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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-05 03:49:52 -0800 |
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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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Peeps at Many Lands: England - -Author: John Finnemore - -Release Date: December 10, 2015 [EBook #50662] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEEPS AT MANY LANDS: ENGLAND *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines - - - - - -</pre> - - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-cover"></a> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-cover.jpg" alt="Cover art" /> -<br /> -Cover art -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-front-t"></a> -<a href="images/img-front.jpg"> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-front-t.jpg" alt="A YOUNG PRINCE WATCHING THE SCOTS GUARDS FROM MARLBOROUGH HOUSE" /> -</a> -<br /> -A YOUNG PRINCE WATCHING THE <br /> -SCOTS GUARDS FROM MARLBOROUGH HOUSE -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3b"> - PEEPS AT MANY LANDS<br /> -</p> - -<h1> - ENGLAND<br /> -</h1> - -<p class="t3"> - BY<br /> -</p> - -<p class="t3b"> - JOHN FINNEMORE<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> - CONTAINING TWELVE FULL-PAGE<br /> - ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3"> - LONDON<br /> - ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK<br /> - 1908<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3b"> - CONTENTS<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> - I. <a href="#chap01">IN LONDON TOWN—I.</a><br /> - II. <a href="#chap02">IN LONDON TOWN—II.</a><br /> - III. <a href="#chap03">IN LONDON TOWN—III.</a><br /> - IV. <a href="#chap04">OLD FATHER THAMES—I.</a><br /> - V. <a href="#chap05">OLD FATHER THAMES—II.</a><br /> - VI. <a href="#chap06">IN A CATHEDRAL CITY</a><br /> - VII. <a href="#chap07">THROUGH WESSEX—I.</a><br /> - VIII. <a href="#chap08">THROUGH WESSEX—II.</a><br /> - IX. <a href="#chap09">THROUGH WESSEX—III.</a><br /> - X. <a href="#chap10">ROUND THE TORS</a><br /> - XI. <a href="#chap11">THE LAND OF SAINTS</a><br /> - XII. <a href="#chap12">IN SHAKESPEARE'S COUNTRY</a><br /> - XIII. <a href="#chap13">AN OLD ENGLISH HOUSE</a><br /> - XIV. <a href="#chap14">BY FEN AND BROAD</a><br /> - XV. <a href="#chap15">BY DALE AND FELL</a><br /> - XVI. <a href="#chap16">THE PLAYGROUND OF ENGLAND—I.</a><br /> - XVII. <a href="#chap17">THE PLAYGROUND OF ENGLAND—II.</a><br /> - XVIII. <a href="#chap18">HEROES OF THE STORM</a><br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t3b"> -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<a href="#img-front-t"> -A YOUNG PRINCE WATCHING THE SCOTS<br /> - GUARDS FROM MARLBOROUGH HOUSE</a> . . . <i>Rose Barton</i> . <i>Frontispiece</i> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<a href="#img-006-t"> -LONDON: ST. PAUL'S AND LUDGATE HILL</a> . . . <i>Herbert Marshall</i> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<a href="#img-017-t"> -BY AN ENGLISH RIVER</a> . . . <i>Birket Foster</i> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<a href="#img-024-t"> -TOMB OF THE BLACK PRINCE IN<br /> - CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL</a> . . . <i>W. Biscombe Gardner</i> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<a href="#img-033-t"> -IN AN ENGLISH COUNTRY TOWN</a> . . . <i>Walter Tyndale</i> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<a href="#img-040-t"> -IN AN ENGLISH LANE</a> . . . <i>Birket Foster</i> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<a href="#img-048-t"> -SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHPLACE</a> . . . <i>Fred Whitehead</i> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<a href="#img-057-t"> -AN ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSE</a> . . . <i>Walter Tyndale</i> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<a href="#img-065-t"> -IN AN ENGLISH VILLAGE</a> . . . <i>W. Biscombe Gardner</i> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<a href="#img-072-t"> -AN ENGLISH COTTAGE</a> . . . <i>Mrs. Allingham</i> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<a href="#img-075-t"> -IN AN ENGLISH WOOD</a> . . . <i>Stilton Palmer</i> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -<a href="#img-078-t"> -ON AN ENGLISH COMMON</a> . . . <i>Birket Foster</i> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-map-t"></a> -<a href="images/img-map.jpg"> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-map-t.jpg" alt="SKETCH-MAP OF ENGLAND." /> -</a> -<br /> -SKETCH-MAP OF ENGLAND. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap01"></a></p> - -<p class="t2b"> -ENGLAND -</p> - -<p><br /> -</p> - -<h3> -IN LONDON TOWN—I. -</h3> - -<p> -London is the greatest city in the world. How easy -it is to say that or read it! How very, very hard it is -to get the least idea of what it means! We may talk -of millions of people, of thousands of streets, of -hundreds of thousands of houses, but words will give -us little grasp of what London means. And if we go -to see for ourselves, we may travel up and down its -highways and byways until we are dizzy with the rush -of its hurrying crowds, its streams of close-packed -vehicles, its rows upon rows of houses, shops, banks, -churches, museums, halls, theatres, and begin to think -that at last we have seen London. But alas for our -fancy! We find that all the time we have only been in -one small corner of it, and the great city spreads far -and wide around the district we have learned to know, -just as a sea spreads around an islet on its broad -surface. -</p> - -<p> -When we read or hear of London, we are always -coming across the terms West End and East End. -West and East of what? Where is the dividing-line? -The dividing-place is the City, the heart of London, -the oldest part of the great town. Once the City was -a compact little town inside a strong wall which kept -out its enemies. It was full of narrow streets, where -shops stood thickly together, and over the shops lived -the City merchants in their tall houses. The narrow -streets and the shops are still there, but the merchants -have long since gone to live elsewhere, and the walls -have been pulled down. -</p> - -<p> -Now the City is nothing but a business quarter. It -is packed with offices, warehouses, banks and public -buildings, and it is the busiest part of London by day -and the quietest by night. It is a wonderful sight to -see the many, many thousands of people who work in -the City pour in with the morning and stream out at -evening. Every road, every bridge, leading to and -from the City is packed with men and women, boys -and girls, marching like a huge army, flowing and -ebbing like the tides of the sea. -</p> - -<p> -In the centre of the City there is a famous open -space where seven streets meet. It is famous for the -buildings which surround it, and the traffic which flows -through it. All day long an endless stream of -omnibuses, cabs, drays, vans, carts, motor-cars, motor-buses, -carriages, and every kind of vehicle which runs on -wheels, pours by. So great is the crush of traffic that -underground passages have now been built for people to -cross from side to side, and that is a very good thing, -for only the very nimble could dodge their way through -the mass of vehicles. -</p> - -<p> -Upon one side of this space there stands a building -with blank walls, not very high nor very striking in -appearance. But it is the Bank of England, where the -money matters of half the world are dealt with! If -we went inside we should find that the Bank is built -around a courtyard, into which the windows look. Thus -there is no chance for burglars to break in, and besides, -the Bank is guarded very carefully, for its cellars are -filled with great bars of gold, and its drawers are full -of sovereigns and crisp bank-notes. -</p> - -<p> -Upon the other side of the busy space stands the -Mansion House, where the Lord Mayor of London -lives during his year of office. Here are held gay -feasts, and splendid processions often march up to the -doors; for if a king or great prince visits London, he is -always asked to visit the City, and he goes in state to a -fine banquet. -</p> - -<p> -A third great building is the Royal Exchange, -adorned with its great pillars, and here the merchants -meet, and business matters affecting every corner of the -globe are dealt with. -</p> - -<p> -But there are two places which we must glance at -before we leave the City, whatever else we miss, and -these are the Tower and St. Paul's Cathedral. And -first of all we will go to the Tower, for it is the oldest -and most famous of all the City's many buildings. -Nay, the Tower is more than that: it is one of the -famous buildings of the world. -</p> - -<p> -For many hundreds of years the grey old Tower -has raised its walls beside the Thames, and in its time -it has played many parts. It has been a fortress, a -palace, a treasure-house, and a prison. William the -Conqueror began it, William Rufus went on with the -work, and the latter finished the central keep, the -famous White Tower, the heart of the citadel. For -many centuries the Tower was the strongest place in -the land, with its thick walls and its deep moat filled -with water from the Thames, and the rulers of England -took great care to keep it in their own hands. -</p> - -<p> -To-day it is a show-place more than anything else, -and everyone is free to visit it, to see the Crown -jewels stored there, and to view the splendid collection -of weapons and armour. But after all the place itself -is the finest thing to see—to wander through the rooms -where kings and queens have lived, to stand in the -dungeons and prison-chambers where some of the best -and noblest of our race have been shut up, and to -climb the narrow winding stairs from floor to floor. -</p> - -<p> -Many of the prisoners of the Tower were brought -into it by the Traitor's Gate, a great gloomy archway -under which the waters of the Thames once flowed. -In those days the river was the great highway of -London, and when the judges at Westminster had -condemned a prisoner to be sent to the Tower, he was -carried down the river in a barge and landed at the -Traitor's Gate. Many and many a poor prisoner saw -his last glimpse of the outer world from the gloomy -gate. Before him lay nothing save a dreadful death at -the hands of the headsman. -</p> - -<p> -Outside the White Tower there is a garden, where -once stood the block where the greatest of the prisoners -were beheaded. Outside the Tower is Tower Hill, -where those of a lesser rank suffered; we may still see -in the Tower a headsman's block whereon heads have -been laid and necks offered to the sharp, heavy axe. -As for the names of those who have been executed in -the Tower, history is full of them—Lady Jane Grey, -Sir Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, Sir Walter Raleigh, -Katherine Howard, the Earl of Essex, to name but a -few who have suffered there. An earlier tragedy than -any of these is the murder of the two little princes, -Edward V. and his brother, put to death by command -of Richard of Gloucester, Richard Crookback, their -wicked uncle who wanted to seize the throne. -</p> - -<p> -From the upper windows of the White Tower we -can see the river crowded with ships and steamers and -barges, and on a fine day it is a most beautiful sight. -But the most striking thing in the view is the Tower -Bridge. "This is a new bridge, and it has two great -towers rising one on each side, as it seems, to the sky, -and the bridge lies across low down between those -towers. But when a big ship comes and wants to get -up the river under the bridge, what is to be done? -The bridge is not high enough! Well, what does -happen is this—and I hope that every one of you will -see it one day, for it is one of the grandest things in -London: a man rings a bell, and the cabs, and -carriages, and carts, and people who are on the bridge rush -quickly across to the other side, and when the bridge is -quite empty, then the man in the tower touches some -machinery, and slowly the great bridge, which is like a -road, remember, rises up into the air in two pieces, just -as you might lift your hands while the elbows rested -on your knees without moving, and the beautiful ship -passes underneath, and the bridge goes back again quite -gently to its place. This bridge has been called the -Gate of London, and it is a good name, for it looks -like a giant gate over the river." -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap02"></a></p> - -<h3> -IN LONDON TOWN—II. -</h3> - -<p> -It is quite easy to find your way to St. Paul's -Cathedral, for the splendid dome of the great church -springs high above the highest roof of the City, and -the gilt cross on its dome glitters in the sun 400 feet -above the pavement below. -</p> - -<p> -It is not a very old building, for it was raised after -the Great Fire of 1666, the fire which laid the City in -ruins and destroyed the old cathedral. It was built by -a great architect, Sir Christopher Wren. He lies buried -in the cathedral, and over his tomb is a Latin inscription -which means, "If thou dost seek my monument, -look around thee." -</p> - -<p> -You see the meaning of this and look around, -and acknowledge that the noble church is indeed a -splendid testimony to the skill of him who built it. -As you walk round the place, you find many other -monuments to famous men. Nelson lies here and -Wellington, our greatest sailor and our greatest soldier, -and Dr. Johnson, the famous scholar. Here and -there are battle-flags, the colours of famous regiments, -decking the walls. Torn by shot and stained with -blood, they speak of fierce battles where the men who -bore them were in the thickest of the fight, but now -they hang in the silence of the great cathedral, mute -witnesses of Britain's greatest victories. -</p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-006-t"></a> -<a href="images/img-006.jpg"> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-006-t.jpg" alt="LONDON ST. PAUL'S AND LUDGATE HILL" /> -</a> -<br /> -LONDON ST. PAUL'S AND LUDGATE HILL -</p> - -<p> -The most striking part of the building is the great -dome, which springs so high into the air that, viewed -from beneath, its top looks far off, and dusky, and dim. -You may climb it by a flight of many, many steps, and -walk round it inside by means of a great gallery. -This is called the Whispering Gallery, for if you stand -at one side of it and whisper softly, the murmur runs -round the walls and will reach someone standing on the -opposite side, a long distance off! -</p> - -<p> -Next, you may go on up and up until you reach the -top of the dome and look out far and wide over -London, with the river winding through the huge -maze of streets and houses, and the whole spread out -at your feet as a bird sees a place on the wing. It is a -wonderful sight on a clear day, and on a dull one it is -hardly less striking, for the huge forest of smoking -chimneys spreads and spreads till it is lost on the -horizon, and you think that there is no end to this -immense town, and that it is stretching on and on for -ever. -</p> - -<p> -Well, now, from the City which way shall we strike, -east or west? I think you would soon be tired of the -East End, for there is little to see there that is pleasing -or beautiful. Nearly all the people who live in the -East End are poor, and they live in long rows of mean -houses in dirty streets, where the air is close and -everything is grimy. There are parts of the East End, of -course, where things are better than this, with clean -streets and nice houses, but still, there is nothing to -attract a visitor like the splendid buildings and the -beautiful parks to be seen at the West End of town. -</p> - -<p> -When we speak of parks that brings at once to the -mind the thought of Hyde Park, finest of all London's -fine open spaces, so we will go to it from St. Paul's by -bus, and our way will be through some of the most -famous streets of London. A seat on top of a London -bus is a capital place from which to see the street scenes -of the great city, and we climb up and, if we are lucky, -get a front seat. -</p> - -<p> -Away we roll down Ludgate Hill, across an open -space, and up Fleet Street, where it seems that every -newspaper in the world must have an office, so thickly -are the walls covered by the names of all the -well-known papers. Soon we see a monument erected in -the roadway. It marks the site of Temple Bar, an old -gateway which formed the City boundary to the west. -Above the old gateway was a row of spikes, and on -these the heads of rebels and traitors used to be -displayed. -</p> - -<p> -As soon as we pass Temple Bar we are in the Strand, -that mighty London thoroughfare. Its name reminds -us that it runs along the river bank, though to-day -great buildings hide the river save for peeps down -side-streets. At one time the south side of the Strand was -lined with the mansions of great noblemen, whose -gardens ran down to the water's edge, and the -side-streets yet bear the names of the great houses which -stood in the neighbourhood. -</p> - -<p> -To our right as we leave Temple Bar rises the splendid -pile of the new Law Courts, and on we go between -close-packed lines of shops and theatres until we come out into -Trafalgar Square, the central point of London. Here -is a great open space where fountains quietly play and -a lofty column rises, the latter crowned with a statue of -our sailor hero, Nelson. At the upper end of the -Square stands the National Art Gallery, where some of -the finest pictures in the world may be seen; but we -must come another day to look at them, for our bus -is still rolling westward. -</p> - -<p> -We get a glimpse at Pall Mall, the region of club-land, -and soon enter Piccadilly, one of London's most -beautiful and famous streets. We pass the doors of -the Royal Academy, and then a pleasant park opens to -our left, the Green Park, while on our right runs a -continuous line of mansions, shops, and clubs, until -the bus pulls up at Hyde Park Corner, and we have -reached the great park. -</p> - -<p> -On a fine summer day Hyde Park offers one of the -most wonderful scenes in London. A constant stream -of splendid carriages, drawn by magnificent horses, -pours into the park and moves round and round the -Drive and "The Row," with its riders, is even more -interesting. -</p> - -<p> -Rotten Row is a long, broad, tan-covered ride, where -horsemen and horsewomen trot and canter to and fro. -Finer horses and riders are not to be found. On a -morning when the Row is fairly full, it is delightful to -spend an hour or so, seated on one of the green chairs -in shade of an elm or lime, watching the riders. Here -comes an old gentleman on a stout cob. They pound -steadily past, and now three or four young people -mounted on tall, lively horses dash past at a gallop, -chatting merrily as they go, and then there is a swift -scurry of ponies, as some children dart along, racing each -other up to the Corner, where all turn and come back. -</p> - -<p> -Perhaps in an afternoon you may go in through the -great gates at Hyde Park Corner and find the carriages -drawn up in lines, and a feeling of excitement and -expectation in the air. A clear track is being kept. For -whom? For the Queen. She is coming up now from -Buckingham Palace to drive in the Park. Suddenly -there is a brilliant flash of colour as servants in royal -liveries of glowing scarlet come into sight. Hats fly -off as the royal carriage passes, drawn by splendid -chestnuts, and there is the Queen, bowing and smiling -at the people who greet her as she drives into the Park. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap03"></a></p> - -<h3> -IN LONDON TOWN—III. -</h3> - -<p> -Now that we have seen the Queen pass by, we will go -and look at her home in London. Buckingham -Palace is not far from Hyde Park Corner, and when -we reach it we see a big, rather dull-looking building, -with a courtyard before it, and red-coated soldiers -marching up and down on guard. This palace of the -King and Queen is, in truth, not very handsome outside, -but it is very splendid within, its fine rooms being -adorned with the paintings of great artists. -</p> - -<p> -A noble road, called the Mall, leads from the front -of Buckingham Palace, and if we follow it we shall -come out on a wide, open space laid with gravel, -the Horse Guards' Parade. Or if we do not care -about walking along the Mall, we can come through -St. James's Park, with its pretty piece of ornamental -water, where ducks and other water-birds fly about, -and watch eagerly for crumbs flung to them by the -visitors. -</p> - -<p> -Crossing the Horse Guards' Parade, we go through -a small archway into the great street called Whitehall. -The archway is watched without by two Life Guards—tall -men in shining steel breastplates and helmets, and -mounted on tall horses—while others on foot march up -and down within. -</p> - -<p> -In Whitehall may be seen the room from which -Charles I. stepped out to the scaffold on the day of his -execution. It was once the banqueting-hall of a royal -palace, and is now a museum, and anyone may go into -it. The scaffold had been built outside the walls, and -he stepped through a window to reach it, and there his -head was struck off before a great crowd which had -gathered in Whitehall. -</p> - -<p> -The broad street is lined with tall buildings, where -the business of Government is carried on; and at its -foot stand the Houses of Parliament, where laws are -made for the nation. This noble range of buildings is -crowned by three great towers, two square and one -pointed. The pointed one is the Clock Tower, and -there, high above our heads, is the great clock with its -four faces. It is the largest clock in England; its figures -are 2 feet in length; its minute-hand is 16 feet long, -and weighs 2cwt. The hour is struck on a great bell -called "Big Ben," and when Big Ben booms out over -London it tells the people what o'clock it is, and they -set their watches and clocks by it. -</p> - -<p> -As we look round, we see at a short distance from us -a majestic old church, its walls grey and time-worn. -It is Westminster Abbey, the place where our kings -and queens have been crowned for a thousand years, -and where lie the remains of Britain's famous dead. -No sooner do we enter the venerable building than -we see on every side monuments and inscriptions to -the memory of great men and women—kings, queens, -princes, statesmen, famous writers, soldiers, sailors, -travellers, all are there—some with a mere line or so -of inscription, some with a huge sculptured monument. -For many hundreds of years Westminster Abbey has -been used as a burial-place, and to name those that lie -there and to tell the story of their lives would be to -narrate the history of England. -</p> - -<p> -This noble church is built in the form of a Latin -cross, and contains beautiful chapels opening from the -main building, the finest of all being the Chapel of -Henry VII. at the eastern end of the abbey. In -these chapels lie many kings and queens of England, -beginning with Edward the Confessor, who founded -the abbey, and whose shrine stands in the interesting -chapel behind the choir. -</p> - -<p> -Near at hand is the famous Coronation Chair, an old -wooden chair, with a large stone let in under its seat. -The stone was brought to England by Edward I., who -seized it at Scone in Scotland. It is the sacred stone -on which all the Scottish kings had been crowned for -many centuries, and when Edward placed it in the -Coronation Chair he meant it to show that the English -king was ruler of Scotland also. And yet it was a -Scottish king who first joined the two kingdoms, and -not an English one, for James VI. of Scotland became -James I. of England, and the two kingdoms were -united under the name of Great Britain. Our King, -Edward VII., was, of course, the last to be crowned, -seated in that famous old chair. -</p> - -<p> -There is one corner of Westminster Abbey which all -visit, no matter what other part they may miss, and that -is the south transept, which everyone knows as Poets' -Corner. Here have been buried some of the most -famous writers of our land, and there are monuments -to others who lie elsewhere. -</p> - -<p> -From Westminster Abbey we will cross to Westminster -Hall, and glance for an instant into the greatest -room in Europe. This fine old hall was built by -William Rufus, and consists of one huge apartment, -and the span of its wooden roof is greater than any -other room in Europe not supported by pillars. The -hall was built for banquets and festivities, and coronation -feasts were held in it for ages. At these feasts a -champion, clad in full armour and mounted on a war-horse, -would ride into the hall, and challenge anyone to -dispute the king's title to the crown. -</p> - -<p> -Westminster Hall was also used for law-courts, and -continued to be so used until very recent times, when -the courts were moved to the great building in the Strand. -Next we will look at Westminster Bridge, the largest -and finest of all London bridges. Here we see the -broad Thames rolling down to the sea, and have a -splendid view of the river-front of the Houses of -Parliament. On a summer afternoon the river-front -looks very gay, for there is a long terrace beside the -Thames, and the members come out to take tea there. -They form parties with their friends, and the bright -dresses of the ladies, and the movement to and fro, and -the laughing groups at the little tables, form a very -bright and cheerful scene. -</p> - -<p> -Looking downstream from the bridge, we see on our -left hand the Embankment, one of the biggest pieces of -work that even London has ever done. Every day the -river rises and falls with the tide, and sometimes when -there has been much rain a great flood comes down -from the country and makes it rise much higher still. -Now, sometimes when the river rose very high it ran -into houses and did a great deal of damage, so a great -wall was built to keep Father Thames in his right place. -"It was a wonderful piece of work. It is difficult to -think of the number of cart-loads of solid earth and -stone that had to be put down into the water to make -a firm foundation, and when that was done the wall -had to be built on the top, and made very strong. And -after this was finished trees were planted. Thus there -was made a splendid walk or drive for miles along the -riverside." -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap04"></a></p> - -<h3> -OLD FATHER THAMES—I. -</h3> - -<p> -Famous above all English rivers is the Thames—"Old -Father Thames," as the Londoners used to call it in -days when its broad stream was their most familiar -high-road. To-day the Londoner uses the motor-bus -instead of a Thames wherry; but still the great river -rolls through the great city, and on its tide a vast stream -of trade flows to and from the capital. -</p> - -<p> -To write the story of the Thames would more than -fill this little book, so that we can do no more than -glance at a few of the famous places on this famous -stream. -</p> - -<p> -Springing in the Cotswolds, the infant Thames, first -known as the Isis, runs thirty miles eastwards to gain -the meadows around Oxford. Here the river spreads -into a beautiful sheet of water at the foot of -Christchurch Meadow, and glides gently past "the City of -the Dreaming Spires." -</p> - -<p> -In the summer term this stretch of the river -presents a gay and busy scene. The rowing-men are -out in racing boats, skiffs, canoes, punts, and almost -every kind of boat that swims. Along the Christchurch -bank are moored the college barges, great -gaily-painted structures, whence the rowing-men put -off, and where crowds of spectators gather on great -race days. -</p> - -<p> -The chief boat-races at Oxford are rowed in the -middle of the summer term—the May Eights. Then -the colleges struggle with each other for the honour -of being "Head of the River," the title held by the -winning eight. The boats do not race side by side, for -the river is not wide enough for that; they race in a -long line, with an equal distance between each pair of -boats. When the starting-gun fires, each crew pulls -with all its might to catch the crew ahead. If one boat -overlaps another and touches it, a "bump" is made, -and the bumped boat has lost its place. Next day—for -the races are held day after day for a week—the -winning boat goes up one place, and tries to catch the -next boat, and so on, until the races are over. Then -the boat which has taken or kept the head of the line -is hailed as "Head of the River." Here is an account -of a bump: -</p> - -<p> -"The Eights: Brilliant blue sky above, glinting -blue water beneath. Down across Christchurch meadow -troops a butterfly crowd, flaunting brilliant parasols -and chattering gaily to the 'flannelled fools' who -form the escort. Despite the laughter, it is a solemn -occasion, for the college boat that is Head of the River -may be going to be bumped this afternoon, and if so, -the bump will surely take place in front of the barges. -The only question is, before which barge will it -happen? When the exciting moment draws near, -chatter ceases, and tense stillness holds the crowd in -thrall. The relentless pursuers creep on steadily, -narrowing the gap between themselves and the first -boat, and finally bump it exactly opposite its own barge! -A moment's pause. The completeness of the triumph -is too impressive to be grasped at once; then -pandemonium—pistol-shots, rattles, hoots, yells, shrieks of -joy, wildly waving parasols, and groans." -</p> - -<p> -From the river some of the most striking and -beautiful pictures of Oxford may be gained. As the -stream winds and turns, the pinnacles, spires, and -domes of this most lovely city group themselves in -ever-changing combinations, and draw the eye until -Oxford is lost to view behind the lofty elms and the -alders which fringe the stream. -</p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-017-t"></a> -<a href="images/img-017.jpg"> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-017-t.jpg" alt="BY AN ENGLISH RIVER" /> -</a> -<br /> -BY AN ENGLISH RIVER -</p> - -<p> -Below Oxford the river runs quietly along between -rich meadows which in spring and early summer are -carpeted with lovely wild-flowers, past quaint old -houses and riverside inns, under straggling and -picturesque old bridges, and ripples over fords where -heavy cart-horses splash knee-deep through the clear -shining stream. Here and there are pleasant villages -on the bank, each with its old church, whose graveyard -is shaded by great yews and entered by a quaint lych-gate. -</p> - -<p> -Of the larger towns on the Thames, Reading is -among the most important. But we shall not speak of -the busy Reading of to-day, with its seed-gardens and -biscuit factories, but of long-ago Reading, when its -great abbey was flourishing, and its Abbot one of the -chief men in England. -</p> - -<p> -Once when Henry VIII. was hunting in Windsor -Forest, he lost his way, and arrived at the Abbey of -Reading about dinner-time. He concealed his rank, -and announced that he was one of the King's guard, -and, in this character, was invited to the Abbot's table. -A sirloin of beef was set on the table, and the hungry -King made such play with his knife and fork that the -Abbot could not but observe it. -</p> - -<p> -"Ah," said the Abbot, "I would give a hundred -pounds could I but feed on beef so heartily as you do. -But my stomach is so weak that I can scarce digest a -small rabbit or a chicken." -</p> - -<p> -Bluff King Hal laughed and pledged his host in -wine, thanked him for the good dinner, then went -without giving any hint who he was. -</p> - -<p> -A few weeks later some of the King's men came to -the abbey, seized the Abbot, and carried him off to the -Tower. Here he was shut up and fed on bread and -water, and between this wretched food and his fears -of the King's displeasure the poor Abbot had a very -hard time. -</p> - -<p> -Then one day a fine sirloin of beef was brought into -his cell, and the famished priest leapt to the table -and ate like a hungry farmer. In sprang Henry from -a private place, where he had been watching his prisoner -eat. -</p> - -<p> -"Now, Sir Abbot," cried the King, "down with -your hundred pounds, for of a surety I have found -your appetite for you." Whereupon the Abbot paid -up at once and went home, lighter in purse, but merry -at heart to find that the King sought his money and -not his head. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap05"></a></p> - -<h3> -OLD FATHER THAMES—II. -</h3> - -<p> -Below Reading the Thames becomes "the playground -of London." All the summer long its bosom -is dotted with boats, and the lawns upon its banks are -filled with people who have fled from "town" to rest -their eyes on green fields and the shining stretches of -cool running water, so delightful after the heat and -glare of London. -</p> - -<p> -Many holiday-makers actually live on the river in a -house-boat, a broad, flat-bottomed craft upon which a -kind of wooden house is built, and moored in the -stream. Others traverse the river in a rowing-boat, -carrying tents and camping at night in a meadow -beside the stream. -</p> - -<p> -Going down-river from Reading, we come to Henley, -where the noted regatta is held every year in the first -week of July. It is the greatest of all river regattas, -and the most famous boat clubs of the world send -crews to Henley. -</p> - -<p> -On a fine day of the Henley week the course -presents a most striking and brilliant scene. The river -is packed from side to side with boats of every size -and kind—skiffs, punts, canoes—filled with ladies in -pretty summer dresses and men in cool white flannels. -The sides of the river are lined with house-boats, each -bearing a gaily-dressed crowd and decked with beautiful -flowers. Pennons and flags and streamers flutter in -the sunshine, and the wonderful mingling of bright -colours in the moving crowds on land and water -presents one of the gayest and prettiest scenes in the -world. