber. There have now been ten thousand acres planted: a nursery +for young trees has been established, and about seven hundred acres are +annually planted, the young oaks being set out between Scotch firs, +whose more rapid growth protects the saplings from the gales, and when +they are able to stand alone the firs are thinned out. About four miles +north of Lyndhurst and beyond Minstead is Rufus's Stone. Around Minstead +Manor the land has long been enclosed and cultivated, and looks as +little like a wild forest as can be imagined, while northward the ground +rises to the top of Stony Cross Hill, disclosing one of the finest views +in this region, looking down over a wide valley, with cultivated fields +on its opposite sides and woodland beyond, gently shelving to +Southampton Water, of which occasional glimpses may be had. There is an +abundance of woodland everywhere, checquered by green lawns. At our back +is the enclosed park, within which some intrenchments mark the site of +Castle Malwood, where tradition says that William Rufus passed the night +previous to his death. The king just before dawn aroused his attendants +by a sudden outcry, and rushing into the chamber they found him in such +agitation that they remained there until morning. He had dreamed he was +being bled, and that the stream from his veins was so copious that it +rose to the sky, obscuring the sun. The daylight also brought other +omens: a foreign monk at the court had been dreaming, and saw the king +enter a church, seize the rood, and rend it with his teeth; the holy +image at first submitted to the insult, then struck down the king, who, +while prostrate, vomited fire and smoke which masked the stars. The +king, whose courage had returned with daylight, made light of the monk's +tale, though he did not go to hunt as usual that morning, but after +dinner, having taken liberal drafts of wine, rode out with a small +party, including Walter Tyril, lord of Pontoise, lately arrived from +Normandy. They hunted throughout the afternoon, and near sunset the +king and Tyril found themselves alone in a glade below the castle. A +stag bounded by, and the king unsuccessfully shot at him; then another +ran past, when Tyril shot his arrow, bidden, as tradition says, by the +king "in the devil's name." The arrow struck William Rufus full in the +chest, and he dropped lifeless. Tyril, putting spurs to his horse, +galloped westward to a ford across the Avon into Dorsetshire. Soon after +a charcoal-burner named Purkis, whose descendants still live in the New +Forest, came past, found the king's body, and, placing it on his cart, +bore it, still bleeding, to Winchester. Tyril's arrow had glanced from a +tree, which long existed, but, decaying centuries afterward, Rufus's +Stone was set up to mark the spot. This became mutilated, and has been +enclosed in an iron casing, with copies of the original inscriptions on +the outside. It is now a cast-iron pillar about five feet high, with a +grating at the top, through which may be seen the stone within. It +stands on a gentle slope, not quite at the bottom of the valley, with +pretty scenery around. Tyril got his horse shod at the Avon ford, for +which offence the blacksmith afterwards paid an annual fine to the +Crown. He was not very hotly pursued, however, and made his escape into +Normandy, where he sturdily denied that the arrow was shot by him at +all, laying the blame to a conspiracy of the king's enemies, of whom he +had many. + +Southward from Lyndhurst the road goes over undulating ground and +through magnificent oaks and beeches to Brockenhurst, past a heronry at +Vinney Ridge. This section contains some of the finest trees in the +forest, with plenty of dense holly and an occasional yew. The ground +discloses the bracken fern, and gray lichen clings thickly to the trunks +and branches of the trees. The woodland views along this road are +splendid, and only need the wild animals of a former era to bring back +the forest-life of mediaeval times. Off to the eastward, standing on the +little river Exe, are the foliage-clad ruins of Beaulieu Abbey, founded +by King John, and now held by the Duke of Buccleuch, who has a mansion +near by. Here was buried John's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and here +came the widow of Warwick the King-maker, after the battle of Barnet, +for sanctuary. Perkin Warbeck when defeated also took refuge at +Beaulieu, where he surrendered on promise of mercy. The abbey is a wreck +now, for after its dissolution we are told that its stones "went to +build Henry VIII.'s martello tower at Hurst, and its lead to repair +Calshot" on Southampton Water, while the gate-house serves as the +entrance to the modern ducal mansion, and the refectory is the parish +church. Here are the tombs of Mary Dore and Mary Do. The former was a +noted witch, "who could transform herself into a hare or cat, and +afflict or cure all the cattle in the neighborhood." The latter is +credited with more celestial attributes in the obituary that survives +her than were allotted her unfortunate companion; and the acrostic +inscription on her tomb is often quoted: + + "Merciless fate (to our greate griefe and woe) + A prey hath here made of our deere Moll Do, + Rapte up in duste and hid in earthe and claye, + Yet live her soule and virtues now and aye; + Death is a debt all owe which must be paide + Oh that she knew, and of it was not afraide!" + +[Illustration: BROCKENHURST CHURCH, WITH THE FAMOUS YEW AND OAK.] + +To the westward of Beaulieu is Brockenhurst, a pretty forest village, +along whose main street we are told the deer formerly galloped on a +winter's night, to the great excitement of all the dogs therein. The +forest almost blends with the village-green, and on a low artificial +mound stands its church, with traces of almost every style of +architecture since the Conquest, and guarded by a famous yew and oak. At +Boldre, near Brockenhurst, lived Rev. W. Gilpin, the vicar of the +parish, the author of several works on sylvan scenery, and reputed to be +the original of the noted _Dr. Syntax_, who made such a humorous "Tour +in Search of the Picturesque." He now lies at rest under a maple +alongside his church, in which Southey was married. Ringwood is the +chief town of the western forest-border upon the level plain that forms +the Avon Valley where Tyril escaped across the ford. It is not a very +interesting place. A little way up the river, near Horton, "King +Monmouth" was captured after Sedgemoor, and from Ringwood he wrote the +abject letters begging his life from King James, who turned a deaf ear +to all entreaty. Alice Lisle, who was judicially murdered by Judge +Jeffreys for sheltering two refugees from that battle, also lived at +Moyle Court, near Ringwood. The chief inn is the "White Hart," named in +memory of Henry VII.'s hunt in the New Forest, where the game, a white +hart, showed fine running throughout the day, and ultimately stood at +bay in a meadow near the village, when, at the intercession of the +ladies, the hounds were called off, the hart secured, given a gold +collar, and taken to Windsor. The inn where the king partook of +refreshments that day had its sign changed to the White Hart. It was at +Bisterne, below Ringwood, that Madonie of Berkeley Castle slew the +dragon, for which feat King Edward IV. knighted him--a tale that the +incredulous will find confirmed by the deed still preserved in Berkeley +Castle which records the event, confers the knighthood, and gives him +permission to wear the dragon as his badge. + + +CHRISTCHURCH. + +[Illustration: THE PRIORY, FROM THE QUAY, AND PLACE MILLS, +CHRISTCHURCH.] + +[Illustration: CHRISTCHURCH.] + +[Illustration: OLD NORMAN HOUSE AND VIEW FROM THE MINSTER, +CHRISTCHURCH.] + +From Brockenhurst the Lymington River flows southward out of the New +Forest into the Solent, across which is the Isle of Wight, steamers +connecting Lymington at the mouth of the river with Yarmouth on the +island. About twelve miles westward from Lymington is Christchurch, at +the confluence of the Avon and Stour Rivers, which here form the estuary +known as Christchurch Bay. The Avon flows down past Ringwood on the +western verge of the New Forest, its lower valley being a wide grassy +trough in a rolling plateau of slight elevation. The moors, with many +parts too arid for cultivation, extend to the sea, having glens here and +there whose sandy slopes are often thickly wooded, and whose beds are +traversed by the "bournes" that give names to so many localities in this +region. Along all the sea-border fashionable watering-places are +springing up, which enjoy views over the water to the distant +chalk-downs of the Isle of Wight, one of the best being that from +Boscombe Chine. Through this land the Avon flows, and the Stour enters +it from the west, with the ancient town of Christchurch standing on the +broad angle between them. It is of Roman origin, and the remains of a +British castle crown the neighboring promontory of Hengistbury Head. The +chief attraction is the magnificent Priory Church, founded before the +Norman Conquest, but rebuilt afterwards and dedicated to the Holy +Trinity. The ancient town was known as Twynham from the two rivers, and +it then became Christchurch-at-Twynham, but the original name was +ultimately dropped. It was a royal demesne in Edward I.'s reign, and +Edward III. granted it to the Earl of Salisbury, whose countess was the +heroine of the institution of the Order of the Garter. It is a sleepy, +old-fashioned place, with little of interest excepting the Priory Church +and the castle. The square church-tower rises high above the Avon, a +landmark from afar, its mass of gray masonry catching the eye from away +over the sea. The church is of large dimensions, cruciform in plan, with +short transepts, and a Lady chapel having the unusual peculiarity of an +upper story. It is about three hundred and ten feet long, with the +tower at the western end, and a large northern porch. The oldest part of +the church was built in the twelfth century by Flambard, Bishop of +Durham, who was granted this priory by William Rufus. Subsequently, he +fell into disfavor, and the priory became a college of the Augustinians. +Only the nave and transepts are left of his Norman church, the remainder +being of later construction. The north porch, which has an extremely +rich Decorated doorway, is of unusual size, having an upper chamber, and +dating from the thirteenth century. The nave is of great beauty, being +separated from the aisles by massive semicircular arches, rich in +general effect, with a triforium above consisting of a double arcade, +making it worthy to compete with the finest naves in England. The +clerestory is more modern, being of Pointed Gothic, and the aisles are +also of later construction: the northern aisle contains a beam to which +is attached the legend that the timber was drawn out as if an elastic +material "by the touch of a strange workman who wrought without wages +and never spoke a word with his fellows." The western tower is of +Perpendicular architecture, added by the later builders, and beneath it +is the handsome marble monument erected to the memory of the poet +Shelley, drowned at Spezzia in 1822: his family lived near Christchurch. +The tower contains a peal of eight bells, two of them ancient, and from +the belfry there is a noble view over the valleys of the two rivers, the +distant moorlands and woods of the New Forest, the estuary winding +seaward and glittering in the sun, while beneath are the houses and +gardens of the town spread out as on a map. Among the many monuments in +the church is that to Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, the last of the +line who possessed the priory, and the closing heiress of the race of +Plantagenets. She was the mother of Cardinal Pole, who upheld the cause +of the pope against Henry VIII., and she was a prisoner in the Tower, +held as hostage for his good behavior. At seventy years of age she was +ordered out for execution, but refused to lay her head upon the block, +saying, "So should traitors do, and I am none." Then, the historian +says, "turning her gray head in every way, she bade the executioner, if +he would have her head, to get it as he could, so that he was +constrained to fetch it off slovenly." She was beheaded in May, 1541, +being too near in kinship to the throne to be allowed to live. Little is +left of the ancient priory buildings beyond the ruins of the old Norman +gateway. The castle of Christchurch has also almost disappeared, leaving +only massive fragments of the wall of the keep crowning a mound. It was +of slight historical importance; and a more perfect relic is the ruin of +the ancient Norman house standing near by on the bank of the Stour, an +ivy-clad shell of masonry still showing the staircase and interior +apartments. This crumbling memorial of the twelfth century was the home +of Baldwin de Redvers, then Earl of Devon. + + +SOUTHAMPTON. + +Crossing over the New Forest back to the Southampton Water on its +eastern border, the river Itchen debouches on the farther shore near the +head of the estuary, making a peninsula; and here is the celebrated port +of Southampton, located between the river Itchen and the river Test, and +having an excellent harbor. The Southampton Water extends from the Red +Bridge, a short distance above the city, to Calshot Castle, about seven +miles below, and varies in breadth from a mile and a half to two miles, +the entrance being well protected by the Isle of Wight, which gives the +harbor the peculiarity of four tides in the twenty-four hours--double +the usual number, owing to the island intercepting a portion of the +tidal wave in its flow both ways along the Channel. Southampton comes +down from the Romans, and remains of their camp, Clausentum, now known +as Bittern Manor, are still to be seen in the suburbs, while parts of +the Saxon walls and two of the old gates of the town are yet preserved. +The Danes sacked it in the tenth century, and afterwards it was the +occasional residence of Canute, its shore being said to be the scene of +his rebuke to his courtiers when he commanded the tide to cease +advancing and it disobeyed. Southampton was destroyed by foreign +invaders in the fourteenth century, and rebuilt by Richard II. and +strongly fortified. For many years it was a watering-place, but within +half a century extensive docks have been built, and it has become a +great seaport, being the point of departure for steamship-lines to all +parts of the world, especially the East Indies and America, as it is but +seventy miles south-west of London, and thus shortens the sea voyage for +trade from the metropolis. The harbor is a fine one, the channel being +deep and straight, and affording good anchorage. In exploring the +antiquities of Southampton the visitor will be attracted by an ancient +house of the Plantagenet period located on St. Michael's Square, said to +have been occupied by Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn, and the remains of +the town-walls. The old Bargate in these walls crosses the High Street, +dividing it into "Above Bar" and "Below Bar." In the ancient walls are +the antique towers known as Arundel Tower and Catch-Cold Tower, and also +a house (one of the oldest in England) built anterior to the twelfth +century, and known as King John's Palace. Southampton Park, called the +Common, is a pretty enclosure of three hundred and sixty acres just +north of the city. The picturesque ruins of Netley Abbey are about three +miles south of the city, and near them is the