day visitors will be admitted to them by application at the Manor
Office, Stonehouse, near to the ferry by which passengers are conveyed
across. There is, however, a road for carriages; but that implies a
drive of twelve miles there and twelve miles back, besides the drive of
five or six miles round the Park.
[13] The date of the erection of Maker Church is not known. It was
originally dedicated to St. Julian, and there is a well near the church
still designated St. Julian’s well.
[14] The name of Cothele is conjectured to be hence derived: _coit_
being a wood in ancient Cornish, and _hel_ a river: the wood by the
river, or, in a mixture of British and Old English, the hall in the
wood, _healle_ being a hall or manor-house. The name occurs in many
very ancient records, _temp._ Henry III., “William Cothele engages
to defend by his body, _in duel_, the right of Roger de Wanton and
Katerine, his wife, to lands in Somerset against William de Deveneys.”
[15] It is now the residence of the Dowager Countess Mount-Edgcumbe,
who, we rejoice to know, cherishes every portion of the venerable
mansion, with its decorations and contents. It is made thoroughly
comfortable, yet without in the slightest degree impairing its
“natural” character; scarcely, indeed, displacing a single relic of
antiquity, of which every room contains some singular, interesting,
and often beautiful, examples. The people are admitted freely to the
woods and grounds; and parties visit there nearly every day—a steamboat
running daily, in summer, up the Tamar, from Plymouth.
[16] Carew describes the building as “_auncient_, large, strong, and
faire;” he was born in 1555, and wrote before 1600; and would scarcely
have described a building as “auncient,” which had been erected only
a century before his time. He describes also the chapel as “richly
furnished by the devotion of times past.”
[17] At Watcombe, a pretty village two miles from Torquay, there has
recently been established a manufactory of works in terra-cotta.
They originated in the discovery of clay of remarkable fineness and
delicacy, and beauty of colour. The productions issued by the works
are of great excellence in design and execution: they are deservedly
popular.
[18] For several of the engravings that are introduced into the
following papers upon Alnwick Castle we desire to tender our best
thanks to his Grace the Duke of Northumberland; they were originally
printed in a history of the illustrious family of the Percies, of which
a few copies were presented to private friends.
[19] Thus writes one of the Lords Wardens, _temp._ Eliz.: “God blessed
me so well in all my designs as I never made journey in vain, but did
what I went for;” _i.e._, “hanging or heading.”
[20] The name of Alnwick has been variously spelt at different periods.
Thus, among other ways, it has been spelt Alnawic, Alnewyke, Alnewyc,
Alnewick, Annwik, Annewic, Annewyke, Anwik, Anwick, &c. Formerly it
appears to have been pronounced with the Scotch twang, _An-ne-wick_,
as though spelt in three syllables. It is now by all natives of the
place called Annick. _Aln_ (the name of the river), like the names of
our rivers, hills, and mountains, is Celtic, or ancient British, and
was given by one of the earliest tribes settling in Britain; for in
Hiberno-Celtic we have _Alain_, signifying white, bright, or clear.
Alnwick (_wick_ being a street, village, or dwelling-place), therefore,
is the town on the bright clear river.
[21] The first Sir Hugh Smithson died in 1670: he had a nephew who was
a physician in Sussex, and spent almost all his fortune also in the
royal cause. His son again was a physician, and practised in London,
and married a daughter of Sir Edward Walpole, of Lincolnshire. The fact
of these two collaterals being medical men, probably gave rise to the
story of Sir Hugh having been brought up to be an apothecary.
[22] Mr. Burrell had four daughters, of whom the eldest married
Captain Bennett, R.N.; the second married Lord Algernon Percy,
second son of the first duke, and was grandmother of the present
Duke of Northumberland; the third sister was the second Duchess of
Northumberland; and the youngest sister married, first, the Duke of
Hamilton, and, secondly, the Marquess of Exeter. Mr. Burrell’s only
son married a peeress in her own right, and was himself created Baron
Gwydyr.
