next to the Duke of Norfolk. After this, he had granted to him, in
reversion, the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Sark, Erme, and Alderney,
which he was to hold for the yearly tribute of a rose. He was also by
his sovereign crowned King of the Isle of Wight, his Majesty himself
placing the crown upon his head. This young nobleman, however, with all
his honours thick upon him, lived but a short life of greatness, and
died at Warwick at the early age of twenty-two, in 1445. He married
Cicely, daughter of Richard Nevil, Earl of Salisbury, by whom he had an
only child, Anne, Countess of Warwick, who died when only six years of
age, leaving her aunt Anne, wife of Richard Nevil, Earl of Salisbury,
heir to the titles and estates, and thus they passed to the family of
Nevil.
This Richard Nevil, then Earl of Warwick, is the one so well
known in English history as “the stout Earl of Warwick, the
king-maker,”—“peremptory Warwick,” the “wind-changing Warwick,” of
Shakspere—who, “finding himself strong enough to hold the balance
between the families of York and Lancaster, rendered England during
the reign of his power a scene of bloodshed and confusion; and made
or unmade kings of this or that house as best suited his passions,
pleasures, or interests. His life was passed in wars and broils,
destructive to his country and his family.” He was killed at the battle
of Barnet in 1471. He left issue two daughters, Isabel, married to
George, Duke of Clarence and brother to Edward IV.; and Anne, married
first to Edward, Prince of Wales, and secondly, to his murderer,
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, subsequently King Richard III. To the
eldest of these daughters, Isabel, came the Warwick estates; and her
husband, George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, was, by his brother
Edward IV., created Earl of Warwick and Salisbury. That ill-fated and
indiscreet nobleman, however, did not live to carry out improvements he
had commenced at Warwick. His wife was poisoned; and he himself, later
on, was attainted of high treason, and was drowned in a butt of Malmsey
wine in the Tower, by order of his brother, the Duke of Gloucester.
[Illustration: _Cæsar’s Tower._]
During all this time, Anne, Countess of Warwick, widow of Richard
Nevil, had undergone great privations—her possessions being taken from
her for her daughters’ husbands—and had been living in obscurity;
by Act 3rd Henry VII. she was recalled from such obscurity to be
restored to the possessions of her family; “but that was a refinement
of cruelty, for shortly after obtaining possession she was forced” to
surrender to the king all these immense possessions. After her death,
Edward Plantagenet, eldest son of George, Duke of Clarence, assumed
the title of Earl of Warwick, but was beheaded on Tower Hill. On his
death the title was held in abeyance, and was, after a time, granted
to John Dudley, Viscount Lisle, who was descended in the female line
from the old Earls of Warwick. This John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, and
Viscount Lisle, was made Lord High Chamberlain, a Knight of the Garter,
Lord Warden of the North, and Earl Marshal: and was created Duke of
Northumberland, but was attainted for the part he took relating to
Lady Jane Grey, and beheaded on Tower Hill in 1553. He married Jane,
daughter of Sir Edward Guildford, by whom he had a large family, of
whom the eldest, Henry, was killed at the siege of Boulogne; the
second, John, was called Earl of Warwick during his father’s lifetime;
Ambrose, who was created Earl of Warwick; Guildford, who was beheaded
with his father; Robert, who was created Earl of Leicester, and
others. In 1557 Ambrose Dudley, the third son, having obtained a
reversion of the attainder, had the estates restored to him, and was
re-created Earl of Warwick. He married three wives, but had no issue by
either, and dying in 1589, the title became extinct.
[Illustration: _The Castle, from the Bridge._]
In 1618 the title of Earl of Warwick was conferred by James I. on
Robert, Lord Rich, but, not being descended from the former earls, the
estates did not fall into his hands. Dying in a few months after his
creation, he was succeeded by his son, Robert Rich, Lord High Admiral
for the Long Parliament, whose son (afterwards Earl of Warwick) married
Frances, the youngest daughter of Oliver Cromwell. After passing
through five other members of this family, the title again became
extinct, on the death of the last earl of that name, Edward Rich, in
1759.