Royal Victoria Hospital, +established just after the Crimean War, both of them on the eastern bank +of Southampton Water. + + +PORTSMOUTH. + +[Illustration: PORTSMOUTH POINT.] + +[Illustration: H.M.S. "VICTORY."] + +We will follow Southampton Water down to its entrance, where the two +broad channels dividing the Isle of Wight from the mainland--the Solent +and Spithead--join, and at the point jutting out on the western angle +pass Calshot Castle, founded for coast-defence by Henry VIII., and now +occupied by the coast-guard. Skirting along Spithead, which is a +prolongation of the Southampton Water, without change of direction, at +about twenty miles from Southampton we round Gillkicker Point, forming +the western boundary of Portsmouth harbor. Here is Gosport, and east of +it is Portsea Island, about four miles long and two and a half miles +broad, on which Portsmouth is located, with its suburbs known as +Portsea, Landport, and Southsea. Portsmouth is on the south-western part +of the island, separated from Portsea by a small stream to the +northward, both being united in a formidable fortress whose works would +require thirteen thousand men to man, though the ordinary garrison is +about twenty-five hundred. The royal dockyard, covering one hundred and +twenty acres, is at Portsea, and at Gosport, opposite, are the +storehouses, the channel between them, which extends for several miles +between Portsea Island and the mainland, gradually widening until it +attains three miles' breadth at its northern extremity. This channel +affords anchorage for the largest vessels, and is defended by Southsea +Castle on the eastern side and Moncton Fort on the western side of the +entrance into Spithead, where the roadstead is sheltered by the Isle of +Wight. Portsmouth was a port in the days of the Saxons, who in the sixth +century called it Portsmuthe. It fitted out a fleet of nine ships to aid +King Alfred defeat the Danes, and its vessels ineffectually endeavored +to intercept the Normans when they landed near Hastings. In the +fourteenth century the French burned the town, but were afterwards +defeated with heavy loss. Ever since then the fortifications have been +gradually improved, until now it is one of the strongest British +fortresses. The Duke of Buckingham was murdered here in 1628, and part +of the house where he was killed still remains. In 1757, Admiral Byng +was executed here, and in 1782 the ship "Royal George" was sunk with +Admiral Kempenfelt and "twice four hundred men." The town of Portsmouth +contains little that is attractive beyond its ancient church of St. +Thomas a Becket, built in the reign of Henry II., and containing on its +register the record of the marriage of Charles II. with Catharine of +Braganza in 1662. This marriage took place in the garrison chapel, which +was originally the hospital of St. Nicholas, founded in the time of +Henry III. The chief place of interest is the dockyard at Portsea, the +entrance to which, by the Common Hard, or terrace fronting the harbor, +bears the date of 1711. Here they have many relics of famous ships, and +also vast numbers of boats, and all kinds of materials for building +war-vessels, especially iron and armor-plated ships, with the docks and +slips for their construction. Off the dockyard lies at anchor the most +famous of the "wooden walls of old England," the "Victory," the ship in +which Nelson died at Trafalgar, then the most powerful vessel of the +British navy. Near her is anchored another celebrated man-of-war, the +port-admiral's flag-ship, the "Duke of Wellington." The stores across +the harbor at Gosport are on a large scale, and are known as the Royal +Clarence Victualling Yard. In the southern part of Gosport is the Haslar +Hospital for sick and disabled sailors and soldiers. From Gillkicker +Point beyond, a sandbank stretches about three miles out from the shore +in a south-easterly direction, and is called the Spit. This gives the +name to the roadstead of Spithead, west of which is the quarantine +station of Motherbank. This is the great roadstead of the British navy, +and in the miles of docks, sheds, forges, basins, and shops of +Portsmouth harbor that weary the tourist, who thinks he ought to +dutifully go through them, are fashioned many of the monster iron-clads +that modern improvements have made necessary in naval architecture. + + +THE ISLE OF WIGHT. + +[Illustration: HARBOR OF COWES.] + +Crossing over the narrow strait--for there is ample opportunity by +several routes--we will complete this English tour by a journey beyond +the Solent and Spithead to the Isle of Wight. This island, formed like +an irregular lozenge about twenty-two miles long and thirteen broad, is +rich in scientific and historical associations, and a marvel of climate +and scenery. Its name of Wight is said to preserve the British word +"gwyth," the original name having been "Ynys-gwyth," or the "Channel +Island." The Roman name was "Vectis," Rome having conquered it in +Claudius' time. The English descended upon it in the early part of the +sixth century, and captured its chief stronghold, Whitgarasbyrg, now +Carisbrooke Castle. It afterwards became part of the Saxon kingdom of +Wessex, and St. Wilfrid, Archbishop of York, is said to have converted +its people to Christianity. Then the Danes devastated it, and after the +Norman Conquest it was subdued by Fitzosborne, Earl of Hereford, whose +descendants ruled it until Edward I. recovered the wardenship for the +Crown. Richard II. granted it to the Earl of Salisbury, and Henry VI. +created the Earl of Warwick, Henry Beauchamp, "king of the Isle of +Wight," crowning him with his own hands. The title reverted to the Crown +in the time of Henry VII. The French several times invaded the island, +and it was the intention of the leaders of the Spanish Armada to capture +and use it as a base for operations against England, but the English +fleet harassed them so badly that they had to sail past without +effecting a landing. In the Civil War the Isle of Wight made a +considerable figure. + +[Illustration: THE NEEDLES, FROM ALUM BAY.] + +[Illustration: YARMOUTH.] + +[Illustration: OSBORNE HOUSE, FROM THE SEA.] + +Beginning at the western end of the lozenge-shaped island, beyond which +are the Needles, the entrance to the Solent is found defended by +successive batteries on every headland, with Hurst Castle on the +Hampshire shore. High Down, with its fine chalk-cliffs, rises six +hundred feet above the sea, being haunted by numerous sea-gulls, and +under it is Scratchell's Cave, a singular recess in the rock accessible +only by boat. Sheltered by the bold headland is Alum Bay, with its +tinted sands, gray, buff, and red, and from Headon Hill, its eastern +boundary, the coast stretches away to Yarmouth, a little town on the +Solent, where are the remains of one of the defensive blockhouses built +by Henry VIII. The shores of the strait trend to the north-east, with +pleasant views across on the coast of Hampshire, until the northernmost +point of the Isle of Wight is reached, where its chief stream, the +Medina, flows into the strait through an estuary about five hundred +yards wide. Here is Cowes, divided by the river into the West Cow and +the East Cow, the plural form of the name being modern. It is a popular +bathing-place, but gets the most fame from being the headquarters of the +Royal Yacht Club; their house is the old castle at the Medina entrance, +built by Henry VIII., it is said, with portions of the masonry of +Beaulieu Abbey. The harbor, at the proper season, is usually dotted with +yachts. There is steam communication with the mainland, and a railway +runs inland to Newport, the chief town of the island. Near East Cowes is +Whippingham, which was the birthplace of Dr. Arnold, the famous +head-master of Rugby School. Ascending the Medina, the beautiful park +and gardens of Osborne House, the marine residence of Queen Victoria, +border its eastern margin. This was the ancient manor of Austerbourne, +and its owner in the Civil War buried all his money and plate in an +adjoining wood, called the Money Copse, so as to preserve it. When +peaceful days came back he went to get it, but found he had concealed it +so thoroughly that it could not be recovered. The queen bought the +estate in 1844, and the plain mansion was extended into an elegant +marine villa just back from the sea-coast. It was the queen's childhood +attachment to the locality that made her settle here, for when a young +princess she had passed many pleasant days in the neighboring Norris +Castle. + +East of the Medina the coast trends to the south-east, the shores being +lined by fine villas surrounded with highly-cultivated grounds; indeed, +the coast of the strait seems like an extended park. Here, opposite +Portsmouth, is the famous watering-place of Ryde, in a beautiful +situation, and with railways running across the island to Sandown and +Ventnor. The land steeply rises from the sea, with the town stretching +along its slope, a panorama of villas whose trees grow down to the +water's edge. It is an ancient town, having existed in the reign of +Richard II., when the French burned it, but none of the present +buildings are of much antiquity, it having in later years been gradually +converted into a fashionable watering-place. The pier is the popular +promenade, and the Spithead roadstead in front is closely connected with +English naval history. It was here that the "Royal George" went down on +a calm day and drowned her admiral and eight hundred men: she was +careened over, the better to make some repairs, and, a squall striking +her, it is said the heavy guns slid down to the lower side and tipped +the vessel over, when she quickly filled and sank. Here also, in 1797, +was the great mutiny in Lord Bridport's fleet, the sailors, when the +signal to weigh anchor was given, declining to do it until their just +demands were granted; the mutiny was suppressed and the leaders severely +punished. All the neighboring shores bristle with forts and batteries +protecting the entrance to Spithead. Inland are the Binstead quarries, +whose stone was in demand in the Middle Ages and built parts of +Winchester Cathedral, Beaulieu Abbey, and Christchurch; also, here are +the scanty remains of Quarr Abbey. Eastward of Ryde the coast is low and +bends more to the southward, reaching the estuary known as Brading +Harbor, a broad sheet of water at full tide, but a dismal expanse of mud +at low water, through which a small stream meanders. At Brading is the +old Norman church which St. Wilfrid founded, of which Rev. Legh +Richmond, author of the _Annals of the Poor_, was the curate. In the +churchyard is the grave of his heroine, little Jane, the "Dairyman's +Daughter." Extensive remains of a Roman villa have been discovered at +Morton, near Brading, and to the eastward of them a hyptocaust. +Rounding the Foreland, which is the easternmost point of the island, the +chalk-rocks rise again, and Whitecliff Bay nestles under the protection +of the lofty Culver Cliff as the coastline bends south-west and then +makes a grand semicircular sweep to the southward around Sandown Bay. +This wide expanse broadens between the two chalk-ridges that cross the +Isle of Wight from its western side. The railway from Ryde runs across +the chalk-downs to the growing watering place of Sandown, standing on +the lowest part of the shores of the bay. Here the coast is guarded by a +grim fort, and here in the last century came the noted John Wilkes to +recuperate after his contests with the House of Commons, which vainly +tried to keep him out of his seat. + +[Illustration: SHANKLIN CHINE.] + +[Illustration: THE UNDERCLIFF.] + +The chalk-ranges to the southward provide magnificent scenery, and two +miles from Sandown, but on higher ground, is Shanklin, from which its +celebrated chine descends to the sea. This little ravine is about four +hundred and fifty yards long and at its mouth about two hundred feet +deep. It has been gradually worn in the brown sandstone rock by the +action of a diminutive brook that bubbles over a little cascade at the +upper end. The rich colors of the crags, the luxuriant foliage of the +slopes, and the rhapsodies of guide books combine to give the Shanklin +Chine a world-wide fame. It was here that a party of French under the +Chevalier d'Eulx landed in 1545 to get some fresh water. The process was +tedious, the stream being so small, and the chevalier and some of his +party, wandering inland, were caught in an ambuscade. He and most of the +others were killed, though they defended themselves bravely. South of +Shanklin the chalk-cliffs are bold and lofty, and off these pretty +shores the "Eurydice" was lost in a squall, March 24, 1878, when +returning from her training-cruise in the West Indies. It was at four +o'clock on Sunday afternoon, and her ports being open when the squall +struck her, she capsized and almost immediately foundered, only two +survivors remaining out of the three hundred persons on board. Climbing +the cliffs south of Shanklin and crossing the summit, we reach Bonchurch +on the southern coast, described by Dr. Arnold as the most beautiful +thing on the sea-coast north of Genoa. Here villas are dotted and the +villages are spreading into towns, for the coast of the Undercliff is +becoming one of the most fashionable resorts the English have. Already +complaints are made that a too general extension of settlements is +interfering with the picturesque wildness of scenery and luxuriant +vegetation that are the great charm of this delightful region. The +Undercliff stretches along the southern coast for several miles to the +westward of Bonchurch--an irregular terrace formed by the sliding +forward of the chalk-downs, which dip gently towards the sea. This makes +a lofty natural terrace, backed by cliffs to the northward and open to +the full influence of the southern sun. It has the climate of Madeira, +and is fanned by the sea-breezes that invigorate but do not chill. The +mildness of the winter makes it a popular resort for invalids, and many +greenhouse plants live outdoors throughout the year, the almost +perpendicular rocks of the Undercliff absorbing during the day the heat +that they radiate throughout the night. Yet at Bonchurch many who had +sought health in this beautiful region ultimately found a grave, and of +its churchyard it has been written, "It might make one in love with +death to think one would be buried in so sweet a place." The ancient +little Norman church of St. Boniface is still here, but a new and larger +church was built not long ago. Here lies Rev. W. Adams, who wrote the +allegory _Under the Shadow of the Cross_, and it is strictly true, for +the cross raised as his monument casts its shadow on the slab over his +grave. Admiral Hobson was born at Bonchurch, and ran away from the +tailor's shop in which he was apprenticed to come back knighted for his +victory over the Spaniards at Vigo Bay. Ventnor, known as the +"metropolis of the Undercliff," is beyond Bonchurch, and is also a +thriving wateringplace, above which rises the attractive spire of Holy +Trinity Church, built by the munificence of three sisters. + +From Ventnor the most beautiful part of the island coast stretches +westward to Niton. The bold chalk-downs rise from their craggy bases, +the guardians of the broken terrace intervening between them and the +sea. Foliage and ivy cling to them; flowers cluster on the turf and +banks and gleam in the crevices; and little streams come down the +ravines. Here was the smallest church of England--St. Lawrence--twenty +feet long, twelve