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly a bell rings. Clear the course! A race -is about to begin. Now the boats are pulled hastily to -the side of the river, where the course is marked off -by piles and booms. It seems impossible for the river -full of craft to pack itself away along the sides, but in -some fashion or other it is managed—skiffs, canoes, and -punts all wedged together like sardines in a tin. -</p> - -<p> -Then a shout rings along the banks—"They're off! they're -off!" and all crane their necks to catch the -first glimpse of the racing boats. Soon the long -slender boats come dashing past, the eight men in each -craft pulling with tremendous power, and the little cox -crouching in the stern, tiller ropes in hand. Then rises -a great outburst of cheers as the friends of the winners -hail the victory. -</p> - -<p> -Among the beautiful houses which stand upon the -bank of the stream below Henley, there is one ancient -and noble hall which forms a striking picture from the -river. This is Bisham Abbey, where Queen Elizabeth -was once a prisoner during her sister's reign, a house -of many stories and legends. One of these stories -tells that "the house is haunted by a certain Lady -Hoby, who beat her little boy to death because he -could not write without blots. She goes about wringing -her hands and trying to cleanse them from indelible -inkstains. The story has probably some foundation, -for a number of copybooks of the age of Elizabeth -were discovered behind one of the shutters during some -later alterations, and one of these was deluged in every -line with blots. We all know that great severity was -exercised by parents with their children at that time; -and the story, if not the ghost, may safely be -accepted." -</p> - -<p> -On we go, past the lovely wooded cliffs of Clieveden, -through the well-known Boulter's Lock, and away -downstream, till we see a mighty tower rise high above the -river, and know that we are looking on the noble Round -Tower which crowns Windsor Castle, the home of -English kings. Near the river the castle looks very -fine, its irregular pile of buildings rising in a series of -rough levels, adorned by turrets, towers, and pinnacles, -until the whole is topped and dominated by the mighty -Round Tower built by Edward III., the hero of the -French wars. -</p> - -<p> -Since the days of the first Norman, Windsor Castle -has been a favourite abode of English royalty. Other -palaces have been built, to fall into neglect and decay, -but Windsor has stood on its hill beside the Thames -for more than 800 years, and it has been a royal castle -all the time. -</p> - -<p> -Opposite Windsor, most famous of all English palaces, -stands Eton, most famous of all English schools. From -the well-known North Terrace of Windsor Castle—open -to the public from sunrise to sunset—it is possible to -obtain a fine view of the great school. "We can look -down on the whole of Eton—the church, with its tall -spire; the buttresses and pinnacles of the chapel -standing up white against an indigo background; the red -and blue roofs piled this way and that; and the green -playing-fields, girdled by the swift river." -</p> - -<p> -The Thames is a great playground of the Eton boys. -They row on it, and bathe in it. At the great Eton -festival, on June 4, there is a procession of boats on -the river, when the boys, dressed in quaint costumes, -row to a small islet and return to the meadows beside -the stream. There are two bathing-places—one, a small -backwater, called Cuckoo Weir, where the lower boys -bathe. Here is held the swimming trial which a boy -must pass before he can go out boating. The other -bathing-place, known by the fine title of Athens, is in -the main river, and is used by the bigger boys. -</p> - -<p> -A short distance downstream is the historic mead -whose name is familiar on every lip. It is a quiet, -smooth meadow beside the river, and it is Runnymede, -or Runney Mead, where King John signed Magna -Charta, and so made a beginning of English freedom. -There is now an island in the Thames at that spot -called Magna Charta Island, but it is not thought -that the Charter was signed there. It is believed that -John and the barons met on the mainland, the King -riding down from Windsor to meet his offended -subjects. -</p> - -<p> -Below Windsor the Thames flows past many well-known -riverside towns, and at last meets the tide. The -sea is still nearly seventy miles away, but salt water now -mingles with the fresh of the brooks and rills which -have made up the great river, and a change takes -place—the stream of pleasure becomes more and more a -stream of busy trade. "Though pleasure-boats are to -be seen in quantities any summer evening about Putney; -though market-gardens still border the banks at -Fulham, yet the river is for the greater part lined with -wharves and piers and embankments. It is no wild -thing running loose, but a strong worker full of earnest -purpose. It is the great river without which there -would have been no London, the river which bears the -largest trade the world has ever known." -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap06"></a></p> - -<h3> -IN A CATHEDRAL CITY. -</h3> - -<p> -The cathedral cities of England are among the chief -glories of our land, and the charm of these ancient -places is only felt to the full when the splendid church -dominates absolutely over the city clustered around it. -A cathedral in a place which has swelled to a big modern -town may be interesting, but it lacks the appropriate -setting: it should stand in the midst of a small, old -city, whose streets are narrow and winding; whose -houses are gabled, lattice-paned, and with overhanging -storeys; whose medieval walls may still be traced, and -the mouldering keep of whose ruined castle may still -be climbed. -</p> - -<p> -First of all English cathedral cities stands Canterbury, -with its splendid church, raised upon the spot where -first Christianity flourished in Britain. Kent was the -cradle of the English race in England, and to Kent -came St. Augustine, preaching the Christian faith to -Ethelbert, Saxon king, who listened and believed. -</p> - -<p> -There was already a ruined church, it is believed, in -Canterbury—a church built by Roman or British -Christians—and this was restored and reconsecrated by the -missionary bishop. In time this church grew into a -great cathedral, but in 1011 the Danes attacked the -city, plundered, slaughtered, and burned and destroyed -the place. Again and again fire wrought much harm, -until in 1174 the cathedral suffered utter ruin by a -tremendous outbreak, and was reduced to ashes. But -without delay the builders set to work, and the present -glorious edifice began to rise from the ruins of the -destroyed building. More than 200 years passed before -the great church was completed by the building of the -magnificent central tower, the famous Bell Harry Tower. -</p> - -<p> -"As we stand upon the summit of Bell Harry -Tower—more happily called the Angel Steeple—of -Canterbury Cathedral, looking down upon city and -countryside, much of the history of England lies spread -beneath our feet: the Britons were at work here before -the Romans came marching with their stolid legions; -here to Ethelbert St. Augustine preached the Gospel -of Christ; in the church below, Becket was murdered -and the Black Prince buried; to this city, to the shrine -of St. Thomas, came innumerable pilgrims, one of -them our first great English poet.... Away to the -east and south are the narrow seas, crossed by -conquering Romans and Normans, crossed for centuries by -a constant stream of travellers from all ends of the -earth, citizens of every clime, to some of whom the -sight of the English coast was the first glimpse of -home, to others the first view of a strange land; away -to the north and west are the Medway and the Thames, -Rochester and London. From no other tower, perhaps, -can so wide a bird's-eye view of our history be -obtained; Canterbury is so situated that ever since -England has been, and as long as England shall be, -this city has been and will be a centre of the nation's -life." -</p> - -<p> -Round the cathedral lies its close, and a cathedral -close is one of the quietest, quaintest, pleasantest places -in the world. Clustered in shadow of the great -building lie the houses of the clergy who serve in the -cathedral—the bishop, the dean, the canons—and their -dwellings are fenced off from the streets without, and -kept private from all noise and traffic. The cathedral -close is entered by a low grey gateway in an ancient -wall, and within we find quaint old houses with oriel -and bay windows, each kept in the trimmest order, -with its neatly-railed grass plot in front, and its garden -behind, where peaches and nectarines ripen on sunny -walls. -</p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-024-t"></a> -<a href="images/img-024.jpg"> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-024-t.jpg" alt="TOMB OF THE BLACK PRINCE IN CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL" /> -</a> -<br /> -TOMB OF THE BLACK PRINCE IN CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL -</p> - -<p> -From this haunt of ancient peace we will go into -the great building and visit the Martyrdom, the place -where stood the shrine of Thomas Becket, St. Thomas -of Canterbury, whom the four knights of Henry II. slew -in 1170. -</p> - -<p> -For hundreds of years the people of England looked -upon Becket as a martyr and a saint, and went on -pilgrimage to visit his tomb. One company of -pilgrims lives for ever in the verse of Geoffrey Chaucer, -the great fourteenth-century poet; they ride from -London to Canterbury in a right merry fellowship, -and tell tales to pass the time on the way—the -ever-famous "Canterbury Pilgrims." But throngs without -number of wayfarers who have found no such splendid -chronicler marched to the city where the bones of the -martyr lay under Bell Harry Tower, and their -offerings made the shrine glorious with gold and gems. -</p> - -<p> -A Venetian who saw the shrine about the year 1500 -says: "The tomb of St. Thomas the Martyr, Archbishop -of Canterbury, exceeds all belief. Notwithstanding -its great size, it is wholly covered with plates -of pure gold; yet the gold is scarcely seen because it -is covered with various precious stones, as sapphires, -diamonds, rubies, and emeralds; and wherever the -eye turns something more beautiful than the rest is -observed." -</p> - -<p> -This shrine blazed with gold and jewels until the -Reformation, when it was destroyed and its treasures -seized by Henry VIII.; to-day nothing of it remains. -</p> - -<p> -The second greatest memory of the cathedral is that -of the Black Prince; his tomb stands in the chapel -where once stood the shrine of Becket. "A splendid -figure of romance he was—a great fighter, and, as such, -beloved of his race; the boy victor of Cressy; the -conqueror at Poitiers, where the French King became -his captive; in his life the glory of his country, by his -untimely death leaving it to anarchy and civil war. -We stand by his tomb, looking upon his effigy, which -is life-like in its strength. 'There he lies: no other -memorial of him exists in the world so authentic. -There he lies, as he had directed, in full armour, his -head resting on his helmet, his feet with the likeness -of "the spurs he won" at Cressy, his hands joined as -in that last prayer which he had offered up on his -death-bed.' Above the canopy hang his gauntlets, his -helm, his velvet coat that once blazed with the arms of -England and of France, and the empty scabbard of his -sword." -</p> - -<p> -But when we have looked upon all the solemn -beauties of the great church; when we have seen the -quaintly beautiful old houses of the city about it; when -we have visited St. Martin's, the oldest church in -England; when we have walked round Dune John, -that mysterious mound which no one can explain, still -we must not leave without seeing the oldest by far of -all the old things of this old city. -</p> - -<p> -What is it? A small lane, no more, no less—a narrow -trackway which one would pass without noticing, if he -did not know it was the famous Pilgrims Way, the -Old Road, the ancient trackway which ran westwards -from Kent to Cornwall, and existed in days when no -such names were known in the land. In the history -of this lane, the name of the Pilgrims' Way is a -modern title; it existed long before pilgrims were -known, and it was used in the dim, far-off dawn of -civilization when skin-clothed Britons carried their -loads of metal eastwards to send them across the -narrow seas. How old it is no man can say, but it -runs along ridge and height, showing that it was -marked out in times when the lower-lying country was -impassable owing to marsh and woodland. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap07"></a></p> - -<h3> -THROUGH WESSEX—I. -</h3> - -<p> -"Wessex?" you say. "What county is that? We -know Essex and Sussex, but where is Wessex?" Well, -it is not a county, and you will not find the name on a -map of England; but it is a good English name for all -that, and once was the name of an important English -kingdom. -</p> - -<p> -When Alfred the Great became King, he ruled over -Wessex, the south-western part of England, and the -old name still clings to the district, which is now cut -up into several modern counties. -</p> - -<p> -Wessex is a land of downs and dales, and broad -stretches of fertile country. It is the home of the chalk -hills—those great, smooth, rolling heights, covered with -short, sweet grass, on which great flocks of sheep pasture -and speck the vast slopes with dots of white. -</p> - -<p> -"There is hardly any part of our land which has -remained so little unchanged as these Downs of Wessex. -It is not because they are rugged and difficult to climb: -they are not; they are often easy to surmount. There -are far wilder and higher looking hills in both Wales -and Scotland, which have inhabitants, which are -ploughed in patches and dotted with whitewashed -cottages. Yet the Downs remain lonely, their sky-line -unbroken by any sign of the presence of man. Just as -the Roman saw them from his trireme, the Saxon from -his long ship, the Dane from his war-boat, so we see -them to-day—great solitary green mounds, 600, 700, -800 feet high." -</p> - -<p> -Why is this? The answer is simple. They lack -water. Down their sides flow no brooks, babbling from -stone to stone; they are waterless, and therefore treeless -and houseless. They get plenty of rain, of course, for -when the sou'-westers blow up from the Atlantic they -are drenched by many a heavy storm. But the -water does not run down their sides as a river, or -gather in their hollows as a lake. The chalk of -which they are composed is too porous for that, and the -rain sinks swiftly and is lost. -</p> - -<p> -Water is so abundant in almost every part of our -land that we are inclined to forget that the first need of -a house is its water-supply. He who thinks to build -on the Downs must first reckon how deep a well he -must dig through the chalk before the water can be -reached. And he finds that the cost of obtaining water -is so great that he must build his house elsewhere. -One or two houses have been built high up on the -Downs by wealthy people who were resolved to carry -out a fancy. In winter the water-supply is furnished -by the rain which falls on the roofs; in summer it is -carted from the valley at great expense. -</p> - -<p> -In some parts of the Downs water is obtained by dew-pans -or dew-ponds. A space is hollowed out, as a rule, -near the summit of a hill. It is circular in form, and -of no great depth. It is coated with clay or cement, or -some material which prevents the passage of water, -and it then fills with dew and rain, and, strange to say, -many of these dew-ponds never fail after they have -once filled. You may visit them in perfect certainty -of obtaining some water. -</p> - -<p> -"Those who best know the Downs, and have lived -among them all their lives, can testify how, for a whole -day's march, one may never meet a man's face; or, if -one meets it, it will be the face of some shepherd, who -may be standing lonely, with his dog beside him, upon -the flank of a green hill, and with his flock scattered -all around." -</p> - -<p> -Another great feature of Wessex is its broad heaths—great -sweeps of country dark with furze and gorse and -heath, save when they blaze in May with the yellow -blossoms of the gorse, or glow in autumn with the -purple of the heather. -</p> - -<p> -And bordering these heaths and downs are great -stretches of smiling meadow and corn land, dotted by -quaint and beautiful townlets and villages. Of large -towns there are but few, for Wessex knows nothing of -the toil and turmoil of great industrial centres. She -tills her land and tends her flocks, and those occupations -mean old farmhouses and cottages, half-timbered or -stone-built, roofed with red tiles or grey thatch, and -little country towns, silent and sleepy save on -market-days, when the farmers and dealers come in and buy -and sell their cattle and their produce. -</p> - -<p> -The coast of Wessex is washed by the English -Channel, and through all our history no other part of -our coast-line has been so busy with sailors and shipping -as that which looks upon the narrow seas. -</p> - -<p> -The Roman, the Saxon, the Dane, have landed at its -river-mouths, and marched inland. In later days, the -pirates which swarmed along the Channel have attacked -and plundered its towns. All through the Middle -Ages the citizens of the little towns along the shore had -to be prepared at any moment to beat off the attacks of -freebooters who sought plunder wherever it was to be -found. Thus, in 1338, Southampton was attacked -suddenly by pirates on a Sunday when the people of -the town were in church, and the town was plundered -and burned. -</p> - -<p> -To this day the visitor notes with wonder the size -and strength of some old parish churches along the -coast. They seem needlessly large in view of the small -population of the village, and also needlessly strong. -But 500 years ago the church was also the fortress of -the place. When news was brought that an enemy -was near at hand, all fled into the church for protection; -and while the women and children crouched before the -altar, where the priest prayed for the rout of the foe, -the men strung their bows, and prepared to launch -showers of arrows from every window and loophole. -</p> - -<p> -All through the long French wars the Wessex ports -were in the thick of the fray, fitting out privateers and -supplying men for the Navy. Along these coasts the -press-gangs were very busy when sailors were needed -for the fleet and not enough men had volunteered. -The press-gang was a body of seamen, commanded by -a naval officer, and sent out to seize men and carry -them on board ship by force. Tales are told to this -day in Wessex of a press-gang marching into a village -at dead of night and rushing into cottages to drag men -out of bed and make them prisoners to serve the King -at sea. Sometimes the ploughman was snatched from -his plough, the shepherd from his flock. At times -these men returned after many years' absence to tell of -their lives on board a man-o'-war, and the battles fought -with Britain's enemies; others were never heard of -again in their native place. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap08"></a></p> - -<h3> -THROUGH WESSEX—II. -</h3> - -<p> -The time of the French wars, too, was the time when -the smugglers were in their glory. The Government -laid heavy duties on spirits, lace, and such things, and -employed a large body of officers, called "preventive -men," to watch the seaports and coasts, and take care -that no such articles came into the land without paying -duty. -</p> - -<p> -But, for all that, many and many a cask of brandy -and parcel of lace came over from France, and was -smuggled ashore under cover of night, or upon some -very lonely stretch of coast. The usual method of -the smugglers was this: a vessel laden with contraband -goods would appear at an arranged place upon an -arranged time. With the darkness of night a number -of boats put off to her and received the cargo, and -pulled back to the beach. Here would be a band of -comrades with a number of strong, swift horses. The -horses were loaded with the casks and bundles, and -then away they were driven full-gallop up-country -towards a safe hiding-place, where the goods could be -stored until sold. -</p> - -<p> -The trade was very profitable, for the duty was so -heavy that the smuggler, if he made a successful run, -could sell his goods far more cheaply than a merchant -who had paid duty, and could yet make a large profit. -But the preventive officers were always on the watch, -and it was a constant struggle between them and the -smugglers. Sometimes the officers won. They caught -the smugglers and captured the goods. But the -smugglers often showed fight, and when both parties -were well armed, the affair would become a pitched -battle, in which men were killed or wounded on both -sides. -</p> - -<p> -As a rule, however, the smugglers depended on -hoodwinking and eluding the preventive men, and -endless were their devices to gain their ends. -Sometimes a vessel appeared off the coast behaving in a -suspicious manner and leading the officers to believe -she carried a cargo of contraband goods. At nightfall -she exchanged signals with the shore, but when she -was boarded, nothing wrong could be discovered. She -was merely a decoy, and while the preventive men had -been kept busy with her movements, another vessel -had landed a cargo at some other point along the -coast. -</p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-033-t"></a> -<a href="images/img-033.jpg"> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-033-t.jpg" alt="IN AN ENGLISH COUNTRY TOWN" /> -</a> -<br /> -IN AN ENGLISH COUNTRY TOWN -</p> - -<p> -Along the shore are still to be seen many old houses, -where devices have been arranged to aid smugglers. -There may be a secret cellar entered by a hidden door, -where casks were placed till the officers were out of the -way, or a sliding panel in the wainscot, worked by a -spring, is the door of a cupboard where bundles of lace -could be concealed. Then there are secret hiding-places -for the smugglers themselves when pursued by -their enemies. In one house there is a stone wall -which looks perfectly solid. But if a particular stone -be pressed, a piece of the wall swings aside and gives -entrance to a tiny closet built in the thickness of the -wall. Here is just room for a man to hide, and when -the door is closed on him, no one who does not -understand the secret could discover where he is. -</p> - -<p> -But the smugglers would soon have been suppressed -had they not had many friends in the countryside. -Many a farmer took care to turn a blind eye when he -suspected that the smugglers were using one of his -barns or sheds as a hiding-place. He knew very well -that when they went he would find a cask left behind, -and he took it, and nothing was said. The preventive -officers made capture of contraband goods in the -strangest of places—in the cellars of squires, who were -justices of the peace and supposed to aid them, and -more than once in a church, where a parish clerk or -sexton, in league with the smugglers, had stowed away -the forbidden casks and bales. -</p> - -<p> -As for the smugglers themselves, they practised a -thousand tricks to outwit their enemies of the law: -they shod their horses backwards to throw their -pursuers off the scent, they gave false information to -draw the officers astray, they tried every device known -to outwit them. One day a very active and zealous -officer, much dreaded by the smugglers of his -neighbourhood, made his appearance in a small fishing -village at a very awkward time. In a cove below the -cliff there was a string of loaded horses waiting for -the darkness to come up the cliff road and gallop inland -with their burdens. The preventive officer rode up to -the inn, where the landlord, secretly quaking, for he -was one of the smugglers, made a great show of -welcoming him. -</p> - -<p> -In a short time there was an uproar in the village -street; one of the fishermen appeared to be beating -his wife severely, and there was a great hubbub for a -time. Before long the ill-treated woman came into the -room where the officer was making a meal, and, -apparently in a state of anger and agitation, accused her -husband of being a smuggler, and offered to post the -officer in a spot where he should have ample evidence -of the guilt of the villagers. -</p> - -<p> -"I'll put ye within a yard of 'em as they pass by," -said the woman, "and then ye can get all their names -and know where they are." -</p> - -<p> -The officer, feeling sure that she was inspired by a -spirit of revenge, agreed to follow her directions, and, -as dusk began to settle down, he crept quietly to the -back of her house, a spot which overlooked the cliff road. -</p> - -<p> -The woman met him, and cautioned him not to -make a sound. "For," said she, "if they get to know -of ye, they'll take your life; they be such terrible -smugglers hereabouts." -</p> - -<p> -She bade him get into a large cask beside the back-door, -and pointed out that he could see all who passed -through the bung-hole. Eager to discover the -smugglers and the way they would take, he did so. But no -sooner was the unlucky man in the cask than a cover -was popped on it by the woman's husband, hidden -near at hand, and the cover was held down until it was -firmly secured by hammer and nails. Then a spigot -was driven into the bung-hole, and a voice shouted, -"Come on, boys! We've boxed him up." -</p> - -<p> -At the next moment the preventive officer heard the -tramp of hoofs as the horses filed past the cask where -he was shut up in utter darkness. The whole thing -had been a trick from beginning to end. The quarrel -between husband and wife had been a sham one, -intended to lure the officer into the trap, and there he -was fast in the cask; nor was he released until the -smugglers were far beyond reach of pursuit. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap09"></a></p> - -<h3> -THROUGH WESSEX—III. -</h3> - -<p> -Wessex has many beautiful and peaceful country -towns, and of these an admirable example may be seen -in Dorchester, the county town of Dorsetshire, a place -often called the capital of Wessex. This very ancient -town has seen the whole of the history of Wessex, the -land of the West Saxons. Before a Saxon settled in -the country it was a splendid city, the home of Roman -nobles and the camp of Roman soldiery. The Romans -knew it as Durnovaria, and they filled it with houses -and adorned it with temples and theatres. To this day -Roman remains are being discovered. An old house -is pulled down and the foundations cleared away, and -in the work the diggers come upon pavements which -were laid down by Roman hands and trodden by -Roman feet. Very often pottery and ornaments are -discovered, and now and again a more striking relic -still—the pick strikes into a Roman grave and lays -bare a manly form which once marched with the legions, -or the figure of a Roman maiden, whose ornaments -still lie among her mortal remains. -</p> - -<p> -After the Romans came the Saxons, and Dorchester -was still a place of much importance. In 1003, Sweyn -of Denmark plundered and burned the place and -overthrew the walls in revenge for the massacre of Danes on -St. Brice's Day in the previous year. But the town -was soon rebuilt, and its history runs on through the -centuries with outbreaks of fire and plague and records -of martyrdoms, until war visited it again during the -great Civil War. Dorchester stood against Charles, -and saw some severe skirmishing in its neighbourhood, -but no fighting of any great importance. But -the reign of Charles's second son, James II., saw -Dorchester leap into terrible prominence, for here, -on September 3, 1685, was opened the "Bloody -Assize." Sedgemoor had been fought, the -rebellion of Monmouth had been broken, and the -infamous Judge Jeffreys had come down to the West to -strike terror into the hearts of all who had wished well -to Monmouth. -</p> - -<p> -More than 300 people had been crammed into -Dorchester Gaol, and nearly all of them were condemned -to death. Of these, some forty or fifty were executed, -and others condemned to be whipped in terribly severe -fashion, and to suffer long terms of imprisonment and -heavy fines. -</p> - -<p> -After the Monmouth Rebellion, Dorchester sank -back into the peaceful history of a quiet country town—a -history unbroken, save for local events of fire and -storm, until to-day. The town still preserves much of -its ancient character, and is a most interesting and -picturesque place, and, on market-days, is thronged by -people of typical Wessex appearance—dealers, farmers, -carters, labourers, and pedlars. -</p> - -<p> -To the south of the town stands a great amphitheatre, -which is said to have been built by the Romans -about the time of Agricola. It is called Maumbury -Rings, and is a series of raised mounds enclosing an -open space. It is calculated that some 12,000 -spectators could have been seated round the amphitheatre, -each enjoying an excellent view of the combats -of gladiators or wild beasts in the arena below. -</p> - -<p> -But a still more wonderful relic of former days is to -be seen two miles south of Dorchester—the huge -British earthwork, now known as Maiden Castle. It is -an immense camp or hill-fort, built on the flat summit -of a natural hill, and it must have cost the Britons who -built it an immense amount of labour. It is the greatest -British camp in existence, stretching 1,000 yards from -east to west, and 500 from north to south, and -enclosing an area of 45 acres. The whole is surrounded, -in some places with two, and in others with three, -ramparts nearly 60 feet high, and very steep. When -these ramparts were manned by the warriors of the -British tribe gathered within the fort, it was no easy -place to storm. -</p> - -<p> -Wessex has not many rivers, and most of them are -not of any great size, but they are famous among -fishermen for the splendid trout which they breed. These -streams, running through the chalk, are marvellously -clear; in many cases the stones may be counted at the -bottom of a pool 10 or 12 feet deep, and this clearness -makes the catching of the trout and grayling which live -in them no easy affair. -</p> - -<p> -The largest Wessex river is the Avon, which flows -past Salisbury Plain, with its wonderful monument of -Stonehenge; passes through Salisbury, whose beautiful -cathedral spire is a famous landmark, and runs into the -English Channel. -</p> - -<p> -Stonehenge is the most ancient of all the ancient -monuments of Wessex. We say that this camp was -the work of the Britons; that pavement was laid by the -Romans; but no one knows what manner of men raised -the mighty standing-stones at Stonehenge. Nor do we -really know why they were raised. We believe it was -for the purpose of worship—that the stones form an -ancient temple—but of this we cannot be quite sure. -</p> - -<p> -Stonehenge consists of two circles of great stones, set -upright in the ground. Across some of these stones -others are placed to form arches, and though many -have been broken or thrown down, there are still enough -of them in position to show us the original shape of -Stonehenge. The outer circle is about 100 yards round, -and was formed by huge monoliths or single blocks -of stone, each 15 feet high and 7 feet broad. The -inner circle is 8 feet from the outer, and is composed -of smaller stones about 6 feet high. There are two -ovals, formed of large stones, and the inner oval -contains a huge slab of rock, which is thought to have been -an altar. -</p> - -<p> -The question at once springs to our lips, Who raised -these enormous blocks of stone, and set them up in so -exact a fashion? It is one which learned men are -unable to answer. The general opinion is that -Stonehenge was formed as a temple for the worship led by -the Druids, the priests of the ancient Britons, but of -this one cannot be certain. The men who built Stonehenge -have left no other record of their mighty labours -save the vast stones they raised, and the secret of this -most ancient monument is lost in the darkness of -prehistoric days. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap10"></a></p> - -<h3> -ROUND THE TORS. -</h3> - -<p> -If we journey on south-west beyond the chalk ranges of -Wessex we come to a very different country indeed: we -enter on a land of granite hills. The granite rocks are -as different as possible from the chalk heights. Instead -of rounded slopes, we see sharp, jagged peaks and broken, -rocky ridges. The smooth, open stretches of turf are -exchanged for wild, heathery moorland, broken by deep -dells, and the waterless chalk slopes are replaced by -glens, through which leap foaming torrents. -</p> - -<p> -The granite hills rise to their wildest at Dartmoor, in -the centre of the county of Devon. Dartmoor is a -great tableland, from which spring granite heights rising -to nearly 1,800 feet above the sea. For the most part -Dartmoor is uncultivated, a wilderness of barren -moorland, with lofty hills and jagged tors on every hand, -here and there scored by narrow valleys, which are -often strewn with huge boulders of granite. -</p> - -<p> -The tors are huge knobs or humps of granite, and -the word has the same meaning as "tower." The -most famous of them all is Yes Tor. Round these -tors stretch great sweeps of moor and morass. Nothing -lives here save the moorland sheep, who crop the rough -grass between the tufts of heather, and the hardy moor -ponies—nimble, shaggy, little creatures, with long manes -and tails, quick as deer and surefooted as goats. -</p> - -<p> -In the midst of this desolate country stands a great -prison—Dartmoor Convict Prison. The place was -chosen so that no convict could hope to escape. Many -of the prisoners go out by day to work in the fields -around the prison. They are closely watched by warders -armed with rifles. But for all that, now and again a -convict makes an attempt to escape; yet, though he -sometimes gets away from the warders and is free for a -few hours, he is almost certain to be recaptured. He -finds that he has only got into a larger prison—the -prison of the moorland. There are no woods, so he -cannot hide himself, and he cannot strike which way he -pleases, for there are the bogs to think of. -</p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-040-t"></a> -<a href="images/img-040.jpg"> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-040-t.jpg" alt="IN AN ENGLISH LANE" /> -</a> -<br /> -IN AN ENGLISH LANE -</p> - -<p> -In many places there are deep morasses in which a -man would sink and be swallowed up by the soft mud. -So the escaped prisoner dare not move by night lest he -should run into a bog; then by day, if he attempts to -traverse the country, he is soon seen; so that it is -almost impossible to escape from Dartmoor. -</p> - -<p> -Another stretch of country dotted with tors and -covered with moorland is Exmoor, in the north of -Devon. The hills of Exmoor are famous for their -ponies and for being the haunts of the wild red-deer, -which are sometimes hunted with staghounds. -</p> - -<p> -But not all the countryside consists of rocky table-lands, -strewed with craggy masses of granite. Far from -it. Round these tors lies some of the most beautiful -and fertile land in all England. North and south of -Dartmoor are sweeps of country which yield the richest -farm and dairy produce to be found anywhere. Famous -breeds of cattle and sheep graze in the pastures. -Devonshire "cream" is known and loved wherever it goes, -and luscious cider is made from the apples of its splendid -orchards. -</p> - -<p> -Great numbers of visitors every year are drawn to -this fair county to behold its beauties and to stroll -through the Devonshire lanes. A Devonshire lane in -the cultivated portion of the countryside has hardly its -like elsewhere. The land is red, the earth of the soft -red sandstone, and through this land the lanes run in -deep, hollow ways, often so deep that a carriage is quite -hidden from the view of one standing in the fields on -either hand. One writer speaks of driving in a dogcart -along one of these deep lanes on a day in late autumn, -when he heard the cry of hounds. The hunt was coming -his way, and he drew rein. Presently the hunt went -whirling by, literally over his head. Horsemen and -horsewomen cleared the lane, one after the other, in flying -leaps, the big hunters taking the huge trench with -tremendous bounds. -</p> - -<p> -These trench-like lanes have been formed by the -wear and tear of ages of traffic. In the soft red soil the -crunch of wheels and the stamp of hoofs have worn the -surface down and down, and rain has washed away the -loose soil, until the lane itself has become, as it were, -one vast rut. -</p> - -<p> -"As lovely as a Devonshire lane" is a proverb; the -rich red soil and the soft warm air of this southern -county work together to form a scene of wonderful -charm. The steep banks are one glorious mass of ferns, -wild-flowers, and shrubs during spring and summer; -in autumn they burn with the fires of the fading leaves; -in winter they are bright with berries. -</p> - -<p> -The coast-line of this region is very beautiful, whether -it faces north or south, to the Atlantic Ocean or the -English Channel. On the north there are great beetling -cliffs, with lovely valleys, called "combes," running -down to the sea between them. In describing the port -of Bideford, Kingsley gives us an admirable idea of -North Devon scenery on the first page of "Westward -Ho!": "All who have travelled through the delicious -scenery of North Devon must needs know the little -white town of Bideford, which