walls hung with costly figured satin, the ceiling richly groined in
elaborate fan-tracery, and the furniture as sumptuous and elegant as
the most exquisite and fastidious taste could desire, or the most
lavish expenditure procure. Among the furniture is a magnificent suite
of couch, chairs, and stools, which are of historic interest; they
belonged to Tippoo Sahib, and are marvels of Indian Art workmanship in
ivory and gold. It is not, however, our province to speak in detail
of any of the appointments or furnishing of the rooms; all we can say
is that the Drawing-room and other apartments are rich storehouses
of exquisite gems of loveliness, such as one might naturally expect
would characterize a home presided over by a lady of such pure taste
and such high accomplishments as the present Countess of Lonsdale.
We must, however, casually allude to one literary treasure which is
kept in the Drawing-room—an album in which have been written by their
own hands, at various times when visiting Lowther, poetical or prose
contributions by Sir Walter Scott, William Wordsworth, Robert Southey
(13th October, 1824), Samuel Rogers (January 23rd, 1826), the Duke of
Wellington (January 2nd, 1829), Sir Humphry Davy (Sept. 11th, 1826),
Hon. G. O’Callagan, Amelia Opie, and others; while it is also graced
by original drawings made on its pages by Dewint, Page, Sir George
Beaumont, Lady Anne Beckett, Lady Delamere, Lady Farnborough, Lady F.
Bentinck, the Marchioness of Stafford, &c.
The Saloon, in the centre of the south front, has a Gothic panelled
ceiling, and contains many fine paintings by Zuccarelli, Guido,
Elisabetta Sirani, &c., and (as well as other parts of the house) some
grand old china. The Dining-room has two fine paintings—Pitt, by
Hoppner, and Wellington, by Jackson; and in the centre of the gorgeous
display of gold plate on the buffet is a full-sized silver-gilt copy of
Flaxman’s _chef-d’œuvre_, the Shield of Achilles.
The Countess’s or Breakfast Room contains some of the richest treasures
of Art in the castle. Among them are the Wakes, the Feast, and the
Fête Champêtre of Teniers; a Holy Family of Rubens; and marvellously
fine examples of Vandyke, Fyt, Wouvermans, Leonardo da Vinci, Gerard
Douw, FrankHals, Ruysdael, Borgognone, Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Bischey,
Sassoferrato, Titian, and others.
The Picture Gallery, with its glass ceiling, is a noble room, filled
with pictures of high merit, many being _chefs-d’œuvre_ of the various
artists. It will be sufficient to say that it contains, among others,
no less than ten Snyders of large size and of almost unmatched
excellence (the only others we know of equal or more excellence being
those at Welbeck), and admirable examples of Tintoretti, Titian (a
remarkably fine picture), Guido, Paolo Veronese, Paris Bordone, Luca
Giordano, Backhuysen, Zuccarelli, Hogarth, Bernardo Canaletto, Poussin,
Carlo Cignani, Salvator Rosa, Bordenone, Lely (a nude Nell Gwynne,
which contrasts very unfavourably with the Titian on the same walls),
Paul Bril, Bronzino, Bassano, Fyt, Delia Nottie, Murillo, Zucchero, &c.
[Illustration: _Lowther Castle, the Sculpture Gallery._]
The other apartments, beautiful as they all undoubtedly are, and filled
as they are with choice works of Art, are not necessary to be named.
There are, however, two of the most important features of Lowther yet
to be noticed. These are the two Sculpture Galleries and the passages
and corridors leading to them. To these we proceed to direct brief
attention.