[23] Minute and most faithful descriptions of the restorations at
Alnwick Castle are given by Mr. George Tate, F.G.S., of Alnwick, in his
copious and excellent “History of the Borough, Castle, and Barony of
Alnwick,” a work which does honour to the literature, not of the north
only, but of England, and will always be highly esteemed as a valuable
contribution to that important department of the national literature
which comprehends our topographical histories.
[24] There is, however, one of comparatively recent date, built on the
site of the ancient gate: it is still called the Potter Gate.
[25] The fine five-light east window of St. Paul’s Church is filled
with some of the most remarkable stained glass in England; it was
executed by Max Ainmüller at Munich, in 1856, from cartoons designed
and drawn by Mr. Dyce, R.A., and is a memorial window erected by public
subscription to commemorate the noble founder of the church.
[26] While serving in the Crusade under Richard, Earl of Cornwall,
Ralph Fulborne visited the friars who were then established upon Mount
Carmel; and attracted, it is said, by their piety and holy lives, he
brought back with him to his Northumbrian home some of the Carmelite
brethren, and built them a house in his own land, which might serve in
some degree to remind them of their Syrian Carmel: for at Hulne they
found a hill, with a river flowing at the foot of it, and around was a
forest, just as a forest had surrounded them when far away in the East.
[27] The park and grounds are always freely open to “the people,” and,
on stated occasions, parts of the castle. This is a boon of magnitude,
not only to the inhabitants of the town and district, but to many who
come from far distances to obtain free air and healthful recreation
from Nature where her aspect is most cheering and her influence most
invigorating. On the 20th of August, 1868, on arriving at the Alnwick
Station, we met upwards of 2,000 men, women, and children, who had
been enjoying a day in the Park. It was the annual pic-nic of persons
employed by the Jarrow Chemical Works (Newcastle-on-Tyne), they were
accompanied, not only by the overseers, but the partners of the firm. A
more orderly crowd it would have been impossible to have met anywhere.
[28] A further notice of Hobbes and his works will be found in our
account of Chatsworth, on a subsequent page.
[29] In Domesday it is stated that in the time of King Edward the
Confessor the Castle of Arundel yielded 40_s._ for a mill, 20_s._ for
three feasts, and 20_s._ for a pasture. This is of itself sufficient
evidence of the high antiquity—going back to Saxon times—of the Castle
of Arundel.
[30] It is a curious fact that the ground-rents accruing from streets
in the Strand, London—Arundel and Norfolk Streets—are still devoted to
the improving and repairing of Arundel Castle. In 1786, considerable
arrears being due, the tenants were called upon to pay them; but
refused, unless it were agreed to devote them, according to ancient
tenure, to such improvements and repairs. The then Duke of Norfolk was
compelled to yield a matter in serious dispute; and the result was a
thorough restoration of the venerable castle, which, up to that time,
had been almost such a ruin as it was left by Sir William Waller during
the war between the King and the Parliament. It is said that in these
restorations, between the years 1786 and 1816, no less a sum than
£600,000 was expended.
[31] In 1863 Penshurst was visited by the Kent and Sussex Archæological
Society, when Mr. Parker, of Oxford (to whom archæology owes a large
debt of gratitude), read a paper descriptive of the seat of the
Sidneys. From that paper we shall quote:—“Mr. Parker said that in the
time of William the Conqueror there was a house of importance in that
place, occupied by a family named after it, Penchester (the castle on
the hill), which showed that the house was fortified at that time,
doubtless according to the fashion of the age, with deep trenches and
mounds and wooden palisades, as represented in the Bayeux tapestry;
and the house within the fortifications must have been a timber house,
because if a Norman keep had been there built, there would certainly be
some remains of it.”
[32] To the park and to the several state rooms the public are on
fixed days freely, graciously, and most generously admitted; and the
history of the several leading attractions is related by attentive and
intelligent custodians.