slopes upwards from its -broad tide-river paved with yellow sands, and -many-arched old bridge, where salmon wait for autumn's -floods, toward the pleasant upland on the west. Above -the town the hills close in, cushioned with deep oak -woods, through which juts here and there a crag of -fern-fringed slate; below they lower, and open more -and more in softly-rounded knolls and fertile squares -of red and green, till they sink into the wide expanse -of hazy flats, rich salt marshes, and rolling sand-hills, -where Torridge joins her sister Taw, and both together -flow quietly toward the broad surges of the bay and the -everlasting thunder of the long Atlantic swell. Pleasantly -the old town stands there, beneath its soft Italian -sky, fanned day and night by the fresh ocean breeze, -which forbids alike the keen winter frosts and the fierce -thunder heats of the midland." -</p> - -<p> -A little to the west of Bideford lies the fishing village -of Clovelly, famous for its striking position and the great -beauty of its surroundings. Clovelly lies in the cleft -of a tall cliff, and its single street straggles up and down -the steep rock, upon which the houses are perched in -every nook and corner where room to set a building -could be found. All about the place are wooded cliffs, -and for quaint old-world beauty this village is declared -to be unmatched along the whole English coast-line. -</p> - -<p> -Near Torquay, a well-known watering-place of South -Devon, is a very remarkable cave called Kent's Cavern. -You gain it by a hole in the rock, 7 feet wide and -only 5 feet high; but inside you find a great cavern, -600 feet long, with many smaller caves and corridors -branching away through the limestone rock. -</p> - -<p> -This cavern was once the home of cave-men, those -long-vanished inhabitants of our land. This has been -proved by searching the floor of the cave. Deep down -were discovered human bones and the remains of tools -and weapons. Mingled with these were the bones of -the elephant and the rhinoceros, the hyena, the bear, -and the wolf. The tools and weapons were of stone, -and it is plain that the men who once lived in the cave -brought thither the wild animals they had slain with -their arrows and spears, headed with flint. All this -happened a long, long time ago, for some of the animal -remains belong to creatures who have long since become -extinct. -</p> - -<p> -Torquay is but one of many lovely places lying along -a splendid stretch of coast, for the beauties of South -Devon are as striking as those of the north. Cliffs of -bright red sandstone stand above the bright blue sea, -and where the cliffs are absent the land falls easily to -the water, warm and fruitful to the edge of the tide in -that mild, genial climate. -</p> - -<p> -"The rounded hills slope gently to the sea, spotted -with squares of emerald grass, and rich red fallow fields, -and parks full of stately timber trees. Long lines of tall -elms, just flashing green in the spring hedges, run down -to the very water's edge, their boughs unwarped by any -blast; and here and there apple orchards are just -bursting into flower in the soft sunshine, and narrow strips -of water-meadows line the glens, where the red cattle -are already lounging knee-deep in rich grass within -two yards of the rocky, pebbly beach. The shore is -silent now, the tide far out, but six hours hence it -will be hurling columns of rosy foam high into the -sunlight, and sprinkling passengers, and cattle, and trim -gardens which hardly know what frost and snow may -be, but see the flowers of autumn meet the flowers of -spring, and the old year linger smilingly to twine a -garland for the new." -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap11"></a></p> - -<h3> -THE LAND OF SAINTS. -</h3> - -<p> -Cornwall, that craggy promontory which England -thrusts out into the Atlantic as a man might thrust out -his leg, is often called the "Land of Saints." It gains -this name because every other village is named after a -saint, and for the most part they are saints unknown -to the calendar, and never heard of in other parts of -the country. There are St. Cuby and St. Tudy, -St. Piran and St. Ewe, St. Blazey and St. Eve, St. Merryn -and St. Buryan, St. Gennys and St. Issey, and scores -of other strangely-named saints. -</p> - -<p> -The names of these saints take us back to a time -when England was a heathen country, and our Saxon -forefathers still followed the worship of Odin and Thor. -Cornwall, then, was filled with British Christians, driven -west before the Saxon inroads, and the land abounded -with Celtic saints, many of them from Ireland, Wales, -and Brittany. -</p> - -<p> -Every saint founded a church, bearing his name, and -in time the village which grew up around the church -took the name, and often bears it to this day. The -process of founding was in this fashion: When the -saint, during his wanderings through the land, came to -a place where he thought a church was needed, he -begged a small piece of land from the chief of the tribe -living in that spot. Upon this patch of territory the -saint abode, fasting and praying for forty days and -nights, and at the end of that period the patch of land -was sacred to him for ever, and bore his name. Then -he and his disciples built a church there, and sometimes -a monastery gathered about it. When the saint had -placed all in order at one spot, he often moved on to -another, and founded a fresh church there. -</p> - -<p> -The old saints were much loved by the people, for -they were always using their influence with the chiefs -and great men on the side of mercy and kindness towards -the poor and helpless. Many stories were told of them, -and are still remembered. One day St. Columba was -walking along the road, when he saw a poor widow -gathering stinging-nettles. He asked her why she did -it, and she replied that she was too poor to buy other -food, and that she gathered nettles for the pot. -</p> - -<p> -"Then," said Columba, "while my people are so -poor, I will eat no better food." -</p> - -<p> -He went back to the monastery and said to the -disciple who prepared his food: "From this day I will -eat nothing but nettles." -</p> - -<p> -But, after a time, the disciple saw that the good old -man was getting very thin and weak, and it troubled -him. So he took a hollow elder-stalk, filled it with -butter, and stirred the butter into the nettle-broth. -</p> - -<p> -"The nettles have a new taste," said St. Columba; -"they are rich and sweet. I must see what you have -put into them;" and he came to see them cooked. -</p> - -<p> -"You see, master dear," said his disciple, "I do not -put anything into the pot save this stick, with which I -stir them." -</p> - -<p> -In a rough and cruel age the saints taught people to -be kind to children and to poor dumb beasts and birds. -Here is a story of a saint and a child. -</p> - -<p> -There was a saint whose name was St. Maccarthen, -and the ruler of his countryside was King Eochaid. -One day the king sent his little son with a message to -the saint. The little boy's mother gave him a red, -round apple to eat on the way. The boy played with -his pretty apple as he went, tossing it up and catching -it. As it happened, it rolled from him and was lost. -The child hunted here and there until he was tired out, -and as the sun was setting he laid himself down in the -middle of the way and went to sleep. As he slept, -St. Maccarthen came along the road. The saint at once -wrapped his mantle round the sleeping child, and sat -beside him all night to guard his slumber. Many -people passed along the way, but the saint turned them -aside, for he would neither break the child's slumber -nor permit an accident to befall him. -</p> - -<p> -Many a saint had not only a church named after him, -but a well also. Cornwall is full of "holy wells." In -former days these wells were held to possess miraculous -powers, and people came from great distances to drink -the sacred water and make vows to the saint in whose -honour the well was named. One of the best-known -of these wells is the Well of St. Keyne. It was believed -that, in the case of a newly-married couple, the first to -drink of the water of this well would hold the mastery -of the household. Southey has a ballad on this subject, -describing how a bridegroom hurried from the church -to the well. But all in vain: his wife had taken a -bottle of the water to church with her! -</p> - -<p> -Cornwall is a land of bleak, rugged granite heights -and desolate moors, with lovely dells nestling amid the -wilderness, combes filled with trees, and fields whose -grass is green the winter through. Its coast is for -the most part very dangerous, with immense cliffs, -broken but by few openings. It is a coast to which the -sailor gives a wide berth, especially in stormy weather, -and if he fails to do so, he will almost certainly pay the -penalty with his life. Many terrible shipwrecks have -taken place off the shores of Cornwall, especially upon -the deadly Manacles, the great reef near the Lizard, and -the churchyards in the neighbourhood are full of the -graves of many and many a drowned man or woman -tossed up on the beach near at hand. -</p> - -<p> -If you should go for a stroll on the cliffs about the -Lizard some fine morning in July, you would see -fishermen there, smoking and staring out to sea in, as it -would seem to you, an idle fashion. But, suddenly, -one of them, who has been sitting on the turf, springs -to his feet. He begins to leap and yell as if he had -gone mad. He points out to sea, and begins to roar -over the edge of the cliff to his friends below. His -companions on the watch now show an equal excitement, -and you wonder what it is all about. You look long -at the place to which they are pointing, and at length -you make out that there is a darkish patch of water over -which a number of sea-birds are hovering. It is a vast -shoal of pilchards coming in-shore, and the apparent -idlers on the cliff were watching for it. -</p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-048-t"></a> -<a href="images/img-048.jpg"> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-048-t.jpg" alt="SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHPLACE" /> -</a> -<br /> -SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHPLACE -</p> - -<p> -The men on the cliff are called "huers"—shouters -(from the French <i>huer</i>, to shout)—and their cries and -signals direct their friends in the boats which way to -pull to surround the shoal. From the surface the shoal -cannot be seen, but the "huers" aloft can make out -every movement of the vast mass offish, and guide the -fishermen below. -</p> - -<p> -A pilchard is a fish which looks much like a herring, -but it is smaller, though it has larger scales. The shoals -appear at the end of June, but at that time they are in -deep water, and the fishing-smacks sail out in search of -them and put down drift-nets. These nets are hung in -the water like walls of hemp set across the drift of the -tide. The pilchards swim into the nets, thrust their -heads through the meshes, and are caught by the gills. -This kind of fishing can only be carried on by night, -for the pilchards are too keen-sighted to swim into the -meshes by day. -</p> - -<p> -As the season advances, the pilchards come nearer -in-shore, and now the great season of the pilchard-fishery -arrives. A great shoal of pilchards is a marvellous sight. -The sea appears to be literally packed solid with them. -The surface boils with their movement, and numbers -are seen leaping out of the water like trout in a stream. -Now the fishermen get out their mighty seine-nets and -prepare to wall up the multitude of pilchards. -</p> - -<p> -Guided by the "huers," they shoot the great nets -around the shoal till it is enclosed. Then smaller nets -are shot into the great net, and in these the fish are -drawn to the surface beside the waiting boats. It is a -wonderful sight to see the net come up. It is filled with -one quivering mass of silver, and into this mass the -fishermen dip baskets and toss the fish into the boats by -scores and hundreds. When a boat is filled, it heads at -once for the shore, and a waiting boat takes its place; -and so it goes on till the great seine-net is empty. -</p> - -<p> -On shore the scene is every whit as busy as on sea. -Every living soul in the fishing village swarms down -to the beach to lend a hand. The boats are rapidly -emptied, and sail or pull back to the shoal; the workers -ashore carry the fish to the cellars, where the women -take them in hand. Anything and everything that will -carry fish is pressed into service. The pilchards are -piled on donkey-carts, wheelbarrows, and hand-carts; -two boys have a clothes-basket between them, and small -children carry a dozen or two in little baskets. Into -the cellars go the fish as swiftly as possible. -</p> - -<p> -A fish-cellar for pilchards is usually cut out of the -rock, and the floor is covered with a layer of salt. Upon -this salt the women engaged in the task of curing the -fish spread a complete layer of pilchards. Salt is spread -again till the fish are covered, and then comes another -layer of pilchards; and in this way, by alternate layers -of salt and fish, the cellar is filled. On top of all are -placed weighted boards to press out the water and oil -from the mass below, and the cellar is left for some -weeks for the fish to cure. Then it is opened, and the -salted fish are packed in barrels and sent away to market. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap12"></a></p> - -<h3> -IN SHAKESPEARE'S COUNTRY. -</h3> - -<p> -England's greatest poet was born in the heart of the -land, in "leafy Warwickshire." His early home, -Stratford-on-Avon, lies beside a pleasant stream, flowing -gently through a pleasant country. Warwickshire has -no scenes of wild and striking grandeur to offer to the -traveller; it can boast of no craggy rocks or rushing -torrents, but it is full of quiet loveliness. It is a county -of rich meadow-land, watered by slow-flowing streams -and brooks, broken and diversified by most picturesque -woodland scenery, and its highways and byways wend -by splendid parks, and past castles and mansions rich in -tradition, quaint and beautiful in architecture. -</p> - -<p> -Stratford-on-Avon stands to-day, as it stood of old, -in "a sweet and pleasant place of good pasturage and -watering." Beside it flows the clear Avon, and around -it spread lovely meadows and fertile corn-lands, while -many a leafy byway or field-path leads to the quaint -old-world villages which lie in the neighbourhood, and -with which Shakespeare was familiar. -</p> - -<p> -In the town itself, the chief centre of interest is the -house in which he was born. It stands in Henley -Street—a quaint, half-timbered, two-storied building, -with dormer windows and a wooden porch. The house -has been much altered since Shakespeare's day, for it -was used for more than 200 years as a dwelling-house, -and finally came down to being a butcher's shop. At -last, towards the middle of the nineteenth century, the -house was purchased by the nation, and restored as -nearly as possible to the appearance it must have -presented when Shakespeare's home. -</p> - -<p> -After the birthplace comes the burial-place, and this -is in the chancel of Holy Trinity Church, whose tall -spire rises so beautifully beside the placid Avon. The -church stands on a terrace beside the river, almost -embosomed in trees, and approached by a pleasant -avenue of limes. Everyone visits it to see the -monument and grave of Shakespeare. A bust of the great -poet is placed on the north wall of the chancel, and his -grave lies below, and within the altar-rails. Here we -may read the well-known lines: -</p> - -<p class="t3"> - "GOOD FREND FOR JESUS SAKE FORBEARE<br /> - TO DIGG THE DUST ENCLOASED HEARE<br /> - BLESTE BE Y<sup>E</sup> MAN Y<sup>T</sup> SPARES THES STONES;<br /> - AND CURST BE HE Y<sup>E</sup> MOVES<sup>S</sup> MY BONES.<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Why did Shakespeare write these lines? Because in -those days graves were very often disturbed, and he -wished his remains to lie at peace in the grave which, -very likely, he had chosen for himself. -</p> - -<p> -A most interesting place is the Guild Hall, a fine old -half-timbered building erected in 1296, and used for -hundreds of years as a Town Hall. With this building -Shakespeare was very familiar, and it is probable that -here he became acquainted with plays and players, for -performances were given in it during Shakespeare's -boyhood by travelling companies. -</p> - -<p> -Above the Guild Hall is the famous Grammar School, -where Shakespeare learned the "small Latin and less -Greek" of which Ben Jonson spoke. The desk which -he is said to have used now stands in the Museum -formed at the birthplace. -</p> - -<p> -When Shakespeare returned from London to spend -his last years in his native town, he bought a fine house -called New Place, and in the garden he planted a -mulberry-tree. Nearly 150 years after the death of -Shakespeare the property came into the hands of a -clergyman named Gastrell, a man of violent and selfish -temper. First he became angry because visitors to the -town often asked permission to view the famous -mulberry-tree which the great poet had planted, and he cut -the tree down. But much worse was to follow. -</p> - -<p> -After a time a quarrel arose between Gastrell and the -authorities of Stratford over the payment of rates for -New Place. In his anger, the furious clergyman -actually pulled down to the ground Shakespeare's own -home and sold the materials. Now nothing remains -but the site and a few traces of the foundations. -</p> - -<p> -When the visitor has seen the memorials of -Shakespeare, he will take a pleasant walk of about a mile -from Stratford to Shottery, to see Anne Hathaway's -cottage there. It is a picturesque, half-timbered, -thatched cottage, in which it is supposed that -Shakespeare's wife spent her maiden days, but the theory is -by no means certain. It is known that in Shakespeare's -time the cottage was tenanted by one Richard Hathaway, -who had a daughter Anne or Agnes, and there is -some evidence to connect this Anne with the Anne -Hathaway whom the poet married, but of distinct -proof there is none. Still, tradition is in favour of -the belief, and the cottage has now been acquired by -the trustees of Shakespeare's birthplace. -</p> - -<p> -Many days may easily and pleasantly be spent in -excursions around Stratford, visiting one after another -of the pretty villages which the poet knew, and the -places with which his name is connected. The best -time of all is in spring or early summer, when -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - "Daisies pied, and violets blue,<br /> - And lady-smocks all silver-white,<br /> - And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue,<br /> - Do paint the meadows with delight."<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -Then the way is shaded by the tender foliage of the -noble elms, which flourish so mightily in this deep, -strong soil that the elm is sometimes called the -"Warwickshire weed." -</p> - -<p> -About four miles from Stratford stands a fine old -Elizabethan manor-house, Charlecote, in whose -deer-park tradition says that Shakespeare went poaching. -Many old accounts of the poet's life state that he left -Stratford and went to London in fear of Sir Thomas -Lucy of Charlecote, whose deer he had stolen from -the park. It is not at all certain that this happened, -but that Shakespeare did not like Sir Thomas Lucy is -very plain from his works. In "The Merry Wives of -Windsor" there is a "Mr. Justice Shallow," of whom -the poet makes great fun, and draws in a very ridiculous -light. It is clear from many little touches that -Shakespeare had Sir Thomas Lucy in his mind when he -drew this portrait of a pompous country squire. -</p> - -<p> -The mansion of Charlecote is of great interest in -itself as a perfect specimen of an Elizabethan -manor-house. Save for a couple of rooms added to the -structure, it stands exactly as Sir Thomas Lucy built it -in 1558. It was built originally with a front and two -projecting wings, and it was visited by Queen Elizabeth -in 1572. In honour of this visit Sir Thomas added a -porch and adorned it with the Queen's arms and -monogram. By this addition the plan of the house -was made to exactly resemble a capital E, and thus -commemorate the royal visit. -</p> - -<p> -Charlecote is approached from the road through an -ancient gatehouse, a most beautiful and picturesque -building which opens upon a courtyard or walled -flower-garden, and the whole place is in most perfect -order and preservation. It is an Elizabethan home -lasting unchanged until the twentieth century. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap13"></a></p> - -<h3> -AN OLD ENGLISH HOUSE. -</h3> - -<p> -England is full of castles, abbeys, and manor-houses, -which are still occupied by the descendants of those -who built them or by those into whose hands they -have passed in later days, and among these stately -piles it is hard to pick one as a type of a fine old -English house. But, putting aside the great castles, -like Warwick, whose frowning walls and grim battlements -tell of an age when defence was the first thought -in the mind of a builder, let us take a mansion erected -at a more peaceful time. Such a mansion is to be -found in Compton Wynyates, a fine old Warwickshire -house, built in 1509. -</p> - -<p> -Compton Wynyates stands in a very secluded spot, -some twelve miles from Stratford, hidden away in a -thickly-wooded dell. You approach the house along a -mere byway, and do not see it until you are close upon -it. Then a picturesque medley of gables, turrets, -battlements and chimneys, springs to view, and you -stand to wonder at so splendid a house being built in -so hidden and solitary a place. -</p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-057-t"></a> -<a href="images/img-057.jpg"> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-057-t.jpg" alt="AN ENGLISH COUNTRY HOME" /> -</a> -<br /> -AN ENGLISH COUNTRY HOME -</p> - -<p> -Compton Wynyates was built at a time when the -bare lofty walls of a castle-keep were being deserted -for the brighter, more cheerful rooms of a mansion -whose walls were pierced by many windows. But at -the same time it was not wise to live entirely without -protection, so a moat was dug round the house and -entrance could only be gained by a drawbridge. In -our quiet days a bridge of stone has replaced the -wooden bridge which rose and fell, but the old oak -doors which once barred the archway leading to the -house are still in position, and we can see upon them -the marks of musket-balls fired at the defenders of the -place in troublous times. -</p> - -<p> -Let us go into the great hall, the chief room of an -old house—the room where once the whole family dined -together at a long table, the master and his friends -above the salt, the servants and humbler guests below. -The hall rises the full height of the house, and has a -fine timbered roof, and at one end is the minstrels' -gallery, a picturesque half-timbered structure, the -place where minstrels made merry music at some feast -or on the visit of some great personage. -</p> - -<p> -In the hall stands a huge slab of elm more than -23 feet long and some 30 inches wide. It was once -used for playing "shovel-board," a favourite game with -our ancestors, and when in use was set up on trestles. -</p> - -<p> -In this hall Sir William Compton received -Henry VIII., whom Sir William had accompanied to -the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Sir William, too, had -won much distinction at the Battle of Spurs, and was a -great favourite with bluff King Hal, to whom the knight -owed much of his great fortune. -</p> - -<p> -Next to the hall is the great parlour, the private -room of the family when they withdrew from the hall. -It is finely panelled in oak, and has a plaster ceiling, -bearing the arms of the owners of the place. Beyond -the parlour is the chapel, decorated with very ancient -carved wooden panels. These carvings are very much -older than the house, and it is believed they were brought -from an old castle which Sir William Compton pulled -down in order to obtain materials for his house. -</p> - -<p> -But it will be impossible for us to go from room to -room of this wonderful old house, for there are more -than eighty of them—drawing-rooms, dining-rooms, -bedrooms, great kitchens with vast old fireplaces, and -gained by seventeen separate staircases, which wind and -twist their way through the building. It is said there -are 275 windows in the house, though an old story goes -that no one knows exactly how many there are, for he -who tries to count is baffled by a mysterious secret -window, which he sees and counts on the first occasion, -and can never find again. Its chimneys, too, rise in a -veritable forest of quaintly-shaped stacks, and form as -puzzling a labyrinth as the windows. -</p> - -<p> -There was a meaning in this tangle of windows and -chimneys, for Compton Wynyates is full of secret -hiding-places. Hundreds of years ago there was need -of them. To-day no man needs to hide himself unless -he has done wrong. Then, an innocent man might -stand in great danger of a powerful enemy or of an -unjust law. So the old houses were furnished with -places where men could hide from their foes until an -opportunity came for escape. -</p> - -<p> -Again, Compton Wynyates was a Catholic house, -and in those times Roman Catholics were punished if -they were found attending a Roman Catholic service, -and the priest who performed the service stood in danger -of imprisonment or, possibly, of death. So places were -carefully constructed to which the priest could fly to -hide himself when officers of the law came to the house -in search of him. Many such secret chambers are -found in old mansions, and are known as "priests' -holes." -</p> - -<p> -It was a common thing to form a secret chamber in -the thickness of a wall, and the first thing required was -air, the second light. Air was often given to a secret -chamber by a chimney. But such a chimney remained -unblackened by smoke, and would soon be detected as -not doing its proper work, so it was often built in the -centre of a stack of real chimneys, and thus remained -hidden. So, too, amid a great number of other windows, -it was not easy to detect that which gave light to -a hidden room. At Compton Wynyates such is the -tangle of windows and chimneys that a person may have -pointed out to him the chimney and the window belonging -to a secret room, and yet fail to discover the place -when he searches inside. -</p> - -<p> -One of the secret rooms at Compton Wynyates was -discovered by a child of the house, Lady Frances -Compton, in 1770. She was playing in a turret room, and -fell against some plaster-work, which rang hollow. -Search was made, and a concealed door was found -beneath the plaster. The hidden chamber was opened, -and tradition says that the skeletons of a woman and -two children were found within. No one knows how -they came there, but it is believed that at some time of -danger they had been concealed there and forgotten. -</p> - -<p> -In the roof of this great building is the famous priests' -room or chapel. Here the Roman Catholics of the -neighbourhood used to meet to worship in secret. A -safer and better hidden place could not be devised. To -this day the proof that it was a Roman Catholic chapel -remains to be seen. "On an elm shelf below the south-west -window are, rudely carved, five consecration crosses, -showing that it had been used for the purpose of an altar, -and was consecrated according to the rites of the Romish -Church. The slab of wood is unique, in that it forms -the only known instance of a wooden altar in England." -</p> - -<p> -There was another huge room in the roof, 130 feet -long, which was known as the Barracks, a place where -soldiers were quartered. Here may be seen blood-stains, -caused by fighting during the Great Civil War. The -house was held for the King, but the Roundhead soldiery -broke in, and there was desperate fighting in the -Barracks, and many were slain. Cromwell's men took the -house, and held it for the rest of the war. -</p> - -<p> -In one of the drawing-rooms may be seen, carved -beautifully in the panelling, the arms of the Comptons -and the arms of the Spencers, and this carving bears -witness to a very romantic marriage. In the days of -Queen Elizabeth there was a Lord Mayor of London -whose name was Sir John Spencer. Sir John was a very -rich man, and he had an only daughter named Elizabeth. -Now, the Lord Compton of that day fell in love with -Elizabeth Spencer, but the wealthy merchant did not -look with any favour on Compton, and forbade him to -come near the house. But the young lady herself did -not share her father's feelings with regard to the young -courtier, and soon a clever ruse was planned. -</p> - -<p> -One day a young man, dressed as a baker, came to -the house with a huge basket of loaves of bread. As -he was going away again, with the great basket on -his shoulders, he met Sir John himself. The wealthy -merchant thought that here was a hard-working young -fellow going heartily about his business. He praised -him, gave him sixpence, and told him that he was on -the high-road to make his fortune. So he was, but not -quite as Sir John thought. The disguised baker was -Lord Compton, and in the basket he was carrying off -the young heiress, Elizabeth Spencer. -</p> - -<p> -When Sir John learned of the trick that had been -played on him he was furious, and vowed that he would -never see his daughter again. But Queen Elizabeth -took an interest in the affair, and finally brought about -a reconciliation, and the arms of the two families were -placed in the drawing-room to show that peace was -restored between Sir John and the young people. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap14"></a></p> - -<h3> -BY FEN AND BROAD. -</h3> - -<p> -From hills and slopes, dales and uplands, we will take -our departure and look at the flattest land of England, -the wide, level stretches of country around the Wash, -the Fens. A fen is a marsh, and once these immense -stretches of flat land were marshes pure and simple. -There is plenty of water about them now, but it is -penned up by dikes and embankments, and run off by -drains as big as rivers. -</p> - -<p> -It is often said that those who care for Dutch -landscape have no need to leave our own country to enjoy -it, for the Fenland is Holland in miniature. There -may be seen the same long flat stretches of country, cut -by long, straight canals bordered by willow and alder; -the same kind of dikes making the same fight against -the encroaching sea, the windmills pumping water into -drains and out of some pool which is being reclaimed; -the green fields deep in grass, and the dark peat-cuttings -whence the peasantry obtain their fuel. -</p> - -<p> -It is nearly 300 years since a beginning was -made of draining the Fens. Before that time the -whole country was one great marsh, through which -slow-moving streams crept to the sea. Very often vast -tracts were completely under water. Perhaps there -was heavy rain and a flood ran down the rivers; it -might be met by a high tide sweeping far up the low, -flat river-beds. The flood and the tide met, and the -water rose high above the shallow banks, and converted -the land into a huge morass. -</p> - -<p> -It is significant that the earliest drainers of the Fens -were Dutchmen, who directed Dutch labourers. These -men knew what had been done in their native Holland -in the way of reclaiming land, and they saw that good -land could be made in the Fens if the water could only -be kept in its proper place. So they began to raise -embankments, to scour out the channels of rivers, to build -sluices, and to pump the water out of standing pools. -</p> - -<p> -The drainers had to make a great struggle with the -forces of Nature; they had almost a severer and -sterner fight still with the Fen-folk. The latter had -been born and bred amid their wild watery wilderness, -and loved it. Their cottages were raised here and -there wherever a patch of dry earth showed itself above -the bog, and they traversed the Fens far and wide in -their boats or on foot. When afoot, each man carried -his long leaping-pole over his shoulder. With its aid -he would skim like a bird over a stream or pool, and so -make his way where another man would have found -his path hopelessly blocked. -</p> - -<p> -The Fen-men made a living by catching the fish -which swarmed in the countless waterways, and by -snaring the birds which haunted the wide reed-beds -in vast flocks. They felt great anger at the thought -of their marshes being turned to dry land, and one of -their ballads gives their opinion very clearly: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - "Come, Brethren of the water, and let us all assemble<br /> - To treat upon this Matter which makes us quake and tremble;<br /> - For we shall Rue, if it be true that Fens be undertaken;<br /> - And where we feed in Fen and reed, they'll feed both Beef and Bacon.<br /> -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - "They'll sow both Bean and Oats, where never man yet thought it;<br /> - Where men did row in Boats ere Undertakers bought it;<br /> - But, Ceres, thou behold us now, let wild oats be their venture,<br /> - Oh, let the Frogs and miry Bogs destroy where they do enter."