CONCERNING LITERARY MEN AND MAKERS OF HISTORY
For such a small area the island can boast a surprising number of
literary associations. That which remains pre-eminently the first is the
long residence of Tennyson at Farringford, near Freshwater; this lasted
for more than half his life, though in the end the poet was so worried
by those tourists who wished to "see" him, in the same simple style they
went to see Carisbrooke or the Zoo, that he built himself a new home
near Haslemere, and thither retreated during that part of the year when
he would be most likely to be pestered in the island. There is no doubt
that, though he was morbidly sensitive to public notice, he would have
greatly missed it had the incense not been offered him, and he certainly
did not discourage attention by his bizarre habit of dressing, which
made even those who did not know him by reputation turn to stare at him
in the street. Keats is another in the first rank of poets which the
island can claim. He wrote part of _Endymion_ while on a visit to
Carisbrooke, and _Lamia_ in a cottage at Shanklin; the part where this
cottage stood was renamed, in his honour, Keats' Green.
At the back of the island is Brixton, called Brighstone, where formerly
Bishop Ken and Samuel Wilberforce were rectors. The former was here from
July, 1667, to April, 1669, and here composed his famous hymns, while
Wilberforce wrote his _Agathos_ under the shelter of the same trees.
Another association which must be classified here, though in reality it
contains very little of the real "literary" essence in the true sense of
that much-abused word, is that of Legh Richmond, curate of Brading in
1809. He wrote the _Annals of the Poor_, of which the best known is _The
Dairyman's Daughter_. Why his very mediocre performances should have
travelled far and wide over the world, and been translated into numerous
languages, is one of the mysteries attaching to books. These writings
were merely little tracts written for edification, and without the
smallest literary flavour. Yet they are still remembered, and have in
the aggregate sold in thousands. The grave of Elizabeth Wallridge, the
prototype of the dairyman's daughter, is one of the show spots on the
island, and the coaches from Ryde to Carisbrooke make a détour to permit
passengers to visit the churchyard at Arreton where it is. Her cottage
is also pointed out to wondering visitors, who probably have never heard
her name, and go away with the vaguest notion as to what it is all
about.
Miss Elizabeth Sewell, a prolific writer for girls in the early part of
the nineteenth century, lived near Shanklin. Her _Amy Herbert_ was much
beloved of girls two generations ago, but would now be considered
insufferably tedious.
Fielding's account of his landing at Ryde has often been quoted, and,
though he was only a visitor, and not a resident, is worth considering.
He came by water from Rotherhithe to the island, a voyage that took
fifteen days, and he records in his journal: "This day our ladies went
ashore at Ryde, and drank their afternoon tea at an alehouse there with
great satisfaction; here they were regaled with fresh cream, to which
they had been strangers since they left the Downs." The ladies were his
wife and daughter and a friend. Fielding himself was at the time very
infirm, and there was "between the sea and the land at low water an
impassable gulf, if I may so call it, of deep mud, which could neither
be traversed by walking or swimming." There were great difficulties. At
length, "after being hoisted into a small boat, and being rowed near the
shore, I was taken up by two sailors, who waded with me through the mud,
and placed me in a chair on the land, whence they conveyed me afterwards
a mile further, and brought me to a house." Here the accommodation seems
to have been most primitive, and the author's description of it is in
much detail. Though Newport was a town when Ryde was a mere collection
of huts, the latter now outnumbers the former in residents, and is a
fine, large, clean town, with a good pier and handsome shops.
Dr. Arnold of Rugby was born at West Cowes, and a tablet marks the
house; but his early education was carried on by an aunt in East Cowes,
with which he is more closely associated; for even after he became a
schoolboy at Winchester his holidays were passed in the island. He
speaks of his father's house at Slatwoods, East Cowes, as the "only home
of his childhood."
[Illustration: FRESHWATER BAY. _Page 51._
Is at the western end of the island where the chalk forms the cliffs,
which are eaten into picturesque arches.]