[33] Dr. Waagen writes thus of this marvellous work of the great
master:—“There is in these features a brutal egotism, an obstinacy,
and a harshness of feeling such as I have never yet seen in any human
countenance. In the eyes, too, there is the suspicious watchfulness of
a wild beast, so that I became quite uncomfortable from looking at it
for a long time; for the picture, a masterpiece of Holbein, is as true
in the smallest details as if the king himself stood before you.”
[34] It is a pretty legend—and one to which we direct the attention
of artists—that while Guy was doing penance as a hermit, his lady was
mourning his absence, and praying for his return at the castle. It was
her daily custom to bestow alms upon the suffering, sorrowful, and
needy; and dole was, among others, frequently given to the husband by
the unconscious wife. He was dying at length, and then made himself
known to her by the transmission of a ring. So she watched, and prayed,
and comforted, beside his death-bed, surviving him but fourteen days;
and they were both buried in the cave where the poor penitent had lived
and died.
[35] For an account of this stained glass see the “Archæological
Journal,” No. 84.
[36] The bridge was erected at the commencement of the present century
by George Greville, Earl of Warwick. It is a single arch, forming the
segment of a circle, 105 feet in span.
[37] A very pretty little book, entitled “The Peacock at Rowsley,”
by John Joseph Briggs. Esq., deserves a friendly recognition. As the
journal of a naturalist, an angler, and a lover of nature, it is so
sweetly written as to place its author, as a worthy associate, side by
side with dear “Old Izaak” or “White of Selborne.”
[38] The old palace is now the stables; its roof of arches, supported
by corbels, is intact, and singularly beautiful. Immediately underneath
one of the windows is a stone with the inscription, “The last charger
of Arthur, Duke of Wellington (descended from his Waterloo charger,
Copenhagen), was presented by the second duke to Mary, Marchioness of
Salisbury, June 18, 1852, and was buried near this spot Feb. 24, 1861.”
[39] Some highly interesting information upon this subject will be
found in Mr. Jewitt’s “Chatsworth.”
[40] For the loan of the engravings of the Church, the Children’s
Cottage, the Statue of Sir R. Leveson, and the View from Tittensor we
are indebted to Messrs. Albut and Daniel, to whom we desire to express
our best thanks.
[41] These are the charges which, according to Shakspere, Jack Cade
urged against the Lord Say:—
“Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm, in
erecting a grammar-school: and whereas, before, our forefathers had no
other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to
be used; and, contrary to the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast
built a paper-mill. It will be proved to thy face, that thou hast men
about thee that usually talk of a noun, and a verb; and such abominable
words as no Christian ear can endure to hear. Thou hast appointed
justices of peace, to call poor men before them about matters they were
not able to answer. Moreover, thou hast put them in prison; and because
they could not read thou hast hanged them; when, indeed, only for that
cause they have been most worthy to live.”
[42] For an account of this lady and the noble House of Manners see
“Belvoir Castle,” pages 6-14.
[43] See page 39 for an account of this lady and her family.
[44] The old castle of Henderskelf, an ancient seat of the Greystocks,
was built in the reign of Edward III.; it passed into the hands of the
Howards by the marriage of Belted Will with Bessie of the braid apron,
“the word Henderskelf; meaning hundred-hill, or the hill where the
hundreds meet.”
[45] This bowl and the inscription are still preserved in the Almshouse
[46] We believe, however, these interesting objects have been removed.
[47] The prioress was, in right of her title, a baroness of England. It
was of the Benedictine order.
[48] A _catalogue raisonné_ of the marbles is printed in the “Salisbury
Volume” of the Archæological Institute (1849), by Charles F. Newton,
Esq., M.A., of the British Museum.
[49] The following is this curious report:—
JOHN ROBINSON, ESQ., SECRETARY-GENERAL OF WOODS.
_Report of Acorns planted in and about Windsor Great Park, &c._
Year when Computed number
planted. of Acorns planted.