wide, and six feet high to the eaves. A chancel has +lately been added, while below are the ivy-clad ruins of the ancient +Woolverton Chapel. Near Niton, at Puckaster Cove, Charles II. landed +after a terrific storm; and beyond is Roche End, the southern point of +the island. The coast, a dangerous one, then trends to the north-west, +and wrecks there are frequent, while inland St. Catharine's Down rises +steeply, there being a magnificent view of the island from its summit, +elevated seven hundred and fifty feet. Here in the fourteenth century +was founded, on the highest part of the Isle of Wight, a chantry chapel +where a priest prayed for the mariner and at night kept a beacon burning +to warn him off the reefs. An octagonal tower of the chapel remains, but +a lighthouse supersedes the pious labors of the priest; a column near by +commemorates a visit of the Russian Czar to the summit of the hill in +1814. The wild scenery of this region is varied by the great landslip +which in 1799 carried about one hundred acres down towards the sea, the +marks of its progress being still shown in the rended rocks and +wave-like undulations of the earth. About a mile to the westward is the +most noted and wildest of the ravines of the island, the Blackgang +Chine, now filled with paths and summer-houses, for the thrifty +hotel-keepers could not help domesticating such a prize. It is a more +open ravine than that at Shanklin, and like it cut out by a tiny stream, +while far away through the entrance is a distant view westward to +Portland Isle and St. Aldhelm's Head. The rocks are dark green, streaked +with gray and brown sandstone, looking like uncouth courses of masonry. +The adjoining coast is guarded by grim crags on which many ships have +been shattered. There are other chines to the westward--all of great +attractions, though of less size and celebrity. The coast is not of so +much interest beyond, but the cliffs, which are the outposts of the +chalk-measures, become more lofty at Freshwater Gate, and our survey of +the island shores terminates at the Main Bench, whose prolonged point +goes out to the Needles. + + +CARISBROOKE CASTLE. + +[Illustration: LOOKING FROM CARISBROOKE CASTLE.] + +Following up the Medina River a few miles, almost to the centre of the +island, it leads to the metropolis, the little town of Newport, and +here, upon an outer precipice of the chalk-downs overlooking the +river-valley and the town, and elevated two hundred feet above the sea, +is Carisbrooke Castle. The oldest part of the present remains come down +from Fitzosborne, but additions were afterwards made, and Queen +Elizabeth, in anticipation of the descent of the Armada, had an outer +line of defence constructed, pentagonal in shape and enclosing +considerable space. The loyalty of the people in that time of trial was +shown by their subscribing money and laboring without pay on these +works. The ruins are not striking, but are finely situated on the +elevated ridge. They are much decayed, but the entrance-gateway is well +preserved, with its flanking round towers, portcullis, and ancient +doors. Here lived Charles I. and two of his children. A small stone +building within the enclosure covers the famous well of Carisbrooke, +sunk in Stephen's days, two hundred and forty feet deep, of which ninety +feet are filled with water. A solemn donkey in a big wooden wheel works +the treadmill that winds the bucket up. Formerly, every visitor dropped +a pebble into the well to hear the queer sounds it made in falling--"His +head as he fell went knicketty-knock, like a pebble in Carisbrooke +Well," used to be a proverb--but as this amusement threatened to fill up +the well, it has been prohibited. The keep is at the north-eastern angle +of the castle, polygonal in plan and of Norman architecture. Carisbrooke +was held for the empress Maud against Stephen, but the failure of the +old well in the keep, now filled up, caused its surrender. The new one, +which has never been known to give out, was then bored. In the reign of +Charles I. the castle was invested by militia on behalf of the +Parliament, and was surrendered to them by the wife of the governor, the +Countess of Portland. She obtained specially advantageous conditions +from the besiegers by appearing on the walls with a lighted match and +threatening to fire the first cannon unless the conditions were granted. +King Charles I. took refuge here in November, 1647, but soon found he +was practically a prisoner. He remained ten months, twice attempting to +escape. On the first occasion he tried to squeeze himself between the +bars of his window, but stuck fast; on the second his plan was divulged, +and on looking out the window he found a guard ready to entrap him +below. He was taken to Newport and surrendered himself to the +Parliamentary commissioners, but was ultimately returned to Carisbrooke. +Then some army officers removed him suddenly to Hurst Castle on the +mainland, and thence he was taken to Windsor and London for the trial +that ended on the block at Whitehall. Two of his children were +imprisoned in Carisbrooke with him--the young Duke of Gloucester, +afterwards sent to the Continent, and the princess Elizabeth, who died +here in childhood from a fever. She was found dead with her hands +clasped in the attitude of prayer and her face resting on an open Bible, +her father's last gift. She was buried in an unmarked grave in Newport +Church, but the coffin was discovered in 1793, and when the church was +rebuilt in 1856 Queen Victoria erected a handsome monument over the +little princess, the sculptor representing her lying on a mattrass with +her cheek resting on the open Bible, the attitude in which she had been +found. Newport has some ten thousand population. + + +TENNYSON'S HOME. + +Tennyson's pretty home is at Farringford, near Freshwater, on the +western slope of the Isle of Wight, just where it begins to contract +into the long point of the chalk-cliffs that terminate with the Needles. +At Brixton, on the south-western coast, is Bishop Ken's parsonage, +where William Wilberforce spent the closing years of his life. The +little rectory here is honorably distinguished as having given to the +Church of England three of its famous prelates: Bishop Ken, one of the +martyrs whom James II. imprisoned in the Tower, and whose favorite walk +is still pointed out in the pretty garden; Bishop Samuel Wilberforce of +Winchester, whose unfortunate death occurred not long ago at Evershed +Rough; and the present Bishop Moberly of Salisbury. The western +extremity of the Isle of Wight is a peninsula, almost cut off from the +main island by the little river Yar, which flows into the Solent at +Yarmouth. This is known as the Freshwater Peninsula, and presents +almost unrivalled attractions for the tourist and the geologist. The +coast-walk around the peninsula from Freshwater Gate to Alum Bay extends +about twelve miles. The bold and picturesque chalk-cliffs tower far +above the sea, their dazzling whiteness relieved by the rich green +foliage. Some of these hills rise four hundred feet, forming the +chalk-downs that are the backbone of this most attractive island. Among +these hills are bewitching little vales and glens, and almost every +favored spot is availed of as a villa site. No part of England is more +sought as a place of rural residence than this richly-gifted isle, thus +set as a gem upon the southern shore of the kingdom. + +[Illustration: FARRINGFORD, TENNYSON'S RESIDENCE.] + + +THE NEEDLES. + +With the terminating western cliffs of the chalk-hills of the Isle of +Wight beyond High Down we will close this pleasant journey. The +far-famed Needles are a row of wedge-like masses of hard chalk running +out to sea in the direction of the axis of the range of hills. They do +not now much resemble their name, but in earlier years there was among +them a conspicuous pinnacle, a veritable needle, one hundred and twenty +feet in height, that fell in 1764. At present the new lighthouse, built +at the seaward end of the outermost cliff, is the nearest approach to a +needle. The headland behind them is crowned by a fort several hundred +feet above the sea. There were originally five of these pyramidal +rocks, but the waves are continually producing changes in their form, +and now but three of them stand prominently out of the water. + + * * * * * + +And now our task is done. The American visitor landing at Liverpool has +been conducted through England, and has been shown many of its more +prominent attractions, but not by any means all of them, for that would +be an impossible task. But he has been shown enough to demonstrate the +claim of the mother-country to the continued interest of the Anglo-Saxon +race from beyond the sea; and to this pleasant panorama and description +there cannot be given a better termination than at the lovely Isle of +Wight, the perfection of English scenery and climate, whereof Drayton +has written, + + "Of all the southern isles, she holds the highest place, + And evermore hath been the great'st in Britain's grace; + Not one of all her nymphs her sovereign favoreth thus, + Embraced in the arms of old Oceanus." + +[Illustration: THE NEEDLES.] + + + + +INDEX. + + Abbey Dale, 87. + + Abbey Dore, 370. + + Abbot, George, Archbishop of Canterbury, 465. + + Abbot's Hospital, Guildford, 465. + + Abbot's Tower, Alnwick, 328. + + Abbotsbury, 420, 424. + + Abergavenny, 372. + + Abergele, 34. + + Abergwili, 382. + + Aber-tawe, 376. + + Aberystwith Castle, 47. + + Abingdon Abbey, 167. + + Ad Pontem, 269. + + Adams, Rev. W., 517. + + Adam and Eve Inn, London, 218. + + Addison, 104, 164, 217. + + Addison's Walk, Oxford, 149. + + Admirals, earliest, in England, 489. + + Admiralty Building, London, 197. + + Adrian IV., Pope, 226. + + AElfred, 317, 464. + + AElfrida, 415. + + AEthelbald, 413. + + AEthelbert, 413. + + AEthelred, 338. + + AElhelred's Tomb, Wimborne, 415. + + AEthelstan, 412, 425. + + Agglestone, 417. + + Aire, River, 283. + + Aislabie, John, 289. + + Aisle of Tombs, Chester-le-Street, 320. + + Alan the Red, 294. + + Alard, Gervase, 489. + + Alard, Stephen, 489. + + Alban, 225. + + Albert Memorial, Hyde Park, 206. + + Albermarle, Earl of, 307. + + Albert Bridge, Tamar River, 439. + + Albury Down, Guildford, 464. + + Albury Park, 466. + + Alderney, 421, 423. + + Aldershot Camp, 467. + + Alexander, King of Scotland, 325. + + Alexander VI., Pope, 404. + + Alfred, King, 386, 412. + + All Saints' Church, Oxford, 155. + + All Souls' College, Oxford, 147. + + Aller Church, 412. + + Alne River, 322. + + Alnwick Castle, 322, 323. + + Alnwick Abbey, 325, 329. + + Alton, 495. + + Alton Towers, 91. + + Alum Bay, Isle of Wight, 514. + + American Weed, 166. + + Amesbury, 390, 392. + + Amphibalus, 225. + + Anabaptists, 474, 475. + + _Analogy_, Butler's, 399. + + Anastasius, 470. + + Anderida, 490. + + Angel Inn, Helston, 456. + + Anglesea, 35. + + Anglesea Column, 38. + + Anglican Monastery, Capel-y-ffyn, 374. + + Angus, Earl, 334. + + _Annals of the Poor_, 515. + + Annandale, Earl of, 464. + + Anne Boleyn's Seat, Studley Royal, 290. + + Anne of Cleves, 478. + + Anselm, Archbishop, 481. + + Anstis Cove, 431. + + Anti-Corn Law League, 495. + + Antoninus, 381. + + Apples in Devonshire, 437. + + Aquarium, Brighton, 491, 492. + + Aquila, House of, 489. + + Aram, Eugene, 302. + + Arcadia, 394, 477. + + Arches Court, London, 196. + + Argyle, Earl of, 334. + + Ariconium, 355. + + Arkwright, Sir Richard, 51, 86. + + Armada, Spanish, 223, 382, 437, 513, 519. + + Armada trophies, 233. + + Armstrong guns, 321. + + Armstrong, Sir William, 321. + + Arnold, Dr., 168, 516. + + Arnold, Dr., birthplace, Whippingham, 514. + + Arran Fowddwy, 28. + + Arthur, King, birthplace, 452. + + Arthur, King, tomb, 408. + + Arun River, 493, 495. + + Arundel Castle, 493, 494. + + Arundel, Earl of, 493, 494. + + Arundel Tower, Southampton, 510. + + Ascot, 384. + + Ashby de la Zouche, 109. + + Ashby, St. Leger, 128. + + Ashdown, 386. + + Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 153. + + Asparagus Island, Kynance, 458. + + Astley, Sir Jacob, 115. + + Aston Hall, Birmingham, 125. + + Athelney, Isle of, 412. + + Athelstan, 338. + + Auckland, 319. + + Auditor's Tower, Alnwick, 328. + + Audley, Baron Thomas, 234, 248. + + Audley End, 234. + + Austerbourne, 515. + + Austin Friars Priory, 99. + + Avelon, Isle of, 407. + + Avon ford, New Forest, 504. + + Avon gorge, 400. + + Avon River, 118, 139, 337, 387, 394, 415, 432, 501, 506. + + Axe River, 406, 424. + + Axminster, 424. + + Axminster carpets, 392. + + Ayre, Point of, 59. + + + Babbicombe Bay, 430, 431. + + Bablock Hythe Ferry, 140. + + Backs of Colleges, Cambridge, 239. + + Bacon, Francis, 261. + + Bacon, Francis, tomb, 230. + + Bacon, Roger, friar, 150, 168. + + Baggy Point, Devonshire, 449. + + Bagley Wood, 168. + + Bagworthy Water, 443. + + Baker, Chancellor, 475. + + Baker's Cross, Sissinghurst, 475. + + Bakewell, 76. + + Bala Lake, 28, 47. + + Balliol College, Oxford, 144, 154. + + Balliol, King, 321. + + Ballywasta, 377. + + Balsham, Hugh de, 246. + + Bamborough, 330, 335. + + Bamborough Castle, 335. + + Banbury, 158. + + Bangor, 37. + + Bangor-ys-Coed, 31. + + Bank of England, 208. + + Bankes, Lady, 417. + + Bankes, Sir John, 417. + + Banstead, 473. + + Barbican, Alnwick, 323. + + Barbican, Sandwich, 485. + + Bard, the, 40. + + Bardon Hill, 109. + + Bardon Tower, the Strid, 287. + + Bargate, Southampton, 510. + + Barmoor Wood, Flodden, 334. + + Barmouth, 44. + + Barnard Castle, 325. + + Barnard, Lady, 119. + + Barnard's Heath, St. Albans, 229. + + Barndoor Cove, 418. + + Barnstaple, 449. + + Barnstaple Bay, 449. + + Barrow-in-Furness, 56. + + Barry, Sir Charles, 91, 202. + + Basingstoke Canal, 467. + + Baslow, 85. + + Bassenthwaite Lake, 67. + + Basset, Gilbert, 165. + + Bath, 394. + + Bath bricks, 409. + + Bath stone, 386. + + Bathurst, Earl, 138, 147. + + Battle of Dorking, 471. + + Battle of Hastings, 489. + + Battledon, 115. + + Bayeux Tapestry, 490. + + Bayham Abbey, 475. + + Beachy Head, 490. + + Beacon Hill, Harwich, 238. + + Beacon Walks, Exmouth, 424. + + Beaconsfield Club, London, 214. + + Bearwood, 385. + + Beauchamp Chapel, Warwick, 121. + + Beauchamp, Henry, 377, 513. + + Beauchamp, Thomas, Earl of Warwick, 121. + + Beauchamp Tower, 193. + + Beauchief Abbey, 87. + + Beaufort, Cardinal, 500, 501. + + Beaufort, Jane, 176. + + Beaufort, Duke of, 366, 369, 380. + + Beaulieu Abbey, 504, 514. + + Beaumaris Castle, 36. + + Beaumonts, the, 109. + + Beaver Lake, 279. + + Bebbanburg, 335. + + Becket, St. Thomas a, 165, 481. + + Becket, St. Thomas a, slain, 482. + + Becket's Chapel, Peterborough, 254. + + Becket's shrine, 482. + + Beckford, William, 396. + + Beckington, Bishop, 402, 404. + + Bed of Ware, 234. + + Bede, Venerable, 269, 316, 317. + + Bedford Castle, 129. + + Bedford, Duke of, 131, 439. + + Bedford Level, 254. + + Bedgebury Park, 474. + + Beeston Castle, 27. + + Bek, Antony, 318, 325. + + Bell Harry, Canterbury, 482. + + Bell Inn, Edmonton, 214. + + Bell Tower, London, 193. + + Bellamont, Henry de, 380. + + Bellows, Kynance, 458. + + Belted Will, 304. + + Belvedere, Windsor Park, 384. + + Belvoir Castle, 80, 106. + + Ben Rhydding Palace, 285. + + Bentinck, William, 271. + + Beorm, 124. + + Beresford, Field-marshal, 474. + + Beresford Hope, A. J. B., 474, 482. + + Berkeley Canal, 337. + + Berkeley Castle, 339, 340, 506. + + Berkeley Chapel, Bristol, 399. + + Berkeley, Earls of, 398. + + Berks and Wilts Canal, 161. + + Berkshire, 140, 386. + + Bermondsey Monastery, 111. + + Berry Head, Torbay, 431. + + Berry Pomeroy Castle, 433. + + Berwick-on-Tweed, 