<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -The Fen-men fought hard against the improvements, -and broke down dikes and burst open sluices, but in -the end the drainers outlived these attacks, and the -works were built. -</p> - -<p> -Generation after generation has drained and diked -and embanked until, at the present day, we may cross -vast stretches of fruitful country bearing splendid crops -of corn and potatoes, which were once wild marsh-land -and impassable morass. And so it soon would be -again if the utmost care was not taken. The sea—the -hungry sea—is always ready to break in; the rivers are -always ready to break their bounds; but the former is -held at bay by dikes, and the latter are kept in bounds -by strong embankments, and every defence is closely -watched. -</p> - -<p> -It is strange to find here and there places in the Fens -called islands—as, for instance, the Isle of Ely—places -far from the sea. But once they were real islands -rising from the waters of the vast marsh. Perhaps the -dry, firm land of which they consisted only rose a few -feet above the level of the water, but it enabled the -Fen-men to build their cottages, to pasture their sheep -and cattle, to grow their corn, and to plant fruit-trees. -</p> - -<p> -The most famous of these islands was the Isle of Ely, -a patch of dry land seven miles long and four miles broad, -well remembered as one of the last strongholds of the -Saxons against William the Conqueror. But the vast -morass which once surrounded Ely has long been -drained and converted into fruitful soil, forming the -immense flat amidst which rises in stately and majestic -fashion the noble cathedral of Ely. -</p> - -<p> -Yet the sea is not altogether the loser in the battle -with man along this coast. Much land has been won -from it, much land has been lost to it, and is being lost -to this day. The low shores of Norfolk and Suffolk, -south of the Wash, are being steadily worn away in -places by the attacks of the sea, and year by year the -low cliffs fall before the waves of some great storm, and -the sea makes a fresh inroad upon the land. -</p> - -<p> -At Cromer, the well-known watering-place, the old -town is under water. The present town is quite new, -and out to sea lie the houses of the Cromer of past -days, covered with seaweed, and with the fish swimming -up and down the streets where once the Cromer folk -went about their business. At low tides the ancient -dwellings and ways can still be clearly traced. -</p> - -<p> -Still farther out to sea lie the remains of a yet older -village, called Shipden. Five hundred years ago -Shipden was a port on the seaward side of Cromer, but -harbour, village, and church were swallowed up by the -waves. The church tower was built of flint, as is the -custom of the East Country, and so well had the old -masons done their work that a piece of the tower is at -times seen by the fishermen about 400 yards out to sea, -and they call it "the Church Rock." -</p> - -<p> -The same story is told of many other places. Towns, -villages, churches, have been swallowed, either little by -little or at one great gulp, by the never-resting sea. So -serious are these inroads that plans are being formed by -Government to check the rush of the sea and keep the -waves in bounds. -</p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-065-t"></a> -<a href="images/img-065.jpg"> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-065-t.jpg" alt="IN AN ENGLISH VILLAGE" /> -</a> -<br /> -IN AN ENGLISH VILLAGE -</p> - -<p> -A great feature of the county of Norfolk is the -Broads—wide stretches of water connected by rivers -and streams, large and small—a district beloved by -yachtsmen and fishermen. All who love to sail a boat -find the Broads a summer paradise. They can go by -innumerable waterways from lake to lake, from pool to -pool, from mere to mere, through a wide district. -</p> - -<p> -A summer journey by boat through this land of -streams and pools is a very pleasant excursion. The -traveller must fit out his yacht with plenty of food, for -the region is lonely, and houses and inns few and far -between. Very particular people carry fresh water as -well, for the drinking water drawn from the marshy -soil is a very doubtful liquid; the watermen who live -on the Broads just dip up what they want from the river, -and there are those who say that the plan is as good as -any. -</p> - -<p> -Even better than a yacht for a trip through the Broads -is the local barge, a Norfolk wherry. The Norfolk -wherry is a true descendant of the Viking longship, -once so well known along this coast. It is a long, low -boat, broad and roomy, drawing very little water, and -sailing very fast. It has one huge brown sail, which is -hoisted forward, right in the bow; and to see a big -wherry cracking at full speed across a great broad with -a favouring wind is to see a very fine sight indeed. -Stranger still is it to look across an open stretch of -grassy country and see brown sails dotting, as it seems, -the surface of the fields. They belong to wherries -slipping along some hidden waterway. -</p> - -<p> -The sides of the Broads and rivers are often marshy, -and dotted with rushy and reedy islets in the most -picturesque fashion. Among these islets lie innumerable -little pools called "pulks." From the islets -pheasants may be often flushed in summer and autumn, -and coot in winter; from the "pulks" may be taken -large baskets of fish. -</p> - -<p> -The quantity of fish, especially in the remoter or -preserved portion of the Broads, is almost incredible, -and anglers often reckon their catch by the stone weight -instead of the number of fish. A single "pulk" will -often afford a good basket, and a well-known fishing -writer says: "Once while yachting on the Norfolk -Broads, we were lying at anchor close to the shore. -About a yard from our bows was a clear pool amid the -weeds, about 6 feet in diameter and 3 feet deep. This -was literally as full as it could be of roach and rudd -swimming to and fro; the brilliant sunshine lit up the -red and silver and gold of the fishes as they hovered -over the bright green weed, and the whole made as -pretty a sight as I have ever seen of the kind." -</p> - -<p> -When winter comes, yachts and wherries are laid up, -and summer visitants fly away with the swallows; yet -the Broads are not deserted. The sharp weather fills -them with myriads of wild-fowl—ducks and geese, snipe -and widgeon—and the wild-fowl hunter is out in his -slate-coloured punt. The boat is painted of this colour -in order to blend with its surroundings and escape notice, -and in its bow is fixed a huge gun, often throwing half -a pound of large shot at a single discharge. When this -gun is fired into a flock of wild-duck, it will often fetch -down ten or a dozen at once, and the skilful -punt-shooter soon makes a big bag. -</p> - -<p> -Then, perhaps, comes sharper weather still, and the -punts can no longer move over the ice-bound waters. -This is the time of the skater's festival, and a nobler -skating-ground can nowhere be found. Over river and -pool and broad he flies, with unnumbered miles of -clear, open ice before him. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap15"></a></p> - -<h3> -BY DALE AND FELL. -</h3> - -<p> -The huge county of Yorkshire has many claims on our -attention. It has vast manufacturing centres, and in -some parts it is crowded thickly with towns and villages, -packed with mills, and studded with lofty chimneys -which belch out unceasing clouds of smoke. Then, -again, it has a splendid coast-line, with noble cliffs and -rocky headlands, dotted with quaint fishing villages and -tiny ports, whence the "cobles" put out to sea with -hardy fishermen aboard. And, striking right away -inland, it can show some of the most beautiful scenery -in its dales and fells that our country has to show. -</p> - -<p> -Putting busy town and breezy fishing village aside -for the moment, we will go up to the lofty moorland -heights of this "county of the broad acres" and see some -of their beauties, and hear some of the tales which linger -around their quiet, grey stone villages. -</p> - -<p> -On the western side of Yorkshire the land heaves up -to the Pennine Chain—the "backbone of England," -as it is often called. It is not a chain of sharply-defined -peaks; it is rather a great mass of rolling moorland -whose tablelands, the "fells," are divided from each -other by deep valleys, long and narrow—the famous -"dales." At the foot of each dale flows a swift river, -which, twisting and turning round sharp angles of rock, -leaping from ledge to ledge in sheets of foam, -or gliding in deep quiet stretches below an -overhanging wood, affords most striking and picturesque -scenery. -</p> - -<p> -There are many points at which the explorer may -strike into the hills from the more level and cultivated -part of the county. But perhaps the best of all is to -enter the dales at Richmond, a beautiful old town -beside the River Swale. It matters not from which -point you approach Richmond, there is one feature of -the view which catches the eye at once—the magnificent -fashion in which the splendid Norman keep of its castle -rises above the little town. The stately tower stands -up four-square to every wind, just as its Norman -builders left it 800 years ago, and around it cluster -the red roofs of the town, just as they gathered there -for shelter during the Middle Ages. -</p> - -<p> -From Richmond the Valley of the Swale runs up into -the Pennines, and the journey along it must be made -by foot or carriage, for no railway has penetrated the -solitudes of Swaledale, and, as far as one may look into -the future in such matters, there seems every possibility -of this loveliest and grandest of the Yorkshire dales -retaining its isolation in this respect. About a mile -from the town there is a lofty cliff called Whitcliffe -Scar, whence the spectator may see far up the dale -whither he proposes to journey. The country people -call the Scar "Willance's Leap," and it has borne this -name since 1606. In that year a certain Robert -Willance was out hunting, and a great mist came down -the dale and wrapped the hills. So thick was the fog -that Willance could scarcely see a yard before him, and -suddenly he found himself on the verge of the Scar. -It was too late to check or turn his horse: both -went headlong over the lofty cliff, and were hurled to -its foot. The horse was killed on the spot, but in some -miraculous fashion the rider found himself alive at the -foot of the precipice, his worst injury a broken leg. -Full of wonder and thankfulness, Willance erected -inscribed stones to commemorate his marvellous escape, -and the stones are still to be seen at that point of the -cliff from which he fell. He also presented a silver cup -in memory of this event to Richmond, and the cup -remains in the possession of the town. -</p> - -<p> -Pushing westwards through the bold and striking -scenery of the dale, we pass glen after glen, each with -its little beck, its moorland stream. At times the -headlands spring up so abruptly as almost to shut in -the dale, and in times of storm the thunder rumbles -from wall to wall of the glen with tremendous echoes. -Wonderful at such times of heavy rain is it to see how -swiftly the little brooks become swollen, how the main -stream becomes a raging, foaming torrent. Then we -understand why the bridges are so high and strong. -They had seemed far too large for the little river -pushing over the stones: they seem none too strong -now to withstand the terrific rush of flood-water sent -down from the broad faces of the fells. -</p> - -<p> -As we gain the higher parts of the dale, trees and -corn and rich meadow-land are left behind. The farms -are sheep-farms, and the moors stretch on every hand. -The houses are strongly built of grey stone, and where -there are fields, grey stone walls divide them, for hedges -cannot grow on these windy, storm-swept heights. -</p> - -<p> -It is striking to note how the houses and barns -match the grey hill-sides. Not only are the walls of -grey stone, but they are roofed with slabs of stone -also, and these weather to beautiful shades of green -and grey, and blend perfectly with the prevailing hue. -</p> - -<p> -"In the upper portions of the dales—even in the narrow -riverside pastures—the fences are of stone, turned a -very dark colour by exposure, and everywhere on the -slopes of the hills a wide network of these enclosures -can be seen traversing even the steepest ascents. The -stiles that are the fashion in the stone-fence districts make -quite an interesting study to strangers, for, wood being -an expensive luxury, and stone being extremely cheap, -everything is formed of the more enduring material. -Instead of a trap-gate, one generally finds a very narrow -opening in the fences, only just giving space for the -thickness of the average knee, and thus preventing the -passage of the smallest lamb. Some stiles are constructed -with a large flat stone projecting from each side, one -slightly in front and overlapping the other, so that one can -only pass through by making a very careful S-shaped -movement. More common are the projecting stones, -making a flight of steps up one side of the wall and -down the other." -</p> - -<p> -From the head of Swaledale a wild road crosses the -fells to Wensleydale, the next great glen. The road -bears the strange name of Buttertubs Pass, because it -passes the edges of some vast chasms called, from their -shape, the Buttertubs. There is no path leading to the -depths of these immense holes, but men have been let -down into them by ropes, and there found the bones of -lost sheep which had fallen down the sides. It is a -most unsafe road for a stranger to traverse, above all, if -night is falling. The way runs along the lip of these -frightful descents, and is very lonely. If a passer-by -fell into one of these huge hollows, he would never be -heard of again. -</p> - -<p> -The road is freely used by the dalesfolk, save when -winter snowdrifts block the passage, when it becomes -too dangerous even for them. Snow is a terrible -enemy on these bleak heights if it makes its -appearance in earnest. The great snowstorm of January, -1895, will long be remembered, for it "blocked the -roads between Wensleydale and Swaledale until nearly -the middle of March. Roads were cut out, with walls -of snow on either side from 10 to 15 feet in height, -but the wind and fresh falls blocked the passages soon -after they had been cut. The difficulties of the -dales-folk in the farms and cottages were extraordinary, for -they were faced with starvation owing to the difficulty of -getting in provisions. They cut ways through the drifts -as high as themselves in the direction of the likeliest places -to obtain food, while in Swaledale they built sledges." -</p> - -<p> -Buttertubs Pass leads us to Hawes, a quiet little -town lying among splendid hill scenery; and not far -from Hawes is Semmerwater, the only piece of water in -Yorkshire that really deserves to be called a lake. -There is an old Yorkshire legend which gives -Semmerwater a miraculous origin. -</p> - -<p> -"Where the water now covers the land," says the story, -"there used to stand a small town, and to it there -once came an angel disguised as a poor and ill-clad -beggar. The old man slowly made his way along the -street from one house to another asking for food, but at -each door he was sent empty away. He went on, -therefore, until he came to a poor little cottage outside -the town. Although the couple who lived there were -almost as old and as poor as himself, the beggar asked -for something to eat, as he had done at the other -houses. The old folks at once asked him in, and, -giving him bread, milk, and cheese, urged him to pass -the night under their roof. Then, in the morning, -when the old man was about to take his departure, -came the awful doom upon the inhospitable town, for -the beggar held up his hands, and said: -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - "'Semmerwater, rise! Semmerwater, sink!<br /> - And swallow the town, all save this house,<br /> - Where they gave me meat and drink.'"<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Of course, the waters obeyed the disguised angel; -and, for proof, have we not the existence of the lake, -and is there not also pointed out an ancient little -cottage standing alone at the lower end of the lake?" -</p> - -<p> -</p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-072-t"></a> -<a href="images/img-072.jpg"> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-072-t.jpg" alt="AN ENGLISH COTTAGE" /> -</a> -<br /> -AN ENGLISH COTTAGE -</p> - -<p> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap16"></a></p> - -<h3> -THE PLAYGROUND OF ENGLAND—I. -</h3> - -<p> -In the far north-west of our land stands a group of -bold rocky mountains known as the Cumbrian Group. -Here rise well-known peaks, the highest land in -England—Scafell, Helvellyn, Skiddaw—and among -the peaks lie many most beautiful lakes. -</p> - -<p> -This lovely stretch of country is called the Lake -District, and every year great numbers of people go to -climb the rugged, broken heights, or to wander beside -the shores of these pleasant stretches of water in this -playground of England. -</p> - -<p> -The great charm of the countryside lies in the wonderful -variety of its scenery, and all the scenes so beautiful. -The traveller passing through the land by coach or -motor traverses, perhaps, a frowning pass, where huge -bare rocks rise in gloomy grandeur, and the scene is one -of savage desolation. He gets a glimpse of a still -wilder nook as he passes the mouth of some "ghyll" (a -cleft in the rocks), from whose dark recesses a "force" -(a wild, rushing torrent) is madly pouring. Then he -whirls round a corner, rolls down a slope, and the scene -is changed as if by magic. He enters a quiet vale shut -in by the hills, its level floor covered with sweet -verdant meadows where the cattle feed, its face dotted -with the quaint grey stone houses of shepherds and -cottagers, and the "force," now a quiet, shining brook, -winding its silver links over the face of the tiny valley. -</p> - -<p> -On rolls the coach, and now a vaster prospect opens -out—a prospect almost filled by a wide sheet of clear -bright water, one of the great lakes of the country, and -the road runs along the shore, skirting bays, crossing -tributary streams, passing under shade of the pleasant -woods that fringe the shore, and bringing to view at -every turn some fresh beauty in the ever-changing -scene. -</p> - -<p> -The largest of all the lakes is Windermere, a splendid -sheet of water about eleven miles long and one mile -wide. It may be seen admirably from the deck of a -lake steamer which runs from end to end. On a -summer day the great lake is a picture of beauty: its -bosom is dotted with white-sailed yachts, while pleasure-boats -glide from island to island or from shore to shore. -Like a great river the lake winds between its banks till -northwards it is shut in by lofty hills, which spring -from the water's edge. The lakeside is dotted with -pretty houses, peeping from amidst groves of trees, -with grey old farms lying among meadows and cornfields. -</p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-075-t"></a> -<a href="images/img-075.jpg"> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-075-t.jpg" alt="IN AN ENGLISH WOOD" /> -</a> -<br /> -IN AN ENGLISH WOOD -</p> - -<p> -At a point where the road from the town of Kendal -runs down to the waterside there is a ferry across the -lake. From time immemorial the dalesmen and market-folk -have crossed Windermere at this point, and it is -known as The Ferry. -</p> - -<p> -"There are legends to tell of this Ferry. The most -sinister is of an awful voice which on wild nights began -to peal across the turmoil, 'Boat!' Once a bold ferry-man -answered the call, put off his boat, and rowed into -the storm and darkness. Half an hour later he -returned with boat swamping and without a passenger. -The boatman's face was ashen with terror; he was -dumb. Next day he died. No boatman, after this -incident, could be prevailed to put off in darkness, so a -priest was summoned from the Holy Holme. With -bell and book he raised the skulking demon. At -mid-day there was the voice of storm in the air, though, -mindful of the call of the Master on Galilee, the waters -fell calm. Voices argued with the priest, whose cross, -firmly planted by the edge of the lake, was surrounded -by terror-struck lake-men. At the end of a long -altercation the demon released from thrall the soul -of the boatman, and craved for mercy. For its peace, -the priest laid the evil thing in the depths, there to -remain until 'dry-shod men walk on Winander [the -lake] and trot their ponies through the solid crags.'" -</p> - -<p> -As we advance into the northern basin of the great -lake, the scene grows in grandeur. "Over a vast plain -of water the distant mountains seem to hang. There -are misty indications of level meadows and woodlands -next the water, but the charm lies in the craggy, shaggy -braes and the uprising summits." -</p> - -<p> -The voyage is ended at Ambleside, on the northern -shore, where we take coach along the Rydal road to see -some of the best-known parts of Lakeland, famous not -only for their beauty, but also because the great poet -Wordsworth lived there, and wrote of the lovely scenes -which surrounded his home. Our way will take us by -Rydal Water into lovely Grasmere, a sweet valley -dotted with tiny lakes and ringed about by wild and lofty -heights. -</p> - -<p> -We pass Rydal Mount, where Wordsworth lived in -old age, speed by Rydal Water, and on into Grasmere, -where Wordsworth's grave lies beside the church, and -the Rothay, his favourite stream, murmurs near by. -</p> - -<p> -Beyond Grasmere we toil up the steep Pass of Dunmail, -a wild, desolate, rock-strewn piece of country. -At the head of the pass stands a pile of stones—the -Cairn of Dunmail—telling of -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - "Old unhappy far-off things<br /> - And battles long ago."<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -In far-off days Dunmail was the last King of Cumbria, -whose people then were Picts. Edgar the Saxon came -against him to seize the crown, and of this crown of -Cumbria a strange legend is told. -</p> - -<p> -The crown of Dunmail was charmed, and whoever -could seize it was certain to gain the kingdom. So -Edgar the Saxon was eager to get it into his hands. -Now, there was a wizard in those days who lived in a -cave among the hills, and he held a master-charm which -would make the magic power of the crown useless. -Dunmail sought the cave of the wizard to slay him, -and thus make himself safe in the possession of the -magic crown. -</p> - -<p> -But to reach the magician was no easy thing. His -cave was guarded by a ring of wild wolves, who watched -their master. Further, the wizard had the power to -make himself invisible, save for one moment, and that -at the break of day. But one morning, at peep of -dawn, Dunmail burst through the ring of wolves and -dashed into the cave, sword in hand. The magician -leapt to his feet to utter a curse on the King, and he -had called out the words, "Where river runs north or -south with the storm," when the sword fell, and he was -slain at a single stroke. -</p> - -<p> -When Edgar the Saxon heard of this, he sent -spies to find out the place of which the magician had -spoken, and they found out that the words were true of -Dunmail Raise. And they are true to this day. In -times of storm the torrent on Dunmail will set north -or south with the wind in most uncertain fashion. -</p> - -<p> -In the pass the two armies met, and there was a fierce -battle. At first the Picts under Dunmail held the upper -hand, and the Saxons were beaten back again and again. -But some of the chiefs who followed Dunmail were -traitors, and they turned on their King and slew him, and -gave the day to the Saxons. -</p> - -<p> -As Dunmail fell, he tore off his magic crown and -gave it to a faithful follower. "Bear my crown -away!" he cried; "let not the Saxon ever wear it." He -was obeyed. A few loyal chiefs burst their way -through the foe, the crown among them, and escaped -in a great cloud of mist. They fled across the hills, -and came to a deep tarn. Here they flung the crown -into its depths, leaving it there "till Dunmail come -again to lead us." -</p> - -<p> -And legend says that every year the faithful warriors -come back, draw up the magic circlet from the depths -of the tarn, and carry it to the pile where their King -lies in his age-long sleep. They knock with his spear -on the topmost stone of the cairn, and from its heart -comes a voice—"Not yet, not yet; wait awhile, my -warriors." -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap17"></a></p> - -<h3> -THE PLAYGROUND OF ENGLAND—II. -</h3> - -<p> -Over the top of Dunmail Raise we go, and soon -Thirlmere comes into sight—a long, lonely lake with -never a farmhouse or cottage to break the silence of its -shores. Why so lonely? Because Thirlmere is at -once a lake and a reservoir. Its clear waters form the -drinking-supply of busy, mill-packed Manchester, and -through ninety miles of mountain and moorland and -meadow runs a huge iron pipe, which conveys these -clear waters to the houses of the far-off town. -</p> - -<p> -To secure the lake from pollution, the whole of the -ground around it has been purchased and cleared of its -scanty population, and now clear brooks pour their -water, undefiled by any use, into the great basin. -</p> - -<p class="capcenter"> -<a id="img-078-t"></a> -<a href="images/img-078.jpg"> -<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-078-t.jpg" alt="ON AN ENGLISH COMMON" /> -</a> -<br /> -ON AN ENGLISH COMMON -</p> - -<p> -Seen from the main road—for nearer approach is -forbidden—Thirlmere is a scene of great beauty. The -placid lake lies sleeping in its hollow, and beyond, up -springs the noble mass of the mighty Helvellyn, -furrowed with watercourses, jagged with scaurs and grey -outcrops of rock, with wide stretches of bracken and -sweeps of green grass. Then, again, in full sight, are -Saddleback and, away to the north, Skiddaw; the latter -has a fleecy cloud streaming from its summit, much, we -fancy, as the smoke must have streamed away on that -famous Armada night when -</p> - -<p class="poem"> - "Skiddaw saw the fire that burned on Gaunt's embattled pile,<br /> - And the red glare of Skiddaw roused the burghers of Carlisle."<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /></p> - -<p> -Some distance farther we pause to climb up to the -Justice Stone, a huge flat-topped boulder, a famous -landmark, and a stone around which many stories have -gathered. It is said that in plague times this was a -spot to which came people from the plague-ridden town -of Keswick, a few miles ahead. They brought money -in their hands and laid it on the Justice Stone, and -retired; then the pedlars and dealers, bringing goods -from the outside world, came up to the stone, laid down -the goods, and took up the money. In this way business -was done, and yet the outsiders did not come into -contact with the plague-stricken citizens. The Justice -Stone was also the gathering-place for the shepherds of -the neighbouring valleys. Here they met to exchange -strayed sheep, and deal fairly with each other, and thus -the name sprung up. The stone was used for this -purpose until almost within living memory. -</p> - -<p> -On we go to Keswick, and here we are in the country -of Derwentwater, a splendid sheet which many hail as -Queen of the Lakes. It is a most picturesque lake, -dotted with beautiful islands and encircled by -mountain heights. Its islands are real islands—not mere -snags of rock thrusting themselves above the water, but -sweeps of level, well-wooded land. On one of them, -Lord's Isle, once dwelt the Earls of Derwentwater. -The last Earl was one of the Jacobite leaders of "the -Fifteen" when in 1715 the Old Pretender tried to -regain the Stuart crown. The rebellion failed, and the -Earl was beheaded on Tower Hill. His lands were -seized, his mansion fell into ruins, and his family -became extinct. -</p> - -<p> -Not far from Lord's Isle are the famous Falls of Lodore, -sung by the poet Southey. His description does not -hold in dry weather, but after a great fall of rain his -words prove to have no exaggeration about them. -Down from the moorland the stream comes rushing and -leaping from ledge to ledge of rock with clouds of -spray, a tumultuous thundering of leaping water, and -all the force and fury painted in the well-known poem. -</p> - -<p> -The head of Derwentwater is so overgrown by weed -that a path has been cut to allow boats to row up to -Lodore, and not far away is the Floating Island, -anchored to the bottom by long cables of weed-growth. -It is formed by a great mat of vegetable fibre, which -usually lies on the lake-bed; but at times this fibre -becomes filled with natural gas, and then it rises in a -mass and floats on the surface as an island. -</p> - -<p> -Near this point the River Derwent enters the lake -from the narrow glen of Borrowdale, famous for its -"Bowder Stone," a vast boulder which has fallen from -the crags above. The remarkable thing about this -huge stone—some 2,000 tons in weight—is that it -has fallen, as it were, on its point and remained -there. It has settled in some wonderful fashion on so -narrow a base that people on opposite sides of it may -shake hands through a hole under it. -</p> - -<p> -Borrowdale enjoys another distinction, too—that of -being the wettest place in England. At Seathwaite, -near the head of the glen, 180 inches of rain have -been known to fall in a single year, four or five times -the average rainfall for the country in general. -</p> - -<p> -Not far from Derwentwater is the pretty lake of -Bassenthwaite. Between them is a low-lying strip of -grassy land. And it happens at times when Borrowdale -pours down its teeming floods that this strip sinks -below the rising water, and the lakes mingle and form -one great stretch from end to end. -</p> - -<p> -But there is one other lake we must glance at before -we leave this land of beauty, and this is Coniston -Water. -</p> - -<p> -Coniston Water is a noble lake embosomed in a -mass of mountains, of which the finest is Coniston Old -Man, a famous peak. It is noted as the home of char, -that mysterious and beautiful fish of the Lake Country. -Very little is known of this fish, for, as a rule, during -the fishing season they keep at the bottom of deep -water, and very rarely are they captured with the fly. -Sometimes they are taken by the net, or by a long line -weighted with lead. Potted char is a famous delicacy -in Lakeland, and commands high prices, and in old -recipes mention is found of char-pie. -</p> - -<p> -On the shores of Coniston Water stands Brantwood, -where John Ruskin lived, and Tennyson and other -famous men have had houses beside this beautiful -lake. -</p> - -<p> -The craggy hills around Coniston are, in their most -solitary recesses, the haunt of wild goats. The goats -were introduced a long time ago to keep the hill-sheep -from the most dangerous places, for a goat will walk -and browse calmly upon cliffs where a sheep would -become giddy, fall, and be dashed to pieces. Sheep -will not feed where goats have been, and thus they are -kept from these dangerous places. The goats are very -wild and shy, and never seen save when winter's snow -drives them down from the rugged heights in search of -food. -</p> - -<p> -Such are a few—a very few—of the beauty-spots of -this lovely region. We have not spoken of other -lakes, such as Ullswater, home of beauty, or soft -Loweswater, or wild Wastwater, and many another mere -or tarn, all beautiful, all worthy of a place in the hearts -of those who love the romantic and the picturesque. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap18"></a></p> - -<h3> -HEROES OF THE STORM. -</h3> - -<p> -England has many workers, but none braver than the -toilers of the sea. Her coasts are dotted with hamlets, -each with its little quay or open beach, where her fishermen -hoist their brown sails and set off, as evening falls, -to reap the harvest of the waters. -</p> - -<p> -It is a hard and perilous life. A fishing-boat puts off -in the quiet evening calm, as the lights shine out from -the cottages along the shore, but the men on board are -never sure that they will see those lights of home again. -A sudden storm springs up; the heavy waves overwhelm -the tiny craft, and perhaps its brave crew are -swallowed up in the sea. A broken thwart or spar -washed ashore may give a hint of their fate, but they -are never seen again among living men. -</p> - -<p> -But the facing of these perils breeds the finest and -hardiest race of boatmen in the world. This is seen to -the full when a call is made for the services of the -lifeboat. Let us fancy that we are walking through the -single street of a fishing village on a winter day, when a -tremendous storm is lashing the coast. The street is -empty save for ourselves, and every door is fast shut -against the bitter wind. The boats are all home from -sea, and are dragged high up on the shingle, out of -reach of the great breakers which thunder on the shore -and send their surf swirling in masses of snowy foam -along the beach. We make our way inch by inch in -the teeth of the terrific wind, and are thankful for the -smallest shelter in which to pause and draw a breath. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly a man comes racing up from the little quay. -He pauses at the door of a building which stands alone; -he seizes a rope and begins to pull, and the loud -clanging of a bell mingles with the shrieks of the -storm. -</p> - -<p> -Ah! what a change! The silent, deserted village -becomes a scene of the busiest life and animation. -Doors burst open on every hand, and out rush men, and -race head down against the wind for the building where -the bell is ringing. After them stream women and -children; all run as if running for a wager. What -prize do those stalwart fellows race to gain? The -prize of risking their lives to help their fellow-creatures. -There is a wreck off shore, and the bell is calling -volunteers to man the lifeboat. The first men to gain the -house form the crew, and these at once begin to jump -into oilskins and fasten huge cork belts round their -bodies, while the great boat is run out and hurried -down to the beach. -</p> - -<p> -Everyone lends a hand, and in a marvellously short -time the lifeboat is gliding down the slips into the sea, -her crew aboard. The boat takes the water like a duck, -her sail is hoisted, and she beats off-shore in a sea -in which no other vessel could live. Again and -again a wave breaks over her and fills her full of blue -water, but up she springs, and empties herself like a -sea-bird shaking the spray from her back. When a sea -breaks aboard, the crew grip the nearest thwart and -hang on; they are soaked from head to heel in an -instant, despite their oilskins. But they care nothing -for that; their eyes are fixed ahead, eagerly looking out -for the wreck. What or where it is they do not know -yet. All they know is that the lightship which guards -a dangerous sandbank some miles off-shore is making -signals, and they know that a vessel is in distress. -</p> - -<p> -The lifeboat thrashes through the furious seas, and -soon they see the lightship—a stout vessel securely -anchored in position near the sandbank. It is her duty -at night to keep a great lamp burning to warn seamen -not to approach her perilous neighbourhood. Soon the -lifeboat is sweeping past the anchored lightship, and her -men hail the lightship with a tremendous shout of -"Where away?" -</p> - -<p> -"South end o' the bank!" roar the lightshipmen in -reply; and the lifeboat darts on like a living creature, -for the gale favours her on that tack. -</p> - -<p> -The short winter day is now closing in, and the keen -eyes on board the lifeboat are straining eagerly into the -dusk, when a sudden shout goes up from every throat: -"There she is! there she is!" -</p> - -<p> -A tremendous blaze of light has broken out a mile -ahead of them. The doomed vessel is burning a -"flare," perhaps of cloth soaked in oil, anything to -make a bright light and show her position. Suddenly -the flare goes out. It sinks as swiftly as it had risen, -and a groan of anxiety bursts from the lips of the -lifeboat heroes. Has she gone down, carrying to the -bottom the poor fellows who had raised the flare a -short time back? They do not know, and on they -rush to see. -</p> - -<p> -Soon they gain the tail of the dreaded sandbank, -which has seen the destruction of many and many a -good ship, and here they find the wreck. The back of -the ship is broken, her main and mizen masts are gone, -and only the foremast stands; and in the foretop a -dozen poor fellows are lashed in the rigging, with icy -seas sweeping over them at every moment. -</p> - -<p> -The coxswain of the lifeboat burns a hand signal, and -it throws a bright light across the roaring sea, and in a -pause of the howling wind the crew hear faint cheers -from the shipwrecked seamen, and shout a cheery reply: -"Hold on, boys! we've come for you, and we won't go -back without you." -</p> - -<p> -But how to get them? that is the question. The -lifeboat has ridden through terrible seas on her journey, -but they are nothing, nothing to the seas which are -breaking round the lost vessel; for the latter has been -driven out of deep water on to the bank, and on the -bank is no steady run of water, but a thousand furious -cross-currents, whirling this way and that way in -terrific fury; and when current meets current up goes a -great column of foam as high as a ship's mainmast, and -setting up a roar heard above the wild hurly-burly of -storm and sea. -</p> - -<p> -On board the lifeboat a quick, short council is held. -</p> - -<p> -"Wait till morning," says one; "we'll lie off all night." -</p> - -<p> -"Can't be done," says the coxswain; "she'll break -up altogether long before daybreak, and then it's -good-bye to those poor fellows in the foretop. No, we'll -veer down to her, for we lie to windward." -</p> - -<p> -So over goes the anchor of the lifeboat, and the strong -cable of five-inch Manilla is made fast to it. Now, -the coxswain is going to do this: The lifeboat will -swing at anchor, and the wind will drive it towards the -wreck. Little by little he will pay out the hawser, so -that, yard by yard, the lifeboat will swing nearer and -nearer to the perishing sailors, for perishing they are in -the bitter cold of this awful night. -</p> - -<p> -Down, down the lifeboatmen veer to the wreck, held -safely by the mighty hawser, and light after light is -burned. But they do not dare to approach the side of -the wreck closely, lest the cable should strain under the -power of the tremendous seas and the lifeboat be -dashed against the sunken part of the wreck, when -all might be lost together. So they bring-to some five -or six fathoms from the wreck, and one of the lifeboat -crew seizes a loaded cane, to which a light line is -attached. A signal is burned, and by this light he -makes his throw, and cleverly drops the cane into the -foretop, where the benumbed men are unlashing -themselves slowly and cautiously from the rigging. The -light line is seized by the captain of the wrecked vessel, -and by its means a stouter line is drawn aboard, and -thus communication is established between ship and -boat. Soon a couple of lines are rigged up, and along -these lines the sailors crawl towards the friendly boat. -Man after man comes in safety, and the lifeboat crew -cheer at every rescue. But it is terribly dangerous -work. The gale is rising, and the seas become more -furious than ever. The lifeboat is tossed high in the -air, then sinks deep in the trough of a huge wave. -The only bridge to it is a couple of thin ropes hardly to -be seen save when a signal light flares blue in the night, -but along these ropes crawl the drenched seamen, their -hearts filled with new hopes as their ears catch the deep -encouraging roar of their rescuers. Last to come is the -captain, who has rigged and handled the lines so that -his men could pass in as great safety as possible. -</p> - -<p> -"Come on, captain!