1788 }
1789 } 4,220,000
1790 }
1791 1,098,000
1792 1,530,000
1793 680,000
1794 260,000
1795 136,000
1796 1,160,000
1797 280,000
1798 720,000
1799 420,000
1800 441,000
1801 280,000
——————————
Total 11,225,000
[50] We cordially recommend readers, for a description, with
engravings, of many of the principal inscribed stones in this
collection, to consult our friend Dr. Bruce’s superb work, the
“Lapidarium Septentrionale,” in which many of them are figured; to this
we are indebted for the accompanying beautiful engravings, which have
been placed at our disposal by Dr. Bruce.
[51] The dimensions of some of these trees are as follows:—The Douglas
Fir (_Abies Douglasii_), 75 ft. in height, 6½ ft. circumference a
yard from the ground, and 49 ft. across from point to point of the
branches; _Abies Menziesii_, height 65 ft., girth 6 ft. at a yard
from the ground; _Picea Cephalonica_, 50 ft. high, girth 4 ft. at a
yard from the base; _Abies Canadensis_, 42 ft. in height, girth 3
ft.; _Picea pinsapo_, 40 ft. high; and the “Adam and Eve” ash-trees,
one of which measures 21 ft. in girth at 5 ft. from the ground. For
these dimensions we are indebted to that admirable publication, the
_Gardener’s Chronicle_, in which an excellent account of the grounds of
Lowther appeared. To that publication we have to express our obligation
for the woodcut of the north front of the castle. “A.D. MDXCVIII ex
gravi peste, quæ regionibus hisce incubuit, obierunt apud Penrith 2260,
Kendal 2500, Richmond 2200, Carlisle 1196. Posteri, Avertite vos et
vivite.”
[52] We need only to name one or two of Jacob Thompson’s pictures—the
“Harvest Home in the time of Queen Elizabeth,” the “Highland Ferry
Boat,” “The Proposal,” “Ulleswater from Sharrow Bay,” the “Highland
Bride’s Separation,” “Going to Church,” the “Mountain Ramblers,”
“Proserpine,” “Sunny Hours of Childhood,” the “Pet Lamb,” “The Signal,”
“Rush-bearing,” “The Vintage,” and “Homeward Bound”—to direct attention
to the marvels of high Art which issue from his pencil.
[53] “Transactions of the Architectural Society of the Diocese of
Lincoln, 1860.”
[54] Those who desire to know more of the neighbourhood cannot do
better than consult Mr. White’s “Worksop, the Dukery, and Sherwood
Forest:” it is an interesting, valuable, and useful book. To it we are
indebted for the engraving of the Greendale Oak on page 354.
[55] “Le Methode nouvelle & Invention extraordinaire de dresser les
Chevaux, les travailler selon la nature et parfaire la nature par la
subtilité de l’art; la quelle n’a jamais été treuvée que. Par Le tres
noble, haut, et tres-puissant Prince Guillaume Marquis et Comte De
Newcastle, Viconte de Mansfield, Baron de Bolsover et Ogle, Seigneur
de Cavendish, Bothel et Hepwel; Pair d’Angleterre, Qui eut la charge
et l’honneur d’estre Gouverneur du Sereniss’me Prince de Galles en sa
jeunesse et maintainant Roy de la Grande Bretagne; Et d’avantage qui
est Lieutenant pour le Roy de la Comté de Nottingham et la Forest de
Sherwood; Capitaine-General en toutes provinces outre la Riviere de
Trent et autres endroits du Royaume d’Angleterre, Gentil-homme de la
Chambre du Lit du Roy; Conseiller d’Etat et Prive; et Chevalier de
l’Ordre tres-noble de la Iartiere, etc. A Anvers, chez Iacques Van
Meurs, l’an M.DC.LVIII.”
* * * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Obvious errors were corrected.
Several occurences in the text of unpaired double quotation marks
were not corrected.