335. + + Berwick, Dorset, 131. + + Bess of Hardwicke, 71, 271. + + Betchworth Castle, 470. + + Bettws-y-Coed, 41. + + Beverley, 278. + + Beverley Minster, 279. + + Bicester, 165. + + Bickleigh Vale, Plym River, 436. + + Bickner, 361. + + Bicycles, 106. + + Biddulph, R. Myddelton, 30. + + Bideford, 449. + + Bideford Bridge, 450. + + Bidston, 27. + + Bigner, 495. + + Bigod, Roger, 257, 365. + + Binstead quarries, Isle of Wight, 515. + + Bird-fair, Kirkham, 306. + + Birkenhead, 17. + + Birmingham, 124. + + Bisham Abbey, 171. + + Bishop Lloyd's Palace, Chester, 22. + + Bishop's Eye, Wells, 403. + + Bishop's Garden, Wells, 401. + + Bishops Hatfield, 230. + + Bisterne, 506. + + Bittern Manor, 509. + + Black Down, Mendip Hills, 407. + + Black Friars Monastery, Newcastle, 321. + + Black Mountains, 353, 369. + + Black Rood, 316, 319. + + Blackgang Chine, Isle of Wight, 518. + + Blacklow Hill, 308. + + Blackmore, novelist, 443. + + Bladud's Well, Bath, 395. + + Blake, Admiral, 409, 442. + + Blenheim, 162. + + Blenheim Woods, 157. + + Blickling, 259. + + Bloody Baker's Prison, 475. + + Bloody Gap, Alnwick, 323, 327. + + Bloody Meadow, Tewkesbury, 345. + + Bloody Tower, London, 190. + + Blorenge, Abergavenny, 372. + + Boadicea, 225. + + Boar and Sow, 417. + + Boatswain, dog, 273. + + Bodleian Library, Oxford, 152. + + Bold, Jonas, 19. + + Bodley, Sir Thomas, 153, 429. + + Boldre, 505. + + Boleyn, Anne, 477, 510. + + Boleyn, Sir Geoffrey, 477. + + Boleyn, Sir William, 259. + + Bolsover Castle, 73, 74. + + Bolton Abbey, 285. + + Bolton Hall, 287. + + Bonchurch, 516, 517. + + Bonwaldesthorne's Tower, 25. + + Borrowdale Valley, 65. + + Boscobel Wood, 347. + + Boscombe Chine, 507. + + Bossiney, 452. + + Boston, 263. + + Boswell, 103, 303. + + Bosworth Field, 113. + + Botanic Garden, Oxford, 149. + + Bothwell, Earl of, 334. + + Boulton and Watt, 127. + + Bourne River, 387. + + Bournemouth, 415. + + Bow and Arrow Castle, 421. + + Bow bells, London, 195. + + Bowder Stone, 65. + + Bowness, 65. + + Bowyer Tower, London, 193. + + Box Hill, 470, 471. + + Box Tunnel, 387. + + Boy of Egremont, 287. + + Bradda Head, 59. + + Bradford, 284. + + Bradgate, 108. + + Brading Harbor, Isle of Wight, 515. + + Bramble Hill, 502. + + Brandon, Charles, 89. + + Brandon Hill, Bristol, 397, 400. + + Brasenose College, Oxford, 149. + + Bray Church, 172. + + Braybrooke, Baron, 236. + + Brayford Pool, 263. + + Brazen head, the, 150. + + Breakwater, Portland, 421. + + Brecknock, 353. + + Brede River, 488. + + Brendon River, 446. + + Brendon Hills, Exmoor, 441. + + Brick Tower, London, 193. + + Brictric, King, 343. + + Bridgenorth, 95. + + Bridgenorth, Castle, 96. + + Bridgewater, 409. + + Bridgewater, Earl of, 99. + + Bridport, Lord, 515. + + Brigg-shot, Leeds, 284. + + Brightstow, 397. + + Brighton, 491. + + Brislee Hill, Alnwick Park, 330. + + Bristol, 397. + + Bristol Cathedral, 398. + + Bristol Channel, 376, 407, 408, 440. + + Bristol, Marquis of, 250. + + Bristol milk, 398. + + Bristow Castle, 397. + + Britannia Bridge, 38. + + British Constitution, 67. + + British Museum, 212. + + Brixham, 431. + + Brixton, 520. + + Broad Moor, Naseby, 117. + + Broad Walk, Oxford, 146. + + Broadcloth manufacture, 474. + + Broad water, 179. + + Brocavum, 68. + + Brockenhurst, 504, 505. + + Brockenhurst Church, 405. + + Brockweir, 365. + + Brompton, Chatham, 480. + + Bronwen, Lady, 49. + + Brooke, Lord, 102. + + Brooke, Sir James, 435. + + Brougham Castle, 67. + + Brougham, Lord, 218. + + Broughton Castle, 158, 160. + + Broughton, Lady, 27. + + Brown, Capability, 262. + + Brown, Sir William, 20. + + Brown Willy, Mount, 453. + + Browning, Elizabeth B., 350. + + Brummagem, 125. + + Buccleuch, Duke of, 504. + + Buckhurst, Lord, 238. + + Buckingham, 134. + + Buckingham, Duke of, 134, 199. + + Buckingham, Duke of, murdered, 511. + + Buckingham Palace, 199. + + Buckinghamshire, 131. + + Buckland Abbey, 440. + + Bull-running, 91. + + Bumble Rock, Lizard, 459. + + Bunbury College, 27. + + Bunyan, John, 129. + + Burgess, Dr., 404. + + Burghley House, 231, 261. + + Burghley, Lord, 141, 231. + + Burke, Edmund, 397. + + Burke, Sir Bernard, 110. + + Burnet, Bishop, 427. + + Bury St. Edmunds, 250. + + Bushey Park, 178. + + Bussex Rhine, Sedgemoor, 411. + + Butchers' Row, Hereford, 353. + + Bute, Marquis of, 375. + + Butler, Bishop, 98, 319, 399. + + Butler, Lady, 28. + + Buxton, 75. + + Byng, Admiral, executed, 511. + + Byrom, 53. + + Byron, Lord, 273, 454. + + Byron, Sir John, 273. + + Byron's Pool, 249. + + + Cable, Submarine, 458. + + Cabot, Sebastian, 397, 399. + + Cad River, 435. + + Cade, Jack, 179. + + Cader Idris, 45. + + Cadogan, Lord, 171. + + Caedmon, 310. + + Caer Taff, 375. + + Caergwrle Castle, 34. + + Caerleon, 375. + + Caermarthen, 381. + + Caernarvon, 39. + + Caernarvon Castle, 38. + + Caernarvonshire, 35. + + Caerphilly Castle, 376. + + Caerwise, 425. + + Caesar, Julius, 177, 469. + + Caesarea, 423. + + Caesar's Tower, Warwick Castle, 121. + + Caister Castle, 256. + + Caithness, Earl of, 335. + + Caius College, Cambridge, 243. + + Cakes, Banbury, 159. + + Calder River, 282. + + Calf of Man, 59. + + Calshot Castle, 509, 510. + + Calveley, Sir Hugh, 27. + + Cam River, 234. + + Cambridge, 239. + + Cambridge Castle, 249. + + Camden, Marquis of, 475. + + Camdentown, London, 215. + + Camelford, 453. + + Campbell, Lord, 169. + + Canova, 470. + + Canterbury, 480. + + Canterbury, Archbishop of, 129, 194. + + Canterbury Castle, 482. + + Canterbury Cathedral, 481, 482. + + _Canterbury Tales_, 483. + + Canute, 509. + + Canynge, William, 399. + + Capel, Lord, 233. + + Capel-y-ffyn, 374. + + Capstone Rock, Ilfracombe, 448. + + Cardiff, 375. + + Cardigan Bay, 44. + + Cardinal Beaufort's Tower and Gate, Winchester, 500. + + Cardinal's Cap Inn, Dorking, 469. + + Carew Castle, 383. + + Carfax Conduit, Oxford, 156. + + Carisbrooke Castle, 512, 519. + + Carisbrooke Well, 519. + + Carlisle, 68. + + Carlisle, Earls of, 90, 303, 304, 307. + + Carlton Club, London, 213. + + Carmelite discipline, 330. + + Carpets, 392, 394, 424. + + Carr, Robert, 414. + + Carrick Roads, Falmouth, 453. + + Caskets, the, Alderney, 421. + + Cassiobury, 233. + + Cassivelaunus, 177, 224. + + Castello, Hadrian de, Bishop, 404. + + Castle Cornet, 423. + + Castle Crag, 65. + + Castle Field, Bridgwater, 410. + + Castle Green, Hereford, 355. + + Castle Hill, 66. + + Castle Hill, Dover, 487. + + Castle Hill, Scarborough, 308. + + Castle Howard, 303. + + Castle Malwood, 503. + + Castle Rock, Lynton, 445, 446. + + Castleton, 70. + + Castletown, 60. + + Catch-Cold Tower, Southampton, 510. + + Catesby, Robert, 128. + + Catharine of Braganza married, 511. + + Catharine, queen's tomb, 254. + + Catwater Haven, Plymouth, 437, 438. + + Cavendish, Sir Charles, 271. + + Cavendish, Sir William, 72, 82, 271. + + Cavendish Square, London, 214. + + Cavern of the Peak, 71. + + Caversham, 170. + + Caversham House, 171. + + Cawdor, Earl of, 382. + + Cecil, Henry, 262. + + Cecil, Sir Robert, 231. + + Cecil, Sir William, 230. + + Cecil, Thomas, 262. + + Cecil, William Allayne, 261. + + Chain Gate, Wells, 403. + + Chain Pier, Brighton, 491. + + Chalk Cliffs, 486. + + Chalk measures, 463. + + Chanctonbury Hill, 492, 493. + + Channel Islands, 421. + + Chapel Royal, Whitehall, 197. + + Charlecote House, 119. + + Charles I., 270, 296, 414, 519, 520. + + Charles I., death, 168. + + Charles I., tomb, 177. + + Charles II., 235, 237, 347, 423, 518. + + Charles II., married, 511. + + Charles X., 419. + + Charnwood Forest, 107. + + Chartley Castle, 91. + + Chatham, 480. + + Chatsworth, 73, 81. + + Chatterton, Thomas, 399, 400. + + Chaucer, 161, 190, 244, 249, 480, 483. + + Chaucer's tomb, 189. + + Chavenage, 139. + + Checquers Inn, Canterbury, 480. + + Chequers Inn, Tunbridge, 476. + + Cheddar cheese, 407. + + Cheddar Cliffs, 405. + + Cheddar Forest, Wells, 403. + + Chedzoy, 410. + + Chee Tor, 76. + + Chelsea Hospital, 238. + + Cheltenham, 138. + + Chenies, Woburn, 132. + + Chepstow Castle, 367. + + Chertsey, 177. + + Cherwell River, 214. + + Cheshire, 26. + + Chesil Bank, Portland, 419. + + Chesilton, 420. + + Cheslyn, Richard, 110. + + Chester, 21. + + Chester, Earls of, 105, 106. + + Chester-le-Street, 314, 320. + + Chesterfield, 74. + + Cheviot Hills, 322, 330, 331. + + Chichele, Archbishop, 147, 148. + + Chichester, 494. + + Childs, George W., 189. + + Chiltern Hills, 135. + + Chirk Castle, 30. + + Christ Church College, Oxford, 144, 145. + + Christ Church, Coventry, 105. + + Christ's College, Cambridge, 248. + + Christchurch, 506. + + Christchurch Castle, 509. + + Christchurch Gate, Canterbury, 481. + + Church Brixham, 431. + + Church Hope Cove, 421. + + Churchill, John, 162, 304, 411. + + Churn River, 137. + + Churnet River, 92. + + Cinque Ports, 483. + + Cirencester, 138. + + Citadel Point, Plymouth, 437. + + Clapham, 286. + + Clare College, Cambridge, 243. + + Clare, Gilbert de, 476. + + Clare, Walter de, 365. + + Clarendon, Earl of, 124. + + Clarendon, Lord, 74. + + Clausentum, 509. + + Cleddan River, 382. + + Cliefden, 171. + + Clifford Castle, 353. + + Clifford, Lord, 135. + + Clifford, Rosamond, 135. + + Clifford's Tower, York, 301. + + Clifton, Bristol, 397. + + Clifton-Dartmouth-Hardness, 434. + + Clifton-Hampden, 170. + + Clinton, Geoffrey de, 122. + + Clock Tower, St. Albans, 228. + + Clock Tower, Westminister, 202. + + Clovelly, 450. + + Clovelly Court, 451. + + Clumber Park, 270. + + Clwyd River, 34. + + Clytheroe Castle, 57. + + Coal-mines, 312, 321, 376, 377. + + Cobb Pier, Lyme Regis, 424. + + Cobbett, Colonel, 347. + + Cobden, Richard, 495. + + Cobden Hall, Rochester, 479. + + Codex Beza, Cambridge, 243. + + Coed-pen-Maen, 375. + + Coeur de Leon, 434. + + Coldwell, 361. + + Coleridge, S. T., 67. + + College Walks, Cambridge, 241. + + Colman's mustard, 261. + + Coln River, 140, 177. + + Color Court, St. James Palace, 199. + + Combe Martin, 447. + + Commemoration Day, Oxford, 146. + + Common Hard, Portsea Dockyard, 511. + + Compton Castle, 431. + + _Comus, Masque of_, 98. + + Conderum, 320. + + Congleton, 27. + + Coningsby, 470. + + Conrad's Choir, Canterbury, 481. + + Constable's Tower, Alnwick, 327. + + Constantine the Great, 295. + + Constantius Chlorus, 295. + + Conway Castle, 40. + + Conway River, 42. + + Cookes, Sir Thomas, 154. + + Copper King, 379. + + Copper-mines, 453. + + Copper-works, 378, 379. + + Coquet Island, 330. + + Corbiere Promontory, Jersey, 422. + + Corfe Castle, 415. + + Corincus, Giant, 460. + + Corinium, 138. + + Cormoran, Giant, 460. + + Corner Tower, Alnwick, 328. + + Cornet Castle, 423. + + Cornwall, 452. + + Cornwall, Duchy of, 453. + + Cornwallis, Lord, 236. + + Coronation chairs, 186. + + Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 245. + + Corpus Christi College, Oxford, 146. + + Corwen, 28. + + Cotswold Hills, 137, 337. + + Cotton, Charles, 75, 87. + + Count of the Saxon Shore, 484. + + "Country Bridal," the, 123. + + Court of Arches, London, 196. + + Court of St. James, 199. + + Coventry, 104. + + Cowdray Ruins, 494, 495. + + Cowes, 514. + + Cowes Harbor, 512. + + Cowey Stakes, 177. + + Cowley, 177. + + Cox, Bishop of Ely, 252. + + Cranbrook, 474. + + Cranbrook Church, 475. + + Cranmore Pool, Dartmoor, 432. + + Crescents, Bath, 395. + + Creslow House, 135. + + Crewe, Baron Bishop, 318. + + Cricklade, 137. + + Crimea trophies, 233. + + Crocodile's Tears, 236. + + Cromlechs, 461. + + Cromwell, Oliver, 116, 160, 248, 340, 347, 368, 369, 378. + + Cronk-ny-Jay Llaa, 59. + + Cross, Banbury, 159. + + Cross, Winchester, 501. + + Crosses, Market, 279, 494. + + Crowland Abbey, 254. + + Croxden Abbey, 92. + + Crumlyn Bog, 381. + + Crusoe, Robinson, 303. + + Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, 85, 207. + + Cumberland, Clifford, Earl of, 301. + + Cumberland, Earl of, 67. + + Cumberland Gate, Hyde Park, 205. + + Cumberlandshire, 64. + + Cumnor Hall, 141. + + Cursus, Stonehenge, 391. + + Cutlers' Hall, Sheffield, 281. + + Cutlery, Sheffield, 280. + + Culver Cliff, Isle of Wight, 516. + + + Dacre, Lord, 334. + + _Dairyman's Daughter, The_, 515. + + Dale, John, 76. + + Dalton, Dr., 55. + + Dane River, 27. + + Darling, Grace, 335. + + Darnley, Earl, 479. + + Dart River, 432. + + Dartmoor, 432. + + Dartmouth, 434. + + Daventry, 116. + + David, King of Scotland, 267, 306, 325. + + Davy, Sir Humphry, 462. + + Dawlish, 430. + + De Gray, Walter, tomb, York, 300. + + De Lacy, Baron Ilbert, 284. + + De Ros family, 306. + + Deadly Nightshade, Valley of, 56. + + Deal, 484, 486. + + Dean Forest, 337, 360, 361, 365. + + Dean's Eye, Wells, 403. + + Deans, Jeanie, 274. + + Death Rock, Devonshire, 449. + + Dee, Miller of, 26. + + Dee River, 21, 24, 28. + + Dee, Sands o', 33. + + Deepdale, 87. + + Deepdene, 470. + + Denbies, Dorking, 471. + + Denbigh, 33. + + Dene, Ralph de, 475. + + Dennis Duval, 488. + + Derby, 87. + + Derby Day, Epsom, 472. + + Derby, Earls of, 20, 23, 27, 61, 165, 472. + + Derbyshire, 70. + + Derbyshire marbles, 82. + + Derwent River, 64, 75, 81, 303, 306. + + Derwentwater, 64. + + Derwentwater, Earl of, 66. + + Despenser, Hugh, 376. + + D'Eulx, Chevalier, 516. + + Devil's Bellows, Lyme Regis, 424. + + Devil's Cheese-Ring, Lynton, 446, 447. + + Devil's Coits, 140. + + Devon, Countess of, 440. + + Devon, Earls of, 436, 509. + + Devonport, 437, 438. + + Devonshire, Dukes of, 71, 240, 287. + + Devonshire, Earl of, 439. + + Dewerstone, Dartmoor, 436. + + Dickens, Charles, 470, 480. + + Digby, Earl of, 415. + + Digby, G. D. Wingfield, 415. + + Dinan, Joyce de, 97. + + Dinas Bran Castle, 29. + + Dingles, the, Warwickshire, 119. + + Disraeli, 470. + + Ditchling Beacon, Brighton, 492. + + Ditton, 178. + + Do, Mary, tomb, Beaulieu Abbey, 504, 505. + + Dockyard, Plymouth, 438. + + Dolgelly, 46. + + Dolwyddelan, 42. + + Don River, 279. + + Donington Hall, 109. + + Doone Glen, 443. + + Dorchinges, 499. + + Dore, Mary, tomb, Beaulieu Abbey, 504. + + Dore River, 369, 370. + + Dorking, 463, 469. + + Dorking, Battle of, 471. + + Dorking fowls, 470. + + Dorsetshire, 413. + + Double Cube-room, Wilton, 393. + + Douglas, death, 329. + + Dour River, 486. + + Dove Holes, 87. + + Dovecote, Holmwood Park, 409. + + Dovedale, 86. + + Dover, 484, 486, 487. + + Dover Castle, 486. + + Dovey River, 47. + + Dowards, Great and Little, 362. + + Dowlands landslip, 424. + + Downing College, Cambridge, 248. + + Downing Street, London, 197. + + Downs, the, 486. + + Downton Castle, 100. + + Drake, Sir Francis, 440. + + Drawing Room, Kynance, 458. + + Drayton, Michael, 392. + + Drayton, poet, 522. + + Drummond, Henry, 466. + + Dubrae River, 486. + + Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, 477. + + Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 123, 141. + + Dugdale, 104. + + Duke of Cornwall Harbor, 452. + + Duke of Wellington Flagship, 511. + + Dukeries the, 270. + + Dukesborough, 343. + + Dulas River, 370. + + _Dunciad, The_, 409. + + Dunford House, 495. + + Dungeness Lighthouse, 480. + + Dunhelm, 314. + + Dunkery Beacon, Exmoor, 442. + + Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury, 406. + + Dunster, 441. + + Dunster Castle, Siege, 441. + + Dupplin, Lady Betty, 358. + + Durham, 312. + + Durham, Bishop of, 508. + + Durham Castle, 314, 318. + + Durham Cathedral, 314. + + Durham, Earls of, 314, 320. + + Durovernum, 482. + + Dwr River, 486. + + Dyer, 383. + + Dyfi River, 352. + + + Eadwine, King, 295, 297. + + Eadwine's Tomb, 310. + + Eagle and Child, 20. + + Eagle Honour Castle, 489. + + Eagle Rock, 85. + + Eagle Tower, 77. + + Earl Hugh's Tower, Alnwick, 328. + + Earl's Drive, 92. + + Earl's Park, Wilton, 392. + + Easby Abbey, 294. + + East Cow, Isle of Wight, 514. + + East Lyn River, 445. + + Eaton Hall, 26, 32. + + Eaton