[Illustration: _Roman Sculptured Stone from Kirkby Thore._]
In one part of the Gallery is a marvellously extensive and highly
important assemblage of Roman inscribed stones—altars, monumental
stones, inscriptions of cohorts, &c.—from the Roman wall and from
the old stations in the three counties; mediæval sculptures from
the neighbourhood; and a number of Celtic and Roman urns and other
antiquities of more than passing interest: to these, however, we cannot
find space to direct attention.[50] Among the Roman sculptured stones
at Lowther Castle are the following:—From Drumburgh a fragment,
bearing the words—
PEDATVRA
VINDO
MORVCI
Vindomora being a station in the first Iter of Antonine; another
with the words COH VII (cohors septima); and a stone bearing a
female helmeted figure, holding a wreath in her right, and a distaff
in her left, hand. From Kirkby Thore the upper part of an altar,
inscribed IOVI SERAPI L ALFENVS PATE[RNVS] (Iovi Serapi Lucius Alfenus
Pate[rnus]); a singular sculptured stone bearing a representation of a
death-bed scene, the sufferer partaking of her last meal preparatory to
her departure, the only inscription left being FILIA CRESC IMAG NIER
(Filia Crescentis imag[i]nif[e]r[i]); a stone representing a mounted
warrior with uplifted sword, trampling on a foe; a fragment of another,
where the mounted warrior is in full career, spearing his prostrate
foe; another stone, bearing much the same design as the last, but in a
more complete state; a fir-cone; a female head; and a lion overpowering
a ram. From Plumpton, or Old Penrith, a remarkably fine sepulchral
inscribed stone, bearing a figure, probably intended to represent a
deceased child. He is dressed in a tunic, and holds in his left hand a
whip, and in his right a kind of toy. The inscription is—
DIS
MANIB M COCCEI
NONNI ANNOR V
HIC SITVS EST
(Diis Manibus Marci Cocceii Nonni annorum quinque his situs est); and
another bearing the inscription—
D M
YLAE ALVM
NI KARIS
SIMI VIXI[T]
[A]N XIII CL S[E]
VERVS INL ...
(Diis Manibus Ylæ alumni carissimi. Vixit annos tredecim. Claudius
Severus....)
[Illustration: _Roman Altars from Old Penrith._]
Among the antique sculpture contained in the galleries is the Venus
from the temple to that goddess at Cnidus. The exquisite torso, the
remainder of the figure being restored, was from the Stowe collection;
and it is undoubtedly an example of the purest Greek, of an age “when
Art was a religion.”
[Illustration: _Roman Remains from Kirkby Thore._]
[Illustration: _Roman Remains from Drumburgh and Kirkby Thore._]
[Illustration: _Roman Remains from Kirkby Thore._]
It has with reason been attributed to Praxiteles; and it is believed
to be the work alluded to by Lucian and Pliny as one of the triumphs
of Greek Art—a belief which obtains force with all Art-lovers by
whom it has been seen. There are also a statue of Diana, of exceeding
grace and beauty; a Statue of Julius Caesar, half life-size, seated in
a consular chair, and of fine conception; the upper half of a seated
female figure, draped, brought to England by Lord Guildford, and the
only specimen brought home by him—a great work, certainly a production
of the best era of Greece, and a majestic, yet tender creation; a
statue of Agrippina, of rare excellence, from the Stowe collection; a
torso of a Venus, from the Marquis of Hertford’s collection—a work of
refined delicacy, yet exhibiting intense power; a statue of Bacchus, a
relic of great worth; a beautiful statue of Hygeia, from the Besborough
collection—a work of pure Art, originally from the Capitol; a Roman
sarcophagus, from the same collection, with Cupids hunting in relief; a
monument from the Besborough collection, inscribed “Honos est præmium
virtutis,” and several other sarcophagi and monuments; a rich example
of moulding from the Palace of the Cæsars; a figure of Mars; some
vases; statues of Marcus Aurelius, Bacchus, Agrippina, and Diana; busts
of Livia, Trajan, Janus, Cato, Vitellius, Nero, Sylla, Seneca, Plato,
Marcus Pompeius, Galba, Agrippina, Faustina, Matidia, Homer, Nerva, the
Cæsars, and Æsculapius; and a bronze statue of Hercules.
