connection with his “excellent friend,” Sir Henry Newton, the son
and successor of Sir Adam. At that time the property belonged to Sir
William Ducie.
[45] There are several wild traditions--and some of them not very
delicate--concerning its origin. It is said to have been the result
of an intrigue of King John with the wife of a miller: but the more
probable origin is, that it was symbolic of the Ox of St. Luke, by
which he is usually distinguished in ancient paintings, and to this
Saint the Church of Charlton is dedicated. The Fair is now held on St.
Luke’s day, the 18th of October, and the minister had a bequest of
twenty shillings for preaching a sermon there. It was formerly kept
upon a green opposite the Church, and facing the Mansion. At this fair
were sold various articles formed of horn, such as drinking cups, &c.,
and horns gilded were sold and worn by the frequenters; during the
reign of Charles the Second, it was a carnival of the most unrestrained
kind, and persons used to start from London in boats, disguised as
kings, queens, millers, &c., with horns on their heads, and men dressed
as females, who formed in procession and marched round the church
and fair. In the time of Brand, he tells us that the folks assembled
consisted “of a riotous mob, who, after a printed summons dispersed
through the adjacent towns, meet near Deptford, and march from thence
in procession through that town and Greenwich to Charlton, with horns
of different kinds upon their heads; and at the fair there are sold
rams’ horns and every sort of toy made of horn, even the ginger-bread
figures have horns.” In “Pasquil’s Night-cap, or Antidote for the
Head-ache,” 1612, a poem by Nicholas Breton, a long and curious history
of the annual meeting for the inauguration of these horns is given,
as it used to be held in great pomp and with an immense concourse of
people, all of whom
“In comely sort their foreheads did adorne,
With goodly coronets of hardy horne;”
but he ends by telling us that--
“Long time this solemne custome was observ’d,
And Kentish-men with others met to feast;
But latter times are from old fashions swerv’d
And grown repugnant to this good behest.
For now ungratefull men these meetings scorn
And thanklesse prove to Fortune and the horn,
For onely now is kept a poor goose fair,
Where none but meaner people doe repair.”
[46] Craggs was much implicated in the “South Sea Bubble.” He resided
in a house on the property of Sir T. M. Wilson--since the residence
of Mrs. Fitz-Herbert--afterwards of Queen Caroline, when Princess of
Wales--afterwards of Alderman Atkins, and recently of Gen. Sir Thomas
Hislop, Bart., who died there.
[47] The Hall is opened to the public generally, only on Friday
(between the hours of eleven and four) the day on which Hampton Court
is closed. Visitors are admissible by cards, which must be obtained
previously from Mr. Caddel, library, Gravesend, or Mr. Wildash,
bookseller, Rochester. A charge is made of one shilling to each person.
The sum thus accruing is appropriated to the benefit of the schools
and other charitable institutions in the neighbourhood. The visitor is
thus relieved from the irksome necessity of considering what gratuity
he is to bestow upon the guide who accompanies him through the several
galleries,--servants “being strictly forbidden to take any fees.” The
cards contain the “Regulations.” Those who can devote but one day to an
examination of this locality will do well to commence by an inspection
of the church and village, and wander about the park after the Hall
has been seen. Those who are not content with so comparatively brief a
scrutiny, will find a homely but neat and comfortable inn at Cobham.
It is scarcely necessary to observe that steam-boats ply, in summer,
from Blackwall--distant six miles, or ten minutes, from the heart of
London--every half hour. These voyages commence very early, and are
continued to a late hour; so that although the Hall is five or six and
twenty miles from the metropolis, it will not be found difficult to
visit it and return to the city within one day.
[48] “Cobeham, anciently Coptham,--that is the head or village, from
the Saxon Copt, an head.”--_Philipott. Survey of Kent._
[49] One of the husbands of this lady was Sir John Oldcastle, who, in
the reign of Henry V., attached himself to the Lollards. He was cited
to appear before the Archbishop of Canterbury, and sentenced to death
as “a heretic; who together with others, to the number of twenty men,
called Lollards, had conspired to subvert the clergy and kill the
king.” Having been outlawed upon treason and excommunicated, he was
removed from the Tower to the “New Gallows” in St. Giles’, where he
underwent his sentence--“to be hanged, and burned hanging.” At the
place of execution, it is said, he desired Sir Thomas Erpingham, “in
case he saw him risen the third day after, that he would then be a
means to procure favour to the rest of his sect.” His “Tryal” before
the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1 Henry Fifth, A.D. 1413,
“on the Saturday after the feast of St. Matthew,” in the Chapter House
of St. Paul, is reported in the State Trials. It is curious to note
the language in which the prelate is stated to have addressed the
doomed recusant:--“We repeated in soft and moderate terms, and in a
manner very courteous and obliging, all our proceedings against him.”