—come on, in with you!" is the -cry; and he comes and leaps into the boat. Hurrah! they -have every man. Now how to get away? that is -the question. They dare not haul up to their anchor -lest the gale should carry them back on the wreck -before they could get the boat under sail. -</p> - -<p> -"The anchor must go, boys!" cries the coxswain. -"Up with a corner of the foresail; that will throw her -head off the wreck. We must run before the wind." -</p> - -<p> -The manoeuvre is carried out with the utmost care, -for the least mistake will be paid for with the life of -every man on board. -</p> - -<p> -When all is ready, the coxswain's voice rings out -again: "Out axe, and cut the cable!" -</p> - -<p> -Down comes the keen edge, the last strand is parted, -and away leaps the boat into the darkness and the -furious turmoil of the raging sea. Straight across the -shoals the gallant boat drives through the boiling surf, -in which no other craft could live. Staggering, reeling, -plunging she goes, but with every wild plunge she -nears deep water and comparative safety, and at last, -with one wild, long heave, she beats off the shoals, and -the crew feel the regular run of deep water under her -keel, and shout joyously: "Hurrah! cheer O!" -</p> - -<p> -For of the wildest storm on the open sea these -dauntless British hearts care nothing. And now they -bring the nose of their gallant boat round on the -homeward tack, and run for the shore, where fire and light -and a warm welcome await them. And what a shout -will go up when the cry rings from the sea, "All saved! all -saved!" for to raise that cry is ample reward for these -heroes of the storm. -</p> - -<p><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="t4"> -BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p class="thought"> -******** -<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /></p> - -<p><a id="chap19"></a></p> - -<p class="t3"> -LIST OF SMALLER VOLUMES IN THE -<br /> -PEEPS AT MANY LANDS -<br /> -SERIES -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -EACH CONTAINING 12 FULL-PAGE -<br /> -ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -BURMA<br /> -EGYPT<br /> -ENGLAND<br /> -FRANCE<br /> -HOLLAND<br /> -HOLY LAND<br /> -ICELAND<br /> -INDIA<br /> -ITALY<br /> -JAPAN<br /> -MOROCCO<br /> -SCOTLAND<br /> -SIAM<br /> -SOUTH AFRICA<br /> -SOUTH SEAS<br /> -SWITZERLAND<br /> -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -PUBLISHED BY<br /> -ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK<br /> -SOHO SQUARE, LONDON. W. -</p> - -<p class="t3"> -AGENTS -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -AMERICA . . . THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /> - 64 & 66 Fifth Avenue, NEW YORK<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -AUSTRALASIA . OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, MELBOURNE -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -CANADA . . . THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD.<br /> - 27 Richmond Street West, TORONTO<br /> -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -INDIA . . . MACMILLAN & COMPANY, LTD.<br /> - MACMILLAN BUILDING, BOMBAY<br /> - 309 Bow Bazaar Street, CALCUTTA<br /> -</p> - -<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Peeps at Many Lands: England, by John Finnemore - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEEPS AT MANY LANDS: ENGLAND *** - -***** This file should be named 50662-h.htm or 50662-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/6/6/50662/ - -Produced by Al Haines -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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@@ -1,3008 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Peeps at Many Lands: England, by John Finnemore - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Peeps at Many Lands: England - -Author: John Finnemore - -Release Date: December 10, 2015 [EBook #50662] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEEPS AT MANY LANDS: ENGLAND *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: Cover art] - - - - -[Frontispiece: A YOUNG PRINCE WATCHING THE SCOTS GUARDS FROM -MARLBOROUGH HOUSE] - - - - - PEEPS AT MANY LANDS - - ENGLAND - - BY - - JOHN FINNEMORE - - - - CONTAINING TWELVE FULL-PAGE - ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR - - - - LONDON - ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK - 1908 - - - - - CONTENTS - - I. IN LONDON TOWN--I. - II. IN LONDON TOWN--II. - III. IN LONDON TOWN--III. - IV. OLD FATHER THAMES--I. - V. OLD FATHER THAMES--II. - VI. IN A CATHEDRAL CITY - VII. THROUGH WESSEX--I. - VIII. THROUGH WESSEX--II. - IX. THROUGH WESSEX--III. - X. ROUND THE TORS - XI. THE LAND OF SAINTS - XII. IN SHAKESPEARE'S COUNTRY - XIII. AN OLD ENGLISH HOUSE - XIV. BY FEN AND BROAD - XV. BY DALE AND FELL - XVI. THE PLAYGROUND OF ENGLAND--I. - XVII. THE PLAYGROUND OF ENGLAND--II. - XVIII. HEROES OF THE STORM - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS LOI A YOUNG PRINCE WATCHING THE SCOTS - GUARDS FROM MARLBOROUGH HOUSE . . . _Rose Barton_ . _Frontispiece_ - -LONDON: ST. PAUL'S AND LUDGATE HILL . . . _Herbert Marshall_ - -BY AN ENGLISH RIVER . . . _Birket Foster_ - -TOMB OF THE BLACK PRINCE IN - CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL . . . _W. Biscombe Gardner_ - -IN AN ENGLISH COUNTRY TOWN . . . _Walter Tyndale_ - -IN AN ENGLISH LANE . . . _Birket Foster_ - -SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHPLACE . . . _Fred Whitehead_ - -AN ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSE . . . _Walter Tyndale_ - -IN AN ENGLISH VILLAGE . . . _W. Biscombe Gardner_ - -AN ENGLISH COTTAGE . . . _Mrs. Allingham_ - -IN AN ENGLISH WOOD . . . _Stilton Palmer_ - -ON AN ENGLISH COMMON . . . _Birket Foster_ ELOI - - - -[Illustration: SKETCH-MAP OF ENGLAND.] - - - - -ENGLAND - - -IN LONDON TOWN--I. - -London is the greatest city in the world. How easy it is to say that -or read it! How very, very hard it is to get the least idea of what it -means! We may talk of millions of people, of thousands of streets, of -hundreds of thousands of houses, but words will give us little grasp of -what London means. And if we go to see for ourselves, we may travel up -and down its highways and byways until we are dizzy with the rush of -its hurrying crowds, its streams of close-packed vehicles, its rows -upon rows of houses, shops, banks, churches, museums, halls, theatres, -and begin to think that at last we have seen London. But alas for our -fancy! We find that all the time we have only been in one small corner -of it, and the great city spreads far and wide around the district we -have learned to know, just as a sea spreads around an islet on its -broad surface. - -When we read or hear of London, we are always coming across the terms -West End and East End. West and East of what? Where is the -dividing-line? The dividing-place is the City, the heart of London, -the oldest part of the great town. Once the City was a compact little -town inside a strong wall which kept out its enemies. It was full of -narrow streets, where shops stood thickly together, and over the shops -lived the City merchants in their tall houses. The narrow streets and -the shops are still there, but the merchants have long since gone to -live elsewhere, and the walls have been pulled down. - -Now the City is nothing but a business quarter. It is packed with -offices, warehouses, banks and public buildings, and it is the busiest -part of London by day and the quietest by night. It is a wonderful -sight to see the many, many thousands of people who work in the City -pour in with the morning and stream out at evening. Every road, every -bridge, leading to and from the City is packed with men and women, boys -and girls, marching like a huge army, flowing and ebbing like the tides -of the sea. - -In the centre of the City there is a famous open space where seven -streets meet. It is famous for the buildings which surround it, and -the traffic which flows through it. All day long an endless stream of -omnibuses, cabs, drays, vans, carts, motor-cars, motor-buses, -carriages, and every kind of vehicle which runs on wheels, pours by. -So great is the crush of traffic that underground passages have now -been built for people to cross from side to side, and that is a very -good thing, for only the very nimble could dodge their way through the -mass of vehicles. - -Upon one side of this space there stands a building with blank walls, -not very high nor very striking in appearance. But it is the Bank of -England, where the money matters of half the world are dealt with! If -we went inside we should find that the Bank is built around a -courtyard, into which the windows look. Thus there is no chance for -burglars to break in, and besides, the Bank is guarded very carefully, -for its cellars are filled with great bars of gold, and its drawers are -full of sovereigns and crisp bank-notes. - -Upon the other side of the busy space stands the Mansion House, where -the Lord Mayor of London lives during his year of office. Here are -held gay feasts, and splendid processions often march up to the doors; -for if a king or great prince visits London, he is always asked to -visit the City, and he goes in state to a fine banquet. - -A third great building is the Royal Exchange, adorned with its great -pillars, and here the merchants meet, and business matters affecting -every corner of the globe are dealt with. - -But there are two places which we must glance at before we leave the -City, whatever else we miss, and these are the Tower and St. Paul's -Cathedral. And first of all we will go to the Tower, for it is the -oldest and most famous of all the City's many buildings. Nay, the -Tower is more than that: it is one of the famous buildings of the world. - -For many hundreds of years the grey old Tower has raised its walls -beside the Thames, and in its time it has played many parts. It has -been a fortress, a palace, a treasure-house, and a prison. William the -Conqueror began it, William Rufus went on with the work, and the latter -finished the central keep, the famous White Tower, the heart of the -citadel. For many centuries the Tower was the strongest place in the -land, with its thick walls and its deep moat filled with water from the -Thames, and the rulers of England took great care to keep it in their -own hands. - -To-day it is a show-place more than anything else, and everyone is free -to visit it, to see the Crown jewels stored there, and to view the -splendid collection of weapons and armour. But after all the place -itself is the finest thing to see--to wander through the rooms where -kings and queens have lived, to stand in the dungeons and -prison-chambers where some of the best and noblest of our race have -been shut up, and to climb the narrow winding stairs from floor to -floor. - -Many of the prisoners of the Tower were brought into it by the -Traitor's Gate, a great gloomy archway under which the waters of the -Thames once flowed. In those days the river was the great highway of -London, and when the judges at Westminster had condemned a prisoner to -be sent to the Tower, he was carried down the river in a barge and -landed at the Traitor's Gate. Many and many a poor prisoner saw his -last glimpse of the outer world from the gloomy gate. Before him lay -nothing save a dreadful death at the hands of the headsman. - -Outside the White Tower there is a garden, where once stood the block -where the greatest of the prisoners were beheaded. Outside the Tower -is Tower Hill, where those of a lesser rank suffered; we may still see -in the Tower a headsman's block whereon heads have been laid and necks -offered to the sharp, heavy axe. As for the names of those who have -been executed in the Tower, history is full of them--Lady Jane Grey, -Sir Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, Sir Walter Raleigh, Katherine Howard, the -Earl of Essex, to name but a few who have suffered there. An earlier -tragedy than any of these is the murder of the two little princes, -Edward V. and his brother, put to death by command of Richard of -Gloucester, Richard Crookback, their wicked uncle who wanted to seize -the throne. - -From the upper windows of the White Tower we can see the river crowded -with ships and steamers and barges, and on a fine day it is a most -beautiful sight. But the most striking thing in the view is the Tower -Bridge. "This is a new bridge, and it has two great towers rising one -on each side, as it seems, to the sky, and the bridge lies across low -down between those towers. But when a big ship comes and wants to get -up the river under the bridge, what is to be done? The bridge is not -high enough! Well, what does happen is this--and I hope that every one -of you will see it one day, for it is one of the grandest things in -London: a man rings a bell, and the cabs, and carriages, and carts, and -people who are on the bridge rush quickly across to the other side, and -when the bridge is quite empty, then the man in the tower touches some -machinery, and slowly the great bridge, which is like a road, remember, -rises up into the air in two pieces, just as you might lift your hands -while the elbows rested on your knees without moving, and the beautiful -ship passes underneath, and the bridge goes back again quite gently to -its place. This bridge has been called the Gate of London, and it is a -good name, for it looks like a giant gate over the river." - - - - -IN LONDON TOWN--II. - -It is quite easy to find your way to St. Paul's Cathedral, for the -splendid dome of the great church springs high above the highest roof -of the City, and the gilt cross on its dome glitters in the sun 400 -feet above the pavement below. - -It is not a very old building, for it was raised after the Great Fire -of 1666, the fire which laid the City in ruins and destroyed the old -cathedral. It was built by a great architect, Sir Christopher Wren. -He lies buried in the cathedral, and over his tomb is a Latin -inscription which means, "If thou dost seek my monument, look around -thee." - -You see the meaning of this and look around, and acknowledge that the -noble church is indeed a splendid testimony to the skill of him who -built it. As you walk round the place, you find many other monuments -to famous men. Nelson lies here and Wellington, our greatest sailor -and our greatest soldier, and Dr. Johnson, the famous scholar. Here -and there are battle-flags, the colours of famous regiments, decking -the walls. Torn by shot and stained with blood, they speak of fierce -battles where the men who bore them were in the thickest of the fight, -but now they hang in the silence of the great cathedral, mute witnesses -of Britain's greatest victories. - -[Illustration: LONDON ST. PAUL'S AND LUDGATE HILL] - -The most striking part of the building is the great dome, which springs -so high into the air that, viewed from beneath, its top looks far off, -and dusky, and dim. You may climb it by a flight of many, many steps, -and walk round it inside by means of a great gallery. This is called -the Whispering Gallery, for if you stand at one side of it and whisper -softly, the murmur runs round the walls and will reach someone standing -on the opposite side, a long distance off! - -Next, you may go on up and up until you reach the top of the dome and -look out far and wide over London, with the river winding through the -huge maze of streets and houses, and the whole spread out at your feet -as a bird sees a place on the wing. It is a wonderful sight on a clear -day, and on a dull one it is hardly less striking, for the huge forest -of smoking chimneys spreads and spreads till it is lost on the horizon, -and you think that there is no end to this immense town, and that it is -stretching on and on for ever. - -Well, now, from the City which way shall we strike, east or west? I -think you would soon be tired of the East End, for there is little to -see there that is pleasing or beautiful. Nearly all the people who -live in the East End are poor, and they live in long rows of mean -houses in dirty streets, where the air is close and everything is -grimy. There are parts of the East End, of course, where things are -better than this, with clean streets and nice houses, but still, there -is nothing to attract a visitor like the splendid buildings and the -beautiful parks to be seen at the West End of town. - -When we speak of parks that brings at once to the mind the thought of -Hyde Park, finest of all London's fine open spaces, so we will go to it -from St. Paul's by bus, and our way will be through some of the most -famous streets of London. A seat on top of a London bus is a capital -place from which to see the street scenes of the great city, and we -climb up and, if we are lucky, get a front seat. - -Away we roll down Ludgate Hill, across an open space, and up Fleet -Street, where it seems that every newspaper in the world must have an -office, so thickly are the walls covered by the names of all the -well-known papers. Soon we see a monument erected in the roadway. It -marks the site of Temple Bar, an old gateway which formed the City -boundary to the west. Above the old gateway was a row of spikes, and -on these the heads of rebels and traitors used to be displayed. - -As soon as we pass Temple Bar we are in the Strand, that mighty London -thoroughfare. Its name reminds us that it runs along the river bank, -though to-day great buildings hide the river save for peeps down -side-streets. At one time the south side of the Strand was lined with -the mansions of great noblemen, whose gardens ran down to the water's -edge, and the side-streets yet bear the names of the great houses which -stood in the neighbourhood. - -To our right as we leave Temple Bar rises the splendid pile of the new -Law Courts, and on we go between close-packed lines of shops and -theatres until we come out into Trafalgar Square, the central point of -London. Here is a great open space where fountains quietly play and a -lofty column rises, the latter crowned with a statue of our sailor -hero, Nelson. At the upper end of the Square stands the National Art -Gallery, where some of the finest pictures in the world may be seen; -but we must come another day to look at them, for our bus is still -rolling westward. - -We get a glimpse at Pall Mall, the region of club-land, and soon enter -Piccadilly, one of London's most beautiful and famous streets. We pass -the doors of the Royal Academy, and then a pleasant park opens to our -left, the Green Park, while on our right runs a continuous line of -mansions, shops, and clubs, until the bus pulls up at Hyde Park Corner, -and we have reached the great park. - -On a fine summer day Hyde Park offers one of the most wonderful scenes -in London. A constant stream of splendid carriages, drawn by -magnificent horses, pours into the park and moves round and round the -Drive and "The Row," with its riders, is even more interesting. - -Rotten Row is a long, broad, tan-covered ride, where horsemen and -horsewomen trot and canter to and fro. Finer horses and riders are not -to be found. On a morning when the Row is fairly full, it is -delightful to spend an hour or so, seated on one of the green chairs in -shade of an elm or lime, watching the riders. Here comes an old -gentleman on a stout cob. They pound steadily past, and now three or -four young people mounted on tall, lively horses dash past at a gallop, -chatting merrily as they go, and then there is a swift scurry of -ponies, as some children dart along, racing each other up to the -Corner, where all turn and come back. - -Perhaps in an afternoon you may go in through the great gates at Hyde -Park Corner and find the carriages drawn up in lines, and a feeling of -excitement and expectation in the air. A clear track is being kept. -For whom? For the Queen. She is coming up now from Buckingham Palace -to drive in the Park. Suddenly there is a brilliant flash of colour as -servants in royal liveries of glowing scarlet come into sight. Hats -fly off as the royal carriage passes, drawn by splendid chestnuts, and -there is the Queen, bowing and smiling at the people who greet her as -she drives into the Park. - - - - -IN LONDON TOWN--III. - -Now that we have seen the Queen pass by, we will go and look at her -home in London. Buckingham Palace is not far from Hyde Park Corner, -and when we reach it we see a big, rather dull-looking building, with a -courtyard before it, and red-coated soldiers marching up and down on -guard. This palace of the King and Queen is, in truth, not very -handsome outside, but it is very splendid within, its fine rooms being -adorned with the paintings of great artists. - -A noble road, called the Mall, leads from the front of Buckingham -Palace, and if we follow it we shall come out on a wide, open space -laid with gravel, the Horse Guards' Parade. Or if we do not care about -walking along the Mall, we can come through St. James's Park, with its -pretty piece of ornamental water, where ducks and other water-birds fly -about, and watch eagerly for crumbs flung to them by the visitors. - -Crossing the Horse Guards' Parade, we go through a small archway into -the great street called Whitehall. The archway is watched without by -two Life Guards--tall men in shining steel breastplates and helmets, -and mounted on tall horses--while others on foot march up and down -within. - -In Whitehall may be seen the room from which Charles I. stepped out to -the scaffold on the day of his execution. It was once the -banqueting-hall of a royal palace, and is now a museum, and anyone may -go into it. The scaffold had been built outside the walls, and he -stepped through a window to reach it, and there his head was struck off -before a great crowd which had gathered in Whitehall. - -The broad street is lined with tall buildings, where the business of -Government is carried on; and at its foot stand the Houses of -Parliament, where laws are made for the nation. This noble range of -buildings is crowned by three great towers, two square and one pointed. -The pointed one is the Clock Tower, and there, high above our heads, is -the great clock with its four faces. It is the largest clock in -England; its figures are 2 feet in length; its minute-hand is 16 feet -long, and weighs 2cwt. The hour is struck on a great bell called "Big -Ben," and when Big Ben booms out over London it tells the people what -o'clock it is, and they set their watches and clocks by it. - -As we look round, we see at a short distance from us a majestic old -church, its walls grey and time-worn. It is Westminster Abbey, the -place where our kings and queens have been crowned for a thousand -years, and where lie the remains of Britain's famous dead. No sooner -do we enter the venerable building than we see on every side monuments -and inscriptions to the memory of great men and women--kings, queens, -princes, statesmen, famous writers, soldiers, sailors, travellers, all -are there--some with a mere line or so of inscription, some with a huge -sculptured monument. For many hundreds of years Westminster Abbey has -been used as a burial-place, and to name those that lie there and to -tell the story of their lives would be to narrate the history of -England. - -This noble church is built in the form of a Latin cross, and contains -beautiful chapels opening from the main building, the finest of all -being the Chapel of Henry VII. at the eastern end of the abbey. In -these chapels lie many kings and queens of England, beginning with -Edward the Confessor, who founded the abbey, and whose shrine stands in -the interesting chapel behind the choir. - -Near at hand is the famous Coronation Chair, an old wooden chair, with -a large stone let in under its seat. The stone was brought to England -by Edward I., who seized it at Scone in Scotland. It is the sacred -stone on which all the Scottish kings had been crowned for many -centuries, and when Edward placed it in the Coronation Chair he meant -it to show that the English king was ruler of Scotland also. And yet -it was a Scottish king who first joined the two kingdoms, and not an -English one, for James VI. of Scotland became James I. of England, and -the two kingdoms were united under the name of Great Britain. Our -King, Edward VII., was, of course, the last to be crowned, seated in -that famous old chair. - -There is one corner of Westminster Abbey which all visit, no matter -what other part they may miss, and that is the south transept, which -everyone knows as Poets' Corner. Here have been buried some of the -most famous writers of our land, and there are monuments to others who -lie elsewhere. - -From Westminster Abbey we will cross to Westminster Hall, and glance -for an instant into the greatest room in Europe. This fine old hall -was built by William Rufus, and consists of one huge apartment, and the -span of its wooden roof is greater than any other room in Europe not -supported by pillars. The hall was built for banquets and festivities, -and coronation feasts were held in it for ages. At these feasts a -champion, clad in full armour and mounted on a war-horse, would ride -into the hall, and challenge anyone to dispute the king's title to the -crown. - -Westminster Hall was also used for law-courts, and continued to be so -used until very recent times, when the courts were moved to the great -building in the Strand. Next we will look at Westminster Bridge, the -largest and finest of all London bridges. Here we see the broad Thames -rolling down to the sea, and have a splendid view of the river-front of -the Houses of Parliament. On a summer afternoon the river-front looks -very gay, for there is a long terrace beside the Thames, and the -members come out to take tea there. They form parties with their -friends, and the bright dresses of the ladies, and the movement to and -fro, and the laughing groups at the little tables, form a very bright -and cheerful scene. - -Looking downstream from the bridge, we see on our left hand the -Embankment, one of the biggest pieces of work that even London has ever -done. Every day the river rises and falls with the tide, and sometimes -when there has been much rain a great flood comes down from the country -and makes it rise much higher still. Now, sometimes when the river -rose very high it ran into houses and did a great deal of damage, so a -great wall was built to keep Father Thames in his right place. "It was -a wonderful piece of work. It is difficult to think of the number of -cart-loads of solid earth and stone that had to be put down into the -water to make a firm foundation, and when that was done the wall had to -be built on the top, and made very strong. And after this was finished -trees were planted. Thus there was made a splendid walk or drive for -miles along the riverside." - - - - -OLD FATHER THAMES--I. - -Famous above all English rivers is the Thames--"Old Father Thames," as -the Londoners used to call it in days when its broad stream was their -most familiar high-road. To-day the Londoner uses the motor-bus -instead of a Thames wherry; but still the great river rolls through the -great city, and on its tide a vast stream of trade flows to and from -the capital. - -To write the story of the Thames would more than fill this little book, -so that we can do no more than glance at a few of the famous places on -this famous stream. - -Springing in the Cotswolds, the infant Thames, first known as the Isis, -runs thirty miles eastwards to gain the meadows around Oxford. Here -the river spreads into a beautiful sheet of water at the foot of -Christchurch Meadow, and glides gently past "the City of the Dreaming -Spires." - -In the summer term this stretch of the river presents a gay and busy -scene. The rowing-men are out in racing boats, skiffs, canoes, punts, -and almost every kind of boat that swims. Along the Christchurch bank -are moored the college barges, great gaily-painted structures, whence -the rowing-men put off, and where crowds of spectators gather on great -race days. - -The chief boat-races at Oxford are rowed in the middle of the summer -term--the May Eights. Then the colleges struggle with each other for -the honour of being "Head of the River," the title held by the winning -eight. The boats do not race side by side, for the river is not wide -enough for that; they race in a long line, with an equal distance -between each pair of boats. When the starting-gun fires, each crew -pulls with all its might to catch the crew ahead. If one boat overlaps -another and touches it, a "bump" is made, and the bumped boat has lost -its place. Next day--for the races are held day after day for a -week--the winning boat goes up one place, and tries to catch the next -boat, and so on, until the races are over. Then the boat which has -taken or kept the head of the line is hailed as "Head of the River." -Here is an account of a bump: - -"The Eights: Brilliant blue sky above, glinting blue water beneath. -Down across Christchurch meadow troops a butterfly crowd, flaunting -brilliant parasols and chattering gaily to the 'flannelled fools' who -form the escort. Despite the laughter, it is a solemn occasion, for -the college boat that is Head of the River may be going to be bumped -this afternoon, and if so, the bump will surely take place in front of -the barges. The only question is, before which barge will it happen? -When the exciting moment draws near, chatter ceases, and tense -stillness holds the crowd in thrall. The relentless pursuers creep on -steadily, narrowing the gap between themselves and the first boat, and -finally bump it exactly opposite its own barge! A moment's pause. The -completeness of the triumph is too impressive to be grasped at once; -then pandemonium--pistol-shots, rattles, hoots, yells, shrieks of joy, -wildly waving parasols, and groans." - -From the river some of the most striking and beautiful pictures of -Oxford may be gained. As the stream winds and turns, the pinnacles, -spires, and domes of this most lovely city group themselves in -ever-changing combinations, and draw the eye until Oxford is lost to -view behind the lofty elms and the alders which fringe the stream. - -[Illustration: BY AN ENGLISH RIVER] - -Below Oxford the river runs quietly along between rich meadows which in -spring and early summer are carpeted with lovely wild-flowers, past -quaint old houses and riverside inns, under straggling and picturesque -old bridges, and ripples over fords where heavy cart-horses splash -knee-deep through the clear shining stream. Here and there are -pleasant villages on the bank, each with its old church, whose -graveyard is shaded by great yews and entered by a quaint lych-gate. - -Of the larger towns on the Thames, Reading is among the most important. -But we shall not speak of the busy Reading of to-day, with its -seed-gardens and biscuit factories, but of long-ago Reading, when its -great abbey was flourishing, and its Abbot one of the chief men in -England. - -Once when Henry VIII. was hunting in Windsor Forest, he lost his way, -and arrived at the Abbey of Reading about dinner-time. He concealed -his rank, and announced that he was one of the King's guard, and, in -this character, was invited to the Abbot's table. A sirloin of beef -was set on the table, and the hungry King made such play with his knife -and fork that the Abbot could not but observe it. - -"Ah," said the Abbot, "I would give a hundred pounds could I but feed -on beef so heartily as you do. But my stomach is so weak that I can -scarce digest a small rabbit or a chicken." - -Bluff King Hal laughed and pledged his host in wine, thanked him for -the good dinner, then went without giving any hint who he was. - -A few weeks later some of the King's men came to the abbey, seized the -Abbot, and carried him off to the Tower. Here he was shut up and fed -on bread and water, and between this wretched food and his fears of the -King's displeasure the poor Abbot had a very hard time. - -Then one day a fine sirloin of beef was brought into his cell, and the -famished priest leapt to the table and ate like a hungry farmer. In -sprang Henry from a private place, where he had been watching his -prisoner eat. - -"Now, Sir Abbot," cried the King, "down with your hundred pounds, for -of a surety I have found your appetite for you." Whereupon the Abbot -paid up at once and went home, lighter in purse, but merry at heart to -find that the King sought his money and not his head. - - - - -OLD FATHER THAMES--II. - -Below Reading the Thames becomes "the playground of London." All the -summer long its bosom is dotted with boats, and the lawns upon its -banks are filled with people who have fled from "town" to rest their -eyes on green fields and the shining stretches of cool running water, -so delightful after the heat and glare of London. - -Many holiday-makers actually live on the river in a house-boat, a -broad, flat-bottomed craft upon which a kind of wooden house is built, -and moored in the stream. Others traverse the river in a rowing-boat, -carrying tents and camping at night in a meadow beside the stream. - -Going down-river from Reading, we come to Henley, where the noted -regatta is held every year in the first week of July. It is the -greatest of all river regattas, and the most famous boat clubs of the -world send crews to Henley. - -On a fine day of the Henley week the course presents a most striking -and brilliant scene. The river is packed from side to side with boats -of every size and kind--skiffs, punts, canoes--filled with ladies in -pretty summer dresses and men in cool white flannels. The sides of the -river are lined with house-boats, each bearing a gaily-dressed crowd -and decked with beautiful flowers. Pennons and flags and streamers -flutter in the sunshine, and the wonderful mingling of bright colours -in the moving crowds on land and water presents one of the gayest and -prettiest scenes in the world. - -Suddenly a bell rings. Clear the course! A race is about to begin. -Now the boats are pulled hastily to the side of the river, where the -course is marked off by piles and booms. It seems impossible for the -river full of craft to pack itself away along the sides, but in some -fashion or other it is managed--skiffs, canoes, and punts all wedged -together like sardines in a tin. - -Then a shout rings along the banks--"They're off! they're off!" and all -crane their necks to