There are also some fine stone chairs, an Egyptian bath, statues of
Pan, Augustus, a roman Senator, Hygeia, Euterpe, Flora, Cybele, Adonis,
Paris, the Water-carrier, Sphinx, Cicero, Aristides, &c.; and “the
Olympian Meta, brought from Greece by the Emperor Nero, and placed
in the circus at Rome.” It was purchased by the Marquis of Hertford,
and was formerly in his collection. It now forms one of the more
interesting features of the Lowther Gallery.
Among other interesting objects are roman sarcophagi (the form of one
of which was copied for one of the Earls of Lonsdale to be interred in)
bearing the inscriptions—
D M D M
C MESSIO C TVTILIO RVPINO
SEQVMDINO XVO VENATORI
QVI VIXIT T. CAVDIVS SECVNDVS
ANNIS AMICO B M;
XVII MESES
IIII
a curious mosaic picture of fish, bearing the following
inscription:—“This mosaic, containing 20,000 siliceous pebbles, is
the work of Sosus Pergami, who flourished 320 years before Christ,
and is mentioned in the writings of the elder Pliny. Discovered in
the ruins of the Palace of Pope Leo the 12th, at Villa Chichignola.
Presented by Pope Gregory the 16th to Sir Edward Thomason, in the year
1832;” and some other mosaics. There are also exquisite marble busts
of Pitt, Wellington, George III., the Duke of York, Lord Liverpool,
and others, as well as Chantrey’s charming head of our present beloved
Queen Victoria when a little child.
[Illustration: _In the Grounds of Lowther Castle._]
The Grounds and Gardens of Lowther Castle are among its most glorious
and charming attractions. Nature has done much for it in the beauty of
its situation and the majestic character of its surroundings; and the
purest taste in Art, allied to the most consummate skill, has taken
advantage of those natural beauties, and added charm upon charm to
the place. On the west front are lawns (divided from the Deer Park by
a sunk fence) laid out tastefully in beds rich in their profusion of
colours. At the west end of the mansion is the Conservatory, and near,
but below it, approached by a flight of steps from the Terrace, is
the Countess’s Garden. The site of this exquisitely lovely spot is a
natural dell, and its sloping sides are turfed and planted, while the
centre is somewhat elaborately, and with faultless taste, laid out in
geometrical form, and filled with the choicest and richest of flowers;
the disposition of the vases, the arrangement of the beds, and the
harmonious blending of the colour showing the purest taste and a high
order of skill on the part of the head-gardener, to whom it owes its
origin. Near this is the Yew Avenue—a walk densely covered in by the
intertwined branches and foliage of the rows of yew-trees, hundreds of
years old, which range along its sides. From here pathways lead on to
the Terrace outside the wood.
Of the Terrace it is impossible to convey an idea. It is simply a
tract of high land, thickly wooded with the finest of forest trees and
the most majestic of conifers, around the outer edge of which runs a
broad grassy walk or drive, commanding almost a panorama of the finest
of views that even this district of marvellous scenery can produce.
From here, in one direction, is Knipe Scar, rising above the village
of Bampton; and behind it, again, are Swindale, Walla Crag, beneath
which is the lovely lake of Haweswater, and above these, again, rise
Harter Fell and High Street (over which runs the old Roman road). Then
the hamlet of Helton, and further to the right Helvellyn and other
mountains above Ulleswater. Again, there is Askham, with the heights of
Blencathra or Saddleback, and the mountains in the Keswick district;
while through the Park, far down below, runs the river Lowther, whose
murmurs over its rocky bed are distinctly audible. In the wood which
skirts the Terrace are some gigantic conifers and other trees which are
“great among the greatest.”[51]
The Kitchen Gardens, at some distance from the mansion, are well
arranged, very extensive (about seven acres), and extremely productive;
and their pleasing effect is much heightened by the judicious
introduction of richly arranged flower borders: the glass houses of all
kinds are of great extent.