“We replied with much patience, and in a courteous and affectionate
manner.” “We besought him, with tears in our eyes, and exhorted him in
the most compassionate manner.” Such, and similar phrases, record the
“gentleness” with which he was doomed to a cruel death. The archbishop
could “make nothing” of the brave Lollard. He openly avowed that the
only honour he vouchsafed to the Image of the Cross was, to “keep it
clean, and in his closet;” declared his belief that he was “the true
successor of St. Peter, who followed him in the purity of his life and
conversation;” and protested that he “desired absolution only from
God.” For the said “detestable crime of heresy” he was ordered to die;
“by the advice and consent of men famous for discretion and wisdom;”
and was “dispatched with all convenient expedition.”
[50] Sir Thomas Broke, and Joan de Cobham, his wife, had ten sons and
four daughters. It is their tomb which occupies so prominent a position
in the chancel of Cobham church.
[51] At the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh, at Winton, the 17th of
November, 1 Jac. 1603, for high treason, “in conspiring to depose
the king and set up the Lady Arabella Stuart, and corresponding with
Spain for that purpose;” a variety of documents and letters were
produced and read; written, as alleged, by Lord Cobham, implicating
Sir Walter, admitting his own guilty participation, and affirming that
“he would not have entered into these courses but by his, Raleigh’s,
instigation.” Raleigh’s demand to be brought “face to face” with his
accuser was refused, on the ground that “the accuser may be drawn by
practise to retract what he had deposed, while he is here in person.”
To this Raleigh replied, “He dares not accuse me. He said I was the
cause of all his miseries and the destruction of his house, by my
wicked counsel. If this be true, whom hath he to accuse or be revenged
of but me?” “I say,” he added, “that Cobham is a base, dishonourable,
poor soul.” Cobham, however, had retracted his assertions concerning
Raleigh, who, at his trial, produced a letter from Cobham, to this
effect:--“Seeing myself so near my end, for the discharge of my
conscience and freeing myself from your blood, which else will
cry vengeance against me, I protest upon my salvation, I never
practised with Spain by your procurement: God so comfort me in this
my affliction, as you are a true subject for anything I know. I will
say as Pilate, ‘Purus sum a sanguine hujus.’ So God have mercy upon
my soul, as I know no treason by you.” The letter, however, availed
Sir Walter nothing; the attorney-general affirming “that it had been
procured by subtle practices; and that the first declaration was drawn
up voluntarily by my lord Cobham, and without any hopes of pardon.”
Under a most iniquitous sentence then pronounced, Raleigh was executed
fifteen years afterwards; and Cobham had been a houseless wanderer,
meanwhile, perishing unpitied and unwept. Of their intimacy there is no
doubt; and it is more than probable that the Old Hall we are describing
was often the home of Sir Walter Raleigh, when distinguished as “the
noble and valorous knight.” It is grievous to think that so great a
“worthy” should have been sacrificed to the pitiful cowardice of so
“poor a soul” as the last of the Cobhams--the degenerate scion of a
munificent and valorous race.
[52] Sir Joseph Williamson was the son of a clergyman of Cumberland. He
held various appointments under the Crown, was President of the Royal
Society; and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
[53] “Lady Katherine O’Brien died in November following; upon which her
two-thirds of this manor and seat, with the rest of the estates of the
late Duke of Richmond, purchased by Sir Joseph Williamson, descended
to Edward, Lord Clifton and Cornbury (son of Edward, Lord Cornbury,
afterwards Earl of Clarendon, and Catherine his wife, the only daughter
and heir of the said Lady Katherine, by her first husband, Henry,
Lord O’Brien), and on her death without issue, in 1713, to his only
surviving sister and heir, the Lady Theodosia Hyde.”--_Hasted’s Kent_,
vol. i.
[54] The Blighs were originally a Devonshire family; and in the reign
of Charles the First were seated at Rathmore, in the county of Meath,
in Ireland.