Square, London, 214. + + Ebbsfleet, 486. + + Eboracum, 294. + + Ebrane, King, 295. + + Eddystone Lighthouse, 238, 439. + + Edeirnim Vale, 28. + + Eden River, 477. + + Edgar, King, 395. + + Edgar Tower, Worcester, 349. + + Edgecot, 114. + + Edgecumbe, Mount, 439. + + Edgehill Battle, 160. + + Edgehill Battlefield, 113. + + Edial, 104. + + Edmund, King, 405. + + Edward, King, 415. + + Edward I., 368, 489. + + Edward II., 307, 376, 381. + + Edward II.'s murder, 340. + + Edward II.'s Shrine, 339, 341. + + Edward III., 174. + + Edward IV., 296. + + Edward IV.'s Chapel, Wakefield, 282. + + Edward VI., 230. + + Edward the Black Prince, 161. + + Edward, Black Prince, tomb, Canterbury, 482. + + Edward the Confessor's Chapel, Westminster, 188. + + Eel-Pie Island, 178. + + Egbert, King, 273. + + Egyptian Hall, London, 210. + + Eldon, Chancellor, 418. + + Eldon, Earl of, 138. + + Eleanor of Aquitaine's Tomb, Beaulieu Abbey, 504. + + Eleanor, Queen, 63, 142, 155. + + Elford the Royalist, 435. + + Eliseg's Pillar, 29. + + Elizabeth Castle, 422. + + Elizabeth, Princess, 520. + + Elizabeth's Tomb, Newport, 520. + + Elizabeth, Queen, 139, 161, 230, 252, 474. + + Elizabeth's Court, 220. + + Elizabeth's Defiance, 222. + + Elkington, Messrs., 126. + + Ellesmere Canal, 30. + + Elstow, Bedford, 130. + + Elswick, 321. + + Elton, 127. + + Ely, 464. + + Ely Cathedral, 251. + + Ely, Isle of, 251. + + Ely River, 375. + + Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 169. + + Emma, Queen, 464. + + Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 248. + + Emperor Fountain, 84. + + Encombe, 418. + + Endsleigh, 440. + + Endymion, 471. + + English Bickner, 361. + + Epping Forest, 219. + + Epsom Races, 472. + + Epsom Salts, 472. + + Erasmus' Court, Cambridge, 245. + + Eric, 361. + + Erme River, 432. + + Ermine Street, Lincoln, 266. + + Ermine Street Road, 337. + + Ernisius, 372. + + Erpingham, Sir Thomas, 257. + + Esk River, 310. + + Essex, 234. + + Essex, Earls of, 91, 113, 233, 437. + + Ethelbald, 256. + + Ethelbert, King, 226. + + Ethelfleda, 120. + + Eton College, 172. + + Eurydice wrecked, 516. + + Euston Square Station, London, 215. + + Evelyn, John, 466, 471. + + Evelyn's _Diary_, 471. + + Evenlode River, 140. + + Evergreen Drive, Woburn, 134. + + Evershed Rough, Wolton, 472. + + Ewer, Colonel, 369. + + Ewias, Harold, 369. + + Ewiasvale, 372. + + Ewloe Castle, 27. + + Exanceaster, 425. + + Exchequer Gate, Lincoln, 263. + + Exe River, 424, 504. + + Exeter, 425. + + Exeter Cathedral, 425, 426. + + Exeter College, Oxford, 153. + + Exeter, Earl of, 262. + + Exeter Gardens, Oxford, 149. + + Exeter, Marquis of, 261. + + Exmoor, 407, 440, 447. + + Exmouth, 424. + + Eynsham, 166. + + + Faerie Queene, 432. + + Fair Rosamond, 142. + + Fair Rosamond's birthplace, 353. + + Fair Rosamond's coffin, 166. + + Fairfax, Lord, 116, 364. + + Falkland, Lord, 474. + + Falmouth, 454. + + Falmouth Harbor, 453. + + Falstaff Inn, Canterbury, 482. + + Falstaff, Sir John, 260. + + Farnborough, 467. + + Farne, 313, 335. + + Farringford, 520. + + Fawkes, Guy, 128, 303. + + Feathers Inn, 99. + + Fell, Dean, 168. + + Fenland, 134, 249. + + Ferrars Abbey, 91. + + Ferrars, Earl, 108. + + Feversham, Lord, 410. + + Field of the Dead, 100. + + Fiennes, John de, 484. + + Finch, Lord Chancellor, 200. + + Finger Pillory, 109. + + Fire Monument, London, 180. + + Fish Street Hill, London, 181. + + Fishes, Brighton Aquarium, 492. + + Fitzalan, Richard, 494. + + Fitzalans' tombs, Arundel, 493. + + Fitzgilbert, Richard, 475. + + Fitzhanem, Robert, 343, 375. + + Fitzosborne, 368, 512, 519. + + Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 246. + + Fitzwilliam, Viscount, 246. + + Five Sisters' Window, York, 300. + + Flambard, Bishop of Durham, 508. + + Flamborough Head, 307. + + Fleet Ditch, 409. + + Fleet Estuary, 419. + + Flemings, 474. + + Flemyng, Richard, 153. + + Flint Castle, 33. + + Flintshire, 31, 33. + + Floating Island, 66. + + Flodden, Battle, 319, 331, 334. + + Fluellen, 364. + + Folkestone, 484, 487. + + Folly Bridge, Thames, 168. + + Fonthill Abbey, 396. + + Ford Castle, 331. + + Foreign Office, London, 198. + + Foreland, Dorset, 417. + + Foreland, Isle of Wight, 516. + + Forest Minstrel, 88. + + Forest of Dean, 337, 360, 361, 365. + + Forfarshire wreck, 336. + + Fors Noddyn, 42. + + Forster, Anthony, 141. + + Fort George, Guernsey, 423. + + Fort Pitt, Chatham, 480. + + Foss River, 301. + + Fosse Dyke Canal, 263. + + Foston-le Clay, 307. + + Fotheringhay, 127. + + Fountains Abbey, 289. + + Fountain Dale, 273. + + Fountains Dale, 290. + + Fountains Hall, 293. + + Fowey, 453. + + Fowey Pier, 452. + + Fowls, Dorking, 470. + + Fox and Hounds, Box Hill, 471. + + Fox, Bishop, 146, 263. + + Fox, Charles James, 217. + + Fox, George, 301, 308. + + Fox, Henry Vassal, 217. + + Freshwater, 520. + + Freshwater Gate, Isle of Wight, 518. + + Freshwater Peninsula, 520. + + Friar Tuck, 273. + + Friar's Crag, 66. + + Friar's Heel, Stonehenge, 391. + + Friars, the, Winchelsea, 489. + + Friar's Tower, the, 168. + + Frome River, 397. + + Furness, 56. + + Furness Abbey, 56. + + + Gad's Hill, 480. + + Gainsborough, 119. + + Galilee, Durham, 314. + + Gallantry Bower, Clovelly, 451. + + Garrick, David, 104, 119, 178. + + Garter, Order of, 175, 507. + + Garway Hill, 372. + + Gates, Sir John, 404. + + Gaunt, John of, 123. + + Gaveston, Piers, 307. + + Gee, Sir William, tomb, York, 300. + + Geoffrey of Monmouth, 363. + + George II., portrait, 236. + + George III., 263, 339, 419. + + George IV., 465, 491. + + George Inn, Glastonbury, 407. + + George Inn, Stamford, 263. + + Ghosts, 136. + + Giant's Hole, Bristol, 401. + + Gillkicker Point, Portsmouth Harbor, 510. + + Gillott's steel pens, 126. + + Gilpin, John, 214. + + Gilpin, Rev. W., 505. + + Gladstone, William E., 27, 133. + + Glamorganshire, 375, 376. + + Glastonbury Abbey, 407. + + Gleawecesore, 338. + + Glendower, Owen, 47, 93, 267, 346. + + Glendower's Seat, 28. + + Glevum, 337. + + Gloucester, 337. + + Gloucester Cathedral, 340. + + Gloucester, Dukes of, 220, 520. + + Gloucester, Duke of, tomb, 228. + + Gloucester Siege, 339. + + Gloucester Spa, 342. + + Gloucestershire, 137. + + Glyme River, 163. + + Goblin Tower, 25. + + Goderic de Winchcomb, 360. + + Godiva, Lady, 104. + + God's Providence House, Chester, 22. + + Godstow Nunnery, 142. + + Godwine, Earl, 464, 493. + + Golden Cap, Lyme Regis, 424. + + Golden Gallery, St. Paul's, 184. + + Golden Gates, Woburn, 134. + + Golden Grove, 382. + + Golden Tower, Richmond, 294. + + Golden Valley, 369. + + Goldstone, Prior, 481. + + Golgotha, Cambridge, 244. + + Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, 243. + + Goodrich Castle and Court, 360. + + Goodrich Priory, 360. + + Goodwin Sands, 479, 486. + + Goodwood races, 495. + + Goose fair, Nottingham, 268. + + Gormund, 138. + + Goring, 170. + + Goring, Charles, 492. + + Goring, Lord, 408. + + Goring, Rev. John, 492. + + Gosport, 510. + + Goudhurst, 474. + + Gower, Henry de, 377. + + Grace Darling's Monument, 336. + + Grace Dieu Abbey, 109. + + Grand Trunk Canal, 52. + + Grange, 65. + + Grantham, 263. + + Granville, Earl, 472. + + Granville, Richard de, 381. + + Gravesend, 222. + + Graveyards, the, 116. + + Gray's Inn, London, 210. + + Great and Little Hangman, Combe Martin, 448. + + Great Doward, 362. + + Great Fire, London, 180. + + Great Hall, Lumley Castle, 320. + + Great Hampden, 135. + + Great Malvern, 351. + + Great North Road, 273. + + Great Orme's Head, 40. + + Great Park, Windsor, 176. + + Great Paul, bell, 183. + + Great St. Mary's Church, Cambridge, 244. + + Great Tom, Lincoln, 264. + + Great Western Railway, 383, 386. + + Greatham Church, 498, 499. + + Green Dragon Inn, Worcester, 350. + + Green Park, London, 206. + + Greenaleigh Headland, Exmoor, 441. + + Greenwich, 220. + + Grenofen, 436. + + Grenovicum, 220. + + Grenville, Richard, 134. + + Greta Hall, 67. + + Greta River, 67. + + Grevilles, Earls of Warwick, 120. + + Grey, Lady Jane, 111. + + Grey, Sir John, 110. + + Groby, 108. + + Gros, William le, 307. + + Grosmont Castle, 372. + + Grosvenor Square, London, 214. + + Grouville Bay, 423. + + Guernsey, 421, 423. + + Guesten Hall, Worcester, 349. + + Guestling Brook, Sandwich, 485. + + Guild Hall, Exeter, 428. + + Guildhall, Norwich, 260. + + Guildford, 463, 464. + + Guiordano, 262. + + Gun Wharf, Chatham, 480. + + Gunpowder Plot, 128, 326. + + Guthlac, 255. + + Guthram, 412. + + Guttred the Dane, 60. + + Guy of Warwick, 121. + + Guy's Cliff, Warwickshire, 121. + + Guy's Tower, Warwick Castle, 121. + + Gwydyr House, 43. + + Gwynne, Nell, 237, 405. + + Gwynne, Nell, birthplace, Hereford, 354. + + + Hacket, Bishop, 103. + + Haddon Hall, 76. + + Hailsham, 490. + + Haldon Hills, Exmouth, 424. + + Hall, Elizabeth, 119. + + Hallam Manor, 281. + + Halle, John, 388. + + Haltwhistle, Hexham, 322. + + Hammond's Ford, Alne River, 324. + + Hamoaze, the, Tamar River, 437, 438. + + Hampden, John, 135. + + Hampshire, 467, 495, 513, 514. + + Hampton Court, 178. + + Hanger, Selborne, 495. + + Hansom cabs, 493. + + Happy Valley, 108. + + Harcourt family, 140. + + Harcourt, Lord, 156. + + Hardicanute, 346. + + Hardwicke Hall, 72. + + Harlech Castle, 49. + + Harold, King, 25, 295, 370, 464. + + Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland, 90. + + Harrison, John, 285. + + Harrow School, 224. + + Harry Hereford, 362. + + Harry Monmouth, 362. + + Hartland Point, Devon, 451. + + Harwich, 238. + + Haslar Hospital, Gosport, 512. + + Hastings, 484, 489. + + Hastings Castle, 489. + + Hastings, Lord, 109. + + Hastings, Marquis of, 110. + + Hastings, Warren, 170. + + Hatfield, Bishop, 318. + + Hatfield House, 230. + + Hathaway, Anne, 119. + + Hathaway, Anne, Cottage, 119. + + Hatton, Anne, 423. + + Hatton, Sir Christopher, 128, 423. + + Haverfordwest, 382. + + Hawarden Castle, 27. + + Hay Castle, 353. + + Hay Park, 99. + + Hayes Barton, 424. + + Hayes, Sir James, 474. + + Headon Hill, Isle of Wight, 514. + + Heath flowers, Cornwall, 456. + + Heber, Bishop, 32. + + Heights of Abraham, 86. + + Helford River, 453. + + Helston, 454. + + Hemp, 448. + + Hengist, 386. + + Hengist and Horsa, 486. + + Hengistbury Head, 507. + + Hengrave Hall, 250. + + Henley Reach, 171. + + Henry II., 142. + + Henry II.'s penance, Canterbury, 482. + + Henry III., 348, 387. + + Henry IV., tomb, Canterbury, 482. + + Henry V., birthplace, 362. + + Henry VI., birthplace, 175. + + Henry VII., 506. + + Henry VII.'s Chapel, Westminster, 186, 188. + + Henry VIII., 477, 510. + + Henry VIII., tomb, 177. + + Henry Beauclerc, 167, 239. + + Henry Beauclerc's death, 342. + + Henry of Monmouth, 372. + + Herbert, George, 394. + + Herbert, Lord, 159. + + Herbert, Lord of Lea, 394. + + Herbert, Sidney, 388, 394. + + Herbert, Sir William, 392. + + Herbert's Statue, Pall Mall, 213. + + Hereford, 353. + + Hereford Cathedral, 354. + + Hereford, Earl of, 368, 512. + + Hereford, Harry, 362. + + Herefordshire Beacon, 351. + + Herne the Hunter, 177. + + Heron, Lady, 331, 333. + + Heron, Sir William, 331. + + Heronry, Vinney Ridge, 504. + + Hertford, Earl of, 230. + + Hertfordshire, 224. + + Hervey, 115. + + Hever Castle, 477. + + Hexham, 314, 322. + + High Down, Isle of Wight, 513, 521. + + High Level Bridge over Tyne, 321. + + High Peak, Sidmouth, 424. + + High Tor, 85. + + High Town, Hereford, 354. + + Hill Tower, Dunster, 441. + + Hill, William, sexton, 255. + + Hilda, 310. + + Hillsborough, 448. + + Hinderskelf Cattle, 305. + + Hoare, Sir Richard, 391. + + Hobs, Robert, 131. + + Hobson, Admiral, 518. + + Hobson's Choice, 248. + + Hobson's Conduit, Cambridge, 248. + + Hock Tuesday, 123. + + Hodder River, 57. + + Hodeni River, 372. + + Hoe, the, Plymouth, 439. + + Hog's Back, Guildford, 464. + + Holbein, 392. + + Holgate, 303. + + Holland, Earl of, 217. + + Holland House, 216. + + Holland the regicide, 135. + + Holmby House, 128. + + Holme, Randall, 22. + + Holmsdale, Surrey, 473. + + Holmwood, 469. + + Holt, 31. + + Holt, Chief-Justice, 169. + + Holte, Sir Thomas, 126. + + Holy Isle, 335. + + Holy Headland, 461. + + Holy Mountain, 371. + + Holy Trinity Church, Hull, 278. + + Holy Trinity Church, Stratford, 119. + + Holy Trinity Church, Ventnor, 518. + + Holy Well, Malvern, 352. + + Holy Well, Southwell, 269. + + Holyhead, 33, 50. + + Holywell, 35. + + Home, Earl of, 334. + + Hood, Robin, 268, 270. + + Hook, Theodore, 178. + + Hoole House, 27. + + Hooker, Richard, 429. + + Hooper, John, Bishop, 341. + + Hope Castle, 34. + + Hope, H. T., 470. + + Hope's Nose, 430. + + Horse Guards, Whitehall, 197. + + Horsley, artist, 475. + + Horticultural Gardens, London, 208. + + Horton, 505. + + Hosiery-making, 267. + + Hotspur, 93, 326, 327, 329. + + Hotspur's Chair, Alnwick, 323, 327. + + Hotspur's Tomb, York, 300. + + Houghton, Lord, 366. + + House of Commons, 203. + + House of Delight, Greenwich, 221. + + House of Peers, 203. + + Houses of Parliament, 202. + + How Castle, 67. + + Howard Castle, 303. + + Howard, Henry, 176. + + Howard, Lord of Effingham, 452. + + Howard, Lord Thomas, 234, 334. + + Howard, Lord William, 69, 304. + + Howards' tombs, Arundel, 493. + + Howitt's _Forest Minstrel_, 88. + + Howsham, 306. + + _Hudibras_, 98. + + Hudson, railway king, birthplace, 306. + + Hugh of Avelon, Bishop, 264. + + Hull, 277. + + Hull, Mr., 468. + + Hull River, 277. + + Hulne Priory, Alnwick Park, 330. + + Humber River, 75, 277. + + Humbleton Hill, battle, 329. + + Hundred Men's Hall, Winchester, 500. + + Huntingdon, 128. + + Huntley, Earl of, 334. + + Hurst Castle, 513, 520. + + Hurstmonceux Castle, 490. + + Huskisson, Joseph, 52. + + Hut-villages, 461. + + Hyde Park Corner, 206. + + Hyde Park, London, 205. + + Hyptocaust, Chester, 24. + + Hythe, 484, 487. + + + Ida, King, 335. + + Idris's chair, 45. + + Iffley, 157. + + Ifon, David ap, 49. + + Ignatius, Father, 374. + + Iktis, 460. + + Ilchester Castle. 424. + + Ilchester, Earl of, 420. + + Ilfracombe, 447, 448. + + Ilkley, 285. + + Ina, King, 401, 413. + + Ina's Rock, 92. + + Inner Temple, London, 210. + + Inns of Court, London, 210. + + Ireton, Colonel, 116, 139. + + Iron-mills, 311, 312, 321, 376. + + Iron ore, 310. + + Ironsides, 117, 296. + + Irwell River, 52. + + Isca, 425. + + Isis River, 146. + + Isle of Athelney, 412. + + Isle of Avelon, 407. + + Isle of Dogs, 220. + + Isle of Purbeck, 415. + + Isle of St. Nicholas, 438. + + Isle of Thanet, 483. + + Isle of Wight, 507, 512. + + Itchen River, 499, 500, 509. + + _Ivanhoe_, 109. + + Ivy Castle, 423. + + + Jack the Giant-killer, 460. + + James I., 148, 156, 232, 414, 452. + + James II., 349, 350, 405. + + James I. of Scotland. 