At a little distance across the park is Lowther Church, with the family
Mausoleum in its churchyard. The Mausoleum, upon which the gifted poet,
the Rev. James Dixon, wrote the following stanza—
“A grander, fairer spot of English ground
To rest in till the trump of doom shall blow
From the high heavens through land and sea below,
In all this ancient realm could not be found.
Sheer from beneath, the river’s amber flood,
Breaking in white waves ‘gainst the stony shores,
Round this green eminence for ever pours
The loud voice of its waters, through the wood
That clothes its banks, and crowns the airy hills
And verdant slopes of Lowther’s wide domain,
Swelling and falling with the grand refrain
Of Nature’s voice omnipotent. What heart but thrills
To these wild charms, lit by the vernal beams,
Grey wood, green lawn, and river’s dancing gleams?”——
is a plain Gothic building, containing in its upper room a finely
sculptured figure, by Stephens, of “William, Earl of Lonsdale,” 1863.
The Church possesses some good Norman features which are worthy of
careful examination, and many interesting monuments to the Lowther
family. Among these may be named the following:—
In the north transept a large altar tomb to William, first Earl of
Lonsdale of the second creation, who died March 19th, 1844; and
Augusta, his countess (daughter of John, ninth Earl of Westmoreland),
who died March 6th, 1838. Here, too, was buried the late third Earl,
who died in August, 1876. There are also tablets to the memory of
James, first Earl of Lonsdale, 1802, and his countess, Mary, daughter
of John, Earl of Bute, 1824; and to Richard, Lord Lonsdale; and brasses
to Colonel the Hon. Henry Cecil Lowther (father of the late earl),
1867; and to Lucy Eleanor, his wife, daughter of Philip, fifth Earl of
Harborough, 1848; and to the Hon. Arthur Lowther, their son, 1855.
In the south transept are a remarkably finely sculptured monument with
a reclining figure to the memory of John, Viscount Lonsdale and Baron
Lowther, 1700, and Catherine, his countess; and other noble monuments
to Sir John Lowther, 1637; Sir John, 1675; and Lord William Frederick
Cavendish-Bentinck, who married the Hon. Mary Lowther, 1828. In the
same transept is a recumbent effigy in plate armour, over which is a
tablet of remarkable character, bearing a family pedigree. This almost
unique example of inscription is as follows, each item being, on the
tablet, enclosed in squares, which, however, we have not followed:—
“IOHN LOWTHER of Lowther in ye═╤═LUCYE his wife davghter of S^r
Covetye of Westmerland Knight │ Christopher Curwin Knight
│
┌————————————————————————┬——┘
│ │
HVGNE LOWTHER Esqvire═╤═DORATHYE davghter of Hen^{ry}
married │ L^d Clifford They had issve
│
┌——————————————┬————————┴———————┬————————————————————————*
│ │ │
MARGARET ANNE married FRAVNCIS married
married to Ioh to Tho Wibersh to S^r Henrye
Richmond of of Clif to Goodyer
Highet Esq^r Esqvire they of Powlswoorth
Hath issve Have issve Knight
they have iss^e
*——————┬————————————————————————————————┬———————————————┐
│ │ │
RICHARD LOWTHER═╤═FRANCES the GERARD LOWTHER BARBERRIE
Knight │ davghter of Esqvier married to
married and │ Iohn Middleton Tho Carleton Esqvier