catch the first glimpse of the racing boats. Soon -the long slender boats come dashing past, the eight men in each craft -pulling with tremendous power, and the little cox crouching in the -stern, tiller ropes in hand. Then rises a great outburst of cheers as -the friends of the winners hail the victory. - -Among the beautiful houses which stand upon the bank of the stream -below Henley, there is one ancient and noble hall which forms a -striking picture from the river. This is Bisham Abbey, where Queen -Elizabeth was once a prisoner during her sister's reign, a house of -many stories and legends. One of these stories tells that "the house -is haunted by a certain Lady Hoby, who beat her little boy to death -because he could not write without blots. She goes about wringing her -hands and trying to cleanse them from indelible inkstains. The story -has probably some foundation, for a number of copybooks of the age of -Elizabeth were discovered behind one of the shutters during some later -alterations, and one of these was deluged in every line with blots. We -all know that great severity was exercised by parents with their -children at that time; and the story, if not the ghost, may safely be -accepted." - -On we go, past the lovely wooded cliffs of Clieveden, through the -well-known Boulter's Lock, and away downstream, till we see a mighty -tower rise high above the river, and know that we are looking on the -noble Round Tower which crowns Windsor Castle, the home of English -kings. Near the river the castle looks very fine, its irregular pile -of buildings rising in a series of rough levels, adorned by turrets, -towers, and pinnacles, until the whole is topped and dominated by the -mighty Round Tower built by Edward III., the hero of the French wars. - -Since the days of the first Norman, Windsor Castle has been a favourite -abode of English royalty. Other palaces have been built, to fall into -neglect and decay, but Windsor has stood on its hill beside the Thames -for more than 800 years, and it has been a royal castle all the time. - -Opposite Windsor, most famous of all English palaces, stands Eton, most -famous of all English schools. From the well-known North Terrace of -Windsor Castle--open to the public from sunrise to sunset--it is -possible to obtain a fine view of the great school. "We can look down -on the whole of Eton--the church, with its tall spire; the buttresses -and pinnacles of the chapel standing up white against an indigo -background; the red and blue roofs piled this way and that; and the -green playing-fields, girdled by the swift river." - -The Thames is a great playground of the Eton boys. They row on it, and -bathe in it. At the great Eton festival, on June 4, there is a -procession of boats on the river, when the boys, dressed in quaint -costumes, row to a small islet and return to the meadows beside the -stream. There are two bathing-places--one, a small backwater, called -Cuckoo Weir, where the lower boys bathe. Here is held the swimming -trial which a boy must pass before he can go out boating. The other -bathing-place, known by the fine title of Athens, is in the main river, -and is used by the bigger boys. - -A short distance downstream is the historic mead whose name is familiar -on every lip. It is a quiet, smooth meadow beside the river, and it is -Runnymede, or Runney Mead, where King John signed Magna Charta, and so -made a beginning of English freedom. There is now an island in the -Thames at that spot called Magna Charta Island, but it is not thought -that the Charter was signed there. It is believed that John and the -barons met on the mainland, the King riding down from Windsor to meet -his offended subjects. - -Below Windsor the Thames flows past many well-known riverside towns, -and at last meets the tide. The sea is still nearly seventy miles -away, but salt water now mingles with the fresh of the brooks and rills -which have made up the great river, and a change takes place--the -stream of pleasure becomes more and more a stream of busy trade. -"Though pleasure-boats are to be seen in quantities any summer evening -about Putney; though market-gardens still border the banks at Fulham, -yet the river is for the greater part lined with wharves and piers and -embankments. It is no wild thing running loose, but a strong worker -full of earnest purpose. It is the great river without which there -would have been no London, the river which bears the largest trade the -world has ever known." - - - - -IN A CATHEDRAL CITY. - -The cathedral cities of England are among the chief glories of our -land, and the charm of these ancient places is only felt to the full -when the splendid church dominates absolutely over the city clustered -around it. A cathedral in a place which has swelled to a big modern -town may be interesting, but it lacks the appropriate setting: it -should stand in the midst of a small, old city, whose streets are -narrow and winding; whose houses are gabled, lattice-paned, and with -overhanging storeys; whose medieval walls may still be traced, and the -mouldering keep of whose ruined castle may still be climbed. - -First of all English cathedral cities stands Canterbury, with its -splendid church, raised upon the spot where first Christianity -flourished in Britain. Kent was the cradle of the English race in -England, and to Kent came St. Augustine, preaching the Christian faith -to Ethelbert, Saxon king, who listened and believed. - -There was already a ruined church, it is believed, in Canterbury--a -church built by Roman or British Christians--and this was restored and -reconsecrated by the missionary bishop. In time this church grew into -a great cathedral, but in 1011 the Danes attacked the city, plundered, -slaughtered, and burned and destroyed the place. Again and again fire -wrought much harm, until in 1174 the cathedral suffered utter ruin by a -tremendous outbreak, and was reduced to ashes. But without delay the -builders set to work, and the present glorious edifice began to rise -from the ruins of the destroyed building. More than 200 years passed -before the great church was completed by the building of the -magnificent central tower, the famous Bell Harry Tower. - -"As we stand upon the summit of Bell Harry Tower--more happily called -the Angel Steeple--of Canterbury Cathedral, looking down upon city and -countryside, much of the history of England lies spread beneath our -feet: the Britons were at work here before the Romans came marching -with their stolid legions; here to Ethelbert St. Augustine preached the -Gospel of Christ; in the church below, Becket was murdered and the -Black Prince buried; to this city, to the shrine of St. Thomas, came -innumerable pilgrims, one of them our first great English poet.... -Away to the east and south are the narrow seas, crossed by conquering -Romans and Normans, crossed for centuries by a constant stream of -travellers from all ends of the earth, citizens of every clime, to some -of whom the sight of the English coast was the first glimpse of home, -to others the first view of a strange land; away to the north and west -are the Medway and the Thames, Rochester and London. From no other -tower, perhaps, can so wide a bird's-eye view of our history be -obtained; Canterbury is so situated that ever since England has been, -and as long as England shall be, this city has been and will be a -centre of the nation's life." - -Round the cathedral lies its close, and a cathedral close is one of the -quietest, quaintest, pleasantest places in the world. Clustered in -shadow of the great building lie the houses of the clergy who serve in -the cathedral--the bishop, the dean, the canons--and their dwellings -are fenced off from the streets without, and kept private from all -noise and traffic. The cathedral close is entered by a low grey -gateway in an ancient wall, and within we find quaint old houses with -oriel and bay windows, each kept in the trimmest order, with its -neatly-railed grass plot in front, and its garden behind, where peaches -and nectarines ripen on sunny walls. - -[Illustration: TOMB OF THE BLACK PRINCE IN CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL] - -From this haunt of ancient peace we will go into the great building and -visit the Martyrdom, the place where stood the shrine of Thomas Becket, -St. Thomas of Canterbury, whom the four knights of Henry II. slew in -1170. - -For hundreds of years the people of England looked upon Becket as a -martyr and a saint, and went on pilgrimage to visit his tomb. One -company of pilgrims lives for ever in the verse of Geoffrey Chaucer, -the great fourteenth-century poet; they ride from London to Canterbury -in a right merry fellowship, and tell tales to pass the time on the -way--the ever-famous "Canterbury Pilgrims." But throngs without number -of wayfarers who have found no such splendid chronicler marched to the -city where the bones of the martyr lay under Bell Harry Tower, and -their offerings made the shrine glorious with gold and gems. - -A Venetian who saw the shrine about the year 1500 says: "The tomb of -St. Thomas the Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury, exceeds all belief. -Notwithstanding its great size, it is wholly covered with plates of -pure gold; yet the gold is scarcely seen because it is covered with -various precious stones, as sapphires, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds; -and wherever the eye turns something more beautiful than the rest is -observed." - -This shrine blazed with gold and jewels until the Reformation, when it -was destroyed and its treasures seized by Henry VIII.; to-day nothing -of it remains. - -The second greatest memory of the cathedral is that of the Black -Prince; his tomb stands in the chapel where once stood the shrine of -Becket. "A splendid figure of romance he was--a great fighter, and, as -such, beloved of his race; the boy victor of Cressy; the conqueror at -Poitiers, where the French King became his captive; in his life the -glory of his country, by his untimely death leaving it to anarchy and -civil war. We stand by his tomb, looking upon his effigy, which is -life-like in its strength. 'There he lies: no other memorial of him -exists in the world so authentic. There he lies, as he had directed, -in full armour, his head resting on his helmet, his feet with the -likeness of "the spurs he won" at Cressy, his hands joined as in that -last prayer which he had offered up on his death-bed.' Above the -canopy hang his gauntlets, his helm, his velvet coat that once blazed -with the arms of England and of France, and the empty scabbard of his -sword." - -But when we have looked upon all the solemn beauties of the great -church; when we have seen the quaintly beautiful old houses of the city -about it; when we have visited St. Martin's, the oldest church in -England; when we have walked round Dune John, that mysterious mound -which no one can explain, still we must not leave without seeing the -oldest by far of all the old things of this old city. - -What is it? A small lane, no more, no less--a narrow trackway which -one would pass without noticing, if he did not know it was the famous -Pilgrims Way, the Old Road, the ancient trackway which ran westwards -from Kent to Cornwall, and existed in days when no such names were -known in the land. In the history of this lane, the name of the -Pilgrims' Way is a modern title; it existed long before pilgrims were -known, and it was used in the dim, far-off dawn of civilization when -skin-clothed Britons carried their loads of metal eastwards to send -them across the narrow seas. How old it is no man can say, but it runs -along ridge and height, showing that it was marked out in times when -the lower-lying country was impassable owing to marsh and woodland. - - - - -THROUGH WESSEX--I. - -"Wessex?" you say. "What county is that? We know Essex and Sussex, -but where is Wessex?" Well, it is not a county, and you will not find -the name on a map of England; but it is a good English name for all -that, and once was the name of an important English kingdom. - -When Alfred the Great became King, he ruled over Wessex, the -south-western part of England, and the old name still clings to the -district, which is now cut up into several modern counties. - -Wessex is a land of downs and dales, and broad stretches of fertile -country. It is the home of the chalk hills--those great, smooth, -rolling heights, covered with short, sweet grass, on which great flocks -of sheep pasture and speck the vast slopes with dots of white. - -"There is hardly any part of our land which has remained so little -unchanged as these Downs of Wessex. It is not because they are rugged -and difficult to climb: they are not; they are often easy to surmount. -There are far wilder and higher looking hills in both Wales and -Scotland, which have inhabitants, which are ploughed in patches and -dotted with whitewashed cottages. Yet the Downs remain lonely, their -sky-line unbroken by any sign of the presence of man. Just as the -Roman saw them from his trireme, the Saxon from his long ship, the Dane -from his war-boat, so we see them to-day--great solitary green mounds, -600, 700, 800 feet high." - -Why is this? The answer is simple. They lack water. Down their sides -flow no brooks, babbling from stone to stone; they are waterless, and -therefore treeless and houseless. They get plenty of rain, of course, -for when the sou'-westers blow up from the Atlantic they are drenched -by many a heavy storm. But the water does not run down their sides as -a river, or gather in their hollows as a lake. The chalk of which they -are composed is too porous for that, and the rain sinks swiftly and is -lost. - -Water is so abundant in almost every part of our land that we are -inclined to forget that the first need of a house is its water-supply. -He who thinks to build on the Downs must first reckon how deep a well -he must dig through the chalk before the water can be reached. And he -finds that the cost of obtaining water is so great that he must build -his house elsewhere. One or two houses have been built high up on the -Downs by wealthy people who were resolved to carry out a fancy. In -winter the water-supply is furnished by the rain which falls on the -roofs; in summer it is carted from the valley at great expense. - -In some parts of the Downs water is obtained by dew-pans or dew-ponds. -A space is hollowed out, as a rule, near the summit of a hill. It is -circular in form, and of no great depth. It is coated with clay or -cement, or some material which prevents the passage of water, and it -then fills with dew and rain, and, strange to say, many of these -dew-ponds never fail after they have once filled. You may visit them -in perfect certainty of obtaining some water. - -"Those who best know the Downs, and have lived among them all their -lives, can testify how, for a whole day's march, one may never meet a -man's face; or, if one meets it, it will be the face of some shepherd, -who may be standing lonely, with his dog beside him, upon the flank of -a green hill, and with his flock scattered all around." - -Another great feature of Wessex is its broad heaths--great sweeps of -country dark with furze and gorse and heath, save when they blaze in -May with the yellow blossoms of the gorse, or glow in autumn with the -purple of the heather. - -And bordering these heaths and downs are great stretches of smiling -meadow and corn land, dotted by quaint and beautiful townlets and -villages. Of large towns there are but few, for Wessex knows nothing -of the toil and turmoil of great industrial centres. She tills her -land and tends her flocks, and those occupations mean old farmhouses -and cottages, half-timbered or stone-built, roofed with red tiles or -grey thatch, and little country towns, silent and sleepy save on -market-days, when the farmers and dealers come in and buy and sell -their cattle and their produce. - -The coast of Wessex is washed by the English Channel, and through all -our history no other part of our coast-line has been so busy with -sailors and shipping as that which looks upon the narrow seas. - -The Roman, the Saxon, the Dane, have landed at its river-mouths, and -marched inland. In later days, the pirates which swarmed along the -Channel have attacked and plundered its towns. All through the Middle -Ages the citizens of the little towns along the shore had to be -prepared at any moment to beat off the attacks of freebooters who -sought plunder wherever it was to be found. Thus, in 1338, Southampton -was attacked suddenly by pirates on a Sunday when the people of the -town were in church, and the town was plundered and burned. - -To this day the visitor notes with wonder the size and strength of some -old parish churches along the coast. They seem needlessly large in -view of the small population of the village, and also needlessly -strong. But 500 years ago the church was also the fortress of the -place. When news was brought that an enemy was near at hand, all fled -into the church for protection; and while the women and children -crouched before the altar, where the priest prayed for the rout of the -foe, the men strung their bows, and prepared to launch showers of -arrows from every window and loophole. - -All through the long French wars the Wessex ports were in the thick of -the fray, fitting out privateers and supplying men for the Navy. Along -these coasts the press-gangs were very busy when sailors were needed -for the fleet and not enough men had volunteered. The press-gang was a -body of seamen, commanded by a naval officer, and sent out to seize men -and carry them on board ship by force. Tales are told to this day in -Wessex of a press-gang marching into a village at dead of night and -rushing into cottages to drag men out of bed and make them prisoners to -serve the King at sea. Sometimes the ploughman was snatched from his -plough, the shepherd from his flock. At times these men returned after -many years' absence to tell of their lives on board a man-o'-war, and -the battles fought with Britain's enemies; others were never heard of -again in their native place. - - - - -THROUGH WESSEX--II. - -The time of the French wars, too, was the time when the smugglers were -in their glory. The Government laid heavy duties on spirits, lace, and -such things, and employed a large body of officers, called "preventive -men," to watch the seaports and coasts, and take care that no such -articles came into the land without paying duty. - -But, for all that, many and many a cask of brandy and parcel of lace -came over from France, and was smuggled ashore under cover of night, or -upon some very lonely stretch of coast. The usual method of the -smugglers was this: a vessel laden with contraband goods would appear -at an arranged place upon an arranged time. With the darkness of night -a number of boats put off to her and received the cargo, and pulled -back to the beach. Here would be a band of comrades with a number of -strong, swift horses. The horses were loaded with the casks and -bundles, and then away they were driven full-gallop up-country towards -a safe hiding-place, where the goods could be stored until sold. - -The trade was very profitable, for the duty was so heavy that the -smuggler, if he made a successful run, could sell his goods far more -cheaply than a merchant who had paid duty, and could yet make a large -profit. But the preventive officers were always on the watch, and it -was a constant struggle between them and the smugglers. Sometimes the -officers won. They caught the smugglers and captured the goods. But -the smugglers often showed fight, and when both parties were well -armed, the affair would become a pitched battle, in which men were -killed or wounded on both sides. - -As a rule, however, the smugglers depended on hoodwinking and eluding -the preventive men, and endless were their devices to gain their ends. -Sometimes a vessel appeared off the coast behaving in a suspicious -manner and leading the officers to believe she carried a cargo of -contraband goods. At nightfall she exchanged signals with the shore, -but when she was boarded, nothing wrong could be discovered. She was -merely a decoy, and while the preventive men had been kept busy with -her movements, another vessel had landed a cargo at some other point -along the coast. - -[Illustration: IN AN ENGLISH COUNTRY TOWN] - -Along the shore are still to be seen many old houses, where devices -have been arranged to aid smugglers. There may be a secret cellar -entered by a hidden door, where casks were placed till the officers -were out of the way, or a sliding panel in the wainscot, worked by a -spring, is the door of a cupboard where bundles of lace could be -concealed. Then there are secret hiding-places for the smugglers -themselves when pursued by their enemies. In one house there is a -stone wall which looks perfectly solid. But if a particular stone be -pressed, a piece of the wall swings aside and gives entrance to a tiny -closet built in the thickness of the wall. Here is just room for a man -to hide, and when the door is closed on him, no one who does not -understand the secret could discover where he is. - -But the smugglers would soon have been suppressed had they not had many -friends in the countryside. Many a farmer took care to turn a blind -eye when he suspected that the smugglers were using one of his barns or -sheds as a hiding-place. He knew very well that when they went he -would find a cask left behind, and he took it, and nothing was said. -The preventive officers made capture of contraband goods in the -strangest of places--in the cellars of squires, who were justices of -the peace and supposed to aid them, and more than once in a church, -where a parish clerk or sexton, in league with the smugglers, had -stowed away the forbidden casks and bales. - -As for the smugglers themselves, they practised a thousand tricks to -outwit their enemies of the law: they shod their horses backwards to -throw their pursuers off the scent, they gave false information to draw -the officers astray, they tried every device known to outwit them. One -day a very active and zealous officer, much dreaded by the smugglers of -his neighbourhood, made his appearance in a small fishing village at a -very awkward time. In a cove below the cliff there was a string of -loaded horses waiting for the darkness to come up the cliff road and -gallop inland with their burdens. The preventive officer rode up to -the inn, where the landlord, secretly quaking, for he was one of the -smugglers, made a great show of welcoming him. - -In a short time there was an uproar in the village street; one of the -fishermen appeared to be beating his wife severely, and there was a -great hubbub for a time. Before long the ill-treated woman came into -the room where the officer was making a meal, and, apparently in a -state of anger and agitation, accused her husband of being a smuggler, -and offered to post the officer in a spot where he should have ample -evidence of the guilt of the villagers. - -"I'll put ye within a yard of 'em as they pass by," said the woman, -"and then ye can get all their names and know where they are." - -The officer, feeling sure that she was inspired by a spirit of revenge, -agreed to follow her directions, and, as dusk began to settle down, he -crept quietly to the back of her house, a spot which overlooked the -cliff road. - -The woman met him, and cautioned him not to make a sound. "For," said -she, "if they get to know of ye, they'll take your life; they be such -terrible smugglers hereabouts." - -She bade him get into a large cask beside the back-door, and pointed -out that he could see all who passed through the bung-hole. Eager to -discover the smugglers and the way they would take, he did so. But no -sooner was the unlucky man in the cask than a cover was popped on it by -the woman's husband, hidden near at hand, and the cover was held down -until it was firmly secured by hammer and nails. Then a spigot was -driven into the bung-hole, and a voice shouted, "Come on, boys! We've -boxed him up." - -At the next moment the preventive officer heard the tramp of hoofs as -the horses filed past the cask where he was shut up in utter darkness. -The whole thing had been a trick from beginning to end. The quarrel -between husband and wife had been a sham one, intended to lure the -officer into the trap, and there he was fast in the cask; nor was he -released until the smugglers were far beyond reach of pursuit. - - - - -THROUGH WESSEX--III. - -Wessex has many beautiful and peaceful country towns, and of these an -admirable example may be seen in Dorchester, the county town of -Dorsetshire, a place often called the capital of Wessex. This very -ancient town has seen the whole of the history of Wessex, the land of -the West Saxons. Before a Saxon settled in the country it was a -splendid city, the home of Roman nobles and the camp of Roman soldiery. -The Romans knew it as Durnovaria, and they filled it with houses and -adorned it with temples and theatres. To this day Roman remains are -being discovered. An old house is pulled down and the foundations -cleared away, and in the work the diggers come upon pavements which -were laid down by Roman hands and trodden by Roman feet. Very often -pottery and ornaments are discovered, and now and again a more striking -relic still--the pick strikes into a Roman grave and lays bare a manly -form which once marched with the legions, or the figure of a Roman -maiden, whose ornaments still lie among her mortal remains. - -After the Romans came the Saxons, and Dorchester was still a place of -much importance. In 1003, Sweyn of Denmark plundered and burned the -place and overthrew the walls in revenge for the massacre of Danes on -St. Brice's Day in the previous year. But the town was soon rebuilt, -and its history runs on through the centuries with outbreaks of fire -and plague and records of martyrdoms, until war visited it again during -the great Civil War. Dorchester stood against Charles, and saw some -severe skirmishing in its neighbourhood, but no fighting of any great -importance. But the reign of Charles's second son, James II., saw -Dorchester leap into terrible prominence, for here, on September 3, -1685, was opened the "Bloody Assize." Sedgemoor had been fought, the -rebellion of Monmouth had been broken, and the infamous Judge Jeffreys -had come down to the West to strike terror into the hearts of all who -had wished well to Monmouth. - -More than 300 people had been crammed into Dorchester Gaol, and nearly -all of them were condemned to death. Of these, some forty or fifty -were executed, and others condemned to be whipped in terribly severe -fashion, and to suffer long terms of imprisonment and heavy fines. - -After the Monmouth Rebellion, Dorchester sank back into the peaceful -history of a quiet country town--a history unbroken, save for local -events of fire and storm, until to-day. The town still preserves much -of its ancient character, and is a most interesting and picturesque -place, and, on market-days, is thronged by people of typical Wessex -appearance--dealers, farmers, carters, labourers, and pedlars. - -To the south of the town stands a great amphitheatre, which is said to -have been built by the Romans about the time of Agricola. It is called -Maumbury Rings, and is a series of raised mounds enclosing an open -space. It is calculated that some 12,000 spectators could have been -seated round the amphitheatre, each enjoying an excellent view of the -combats of gladiators or wild beasts in the arena below. - -But a still more wonderful relic of former days is to be seen two miles -south of Dorchester--the huge British earthwork, now known as Maiden -Castle. It is an immense camp or hill-fort, built on the flat summit -of a natural hill, and it must have cost the Britons who built it an -immense amount of labour. It is the greatest British camp in -existence, stretching 1,000 yards from east to west, and 500 from north -to south, and enclosing an area of 45 acres. The whole is surrounded, -in some places with two, and in others with three, ramparts nearly 60 -feet high, and very steep. When these ramparts were manned by the -warriors of the British tribe gathered within the fort, it was no easy -place to storm. - -Wessex has not many rivers, and most of them are not of any great size, -but they are famous among fishermen for the splendid trout which they -breed. These streams, running through the chalk, are marvellously -clear; in many cases the stones may be counted at the bottom of a pool -10 or 12 feet deep, and this clearness makes the catching of the trout -and grayling which live in them no easy affair. - -The largest Wessex river is the Avon, which flows past Salisbury Plain, -with its wonderful monument of Stonehenge; passes through Salisbury, -whose beautiful cathedral spire is a famous landmark, and runs into the -English Channel. - -Stonehenge is the most ancient of all the ancient monuments of Wessex. -We say that this camp was the work of the Britons; that pavement was -laid by the Romans; but no one knows what manner of men raised the -mighty standing-stones at Stonehenge. Nor do we really know why they -were raised. We believe it was for the purpose of worship--that the -stones form an ancient temple--but of this we cannot be quite sure. - -Stonehenge consists of two circles of great stones, set upright in the -ground. Across some of these stones others are placed to form arches, -and though many have been broken or thrown down, there are still enough -of them in position to show us the original shape of Stonehenge. The -outer circle is about 100 yards round, and was formed by huge monoliths -or single blocks of stone, each 15 feet high and 7 feet broad. The -inner circle is 8 feet from the outer, and is composed of smaller -stones about 6 feet high. There are two ovals, formed of large stones, -and the inner oval contains a huge slab of rock, which is thought to -have been an altar. - -The question at once springs to our lips, Who raised these enormous -blocks of stone, and set them up in so exact a fashion? It is one -which learned men are unable to answer. The general opinion is that -Stonehenge was formed as a temple for the worship led by the Druids, -the priests of the ancient Britons, but of this one cannot be certain. -The men who built Stonehenge have left no other record of their mighty -labours save the vast stones they raised, and the secret of this most -ancient monument is lost in the darkness of prehistoric days. - - - - -ROUND THE TORS. - -If we journey on south-west beyond the chalk ranges of Wessex we come -to a very different country indeed: we enter on a land of granite -hills. The granite rocks are as different as possible from the chalk -heights. Instead of rounded slopes, we see sharp, jagged peaks and -broken, rocky ridges. The smooth, open stretches of turf are exchanged -for wild, heathery moorland, broken by deep dells, and the waterless -chalk slopes are replaced by glens, through which leap foaming torrents. - -The granite hills rise to their wildest at Dartmoor, in the centre of -the county of Devon. Dartmoor is a great tableland, from which spring -granite heights rising to nearly 1,800 feet above the sea. For the -most part Dartmoor is uncultivated, a wilderness of barren moorland, -with lofty hills and jagged tors on every hand, here and there scored -by narrow valleys, which are often strewn with huge boulders of granite. - -The tors are huge knobs or humps of granite, and the word has the same -meaning as "tower." The most famous of them all is Yes Tor. Round -these tors stretch great sweeps of moor and morass. Nothing lives here -save the moorland sheep, who crop the rough grass between the tufts of -heather, and the hardy moor ponies--nimble, shaggy, little creatures, -with long manes and tails, quick as deer and surefooted as goats. - -In the midst of this desolate country stands a great prison--Dartmoor -Convict Prison. The place was chosen so that no convict could hope to -escape. Many of the prisoners go out by day to work in the fields -around the prison. They are closely watched by warders armed with -rifles. But for all that, now and again a convict makes an attempt to -escape; yet, though he sometimes gets away from the warders and is free -for a few hours, he is almost certain to be recaptured. He finds that -he has only got into a larger prison--the prison of the moorland. -There are no woods, so he cannot hide himself, and he cannot strike -which way he pleases, for there are the bogs to think of. - -[Illustration: IN AN ENGLISH LANE] - -In many places there are deep morasses in which a man would sink and be -swallowed up by the soft mud. So the escaped prisoner dare not move by -night lest he should run into a bog; then by day, if he attempts to -traverse the country, he is soon seen; so that it is almost impossible -to escape from Dartmoor. - -Another stretch of country dotted with tors and covered with moorland -is Exmoor, in the north of Devon. The hills of Exmoor are famous for -their ponies and for being the haunts of the wild red-deer, which are -sometimes hunted with staghounds. - -But not all the countryside consists of rocky table-lands, strewed with -craggy masses of granite. Far from it. Round these tors lies some of -the most beautiful and fertile land in all England. North and south of -Dartmoor are sweeps of country which yield the richest farm and dairy -produce to be found anywhere. Famous breeds of cattle and sheep graze -in the pastures. Devonshire "cream" is known and loved wherever it -goes, and luscious cider is made from the apples of its splendid -orchards. - -Great numbers of visitors every year are drawn to this fair county to -behold its beauties and to stroll through the Devonshire lanes. A -Devonshire lane in the cultivated portion of the countryside has hardly -its like elsewhere. The land is red, the earth of the soft red -sandstone, and through this land the lanes run in deep, hollow ways, -often so deep that a carriage is quite hidden from the view of one -standing in the fields on either hand. One writer speaks of driving in -a dogcart along one of these deep lanes on a day in late autumn, when -he heard the cry of hounds. The hunt was coming his way, and he drew -rein. Presently the hunt went whirling by, literally over his head. -Horsemen and horsewomen cleared the lane, one after the other, in -flying leaps, the big hunters taking the huge trench with tremendous -bounds. - -These trench-like lanes have been formed by the wear and tear of ages -of traffic. In the soft red soil the crunch of wheels and the stamp of -hoofs have worn the surface down and down, and rain has washed away the -loose soil, until the lane itself has become, as it were, one vast rut. - -"As lovely as a Devonshire lane" is a proverb; the rich red soil and -the soft warm air of this southern county work together to form a scene -of wonderful charm. The steep banks are one glorious mass of ferns, -wild-flowers, and shrubs during spring and summer; in autumn they burn -with the fires of the fading leaves; in winter they are bright with -berries. - -The coast-line of this region is very beautiful, whether it faces north -or south, to the Atlantic Ocean or the English Channel. On the north -there are great beetling cliffs, with lovely valleys, called "combes," -running down to the sea between them. In describing the port of -Bideford, Kingsley gives us an admirable idea of North Devon scenery on -the first page of "Westward Ho!": "All who have travelled through the -delicious scenery of North Devon must needs know the little white town -of Bideford, which slopes upwards from its broad tide-river paved with -yellow sands, and many-arched old bridge, where salmon wait for -autumn's floods, toward the pleasant upland on the west. Above the -town the hills close in, cushioned with deep oak woods, through which -juts here and there a crag of fern-fringed slate; below they lower, and -open more and more in softly-rounded knolls and fertile squares of red -and green, till they sink into the