176. + + James IV. of Scotland, 331. + + James, G. P. R., 474. + + Jan Ridd's tree, 444. + + Jane, the Dairyman's Daughter, 515. + + Jarrow Monastery, 317. + + Jason, Thorwaldsen's, 470. + + Jeffreys, Judge, 412, 506. + + Jephson Gardens, Leamington, 121. + + Jersey, 421, 422. + + Jesmond, 321. + + Jesus College, Cambridge, 248. + + Jesus College, Oxford, 153. + + Jet, 310. + + Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury, 448. + + Jewel House, Tower of London, 192. + + Jewry Wall, 111. + + Jews' House, Lincoln, 266. + + Jews' Massacre, York, 301. + + Joan of Navarre, tomb, Canterbury, 482. + + Joan of the Tower, 190. + + Jocelyn, Bishop, 402, 404. + + John, King, 273, 325, 377, 416. + + John, King, signs Magna Charta, 177. + + John, King, tomb, Worcester, 346, 348. + + John of Gaunt, 58, 91. + + John of Hexham, 322. + + John of Kent, 372. + + John of Monmouth, 362. + + Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 26, 103, 154. + + Jonson, Ben, 74, 477. + + Jones, Inigo, 421. + + Joseph of Arimathea, 407. + + Joyce, Cornet, 128. + + Judhael's Castle, 433. + + Julius Caesar's Tower, Chester, 22. + + + Keate, Head-master of Eton, 173. + + Keats, 471. + + Keble College, Oxford, 144, 154. + + Kempenfelt, Admiral, 511. + + Ken, Thomas, Bishop, 405, 520. + + Ken, Bishop, parsonage, 520. + + Kendal Castle, 67. + + Kenilworth, 141. + + Kenilworth Castle, 122. + + Kennet River, 171. + + Kensington Palace, 200. + + Kent, 474. + + Kent, Duke of, 424. + + Kentchurch, 372. + + Keswick, 65. + + Kettel Hall, Oxford, 154. + + Keyham Point, Plymouth, 438. + + Kidder, Bishop, 404. + + Kilmarth Mountain, 453. + + Kilndown, 474. + + Kilpeck, 371. + + Kimmeridge Vale, 418. + + Kinder Fall, 70. + + Kinderscout, 70. + + Kineton, 115. + + King Alfred's White Horse, 386. + + King Arthur's Cliffs, Tintagel, 452. + + King Arthur's Round Table, 501. + + King Arthur's Round Table, Newport, 375. + + King Edward's Court, Cambridge, 240. + + King Monmouth, 410, 466. + + King of Isle of Wight, 513. + + King of the Peak, 79. + + King's Arms Inn, Lancaster, 59. + + King's Chapel, Cambridge, 244. + + King's College, Cambridge, 244. + + King's Court, Cambridge, 241. + + King's Gateway, Cambridge, 240. + + King's Hall, Oxford, 149. + + King's Head Inn, 116. + + King's Manor, Guildford, 464. + + King's Parade, Cambridge, 244. + + Kingsley, Charles, 33, 449, 451. + + Kingston, 178. + + Kingston-upon-Hull, 277. + + Kirk Braddon, 59. + + Kirke, Colonel, 412. + + Kirke's Lambs, 412. + + Kirkgate Church, Leeds, 285. + + Kirkgate, Wakefield, 283. + + Kirkham Priory, 306. + + Kitchen, Abbot's, Glastonbury, 408. + + Knebworth, 233. + + Knole, 478. + + Knott Mill, 53. + + Knowsley Hall, 20. + + Koh-i-noor Diamond, 192. + + Kymin Hill, 364. + + Kynance Cove, 457. + + Kyrle, John, 355. + + Kytson, Sir Thomas, 250. + + + Labilliere, Major, 471. + + Laconia, 477. + + Lacy, William de, 372. + + Ladies of the Vale, 100. + + Lady Chapel, Winchester, 500. + + Lady of Caversham, 170. + + Lady Well, Southwell, 269. + + Laira Estuary, Plym River, 437. + + Lake Country, 64. + + Lamb Row, Chester, 22. + + Lamberhurst, 475. + + Lambert's Oaks, Banstead, 473. + + Lambeth Bridge, 275. + + Lambeth Palace, 194. + + Lambton Castle, 320. + + Lampreys, 342. + + Lancashire, 51. + + Lancaster Castle, 58. + + Lancaster, Dukes of, 112. + + Landor, Walter Savage, 373, 378. + + Landewednack, 459. + + Landport, 510. + + Land's End, 453, 462. + + Lansdowne Hill, Bath, 396. + + Landslip, Isle of Wight, 518. + + Lanfranc, Archbishop, 481. + + Langley Priory, 110. + + Langport, 409. + + Langton, Archbishop, tomb, Canterbury, 482. + + Languard Fort, Harwich, 238. + + Latimer, Bishop, 478. + + Launcelot of the Lake, 52. + + Launceston Castle, 452. + + Law of Lydford, 440. + + Lazarus, Raising of, painting, 499. + + Lea Hall, 27. + + Lead-mines, 407. + + League of Tunbridge, 476. + + Leam River, 121. + + Leamington, 121. + + Lebanon, cedars of, 374. + + Leche River, 140. + + Lechlade, 140. + + Leconfield Castle, 279. + + Leeds, 283. + + Leeds Castle, 478. + + Leeta Monastery, 283. + + Leicester, 111. + + Leicester, Earl of, 112, 123, 141. + + Leicester Hospital, Warwick, 122. + + Leicestershire, 106. + + Leigh Woods, Bristol, 400. + + Leighton, Sir Frederick, 502. + + Leith Hill, 467, 468. + + Leith Hill Place, 468. + + Lennox, Earl of, 334. + + Leo X., Pope, 405. + + Leofric, 273. + + L'Espec, Sir Walter, 306. + + Leveson, Sir John, 89. + + Leveson-Gowers, the, 89. + + Lewellyn, 378. + + Leys Park, 362. + + Lichfield Cathedral, 200. + + Liege Abbey, 102. + + Lincoln, 263. + + Lincoln, Bishop of, 149, 153. + + Lincoln Castle, 266. + + Lincoln Cathedral, 263. + + Lincoln College, Oxford, 153. + + Lincoln, Earl of, 210. + + Lincoln's Inn, London, 210. + + Lincolnshire, 249. + + Lindisfarne, 313, 335. + + Lindsay, Lord, 115. + + Lindum, 263. + + Lingen, Sir Richard, 360. + + Lion Rock, Kynance, 456, 458. + + Lion's Den, Lizard, 459. + + Liskeard, 453. + + Lisle, Alice, 506. + + L'Isle, Baron de, 477. + + Little Doward, 362. + + Little Malvern, 351. + + Littlebury, 238. + + Liulph the Saxon, 320. + + Livingstone relics, 273. + + Liverpool, 17. + + Lizard Peninsula, 453. + + Lizard Point, 458. + + Lizard Tower, 459. + + Llandaff, 375. + + Llangollen Valley, 28. + + Llanhodeni, 372. + + Llanrwst, 43. + + Llanthony Priory, 372, 373. + + Llanthony Priory, Gloucester, 340. + + Lledr River, 42. + + Llewellyn's tomb, 353. + + Lloyd's, London, 208. + + Lloyd's Palace, Bishop, Chester, 22. + + Llugwy River, 43. + + Llyffnant River, 352. + + Llyn Dyn, 179. + + Lodden River, 171. + + Lodore Falls, 65. + + Loe, Sir William, 72. + + Logan Rock, Land's End, 462. + + Loidis, 283. + + Lollards' Dungeon, Chichester, 494. + + Lollards' Tower, Lambeth, 194. + + Londinium, 179. + + London, 179. + + London Bridge, Torbay, 431. + + London Stone, 177, 179. + + London Tavern, 211. + + _London Times_, 385. + + Long Ditton, 178. + + Long Reach, Cambridge, 249. + + Long Valley, Aldershot, 467. + + Long Walk, Windsor, 176. + + Longfield, East Sheen, Surrey, 473. + + Longships, Land's End, 462. + + Longstone Island, 336. + + Longtown, 372. + + Loo Pool, Lizard, 453, 456. + + Lord's Island, 66. + + Lorna Doone, 443. + + Lovel, Lord, 165. + + Lovers' Walk, 86. + + Lowell, James Russell, 189. + + Ludgate Hill, London, 182. + + Ludlow Castle, 97. + + Lulworth Cove, 418. + + Lumley Castle, 320. + + Lundy Island, 451. + + Lune River, 58. + + Lupus, Hugh, 108. + + _Lycidas_, 460. + + Lyd River, 440. + + Lydford Castle, 440. + + Lym River, 424. + + Lyme Regis, 424. + + Lymington, 506. + + Lymington River, 506. + + Lyn River, 441, 443, 444. + + Lynton, 444. + + Lyndhurst, 501. + + Lynmouth, 444. + + Lyon, John, 224. + + Lytton, Lord, 233. + + + Macaulay, T. B., 131, 219, 231, 397. + + Machno River, 42. + + Madoc, 29, 43. + + Madonie, 506. + + Maentwrog, 48. + + Magdalen College, Oxford, 148. + + Magdalen Walks, Oxford, 149. + + Magdalene College, Cambridge, 248. + + Magna Charta, 325. + + Magna Charta Island, 177. + + Magnus, Thomas, 275. + + Maidenhead, 171. + + Maidstone, 474. + + Main Bench, Isle of Wight, 519. + + Malcolm III., 323. + + Malcolm's Well, Alnwick, 324. + + Mallard, the, 147. + + Malt-Shovel Inn, 122. + + Malthus, 471. + + Malvern Hills, 337, 350. + + Malvern Link, 351. + + Malvern Priory, 351. + + Malvern Wells, 351. + + Malwood Castle, 503. + + Man, Isle of, 59. + + Man of Ross, 355. + + Man-of-War Cove, 418. + + Man-of-War Rock, Lizard, 458. + + Manchester, 52. + + Manchester Cathedral, 54. + + Mancunium, 52. + + Manners, John, 78. + + Manners, Sir George, 80. + + Manners, Thomas, 106. + + Manorbeer Castle, 382. + + Mansfield, 73. + + Mansion House, London, 209. + + Manthe Doog, 63. + + Manvers, Earl of, 270. + + Mapledurham, 170. + + Marble Arch, Hyde Park, 199. + + Margate, 483. + + Margaret, Countess of Richmond, 241. + + Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, 508. + + Margaret of Anjou, 246. + + Margaret, Queen, 230, 248, 282. + + Marine Parade, Brighton, 491. + + Market Bosworth, 113. + + Market crosses, 279, 494. + + Market Harborough, 116. + + Market Inn, Bridgwater, 409. + + Marlborough Column, Blenheim, 163. + + Marlborough, Duchess of, 161. + + Marlborough, Duke of, 162, 304, 411. + + Marlborough House, London, 200, 214. + + Marmion, 90, 244, 335. + + Marquis of Granby, Dorking, 469. + + Marston Moor, 296. + + Marten, Henry, regicide, 367. + + Martin of Tours, 447. + + Martin the lunatic, 299. + + Martin Tower, London, 192. + + Martin, Wykeham, 478. + + Martindale Hall, 77. + + Martyrs' Memorial, Oxford, 156. + + Mary, Queen, 248. + + Mary, Queen, married, 500. + + Mary, Queen of Scots, 73, 91. + + Mary, Queen of Scots, bower, 82. + + Mary, Queen of Scots, death, 128. + + _Masque of Comus_, 98. + + Master's Court, Cambridge. 241. + + Master's Lodge, Cambridge, 240. + + Matlock, 85. + + Maud's Chapel, Oxford, 155. + + Maud, Empress, 56, 519. + + Mauleverers, 286. + + Mawddach River, 44. + + Mayflower, the, 437. + + Medina River, 514, 519. + + Medlock River, 53. + + Medmenham Abbey, 171. + + Medway River, 474, 479. + + Memorial Window, Westminster, 189. + + Menai Strait, 35. + + Mendip Hills, 401, 405, 424. + + Mercery Lane, Canterbury, 480. + + Mereden House, 470. + + Merioneth, 44. + + Merlin, 61. + + Merlin's Hill, 382. + + Mermaid's Pool, 70. + + Mersey River, 17, 70. + + Merton College, Oxford, 146. + + Messiah Church, Birmingham, 125. + + Mew River, 435. + + Michelham Priory, 490. + + Micklegate Bar, York, 296. + + Middle Temple, London, 210. + + Middlesex, 177. + + Middlezoy, 410. + + Midhurst, 495. + + Mildmay, Sir Walter, 248. + + Milford, 382. + + Milford Haven, 382, 383. + + Milford, Lord, 382. + + Milton, John, 98, 248, 460, 470. + + Minehead, 441. + + Minstead, 502. + + Minster Lovel, 164. + + Minstrels' Gallery, 428, 429. + + Minstrel Gallery, Lumley Castle, 320. + + Miserrimus, tomb, 349. + + Mitton parish, 57. + + Mixed Cloth Hall, Leeds, 285. + + Moat Hall, Hexham, 322. + + Mob Quad, Oxford, 146. + + Moberly, Bishop of Salisbury, 520. + + Mohan's Tor, Torbay, 430. + + Moira, Lord, 110. + + Mold, 34. + + Mole River, 463, 468, 470. + + Molly Mog, 385. + + Mona Isle, 36. + + Moncton Fort, Portsmouth, 511. + + Money Copse, Osborne House, 515. + + Monk, General, 198. + + Monmouth, 362. + + Monmouth, Harry, 362. + + Monmouth caps, 364. + + Monmouth, Duke of, 405, 410. + + Monmouth, John of, 362. + + Monmouth, King, 505. + + Monmouth Road, 359. + + Monmouthshire, 352, 375. + + Monnow River, 362, 369, 370. + + Mont Orgueil Castle, 423. + + Montague House, London, 212 + + Montague, Viscount, 475. + + Montfort, Simon de, 112, 123, 346. + + Montgomery Castle, 35. + + Montgomery, Roger de, 93, 97. + + Montreville, 270. + + More, Sir Thomas, 478. + + Moresco Castle, 452. + + Moreton, Earl of, 453. + + Morgan's Mount, 25. + + Morley, Earl of, 437. + + Morte Bay, 449. + + Morte Point, 448, 449. + + Morte Stone, Devonshire, 449. + + Morthoe, 449. + + Morthoe Church, 448. + + Morison, Elizabeth, 233. + + Mortimer, Roger, 30, 267. + + Mortimer's Tower, 97. + + Morton, Roman villa, 515. + + Mother Church of England, 482. + + Motherbank, Spithead, 512. + + Mount Batten, Plymouth, 437. + + Mount Edgecumbe, 439. + + Mount Edgecumbe, Earl of, 438. + + Mount Sorrel, 108. + + Mount Wise, Plymouth, 438. + + Mount's Bay, 453. + + Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, 323. + + Moyle Court, 506. + + Much Wenlock, 96. + + Mullyon Cove, 455, 456. + + Multangular Tower, York, 295. + + Mumbles, Swansea Bay, 376, 379. + + Murray, Lindley, 303. + + _Murray's Guide_, 279. + + Mustard, 342. + + Mutton, South Down, 492. + + _Mysteries of Udolpho_, 79. + + + Nadder River, 392. + + Nailheart, John, 398. + + Nantwich, 27. + + Naphtha, 369. + + Napier, Lord, 414. + + Naseby, Battle of, 116. + + Nash, Beau, of Bath, 395. + + Nash House, Stratford, 119. + + Nash, Thomas, 110. + + _Natural History of Selborne_, 495. + + Naval Asylum, Greenwich, 221. + + Naworth Castle, 68, 304. + + Neath Abbey, 381. + + Neath River, 376, 380. + + Needles, the, 417, 519, 521. + + Nelson, Admiral, 260, 471. + + Nelson's Column, London, 212. + + Nelson's Tomb, 183. + + Nelson's warship, Victory, 511. + + Netley Abbey, 510. + + Neville, Earl, 319. + + Neville, Maude, 92. + + Neville, Richard, 120. + + Neville's Court, Cambridge, 240. + + Neville's Cross, 319. + + Neville's Cross, battle, 316, 319. + + New Bridge, 140. + + New Brighton, 17. + + New Castle, 320, 321. + + New Chapel, Cambridge, 241. + + New Church, Wilton, 394. + + New College, Oxford, 151. + + New Court, Cambridge, 242. + + New Forest, 411, 501. + + New Haven, 492. + + New Inn, Gloucester, 339. + + New Palace, 235. + + New Place, Stratford, 118, 119. + + New Work, the, 273. + + Newark, 273. + + Newark Church, 274, 276. + + Newarke Hospital, Leicester, 112. + + Newcastle, Duke of, 267, 270, 271. + + Newcastle, Earl of, 74. + + Newcastle House, London, 210. + + Newcastle-under-Lyme, 89. + + Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 320. + + Newland, John, 398. + + Newport, 237. 375, 514, 519. + + Newport Gate, Lincoln, 266. + + Newstead Abbey, 273. + + Newton, Abbot, 426. + + Newton, Isaac, 263. + + Newton's Telescope, Cambridge, 241. + + Newton's Tomb, 189. + + Newtown Linford, 108. + + Nicholas, Czar, 84. + + Nickleby, Nicholas, 263 + + Nidum, 381. + + Nine Altars' Chapel, Durham, 316, 319 + + Nine Altars' Chapel, Fountains Abbey, 292. + + Niton, 518. + + Nore, the, 223. + + Norfolk, 249. + + Norfolk, Duke of, 234, 281, 304, 365, 493. + + Norham Siege, 333. + + Norris Castle, 515. + + North Bar, Beverley, 278. + + North Barrule, 59. + + North Foreland Lighthouse, 483. + + North Hill, Malvern, 351. + + North Malvern, 351. + + North Sea, 223, 238, 307, 335. + + Northamptonshire, 127. + + Northern University, Durham, 319. + + Northumberland, Dukes of, 321, 325, 477. + + Northumberland, Earls of, 323, 326. + + Northumberland, Elizabeth, Duchess of, 324. + + Northumbria, 295. + + Northumbria Westminster, 310. + + Norwich, 256. + + Norwich Castle, 257, 260. + + Norwich Cathedral, 257. + + Nottingham, 266. + + Nuneham Park, 156. + + + Oak Meadow, Ross, 359. + + Oak, Queen Elizabeth's, 231. + + Oakley Park, 138. + + Oaks Day, Epsom, 473. + + Oare, 443. + + Oare Valley, 443. + + Old King's Head Inn, Dorking, 469. + + Obelisk, Castle Howard, 304. + + Observatory, Greenwich, 221. + + Ocellum Promontorium, 307. + + Octagon Tower, Studley Royal, 290. + + Oslo, Archbishop, 289. + + Offa, King, 226, 395. + + Offa's Dyke and Chair, 365. + + Okehampton, 432. + + Old Lizard Head, 458. + + Old Peter, bell, York, 299. + + Old Sarum, 387, 389, 413. + + Old Tabard Inn, London, 216. + + Old Tom, Oxford, 145. + + Oldcastle, Sir John, 372. + + Oldmixon, John, 409. + + Ollerton, 270. + + Order of the Garter, 175. + + Ordulph, 439. + + Orgarius, 439. + + Oriel College, Oxford, 147. + + Orrest Head, 64. + + Orwell River, 238. + + Osborne House, Isle of Wight, 514, 515. + + Osengal Hill, Ramsgate, 483. + + Osric, 338, 341. + + Oswald, Bishop, 347. + + Oswy's tomb, 310. + + Otterbourn Battle, 329. + + Ouse River, 129, 252, 288, 294, 298. + + Ousenford, 142. + + Overton, 31. + + Owens College, Manchester, 54. + + Oxford, 142. + + Oxfordshire, 140. + + Oystermouth Castle, 379. + + Oysters, 486. + + + Painted Hall, Greenwich, 221. + + Palace of Justice, London, 211. + + Palace of the Peak, 81. + + Palmer's Guild, 99. + + Pang River, 170. + + Pangbourne, 170. + + Parliament House, Dolgelly, 47. + + Parliament, Houses of, 202. + + Parlor, Kynance, 458. + + Parr, Queen Catherine, 67, 139. + + Parrett River, 408, 410. + + Parson and Clerk, Dawlish, 430. + + Paterson, William, 209. + + Paul, Great, bell, 183. + + Paulinus, 269. + + Paul's Walk, London, 181. + + Paxton, Sir Joseph, 85. + + Peace of Cuthbert, Durham, 315. + + Peacock Inn, 81. + + Peak of Derbyshire, 70. + + Peel, Sir Robert, 91. + + Peele Castle, 62. + + Peeping Tom, 104. + + Pegwell Bay, 483. + + Pelham-Clinton family, 271. + + Pembroke, 382. + + Pembroke Castle, 382. + + Pembroke College, Cambridge. 