had issve │ of Middleton of Carleton Apprentice
by │ Esq Esqvi of y^e Law
│ they have iss^e
│
│
┌——————┬——┴—————┬—————————┬———————————┬———┬——————┐
│ │ │ │ │ │ │
ANNE married │ GERARD LOWTHER │ HVGH LOWTHER │ WILLIAM LOWTHER
to Alexander │ Esq: one │ Capitayne │ married
Fetherston │ of y^e Ivstices │ in y^e voyage │ Elinor Wel-Berye
of Fetherst │ of y^e Comon │ of Portvgale │ and by
Esqvire they │ Pleas in Ireland │ A Dni is │ Her hath
Have issue │ │ │ issve
│ │ │
┌—————┘ │ │
│ │ │
FRAVNCIS married S CHRISTOPH LANCELLOTT
to Tho: LOWTHER Knt LOWTHER Esqvire
Cliborne of married Elinor Sollicitor
Cliborne Esq Musgrave General
and hath and hath to Qveene Anne
issve issve
“S^r Rich: Lowther Knig: succeded Hen: Lo^d: Scroope in ye office
of Lo Warden of y^e West Marches, & was thrice a Commissionor in
y^e grete affayres betweene England & Scotland, all in ye time of
Qveene Elizabeth & after he had seene his children to ye 4th degree
geven them vertuous edvcation & meanes to live advanced his brothers
& sisters ovt of his owne patrimonye governed his family & kept
plentifvll hospitalitye for 57 yeares together, he ended his life ye
27th of Ian: A^o Dni. 1607. Ætas. svæ 77 vttring at his last breth
these verses followinge”
Beneath this inscription is a plain black tablet let into the stone,
which has, there can be no doubt, at one time borne, or been intended
to bear, the verses. It is now quite black and plain, so that the
“verses” Sir Richard was “vttring at his last breth” are literally
“blank verse.”
In the south aisle are tablets to Colonel Lowther (grandfather of the
present Earl of Londale), 1867, and Lucy Eleanor Shorard, his wife,
1848; to Elizabeth, second daughter of William, Earl of Lonsdale, 1869;
to Mary, third daughter of the same earl, and widow of Lord Frederick
Bentinck, 1863; and to Anne, fourth daughter of the same, and widow of
Sir John Beekett of Sowerby, 1871.
From Lowther Church a delightful path leads by the side of the river
Lowther to Askham Bridge, near which are the village Church, the
charming Rectory-house, and Askham Hall, a noble old Border stronghold,
now the residence of the Rev. Dr. Jackson, the respected and venerable
Provost of Queen’s College and Rector of Lowther. Few spots in the
whole district can compare in loveliness with Askham Bridge. The
rocky bed of the river—flat table rock, full of deep wide cracks—the
masses of stone hurled down upon its surface, the rich green and brown
of its water, the number of fish seen disporting among the rocks, and
the rich, deeply tinted, and massive foliage by which the whole is
overhung, form a picture of faultless loveliness.
Of the district around Lowther we cannot say more than a few brief
words. It is, as we have already observed, a district rich in natural
beauties of mountain and lake, of hill and valley, of wood and river;
but it is also equally rich in places of historic interest and in
objects of antiquarian importance. The whole of the Lake district,
including the two counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland, is, indeed,
one grand storehouse of places of note, and objects to which attention
is worthy to be drawn. It is only of a few that we can speak.