In November of that year (1759) the title was conferred upon Francis
Greville, Lord Brooke, of the long and illustrious line of the
Grevilles, and a descendant of Fulke Greville, the “servaunt to Quene
Elizabeth, Concellor to King James, and Frend to Sir Philip Sidney,”
to whom we have alluded in our account of Penshurst. Francis, Lord
Brooke, succeeded his father in the barony, when only eight years of
age. In 1746 he was raised to the dignity of Earl Brooke, of Warwick
Castle; and in 1759 was created Earl of Warwick, with patent to bear
the ancient crest of the earls—the bear and ragged staff. He married
a daughter of Lord Archibald Hamilton, by whom, besides others, he had
a son, George Greville, who succeeded him as second earl of that line.
His lordship married, first, Georgiana, only daughter of Lord Selsey,
who died soon after the birth of her only child, a year after marriage;
the child, a son, living to the age of fourteen. He married, secondly,
Henrietta, daughter of R. Vernon, Esq., and his wife, the Countess of
Ossory, and sister of the Marquis of Stafford. By that lady he had
three sons and six daughters. Dying in 1816, he was succeeded by his
eldest son, Henry Richard Greville, as Earl Brooke, Earl of Warwick,
&c., who, in 1816, married Lady Sarah Elizabeth Saville, daughter of
the Earl of Mexborough, and widow of Lord Monson: she died in 1851. By
this lady his lordship (who died in 1853) had an only son, the present
peer.
George Guy Greville, Earl Brooke, Earl of Warwick, and Baron Brooke of
Beauchamp’s Court, all in the peerage of the United Kingdom, was born
in March, 1818, and was educated at St. John’s College, Cambridge,
where he took his degrees. In 1853 he succeeded his father as fourth
Earl of Warwick, of that line, and in the previous year (1852) married
the Lady Ann Charteris, eldest daughter of the Earl of Wemyss, by
whom he has issue living, four sons and one daughter, viz.:—the
Hon. Francis Richard Charles Guy Greville (Lord Brooke), born in
1853, his heir-presumptive; the Hon. Alwyn Henry Fulke Greville,
born in 1854; the Hon. Louis George Greville, born in 1856; the Hon.
Sidney Robert Greville, born in 1866; and the Hon. Eva Sarah Louisa
Greville, born in 1860. His lordship, who sat in Parliament for South
Warwickshire from 1846 to the time of succeeding to the title in 1853,
is Lieutenant-Colonel of the Warwickshire Yeomanry, a Trustee of Rugby
School, and is patron of five livings.
The arms of the present peer are—_sable_, on a cross within a
bordure, all engrailed, _or_, five pellets. Crests—first, out of a
ducal coronet, _gules_, a demi-swan with wings expanded and elevated,
_argent_, for Brooke; second, a bear sejant, supporting a ragged
staff, _argent_, muzzled, _gules_, for Beauchamp, &c. Supporters—two
swans, wings inverted, _argent_, ducally gorged, _gules_. Motto, “Vix
ea nostra voco.”
[Illustration: _The Castle, from the Island._]
Having thus glanced at the history of the place, and spoken of the
long line of noble and illustrious owners, both of the estates and the
title, let us turn to the castle itself, as it stood and was furnished,
at the time of our visit. Alas! that we should have to write this in
a past sense, and say “stood” in place of “stands.” Alas! that within
a few short weeks of our visit, and of our writing these notes, a
great part of the building was “gutted” by fire, and many of its
most important and interesting features destroyed. It is, however,
being rapidly and wisely restored, and doubtless will, ere long, rise
“phœnix-like” from the ashes, with renewed beauty. We give our notes as
we wrote them before this calamity occurred.