246. + + Pembroke College, Oxford, 154. + + Pembroke, Earls of, 98, 392, 394. + + Pembroke Marbles, 393. + + Pembroke, Sir Richard, 50. + + Pembrokeshire, 382. + + Penarth Roads, 375. + + Pen-Combick, 454. + + Penda, King, 97. + + Pendennis Castle, 454. + + Pennsylvania Castle, 421. + + Pennsylvania Suburb, Exeter, 425. + + Pennine Hills, 57. + + Penny-come-quick, 454. + + Penrhyn Castle, 37. + + Penshurst, 476, 477. + + Penshurst Church, 477. + + Pentise, Chester, 25. + + Penwith Headland, Land's End, 462. + + Penzance, 461. + + Pepys' _Diary_, 235. + + Pepys, Samuel, 248. + + Perch Rock Light, 17. + + Percies, the, 61, 279, 310, 325. + + Percy, Bishop, 95, 258. + + Percy, Henry de, 325. + + Percy, Sir Henry, 330. + + Percy's Well, Alnwick, 328. + + Peter, Hermit, 416. + + Peterborough Cathedral, 253. + + Peterhouse, Cambridge, 240, 246. + + Petworth, 326. + + Pevensey, 484, 489. + + Peveril of the Peak, 63, 71, 74. + + Peverils, the, 267. + + Pfestiniog Vale, 48. + + Pharos, Dover, 487. + + Philip, Archduke, 131. + + Philip of Spain, 500. + + Philippa, Queen, 148, 313, 319. + + Phoenix Tower, 25. + + Pickering Tor, 87. + + Pictou Castle, 383. + + Pierrepont House, Surrey, 472, 473. + + Pilchard King, 461. + + Pilchards, 459, 461. + + Pilgrim Fathers, 437. + + _Pilgrim's Progress_, 130. + + Pindar's House, 211. + + Pin-making, 338. + + Pistol Meadow, Lizard, 458. + + Pitt, Fort, Chatham, 480. + + Pitt Press, Cambridge, 246. + + Pitt, William, 389, 486. + + Pitt's Tomb, 189. + + Pixies' House, Dartmoor, 435. + + Plas Crug, 48. + + Plas Newydd, Llangollen, 29. + + Plas Newydd, Menai Strait, 38. + + Plumbago-mine, 65. + + Plym Bridge, 436. + + Plym River, 432, 435, 438. + + Plym Steps, 435. + + Plymouth, 437, 438. + + Plymouth Sound, 436, 438. + + Plympton Earl, 436. + + Plympton Maurice, 437. + + Plympton Priory, 437. + + Plympton St. Mary, 436. + + Plynlimmon, Mount, 352. + + Pocket Pistol, Queen Elizabeth's, 487. + + Poets' Corner, Westminster, 189. + + Point Keyham, Plymouth, 438. + + Poison Cup of Clare, 243. + + Polden Hills, Sedgemoor, 408. 410. + + Pole, Reginald, 415, 509. + + Pole, Reginald's, tomb, Canterbury, 482. + + Polpeor, 459. + + Pomfret Marbles, 154. + + Ponsonby, Miss, 28. + + Pont Cysylltau, 30. + + Pontrilas Court, 369. + + Poole, 415. + + Poole Harbor, 415. + + Poore, Bishop, 386, 387. + + Pope, Alexander, 134, 140, 171, 356, 384, 409, 470. + + Pope's Seat, 138. + + Pope's Tomb, 178. + + Pope, Sir Thomas, 154, 230. + + Porlock Bay, 443. + + Porlock Moor, 443. + + Port Madoc, 44. + + Port Tennant, Swansea, 379. + + Porthcawl, Swansea Bay, 376. + + Portinscale, 67. + + Portland Bill, 421. + + Portland Castle, 420. + + Portland, Countess of, 520. + + Portland, Duke of. 74, 271. + + Portland Isle, 419, 420. + + Portland Race, 421 + + Portland stone, 418, 420. + + Portsea, 510. + + Portsea Island, 510. + + Portsmouth, 510. + + Portsmuthe, 511. + + Post-office, Kynance, 458. + + Pottergate Tower, Alnwick, 322. + + Poultry Cross, Salisbury, 388. + + Poultry, the, London, 208. + + Powis, Earl, 99. + + Powisland, 31. + + Powys Castle, 35. + + Pradanack Point, Cornwall, 457. + + Pratt, Chief-Justice, 475. + + Precipice of Fishes, 382. + + Prescot, 20. + + Prince Arthur's Tower, 99. + + Prince's Gate, Hyde Park, 206. + + Prince's Landing-Stage, 18. + + Printing-House Square, 385. + + Prior, poet, 242, 262. + + Prior Goldsmith's Gate, Canterbury, 481. + + Prior, Richard, 322. + + Priory Church, Christchurch, 507. + + Prison, Portland, 421. + + Proctor, Sir Stephen, 293. + + Prospect, Ross, 358. + + Prudhoe Castle, 321. + + Prudhoe Tower, Alnwick, 328. + + Prynne, William, 39, 442. + + Ptolemy, 307. + + Puckaster Cove, Isle of Wight, 518. + + Purbeck, Isle of, 415. + + Purbeck marble, 418. + + Purkis, charcoal-burner, 504. + + Purley, 170. + + Putney, 171. + + + Quarr Abbey, 515. + + Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol, 487. + + Queens' College, Cambridge, 245. + + Queen's College, Oxford, 148. + + Queen's House, Lyndhurst, 502. + + Queen's Tower, Cambridge, 240. + + Quicksall Lodge, 92. + + + Race of Portland, 421. + + Radcliffe Library, Oxford, 152. + + Radcliffe, Mrs., 79. + + Radford, smuggler, 474. + + Radley, 167. + + Radnor, 353. + + Raglan Barracks, Plymouth, 438. + + Raglan Castle, 364, 454. + + Raising of Lazarus, painting, 499. + + Raleigh, Lady, 414. + + Raleigh, Sir Walter, 190, 414, 424, 442, 453. 587. + + Raleigh's Tomb, 189. + + Ralph, Bishop of Shrewsbury, 403, 404. + + Ralph, son of Geremund, 88. + + Ramparts, Amesbury, 390. + + Ramsgate, 483. + + Ranmore Common, Dorking, 471. + + Ratae, 111. + + Ravine Tower, Alnwick, 327. + + Reading, 170. + + Reading Abbey, 171. + + Rebecca, 461. + + Red Bridge, Southampton Water, 509. + + Red Hill, Worcester, 347. + + Red Horse, the, 114. + + Red Lion Inn, Dorking, 469. + + Red Tower, York, 297. + + Redbrook, 365. + + Redburn, 226. + + Redlands Wood, 468. + + Redmoor Plain, 113. + + Redvers, Baldwin de, 509. + + Reform Club, London, 213. + + Regent Fort, Jersey, 422. + + Regnum, 494. + + Regulus, King of Man, 61. + + Reigate Castle, 473. + + Remigius, Bishop, 263. + + Rennie, John, 213. + + Reynard's Hall, 87. + + Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 437. + + Rheidol River, 47, 352. + + Rhenass Waterfall, 60. + + Rhodehoin, Lyme Regis, 424. + + Rhuddlan Castle, 34. + + Ribble River, 57. + + Rich, Edmund, 168. + + Richard Crookback, 338. + + Richard's Castle, 100. + + Richard's greyhound, 34. + + Richard of Bury, 318. + + Richard, Prior, 322. + + Richmond Castle, 293. + + Richmond, Duke of, 495. + + Richmond, Earl of, 89, 294. + + Richmond Hill, 179. + + Richmond, Rev. Legh, 515. + + Ridd, Jan, 443. + + Rievaulx Abbey, 306. + + Rimmer, 480. + + Ringwood, 505, 506. + + Ripon, 314. + + Ripon, Marquis of, 289. + + Ripon Minster, 288. + + Robert, Earl of Moreton, 453. + + Robert of Ewias, 370. + + Robert of Gloucester, 341. + + Robert the Norman, 375. + + Robert the Norman's Tomb, Gloucester, 341. + + Robin Hood's Bay, 310. + + Robin Hood's Cave, 273. + + Robin Hood's Tower, Richmond, 294. + + Robsart, Amy, 123, 141. + + Roche End, Isle of Wight, 518. + + Rochester, 479. + + Rochester, Earl of, 162. + + Rock of Tiw, 436. + + Rocket, the, 52. + + Rocking Stone, Cardiff, 375. + + Roebuck Inn, Banbury, 160. + + Roman remains, Sandwich, 486. + + Roman villa, Morton, 515. + + Roman wall, 68, 321. + + Romilly, Young, 287. + + Romney, 484, 488. + + Romney Marsh, 487. + + Roodee, Chester, 32. + + Rooke, Admiral, 365. + + Rookery, Dorking, 471. + + Ros, Lord, 106. + + Rosamond Clifford, 142. + + Rosamond's Bower, 142, 163. + + Rose Inn, Wokingham, 385. + + Ross, 355. + + Ross Church, 357. + + Ross, Man of, 355. + + Rother River, 488, 495. + + Rotten Row, Hyde Park, 205. + + Rougemont Castle, 426. + + Roirgenront Hill, Exeter, 425. + + Round Church, Cambridge, 248. + + Round Table, King Arthur's, 363, 501. + + Round Tower, Alnwick, 327. + + Round Tower, Windsor, 174, 175. + + Rowlstone, 371. + + Rows, Chester, 21. + + Rowsley, 75. + + Rowtor, Mount, 453. + + Royal Albert Hall, London, 207. + + Royal Clarence Victualling Yard, Gosport, 512. + + Royal Exchange, London, 208. + + Royal George wrecked, 511, 515. + + Royal Victoria Hospital, Southampton, 510. + + Royal William Victualling Yard, Plymouth, 438. + + Royal Yacht Club, Cowes, 514. + + Rufus's Stone, New Forest, 502, 503, 504. + + Rumbald's Moor, 285. + + Runcorn, 52. + + Runnimede, 177. + + Rupert, Prince, 114, 117, 125, 274, 296, 339. + + Rushen Castle, 60. + + Russell family, 131. + + Russell, John, 131. + + Russell, Lord, 439. + + Russell, Lord William, 133. + + Russel, Sir Thomas, 171. + + Rutland, Dukes of, 76, 80, 106, 306. + + Rutland, Earl of, killed, 282. + + Rutupiae, 485. + + Rydal Mount, 65. + + Ryde, 515, 516. + + Rye, 484, 488. + + Rye House, 234. + + + Sacheverel, Dr., 103. + + Sackville-West, L. S., 478. + + Saffron, 236. + + Saffron Walden, 234. + + Saffron Walden Church, 236. + + St. Alban Hall, Oxford, 147. + + St. Albans, 224. + + St. Albans, battle, 229. + + St. Albans, Duke of, 238. + + St. Aldate's Church, Oxford, 155. + + St. Aldhelm's Head, 418. + + St. Andrew's Cathedral, Hexham, 322. + + St. Andrew's Spring, Wells, 402, 403. + + St. Anne's Well, Malvern, 352. + + St. Anthony's Chapel, Penzance, 461. + + St. Asaph, 34. + + St. Aubin Bay, 422. + + St. Aubin Village, 422. + + St. Aubyn family, 461. + + St. Augustine's Abbey, Bristol, 397. + + St. Augustine's College, Canterbury, 482. + + St. Augustine's Monastery, Canterbury, 481. + + St. Bede, 316, 317. + + St. Bede's Shrine, Durham, 317. + + St. Bernard, Mont, Monastery, 109. + + St. Boniface Church, Bonchurch, 517. + + St. Briard Castle, 365. + + St. Bride's Church, London, 196. + + St. Catharine's Chapel, 424. + + St. Catharine's Chapel, Guildford, 466. + + St. Catharine's College, Cambridge, 245. + + St. Catharine's Down, Isle of Wight, 518. + + St. Catharine's Spring, Guildford, 466. + + St. Catharine's Well, Southwell, 270. + + St. Chad, 101. + + St. Clement's Church, Sandwich, 485. + + St. Clement Danes Church, London, 180. + + St. Cross Hospital, Winchester, 500. + + St. Cuthbert, 66, 313, 314, 320, 335. + + St. Cuthbert's Banner, 319, 333. + + St. Cuthbert's Chapel, Longstone, 336. + + St. Cuthbert's Church, Wells, 402. + + St. Cuthbert's Shrine, Durham, 316. + + St. David's, Bishop of, 377. + + St. David's Chapel, Llanthony, 372. + + St. David's Head, 382. + + St. Dunstan, 347. + + St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, 148. + + St. Edmund's Shrine, 250. + + St. Elericus, 422. + + St. Ethelbert's Shrine, Hereford, 353. + + St. Etheldreda, 251. + + St. George's Chapel, Windsor, 176. + + St. George's Statue, York, 300. + + St. Germain's Church, 62. + + St. Helier, 422. + + St. Herbert's Island, 66. + + St. Hilda, 310. + + St. Hugh's Shrine, Lincoln, 264. + + St. James Palace, London, 198. + + St. James Park, London, 197. + + St. James's Statue, Alnwick, 328. + + St. John's Chapel, Chester, 25. + + St. John's Chapel, Peterborough, 254. + + St. John's Chapel, Tower of London, 192. + + St. John's Church, Cirencester, 138. + + St. John's Church, Leeds, 285. + + St. John's College, Cambridge, 241. + + St. John's College, Oxford, 154. + + St. John the Baptist Church, Glastonbury, 407. + + St. Joseph's Chapel, Glastonbury, 407. + + St. Lawrence Church, 99. + + St. Lawrence Church, Niton, 518. + + St. Leonard's Chapel, Alnwick, 324. + + St. Leonard's Church, Hythe, 487. + + St. Margaret's Church, London, 181. + + St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, 189. + + St. Martha's Chapel, Guildford, 466. + + St. Martin's Church, Birmingham, 125. + + St. Martin's Church, Canterbury, 482. + + St. Martin's Church, Stamford, 263. + + St. Mary, Abbey, Chester, 25. + + St. Mary's Abbey, Tintern, 365. + + St. Mary's Abbey, York, 295, 296. + + St. Mary's Church, Bedgebury, 474. + + St. Mary's Church, Chester-le-Street, 320. + + St. Mary's Church, Guildford, 465. + + St. Mary's Church, Lichfield, 103. + + St. Mary's Church, Oxford, 155. + + St. Mary's Church, Saffron Walden, 236. + + St. Mary's Church, Scarborough, 308. + + St. Mary's Church, Selborne, 496. + + St. Mary's Church, Tutbury, 91. + + St. Mary's Church, Warwick, 121. + + St. Mary's College, Winchester, 500. + + St. Mary's Hall, Coventry, 105. + + St. Mary's Hall, Oxford, 147. + + St. Mary-le-Bow Church, London, 195. + + St. Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol, 399. + + St. Mary's Square, Gloucester, 341. + + St. Mary's Templar Church, London, 211. + + St. Mary's Well, 75. + + St. Mary Winton College, Oxford, 151. + + St. Mawe's Castle, 454. + + St. Michael, 454, 460. + + St. Michael's Chair, 461. + + St. Michael's Chapel, Scyrrid Vawr, 371. + + St. Michael's Church, Alnwick, 329. + + St. Michael's Church, Coventry, 105. + + St. Michael's Church, Lichfield, 103. + + St. Michael's Church, Verulam, 230. + + St. Michael's Mount, 460. + + St. Michael's Square, Southampton, 510. + + St. Milburgh, 97. + + St. Nicholas Chapel, Ilfracombe, 448. + + St. Nicholas Church, Arundel, 493. + + St. Nicholas Church, Guildford, 465. + + St. Nicholas Church, Romney, 488. + + St. Nicholas Church, Sidmouth, 424. + + St. Nicholas Hospital, Portsmouth, 511. + + St. Nicholas Isle, 438. + + St. Patrick, 407. + + St. Patrick's Causeway, 45. + + St. Paulinus, 295. + + St. Paul's Cathedral, 181. + + St. Peter's Cathedral, York, 298. + + St. Peter's Church, Rowlstone, 371. + + St. Peter's Church, St. Albans, 229. + + St. Peter's Church, Sandwich, 485. + + St. Peter's Church, Tower of London, 193. + + St. Peter's Church, Westminster, 184. + + St. Peter's College, Cambridge, 240, 246. + + St. Peter's Port, 423. + + St. Petrox Church, Dartmouth, 434. + + St. Sepulchre's Church, Cambridge, 248. + + St. Sidwell, 428. + + St. Stephen's Church, Tunbridge, 476. + + St. Stephen's Hall, Westminster, 203. + + St. Swithin's Church, London, 179. + + St. Swithin's Day, 500. + + St. Swithin's Shrine, Winchester, 499. + + St. Thomas a Becket, 448, 482. + + St. Thomas a Becket Church, Portsmouth, 511. + + St. Thomas Cantelupe's Shrine, Hereford, 353. + + St. Thomas Church, Winchelsea, 489. + + St. Thomas, Exeter, 425. + + St. Vincent's Rocks, Bristol, 400. + + St. Werburgh, 89. + + St. Werburgh Cathedral, 21. + + St. Wilfrid, 512. + + St. Wilfrid's Church, Brading, 515. + + St. Wilfrid's Shrine, Ripon, 288. + + St. William, Norwich, 259. + + St. William's Shrine, York, 298. + + St. Winifrede, 35. + + St. Wulstan, 346, 348. + + St. Wulstan's Shrine, Worcester, 348. + + Salcombe Hill, Sidmouth, 424. + + Salford, 52. + + Salisbury, 386, 413. + + Salisbury Cathedral, 386. + + Salisbury Chapel, 233. + + Salisbury, Countess of, 175, 507, 509. + + Salisbury, Earl of, 232, 282, 507, 513. + + Salisbury, Marquis of, 230, 232. + + Salisbury Plain, 388. + + Salt Tower, London, 192. + + Saltram Woods, Plym River, 437. + + Saluting Battery, Dover, 487. + + Salvin, architect, 326, 327. + + Sandown, 515, 516. + + Sandown Bay, Isle of Wight, 516. + + Sandsfoot Castle, 419. + + Sandwich, 417, 484, 485. + + Sandwich Haven, obstructions, 479. + + Saracen's Head Inn, Newark, 274. + + Saracen's Head Inn, Southwell, 270. + + Saracen's Head Inn, Ware, 234. + + Sarawak, Rajah of, 435. + + Sark, 421. + + Sarum, Old, 387, 389, 413. + + Saville's Tomb, York, 300. + + Saxenhurst, 475. + + Saxon Shore, Count of, 484. + + Saxulf, 253. + + Saye and Sele, Lord, 158. + + Scaleby Castle, 68. + + Scarborough, 307. + + Scarborough, Earl of, 320. + + Scarborough warning, 308. + + Scar-burgh Castle, 307. + + Scarlet, sexton, 254. + + Scholfield, psalm singer, 284. + + Schomberg House, London, 213. + + Scilly Islands, 462. + + Sciont River, 38. + + Scolland's Hall, Richmond, 294. + + Scotland Yard, London, 198. + + Scott, Sir Gilbert, 207. + + Scott, Sir Walter, 69, 79, 90, 123, 141, 162, 274, 316, 332. + + Scratchell's Cave, Isle of Wight, 513. + + Scruffel Hill, 67. + + Scudamore, Earl of, 372. + + Scyrrid Vawr, 370. + + Seathewaite. 