[55] In 1714, 1 Geo. I., Sir Richard Temple, Bart. was created Baron
Cobham--a title his descendants enjoy. The Temples were connected in
the female line with the Brokes.
[56] At the end of this gallery are, branching to the right and left,
the private apartments of the family; and in a room opening out of
the west end of the Picture-gallery, Queen Elizabeth is reported to
have slept when she honoured the Lord Cobham with a visit during her
progress through Kent. In the centre of the ancient Ceiling are still
preserved her Arms, with the date, 1599.
[57] An interesting series of Helmets hangs upon the walls of the
chancel. They vary in age and appearance. The most interesting are
two tilting helmets of the time of Henry V. These helmets were worn
over the bassinet, which was also of steel, and fitted close to the
head, having a movable visor which covered the face. The tilting or
tournament helmet had nothing of the kind, an opening for the admission
of light and air being formed by the projection of the lower portion,
which covered the face, from the cap above. A few holes were drilled
for sight, and the helmet rested upon the shoulders, being made wider
at the neck, while the bassinet fitted it closely. The crest of the
wearer, a plume of feathers, or other ornament, was generally affixed
to these tournament helmets; and upon one of these at Cobham the
staples remain upon the top and a hook behind, which helped to retain
such decorations. A helmet thus ornamented with the crest of the
Brokes--a Saracen’s head--still remains upon the walls. It is, however,
of a much later date, probably about the time of Henry VII., and is a
war-helmet with a movable visor.
[58] The other Brasses require a brief notice. The earliest is to the
memory of JOHN DE COBHAM, the first Knight Banneret, and Constable
of Rochester; he is dressed in a shirt of mail: round his waist is a
rich girdle sustaining a long sword. Eight lines of Norman French are
inscribed round the verge of the slab. 2. MAUDE DE COBHAM, wife to
Reynold, Baron Cobham, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in the reign
of Edward the Third: she is standing on a dog. 3. Another MAUDE DE
COBHAM--probably the wife of Thomas de Cobham, who died in the reign of
Richard the Second. 4. MARGARET DE COBHAM, wife of John Lord Cobham,
the founder of the College. The inscription round the verge informs
us, she was daughter to the Earl of Devonshire. 5. JOHN DE COBHAM, the
founder of the College, standing on a lion under a canopy. In his hands
he holds a church. 6. THOMAS DE COBHAM. 7. JOAN DE COBHAM, “probably
the daughter of John Lord Beauchamp, and mother of the Founder.” 8.
SIR JOHN BROKE, and Lady Margaret his wife, under a rich canopy with
pendants and other ornaments, with triangular compartments, “containing
circles with shields, one of which bears the crown of thorns, and the
other the five wounds; between the pinnacles, in the centre, is a
curious representation of the Trinity, in which the Deity is delineated
with a triple crown, and the Holy Spirit has a human face. The figure
of the knight is gone, but that of his lady remains; and beneath, are
groups of eight sons and ten daughters.” 9. SIR REGINALD BRAYBROKE, the
second husband of Joan Lady Cobham. 10. SIR NICHOLAS HAWBERK, her third
husband. 11. JOAN DE COBHAM: she died, as appears from the inscription,
“on the day of St. Hilary the Bishop, A.D. 1433.” At
her feet are six sons and four daughters, and surrounding her are six
escutcheons of the Cobham arms and alliances. 12. SIR THOMAS BROKE, and
one of his three wives. Below them are seven sons and five daughters.
Sir Thomas died in 1529. 13. SIR RALPH, or RAUF DE COBHAM, represented
by a bust, in a skull-cap and shirt of mail. He died, according to the
inscription, on the 20th January 1402.