THE Castle occupies the summit of a steep hill, which must greatly have
aided its artificial defences in the “olden time.” The present approach
to it is by a narrow passage cut through the solid rock, and extending
from the main entrance to the porter’s lodge fronting the road to
Leamington. Passing through this lodge, the visitor, after proceeding
some distance along the rocky passages, enters the outer court-yard,
“where the stupendous line of fortifications breaks suddenly upon the
sight in all its bold magnificence.” Of the two famous towers that
of Guy is on the right, while that of Cæsar is on the left; they are
connected by a strong embattled wall, in the centre of which is the
ponderous arched gateway, flanked by towers, and succeeded by a second
arched gateway, with towers and battlements, “formerly defended by two
portholes, one of which still remains; before the whole is a disused
moat, with an arch thrown over it at the gateway, where was once a
drawbridge.” Passing the double gateway the court-yard is entered. Thus
seen, the castellated mansion of the most famous of the feudal barons
has a tranquil and peaceful aspect; fronting it is a green sward and
the “frowning keep,” which conceals all its gloomier features behind a
screen of ivy and evergreen shrubs. Uninjured by time, and unaltered in
appearance by modern improvements, except in being surrounded and made
picturesque by trees and shrubs, it still stands, as of old, on the top
of its mound. The “Bear Tower,” with a flight of steps descending to a
subterranean passage, leading no one knows whither, will be noticed, as
also will “Guy’s Tower.”
From the inner court a flight of stone steps leads to the entrance to
the GREAT HALL, which is of large size; its walls are decorated with
arms and armour of various periods and descriptions, and with antlers
and other appropriate objects. On one side of this hall are the state
rooms, and on the other the domestic apartments, forming a line of
333 feet in length. The Hall, and indeed the whole of the interior,
have been “subjected to the deleterious influence of the upholsterer,”
and are made gorgeous and beautiful in accordance with modern
taste, while they have lost their original features and interesting
characteristics. This work was, however, done some time ago, and
it must remain as it is: comfort and convenience have been studied
certainly; but all associations with the glory of ancient Warwick were
rejected by the modern architect in his restoration of the apartments
of the venerable castle. In the hall, however, there are many objects
of rare interest; among others the helmet studded with brass worn
by the Protector Cromwell; the suit of armour worn by Montrose; the
doublet, “blood-spotted,” in which Lord Broke was slain at Lichfield,
in 1643; and the warder’s horn, the history of which is told in this
inscription:—
PHIL · THOMASSINUS · FEC · ET · EXCUD · CUM · PRIVIL · SUMMI ·
PONTIFICES · ET · SUPERIOR : LICENTIA · ROMÆ · FLORUIT · 1598.
There is also a breech-loading revolving musket, some hundreds of years
old probably, which, but for the evidence of Time, might seem a direct
plagiarism on the revolver of Colonel Colt. The roof of the hall was
designed by the architect Poynter.
[Illustration]
The RED DRAWING-ROOM contains many fine paintings and several articles
of _vertu_.
The CEDAR DRAWING-ROOM is a remarkably elegant apartment, sumptuously
furnished, and having a magnificent and, said to be, unique chimney
piece. In this room are many remarkably fine paintings, including
“Charles I.,” by Vandyck; “Circe,” by Guido; the “Family of Charles
I.,” &c.; and some highly interesting bronzes, Etruscan vases, &c. The
main feature of—
The GILT DRAWING-ROOM is its superb geometric ceiling, which is richly
painted and gilt—the walls being decorated in a corresponding manner.
Among the paintings in this room may be noted the “Earl of Strafford,”
by Vandyck; “Algernon Percy,” by Dodson; “Charles I.,” “Henrietta
Maria,” and “Prince Rupert,” by Vandyck; “Ignatius Loyola,” by Rubens;
“Robert Bertie, Earl of Lindsay,” by Cornelius Jansen; “Robert Rich,
Earl of Warwick,” after Vandyck; a “Young Girl,” by Murillo; “Robert
Dudley, Earl of Leicester,” and many others.