Among the associations rather historical than literary must always come
first that of Queen Victoria at Osborne. The name is said to be a
corruption of Austerbourne, or oyster-bed. The Queen had been in the
island a good deal as a girl, her mother having taken Norris Castle,
near Cowes, for the sake of her daughter's health, in 1833. When Queen
Victoria and the Prince Consort accompanied the King of the French to
Portsmouth in 1844, they saw the Isle of Wight, and early in 1845, the
following year, they bought the estate of Osborne, afterwards adding to
it considerably. It was to Sir Robert Peel that the first idea of buying
the estate was due. The Queen, writing to her uncle, Leopold, King of
the Belgians, shortly after, says:
"You will, I am sure, be pleased to hear that we have succeeded in
purchasing Osborne, in the Isle of Wight, and, if we can manage it, we
shall probably run down there before we return to town for three nights.
It sounds so snug and nice to have a place of one's own, quiet and
retired, and free from all woods and forests and other charming
departments, who really are the plague of one's life."
The old house was pulled down, and the new one built, under the personal
superintendence of Prince Albert, from designs by Cubitt. The chief
features of the house are the two campanile towers, which stand up high
above the trees, otherwise the building is not especially picturesque.
The grounds were laid out by the Prince, and he also had a farm for
scientific agriculture. When the Royal couple were finally settled in
the house, the Queen wrote to her uncle, saying: "I wish you could be
here, and hope you will come for a few days during your stay, to see the
innumerable alterations and improvements which have taken place. My
dearest Albert is so happy here, out all day planting, directing, etc.,
and it is so good for him. It is a relief to get away from all the
bitterness people create for themselves in London."
This was just at a time when the bitterness and jealousy against Prince
Albert were at their height, and his unpopularity was making itself felt
in many directions--a source of great distress to the Queen.
The Queen and Prince were down at Osborne several times before their
own house was actually finished, and they began to go on yachting trips
from the island. One time they were so blown about in Portland Roads
that they nearly came to grief, and Prince Albert was very seasick
indeed. Another time they went even as far as the Channel Islands, and
it speaks well for the Queen's capacity as a sailor that she was able to
give lessons to her children, the Prince of Wales and Princess Royal,
while on board. From the Channel Islands they passed to Falmouth, to
present the little Prince to the inhabitants of his Duchy of Cornwall.
"A beautiful day again," wrote the Queen, "with the same brilliant blue
sea. At a quarter to eight o'clock we got under weigh. There was a great
deal of motion at first, and for the greater part of the day the ship
pitched, but getting up the sails steadied her. From five o'clock it
became quite smooth, and at half-past five we saw land; and at seven we
entered Falmouth Harbour, where we were immediately surrounded by boats.
The calmest night possible, with a beautiful moon when we went on deck;
every now and then the splashing of oars and the hum of voices were
heard, but they were the only sounds, unlike the constant dashing of
the sea against the vessel, which we heard all the time we were at
Jersey." In writing to Lord Melbourne on April 3, 1845, she says: "The
Queen had intended to have written to Lord Melbourne from Osborne, to
thank him for his last note of the 19th, but we were so occupied and so
delighted with our new and really delightful _home_ that she hardly had
time for anything; besides which the weather was so beautiful that we
were out almost all day. The Queen refers Lord Melbourne to Mr. Anson
for particulars of the new property, which is very extensive, as she is
not at all competent to explain about acres, etc. But she thinks it is
impossible to imagine a prettier spot--valleys and woods which would be
beautiful anywhere, but all this near the sea (the woods grow into the
sea) is quite perfection; we have a charming beach quite to ourselves.
The sea was so blue and calm that the Prince said it was like Naples.
And then we can walk about anywhere by ourselves without being followed
and mobbed, which Lord Melbourne will easily understand is delightful.