[59] The Sackvilles are an ancient and very distinguished family,
dating from the Conquest. The first Peer, the famous Lord Buckhurst
and Earl of Dorset, succeeded Burleigh as Lord Treasurer, an office
in which he was confirmed by King James. He is more celebrated,
however, as the author of the earliest English Tragedy in blank verse,
“Gordubuc,” and “The Induction to a Mirrour for Magistrates,” one of
the noblest Poems in the language. Gordubuc is praised by Sidney for
its “notable moralitie;” and the Poem is believed to have given use
to the Fairy Queen. All contemporaries agree in bearing testimony
to the virtues of this truly noble man. One of them thus draws his
character:--“How many rare things were in him! who more loving unto his
wife! who more kind unto his children! who more fast unto his friend!
who more moderate unto his enemy! who more true to his word!” The
sixth Earl of Dorset is also celebrated in the History of Literature:
he was one of the wits of the licentious court of Charles the Second;
the associate of Rochester, Villiers, and Sedley; but subsequently the
patron of Prior, Dryden, Butler, Congreve, Addison, and Pope. Prior he
rescued from a vintner’s tap, and Butler “owed to him that the court
tasted his ‘Hudibras.’” His reputation as an author rests upon a Poem
consisting of no more than eleven stanzas--the “song” beginning
“To all ye ladies now at land,”--
said to have been written on shipboard, on the night preceding a
sea-fight. It is an elegant composition, and manifests a “heedlessnesse
of danger” natural to a gallant youth. Pope hails him as
“the grace of courts, the Muses’ pride;”
and there can be no doubt that he was not only a generous and liberal
friend to men of letters, but a judicious patron to those who needed
help.
[60] The Dining Parlour--where, by the way, in 1645, the Court
of Sequestration met and deprived, for loyalty to his sovereign,
Edward, the fourth Earl of Dorset, of his estates--contains a series
of Portraits of men who, it is certain, met together often there,
assembled round the festive board of Charles, the sixth Earl. Among
the more interesting and important are those of Waller and Addison, by
Jarvis; Dr. Johnson, Garrick, and Goldsmith, by Sir Joshua Reynolds;
Otway, by Sir Peter Lely; Locke, Hobbes, Sedley, Newton, and Dryden,
by Kneller; Cowley and Rochester, by Du Boyce; Tom Durfey--in “a
conversation piece”--by Vandergucht; Burke, by Opie; together with
copies, by less famous hands, of Ben Jonson, Congreve, Wycherley, Rowe,
Garth, Swift, Cartwright, Pope, Betterton, Gay, Handel, &c., &c., &c.
[61] The artist selected as a worthy subject for his pencil the gallery
which runs parallel with “the Brown Gallery,” on the upper floor. It
is peculiarly striking and characteristic; and Time has shaken it
into “the picturesque.” It is known as “the Retainers’ Gallery;” the
sleeping apartments of the domestics branch off from it. The marble
chimney-piece, although much dilapidated, is of the finest marble, and
of rare workmanship.
[62] According to Hasted, the name is derived from _Pen_, an old
British word signifying the top of anything; and _hyrst_, a wood.
[63] It has been the fortune of the “Arcadia” to be too highly valued
in one age, and far too much underrated in another. Immediately after
its publication it was received with unbounded applause:--“From it
was taken the language of compliment and love, it gave a tinge of
similitude to the colloquial and courtly dialect of the time, and
from thence its influence was communicated to the lucubrations of the
Poet, the Historian, and the Divine.” The Book is a mixture of what
has been termed the heroic and the pastoral Romance, interspersed
with interludes and episodes, and details the various and marvellous
adventures of two friends, Musidorus and Pyrocles. It was not intended
to be published to the world; but was written merely to pleasure the
Countess of Pembroke--“a principal ornament to the family of the
Sidneis.”
[64] The touching incident to which, perhaps, more than to any other
circumstance, Sir Philip is indebted for his heroic fame, is thus
related by his friend and biographer, Fulke Greville, Lord Broke:--“In
his sad progress, passing along by the rest of the army, where his
uncle, the General, was, and being thirsty with excess of bleeding,
he called for drink, which was presently brought him; but, as he was
putting the bottle to his mouth, he saw a poor soldier carried along,
who had been wounded at the same time, ghastly casting up his eyes at
the bottle. Which Sir Philip perceiving, took it from his head before
he drank, and delivered it to the poor man, with these words, ‘Thy
necessity is yet greater than mine.’” He lived in great pain for many
days after he was wounded, and died on the 17th of October, 1586. The
close of his life affords a beautiful lesson. “Calmly and steadily he
awaited the approach of death. His prayers were long and fervent--his
bearing was indeed that of a Christian hero. He had a noble funeral.