wide expanse of hazy flats, rich -salt marshes, and rolling sand-hills, where Torridge joins her sister -Taw, and both together flow quietly toward the broad surges of the bay -and the everlasting thunder of the long Atlantic swell. Pleasantly the -old town stands there, beneath its soft Italian sky, fanned day and -night by the fresh ocean breeze, which forbids alike the keen winter -frosts and the fierce thunder heats of the midland." - -A little to the west of Bideford lies the fishing village of Clovelly, -famous for its striking position and the great beauty of its -surroundings. Clovelly lies in the cleft of a tall cliff, and its -single street straggles up and down the steep rock, upon which the -houses are perched in every nook and corner where room to set a -building could be found. All about the place are wooded cliffs, and -for quaint old-world beauty this village is declared to be unmatched -along the whole English coast-line. - -Near Torquay, a well-known watering-place of South Devon, is a very -remarkable cave called Kent's Cavern. You gain it by a hole in the -rock, 7 feet wide and only 5 feet high; but inside you find a great -cavern, 600 feet long, with many smaller caves and corridors branching -away through the limestone rock. - -This cavern was once the home of cave-men, those long-vanished -inhabitants of our land. This has been proved by searching the floor -of the cave. Deep down were discovered human bones and the remains of -tools and weapons. Mingled with these were the bones of the elephant -and the rhinoceros, the hyena, the bear, and the wolf. The tools and -weapons were of stone, and it is plain that the men who once lived in -the cave brought thither the wild animals they had slain with their -arrows and spears, headed with flint. All this happened a long, long -time ago, for some of the animal remains belong to creatures who have -long since become extinct. - -Torquay is but one of many lovely places lying along a splendid stretch -of coast, for the beauties of South Devon are as striking as those of -the north. Cliffs of bright red sandstone stand above the bright blue -sea, and where the cliffs are absent the land falls easily to the -water, warm and fruitful to the edge of the tide in that mild, genial -climate. - -"The rounded hills slope gently to the sea, spotted with squares of -emerald grass, and rich red fallow fields, and parks full of stately -timber trees. Long lines of tall elms, just flashing green in the -spring hedges, run down to the very water's edge, their boughs unwarped -by any blast; and here and there apple orchards are just bursting into -flower in the soft sunshine, and narrow strips of water-meadows line -the glens, where the red cattle are already lounging knee-deep in rich -grass within two yards of the rocky, pebbly beach. The shore is silent -now, the tide far out, but six hours hence it will be hurling columns -of rosy foam high into the sunlight, and sprinkling passengers, and -cattle, and trim gardens which hardly know what frost and snow may be, -but see the flowers of autumn meet the flowers of spring, and the old -year linger smilingly to twine a garland for the new." - - - - -THE LAND OF SAINTS. - -Cornwall, that craggy promontory which England thrusts out into the -Atlantic as a man might thrust out his leg, is often called the "Land -of Saints." It gains this name because every other village is named -after a saint, and for the most part they are saints unknown to the -calendar, and never heard of in other parts of the country. There are -St. Cuby and St. Tudy, St. Piran and St. Ewe, St. Blazey and St. Eve, -St. Merryn and St. Buryan, St. Gennys and St. Issey, and scores of -other strangely-named saints. - -The names of these saints take us back to a time when England was a -heathen country, and our Saxon forefathers still followed the worship -of Odin and Thor. Cornwall, then, was filled with British Christians, -driven west before the Saxon inroads, and the land abounded with Celtic -saints, many of them from Ireland, Wales, and Brittany. - -Every saint founded a church, bearing his name, and in time the village -which grew up around the church took the name, and often bears it to -this day. The process of founding was in this fashion: When the saint, -during his wanderings through the land, came to a place where he -thought a church was needed, he begged a small piece of land from the -chief of the tribe living in that spot. Upon this patch of territory -the saint abode, fasting and praying for forty days and nights, and at -the end of that period the patch of land was sacred to him for ever, -and bore his name. Then he and his disciples built a church there, and -sometimes a monastery gathered about it. When the saint had placed all -in order at one spot, he often moved on to another, and founded a fresh -church there. - -The old saints were much loved by the people, for they were always -using their influence with the chiefs and great men on the side of -mercy and kindness towards the poor and helpless. Many stories were -told of them, and are still remembered. One day St. Columba was -walking along the road, when he saw a poor widow gathering -stinging-nettles. He asked her why she did it, and she replied that -she was too poor to buy other food, and that she gathered nettles for -the pot. - -"Then," said Columba, "while my people are so poor, I will eat no -better food." - -He went back to the monastery and said to the disciple who prepared his -food: "From this day I will eat nothing but nettles." - -But, after a time, the disciple saw that the good old man was getting -very thin and weak, and it troubled him. So he took a hollow -elder-stalk, filled it with butter, and stirred the butter into the -nettle-broth. - -"The nettles have a new taste," said St. Columba; "they are rich and -sweet. I must see what you have put into them;" and he came to see -them cooked. - -"You see, master dear," said his disciple, "I do not put anything into -the pot save this stick, with which I stir them." - -In a rough and cruel age the saints taught people to be kind to -children and to poor dumb beasts and birds. Here is a story of a saint -and a child. - -There was a saint whose name was St. Maccarthen, and the ruler of his -countryside was King Eochaid. One day the king sent his little son -with a message to the saint. The little boy's mother gave him a red, -round apple to eat on the way. The boy played with his pretty apple as -he went, tossing it up and catching it. As it happened, it rolled from -him and was lost. The child hunted here and there until he was tired -out, and as the sun was setting he laid himself down in the middle of -the way and went to sleep. As he slept, St. Maccarthen came along the -road. The saint at once wrapped his mantle round the sleeping child, -and sat beside him all night to guard his slumber. Many people passed -along the way, but the saint turned them aside, for he would neither -break the child's slumber nor permit an accident to befall him. - -Many a saint had not only a church named after him, but a well also. -Cornwall is full of "holy wells." In former days these wells were held -to possess miraculous powers, and people came from great distances to -drink the sacred water and make vows to the saint in whose honour the -well was named. One of the best-known of these wells is the Well of -St. Keyne. It was believed that, in the case of a newly-married -couple, the first to drink of the water of this well would hold the -mastery of the household. Southey has a ballad on this subject, -describing how a bridegroom hurried from the church to the well. But -all in vain: his wife had taken a bottle of the water to church with -her! - -Cornwall is a land of bleak, rugged granite heights and desolate moors, -with lovely dells nestling amid the wilderness, combes filled with -trees, and fields whose grass is green the winter through. Its coast -is for the most part very dangerous, with immense cliffs, broken but by -few openings. It is a coast to which the sailor gives a wide berth, -especially in stormy weather, and if he fails to do so, he will almost -certainly pay the penalty with his life. Many terrible shipwrecks have -taken place off the shores of Cornwall, especially upon the deadly -Manacles, the great reef near the Lizard, and the churchyards in the -neighbourhood are full of the graves of many and many a drowned man or -woman tossed up on the beach near at hand. - -If you should go for a stroll on the cliffs about the Lizard some fine -morning in July, you would see fishermen there, smoking and staring out -to sea in, as it would seem to you, an idle fashion. But, suddenly, -one of them, who has been sitting on the turf, springs to his feet. He -begins to leap and yell as if he had gone mad. He points out to sea, -and begins to roar over the edge of the cliff to his friends below. -His companions on the watch now show an equal excitement, and you -wonder what it is all about. You look long at the place to which they -are pointing, and at length you make out that there is a darkish patch -of water over which a number of sea-birds are hovering. It is a vast -shoal of pilchards coming in-shore, and the apparent idlers on the -cliff were watching for it. - -[Illustration: SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHPLACE] - -The men on the cliff are called "huers"--shouters (from the French -_huer_, to shout)--and their cries and signals direct their friends in -the boats which way to pull to surround the shoal. From the surface -the shoal cannot be seen, but the "huers" aloft can make out every -movement of the vast mass offish, and guide the fishermen below. - -A pilchard is a fish which looks much like a herring, but it is -smaller, though it has larger scales. The shoals appear at the end of -June, but at that time they are in deep water, and the fishing-smacks -sail out in search of them and put down drift-nets. These nets are -hung in the water like walls of hemp set across the drift of the tide. -The pilchards swim into the nets, thrust their heads through the -meshes, and are caught by the gills. This kind of fishing can only be -carried on by night, for the pilchards are too keen-sighted to swim -into the meshes by day. - -As the season advances, the pilchards come nearer in-shore, and now the -great season of the pilchard-fishery arrives. A great shoal of -pilchards is a marvellous sight. The sea appears to be literally -packed solid with them. The surface boils with their movement, and -numbers are seen leaping out of the water like trout in a stream. Now -the fishermen get out their mighty seine-nets and prepare to wall up -the multitude of pilchards. - -Guided by the "huers," they shoot the great nets around the shoal till -it is enclosed. Then smaller nets are shot into the great net, and in -these the fish are drawn to the surface beside the waiting boats. It -is a wonderful sight to see the net come up. It is filled with one -quivering mass of silver, and into this mass the fishermen dip baskets -and toss the fish into the boats by scores and hundreds. When a boat -is filled, it heads at once for the shore, and a waiting boat takes its -place; and so it goes on till the great seine-net is empty. - -On shore the scene is every whit as busy as on sea. Every living soul -in the fishing village swarms down to the beach to lend a hand. The -boats are rapidly emptied, and sail or pull back to the shoal; the -workers ashore carry the fish to the cellars, where the women take them -in hand. Anything and everything that will carry fish is pressed into -service. The pilchards are piled on donkey-carts, wheelbarrows, and -hand-carts; two boys have a clothes-basket between them, and small -children carry a dozen or two in little baskets. Into the cellars go -the fish as swiftly as possible. - -A fish-cellar for pilchards is usually cut out of the rock, and the -floor is covered with a layer of salt. Upon this salt the women -engaged in the task of curing the fish spread a complete layer of -pilchards. Salt is spread again till the fish are covered, and then -comes another layer of pilchards; and in this way, by alternate layers -of salt and fish, the cellar is filled. On top of all are placed -weighted boards to press out the water and oil from the mass below, and -the cellar is left for some weeks for the fish to cure. Then it is -opened, and the salted fish are packed in barrels and sent away to -market. - - - - -IN SHAKESPEARE'S COUNTRY. - -England's greatest poet was born in the heart of the land, in "leafy -Warwickshire." His early home, Stratford-on-Avon, lies beside a -pleasant stream, flowing gently through a pleasant country. -Warwickshire has no scenes of wild and striking grandeur to offer to -the traveller; it can boast of no craggy rocks or rushing torrents, but -it is full of quiet loveliness. It is a county of rich meadow-land, -watered by slow-flowing streams and brooks, broken and diversified by -most picturesque woodland scenery, and its highways and byways wend by -splendid parks, and past castles and mansions rich in tradition, quaint -and beautiful in architecture. - -Stratford-on-Avon stands to-day, as it stood of old, in "a sweet and -pleasant place of good pasturage and watering." Beside it flows the -clear Avon, and around it spread lovely meadows and fertile corn-lands, -while many a leafy byway or field-path leads to the quaint old-world -villages which lie in the neighbourhood, and with which Shakespeare was -familiar. - -In the town itself, the chief centre of interest is the house in which -he was born. It stands in Henley Street--a quaint, half-timbered, -two-storied building, with dormer windows and a wooden porch. The -house has been much altered since Shakespeare's day, for it was used -for more than 200 years as a dwelling-house, and finally came down to -being a butcher's shop. At last, towards the middle of the nineteenth -century, the house was purchased by the nation, and restored as nearly -as possible to the appearance it must have presented when Shakespeare's -home. - -After the birthplace comes the burial-place, and this is in the chancel -of Holy Trinity Church, whose tall spire rises so beautifully beside -the placid Avon. The church stands on a terrace beside the river, -almost embosomed in trees, and approached by a pleasant avenue of -limes. Everyone visits it to see the monument and grave of -Shakespeare. A bust of the great poet is placed on the north wall of -the chancel, and his grave lies below, and within the altar-rails. -Here we may read the well-known lines: - - "GOOD FREND FOR JESUS SAKE FORBEARE - TO DIGG THE DUST ENCLOASED HEARE - BLESTE BE Y^E MAN Y^T SPARES THES STONES; - AND CURST BE HE Y^E MOVES^S MY BONES. - - -Why did Shakespeare write these lines? Because in those days graves -were very often disturbed, and he wished his remains to lie at peace in -the grave which, very likely, he had chosen for himself. - -A most interesting place is the Guild Hall, a fine old half-timbered -building erected in 1296, and used for hundreds of years as a Town -Hall. With this building Shakespeare was very familiar, and it is -probable that here he became acquainted with plays and players, for -performances were given in it during Shakespeare's boyhood by -travelling companies. - -Above the Guild Hall is the famous Grammar School, where Shakespeare -learned the "small Latin and less Greek" of which Ben Jonson spoke. -The desk which he is said to have used now stands in the Museum formed -at the birthplace. - -When Shakespeare returned from London to spend his last years in his -native town, he bought a fine house called New Place, and in the garden -he planted a mulberry-tree. Nearly 150 years after the death of -Shakespeare the property came into the hands of a clergyman named -Gastrell, a man of violent and selfish temper. First he became angry -because visitors to the town often asked permission to view the famous -mulberry-tree which the great poet had planted, and he cut the tree -down. But much worse was to follow. - -After a time a quarrel arose between Gastrell and the authorities of -Stratford over the payment of rates for New Place. In his anger, the -furious clergyman actually pulled down to the ground Shakespeare's own -home and sold the materials. Now nothing remains but the site and a -few traces of the foundations. - -When the visitor has seen the memorials of Shakespeare, he will take a -pleasant walk of about a mile from Stratford to Shottery, to see Anne -Hathaway's cottage there. It is a picturesque, half-timbered, thatched -cottage, in which it is supposed that Shakespeare's wife spent her -maiden days, but the theory is by no means certain. It is known that -in Shakespeare's time the cottage was tenanted by one Richard Hathaway, -who had a daughter Anne or Agnes, and there is some evidence to connect -this Anne with the Anne Hathaway whom the poet married, but of distinct -proof there is none. Still, tradition is in favour of the belief, and -the cottage has now been acquired by the trustees of Shakespeare's -birthplace. - -Many days may easily and pleasantly be spent in excursions around -Stratford, visiting one after another of the pretty villages which the -poet knew, and the places with which his name is connected. The best -time of all is in spring or early summer, when - - "Daisies pied, and violets blue, - And lady-smocks all silver-white, - And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, - Do paint the meadows with delight." - -Then the way is shaded by the tender foliage of the noble elms, which -flourish so mightily in this deep, strong soil that the elm is -sometimes called the "Warwickshire weed." - -About four miles from Stratford stands a fine old Elizabethan -manor-house, Charlecote, in whose deer-park tradition says that -Shakespeare went poaching. Many old accounts of the poet's life state -that he left Stratford and went to London in fear of Sir Thomas Lucy of -Charlecote, whose deer he had stolen from the park. It is not at all -certain that this happened, but that Shakespeare did not like Sir -Thomas Lucy is very plain from his works. In "The Merry Wives of -Windsor" there is a "Mr. Justice Shallow," of whom the poet makes great -fun, and draws in a very ridiculous light. It is clear from many -little touches that Shakespeare had Sir Thomas Lucy in his mind when he -drew this portrait of a pompous country squire. - -The mansion of Charlecote is of great interest in itself as a perfect -specimen of an Elizabethan manor-house. Save for a couple of rooms -added to the structure, it stands exactly as Sir Thomas Lucy built it -in 1558. It was built originally with a front and two projecting -wings, and it was visited by Queen Elizabeth in 1572. In honour of -this visit Sir Thomas added a porch and adorned it with the Queen's -arms and monogram. By this addition the plan of the house was made to -exactly resemble a capital E, and thus commemorate the royal visit. - -Charlecote is approached from the road through an ancient gatehouse, a -most beautiful and picturesque building which opens upon a courtyard or -walled flower-garden, and the whole place is in most perfect order and -preservation. It is an Elizabethan home lasting unchanged until the -twentieth century. - - - - -AN OLD ENGLISH HOUSE. - -England is full of castles, abbeys, and manor-houses, which are still -occupied by the descendants of those who built them or by those into -whose hands they have passed in later days, and among these stately -piles it is hard to pick one as a type of a fine old English house. -But, putting aside the great castles, like Warwick, whose frowning -walls and grim battlements tell of an age when defence was the first -thought in the mind of a builder, let us take a mansion erected at a -more peaceful time. Such a mansion is to be found in Compton Wynyates, -a fine old Warwickshire house, built in 1509. - -Compton Wynyates stands in a very secluded spot, some twelve miles from -Stratford, hidden away in a thickly-wooded dell. You approach the -house along a mere byway, and do not see it until you are close upon -it. Then a picturesque medley of gables, turrets, battlements and -chimneys, springs to view, and you stand to wonder at so splendid a -house being built in so hidden and solitary a place. - -[Illustration: AN ENGLISH COUNTRY HOME] - -Compton Wynyates was built at a time when the bare lofty walls of a -castle-keep were being deserted for the brighter, more cheerful rooms -of a mansion whose walls were pierced by many windows. But at the same -time it was not wise to live entirely without protection, so a moat was -dug round the house and entrance could only be gained by a drawbridge. -In our quiet days a bridge of stone has replaced the wooden bridge -which rose and fell, but the old oak doors which once barred the -archway leading to the house are still in position, and we can see upon -them the marks of musket-balls fired at the defenders of the place in -troublous times. - -Let us go into the great hall, the chief room of an old house--the room -where once the whole family dined together at a long table, the master -and his friends above the salt, the servants and humbler guests below. -The hall rises the full height of the house, and has a fine timbered -roof, and at one end is the minstrels' gallery, a picturesque -half-timbered structure, the place where minstrels made merry music at -some feast or on the visit of some great personage. - -In the hall stands a huge slab of elm more than 23 feet long and some -30 inches wide. It was once used for playing "shovel-board," a -favourite game with our ancestors, and when in use was set up on -trestles. - -In this hall Sir William Compton received Henry VIII., whom Sir William -had accompanied to the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Sir William, too, -had won much distinction at the Battle of Spurs, and was a great -favourite with bluff King Hal, to whom the knight owed much of his -great fortune. - -Next to the hall is the great parlour, the private room of the family -when they withdrew from the hall. It is finely panelled in oak, and -has a plaster ceiling, bearing the arms of the owners of the place. -Beyond the parlour is the chapel, decorated with very ancient carved -wooden panels. These carvings are very much older than the house, and -it is believed they were brought from an old castle which Sir William -Compton pulled down in order to obtain materials for his house. - -But it will be impossible for us to go from room to room of this -wonderful old house, for there are more than eighty of -them--drawing-rooms, dining-rooms, bedrooms, great kitchens with vast -old fireplaces, and gained by seventeen separate staircases, which wind -and twist their way through the building. It is said there are 275 -windows in the house, though an old story goes that no one knows -exactly how many there are, for he who tries to count is baffled by a -mysterious secret window, which he sees and counts on the first -occasion, and can never find again. Its chimneys, too, rise in a -veritable forest of quaintly-shaped stacks, and form as puzzling a -labyrinth as the windows. - -There was a meaning in this tangle of windows and chimneys, for Compton -Wynyates is full of secret hiding-places. Hundreds of years ago there -was need of them. To-day no man needs to hide himself unless he has -done wrong. Then, an innocent man might stand in great danger of a -powerful enemy or of an unjust law. So the old houses were furnished -with places where men could hide from their foes until an opportunity -came for escape. - -Again, Compton Wynyates was a Catholic house, and in those times Roman -Catholics were punished if they were found attending a Roman Catholic -service, and the priest who performed the service stood in danger of -imprisonment or, possibly, of death. So places were carefully -constructed to which the priest could fly to hide himself when officers -of the law came to the house in search of him. Many such secret -chambers are found in old mansions, and are known as "priests' holes." - -It was a common thing to form a secret chamber in the thickness of a -wall, and the first thing required was air, the second light. Air was -often given to a secret chamber by a chimney. But such a chimney -remained unblackened by smoke, and would soon be detected as not doing -its proper work, so it was often built in the centre of a stack of real -chimneys, and thus remained hidden. So, too, amid a great number of -other windows, it was not easy to detect that which gave light to a -hidden room. At Compton Wynyates such is the tangle of windows and -chimneys that a person may have pointed out to him the chimney and the -window belonging to a secret room, and yet fail to discover the place -when he searches inside. - -One of the secret rooms at Compton Wynyates was discovered by a child -of the house, Lady Frances Compton, in 1770. She was playing in a -turret room, and fell against some plaster-work, which rang hollow. -Search was made, and a concealed door was found beneath the plaster. -The hidden chamber was opened, and tradition says that the skeletons of -a woman and two children were found within. No one knows how they came -there, but it is believed that at some time of danger they had been -concealed there and forgotten. - -In the roof of this great building is the famous priests' room or -chapel. Here the Roman Catholics of the neighbourhood used to meet to -worship in secret. A safer and better hidden place could not be -devised. To this day the proof that it was a Roman Catholic chapel -remains to be seen. "On an elm shelf below the south-west window are, -rudely carved, five consecration crosses, showing that it had been used -for the purpose of an altar, and was consecrated according to the rites -of the Romish Church. The slab of wood is unique, in that it forms the -only known instance of a wooden altar in England." - -There was another huge room in the roof, 130 feet long, which was known -as the Barracks, a place where soldiers were quartered. Here may be -seen blood-stains, caused by fighting during the Great Civil War. The -house was held for the King, but the Roundhead soldiery broke in, and -there was desperate fighting in the Barracks, and many were slain. -Cromwell's men took the house, and held it for the rest of the war. - -In one of the drawing-rooms may be seen, carved beautifully in the -panelling, the arms of the Comptons and the arms of the Spencers, and -this carving bears witness to a very romantic marriage. In the days of -Queen Elizabeth there was a Lord Mayor of London whose name was Sir -John Spencer. Sir John was a very rich man, and he had an only -daughter named Elizabeth. Now, the Lord Compton of that day fell in -love with Elizabeth Spencer, but the wealthy merchant did not look with -any favour on Compton, and forbade him to come near the house. But the -young lady herself did not share her father's feelings with regard to -the young courtier, and soon a clever ruse was planned. - -One day a young man, dressed as a baker, came to the house with a huge -basket of loaves of bread. As he was going away again, with the great -basket on his shoulders, he met Sir John himself. The wealthy merchant -thought that here was a hard-working young fellow going heartily about -his business. He praised him, gave him sixpence, and told him that he -was on the high-road to make his fortune. So he was, but not quite as -Sir John thought. The disguised baker was Lord Compton, and in the -basket he was carrying off the young heiress, Elizabeth Spencer. - -When Sir John learned of the trick that had been played on him he was -furious, and vowed that he would never see his daughter again. But -Queen Elizabeth took an interest in the affair, and finally brought -about a reconciliation, and the arms of the two families were placed in -the drawing-room to show that peace was restored between Sir John and -the young people. - - - - -BY FEN AND BROAD. - -From hills and slopes, dales and uplands, we will take our departure -and look at the flattest land of England, the wide, level stretches of -country around the Wash, the Fens. A fen is a marsh, and once these -immense stretches of flat land were marshes pure and simple. There is -plenty of water about them now, but it is penned up by dikes and -embankments, and run off by drains as big as rivers. - -It is often said that those who care for Dutch landscape have no need -to leave our own country to enjoy it, for the Fenland is Holland in -miniature. There may be seen the same long flat stretches of country, -cut by long, straight canals bordered by willow and alder; the same -kind of dikes making the same fight against the encroaching sea, the -windmills pumping water into drains and out of some pool which is being -reclaimed; the green fields deep in grass, and the dark peat-cuttings -whence the peasantry obtain their fuel. - -It is nearly 300 years since a beginning was made of draining the Fens. -Before that time the whole country was one great marsh, through which -slow-moving streams crept to the sea. Very often vast tracts were -completely under water. Perhaps there was heavy rain and a flood ran -down the rivers; it might be met by a high tide sweeping far up the -low, flat river-beds. The flood and the tide met, and the water rose -high above the shallow banks, and converted the land into a huge morass. - -It is significant that the earliest drainers of the Fens were Dutchmen, -who directed Dutch labourers. These men knew what had been done in -their native Holland in the way of reclaiming land, and they saw that -good land could be made in the Fens if the water could only be kept in -its proper place. So they began to raise embankments, to scour out the -channels of rivers, to build sluices, and to pump the water out of -standing pools. - -The drainers had to make a great struggle with the forces of Nature; -they had almost a severer and sterner fight still with the Fen-folk. -The latter had been born and bred amid their wild watery wilderness, -and loved it. Their cottages were raised here and there wherever a -patch of dry earth showed itself above the bog, and they traversed the -Fens far and wide in their boats or on foot. When afoot, each man -carried his long leaping-pole over his shoulder. With its aid he would -skim like a bird over a stream or pool, and so make his way where -another man would have found his path hopelessly blocked. - -The Fen-men made a living by catching the fish which swarmed in the -countless waterways, and by snaring the birds which haunted the wide -reed-beds in vast flocks. They felt great anger at the thought of -their marshes being turned to dry land, and one of their ballads gives -their opinion very clearly: - - "Come, Brethren of the water, and let us all assemble - To treat upon this Matter which makes us quake and tremble; - For we shall Rue, if it be true that Fens be undertaken; - And where we feed in Fen and reed, they'll feed both Beef and Bacon. - - "They'll sow both Bean and Oats, where never man yet thought it; - Where men did row in Boats ere Undertakers bought it; - But, Ceres, thou behold us now, let wild oats be their venture, - Oh, let the Frogs and miry Bogs destroy where they do enter." - -The Fen-men fought hard against the improvements, and broke down dikes -and burst open sluices, but in the end the drainers outlived these -attacks, and the works were built. - -Generation after generation has drained and diked and embanked until, -at the present day, we may cross vast stretches of fruitful country -bearing splendid crops of corn and potatoes, which were once wild -marsh-land and impassable morass. And so it soon would be again if the -utmost care was not taken. The sea--the hungry sea--is always ready to -break in; the rivers are always ready to break their bounds; but the -former is held at bay by dikes, and the latter are kept in bounds by -strong embankments, and every defence is closely watched. - -It is strange to find here and there places in the Fens called -islands--as, for instance, the Isle of Ely--places far from the sea. -But once they were real islands rising from the waters of the vast -marsh. Perhaps the dry, firm land of which they consisted only rose a -few feet above the level of the water, but it enabled the Fen-men to -build their cottages, to pasture their sheep and cattle, to grow their -corn, and to plant fruit-trees. - -The most famous of these islands was the Isle of Ely, a patch of dry -land seven miles long and four miles broad, well remembered as one of -the last strongholds of the Saxons against William the Conqueror. But -the vast morass which once surrounded Ely has long been drained and -converted into fruitful soil, forming the immense flat amidst which -rises in stately and majestic fashion the noble cathedral of Ely. - -Yet the sea is not altogether the loser in the battle with man along -this coast. Much land has been won from it, much land has been lost to -it, and is being lost to this day. The low shores of Norfolk and -Suffolk, south of the Wash, are being steadily worn away in places by -the attacks of the sea, and year by year the low cliffs fall before the -waves of some great storm, and the sea makes a fresh inroad upon the -land. - -At Cromer, the well-known watering-place, the old town is under water. -The present town is quite new, and out to sea lie the houses of the -Cromer of past days, covered with seaweed, and with the fish swimming -up and down the streets where once the Cromer folk went about their -business. At low tides the ancient dwellings and ways can still be -clearly traced. - -Still farther out to sea lie the remains of a yet older village, called -Shipden. Five hundred years ago Shipden was a port on the seaward side -of Cromer, but harbour, village, and church were swallowed up by the -waves. The church tower was built of flint, as is the custom of the -East Country, and so well had the old masons done their work that a -piece of the tower is at times seen by the fishermen about 400 yards -out to sea, and they call it "the Church Rock." - -The same story is told of many other places. Towns, villages, -churches, have been swallowed, either little by little or at one great -gulp, by the never-resting sea. So serious are these inroads that -plans are being formed by Government to check the rush of the sea and -keep the waves in bounds. - -[Illustration: IN AN ENGLISH VILLAGE] - -A great feature of the county of Norfolk is the Broads--wide stretches -of water connected by rivers and streams, large and small--a district -beloved by yachtsmen and fishermen. All who love to sail a boat find -the Broads a summer paradise. They can go by innumerable waterways -from lake to lake, from pool to pool, from mere to mere, through a wide -district. - -A summer journey by boat through this land of streams and pools is a -very pleasant excursion. The traveller must fit out his yacht with -plenty of food, for the region is lonely, and houses and inns few and -far between. Very particular people carry fresh water as well, for the -drinking water drawn from the marshy soil is a very doubtful liquid; -the watermen who live on the Broads just dip up what they want from the -river, and there are those who say that the plan is as good as any. - -Even better than a yacht for a trip through the Broads is the local -barge, a Norfolk wherry. The Norfolk wherry is a true descendant of -the Viking longship, once so well known along this coast. It is a -long, low boat, broad and roomy, drawing very little water, and sailing -very fast. It has one huge brown sail, which is hoisted forward, right -in the bow; and to see a big wherry cracking at full speed across a -great broad with a favouring wind is to see a very fine sight indeed. -Stranger still is it to look across an open stretch of grassy country -and see brown sails dotting, as it seems, the surface of the fields. -They belong to wherries slipping along some hidden waterway. - -The sides of the Broads and rivers are often marshy, and dotted with -rushy and reedy islets in the most