And last, not least, we have Portsmouth and Spithead so close at hand
that we shall be able to watch what is going on, which will please the
navy and be hereafter very useful for our boys."
When they finally got into their house, in 1846, they gave a
house-warming, which is thus described by one of the guests: "Our first
night," she says, "is well spent. Nobody smelt paint or caught cold, and
the worst is over.... After dinner we were to drink the Queen's and the
Prince's healths as a house-warming. And after it the Prince said, very
naturally and simply: 'We have a psalm in Germany for such occasions,
meaning a prayer to bless our going out and coming in.'" So the Royal
pair settled down in what was to them perhaps more of a real home than
any other of their residences. The model farm was a great joy to the
children, who grew up simply amid the trees and fields on the edge of
the sea. The Queen herself took up the part of an ordinary country lady
while at Osborne, and visited the poor in their homes, sitting by the
bedsides of the sick and reading to them. The Prince passed his time as
a country gentleman, looking after his estate and cultivating it. Many
times were they visited by the crowned heads of Europe, and all the
numerous relatives among the foreign royalties. Baron Stockmar, the
Prince's tutor, was a welcome guest, and made shrewd observations on the
development of the two he had first known as children. Many of the
Queen's letters relating to the great events which made up her outer
life are dated from Osborne. While she stayed in happy seclusion her
hand was ever on the wheel, and she missed nothing, though the roar of
wars and the terror of political upheavals might have seemed far
distant.
It was fitting that she should die in a place so intimately connected
with her domestic life, and where she had been more free from ceremonial
than elsewhere. She died at Osborne on January 22, 1901, at half-past
six in the evening. For some little time previously it had been noticed
that she showed a tendency to sleepiness in the daytime, that she
suffered from aphasia, and that her faculties were not as they had been;
but, by the etiquette that hedges royalty, these things were kept as far
as possible secret, and her death came as a shock to her people; so long
had she reigned it seemed impossible to think of England without
Victoria. The dining-room was made into a chapel by the removal of the
furniture and draping of the walls with crimson. The coffin was set on a
dais surrounded by tall silver candlesticks. Upon it was a pall of white
satin and lace, and upon the pall a small crown and one of the Queen's
robes of crimson velvet and ermine. Indian and Scottish attendants
watched at first, and were afterwards replaced by the 1st Grenadier
Guards. Victoria herself had chosen the manner of her funeral; she was
to be buried with military honours as a soldier's daughter. On February
1 the coffin was borne forth to Cowes, there to be placed on the Royal
yacht _Alberta_. Thus was her body borne to the mainland along an avenue
miles in length composed of warships, British on the one side and on the
other those of Germany, France, Portugal, and Japan. The minute-guns
boomed and bells tolled, and the scene was one of the grandest and most
impressive ever enacted on English shores.
Whippingham Church, built by the Queen not far from Osborne, is more
like the model for a child's brick palace than anything else. Here is
buried Prince Henry of Battenberg, once Governor of the island. The
church is enriched inside with many memorial gifts from the Royal
Family.
At Queen Victoria's death Osborne Cottage was left to Princess Henry of
Battenberg, who succeeded her husband in his office. But Osborne House
itself was turned into a home for invalids and convalescent officers, of
which there were a great number just after the South African War. Part
of the house is still kept as a show place, and many of the pictures,
though more interesting than beautiful, are worth seeing, while the
collection of Indian and other objects makes a veritable museum of many
of the rooms. In the grounds, in queer conjunction, is the famous Royal
Naval College, which is for first joined cadets, the younger boys, who
pass on afterwards to Dartmouth. It is said that Osborne gives the
finest education in the world, and no doubt the two eldest sons of King
George, who have been educated there, will have a special love for the
island for the rest of their lives, on account of their early
association with it.
[Illustration: BONCHURCH OLD CHURCH, NEAR VENTNOR. _Page 57._
This is one of the smallest churches in England and belongs to Norman
times.]