The STATE BED-ROOM. The bed and furniture in this room are said
originally to have belonged to Queen Anne, and were presented to the
Warwick family by King George III. The walls are hung with Brussels
tapestry of the date of 1604. The bed and hangings are of crimson
velvet. Over the chimney-piece is a fine full-length portrait of Queen
Anne by Sir Godfrey Kneller; the room also contains other interesting
paintings and ornaments.
The BOUDOIR is a lovely little room, forming the extreme west end of
the suite of rooms. The ceiling is enriched with the family crest
and coronets, and there are among the paintings a portrait of Henry
VIII. by Holbein;[33] of the Duchess of Cleveland, Barbara Villiers,
by Lely; “A Dead Christ,” by Carracci; “A Boar Hunt,” by Rubens;
“Martin Luther,” by Holbein; “A Sketch of the Evangelists,” by Rubens;
and examples of Gerard Dow, Teniers, Salvator Rosa, Hayter, Vandyck,
Holbein (Anne Boleyn and Mary Boleyn being especially interesting),
Andrea del Sarto, &c., &c.
The COMPASS-ROOM contains many fine old paintings and much among its
articles of _vertu_ that will interest the visitor. In—
The CHAPEL PASSAGE, too, are highly interesting paintings; and in the
CHAPEL are some stained glass and interesting local relics.
The GREAT DINING-ROOM, built by Francis, Earl of Warwick, is a noble
room, decorated with some fine antique busts and paintings. Among the
latter will be specially noticed portraits of “Sir Philip Sidney,”
considered the best in existence, and bearing in the corner the
words, “The Original of Sir Philip Sidney;” “Robert Dudley, Earl of
Leicester;” “Frederick, Prince of Wales;” “The Princess of Wales and
George III. when an Infant;” and many family portraits. At the east
end is the celebrated “Kenilworth Buffet,” manufactured by Cookes of
Warwick, from an oak-tree on the Kenilworth estate, and representing
in its panels various incidents connected with Queen Elizabeth’s visit
to that venerable pile, and presented to the present earl, on his
marriage, by the town and county of Warwick.
[Illustration: _The Castle, from the Outer Court._]
The private apartments of the Castle consist of a remarkably elegant
suite of rooms, which are, of course, not shown to visitors. Of these,
therefore, only a few words need be said. The ARMOURY PASSAGE and the
ARMOURY contain a rare assemblage of arms and armour of various ages
and descriptions, and many antiquities and “curiosities,” as well as
mineralogical, geological, and other collections of great interest. In
the BILLIARD-ROOM, the OAK SITTING-ROOM, the EARL’S ROOM, and all the
remaining apartments, are many remarkably fine paintings.
Throughout the state apartments, as well as the private rooms, is
distributed a marvellous collection of treasures of art—“superb
garde-robes, encoigneurs, cabinets, and tables of buhl and marqueterie
of the most costly finish; splendid cups, flasks, and vases in ormolu,
crystal, china, and lava; Etruscan vases, marble and _pietra dura_
tables; bronzes and busts displaying the utmost efforts of art; costly
bijouteries, and rare antiques;” more especially a large collection of
Limousin enamels are among the treasures which meet the eye at every
turn in the interior of Warwick Castle.
It will be readily understood that the prospect from any of the windows
is singularly beautiful; so beautiful, indeed, that if the stately
castle lacked all other interest, a look over these grand woods, a fair
stream consecrated by the bard of Avon, richly cultivated gardens, and
rare trees of prodigious size, would amply compensate the visitor.