picturesque fashion. Among these -islets lie innumerable little pools called "pulks." From the islets -pheasants may be often flushed in summer and autumn, and coot in -winter; from the "pulks" may be taken large baskets of fish. - -The quantity of fish, especially in the remoter or preserved portion of -the Broads, is almost incredible, and anglers often reckon their catch -by the stone weight instead of the number of fish. A single "pulk" -will often afford a good basket, and a well-known fishing writer says: -"Once while yachting on the Norfolk Broads, we were lying at anchor -close to the shore. About a yard from our bows was a clear pool amid -the weeds, about 6 feet in diameter and 3 feet deep. This was -literally as full as it could be of roach and rudd swimming to and fro; -the brilliant sunshine lit up the red and silver and gold of the fishes -as they hovered over the bright green weed, and the whole made as -pretty a sight as I have ever seen of the kind." - -When winter comes, yachts and wherries are laid up, and summer -visitants fly away with the swallows; yet the Broads are not deserted. -The sharp weather fills them with myriads of wild-fowl--ducks and -geese, snipe and widgeon--and the wild-fowl hunter is out in his -slate-coloured punt. The boat is painted of this colour in order to -blend with its surroundings and escape notice, and in its bow is fixed -a huge gun, often throwing half a pound of large shot at a single -discharge. When this gun is fired into a flock of wild-duck, it will -often fetch down ten or a dozen at once, and the skilful punt-shooter -soon makes a big bag. - -Then, perhaps, comes sharper weather still, and the punts can no longer -move over the ice-bound waters. This is the time of the skater's -festival, and a nobler skating-ground can nowhere be found. Over river -and pool and broad he flies, with unnumbered miles of clear, open ice -before him. - - - - -BY DALE AND FELL. - -The huge county of Yorkshire has many claims on our attention. It has -vast manufacturing centres, and in some parts it is crowded thickly -with towns and villages, packed with mills, and studded with lofty -chimneys which belch out unceasing clouds of smoke. Then, again, it -has a splendid coast-line, with noble cliffs and rocky headlands, -dotted with quaint fishing villages and tiny ports, whence the "cobles" -put out to sea with hardy fishermen aboard. And, striking right away -inland, it can show some of the most beautiful scenery in its dales and -fells that our country has to show. - -Putting busy town and breezy fishing village aside for the moment, we -will go up to the lofty moorland heights of this "county of the broad -acres" and see some of their beauties, and hear some of the tales which -linger around their quiet, grey stone villages. - -On the western side of Yorkshire the land heaves up to the Pennine -Chain--the "backbone of England," as it is often called. It is not a -chain of sharply-defined peaks; it is rather a great mass of rolling -moorland whose tablelands, the "fells," are divided from each other by -deep valleys, long and narrow--the famous "dales." At the foot of each -dale flows a swift river, which, twisting and turning round sharp -angles of rock, leaping from ledge to ledge in sheets of foam, or -gliding in deep quiet stretches below an overhanging wood, affords most -striking and picturesque scenery. - -There are many points at which the explorer may strike into the hills -from the more level and cultivated part of the county. But perhaps the -best of all is to enter the dales at Richmond, a beautiful old town -beside the River Swale. It matters not from which point you approach -Richmond, there is one feature of the view which catches the eye at -once--the magnificent fashion in which the splendid Norman keep of its -castle rises above the little town. The stately tower stands up -four-square to every wind, just as its Norman builders left it 800 -years ago, and around it cluster the red roofs of the town, just as -they gathered there for shelter during the Middle Ages. - -From Richmond the Valley of the Swale runs up into the Pennines, and -the journey along it must be made by foot or carriage, for no railway -has penetrated the solitudes of Swaledale, and, as far as one may look -into the future in such matters, there seems every possibility of this -loveliest and grandest of the Yorkshire dales retaining its isolation -in this respect. About a mile from the town there is a lofty cliff -called Whitcliffe Scar, whence the spectator may see far up the dale -whither he proposes to journey. The country people call the Scar -"Willance's Leap," and it has borne this name since 1606. In that year -a certain Robert Willance was out hunting, and a great mist came down -the dale and wrapped the hills. So thick was the fog that Willance -could scarcely see a yard before him, and suddenly he found himself on -the verge of the Scar. It was too late to check or turn his horse: -both went headlong over the lofty cliff, and were hurled to its foot. -The horse was killed on the spot, but in some miraculous fashion the -rider found himself alive at the foot of the precipice, his worst -injury a broken leg. Full of wonder and thankfulness, Willance erected -inscribed stones to commemorate his marvellous escape, and the stones -are still to be seen at that point of the cliff from which he fell. He -also presented a silver cup in memory of this event to Richmond, and -the cup remains in the possession of the town. - -Pushing westwards through the bold and striking scenery of the dale, we -pass glen after glen, each with its little beck, its moorland stream. -At times the headlands spring up so abruptly as almost to shut in the -dale, and in times of storm the thunder rumbles from wall to wall of -the glen with tremendous echoes. Wonderful at such times of heavy rain -is it to see how swiftly the little brooks become swollen, how the main -stream becomes a raging, foaming torrent. Then we understand why the -bridges are so high and strong. They had seemed far too large for the -little river pushing over the stones: they seem none too strong now to -withstand the terrific rush of flood-water sent down from the broad -faces of the fells. - -As we gain the higher parts of the dale, trees and corn and rich -meadow-land are left behind. The farms are sheep-farms, and the moors -stretch on every hand. The houses are strongly built of grey stone, -and where there are fields, grey stone walls divide them, for hedges -cannot grow on these windy, storm-swept heights. - -It is striking to note how the houses and barns match the grey -hill-sides. Not only are the walls of grey stone, but they are roofed -with slabs of stone also, and these weather to beautiful shades of -green and grey, and blend perfectly with the prevailing hue. - -"In the upper portions of the dales--even in the narrow riverside -pastures--the fences are of stone, turned a very dark colour by -exposure, and everywhere on the slopes of the hills a wide network of -these enclosures can be seen traversing even the steepest ascents. The -stiles that are the fashion in the stone-fence districts make quite an -interesting study to strangers, for, wood being an expensive luxury, -and stone being extremely cheap, everything is formed of the more -enduring material. Instead of a trap-gate, one generally finds a very -narrow opening in the fences, only just giving space for the thickness -of the average knee, and thus preventing the passage of the smallest -lamb. Some stiles are constructed with a large flat stone projecting -from each side, one slightly in front and overlapping the other, so -that one can only pass through by making a very careful S-shaped -movement. More common are the projecting stones, making a flight of -steps up one side of the wall and down the other." - -From the head of Swaledale a wild road crosses the fells to -Wensleydale, the next great glen. The road bears the strange name of -Buttertubs Pass, because it passes the edges of some vast chasms -called, from their shape, the Buttertubs. There is no path leading to -the depths of these immense holes, but men have been let down into them -by ropes, and there found the bones of lost sheep which had fallen down -the sides. It is a most unsafe road for a stranger to traverse, above -all, if night is falling. The way runs along the lip of these -frightful descents, and is very lonely. If a passer-by fell into one -of these huge hollows, he would never be heard of again. - -The road is freely used by the dalesfolk, save when winter snowdrifts -block the passage, when it becomes too dangerous even for them. Snow -is a terrible enemy on these bleak heights if it makes its appearance -in earnest. The great snowstorm of January, 1895, will long be -remembered, for it "blocked the roads between Wensleydale and Swaledale -until nearly the middle of March. Roads were cut out, with walls of -snow on either side from 10 to 15 feet in height, but the wind and -fresh falls blocked the passages soon after they had been cut. The -difficulties of the dales-folk in the farms and cottages were -extraordinary, for they were faced with starvation owing to the -difficulty of getting in provisions. They cut ways through the drifts -as high as themselves in the direction of the likeliest places to -obtain food, while in Swaledale they built sledges." - -Buttertubs Pass leads us to Hawes, a quiet little town lying among -splendid hill scenery; and not far from Hawes is Semmerwater, the only -piece of water in Yorkshire that really deserves to be called a lake. -There is an old Yorkshire legend which gives Semmerwater a miraculous -origin. - -"Where the water now covers the land," says the story, "there used to -stand a small town, and to it there once came an angel disguised as a -poor and ill-clad beggar. The old man slowly made his way along the -street from one house to another asking for food, but at each door he -was sent empty away. He went on, therefore, until he came to a poor -little cottage outside the town. Although the couple who lived there -were almost as old and as poor as himself, the beggar asked for -something to eat, as he had done at the other houses. The old folks at -once asked him in, and, giving him bread, milk, and cheese, urged him -to pass the night under their roof. Then, in the morning, when the old -man was about to take his departure, came the awful doom upon the -inhospitable town, for the beggar held up his hands, and said: - - "'Semmerwater, rise! Semmerwater, sink! - And swallow the town, all save this house, - Where they gave me meat and drink.'" - - -Of course, the waters obeyed the disguised angel; and, for proof, have -we not the existence of the lake, and is there not also pointed out an -ancient little cottage standing alone at the lower end of the lake?" - -[Illustration: AN ENGLISH COTTAGE] - - - - -THE PLAYGROUND OF ENGLAND--I. - -In the far north-west of our land stands a group of bold rocky -mountains known as the Cumbrian Group. Here rise well-known peaks, the -highest land in England--Scafell, Helvellyn, Skiddaw--and among the -peaks lie many most beautiful lakes. - -This lovely stretch of country is called the Lake District, and every -year great numbers of people go to climb the rugged, broken heights, or -to wander beside the shores of these pleasant stretches of water in -this playground of England. - -The great charm of the countryside lies in the wonderful variety of its -scenery, and all the scenes so beautiful. The traveller passing -through the land by coach or motor traverses, perhaps, a frowning pass, -where huge bare rocks rise in gloomy grandeur, and the scene is one of -savage desolation. He gets a glimpse of a still wilder nook as he -passes the mouth of some "ghyll" (a cleft in the rocks), from whose -dark recesses a "force" (a wild, rushing torrent) is madly pouring. -Then he whirls round a corner, rolls down a slope, and the scene is -changed as if by magic. He enters a quiet vale shut in by the hills, -its level floor covered with sweet verdant meadows where the cattle -feed, its face dotted with the quaint grey stone houses of shepherds -and cottagers, and the "force," now a quiet, shining brook, winding its -silver links over the face of the tiny valley. - -On rolls the coach, and now a vaster prospect opens out--a prospect -almost filled by a wide sheet of clear bright water, one of the great -lakes of the country, and the road runs along the shore, skirting bays, -crossing tributary streams, passing under shade of the pleasant woods -that fringe the shore, and bringing to view at every turn some fresh -beauty in the ever-changing scene. - -The largest of all the lakes is Windermere, a splendid sheet of water -about eleven miles long and one mile wide. It may be seen admirably -from the deck of a lake steamer which runs from end to end. On a -summer day the great lake is a picture of beauty: its bosom is dotted -with white-sailed yachts, while pleasure-boats glide from island to -island or from shore to shore. Like a great river the lake winds -between its banks till northwards it is shut in by lofty hills, which -spring from the water's edge. The lakeside is dotted with pretty -houses, peeping from amidst groves of trees, with grey old farms lying -among meadows and cornfields. - -[Illustration: IN AN ENGLISH WOOD] - -At a point where the road from the town of Kendal runs down to the -waterside there is a ferry across the lake. From time immemorial the -dalesmen and market-folk have crossed Windermere at this point, and it -is known as The Ferry. - -"There are legends to tell of this Ferry. The most sinister is of an -awful voice which on wild nights began to peal across the turmoil, -'Boat!' Once a bold ferry-man answered the call, put off his boat, and -rowed into the storm and darkness. Half an hour later he returned with -boat swamping and without a passenger. The boatman's face was ashen -with terror; he was dumb. Next day he died. No boatman, after this -incident, could be prevailed to put off in darkness, so a priest was -summoned from the Holy Holme. With bell and book he raised the -skulking demon. At mid-day there was the voice of storm in the air, -though, mindful of the call of the Master on Galilee, the waters fell -calm. Voices argued with the priest, whose cross, firmly planted by -the edge of the lake, was surrounded by terror-struck lake-men. At the -end of a long altercation the demon released from thrall the soul of -the boatman, and craved for mercy. For its peace, the priest laid the -evil thing in the depths, there to remain until 'dry-shod men walk on -Winander [the lake] and trot their ponies through the solid crags.'" - -As we advance into the northern basin of the great lake, the scene -grows in grandeur. "Over a vast plain of water the distant mountains -seem to hang. There are misty indications of level meadows and -woodlands next the water, but the charm lies in the craggy, shaggy -braes and the uprising summits." - -The voyage is ended at Ambleside, on the northern shore, where we take -coach along the Rydal road to see some of the best-known parts of -Lakeland, famous not only for their beauty, but also because the great -poet Wordsworth lived there, and wrote of the lovely scenes which -surrounded his home. Our way will take us by Rydal Water into lovely -Grasmere, a sweet valley dotted with tiny lakes and ringed about by -wild and lofty heights. - -We pass Rydal Mount, where Wordsworth lived in old age, speed by Rydal -Water, and on into Grasmere, where Wordsworth's grave lies beside the -church, and the Rothay, his favourite stream, murmurs near by. - -Beyond Grasmere we toil up the steep Pass of Dunmail, a wild, desolate, -rock-strewn piece of country. At the head of the pass stands a pile of -stones--the Cairn of Dunmail--telling of - - "Old unhappy far-off things - And battles long ago." - - -In far-off days Dunmail was the last King of Cumbria, whose people then -were Picts. Edgar the Saxon came against him to seize the crown, and -of this crown of Cumbria a strange legend is told. - -The crown of Dunmail was charmed, and whoever could seize it was -certain to gain the kingdom. So Edgar the Saxon was eager to get it -into his hands. Now, there was a wizard in those days who lived in a -cave among the hills, and he held a master-charm which would make the -magic power of the crown useless. Dunmail sought the cave of the -wizard to slay him, and thus make himself safe in the possession of the -magic crown. - -But to reach the magician was no easy thing. His cave was guarded by a -ring of wild wolves, who watched their master. Further, the wizard had -the power to make himself invisible, save for one moment, and that at -the break of day. But one morning, at peep of dawn, Dunmail burst -through the ring of wolves and dashed into the cave, sword in hand. -The magician leapt to his feet to utter a curse on the King, and he had -called out the words, "Where river runs north or south with the storm," -when the sword fell, and he was slain at a single stroke. - -When Edgar the Saxon heard of this, he sent spies to find out the place -of which the magician had spoken, and they found out that the words -were true of Dunmail Raise. And they are true to this day. In times -of storm the torrent on Dunmail will set north or south with the wind -in most uncertain fashion. - -In the pass the two armies met, and there was a fierce battle. At -first the Picts under Dunmail held the upper hand, and the Saxons were -beaten back again and again. But some of the chiefs who followed -Dunmail were traitors, and they turned on their King and slew him, and -gave the day to the Saxons. - -As Dunmail fell, he tore off his magic crown and gave it to a faithful -follower. "Bear my crown away!" he cried; "let not the Saxon ever wear -it." He was obeyed. A few loyal chiefs burst their way through the -foe, the crown among them, and escaped in a great cloud of mist. They -fled across the hills, and came to a deep tarn. Here they flung the -crown into its depths, leaving it there "till Dunmail come again to -lead us." - -And legend says that every year the faithful warriors come back, draw -up the magic circlet from the depths of the tarn, and carry it to the -pile where their King lies in his age-long sleep. They knock with his -spear on the topmost stone of the cairn, and from its heart comes a -voice--"Not yet, not yet; wait awhile, my warriors." - - - - -THE PLAYGROUND OF ENGLAND--II. - -Over the top of Dunmail Raise we go, and soon Thirlmere comes into -sight--a long, lonely lake with never a farmhouse or cottage to break -the silence of its shores. Why so lonely? Because Thirlmere is at -once a lake and a reservoir. Its clear waters form the drinking-supply -of busy, mill-packed Manchester, and through ninety miles of mountain -and moorland and meadow runs a huge iron pipe, which conveys these -clear waters to the houses of the far-off town. - -To secure the lake from pollution, the whole of the ground around it -has been purchased and cleared of its scanty population, and now clear -brooks pour their water, undefiled by any use, into the great basin. - -[Illustration: ON AN ENGLISH COMMON] - -Seen from the main road--for nearer approach is forbidden--Thirlmere is -a scene of great beauty. The placid lake lies sleeping in its hollow, -and beyond, up springs the noble mass of the mighty Helvellyn, furrowed -with watercourses, jagged with scaurs and grey outcrops of rock, with -wide stretches of bracken and sweeps of green grass. Then, again, in -full sight, are Saddleback and, away to the north, Skiddaw; the latter -has a fleecy cloud streaming from its summit, much, we fancy, as the -smoke must have streamed away on that famous Armada night when - - "Skiddaw saw the fire that burned on Gaunt's embattled pile, - And the red glare of Skiddaw roused the burghers of Carlisle." - - -Some distance farther we pause to climb up to the Justice Stone, a huge -flat-topped boulder, a famous landmark, and a stone around which many -stories have gathered. It is said that in plague times this was a spot -to which came people from the plague-ridden town of Keswick, a few -miles ahead. They brought money in their hands and laid it on the -Justice Stone, and retired; then the pedlars and dealers, bringing -goods from the outside world, came up to the stone, laid down the -goods, and took up the money. In this way business was done, and yet -the outsiders did not come into contact with the plague-stricken -citizens. The Justice Stone was also the gathering-place for the -shepherds of the neighbouring valleys. Here they met to exchange -strayed sheep, and deal fairly with each other, and thus the name -sprung up. The stone was used for this purpose until almost within -living memory. - -On we go to Keswick, and here we are in the country of Derwentwater, a -splendid sheet which many hail as Queen of the Lakes. It is a most -picturesque lake, dotted with beautiful islands and encircled by -mountain heights. Its islands are real islands--not mere snags of rock -thrusting themselves above the water, but sweeps of level, well-wooded -land. On one of them, Lord's Isle, once dwelt the Earls of -Derwentwater. The last Earl was one of the Jacobite leaders of "the -Fifteen" when in 1715 the Old Pretender tried to regain the Stuart -crown. The rebellion failed, and the Earl was beheaded on Tower Hill. -His lands were seized, his mansion fell into ruins, and his family -became extinct. - -Not far from Lord's Isle are the famous Falls of Lodore, sung by the -poet Southey. His description does not hold in dry weather, but after -a great fall of rain his words prove to have no exaggeration about -them. Down from the moorland the stream comes rushing and leaping from -ledge to ledge of rock with clouds of spray, a tumultuous thundering of -leaping water, and all the force and fury painted in the well-known -poem. - -The head of Derwentwater is so overgrown by weed that a path has been -cut to allow boats to row up to Lodore, and not far away is the -Floating Island, anchored to the bottom by long cables of weed-growth. -It is formed by a great mat of vegetable fibre, which usually lies on -the lake-bed; but at times this fibre becomes filled with natural gas, -and then it rises in a mass and floats on the surface as an island. - -Near this point the River Derwent enters the lake from the narrow glen -of Borrowdale, famous for its "Bowder Stone," a vast boulder which has -fallen from the crags above. The remarkable thing about this huge -stone--some 2,000 tons in weight--is that it has fallen, as it were, on -its point and remained there. It has settled in some wonderful fashion -on so narrow a base that people on opposite sides of it may shake hands -through a hole under it. - -Borrowdale enjoys another distinction, too--that of being the wettest -place in England. At Seathwaite, near the head of the glen, 180 inches -of rain have been known to fall in a single year, four or five times -the average rainfall for the country in general. - -Not far from Derwentwater is the pretty lake of Bassenthwaite. Between -them is a low-lying strip of grassy land. And it happens at times when -Borrowdale pours down its teeming floods that this strip sinks below -the rising water, and the lakes mingle and form one great stretch from -end to end. - -But there is one other lake we must glance at before we leave this land -of beauty, and this is Coniston Water. - -Coniston Water is a noble lake embosomed in a mass of mountains, of -which the finest is Coniston Old Man, a famous peak. It is noted as -the home of char, that mysterious and beautiful fish of the Lake -Country. Very little is known of this fish, for, as a rule, during the -fishing season they keep at the bottom of deep water, and very rarely -are they captured with the fly. Sometimes they are taken by the net, -or by a long line weighted with lead. Potted char is a famous delicacy -in Lakeland, and commands high prices, and in old recipes mention is -found of char-pie. - -On the shores of Coniston Water stands Brantwood, where John Ruskin -lived, and Tennyson and other famous men have had houses beside this -beautiful lake. - -The craggy hills around Coniston are, in their most solitary recesses, -the haunt of wild goats. The goats were introduced a long time ago to -keep the hill-sheep from the most dangerous places, for a goat will -walk and browse calmly upon cliffs where a sheep would become giddy, -fall, and be dashed to pieces. Sheep will not feed where goats have -been, and thus they are kept from these dangerous places. The goats -are very wild and shy, and never seen save when winter's snow drives -them down from the rugged heights in search of food. - -Such are a few--a very few--of the beauty-spots of this lovely region. -We have not spoken of other lakes, such as Ullswater, home of beauty, -or soft Loweswater, or wild Wastwater, and many another mere or tarn, -all beautiful, all worthy of a place in the hearts of those who love -the romantic and the picturesque. - - - - -HEROES OF THE STORM. - -England has many workers, but none braver than the toilers of the sea. -Her coasts are dotted with hamlets, each with its little quay or open -beach, where her fishermen hoist their brown sails and set off, as -evening falls, to reap the harvest of the waters. - -It is a hard and perilous life. A fishing-boat puts off in the quiet -evening calm, as the lights shine out from the cottages along the -shore, but the men on board are never sure that they will see those -lights of home again. A sudden storm springs up; the heavy waves -overwhelm the tiny craft, and perhaps its brave crew are swallowed up -in the sea. A broken thwart or spar washed ashore may give a hint of -their fate, but they are never seen again among living men. - -But the facing of these perils breeds the finest and hardiest race of -boatmen in the world. This is seen to the full when a call is made for -the services of the lifeboat. Let us fancy that we are walking through -the single street of a fishing village on a winter day, when a -tremendous storm is lashing the coast. The street is empty save for -ourselves, and every door is fast shut against the bitter wind. The -boats are all home from sea, and are dragged high up on the shingle, -out of reach of the great breakers which thunder on the shore and send -their surf swirling in masses of snowy foam along the beach. We make -our way inch by inch in the teeth of the terrific wind, and are -thankful for the smallest shelter in which to pause and draw a breath. - -Suddenly a man comes racing up from the little quay. He pauses at the -door of a building which stands alone; he seizes a rope and begins to -pull, and the loud clanging of a bell mingles with the shrieks of the -storm. - -Ah! what a change! The silent, deserted village becomes a scene of the -busiest life and animation. Doors burst open on every hand, and out -rush men, and race head down against the wind for the building where -the bell is ringing. After them stream women and children; all run as -if running for a wager. What prize do those stalwart fellows race to -gain? The prize of risking their lives to help their fellow-creatures. -There is a wreck off shore, and the bell is calling volunteers to man -the lifeboat. The first men to gain the house form the crew, and these -at once begin to jump into oilskins and fasten huge cork belts round -their bodies, while the great boat is run out and hurried down to the -beach. - -Everyone lends a hand, and in a marvellously short time the lifeboat is -gliding down the slips into the sea, her crew aboard. The boat takes -the water like a duck, her sail is hoisted, and she beats off-shore in -a sea in which no other vessel could live. Again and again a wave -breaks over her and fills her full of blue water, but up she springs, -and empties herself like a sea-bird shaking the spray from her back. -When a sea breaks aboard, the crew grip the nearest thwart and hang on; -they are soaked from head to heel in an instant, despite their -oilskins. But they care nothing for that; their eyes are fixed ahead, -eagerly looking out for the wreck. What or where it is they do not -know yet. All they know is that the lightship which guards a dangerous -sandbank some miles off-shore is making signals, and they know that a -vessel is in distress. - -The lifeboat thrashes through the furious seas, and soon they see the -lightship--a stout vessel securely anchored in position near the -sandbank. It is her duty at night to keep a great lamp burning to warn -seamen not to approach her perilous neighbourhood. Soon the lifeboat -is sweeping past the anchored lightship, and her men hail the lightship -with a tremendous shout of "Where away?" - -"South end o' the bank!" roar the lightshipmen in reply; and the -lifeboat darts on like a living creature, for the gale favours her on -that tack. - -The short winter day is now closing in, and the keen eyes on board the -lifeboat are straining eagerly into the dusk, when a sudden shout goes -up from every throat: "There she is! there she is!" - -A tremendous blaze of light has broken out a mile ahead of them. The -doomed vessel is burning a "flare," perhaps of cloth soaked in oil, -anything to make a bright light and show her position. Suddenly the -flare goes out. It sinks as swiftly as it had risen, and a groan of -anxiety bursts from the lips of the lifeboat heroes. Has she gone -down, carrying to the bottom the poor fellows who had raised the flare -a short time back? They do not know, and on they rush to see. - -Soon they gain the tail of the dreaded sandbank, which has seen the -destruction of many and many a good ship, and here they find the wreck. -The back of the ship is broken, her main and mizen masts are gone, and -only the foremast stands; and in the foretop a dozen poor fellows are -lashed in the rigging, with icy seas sweeping over them at every moment. - -The coxswain of the lifeboat burns a hand signal, and it throws a -bright light across the roaring sea, and in a pause of the howling wind -the crew hear faint cheers from the shipwrecked seamen, and shout a -cheery reply: "Hold on, boys! we've come for you, and we won't go back -without you." - -But how to get them? that is the question. The lifeboat has ridden -through terrible seas on her journey, but they are nothing, nothing to -the seas which are breaking round the lost vessel; for the latter has -been driven out of deep water on to the bank, and on the bank is no -steady run of water, but a thousand furious cross-currents, whirling -this way and that way in terrific fury; and when current meets current -up goes a great column of foam as high as a ship's mainmast, and -setting up a roar heard above the wild hurly-burly of storm and sea. - -On board the lifeboat a quick, short council is held. - -"Wait till morning," says one; "we'll lie off all night." - -"Can't be done," says the coxswain; "she'll break up altogether long -before daybreak, and then it's good-bye to those poor fellows in the -foretop. No, we'll veer down to her, for we lie to windward." - -So over goes the anchor of the lifeboat, and the strong cable of -five-inch Manilla is made fast to it. Now, the coxswain is going to do -this: The lifeboat will swing at anchor, and the wind will drive it -towards the wreck. Little by little he will pay out the hawser, so -that, yard by yard, the lifeboat will swing nearer and nearer to the -perishing sailors, for perishing they are in the bitter cold of this -awful night. - -Down, down the lifeboatmen veer to the wreck, held safely by the mighty -hawser, and light after light is burned. But they do not dare to -approach the side of the wreck closely, lest the cable should strain -under the power of the tremendous seas and the lifeboat be dashed -against the sunken part of the wreck, when all might be lost together. -So they bring-to some five or six fathoms from the wreck, and one of -the lifeboat crew seizes a loaded cane, to which a light line is -attached. A signal is burned, and by this light he makes his throw, -and cleverly drops the cane into the foretop, where the benumbed men -are unlashing themselves slowly and cautiously from the rigging. The -light line is seized by the captain of the wrecked vessel, and by its -means a stouter line is drawn aboard, and thus communication is -established between ship and boat. Soon a couple of lines are rigged -up, and along these lines the sailors crawl towards the friendly boat. -Man after man comes in safety, and the lifeboat crew cheer at every -rescue. But it is terribly dangerous work. The gale is rising, and -the seas become more furious than ever. The lifeboat is tossed high in -the air, then sinks deep in the trough of a huge wave. The only bridge -to it is a couple of thin ropes hardly to be seen save when a signal -light flares blue in the night, but along these ropes crawl the -drenched seamen, their hearts filled with new hopes as their ears catch -the deep encouraging roar of their rescuers. Last to come is the -captain, who has rigged and handled the lines so that his men could -pass in as great safety as possible. - -"Come on, captain!--come on, in with you!" is the cry; and he comes and -leaps into the boat. Hurrah! they have every man. Now how to get -away? that is the question. They dare not haul up to their anchor lest -the gale should carry them back on the wreck before they could get the -boat under sail. - -"The anchor must go, boys!" cries the coxswain. "Up with a corner of -the foresail; that will throw her head off the wreck. We must run -before the wind." - -The manoeuvre is carried out with the utmost care, for the least -mistake will be paid for with the life of every man on board. - -When all is ready, the coxswain's voice rings out again: "Out axe, and -cut the cable!" - -Down comes the keen edge, the last strand is parted, and away leaps the -boat into the darkness and the furious turmoil of the raging sea. -Straight across the shoals the gallant boat drives through the boiling -surf, in which no other craft could live. Staggering, reeling, -plunging she goes, but with every wild plunge she nears deep water and -comparative safety, and at last, with one wild, long heave, she beats -off the shoals, and the crew feel the regular run of deep water under -her keel, and shout joyously: "Hurrah! cheer O!" - -For of the wildest storm on the open sea these dauntless British hearts -care nothing. And now they bring the nose of their gallant boat round -on the homeward tack, and run for the shore, where fire and light and a -warm welcome await them. And what a shout will go up when the cry -rings from the sea, "All saved! all saved!" for to raise that cry is -ample reward for these heroes of the storm. - - - -BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD - - - - * * * * * - - - - LIST OF SMALLER VOLUMES IN THE - PEEPS AT MANY LANDS - SERIES - - EACH CONTAINING 12 FULL-PAGE - ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR - - BURMA - EGYPT - ENGLAND - FRANCE - HOLLAND - HOLY LAND - ICELAND - INDIA - ITALY - JAPAN - MOROCCO - SCOTLAND - SIAM - SOUTH AFRICA - SOUTH SEAS - SWITZERLAND - - PUBLISHED BY - ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK - SOHO SQUARE, LONDON. W. - -AGENTS - -AMERICA . . . THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - 64 & 66 Fifth Avenue, NEW YORK - -AUSTRALASIA . OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, MELBOURNE - -CANADA . . . THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LTD. - 27 Richmond Street West, TORONTO - -INDIA . . . . MACMILLAN & COMPANY, LTD. - MACMILLAN BUILDING, BOMBAY - 309 Bow Bazaar Street, CALCUTTA - - - - - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Peeps at Many Lands: England, by John Finnemore - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEEPS AT MANY LANDS: ENGLAND *** - -***** This file should be named 50662.txt or 50662.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/6/6/50662/ - -Produced by Al Haines -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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