Penrith, one of the oldest towns of the district, with its ruined
castle, its beacon, its “giant’s grave” and other Danish or Saxon
remains, its famous old grammar school, its interesting church, its
plague record,[A] and its altar-piece, the exquisite work of Jacob
Thompson; Clifton, memorable as the scene of the battle of Clifton
Moor, and where the old border stronghold, the house where the Duke
of Cumberland slept, and the oak-tree under which the slain were
buried, are still pointed out; Eamont Bridge, where “A welcome into
Cumberland” is held out as the sign of the inn on crossing the river
into that county, and close by which are the curious earth-works of
“King Arthur’s Round Table” and “Mayborough;” Brougham Castle, a grand
old ruined fortress, on the site of the Roman station _Broconiacum_,
and the place from which Lord Brougham derives his title; Brougham
Hall, “the Windsor of the North,” the seat of Lord Brougham and Vaux,
a fine castellated mansion, with a glorious chapel, full to repletion
with Art-work of costly and elaborate character; the famous stone
circle “Long Meg and her daughters,” three hundred and fifty yards
in circumference; Dacre Castle, a grand old fortress, whose owners
fought at the siege of Acre under Cœur de Lion, and thus named their
own stronghold now in ruins; Eden Hall, famous as the hall where is
preserved the goblet called the “Luck of Eden Hall,” about which hangs
so much traditional mystery, and the prophetic import of the couplet—
“If that glass should break or fall,
Farewell the luck of Eden Hall”—
is implicitly believed in; Askham, of which we have already spoken;
Greystoke Castle, where “Belted Will” Howard and his wife, “Bessie with
the braid apron,” lived; Shap, with its ruined abbey; Ulleswater, the
grandest of lakes—wild, lovely, and beautiful, with its banks at its
more sylvan end here and there studded with charming villas; Sharrow
Bay, a “home of taste,” the seat of Anthony Parkin, Esq., where Art
is more happily wedded to Nature than is usually the case, and where
the views of the lake are more charming than from any other point;
Lyulph’s Tower; Haweswater, another exquisite lake; Hackthorpe, rich in
antiquarian interest, but rendered for all time famous as the residence
of one of the most gifted sons of Art, Jacob Thompson,[52] from whose
easel at the “Hermitage” emanate those marvellous conceptions which
have created for him his “name and fame for all time;” Lowther village,
planned in military style, and with adjoining battery; Bampton,
Helton, and a score or two other places—these are not a tithe of
the attractions which the immediate neighbourhood of Lowther Castle
presents, and which are all easily visited by the stranger. Thanks to
the railway companies—to the Midland more especially, by the formation
of its Settle and Carlisle line—the Lake district is opened out to
the world, and is able to be visited with real pleasure, with economy
of time, with immense benefit, and with perfect comfort. By the line
to which we have alluded the traveller passes along the side of one of
the loftiest of the whole ranges of mountains, and sees the country
mapped out beneath him in rich profusion of wood and meadow and stream,
the towns and villages dotted about here and there, and the becks and
streams, the tarns and lakes, the rocks and mountains, opened out
before him, charmingly diversified and rendered rich in colouring by
the ever-changing atmosphere. From London, without change, all this
can be reached by the Settle and Carlisle route, and the visitor may
thus in a few brief hours be transported from the busy town life of the
metropolis into the very heart of the most lovely scenery the world can
produce.
CLUMBER.
CLUMBER, the seat of his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, is charmingly
situated within about four miles from Worksop, and on the borders of
Sherwood Forest. The drive from Worksop, up Sparkin Hill, and so along
the highway for the forest, is lovely in the extreme, the road being
well wooded on either side, and presenting glimpses of forest scenery
that are peculiarly grateful to the eye. Leaving the main road to the
left, and entering the grounds by the Lodge, a carriage drive of a mile
or more in length through the well-wooded park leads to the mansion,
which is at once elegant, picturesque, and “homely.” To it, however, we
are only able to devote very brief attention.
Clumber is of comparatively modern erection, having been first built
in 1770, and received since then many important additions. It has,
therefore, no history attached to it. The place was, till about that
time, simply a wild tract of forest land, which the then noble duke who
planned and carried out the works cleared and cultivated at an enormous
outlay, forming the extensive lake at an expense of some £7,000, and
erecting the mansion at a princely cost.
The main feature of the house is its west front, facing the lake: this
we have engraved. Its centre is a colonnade, and this gives access to
the entrance hall, the oldest portion of the house being a part of the
shooting-box, to which magnificent additions have been made. Between
the mansion and the lake are the Italian gardens, elegantly laid out
in beds of the richest flowers, and well diversified with vases and
statuary; in the centre is a fountain of large size (the bowl being
nearly thirteen feet in diameter), of white marble and of Italian
workmanship.
[Illustration: _Clumber, West Front._]