In the grounds are many charming objects and delicious spots,
concerning some of which the visitor, naturally, will desire
information. Of these, CÆSAR’S TOWER is one of the most sadly
interesting, from the fact that beneath it is a dark and damp dungeon,
in which many a sad heart has died out in solitude. On the walls are
some touching inscriptions and rude carvings done by the miserable
beings who have been incarcerated there. Among these the following is
specially curious:—
Ma_ʃ_TER : IOHN : SMyTH : GVNER : TO : HIS :
MAIESTyE : HIghNES : WAS : A PRISNER IN THIS
PlACE : AND : lAy HERE frOM 1642 TEll th
WillIAM SIDIaTE ROT This SAME
ANd if My PIN HAd Bin BETER fOR
HIs sake I WOVlD HAVE MENdEd
EVERRi leTTER.
That was the last person known to have been confined in the dungeon.
Besides this, there are crosses, crucifixes, cross-bows, and other
objects and inscriptions traceable on the walls.
GUY’S TOWER (to which we have alluded, and which forms our initial
letter on page 206) contains several rooms appropriated to various
purposes. Its summit is reached by a flight of 133 steps—a most
fatiguing ascent, but amply repaid by the magnificent panoramic
view obtained from the battlements. Hence “are seen the spires of
the Coventry churches, the Castle of Kenilworth, Guy’s Cliff, and
Blacklow Hill; Grove Park, the seat of Lord Dormer; Shuckburgh and
the Shropshire Hills; the Saxon Tower on the Broadway Hills; the
fashionable spa of Leamington, which appears almost lying underneath
the feet, and the wide-extended park; while village churches, lifting
up their venerable heads from amidst embowering trees, fill up a
picture pleasing, grand, and interesting. In the various rooms will
be noticed carvings and inscriptions which possess interest. From
the BEAR COURT a portcullised doorway in the north wall opens to the
moat, across which is a bridge leading to the pleasure-grounds and
CONSERVATORY. In this is placed one of the wonders of the “Stately
Home”—the celebrated _Warwick Vase_, rescued from the bottom of a lake
at Adrian’s Villa, near Tivoli, by Sir William Hamilton, from whom it
was obtained by the late Earl of Warwick.
[Illustration: _The Inner Court, from the Keep._]
It has been copied a hundred times, and its form and character
are known to every reader. It stands on a pedestal formed for its
reception, on which is this inscription:—
HOC PRISTINÆ ARTIS
ROMANÆ Q. MAGNIFICENTIÆ MONUMENTUM
RUDERIBUS VILLÆ TIBURTINÆ
HADRIANO AUG. IN DELICIIS HABITÆ EFFOSSUM
RESTITUTI CURAVIT
EQUES GULIELMUS HAMILTON
A GEORGIO III., MAG. BRIT. REX
AD SICIL REGEM FERDINANDUM IV. LEGATUS
ET IN PATRIAM TRANSMISSUM
PATRIO BONARUM ARTIUM GENIO DICAVIT
AN. AC. N. CIC. DCCLXXIV.
From the conservatory, after crossing the lawn, the banks of the river
are gained, and after passing the PAVILION, the visitor reaches a spot
from which the immense height of the castle on its rocky base is best
seen. Returning to the HILL TOWER, the magnificent cedars of Lebanon
and chestnuts will strike the eye; but the visitor will pass on to the
top of the mount on which, in Saxon times, the stronghold of Ethelfleda
was erected, and he will then find much for his mind to dwell upon.
[Illustration: _Guy’s and the Clock Tower, from the Keep._]
In the PORTER’S LODGE are preserved a number of relics, said to have
belonged to the “Renowned Guy”—but, as they represent so many periods,
they must have appertained to “Many Guys.” The articles shown are
“Guy’s Porridge-pot;” “Guy’s Sword,” for taking care of which William
Hoggeson, Yeoman of the Buttery, had a salary of 2_d._ a day, temp. H.