Kings clad themselves in garments of grief--a whole people grieved for
the loss of the most accomplished scholar, the most graceful courtier,
the best soldier, and the worthiest man of the country and the age. He
was buried in state, in the old Cathedral of St. Paul’s, on the 16th
of February. Both Universities composed verses to his memory; and so
general was the mourning for him, that, “for many months after his
death, it was accounted indecent for any gentleman of quality to appear
at Court, or in the City, in any light or gaudy apparel.”
[65] The Norrises had long been a family of note in Lancashire,
and held lands in Blackrod, Sutton, &c. The family of Bradshaw, of
Bradshaw, was of Saxon origin, and seated there before the conquest;
after that event, Sir John Bradshaw was repossessed of his estates by
the Conqueror, which went to his posterity for twenty-two descents,
whereof eleven were lineally knighted, as appears by ancient charter,
and other authentic evidences. A full account of the marriages may be
seen in Wotton’s Baronetage (Edition 1769, vol. vi., fol. 14), down
to Sir William Bradshaw, second son of Sir John Bradshaw, the tenth
generation from Sir John Bradshaw; which Sir William married Mabel
daughter of Hugh Norreys, or Norris, by which he got for her dowry,
as sole heir of her father, the manors of Sutton, Raynhill, Whiston,
Haghe, Blackerode, and West Leigh. Haghe and Blackrode were held as a
twelfth part of a knight’s fee. There is a well-attested story of Mab
and Mab’s Cross. She was obliged to walk bare-foot and bare-legged once
a week from Haigh to near Wigan, to expiate the sin of marrying again
in her husband’s absence, when she thought he had been slain. This Mab
was Mabil Norreys, of Blackrode. A portion of the Cross is still to be
seen at the extremity of the town of Wigan, on the left hand side of
the road, leading from Wigan to Haigh Hall, now the residence of Earl
Balcarras.
The Norrises of Speke and Rycot were all martial men. They held their
estate of Speke by military tenure, which they imposed upon their
tenantry. The Norrises acquired great honours in foreign service, in
which they were so much engaged as to be unfrequent attendants at
court. A part of the debateable lands at Bromfield, in Wales, was
granted to this family. Sir John Norris was a most accomplished General
about 1577, equally valiant and skilful in a charge as a retreat.
On one memorable occasion, he effected a retreat with a handful of
Englishmen, which gained him more honour than a victory could have
conferred. He was sent to Ireland, as a commander, in the reign of
Elizabeth; but not being properly supported by the Government, or owing
perhaps to the animosity of party spirit, he did not succeed in his
mission, and died _anno_ 1597.
[66] The question whether the wainscoting at Speke did or not
originally come from Scotland, appears to have given rise to some
discussion; and is unquestionably a matter of deep interest to
antiquarians. Not long ago, Robert Whatton, Esq., F.S.A., Member of
the Royal College of Surgeons, took some pains to investigate its
history, in order to assist the Scottish Society of Antiquaries, who
had organised a committee with a view to ascertain whether there was or
was not any proof to sustain the tradition.
It appears Mr. Whatton could meet with no intelligence prior to 1767.
“SEACOME,” in his History of the House of Stanley, page 46, refers to
it; also “ENFIELD,” in his History of Liverpool, 4to, 1774, page 115.
These accounts have been copied by _Gough_, in his edition of Camden,
and every subsequent writer.
The very splendid and highly-finished specimen of the carved oak
wainscot, common to the counties of Lancaster and Chester, is erected
against the north wall of the room, and is divided perpendicularly
from the ceiling, two-thirds of its extent downwards, into eight
compartments, these compartments being again subdivided horizontally
into five rows of panels; a space corresponding with the width of two
of the compartments, on the right hand, with the exception of the
uppermost panels, is occupied by the door-case, which projects into
the room. That part of the wainscot which is usually allotted to the
_frieze_ or cornice, is here formed into a _projecting head_, extending
through the whole length of the works in a line with the ceiling of
the room, to which it is attached and secured by _nine_ supporters,
correspondent with the columns below.
The columns which divide the wainscot into compartments rise from
square ornamental pedestals; the shafts are fluted in two divisions,
having capitals with volutes and rows of foliage, and supporting
scrolls with massive square heads, increasing in diameter upwards, and
reaching to the bottom of the first row of panels.
The columns of the door-case are similar to those on the wainscot,
except that the shafts are ornamented in zigzag instead of fluting;
in the centre, over this door, is a shield with the arms of Norris,
quartering Harrington, and Molyneux, and others we cannot decipher.