65. + + Sedgemoor, 408, 410. + + Segontium, 38. + + Selborne, 495. + + Selsey Bill, 495. + + Selwyn, Bishop, 104. + + Selwyn, George, 217. + + Senate House, Cambridge, 243. + + Seneca Dying in the Bath, 262. + + Senior Wrangler, Cambridge, 243. + + Serpentine rocks, 456. + + "Seven Ages of Man," Stratford, 119. + + Seven Burrows, Stonehenge, 391. + + Sevenoaks, 478. + + Severn River, 93, 337, 352. + + Seven Sisters, Fountains Dale, 291. + + Seven Springs, 137. + + Severus, death, 295. + + Seymour, Elizabeth, 326. + + Seymour, Lord of Sudeley, 139. + + Shaftesbury, 416. + + Shakespear, John, 110. + + Shakespeare, William, 118, 501. + + Shakespeare Memorial, Stratford, 119. + + Shakespeare Trust, Stratford, 118. + + Shakespeare's Cliff, Dover, 487. + + Shakespeare's House, Stratford, 118. + + Shambles, York, 303. + + Shanklin, 516. + + Shanklin Chine, Isle of Wight, 516. + + Sharpham Woods, Dart River, 433. + + Sharpitor, Mount, 453. + + Shaugh, Dartmoor, 436. + + Sheaf River, 280. + + Sheep, 492. + + Sheeps Tor, Dartmoor, 435. + + Sheerness, 223. + + Sheffield, 279. + + Sheffield Castle, 281. + + Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford, 153. + + Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 508. + + Shenstone, 94. + + Sherborne, 413. + + Sherborne Abbey, 413. + + Sherborne Bell, 413. + + Sherborne Castle, 414. + + Sherborne Grammar School, 413. + + Sherburne, Sir Nicholas, 57. + + Sheridan, Richard B., 218. + + Shifford, 140. + + Shooter's Hill, Woolwich, 222. + + Shoreham, 347. + + Shottery, 119. + + Show Sunday, Oxford, 146. + + Shrewsbury, 93. + + Shrewsbury Castle, 93. + + Shrewsbury, Countess of, 71, 275. + + Shrewsbury, Earl of, 72, 92. + + Shrimps, 222, 483. + + Shropshire, 93. + + Shuckburgh, Sir Richard, 114. + + Sherwood Forest, 268, 270. + + Sheyne Monastery, 335. + + Sid River, 424. + + Sidbury, 424. + + Sidbury Gate, Worcester, 347. + + Sidford, 424. + + Sidmouth, 424. + + Sidney, Algernon, 477. + + Sidney, Mary, 477. + + Sidney, Sir Henry, 477. + + Sidney, Sir Philip, 98, 394, 477. + + Sidney, Sir William, 477. + + Silures' land, 338. + + Simnel, 165. + + Simnel cakes, 94. + + Simon's Seat, Bolton Abbey, 286. + + Sissinghurst, 475. + + Six Chimblies, Wakefield, 283. + + Sixtus V., Bible, 243. + + Skell River, 289. + + Skiddaw Forest, 67. + + Skiddaw, Mount, 64. + + Slannings, the, 436. + + Slaughter, the, Wye River, 362. + + Slave-trade, 18. + + Sleeping Children's Tomb, 102. + + Sloane, Sir Hans, 212. + + Slype, Oxford, 152. + + Smeaton, 439. + + Smith, Sydney, 307. + + Smugglers, the, 474. + + Smuggling, 456. + + Snaefell, Mount, 59. + + Snodengahame, 267. + + Snow Hill, Windsor, 176. + + Snowden, Mount, 38. + + Soar River, 107. + + Soho, Birmingham, 127. + + Solent, the, 506, 510, 513. + + Solway Firth, 68. + + Somers, Will, 78. + + Somerset, Duke of, 176, 326, 414, 433. + + Somerset, Earl of, 414. + + Somerset House, London, 213. + + Somersetshire, 394, 401. + + Sonning, 171. + + Sorrel, Mount, 108. + + South Downs, Sussex, 468, 492. + + South Foreland Lighthouse, 486. + + South Kensington Museum, 207. + + South Well, Southwell, 269. + + Southampton, 509. + + Southampton Water, 501, 203, 509, 510. + + Southey, Robert, 66, 67, 399, 443, 446, 461. + + Southey, Robert, married, 505. + + Southsea, 510. + + Southsea Castle, 511. + + Southwell, 268. + + Southwell Minster, 269. + + South-western Railway, 384. + + Sow River, 88. + + Sow and Boar, 417. + + Spa, Scarborough, 310. + + Spanish Armada, 513, 519. + + Spencer-Churchill family, 164. + + Spenser, 432, 470. + + Spit, the, Spithead, 512. + + Spithead, 510, 512, 515. + + Spread Eagle Inn, Epsom, 473. + + Stafford Castle, 88. + + Stafford, Lord, 476. + + Stafford, Marquis of, 89. + + Stafford, Thomas, 308. + + Staffordshire, 88, 90. + + Stag-hunting, 444. + + Staines, 177. + + Stamford, 261. + + Standard, Battle of the, 306. + + Stanhope, John, 275. + + Stanhope, Sir Thomas, 275. + + Stanley House, Chester, 23. + + Stanley, Sir Edward, 334. + + Stanleys, the, 20. + + Stanton Harcourt, 140. + + Stapleton, Walter, 153. + + Staunton Harold, 109. + + Staunton Lacey Church, 100. + + Staunton Tower, 107. + + Steele, Richaid. 382. + + Steeple Rock, Kynance, 458. + + Stephen, King, 56, 266. + + Stephens, Nathaniel, 139. + + Stephenson, George, 51, 321. + + Steyning, 492. + + Stocking-knitting, 267. + + Stocks, the, 371. + + Stoke, 165. + + Stone Beam, Lincoln, 265. + + Stone of Scone, 186. + + Stonebow, Lincoln, 263. + + Stonehenge, 389. + + Stonehouse, 437, 438. + + Stony Cross Hill, Minstead, 502. + + Stonyhurst, 57. + + Stour River, 230, 415, 480, 483, 485, 506. + + Stowe, Buckingham, 134. + + Stowe, Lichfield, 101. + + Stowell Park, 138. + + Strafford, Lord, 116, 303. + + Strafford, Wentworth, Earl of, tomb, York, 300. + + Strand Gate, Winchelsea, 489. + + Stratford-on-Avon, 118. + + Strawberry Hill, 178. + + Strid, the, 287. + + Strong, Edward, tomb, 229. + + Strutt, Jedediah, 267. + + Studland Bay, 417. + + Studland Village, 417. + + Studley Royal, 289. + + Slukeley, Dr., 275. + + Stukely, Sir Lewis, 452. + + Submarine Cable, 458. + + Sudbury, Archbishop, killed, 482. + + Sudeley Castle, 139. + + Sudwell, 269. + + Suffolk, 238. + + Suffolk, Duke of, 89. + + Suffolk, Earl of, 108, 234. + + Sugar Loaf, Abergavenny, 372. + + Sunday-school, first in England, 340. + + Sunninghill, 384. + + Sunningwell, 168. + + Surrey, Earl of, 176, 333. + + Surrey Side, 463. + + Sussex South Downs, 492. + + Sutherland, Duke of, 89. + + Sutherland, Harriet, Duchess of, 89, 91. + + Sutton Pool, Plymouth, 437, 438. + + Sutton, Sir Richard, 149. + + Swale River, 293. + + Swallow Fall, 43. + + Swanage, 417. + + Swanage Bay, 417. + + Swannery, Abbotsbury, 420. + + Swansea, 376. + + Swansea Castle, 378. + + Swanwich, 417. + + Sweyne, 377. + + Swift, Dean, 25, 361. + + Swift, Father, 361. + + Swynford, Katharine, tomb, 265. + + Sydney Garden, Bath, 396. + + _Sylva_, 471. + + Symonds, Symond, 172. + + Symond's Yat, 361. + + Syntax, Dr., 505. + + + Tabard Inn, Southwark, 483. + + Taff River, 375. + + Talbot Arms, Newark, 275. + + Talbot, John, 92. + + Taliesin, 43. + + Tamar River, 437, 438, 452. + + Tame River, 90, 97. + + Tamworth, 90. + + Tankerfield, martyr, 228. + + Tan-y-hutch, 48. + + Taplow, 171. + + Tarquin, giant, 52. + + Tatbury, 139. + + Tavistock Abbey, 439. + + Tavy River, 439. + + Tawe River, 376, 432, 449. + + Taylor, Jeremy, 382. + + Teasels. 285. + + Teddington Lock, 178. + + Tees River. 311. + + Teign River, 426, 430, 432. + + Teignmouth, 430. + + Teise River, 475. + + Temple Bar, London, 211. + + Temple, Sir William, 248. + + Tenby Castle, 382. + + Tennyson, Alfred, 104, 262, 520, 521. + + Tenterden, 478. + + Tenterden Steeple, 479. + + Test River, 509. + + Tewkesbury, 342. + + Tewkesbury Abbey, 343. + + Tewkesbury Battle, 345. + + Thackeray, W. M., 236, 339, 488. + + Thames Ditton, 178. + + Thames Head, 137. + + Thames River, 137, 463. + + Thanet Isle, 483. + + Theoe, 343. + + Theulf, Bishop, 343. + + Thistledon, 115. + + Thomson, 470. + + Thoresby Hall, 270. + + Thorney Island, 184. + + Thornhill, Sir James, 164. + + Thornton, John, 300. + + Thorwaldsen's Jason, 470. + + Three Crowns Inn, 103. + + Throgmorton, Elizabeth, 414. + + Thrydwulf, 283. + + Tidenham Rocks, 367. + + Tilbury Fort, 222. + + Till River, 331. + + Tillingham River, 488. + + _Times, London_, 385. + + Tip cat, 130. + + Tin-mines, 453. + + Tintagel Castle, 452. + + Tintern Abbey, 365. + + Tintem Parva, 365. + + Tissington Spires, 87. + + Tiw, Rock of, 436. + + Tom, Great, Lincoln, 264. + + Tom Quad, Oxford, 146. + + Tombland, Norwich, 257. + + Tone River, 412. + + Tor Hill, 404. + + Torbay, 430. + + Torquay, 430, 431. + + Torrent Walk, Dolgelly, 69. + + Torridge River, 432, 449. + + Tostig, 295. + + Totnes, 433. + + Touching for King's Evil, 349. + + Tower of London, 180, 189. + + Tower Subway, 193. + + Town and Gown Quarrels, 143. + + Town Hall, Birmingham, 126. + + Town Hall, Hull, 278. + + Town Hall, Leeds, 285. + + Towton Battlefield, 296. + + Towy River, 381. + + Tracy, Sir William, 448. + + Trafalgar Square, London, 212. + + Traitor's Gate, Tower, 190. + + Treasury Building. London, 198. + + Trefriw, 43. + + Trelawney, Bishop, 429. + + Trent River, 75, 100, 263, 266, 273. + + Trentham Hall, 89. + + Trewsbury Mead, 137. + + Triangular Bridge, Crowland, 254. + + Tribunal, Glastonbury, 407. + + Tricengham, 89. + + Trinity Chapel, Cambridge, 240. + + Trinity Chapel, Canterbury, 482. + + Trinity Church, Coventry, 105. + + Trinity College, Oxford, 154. + + Trinity College, Cambridge, 240. + + Trinity Hall, Cambridge, 243. + + Trinity House, Hull, 277. + + Tripos, Cambridge, 240. + + Trothy River, 364. + + Trowlesworthy, 435. + + Trumpington, 249. + + Trumpington, Miller of, 244. + + Tuck, Friar, 273. + + Tun River, 476. + + Tunbridge, 475, 476. + + Tunbridge Castle, 475, 476. + + Tunbridge Wells, 476. + + Tunstall, Bishop, 318. + + Turpin, Dick, 302. + + Tutbury Castle, 91. + + Tweed River, 331, 335. + + Twelve Apostles, 87. + + Twickenham, 178. + + Two-Battle Farms, 115. + + Twynham, 507. + + Tyler, Wat, 482. + + Tyne River, 320, 322. + + Tyril, Walter, 503, 504. + + Tysen, Gilbert, 323. + + + Ulverscroft, 109. + + Under the Shadow of the Cross, 517. + + Undercliff, the, Isle of Wight, 517. + + Underground Railway, London, 215. + + University College, Oxford, 144, 148. + + University Library, Cambridge, 243. + + Upnor Castle, Chatham, 480. + + Ure River, 288. + + Uriconium, 94. + + Usk River, 372, 375. + + + Valle Crucis Abbey, 29. + + Valley of Deadly Nightshade, 56. + + Van Tromp, Admiral, 409, 480. + + Vanbrugh, John, 164, 304. + + Vandyck's Charles I., 120. + + Vandyck's masterpiece, 393. + + Varney, Sir Richard, 141. + + _Vathek_, 396. + + Vectis, 512. + + Vellan Head, Cornwall, 457. + + Venta Belgarum, 499. + + Ventnor, 515, 518. + + Venus rising from the Bath, 470. + + Ver River, 225. + + Verne Hill, Portland, 420. + + Verney, Sir Edmund, 115. + + Vernon, Dorothy, 78. + + Vernon, Sir George, 79. + + Vernon, Sir Henry, 80. + + Verulam, 224. + + Vesci, Eustace de, 324. + + Vicar of Bray, 171. + + Vicar of Wakefield, 282. + + Vicar's Close, Wells, 403. + + Victoria Gallery, Westminster, 204. + + Victoria Park, Bath, 396. + + Victoria, Queen, 424, 515, 520. + + Victoria Regia, 85. + + Victoria Spa, 119. + + Victoria Tower, Westminster, 202. + + Victoria's Birthplace, 201. + + Victoria's Coronation, 185. + + Victoria's First Court, 202. + + Victoria's Marriage, 199. + + Victory man-of war, 511. + + Victory, wreck, 422. + + Vignals, 99. + + Vikings' Invasion, 361. + + Vineyard, the, Tewkesbury, 345. + + Vinney Ridge Heronry, 504. + + Virginia Water, 384. + + Virgins, Wise and Foolish, painting, 502. + + Vivian, John Henry, 379. + + + Wadham College, Oxford, 153. + + Wakefield, 282. + + Wakefield Tower, London, 190. + + Walden, Abbey, 234. + + Wales, Prince of, 273. + + Wallingford, 170. + + Wallsend, 321. + + Walmer, 484-486. + + Walmer Castle, 486. + + Walney Island, Furness, 56. + + Walpole, Horace, 133, 178, 280, 303. + + Walter, John, 385. + + Walters, Lucy, 410. + + Waltheof, 256. + + Walton, Anne, tomb, Worcester, 348. + + Walton, Izaak, 87, 405, 499. + + War Office, London, 213. + + Warbeck, Perkin, 504. + + Warburton, Bishop, 275. + + Ware, Great Bed of, 234. + + Wareham, 415. + + Warrenne, Earl, 469. + + Warrington, 51, 52. + + Warwick Castle, 120. + + Warwick, Earls of, 114, 120, 377, 513. + + Warwick the King-maker, 63, 120. + + Warwick Vase, 121. + + Warwickshire, 104. + + Wash, the, 249, 263. + + Watch-Tower, Furness, 56. + + Watching Gallery, St. Albans, 227. + + Water Tower, Chester, 25. + + Waterford, Marquis of, 331. + + Waterloo Bridge, London, 213. + + Watersmeet, Lyn River, 446. + + Watersmouth, 448. + + Waynflete, William of, 148. + + Weald of Kent, 474. + + Weald of Sussex, 464. + + Wear River, 312, 320. + + Weary-all Hill, Glastonbury, 407. + + Webster, artist, 475. + + Weddell, William, of Newby, 289. + + Wedgewood, Josiah, 88. + + Welbeck Abbey, 271. + + Welland River, 254, 261. + + Weller, Samuel, 470. + + Wellington, Duke of, 193, 486. + + Wellington Statue, London, 206. + + Wellingtons Tomb, 183. + + Wells, 401. + + Wells Cathedral, 402. + + Welsh Bickner, 361. + + Welsh Pool, 35. + + Wenlock Abbey, 96. + + Wensum River, 256. + + West, Benjamin, 499. + + West Cow, Isle of Wight, 514. + + West Gate, Canterbury, 482. + + West Gate, Winchester, 500. + + West Lyn River, 445. + + West Malvern, 351. + + West Pier, Brighton, 491. + + Westbury College, 399. + + Westminster, 184. + + Westminster Abbey, 184. + + Westminster Bridge, 202. + + Westminster, Duke of, 22, 26, 171. + + Westminster Hall, 185, 202. + + Westmorelandshire, 64. + + Wesley, John, 153. + + Wessex, 408. + + Weston, George and Joseph, 489. + + Weston Zoyland Church, 410. + + Wey River, 177, 463. 464, 495. + + Weymouth, 121, 177, 419. + + Weymouth Bay, 419. + + Whaddon Hall, 135. + + Whalley Abbey, 57. + + Whalley, Richard, 271. + + Wharfe River, 285. + + Whippingham, 514. + + Whispering Gallery, Gloucester, 341. + + Whispering Gallery, St. Paul's, 183. + + Whitby, 310. + + Whitby Abbey, 310. + + Whitchurch, 170. + + White Cloth Hall, Leeds, 285. + + White Hart Inn, Ringwood, 506. + + White Homestead, Whitby, 310. + + White Horse Hill, 386. + + White Horse Inn, Dorking, 469. + + White Nore, 419. + + White, Rev. Gilbert, 495. + + White, Sir Thomas, 154. + + White Tower, London, 190. + + Whitebait, 38. + + Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight, 516. + + Whitehall, Westminster, 196. + + Whitgarasbyrg, 512. + + Whiting, Abbot of Glastonbury, 404. + + Whitney, 164. + + Whittingham, Dean, 319. + + Widemarsh, Hereford, 354. + + Widvile, Elizabeth, 108, 110, 246. + + Wight, Isle of, 507, 512. + + Wigoma Ceaster, 346. + + Wilberforce, Bishop Samuel, 520. + + Wilberforce, Bishop Samuel, death, 472. + + Wilberforce, William, 278, 303, 520. + + Wilderness, Cambridge, 242. + + Wiley River, 387, 392. + + Wilfrid's Needle, Ripon, 289. + + Wilkes, John, 516. + + Willersley Castle, 86. + + Willis, Browne, 135. + + Willytown, 392. + + Wilmot, Lord, 347. + + William III., 271, 350, 426. + + William III.'s landing-place, 432. + + William of Wykeham, 500. + + William, Prince, drowned, 422. + + William Rufus killed, 503, 504. + + William Rufus tomb, Winchester, 499. + + William the Conqueror, 295, 296. + + William the Conqueror's landing, 490. + + William the Lion, 325. + + William the Norman, 389. + + Wilton carpet, 392. + + Wilton Castle, 359. + + Wilton House, 392. + + Wiltshire, 386. + + Wimborne Minster, 415. + + Winchelsea, 484, 488. + + Winchelsea, Countess of, 423. + + Winchester, 499. + + Winchester, Bishop of, 411. + + Winchester Castle, 500. + + Winchester Cathedral, 499. + + Windermere, Lake, 64. + + Windmills, 492, 497. + + Windrush River, 140. + + Windsor Castle, 174. + + Windsor Park, 384. + + Winstanley, 238, 439. + + Winthuysen, Admiral, 260. + + Wirral, the, 27. + + Wise and Foolish Virgins, painting, 502. + + Wise, Mount, Plymouth, 438. + + Wishing Stone, Selborne, 498. + + Wiston Manor, 492. + + Witan of the Saxons, 425. + + Witch of Wookey, Mendip Hills, 406. + + Witches, 107. + + Witham River, 263. + + Wnion River, 46. + + Woburn Abbey, 131. + + Wokingham, 385. + + Wolsey, Cardinal, 60, 112, 145, 149, 196, 226, 269, 318, 405, 413. + + Wolvesey Castle, 500. + + Wood, architect of Bath, 395. + + Wood, Dr., Dean of Ely, 242. + + Woodmansterne, Epsom, 472. + + Woodstock, 142, 161. + + Wookey Hole, Mendip Hills, 406. + + Woolsack, the, 203. + + Woolverton Chapel, Niton, 518. + + Woolwich Dockyard, 222. + + Worbarrow Bay, 418. + + Worcester, 316. + + Worcester, battle. 347. + + Worcester Cathedral, 347. + + Worcester College, Oxford, 154. + + Worcester, Marquis of, 364, 369. + + Worcester Sauce, 350. + + Worcestershire Beacon, 351. + + Wordsworth, William, 65, 67, 109, 188, 223, 287, 336, 360. + + Worksop, 270. + + Wormridge, 371. + + Wotton Church, Dorking, 471. + + Wotton House, 471. + + Wren, Sir Christopher, 82, 102, 147, 179, 182. + + Wrexham Church, 32. + + Wyatt's Rebellion, 308. + + Wyche, the, Malvern, 351. + + Wye River, 75, 81, 352. + + Wykeham, William of, 151. + + Wylam, 321. + + Wyncliff, 367. + + Wynnstay, 29. + + Wyntour's Leap, 367. + + Wytham Abbey, 142. + + + Yar River, 520. + + Yarmouth, 506, 513, 514. + + Yealm River, 432. + + Yes Tor, Dartmoor, 432. + + Ynys-gwyth, 512. + + York, 294. + + York, Archbishop of, 269, 295, 512. + + York Castle, 300. + + York, Duke of, 297. + + York, Duke of, killed, 282. + + York Minster, 298. + + Yorkshire, 278. + + Yorkshire coast, 307. + + Yr Wyddgrug, 34. + + + Zinc-mines, 407. + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's England, Picturesque and Descriptive, by Joel Cook + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLAND *** + +***** This file should be named 29787.txt or 29787.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/7/8/29787/ + +Produced by Sigal Alon, Janet Blenkinship and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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