VIII.; parts of his armour, of which the “bascinet is of the time of
Edward III.; and a breastplate partly of the fifteenth century, and
partly of the time of James I.; the sword of the reign of Henry VIII.;
the staff, an ancient tilting lance;” the horse armour of the fifteenth
century; the “flesh fork;” and other articles, among which are his
fair “Felicia’s slippers,” which are a pair of footed stirrup-irons of
the fifteenth century. The “rib of the dun cow,” and a joint of the
spine of the same, as well as the tusk and blade bone of a wild boar,
are also shown, and are still looked upon with wonder, as belonging
to veritable animals slain by Guy. There are also other “curiosities”
shown in this lodge, and visitors eagerly inspect them, often as
greater attractions than matters more worthy. Into the wild old legend
connected with Guy, Earl of Warwick, it is not necessary here to
enter at length. It was a popular legend in the Middle Ages, and his
encounter with the Danish champion, Colbrand, as well as his victory
over the dun cow, was a favourite subject of the wandering minstrel.
Dugdale has given the narrative of his battle with Colbrand, which he
seems inclined to believe to be true in the main features, although
“the monks may have sounded out his praises hyperbolically.” According
to him, “in year three of King Athelstan, A.D. 826, the Danes having
invaded England, cruelly wasted the countrys where they marcht, so that
there was scarce a town or castle that they had not burnt or destroyed
almost as far as Winchester,” where the king resided, and to whom they
sent a message, requiring him to resign his crown to their generals,
holding his power at their hands, and paying them yearly tribute for
the privilege of ruling; or that the whole dispute for the kingdom be
determined in a single combat, by two champions for both sides. The
king having chosen the latter alternative, enjoins a fast for three
days, and, in great anguish of heart that Guy the famous warrior is
absent on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, prays Heaven for assistance.
An angel appears to the king as he is on his bed, and directs him to
arise early on the morrow, and take two bishops with him to the north
gate of the city, and stay there “till the hour of prime,” until the
poor people and pilgrims arrive, among whom he must choose a champion,
and the choice must fall upon him who goes barefooted, with a wreath of
white roses on his head. The king goes and meets the pilgrim, accosts
him, and asks his championship, which he hesitates to give, excusing
himself on the ground of his weakness with much travel, and exhorts
him to seek fitter help. To this the king bitterly answers, “I had but
one valiant knight, which was Earl of Warwick, called Guy, and he had
a courageous servant, named Sir Heraud de Ardene; would to God I had
him here, for then should this duel be soon undertaken, and the war
finished; and as he spake these words, the tears fell from his eyes.”
[Illustration: _The Castle, from the banks of the Avon._]
The pilgrim is moved, and ultimately consents, and after three weeks
spent in prayer and preparation the battle begins. Colbrand “came so
weightily harnessed, that his horse could scarcely carry him, and
before him a cart loaded with Danish axes, great clubs, with knobs
of iron, squared bars of steel, lances, and iron hooks, to pull his
adversary to him.” The giant uses a bar of steel in the combat, which
lasts the whole day. Guy in the end proving victorious, and taking
a farewell of the king, to whom he declares himself, goes towards
Warwick, and thence to a hermit in its neighbourhood, living with
him till his death, and succeeding him in his cell until his own
decease.[34] The spot is still pointed out, and bears the name of
Guy’s Cliff. But this is not the only giant-story connected with the
family. Their well-known crest, or cognisance, is said to come from one
Morvidus, an Earl of Warwick in the days of King Arthur, “who being
a man of valour, slew a mighty gyant in a single duell, which gyant
encountered him with a young tree pulled up by the root, the boughs
being nog’d from it; in token whereof, he and his successors, Earles
of Warwick in the time of the Brittons, bore a ragged staff of silver
in a sable shield for their cognisance.” Other stories are the combat
and overcoming of the famous dun cow, the slaying of a ferocious lion,
and “the greatest boar that man e’er saw,” the killing of “the mighty
dragon in Northumberland that destroyed men, women, and children,” and
the killing of the fifteen armed knights. Such were the old fables with
which our ancient family histories were obscured, or rendered romantic
and wonderful to the subordinate classes.